From Chapter 13 Ofblack Boy, by Richard Wright

A Hunger for Books

from Chapter 13 ofBlack Boy, by Richard Wright

Argument Clinic 1

That night in my rented room, while letting the hot water run over my can of pork and beans in the sink, I openedA Book of Prefacesand began to read. I was jarred and shocked by the style, the clear, clean, sweeping sentences. Why did he write like that? And how did one write like that? I pictured the man as a raging demon, slashing with his pen, consumed with hate, denouncing everything American, extolling everything European or German, laughing at the weaknesses of people, mocking God, authority. What was this? I stood up, trying to realize what reality lay behind the meaning of the words . . . Yes, this man was fighting, fighting with words. He was using words as a weapon, using them as one would use a club. Could words be weapons? Well, yes, for here they were. Then, maybe, perhaps, I could use them as a weapon? No. It frightened me. I read on and what amazed me was not what he said, but how on earth anybody had the courage to say it…

I ran across many words whose meanings I did not know, and either looked them up in a dictionary or, before I had a chance to do that, encountered the word in a context that made its meaning clear. But what strange world was this? I concluded the book with the conviction that I had somehow overlooked something terribly important in life. I had once tried to write, had once reveled in feeling, had let my crude imagination roam, but the impulse to dream had been slowly beaten out of me by experience. Now it surged up again and I hungered for books, new ways of looking and seeing. It was not a matter of believing or disbelieving what I read, but of feeling something new, of being affected by something that made the look of the world different.

As dawn broke I ate my pork and beans, feeling dopey, sleepy. I went to work, but the mood of the book would not die; it lingered, coloring everything I saw, heard, did. I now felt that I knew what the white men were feeling. Merely because I had read a book that had spoken of how they lived and thought, I identified myself with that book, I felt vaguely guilty. Would I, filled with bookish notions, act in a manner that would make the whites dislike me? . . .

Steeped in new moods and ideas, I bought a ream of paper and tried to write; but nothing would come, or what did come was flat beyond telling. I discovered that more than desire and feeling were necessary to write and I dropped the idea. Yet I still wondered how it was possible to know people sufficiently to write about them. Could I ever learn about life and people? To me, with my vast ignorance, my Jim Crow station in life, it seemed a task impossible of achievement. I now knew what being a Negro meant. I could endure the hunger. I had learned to live with hate. But to feel that there were feelings denied me, that the very breath of life itself was beyond my reach, that more than anything else hurt, wounded me. I had a new hunger. [word count = 552]

Argument Clinic 1

HOMEWORK: [due at the beginning of next block]

Choose a quotation from a book, song, or film that “made the look of the world different” for you. Write a paragraph (150-250 words) in which you explain why the quotation is meaningful to you.

Responses should be typed, double-spaced and include the proper MLA heading, header, margins, and a word count. See teacher website for a template.

THE WRITER’S POSITION: DETERMINING WHAT “THEY SAY”

For SIX of the quotations below, generate an abstract idea [word or phrase] that is implied by the argument but not directly stated. You should not repeat a concept in your final column. Be ready to discuss your observations.
QUOTATION / ABSTRACT IDEA
EX / The making of illusions—misleading images or ideas that appear to be authentic or true—has become the primary business of our society. Included in this category are not only the false promises made by advertisers and politicians but all of the activities which supposedly inform, comfort, and improve us, such as the work of our best writers and our most influential leaders. These promises and activities only encourage people to have unrealistic expectations and to ignore facts. - Adapted from Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image / fleecing a society
gullibility
misguided optimism
1 / “We flatter ourselves by thinking this compulsion to please others an attractive trait: a gist for imaginative empathy, evidence of our willingness to give." – Joan Didion, American author
2 / "Nature seems (the more we look into it) made up of antipathies: without something to hate, we should lose the very spring of thought and action. Life would turn to a stagnant pool, were it not ruffled by the jarring interests, the unruly passions, of men." -- William Hazlitt, British essayist (p 267)
3 / "Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. (p 335)
4 / "[The] Internet creates a vast illusion that the physical social world of interacting minds and hearts does not exist. In this new situation, the screen is all that is the case...The new world turns the most consequential fact of human life--other people--into seemingly manipulable half presences wholly available to our fantasies." -- Lee Siegel, American nonfiction writer (p 570)
5 / "It is not, of course, the desire to be beautiful that is wrong but the obligation to be--or to try. What is accepted by most women as a flattering idealization of their sex is a way of making women feel inferior to what they actually are--or normally grow to be. For the ideal of beauty is administered as a form of self-oppression...Nothing less than perfection will do."-- Susan Sontag, American writer (p 589)
6 / "The national myth of immigration, the heart-warming saga of babushka-clad refugees climbing to the deck of the tramp steamer for a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty ("Look, Mama, just lie the pictures we saw in Minsk, or Abruzzi, or Crete"), is just that, an image out of aging newspapers or our collective pop-memory banks. Today's arrivals are more likely to be discharged on a beach and told to swim ashore, be dropped in a desert and told to run, if they survive at all." -- Bharati Mukherjee, Indian-born American writer (p 430)
7 / "There is something deeply conflicted about the devotion to work, vocation, career as an ideal in any society, but especially in one that has zealously cast off so many of its other repressions...We (Americans) have all been so oversocialized that unnatural devotion to toil leaves its mark on every area of life. It could even be argued that the most highly prized pleasures have themselves become a form of work, complete with their own uniforms, disciplines, and special lingo." -- Christopher Clausen, professor (p 122)
8 / "Certain kinds of tragedies make an impact; others don't. Our perceptual apparatus is geared toward threats that are exotic, personal, erratic, and dramatic. This doesn't mean we're ignorant; just human...We aim our resources at phantoms, while real hazards are ignored." -- K.C. Cole, science writer (p 134)
9 / "Love must be learned, and learned again and again; there is no end to it. Hate needs no instruction, but waits only to be provoked..." Katherine Anne Porter, American author and essayist (p 475)
10 / “Our cherished notions of what is equal and what is fair frequently conflict. Democracy presumes that we are all created equal; competition proves we are not, or else every contest would end in a tie. We talk about a level playing field, but it is difficult to make conditions equal for everyone without being unfair to some.” – adapted from work by Nancy Gibbs, American essayist and editor
11 / “It is actually those who promote ‘diversity’ who ask you to deny your individuality and your humanity by insisting that you assume a collective identity as a member of a racial or ethnic or cultural group. Membership in these groups is reductive; it restricts your horizons and diminishes the likelihood that you'll be successful even in articulating your own personal aspirations, let alone achieving them.” – Greg Lewis, American professor
12 / “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge, American president
HOMEWORK: Choose THREE of these quotations (at least one with which you agree and one with which you disagree) and record your thoughts about the general argument and why you believe what you do. Type the quotations and responses, and explain your point of view clearly and fully.

THE WRITER’S EVIDENCE: PERSONAL ANECDOTE / EXPERIENCE

Melissa Holmberg

Argument Clinic 1

“The sign of maturity is no longer seeing things as strictly black or white.” Mrs. Dempsey’s casual remark was more powerful than her most emphasized assertions. Startled by the statement, I expected my class to be also, but my friends remained indifferently silent. They must not have heard her, or were only concentrating on the mechanics of the college essay, but I was confident that she would say it again and this time generate a response. “Avoid trite language and include explicit detail,” she cautioned, returning to her lecture on the college essay technique. I realized that the remark meant something only to me; the group was not interested in discussing it.

How come I had never thought about the meaning of “maturity” if it was so important to the way I saw myself? I knew that because I was mature I no longer resorted to fits of screaming or crying to have my way, I did not giggle when reproduction was discussed in science, and I felt comfortable if included in adult conversations, but these were simply some of the side effects of a much bigger change. Now I knew what that change was. I no longer viewed things as either black or white. I was able to accept ambiguity, to see shades of gray.

For the first time I had recognized an aspect of my emotional growth. As a child my entire world had been divided into two categories, good and bad. Parents, grandparents, and friends were good. Doctors, dentists, and babysitters were bad. I liked Her because she had gone to Paris. I loathed Her because she kissed boys. There were no inbetweens. But now my outlook is not so simple and narrow. Maybe it was the impact of my grandfather’s death, or my parents’ high expectations, or just the knowledge and experience which is gained with time that made these classifications unworkable. Whatever the reason, it no longer seems legitimate to separate my world in two with seals of approval and brands of rejection.

Now I try to look at people as people, rather than items to be indexed and filed. My purest whites and darkest blacks have been reopened for consideration. Somehow my father is not the same almighty man he was when I was a child. His opinions are not worthy of my unconditional acceptance, yet they are deserving of recognition and consideration. Someone is not bad just because she drinks, or smokes, or lies, even though these may be faults. There are fewer right and wrong, good and bad, and more and more “maybe that is right for him, but it is wrong for me,” “maybe that is good for me, but is bad for her.” My mind is freer, my eyes are more questioning, and my world is more vulnerable. [word count = 468]

Curry, Boykin, and Brian Kasbar, ed. Essays that Worked: 50 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation’s Top Colleges. New Haven: Mustang Publishing, 1986

Argument Clinic 1

Carefully read Melissa Holmberg’s essay. Then, thoughtfully complete the chart below. Create at least three responses in each section; responses in the left hand column should demonstrate careful, detailed thought, and responses in the right hand column should include direct specific references to the passage.

Holmberg asserts that… / Evidence to Support her Claim

THE WRITER’S CRAFT - CONTRASTS

In Holmberg’s essay, what contrasts are established?

Briefly explain how at least ONE of Holmberg’s contrasts helps convey her position.

HOMEWORK:

In this step of the process, you will begin to generate evidence to support your ideas on TWO of the quotations from page 3. This evidence should come from your personal experience, much like Holmberg who includes references to her grandfather’s death, her friends, and her relationship with her father. Your goal is to be even more specific in your details than Holmberg. Your responses should be typed and ready to hand in at the beginning of next block.

QUOTATION # ______ / QUOTATION # ______
Express the main argument in your own words.
State your position on the argument
List two to three experiences that connectto your argument. Include who, what, when, & where.

THE WRITER’S CRAFT: PARALLEL STRUCTURE

A writer keeps grammatical form, creates fluency, and maintains interest by employing parallel structure. By definition, items in a series – words, phrases, and clauses – must be parallel in a sentence. Nouns are paired with nouns, adjectives with adjectives, prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases, etc. Take a look at the following excellent examples.

"It is by logic we prove, but by intuition we discover." -- (Leonardo da Vinci)
"Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature." (Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker, 1980)
"A good ad should be like a good sermon; it must not only comfort the afflicted--—it also must afflict the comfortable." (Bernice Fitz-Gibbon, Macy's, Gimbels, and Me: How to Earn $90,000 a Year in Retail Advertising. Simon and Schuster, 1967)

IN CLASS PRACTICE: For the following sentences, underline the portion of the sentence that demonstrates faulty parallelism and record how you would correct it to make it parallel.

We must either raise revenues or it will be necessary to reduce expenses.
Stoics deny the importance of such things as wealth, good looks, and having a good reputation.
In his farewell address to the army, the general praised his soldiers for their unsurpassed courage and gave thanks because of their devotion.
The police have a duty to serve the community, safeguard lives and property, protect the innocent against deception, and they must respect the constitutional rights of all.
Sir Humphry Davy, the celebrated English chemist, was an excellent literary critic as well as being a great scientist.
The Johnsons were cheerful and knowledgeable traveling companions, and behaved generously.
The delegates spent the day arguing with one another rather than work together to find common solutions.
My sister's promotion means that she will be moving to another state and take the children with her.
A company is not only responsible to its shareholders but also customers and employees as well.
Examples of aerobic exercises are distance running, swimming, cycling, and long walks.
Consuming too much of a fat-soluble vitamin can be as harmful as not to consume enough.
If you hire a contractor to make home improvements, follow these recommendations:
Find out if the contractor belongs to a trade association.
Obtain estimates in writing.
The contractor should provide references.
The contractor must be insured.
Avoid contractors who ask for cash to dodge paying taxes.
The new instructor was both enthusiastic and she was demanding.
It is a truism that to give is more rewarding than getting.
A battery powered by aluminum is simple to design, clean to run, and it is inexpensive to produce.

THE WRITER’S CRAFT: INCORPORATING DETAIL AND IMAGERY

Read the following excerpts from Richard Wright’s Black Boy and notate particularly strong use of detail and imagery.

There was the delight I caught in seeing long straight rows of red and green vegetables stretching away in the sun to the bright horizon.

There was the faint, cool kiss of sensuality when dew came on to my cheeks and shins as I ran down the wet green garden paths in the early morning.

There were the echoes of nostalgia I heard in the crying strings of wild geese winging south against a bleak, autumn sky.

There was the yearning for identification loosed in me by the sight of a solitary ant carrying a burden upon a mysterious journey.