Tuesday 27 November 2012
Our Précis! Wahoo!
In Zora Neale Hurston's "How It Feels To Be Colored Me" (1928), the author asserts that all people should look past the colour of the bag and focus on the treasure that lie within it, "...so much like the Jumble in the bags, could they be emptied... refilled without altering the content of any greatly." Hurston supports her position by categorizing her essay into four parts: first, she describes her realization that she is no longer "Everybody's Zora" but rather "a little colored girl"; the next two sections explain perspective from opposing viewpoints; last, she comes to terms with her blackness yet at the same time the remains the "Cosmic Zora". By portraying her reluctance to accept social issues, she introduces an innocent state of mind that will ultimately alter others perception in promoting self pride. The author is addressing America as a whole with a confident and upbeat tone, to propose that whether you are black or white, be proud of who you are!
Wednesday 21 November 2012
Malcolm X - Dialectical Journal No. THIRTY-ONE!
CHAPTER 10 ~ Page 160
"Reginald when he came to visit me again in a few days, could gauge from my attitude the effect that his talking had had upon me. He seemed very pleased. Then, very seriously, he talked for two solid hours about 'the devil white man' and 'the brainwashed black man'."
Malcolm is buying into this new religion as it is suiting his former experiences. The devil white man and the brainwashed black man. Neither of these (I can imagine) are actually in Islamic teachings (What do I know though?) it is just Malcolm feeling down whilst in prison and reflecting all the times he had been wronged was due to a white man. The black man was always getting trampled under foot and had no say in the society. He is pleasantly ignorant at this developmental period for his religion, his beginnings are built out of seemingly overanalyzing previous instances; while this is excellenet that he thinks and reflects, the first impression (as he learns later) isn't so kind and spiritual.
"Reginald when he came to visit me again in a few days, could gauge from my attitude the effect that his talking had had upon me. He seemed very pleased. Then, very seriously, he talked for two solid hours about 'the devil white man' and 'the brainwashed black man'."
Malcolm is buying into this new religion as it is suiting his former experiences. The devil white man and the brainwashed black man. Neither of these (I can imagine) are actually in Islamic teachings (What do I know though?) it is just Malcolm feeling down whilst in prison and reflecting all the times he had been wronged was due to a white man. The black man was always getting trampled under foot and had no say in the society. He is pleasantly ignorant at this developmental period for his religion, his beginnings are built out of seemingly overanalyzing previous instances; while this is excellenet that he thinks and reflects, the first impression (as he learns later) isn't so kind and spiritual.
Malcolm X - Dialectical Journal No. THIRTY!
CHAPTER 10
The character of Bimbi, perhaps could it be, the very one who acted as the catalyst towards Malcolm X's future success as an orator? Actually, it's pretty blunt, and interesting how fascinated Malcolm becomes with Bimbi. This is attriubted to both Malcolm himself being a young man lost in his ways, and Bimbi being a man of extreme confidence and charisma that he displayed himself as a man that commanded attention and people sought help from
"What fascinated me with him most of all was that he was the first man I had ever seen command total respect . . . with his words."
It is at this point that 'words' will become symbols and motifs throughout the remainder of the book and seem like a source of healing. (Yay reading! Books! Education!)
The character of Bimbi, perhaps could it be, the very one who acted as the catalyst towards Malcolm X's future success as an orator? Actually, it's pretty blunt, and interesting how fascinated Malcolm becomes with Bimbi. This is attriubted to both Malcolm himself being a young man lost in his ways, and Bimbi being a man of extreme confidence and charisma that he displayed himself as a man that commanded attention and people sought help from
"What fascinated me with him most of all was that he was the first man I had ever seen command total respect . . . with his words."
It is at this point that 'words' will become symbols and motifs throughout the remainder of the book and seem like a source of healing. (Yay reading! Books! Education!)
Malcolm X - Dialectical Journal No. TWENTY-NINE!
CHAPTER 9 ~ Page 150
Right at the end of the chapter, there seems to be a little disclosure that really tells Malcolm's purpose for reciting his life's events to Mr. Alex Haley. It makes sense and I feel not much description goes along with it, as it has been what I've been saying throughout the journals. (Time for jail though...)
"I want to say before I go on that I have never previously told anyone my sordid past in detail. I haven't done it now to sound as though I might be proud of how bad, how evil, I was."
Never telling anyone of this? This marks a stage of growth for Malcolm, at the height of his influence. Coming out with this information is remarkable ethos as he has truly learned a whole lot from his life, as he says
"But people are always speculating -- why am I as I am? To understand that of any person, his whole life, from birth, must be reviewed. All of our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient. Today, when everything that I do has an urgency, I would not spend one hour in the preparation of a book which had the ambition to perhaps titillate some readers. But I am spending many hours because the full story is the best way that I know to have it seen, and understood, that I had sunk to the very bottom of the American white man's society when -- soon now, in prison -- I found Allah and the religion of Islam and it completely transformed my life."
Right at the end of the chapter, there seems to be a little disclosure that really tells Malcolm's purpose for reciting his life's events to Mr. Alex Haley. It makes sense and I feel not much description goes along with it, as it has been what I've been saying throughout the journals. (Time for jail though...)
"I want to say before I go on that I have never previously told anyone my sordid past in detail. I haven't done it now to sound as though I might be proud of how bad, how evil, I was."
Never telling anyone of this? This marks a stage of growth for Malcolm, at the height of his influence. Coming out with this information is remarkable ethos as he has truly learned a whole lot from his life, as he says
"But people are always speculating -- why am I as I am? To understand that of any person, his whole life, from birth, must be reviewed. All of our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient. Today, when everything that I do has an urgency, I would not spend one hour in the preparation of a book which had the ambition to perhaps titillate some readers. But I am spending many hours because the full story is the best way that I know to have it seen, and understood, that I had sunk to the very bottom of the American white man's society when -- soon now, in prison -- I found Allah and the religion of Islam and it completely transformed my life."
Malcolm X - Dialectical Journal No. TWENTY-EIGHT!
CHAPTER 9 ~ Page 144
"I can give you a very good tip if you want to keep burglars out of your house. A light on for the burglar to see is the very best single means of protection. One of the ideal things is to leave a bathroom light on all night. the bathroom is one place where somebody could be, for any length of time, at any time of the night, and he would be likely to hear the slightest strange sound. The burglar, knowing this, won't try to enter. It's also the cheapest possible protection. The kilowatts are a lot cheaper than your valuables."
Why thank you! I'd like to know why this hasn't been taught to us in Life Skills yet???
This operation that this little group has got going seems to working very smooth. Yet this little bit is thrown in, once again, to engage the reader, making a little jovial aside so the reader doesn't feel left out. I am glad this was in here because:
a.) It made me chuckle
b.) It made me feel safe-ish
c.) I wasn't ignored
Malcolm knows how to engage his audience, as should not be required to mention.
"I can give you a very good tip if you want to keep burglars out of your house. A light on for the burglar to see is the very best single means of protection. One of the ideal things is to leave a bathroom light on all night. the bathroom is one place where somebody could be, for any length of time, at any time of the night, and he would be likely to hear the slightest strange sound. The burglar, knowing this, won't try to enter. It's also the cheapest possible protection. The kilowatts are a lot cheaper than your valuables."
Why thank you! I'd like to know why this hasn't been taught to us in Life Skills yet???
This operation that this little group has got going seems to working very smooth. Yet this little bit is thrown in, once again, to engage the reader, making a little jovial aside so the reader doesn't feel left out. I am glad this was in here because:
a.) It made me chuckle
b.) It made me feel safe-ish
c.) I wasn't ignored
Malcolm knows how to engage his audience, as should not be required to mention.
Malcolm X - Dialectical Journal No. TWENTY-SEVEN!
CHAPTER 9 ~ Page 138
"Looking back, I think I really was at least slightly out of my mind. I viewed narcotics as most people regard food. I wore my guns as today I wear my neckties. Deep down, I actually believed that after living as fully as humanly possible, one should then die violently. I expected then, as I still expect today, to die at any time. But then, I think I deliberately invited death in many, sometimes insane ways."
Looking back, I think really was at least slightly out of my mind. Sure sounds like it! Seriously, regarding drugs as if they were food? That's quite an intake, I wonder, had he not been assassinated, how long he would have had to live, given his excessive drug abuse. Hmmmm...
This attitude is becoming more and more aggressive while at the same time indifferent. He has almost stopped caring, as living in a society where very little care about you, it can be easy to forget to care about yourself. This leads to the self-destructive behaviour (again, more connections with James Baldwin! :O ) that ruptures the connection within the black community as they attempt to bond together and break the ties of segregation and oppression.
"Looking back, I think I really was at least slightly out of my mind. I viewed narcotics as most people regard food. I wore my guns as today I wear my neckties. Deep down, I actually believed that after living as fully as humanly possible, one should then die violently. I expected then, as I still expect today, to die at any time. But then, I think I deliberately invited death in many, sometimes insane ways."
Looking back, I think really was at least slightly out of my mind. Sure sounds like it! Seriously, regarding drugs as if they were food? That's quite an intake, I wonder, had he not been assassinated, how long he would have had to live, given his excessive drug abuse. Hmmmm...
This attitude is becoming more and more aggressive while at the same time indifferent. He has almost stopped caring, as living in a society where very little care about you, it can be easy to forget to care about yourself. This leads to the self-destructive behaviour (again, more connections with James Baldwin! :O ) that ruptures the connection within the black community as they attempt to bond together and break the ties of segregation and oppression.
Malcolm X - Dialectical Journal No. TWENTY-SIX!
CHAPTER 9 ~ Page 136
Malcolm meets Laura again! :(
After telling of Laura, he says he regrets what he did and he claims responsibility for her downfall. You can tell his words are filled with such regret, however this meeting here, seems more... I don't know. You could say, routine? Casual? Malcolm has gone so low, as low as Laura that perhaps the melancholy of this paragraph indicates them as equals.
"I met Laura again. We were really glad to see each other. She was a lot more like me now, a good-time girl. We talked and laughed. She looked a lot older than she really was. She had no one man, she freelanced around. She had long since moved away from her grandmother. Laura told be she had finished school, but then she gave up the college idea. Laura was high whenever I saw her, now, too; we smoked some reefers together."
It's pretty simplistic, almost tiresome. Such sentences like "We talked and laughed." Very broad, vague, and elementary. Almost as if, it was wasn't him talking, but the high that both of them were consumed by. It's like "I met Laura again." is the main introductory sentence, then "We smoked some reefers together." is the last bit, with the rest of the paragraph being forced details with no real meaning to them as he likely had little interest. (Some, as she was a familiar face, but I doubt a lot.)
Malcolm meets Laura again! :(
After telling of Laura, he says he regrets what he did and he claims responsibility for her downfall. You can tell his words are filled with such regret, however this meeting here, seems more... I don't know. You could say, routine? Casual? Malcolm has gone so low, as low as Laura that perhaps the melancholy of this paragraph indicates them as equals.
"I met Laura again. We were really glad to see each other. She was a lot more like me now, a good-time girl. We talked and laughed. She looked a lot older than she really was. She had no one man, she freelanced around. She had long since moved away from her grandmother. Laura told be she had finished school, but then she gave up the college idea. Laura was high whenever I saw her, now, too; we smoked some reefers together."
It's pretty simplistic, almost tiresome. Such sentences like "We talked and laughed." Very broad, vague, and elementary. Almost as if, it was wasn't him talking, but the high that both of them were consumed by. It's like "I met Laura again." is the main introductory sentence, then "We smoked some reefers together." is the last bit, with the rest of the paragraph being forced details with no real meaning to them as he likely had little interest. (Some, as she was a familiar face, but I doubt a lot.)
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