Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin
For W5, you will rewrite the W3 assignment, this time basing your work on one of
the other essays (one of the two you did not choose to use, earlier). You will
follow the exact same process: compose a thesis, create two topic sentences; add
an introduction and conclusion, in order to generate a full essay.
In addition, I should like you to use this essay to show what you have learned this
term and how you have improved as a writer.
So, while working up W5, please read LBB 5 and investigate the avenues that a
writer can pursue to revise (which means to re-see, not merely re-copy or to polish)
her or his work and make it more effective in delivering ideas to an audience.
At the end of your essay, after the “Works Cited” section, offer a one-paragraph
note (clearly labeled with a centered heading “Reflection”), discussing how and
why this essay is stronger than was W3. Tell me, please, what new strengths I
should look for.
Due Date: Monday, 5 April, by 11 PM.
Reference to What was ask of for W3
—“Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin.
Baldwin’s is one of the most powerful prose voices ever to have arisen
from the US. Trained as a young man to be a preacher, he always
sounds fervent on the page. He is famous as a stylist: his sentences
plant firm clauses but then elaborate dense modification and
qualification. Read him out loud and hear the famous voice! On the
page, readers watch Baldwin working out his points as he asserts
them, and always he is teaching. He wants to change the world, but
wants to work from the inside, out: he starts with the human heart.
His ability to describe, as well, has won praise. Note the street scenes
or the famous scene with his father in hospital. In this remarkable
essay he delves his relationship with his father . . . and with his
country.
W3
Review the “Using Sources” and “W3, 4, 5 Template.” Review, as well,
the sample page layout in LBB 8a. Make sure you have read LBB
chapters 1-7.
Expand your W2 materials to create a four-paragraph essay based on
the thesis and topic sentences you submitted for the W1 and W2
assignments. Responding to feedback from me and your own
additional thinking, please carefully revise and polish your thesis and
topic sentences, as well as the paragraphs’ contents. Note: In spite of
your revising, you must continue to write on the same topic. See LBB
chapter five for help with revision (which, we will recall, does not mean
to fix errors and recopy, but to re-see).
Include the following in your W3 writing:
Title for the essay (see LBB section 5c for format)
Introductory paragraph that ends in an underlined thesis
statement (see LBB section 7e.1)
Two body paragraphs that each begin with an underlined topic
sentence
A conclusion that does not repeat your points but that reflects
upon the significance of what you have argued (see LBB
section 7e.2)
A “Works Cited” listing
Save the document in MLA style as a WORD file with the following file
name: “YourLastName W3.”
As with all full essays written for this class, review the “Essay-Grading
Rubric” to be sure that you are meeting all criteria. A version of this
rubric will be used to award the (zero-to-) ten points available from
this assignment. Note, please, that if the essay fails in any one
horizontal category, the whole essay can fail and receive zero points.
The test for failing always will be whether or not errors prevent a clear
understanding of the ideas.
—“Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin.
Baldwin’s is one of the most powerful prose voices ever to have arisen
from the US. Trained as a young man to be a preacher, he always
sounds fervent on the page. He is famous as a stylist: his sentences
plant firm clauses but then elaborate dense modification and
qualification. Read him out loud and hear the famous voice! On the
page, readers watch Baldwin working out his points as he asserts
them, and always he is teaching. He wants to change the world, but
wants to work from the inside, out: he starts with the human heart.
His ability to describe, as well, has won praise. Note the street scenes
or the famous scene with his father in hospital. In this remarkable
essay he delves his relationship with his father . . . and with his
country.
Course
Instructor
Date
W5- Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin
Introduction
In James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son, the African American writer focuses on race issues and injustice in the US and Europe through ten stories. The writer includes his experiences in Harlem, and Baldwin was one of the few recognizable black writers. People's experiences shape their identity and perspectives in life. In the non-fiction essay, Baldwin uses his experience as a black man and other black people in mid 20th century America to explore racial discrimination, identity, and alienation.
Racial discrimination
Baldwin realized that even in Princeton, New Jersey, there was segregation like Jim Crow when he could not get service as expected in a self-service restaurant. He writes, "Negroes were not served there, I was told, and they had been waiting for me to realize that I was always the only Negro present." The African American people did not enjoy the same rights as w the white majority population. Baldwin was a writer and civil rights advocate who was concerned that people were indifferent to the plight of black people partly because they downplayed the efforts to promote civil rights protection for all. However, Baldwin also states that African Americans were not necessarily overly concerned with the issue of race and simply wanted equal opportunity and treatment under the law. To Baldwin, race and class divisions persisted, and this posed a problem in a society that dehumanized blacks, and yet national ethos emphasizes unity and equality.
Alienation and isolation
Baldwin highlights that people are caught up in alienation in the American society and are isolated mor...