Third Year Practice Added Value

In order to do the analysis part of the essay properly, you need to make specific references to the techniques used in each text and explain how these convey a point about racism. Here are some examples (but don’t feel you have to go into this much detail on each technique – I’m just trying to be really thorough for you.)

Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry

Mildred D Taylor uses many techniques to convey the theme of racism in the novel “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.” The novel is written from Cassie’s perspective, which gives the reader a unique view of the situation between blacks and whites at the time the book was set. When Cassie goes to Strawberry, she is forced off the pavement by Lillian Jean Simms and is then forced by Big Ma to apologise even though she has done nothing wrong. Cassie says “no day in all my life had never been as cruel as this one.” This conveys her pain and humiliation at being treated badly because of her race, and being – in her mind – ‘betrayed’ by Big Ma. However, her perspective is naïve because she doesn't understand that she would have been in a lot of danger if she hadn’t given in. Cassie narrates that “Big Ma looked down at me, fear in her eyes, then back at the growing crowd.” The image of a crowd of white people slowly growing around Cassie and Big Ma is quite threatening, and evokes the image of a lynch mob. Mildred D Taylor’s skillful use of perspective in this incident conveys the danger and humiliation inherent in black/white interactions at this time in history.

The Whole System Failed Trayvon Martin

Charles Blow uses journalistic techniques to put forward his argument about racism in America today. The article is structured around a list of ways that the law, the police and society failed Trayvon Martin. At the beginning of each paragraph, Charles Blow repeats the phrase: “The system failed him when…” This phrase is then followed by one of his arguments about how institutional racism affected the outcome of the Trayvon Martin case. The use of repetition in the structure of his argument successfully highlights the huge number and variety of ways that racism impacted Trayvon Martin - in life and in death.

The Death of Emmett Till

Bob Dylan’s famous song “The Death of Emmett Till” features a call to action; an entreaty to the audience to change the world that had allowed the tragedy of Emmett Till’s murder. Written in the 1960s – the decade that shaped the civil rights movement in America – the song narrates the story of Emmett Till’s death before making effective use of imagery to castigate the establishment who allowed this murder – and similar atrocities – to occur. Dylan says that such people “must be in shackles and in chains.” He evokes the image of slavery to suggest that people with racist views are trapped by them, and that these views are holding the country back from being “a greater place to live.”

Eyes on the Prize

The documentary “Eyes on the Prize” uses a number of the features of documentary filmmaking to convey information about the civil rights movement in Mississippi in the 1960s. The director, Orlando Bagwell, uses voice-over to add context to his film footage. When describing the problems faced in the initial attempts to register black voters, the viewer is shown archive footage of queues of prospective black voters going into City Hall to register. The voice-over then narrates that many black people were beaten up and even murdered for trying to register to vote. The use of voice-over skilfully conveys the bravery of these black voters and the terrible realities of living in a time and place where such dangers were inherent in something as simple as voting.

If you don't have specific quotes or references, scroll down a couple of posts to get the links.