50 Essays: A Portable Anthology [6 ed.] 131919446X, 9781319194468

Citation preview

Description The front cover shows a photo of a metal slinky spring toy.

Description The tet on the front insie cover reas efort. artin

s pts

writers first rom ay one or goal has een simple to provie inspiring resorces that are grone in est practices for teaching reaing an writing. or over years efort. artin

s has

partnere with the fiel listening to teachers scholars an stents aot the spport writers nee. ontact yor efort. artin

s sales representative or visit

macmillanlearning.com to learn more. ooking for igital formats nnovative igital learning space. efort. artin

s site of igital

tools makes it easy to get everyone on the same page y ptting stent writers at the center

. or etails visit

macmillanlearning.comcollegesenglishigital. oplar e ook formats. or etails aot or e ook partners visit macmillanlearning.comeooks.

ssays A Portable Anthology Sixth Edition Edited by University of Missouri

or eort artn i e resident Editori M in ernin unities Exe utive ror ire tor for Enish Senior ror Mner

win ill easa rton

eders nd iterture

ire tor of ontent eveoent unities Senior eveoent Mner

ane netger

san caghlin

Senior eveoent Editor Editori ssistnt

ate eorge

ari olfine

Exe utive Mretin Mner

oy isher illiams

ontent roe t Mner

amela awson

Senior orfo roe t Mner rodu tion Suervisor

isa cowell

oin esofsky

dvn ed Medi roe t Mner sso ite Medi Editor

an Thomas

aniel ohnson

Senior Mner of ubishin Servi es roe t Mneent oosition

ohn . llivan

nrea ava

mina atamatics nc. mina atamatics nc.

ext erissions Mner

alina ngham

ext erissions eser her

ristine anssenslaine osta

mina atamatics nc. hoto erissions Editor

ngela oehler

ire tor of esin ontent Mneent ext esin

anra igney iana lme

iana lme

over esin over e

illiam oarman pernsanitfotoetty mages

opyright

y efort. artin

s.

ll rights reserve. o part of this ook may e reproce store in a retrieval system or transmitte in any form or y any means electronic mechanical photocopying recoring or otherwise ecept as may e permitte y law or epressly permitte in writing y the lisher

or infortion rite

.

efort. artin

s rlington treet

oston moi Anolegent ext no edents nd oyrihts er t the b of the boo on es

hi h onstitute n extension of the

oyriht e rt no edents nd oyrihts er on the se e s the rt see tions they over

reface for nstrctors Essys ortbe nthooy

is a compact inepensive

collection of classic an contemporary essays most of which have alreay proven poplar in hnres of classrooms an with thosans of stents. earning how to rea goo writing ef

fectively

is crcial to learning how to write an think critically an Essys is fll of eceptional prose an many opportnities to practice reaing thinking an writing aot it. Essys nala

incles a core of classic essays sch as loria s ow to T ame a il T

onge angston ghes

alvation an reerick oglass

s

s earning to ea an

rite

accompanie y fresh recent selections sch as enine olmes hen ink allet lippers

ont o an anya

anagihara s

et T ortoise ho ill tlive s ll. or sch a compact volme Essys

represents an etraorinary iversity of voices an

genres from polemical ehortations to personal narratives from speeches to meitations an from nance argments to hmoros articles of varie length an compleity

. The essays shol stimlate

ieas for stents own writing as they provie son moels for rhetorical analysis. t

Essys

is more than st a selection of goo reaings it is a

versatile an practical collection esigne to prompt critical thinking an writing in the composition classroom. or maimm fleiility an ease of navigation the essays are arrange alphaetically y

s

athor

while alternative tales of contents are provie to help

instrctors shape corses that meet their teaching preferences. or eample one tale of contents is organie y rhetorical moe narration escription comparison an so forth another y rhetorical prpose personal epository another y theme ethics gener

argmentative writing

ientity

pop cltre natre an

the environment among others another y clsters an reaings loria nala anra isneros an my T angage an entity

ames alwin T

paire an on

a ehisi oates an

rent taples on en ncontering acism an more another lists the selections chronologically y the ate of the essay

s

composition an a final new tale lists the selections y eile level. or stents an introction provies avice on the key skills of active reaing critical thinking an writing. T

erms in ol throghot

the introction refer to a glossary at the ack of the ook which efines important writing terms sch as aience evience an plagiarism. n annotate moel paper shows stents how to analye an work with mltiple sorces. eanotes contetalie each reaing in its writer s own place an time. s an ai to comprehension the essays themselves are lightly glosse. everal types of assignments follow each reaing an provie mltiple avenes into it estions on meaning on rhetorical strategy

on

connections etween an among selections an on ieas for frther analysis an research. asic sentence gie helps stents hone their sentence writing skills while an style ocmentation gie helps stents write their own sorce ase papers.

ineteen reaings are new to this eition incling sssonconteporrtopics that invite stents to confront timely isses incling race relations an the election in ahawa aile s oing t lone grief in the age of the internet in atthew . . alay s The hosts in r achines an isplace persons in i eiwei s The efgee risis snt ot efgees. t s ot s. ssstteineeer ctre to make stents aware of the significance of often overlooke things incling anny ha s The rning esire for ot hicken which fins trths aot ran history in foo trens an T ommy range s nian eas which looks at the history of ative mericans throgh their representation on things like coins an T test patterns. n aition to the new reaings weve ae entencei esorc eic riters which will gie stents as they evelop their skills as writers oth in the classroom an eyon. neeieee eoontents to help oth instrctors an stents etermine the reaing levels of the varios essays in the ook.

. rom ay one or goal has een simple to provie inspiring resorces that are grone in est practices for teaching reaing an writing. or more than years efort. artin

s has

partnere with the fiel listening to teachers scholars an stents aot the spport writers nee.

e are committe to helping every

writing instrctor make the most of or resorces.

ow an

e elp

ou

r eitors can align or resorces to yor otcomes throgh correlation an transition gies for yor syllas. st ask s. r sales representatives specialie in helping yo fin the right materials to spport yor corse goals. r its log on the efort. artin s nglish ommnity conit cinco plishes fresh teaching ieas weekly. oll also fin easily ownloaale professional resorces an links to athor weinars on or commnity site. ontact yor efort. artin cinerninco

s sales representative or visit to learn more.

rint an igital ptions for

Essys

hoose the format that works est for yor corse an ask aot or packaging options that of fer savings for stents.

erb .

To orer the sith eition se

nnovtive diit ernin s e efort. artin s site of igital tools makes it easy to get everyone on the same page y ptting stent writers at the center . or etails visit cinernincoenis iit . our eboo forts or etails aot or e ook partners visit cinernincoeoos . n usive ess nale every stent to receive their corse materials throgh yor on the first ay of class. acmillan earning s nclsive ccess program is the easiest most afforale way to ensre all stents have access to ality ecational resorces. in ot more at cinernincoincsieccess .

or orse

or

ay

o two writing programs or classrooms are eactly alike. r rriclm oltions team works with yo to esign cstom options that provie the resorces yor stents nee. ptions elow reire enrollment minimms. oreords for Enish stomie any print resorce to fit the focs of yor corse or program y choosing from a range of prepare topics sch as entence ies for caemic riters. M in uthor ror M ecerpts or package acclaime works from acmillan s trae imprints to connect stents with prominent athors an plic conversations. list of poplar eamples or acaemic themes is availale pon reest. edford See t il yor own print hanook or anthology from a ataase of more than selections an a yor own materials to create yor ieal tet. ackage with any efort.

artin s tet for aitional savings. cinernincoe or seect

isit .

nstrctor esorces o have a lot to o in yor corse.

e want to make it easy for yo

to fin the spport yo nee an to get it ickly esour es for Essys can e ownloae from

.

ith ition is availale as a that cinerninco

chapter overviews an teaching tips the instrctor

. n aition to s manal incles

sample syllai answers to estions that appear within the ook an sggeste classroom activities.

any thanks go to the instrctors who helpe shape this eition of Essys

ennifer nnick l amino ollege amela rlov

ile eorgia tate ollege san aomi ernstein riona tate niversity ina orla ypress ollege illiam arney ameron niversity ith astillo alifornia tate niversity

ong

each hillip hamerlin illsorogh ommnity ollege mily osper

elgao ommnity ollege athy ote niana tate

niversity oseph och ontgomery ollege evin egnan l amino ollege igin T

. ore ollege of T

elhi iane lores agan ntelope lover

echnology at

alley ollege hristopher .

l amino ollege hannon ramse niversity of laska

nchorage sael rayson ercy ollege haron ohnson olms tate niversity risten eckler elley

ercy ollege T

orthwest hoals ommnity ollege eri awson

alifornia tate niversity

ong each atti carthy

niversity of

the acific avi cevitt alifornia tate niversity liaeth T

. aro alifornia tate niversity

rsko niversity of lerta

ynne rtle

tate niversity isa el osso ew niversity

ong each ong each achel estern onnectict

ork niversity avi ierk

yahoga ommnity ollege T haver

alifornia tate

ong each . nrew towe nerson niversity

aine weeney Trsky

im

io ono ommnity ollege lan ichael

lorence arlington T

echnical ollege an T

iicome niversity of laska nchorage.

oy

wol also like to thank the people who have mae this ook possile particlarly herry ooney for her strong ieas an stronger patience in her work with me on the fifth eition an ate eorge for her enthsiasm an smarts in helping to keep me ecite an on track for this eition. Thanks also to ari olfine who aly assiste ate. wol also like to acknowlege the help of ohn llivan or senior program manager amela awson who gie the ook throgh proction ristine anssens an laine osta for clearing permissions an oy isher illiams for her marketing insights. wol like to thank the teachers from whom was lcky to learn how to rea an write an teach. wol like to thank my pring

riting stents at arch ollege

who were

taght with this ook in its early stages an who ha a great eal of nflinchingly honest avice for how to pt it together

. wol also

like to thank the siteen years worth of stents have ha the pleasre to teach since then most in the nglish epartment at the niversity of issori for teaching me how to etter teach them in class an in this ook. ost of all wol like to thank ristin owen for everything she has taght me aot tetooks an many other things or oys en an enry

who have grown p with this ook

an can now see college ahea of them an or og alea who wol like to know when she gets to e on the cover

.

ontents reface for nstrctors lternative T ales of ontents y hetorical oe y rpose y Theme y lsters an aire eaings y hronological rer y eile evel entence ies for caemic riters ocmentation ie ntroction for tents ctive eaing ritical Thinking an the riting rocess rdution was no longer simply a memer of the pro graating class of was a pro memer of the wonerfl eatifl egro race. o to

e

id

onue

thnic ientity is twin skin to lingistic ientity am my langage. ntil can take prie in my langage cannot take prie in myself. n ossion ompassion is not a character trait like a snny isposition. t mst e learne an it is learne y having aversity at or winows. . . . otes of tive Son . . . . ha ha time to ecome aware of the meaning of all my father s itter warnings ha iscovere the secret of his

proly prse lips an rigi carriage ha iscovere the weight of white people in the worl. hy ont

. .

e oin

think the oservale relctance of the maority of mericans to assert themselves in minor matters is relate to or increase sense of helplessness in an age of technology an centralie political an economic power . he urnin esire for ot hi en t is in my opinion a amn near perfect ish. The lines that separate love an hate pleasre an pain epectation an reality they issolve when yo eat hot chicken. ny uhter wante my father to nerstan what it was was scriling to introce me as y only aghter ot as This is only my aghter . he teaches. teacher . ot even rofesor .

the writer. Es estr

er ut Exinin the istn e n the white estern worl view that learne as a chil trees fish an water were renewale resorces. nly years prior they were conceive of as enless resorces a myth white people roght west into the frontier . T

T

he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in

hen policing is elegitimie when it ecomes an occpying force the commnity sf fers. T

T

he Myth of the tin on ust Met

ir ed Mr . . . . o can leave the slan master the nglish langage an travel as far as yo can t if yo are a atina. . . .the slan travels with yo. n eein oteboo

e are not talking here aot the kin of noteook that is patently for plic consmption a strctral conceit for ining together a series of gracefl enses we are talking aot something private aot its of the min s string too short to se an iniscriminate an erratic assemlage with meaning only for its maker. ernin to ed nd rite . . . . wol at times feel that learning to rea ha een a crse rather than a lessing. t ha given me a view of my wretche conition withot the remey . Servin in orid o might imagine from a comfortale istance that people who live year in an year ot on to an hor have iscovere some srvival stratagems nknown to the mile class. t no. n uster ivin am a scavenger . think it a son an honorale niche althogh if col wol natrally prefer to live the comfortale consmer life perhaps an only perhaps as a slightly less wastefl consmer owing to what have learne as a scavenger . he

T

ys

e ie

. . . .t s not easy to entirely eliminate lies from or lives. o matter how pios we may try to e we will still emellish hege an omit to lricate the aily machinery of living. ronfu irth f the on etween motherhoo an mortality the novelist amantha nt has written o one has ever looke at my kis an sai ow. o mae three eaths. o mst really nerstan life. hen mae ley mae a particlarly rtal eath one that starts in his cells which

ont work ite right. ont know how to e sorry am.

only that

S hne hy the evoution ot e

i

eeted ifty years after one of the most etraorinary episoes of social pheaval in merican history we seem to have forgotten what activism is. T

ht s urrito rier

. . . .To talk aot rritos is to charge own a roa line with s every mp potentially the charge that is going to sen yo flying into a itch every screeching crve potentially yor last. T ell me what kin of rrito yo like an will tell yo who yo are t tell me what kin of rrito yo really think shol like an start looking for the net escape rote ot of town. oin t one s a eer lack woman m among the last people anyone epects to see on a throgh hike. t natre is a place ve always elonge. hen in et Siers ont o . . . .s a woman of color who has for years mie fonation to match my skin tone as an act of self love view tinting allet shoes as an act of love for my aghter T

Svtion angston why ont yo come hy ont yo come an e save h am of o hy ont yo come

T

o t ees to e oored Me have no separate feeling aot eing an merican citien an colore. am merely a fragment of the reat ol that srges within the onaries. y contry right or wrong.

T

he e rtion of ndeenden e

.

e hol these trths to e self evient that all men are create eal that they are enowe y their reator with certain nalienale ights that among these are ife ierty an the prsit of appiness. he Uy

ourist

The thing yo have always sspecte aot yorself the minte yo ecome a torist is tre a torist is an gly hman eing. edin to rite

T

f yo want to e a writer yo mst o two things aove all others rea a lot an write a lot. ur nishin iht iving in a glare of or own making we have ct orselves off from or evoltionary an cltral patrimony the light of the stars an the rhythms of ay an night. he ourth of uy y mother an father elieve that they col est protect their chilren from the realities of race in merica an the fact of merican racism y never giving them name mch less iscssing their natre. n ein rie eople cripple or not wince at the wor cripple as they o not at hanicappe or isale. erhaps want them to wince. TT . .

he hosts in ur M hines

n some ways these sorrowfl little lips feel like a reoot of an ol low tech phenomenon the way that after the loss of a love one people pop p at every trn to either ask yo how yo are oing or rge yo to think of all the goo times. T

o

ys to eon in eri

This is a tale of two sisters from alctta ira an harati who have live in the nite tates for some years t who fin themselves on if ferent sies in the crrent eate over the stats of immigrants. ndin eds

T

e are the memories we ont rememer which live in s which we feel which make s sing an ance an pray the way we o feelings from memories that flare an loom nepectely in or lives like loo throgh a lanket from a won mae y a llet fire y a man shooting s in the ack for or hair for or heas for a onty or st to get ri of s. Shootin n Eehnt t was a tiny incient in itself t it gave me a etter glimpse than ha ha efore of the real natre of imperialism the real motives for which espotic governments act. T

he eory of the ve

n now sai let me show in a figre how far or natre is enlightene or nenlightene. . . . ust

nn e

vere

tents will float to the mark yo set. an the others in the vocational classes were oing in pretty shallow water. oes

ruth Mtter

The metho of science as stogy an grmpy as it may seem is far more important than the finings of science. he Se

s ever ue

There is a specific reek chromatic cltre st as there is an gyptian one an nian one a ropean one an the like each of them eing reflecte in a vocalary that has

its own pecliarity an not to e measre only y the scientific meter of the ewtontian paraigm. The estion then is how can we hope to nerstan how the reeks saw their worl ie uys tol myself that wol fin a girlfrien in reece. he wol e a rench torist wanering the each with a loaf of rea eneath her arm. isette wol prove that wasnt a homoseal t a man with refine tastes. ust

TT

on y

Men nd ubi S e

ver the years learne to smother the rage felt at so often eing taken for a criminal. ot to o so wol srely have le to maness. T

Sex ies nd dvertisin ask yo ant we o etter than this Modest roos

TT

. . . . propose to provie for poor infants in sch a manner as instea of eing a charge pon their parents or the parish or wanting foo an raiment for the rest of their lives they shall on the contrary contrite to the feeing an partly to the clothing of many thosans. T

Mother onue am fascinate y langage in aily life. spen a great eal of my time thinking aot the power of langage the way it can evoke an emotion a visal image a comple iea or a simple trth. angage is the tool of my trae. n se them all all the nglishes grew p with. T

ivi isobedien e

There will never e a really free an enlightene tate ntil the tate comes to recognie the inivial as a higher an inepenent power from which all its own power an athority are erive an treats him accoringly .

T

st ys of the i sh

hen aske one rickshaw wallah if he thoght the government s plan to ri the city of rickshaws was ase on a genine interest in his welfare he smile with a ick shake of his hea a gestre interprete to mean f yo are so nave as to ask sch a estion will answer it t it is not worth wasting wors on. he o est ni

T

n trth man is incraly foolish. imple things which the other animals easily learn he is incapale of learning. he efuee risis snt bout efuees t

s bout

Us There are many orers to ismantle t the most important are the ones within or own hearts an mins these are the orers that are iviing hmanity from itself. n e More to the e

..T

mmertime oh smmertime pattern of life inelile the fae proof lake the woos nshatterale the pastre with the sweetfern an the niper forever an ever smmer withot en. . . . TT

Sn in eri

. . . .erhaps angage is more like some vast living oy or perennial oy of oies. n slang not only rings the first feeers of it t is afterwar the start of fancy imagination an hmor reathing into its nostrils the reath of life. rofessions for oen mean what is a woman assre yo o not know . o not elieve that yo know . o not elieve that anyoy can know ntil she has epresse herself in all the arts an professions open to hman skill.

et

ortoise ho

i utive Us

wning a pet is often an act of assme aleit nacknowlege reciprocity when people speak of their pet s nconitional love they are in fact revealing the nspoken highly one sie echange of pet ownership the hman will provie yo with foo an shelter an yo the pet will give me enless af fection an acceptance no matter how crmmy a person may e. ree ore athletes are speaking ot across the political spectrm as a series of revoltions occpations an protests has efine the gloal lanscape. The real worl is gaining on the sports worl an the sports worl is starting to look over its sholer . lossary of riting Terms ne of thors an T itles

Tale of ontents y hetorical oe rrtion aya ngelo rdution anra isneros ny uhter ahawa aile oin t one angston ghes Svtion re ore he ourth of uy atthew . . alay he hosts in ur M hines Tommy range ndin eds eorge rwell Shootin n Eehnt avi earis ie uys alvin T rillin st ys of the i sh irginia oolf rofessions for oen es rition anny ha he urnin esire for ot hi en li lare er ut Exinin the istn e oan iion n eein oteboo onathan ol ht s urrito rier ora eale rston o t ees to e oored Me aria ichela assi he Se s ever ue ark T wain he o est ni . . hite n e More to the e anya anagihara et ortoise ho i utive Us ro ess nysis oan iion n eein oteboo reerick oglass ernin to ed nd rite ars ighner n uster ivin tephen ing edin to rite

loria teinem

Sex ies nd dvertisin

Exe arara aear scher n ossion Ta ehisi oates he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in arara hrenreich Servin in orid enine olmes hen in et Siers ont o Thomas ef ferson he e rtion of ndeenden e ave irin ree efinition loria nala o to e id onue en ann ronfu irth amaica incai he Uy ourist ancy airs n ein rie aria ichela assi he Se s ever ue alt hitman Sn in eri ssifi tion ith rti ofer he Myth of the tin on ust Met ir ed Mr tephanie ricsson he ys e ie ike ose ust nn e vere my T an Mother onue ark T wain he o est ni orisonontrst ames alwin otes of tive Son harati kheree o ys to eon in eri ark T wain he o est ni useEffe t illiam

. ckley r

. hy ont

e oin

Ta ehisi oates

he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in

en ann ronfu irth erlyn linkenorg ur nishin iht rent taples ust on y Men nd ubi S e i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t bout Us

s

ruentersusion Ta ehisi oates he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in alcolm lawell S hne hy the evoution ot e eeted amaica incai he Uy ourist erlyn linkenorg ur nishin iht lato he eory of the ve onathan wift Modest roos enry avi Thorea ivi isobedien e i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t bout Us

i

s

Tale of ontents y rpose erson aya ngelo loria nala ames alwin anra isneros

rdution o to e otes of tive Son ny uhter

id

onue

ith rti ofer he Myth of the tin on ust Met ir ed Mr reerick oglass ernin to ed nd rite en ann ronfu irth ahawa aile oin t one enine olmes hen in et Siers ont o angston ghes Svtion ora eale rston o t ees to e oored Me re ore he ourth of uy ancy airs eorge rwell

n ein rie Shootin n Eehnt

ike ose ust nn e avi earis ie uys rent taples ust on y S e my T an Mother onue . . hite

vere Men nd ubi

n e More to the e

Exository arara aear scher n ossion illiam . ckley r . hy ont li lare er ut Exinin the istn e oan iion n eein oteboo

e oin

ars ighner n uster ivin enine olmes hen in et Siers ont o tephen ing edin to rite atthew . . alay he hosts in ur M hines harati kheree o ys to eon in eri Tommy range ndin eds arl agan oes ruth Mtter aria ichela assi he Se s ever ue loria teinem Sex ies nd dvertisin alvin T rillin st ys of the i sh alt hitman Sn in eri irginia oolf rofessions for oen ave irin ree ruenttive Ta ehisi oates he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in arara hrenreich Servin in orid tephanie ricsson he ys e ie alcolm lawell S hne hy the evoution ot e eeted Thomas ef ferson he e rtion of ndeenden e amaica incai he Uy ourist erlyn linkenorg ur nishin iht lato he eory of the ve onathan wift Modest roos enry avi Thorea ivi isobedien e ark T wain he o est ni i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t bout Us

i

s

Tale of ontents y Theme Edu tion aya ngelo rdution loria nala o to e id onue reerick oglass ernin to ed nd rite re ore he ourth of uy ike ose

ust

nn e

vere

Ethi s Ta ehisi oates

he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in

en ann ronfu irth tephanie ricsson he ys e ie ancy airs n ein rie eorge rwell Shootin n Eehnt lato he eory of the ve onathan wift Modest roos i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t bout Us

s

iy anra isneros ny uhter en ann ronfu irth angston ghes Svtion atthew . . alay he hosts in ur M hines harati kheree o ys to eon in eri my T an Mother onue . . hite n e More to the e anya ender

anagihara et

ortoise ho

i utive Us

ith rti ofer ir ed Mr rent taples S e

he Myth of the tin on ust Met ust

on y

Men nd ubi

loria teinem Sex ies nd dvertisin irginia oolf rofessions for oen istory nd oiti s ahawa aile oin t one Thomas ef ferson he e rtion of ndeenden e harati kheree o ys to eon in eri eorge rwell Shootin n Eehnt onathan wift Modest roos enry avi Thorea ivi isobedien e i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t bout Us ave irin ree dentity aya ngelo rdution loria nala o to e id onue ames alwin otes of tive Son anra isneros ny uhter ith rti ofer he Myth of the tin on ust Met ir ed Mr ahawa aile oin t one enine olmes hen in et Siers ont o ora eale rston o t ees to e oored Me amaica incai he Uy ourist ancy airs n ein rie Tommy range

ndin eds

s

avi earis rent taples S e

ie uys ust

on y

Men nd ubi

Medi nd o uture illiam . ckley r . hy ont e oin Ta ehisi oates he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in alcolm lawell S hne hy the evoution ot e eeted atthew . . alay he hosts in ur M hines harati kheree o ys to eon in eri rent taples ust on y Men nd ubi S e ave irin ree e nd uture loria nala o to e id onue ames alwin otes of tive Son anra isneros ny uhter Ta ehisi oates he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in ith rti ofer he Myth of the tin on ust Met ir ed Mr ahawa aile oin t one enine olmes hen in et Siers ont o ora eale rston o t ees to e oored Me re ore he ourth of uy harati kheree o ys to eon in eri Tommy range ndin eds rent taples ust on y Men nd ubi S e edin nd ritin

i

loria nala o to e id onue oan iion n eein oteboo reerick oglass ernin to ed nd rite tephen ing edin to rite my T an Mother onue irginia oolf rofessions for oen hinin lato he eory of the ve enry avi Thorea ivi isobedien e ture nd the Environent li lare er ut Exinin the istn e ahawa aile oin t one erlyn linkenorg ur nishin iht arl agan oes ruth Mtter . . hite n e More to the e or nd ss arara aear scher n ossion arara hrenreich Servin in orid ars ighner n uster ivin alvin T rillin st ys of the i sh irginia ave irin

oolf rofessions for oen ree

Tale of ontents y lsters an aire eaings nue nd dentity loria nala anra isneros

o to e ny uhter

id

onue

my T an Mother onue irnt

es ith rti ofer ir ed Mr

he Myth of the tin on ust Met

harati kheree o ys to eon in eri i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t bout Us Misedu tion Systes aya ngelo rdution ike ose ust nn e

s

vere

in eth atthew . . alay anya

he hosts in ur M hines

anagihara et

ortoise ho

i utive Us

ood anny ha onathan ol

he urnin esire for ot hi en ht s urrito rier

Sved by edin reerick oglass tephen ing

ernin to ed nd rite edin to rite

Men En ounterin is ames alwin Ta ehisi oates

otes of tive Son he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in

rent taples S e

ust

on y

Men nd ubi

oen Sein to is ora eale rston o t ees to e oored Me re ore he ourth of uy ahawa aile oin t one Exinin ender Stereotyes anra isneros ith rti ofer ir ed Mr rent taples S e

ny uhter he Myth of the tin on ust Met ust

on y

Men nd ubi

utures of ioen e Ta ehisi oates he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in Tommy range ndin eds ivin oor arara aear scher n ossion arara hrenreich Servin in orid ars ighner n uster ivin Seein nd eity oan iion n eein oteboo lato he eory of the ve Medited ives alcolm lawell ot e eeted atthew . . alay

S hne hy the evoution he hosts in ur M hines

ture nd Mority li lare er ut Exinin the istn e

i

. . hite

n e More to the e

efinin overnent Thomas ef ferson he e rtion of ndeenden e enry avi Thorea ivi isobedien e Mor hoi es en ann ronfu irth eorge rwell Shootin n Eehnt enry avi Thorea ivi isobedien e voidin the ruth tephanie ricsson angston ghes

he ys Svtion

e ie

onseuen es of onfority illiam . ckley r . hy ont eorge rwell Shootin n Eehnt

e oin

ruin inst nusti e Thomas ef ferson he e rtion of ndeenden e onathan wift Modest roos enry avi Thorea ivi isobedien e i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t bout Us

s

nvders amaica incai he Uy ourist i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t bout Us ivin nd yin en ann ronfu irth atthew . . alay he hosts in ur M hines anya anagihara et ortoise ho i utive Us

s

ettin st ern es ith rti ofer ir ed Mr amaica incai

he Myth of the tin on ust Met he Uy

ourist

oe Modes ike ose ave irin

ust ree

nn e

vere

Tale of ontents y hronological rer lato he eory of the ve onathan wift Modest roos Thomas ef ferson he e rtion of ndeenden e reerick oglass ernin to ed nd rite enry avi Thorea ivi isobedien e alt hitman Sn in eri ark T wain he o est ni ora eale rston o t ees to e oored Me irginia oolf rofessions for oen eorge rwell Shootin n Eehnt angston ghes Svtion . . hite n e More to the e ames alwin otes of tive Son illiam . ckley r . hy ont oan iion n eein oteboo

e oin

aya ngelo rdution re ore he ourth of uy arara aear scher n ossion ancy airs n ein rie rent taples ust on y Men nd ubi S e loria nala o to e id amaica incai he Uy ourist ike ose ust nn e vere anra isneros ny uhter loria teinem Sex ies nd dvertisin my T an Mother onue

onue

tephanie ricsson he ys e ie ith rti ofer he Myth of the tin on ust Met ir ed Mr ars ighner n uster ivin harati kheree o ys to eon in eri arl agan oes ruth Mtter avi earis ie uys tephen ing edin to rite avi earis ie uys arara hrenreich Servin in orid erlyn linkenorg ur nishin iht alvin T rillin st ys of the i sh onathan ol ht s urrito rier alcolm lawell S hne hy the evoution e eeted ave irin ree Tommy range ndin eds li lare er ut Exinin the istn e Ta ehisi oates he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in atthew . . alay he hosts in ur M hines anny ha he urnin esire for ot hi en en ann ronfu irth ahawa aile oin t one aria ichela assi he Se s ever ue anya anagihara et ortoise ho i utive Us enine olmes hen in et Siers ont o i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t Us

i ot

s bout

Tale of ontents y eile evel angston ghes Svtion irginia oolf rofessions for oen anra isneros ny uhter ora eale rston o t ees to e oored Me ahawa aile oin t one eorge rwell Shootin n Eehnt ike ose ust nn e vere reerick oglass rent taples ust

ernin to ed nd rite on y Men nd ubi S e

my T an Mother onue arara aear scher n ossion tephen ing edin to rite tephanie ricsson he ys e ie illiam . ckley r . hy ont e oin ark T wain he o est ni Ta ehisi oates he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in avi earis ie uys en ann ronfu irth Tommy range ndin eds enry avi Thorea ivi isobedien e aya ngelo rdution enine olmes hen in et Siers ont o ancy airs n ein rie ars ighner n uster ivin alcolm lawell S hne hy the evoution e eeted ames alwin otes of tive Son

i ot

anny ha he urnin esire for ot hi en lato he eory of the ve erlyn linkenorg ur nishin iht loria nala o to e id onue atthew . . alay he hosts in ur M hines arara hrenreich Servin in orid harati kheree o ys to eon in eri li lare er ut Exinin the istn e anya anagihara et ortoise ho i utive Us arl agan oes ruth Mtter ith rti ofer he Myth of the tin on ust Met ir ed Mr re ore he ourth of uy loria teinem Sex ies nd dvertisin alt hitman Sn in eri ave irin ree oan iion n eein oteboo i eiwei he efuee risis snt bout efuees t Us alvin T rillin st ys of the i sh aria ichela assi he Se s ever ue onathan ol ht s urrito rier

s bout

entence ies for caemic

riters

eing a college stent means eing a college writer

. o matter

what fiel yo are stying yor instrctors will ask yo to make sense of what yo are learning throgh writing. hen yo work on writing assignments in college yo are in most cases eing aske to write for an acaemic aience. riting acaemically means thinking acaemically asking a lot of estions igging into the ieas of others an entering into scholarly eates an acaemic conversations. s a college writer yo will e aske to rea if

ferent kins of tets nerstan an

evalate athors ieas argments an methos an contrite yor own ieas. n this way

yo present yorself as a participant in

an acaemic conversation. hat oes it mean to e part of an think of it this way

dei

onverstion

ell

o an yor friens may have an ongoing

eate aot the est film trilogy of all time. ring yor conversations with one another yo analye the etails of the films introce points yo want yor friens to consier

listen to their

ieas an perhaps cite what the critics have sai aot a particlar trilogy. This kin of conversation is not nlike what happens among scholars in acaemic writing ecept they col e eating the est plic policy for a social prolem or the most promising new theory in treating isease.

f yo are ncertain aot what acaemic writing

sounds ie or if

yore not sre yore any goo at it this ooklet of

fers giance for

yo at the sentence level. t helps answer estions sch as these ow can present the ieas of others in a way that emonstrates my nerstaning of the eate ow can agree with someone t a a new iea ow can isagree with a scholar withot seeming well re ow can make clear in my writing which ieas are mine an which ieas are someone else s

The following sections offer sentence gies for yo to se an aapt to yor own writing sitations. s in all writing that yo o yo will have to think aot yor prpose reason for writing an yor aience reaers efore knowing which gies will e most appropriate for a particlar piece of writing or for a certain part of yor essay . The gies are organie to help yo present ackgron information the views an claims of others an yor own views an claims all in the contet of yor prpose an aience.

hen yo write in acaemic sitations yo may e aske to spen some time giving ackgron information for or setting a contet for yor main iea or argment. This often reires yo to present or smmarie what is known or what has alreay een sai in relation to the estion yo are asking in yor writing.

resenting what is known or assme hen yo write yo will fin that yo occasionally nee to present something that is known sch as a specific fact or a statistic. The following strctres are sefl when yo are proviing ackgron information. s we know from history has shown that

. .

esearch y an sggests that ccoring to

. percent of

arefavor

.

n other sitations yo may have the nee to present information that is assme or that is conventional wisom. eople often elieve that onventional wisom leas s to elieve

. .

any mericans share the iea that

.

is a

wiely hel elief.

n orer to challenge an assmption or a wiely hel elief yo have to acknowlege it first. oing so lets yor reaers elieve that yo are placing yor ieas in an appropriate contet. lthogh many people are le to elieve there is significant enefit to consiering the merits of

.

ollege stents ten to elieve that

when in fact the

opposite is mch more likely the case.

resenting others views s a writer

yo il yor own

ethos or creiility

y eing ale to

fairly an accrately represent the views of others. s an acaemic writer yo will e epecte to emonstrate yor nerstaning of a tet y smmariing the views or argments of its athor s . T

oo

so yo will se langage sch as the following. arges that

.

emphasies the nee for

.

n this important article an claim enorses

ecase

an have recently criticie the iea that

. . .

accoring to is the most critical case of .

lthogh yo will create yor own variations of these sentences as yo raft an revise the gies can e sefl tools for thinking throgh how est to present another writer

s claim or fining clearly

an concisely .

resenting irect otations hen the eact wors of a sorce are important for accracy athority rinarily

emphasis or flavor yo will want to se a irect otation. yo will present irect otations with langage of yor

own that sggests how yo are sing the sorce. characteries the prolem this way . . . ccoring to

is efine as . . .

. . . eplains . arges strongly in favor of the policy

T

pointing ot that . . .

o will generally cite irect otations accoring to the

ocmentation style yor reaers epect. style often se in nglish an in other hmanities corses recommens sing the athor name paire with a page nmer

if there is one.

style

se in most social sciences reires the year of plication generally after the mention of the sorce with page nmers after

the ote material. n

hi o

style se in history an in some

hmanities corses writers se sperscript nmers like this

to

refer reaers to footnotes or ennotes. n tet citations like the ones shown elow

refer reaers to entries in the works cite or reference

list. aarn arges that or overreliance on testing in schools oes not pt stents first . aarn arges that or overreliance on testing in schools oes not pt stents first. p. hi o

aarn arges that or overreliance on testing in schools oes not pt stents first.

any writers se irect otations to avance an argment of their own

Description

The tet reas highlight egins tanarie testing makes it easier for aministrators to measre stent performance t it may not e the est way to measre it. T

oo mch testing wears stents

ot an commnicates the iea that recall is the most important skill we want them to evelop. highlight ens note reas tent writer

corresponing margin

s iea. nerline egins ven ecation

policy avisor elissa aarn arges that or overreliance on testing in schools open otes oes not pt stents first close otes . nerline ens

corresponing margin note reas orce

s

iea.

resenting alternative views ost eates whether they are scholarly or poplar

are comple

often with more than two sies to an isse. ometimes yo will have to synthesie the views of mltiple participants in the eate efore yo introce yor own ieas. n the one han reports that insists that

t on the other han

.

ven thogh enorses the policy however

refers to it as . . .

isnt convince an instea arges

an have spporte the theory in the past t new research y sggests that

.

.

hen yo write for an acaemic aience yo will inee have to emonstrate that yo are familiar with the views of others who are asking the same kins of estions as yo are. ch writing that is one for acaemic prposes asks yo to pt yor argments in the contet of eisting argments in a way asking yo to connect the known to the new. hen yo are aske to write a smmary or an informative tet yor own views an argments are generally not calle for

. owever

mch of the writing yo will e assigne to o in college asks yo to take a persasive stance an present a reasone argment at times in response to a single tet an at other times in response to mltiple tets.

resenting yor own views agreement an etension ometimes yo agree with the athor of a sorce. s argment is convincing ecase ecase

s approach is so

. it is the est way to

. makes an important point when she says

.

ther times yo fin yo agree with the athor of a sorce t yo want to eten the point or go a it eeper in yor own investigation.

n a way yo acknowlege the sorce for getting yo so far in the conversation t then yo move the conversation along with a relate comment or fining. s proposal for step frther

is inee worth consiering. oing one .

makes the claim that

. y etension isnt it also tre

then that has een aeately eplaine y . ow eyon that iea an ask whether

let s move .

resenting yor own views eries an skepticism o may e intimiate when yore aske to talk ack to a sorce especially if the sorce is a well known scholar or epert or even st a freent voice in a particlar eate. ollege level writing asks yo to e skeptical however

an approach acaemic estions with the

min of an investigator . t is ok to ot to estion to challenge ecase the en reslt is often new knowlege or new nerstaning aot a sect. olnt it also e arge that t is everyone willing to agree that this is the case hile insists that estion to egin with.

is so he is perhaps asking the wrong

The claims that an have mae while intelligent an well meaning leave many nconvince ecase they have faile to consier .

resenting yor own views isagreement or correction o may fin that at times the only response yo have to a tet or to an athor is complete isagreement. s claims aot

are completely misgie.

presents a long metaphor comparing

to

in the en the comparison is nconvincing ecase

.

t can e tempting to isregar a sorce completely if yo etect a piece of information that strikes yo as false or that yo know to e ntre. lthogh reports that

recent sties inicate that is not

the case. hile an insist that

is so an eamination of their

figres shows that they have mae an important miscalclation.

note aot sing first person ome isciplines look favoraly pon the se of the first person in acaemic writing. thers o not an instea stick to sing thir person. f yo are given a writing assignment for a class yo are etter of

f asking

yor instrctor what he or she prefers or reaing throgh any samples given than uessin

what might e epecte.

irst person

me my we

estion e

s o r

inger s metho s an small sample si e.

arnessing chil ren s technology o session in the classroom is

elieve the

key to improving learning. an a s interpretation foc ses on circle imagery as sym olic of the family my analysis lea s me in a ifferent irection entirely. e wo l

in fact

enefit from looser laws a o t farming on o r personal

property.

Thir person names an other no ns e

inger s metho s an small sample si e are

estiona le.

arnessing chil ren s technology o session in the classroom is the key to improving learning. an a s interpretation foc ses on circle imagery as sym olic of the family other rea ers analyses may point in a ifferent irection entirely. any mericans wo l

in fact

enefit from looser laws a o t farming on

personal property.

o may feel as if not eing ale to se in an essay in which yo present yor ieas aot a topic is nfair or will lea to weaker statements. now that yo can make a strong argment even if yo write in the thir person. Thir person writing allows yo to son more assertive creile an acaemic.

resenting an contering oections to yor argment f fective college writers know that their argments are stronger when they can anticipate oections that others might make.

ome will oect to this proposal on the grons that ot everyone will emrace

.

they may arge instea that

.

ontering or responing to opposing voices fairly an respectflly strengthens yor writing an yor

ethos or creiility

.

an might conten that this interpretation is falty however . ost

elieve that there is too mch risk in this approach.

t what they have faile to take into consieration is

.

eaers of acaemic writing often want to know what

s at stake in a

particlar eate or tet. They want to know why it is that they shol care an that they shol keep reaing. sie from crafting inivial sentences yo mst of corse keep the igger pictre in min as yo attempt to persae inform evalate or review

.

resenting stakeholers hen yo write yo may e oing so as a memer of a grop affecte y the research conversation yo have entere. or eample yo may e among the thosans of stents in yor state whose level of et may change as a reslt of new laws aot financing a college ecation. n this case yo are a

stehoder

in

the matter. n other wors yo have an interest in the matter as a person who col e impacte y the otcome of a ecision. n the other han yo may e writing as an investigator of a topic that interests yo t that yo arent irectly connecte with. persaing yor aience on ehalf of

o may e

a grop of intereste

stakeholers a grop of which yo yorself are not a memer

.

o can give yor writing some teeth if yo make it clear who is eing af fecte y the iscssion of the isse an the ecisions that have or will e mae aot the isse. The grops of stakeholers are highlighte in the following sentences. iewers of rosawa

s films may not agree with that

.

The research will come as a srprise to parents of chilren with T ype iaetes

.

s claims have the power to offen potentially every low wage earner in the state. arathoners

might want to reconsier their training regimen if stories

sch as those tol y an are valiate y the meical commnity

.

resenting the so what or reaers to e motivate to rea yor writing they have to feel as if yore either aressing something that matters to them or aressing something that matters very mch to yo or that shol matter to s all. oo acaemic writing often hooks reaers with a sense of rgency a serios response to a reaer aving a frank iscssion aot

s o what

now will pt s in a far

etter position to eal with

in the ftre. f we are nwilling

or nale to o so we risk

.

ch a reakthrogh will af

fect

in three significant ways.

t is easy to elieve that the stakes arent high enogh to e alarming in fact

will e af fecte y

.

iesprea isapproval of an censorship of sch fictionfilmsart will mean

for s in the ftre. ltre shol represent .

col ring aot npreceente opportnities for to participate in

something never seen

efore. ew eperimentation in investigate

col allow scientists to in ways they colnt have imagine

years ago.

resenting the players an positions in a eate ome isciplines ask writers to compose a review of the literatre as a part of a larger proect or sometimes as a free staning assignment. n a review of the literatre the writer sets forth a research estion smmaries the key sorces that have aresse the estion pts the crrent research in the contet of other voices in the research conversation an ientifies any gaps in the research. riting that presents a eate its players an their positions can often e lengthy . hat follows however

can give yo the sense of

the flow of ieas an trns in sch a piece of writing.

Description The tet reas highlight egins lank af

fects more than percent

of chilren in merica an signs point to a worsening sitation in years to come ecase of

an . oltions to the prolem have

ele even the sharpest policy mins an rightest researchers. highlight ens

corresponing margin note reas tent writer

states the prolem . n an important sty

fon that lank

which pointe to more prolems than soltions. corresponing margin note reas tent writer smmaries the views of others on the topic . llipsis esearch y an mae stries in or nerstaning of lank t still int of

fer specific strategies for

chilren an families strggling to lank. llipsis hen reecte oth the methos an the finings of an

arging that lank

policymakers an health care eperts were optimistic. llipsis highlight egins T oo mch iscssion of lank however

an too

little iscssion of lank may lea s to soltions that are ltimately

too epensive to sstain. highlight ens

corresponing margin

note reas tent writer presents her view in the contet of crrent research.

erb atter

sing a variety of vers in yor sentences can a

strength an clarity as yo present others views an yor own views.

hen yo want to resent a view fairly netrally acknowleges

comments

as

contens

amits

notes

oserves

sggest

points ot reports

writes

points ot that the plan ha nintene otcomes.

hen yo want to present a stronger view arges

emphasies

asserts

insists

eclares

arges in favor of a an on

t

insists the plan is

misgie.

hen yo want to show agreement agrees

enorses

confirms

n enorsement of

s position is smart for a nmer of reasons.

hen yo want to show contrast or isagreement compares

reftes

enies

reects

isptes

The town mst come together an

reect

s claims that

is in the est interest of the citiens.

hen yo want to anticipate an oection amits acknowleges

concees

amits that closer sty of sample sie is necessary for

with a mch larger .

ocmentation ie ngaging with the work of others is an important part of acaemic writing. hen writing formal essays aot the works in

Essys

when yo refer in yor writing to other otsie sorces yo nee to acknowlege these sorces. hen yo smmarie paraphrase or ote otsie sorces in yor writing it is crcial that yo properly acknowlege them. t is important for two reasons. irst it emonstrates that yo are oining the intellectal iscssion writing not st aot yor own ieas an aot yor own eperience t in conversation with the ieas an eperiences of others. econ it is yor ethical responsiility to acknowlege when the wors an ieas that appear in yor work o not originate with yo if yo ont yo will e gilty of plagiarism a serios acaemic of serios conseences an also an act of ishonesty o uenttion

fense carrying .

is the wor for the activity of acknowleging sorces.

There are if ferent systems or styles of ocmentation the style most often se in nglish an the hmanities is that recommene y the oern angage ssociation . elow are some eamples of the most common kins of ocmentation in style conslt the M ndboo

eighth eition at style.mla.org for

aitional information an moels.

or

style is fairly simple. hen yo nee to cite a sorce yo o so in a parenthetical in tet citation. ather than se footnotes or ennotes yo insert efore the perio at the en of the sentence a parenthetical reference that lets reaers know the sorce an sally

where in the sorce the particlar material can e

fon. f

the sorce is clear from the sentence itself yo nee only incle a page nmer in parentheses if the sorce is not clear

incling the

athor s name along with the page nmer will e enogh to allow the reaer to fin the sorce in the list of works cite which yo will incle at the en of yor essay gielines for which follow this section . elow are some eamples of the most common kins of parenthetical citations. There are a nmer of eceptions to these general rles yoll fin these elow too.

he Eirnts

egins t the en of eptemer shortly

efore took p my position in orwich rove ot to ingham with lara in search of somewhere to live eal .

ccoring to the nlightenment thinking is the creation of nifie scientific orer an the erivation of factal knowlege from principles orkheimer an orno .

s one letter to the eitor of an intellectal ornal pt it ighteen months later the is still stonewalling lakey et al. .

f the avian fl a recent eitorial states ooy has the foggiest iea whether a panemic will arrive in the near ftre or how severe one might e t feeral of

ficials arge persasively

to race orselves for the worst

s a recent article on the

that we have

accine apacity .

e perioical

nside iher Edu tion

eplains in many feeral agencies it is stanar practice for eternal grops to formally ask of

ficials to egin a process to review

a specific rle or set of rles eerman .

n his atoiography

or wrote f m rememere it will proaly

e for healing the lan t. in atterson .

The works cite list is the place where yor reaer can go to fin ot more information aot the sorces cite in yor parenthetical citations. ollow these gielines for the format for this list which shol e given its own page or pages it shol e organie alphaetically y athor

s last name or first maor wor in the title it

shol e ole space each entry shol egin at the left margin an the secon an all following lines of an entry shol e inente one ta or five spaces or one half inch .

ooks

ohen amel. fter the End of istory eri n i tion in the s . of owa .

ohlenrock oert . an al . Thomson r . o erin nts Srt eeds to enuts n e. othern llinois .

nningham tewart et al. .

Medi E onoi s

arca ristina. res of Sinifi nt irs . . he dy Mtdor s ote . criner

llmann egina. he ountry od Stories eals ew irections lishing .

ghes angston. alvation. th e. efort. artin

Essys s pp. .

. algrave acmillan

. imon an chster .

. Translate y rt

eite y amel ohen

tark reya. . vols.

etters . ite y cy oorehea ompton ress

agleton T erry. iterry heory n ntrodu tion innesota .

. r e. of

erioicals

atchie Thomas. aw verss ove in urtery vol. no. mmer pp. .

ryan hristy .

rossman ev

ray

. vory

orship. tion eorhi

. tar s orn.

ie

iawatha. s T oys et marter oston obe ec. p. .

The oa towar eace. . itorial.

he ound ouse

he e

ov

. Mid est

ct. pp.

. pp. .

rivacy sses merge.

or

ies

e. p.

he

lectronic orces

Transparency nternational. oition inst orrution

rnsren y nterntion he ob . www.transparency.org .

ocial an istorical ontet itality. resh rr nd iit nue r hive roe t nstitte for vance Technology in the manities www.arapesh.orgsociohistoricalcontetvitality .php. ccesse ar ..

ahey ohn . ecalling the an issile risis. he shinton ost ct. p. . etter . exisexis ibrry Exress www.leisneis.comhottopicsnplicliraryepress .

iketty Thomas. it in the rthr olhammer arvar ooks.google.comooksisn

entyirst entury . Translate y . ooe oos .

eonar nrew . The rveillance tate igh chool. Son ov . www.salon.com thesrveillancestatehighschool

.

Thornrgh aitlin. oates ectre. eceive y ita nerson ct. . mail.

ther orces

T T . tion eorhi

tin laimir ne .

ec. p. . vertisement.

. nterview y harlie ose.

hrie ose he

ee

nite tates epartment of gricltre oo an trition ervice hil trition rograms. Eiibiity Mnu for S hoo Mes eterinin nd erifyin Eiibiity tion S hoo un h ror ly www.fns.sa.govsitesefaltfilescn a.pf .

cott iley irector . he Mrtin . erformances y att amon essica hastain risten iig an ate ara T wentieth entry o .

ree peech on ollege ampses. y eter len ov

shinton ourn ..

narrate

ntroction for tents ctive eaing ritical Thinking an the riting rocess

ar work preparation an lots of reaing can a p to goo writing. That is the arithmetic of writing.

e ecome active critical

intelligent reaers an writers y careflly reaing the writing of others an then applying what we have learne to or own writing. eaing an writing are most of what yo will o in yor college corses. The strongest reaers an writers have learne to see these activities as inetricaly intertwine.

o rea yo write then

yo rea some more then yo write again. n this pattern applies in nearly all of yor classes not st those in nglish an history an other isciplines that come to min as reaing an writing heavy ath iology

.

an engineering classes reire the same skills.

ciring an strengthening them at the start of yor college career will help yo all the way to graation an eyon as reaing an writing are central to so many of the careers yo might fin yorself in a few years own the roa. This introction will riefly consier the est ways to approach the kins of assignments yo will enconter in yor college writing corses. s yo rea it think aot the ways yo rea an write now. o yo o some of these things alreay ave yo trie them efore e open to the avice t rememer one teacher. or teacher may have if an these ieas may change. ere of this ook arge

it is only the avice of ferent ieas st as yo may

s an eample in the first eition

against reaing while lying own saying it was

etter to sit p so yo col pay etter attention an stay awake.

tents teachers an my eitor isagree. ecie they were right. The point s the introction will eplain the est thing yo can o with the tets yo enconter in school an in the worl is try oth to nerstan them an to evalate them an e open to having yor min change y them. n if yo want o so while stretche ot on a nice comfortale coch.

e rea for a nmer of reasons.

e want the news we want

information we want to e entertaine. people thinking. lives.

e want to hear other

e want to e taken ot of orselves an live other

e also rea ecase it is crcial to learning how to write. The

poet ane enyon gave this avice on ecoming a etter writer ave goo sentences in yor ears. T

o write well to epress yor

ieas ef ficiently an clearly yo nee to oserve how others o it. o nee to see eamples of the ways writers write the technies an forms they se. ecase goo writing is aot more than correctness thogh yo also have to oserve the ways writers think.

orking with ieas hanling the ieas of others an

presenting yor own is the most important thing writers o an so the most important thing for writers to learn. ecase it is so important of corse it is if

ficlt. ife is like that. t reaing

eamples of goo writing gives yo access to moels it shows writers engaging with ieas holing them p to the light trning them this way an that an maye moifying them in some way aing something taking something away

taking them apart entirely

offering their own instea. To learn to o the same however mimic what goo writers o.

yo nee to o more than simply

o nee to treat their writing the same

way they treat ieas. ol their writing p to the light trn it this way an that figre ot how it works an also how it oesnt think aot

how it might e wrong how yo might think if

ferently aot their

sects. This activity is sometimes calle active or critical reaing. The essays in this collection are here to e stie as moels they are also here to e rea critically

. hile yo might learn

something

from every essay they are not chapters in a chemistry tetook. or o is not to take what they say as the gospel trth. nstea yo shol evalate what yo rea. This oesnt mean yo shol treat these essays as movie critics treat movies or restarant critics treat foo these essays arent here for yo to simply ge to give a thms p or own to to savor or spit ot. nstea yo shol evalate their ieas an the way they present them as if in conversation with them. sk estions of them arge with their assmptions eamine how they connect their ieas an test these connections. n learning to think this way aot what writers create yo will learn to think like a writer . There are many technies that can help yo rea this way

. hat

they oil own to is reaing actively rather than passively

. Think of

passive reaing as like watching television. hile there are some goo thoghtfl programs on T

most of s watch T passively

sitting on a coch maye eating maye oing something else simltaneosly t not or schoolwork of corse an letting television wash over s. ctive reaing in contrast reires fll attention. ostre asie yor min nees to e sitting p straight concentrating on the page reay to reach own into the page an

gra the wors. ere are some tips to ensre that yo get the most ot of what yo rea.

e conscios n aition to eing awake it is important to e conscios of the sitation yo are in. hy are yo reaing erely for comprehension or for oservation of the writing itself or for argment aot the ieas hat are yo reaing or what prpose or occasion or plication was the piece written an y whom s it a selection from someone s atoiography s it an article from a newspaper or an eitorial ow has it een contetalie is it in a chapter on a certain kin of writing or on a certain iea or theme eeping these estions in min as yo rea makes yo notice more think harer

an make connections among ieas.

e critic lways ask yorself what yo think aot the writer

s argments.

lthogh oing this oes not reire yo to take isse with every or any single thing an athor writes it oes ask yo to think of reaing as conversation the writer is talking to yo telling yo what she thinks aot something an yo are free to answer ack.

e itpenciinn This is the est easiest way to answer ack. any stents leave their ooks ntoche thinking that they will rememer what they rea or that it is wrong to write in ooks or that they wont e ale to sell them ack at the en of the semester if they write in them. These are common oections t consier this yo wont recall everything

nooy rememers everything he or she reas an memoriing isnt the only or even the most important thing we o when we rea it s not wrong to write in a ook ooks ont have feelings t if they i they like the attention an ookstores will y ack marke p ooks go check ot the se ooks in the ookstore . aking marks on the page annotating is the srest way to rea actively. nerline important passages circle wors yo havent hear of scrile frios rants in the margin ot own estions aot content or writing strategy

se eclamation points an

estion marks an arrows an s. ra the tet with yor are hans. eaing with a highlighter is the passive version of marking yor ook ecase it is less site to annotating an more site to ientifying chnks of tet. The reslt of marking with a highlighter is that yo havent engage with yor reaing so mch as prioritie parts of it a little it se florescent yellow or pink or green to say ey

there s something important here. hile a highlighter

might e more appropriate in yor chemistry tetook even there it can e angeros while checking ot the se ooks in the ookstore notice how often entire paragraphs an even pages are afloat in seas of highlighter ink an ask yorself how that helpe the stents whose ooks these se to e. encils are also goo for chewing sticking in yor hair to hol yor n together

an sliing

ehin yor ear to make yo look smart an instrios.

senoteooorcopter any reaers like to take notes in a noteook or compter there are isavantages to this

. lthogh

kin of note taking relative to

annotation yor marks are not right in the tet an so are less immeiately accessile an less immeiately tie to the lines on the page there are also avantages.

o can make lengthy notes.

o can copy important an well phrase sentences making sre to enclose them in otation marks an to note where they came from . o can prprse

ieas yo can

srie

yo can note yor

reactions as yo rea. oing these things can make yo think more aot what yore reaing. ome reaers se a ole entry system in which they raw a line own the mile of the page note or reproce particlar passages from the reaing in the left colmn an respon to those passages in the right colmn. any variations on this kin of note taking are possile an all of them of corse can e reproce on a compter . An ale o Annotaton an ote t

al on y la en an Pbl ae

ang ro rent tale

Description ew paragraph. ver the years learne to smother the rage felt at so often eing taken for a criminal. The wor rage is nerline. margin note reas trong emotion. . ot to o so wol srely have le to maness. The wor maness is nerline. reas iving with rage wol make him cray

margin note . now take

precations to make myself less threatening. move aot with care particlarly late in the evening. give a wie erth to nervos people on sway platforms ring the wee hors particlarly when have echange siness clothes for eans. f happen to e entering a iling ehin some people who appear skittish may walk y letting them clear the loy efore retrn so as not to seem to e following them. The phrase

alk y is nerline.

margin note

reas choes the essay

s title. have een calm an etremely

congenial on those rare occasions when ve een plle over y police. The wor rare is nerline . margin note reas open otes rare close otes implies that he even takes care to ehave well when riving. ew paragraph. n on late evening constittionals employ what has prove to e an ecellent tension recing measre whistle meloies from eethoven an

ivali an the more poplar classical

composers. The phrase tension recing is nerline. note reas is tension or other people

margin

s. ven steely ew

orkers

hnching towar nighttime estinations seem to rela an occasionally they even oin in the tne. The phrase ccasionally they even oin in the tne is nerline.

margin note reas

eople are comfortale with what they know

.

irtally everyoy

seems to sense that a mgger wolnt e warling right snny selections from ivali s or easons. The wor everyoy is nerline.

margin note reas veryoy seems like a

stereotype aot white people. t is my eivalent of the cowell that hikers wear when they know they are in ear contry ear contry is nerline.

. The phrase

margin note reas owerfl image.

otes Stes

s essy strted off in it sound ie he s

the end reied tht s his hoe oint he

riin but by s

riin yet he

often treted ie one be use of his r e Stes

s des ritions of ho he oes ith eoe er eivin hi s

thret re rey iuintin but so rey dishertenin

s

found it eird tht Stes ounter ts the stereotyes eoe hve of hi by usin other stereotyes e the ide tht utured eoe ho no

ssi usi

nt be riins uess trditiony r is

sso ited ith fri n eri ns nother stereotye he st ine of this sse is rey o erfu Stes fees ie he is bein vie ed s hunter

hen tuy he

s the one bein hunted he

s

in ber ountry ht ie rey ehsies ho the eoe re tin to hi s thret re in reity

ote the if

thret to hi

ferent kins of entries here. The first is aot the reaer

changing thoghts as he reas. The secon is a moment of appreciation. The thir an forth are trains of thoght that start from small parts of the essay. one of these sm p the reaing thogh that is a goo thing to o also. nstea these entries recor reactions an thoghts inspire y the essay

an like the notes

mae alongsie the ecerpt col serve as ways ack into the essay when it is time to write aot it. ee

page

for a checklist of

things yo can annotate an make notes aot as yo rea. lso see the sample stent paper eginning on

page

. This paper

ils on the initial ieas an notes presente here as yo rea it look for ways in which the stent evelops his preliminary thoghts into an argment.

s

The previos annotation sample shows how active reaing is mch more than reaing to nerstan. mmariing what has een rea is important moving eyon smmary to active engagement is something else an it is crcial to really making se of what yove rea. ne name for this something else is critical thinking.

s yo rea consier marking or taking notes on the following ain topics econary topics ain points pporting points amples ei ence or other spport eas or ways of saying things that yo like eas or ways of saying things that yo ont like eas yo want to think more aot later eferences or wors with which yo are not familiar

ritical thinking oesnt mean eing critical in the everyay sense that is eing negative. t means eing inisitive evalative even skeptical. hen reaing it means thinking not st aot what someone says t aot the nspoken assmptions that lie ehin what she says the nname implications of what she says an the way she says it. t also means evalating asking if yo agree with a writer s implicit an eplicit

concsions

even asking if yo agree

with the framing of the estion aske or the topic aresse an ging the eloence anor ef

fectiveness of the writing. ritical

thinking is a catchall term for a nmer of activities that a p to active thoghtfl engagement with a sect. or many

it is the

single most important skill higher ecation makes possile it allows people to actively ge an process the things they rea an hear rather than passively accept them. or others it has an argaly more powerfl aspect that of allowing inivials to accept or reect the common wisom that is all aron them in everyay life at work in politics. hen applie to reaing critical thinking might e calle critical reaing. ee

page

for a checklist of critical reaing estions with

follow p estions that yo can ask yorself when reaing critically that is always . hile they will not all e applicale for every occasion most will e helpfl as yo try to nerstan an evalate others writing.

hat is the writing sitation here i the tet originally appear hat is the writer s sect s she choosing to focs or not to focs on something important s she leaving something ot hat is the writer s main point aot her sect o yo agree o yo isagree hy hat is the writer s prpose in making that point hat o yo think of that prpose o yo think that she achieves it To what sort of aience oes the writer seem to e aressing herself re yo part of that aience ho is an who is left ot hat are the assmptions ehin the writer s treatment of her sect

o yo agree with them o yo isagree hy hat frther conclsions col e rawn from the writer s point o yo agree with them o yo isagree hy hat o yo think of the way the writer makes her argment s it convincing ogical oes she fight fair hat can yo orrow withot plagiariing re there particlar technies the writer ses to arge escrie narrate or st shape a sentence that yo want to rememer an se in yor own writing

s the last critical reaing estion inicates writers get etter y paying attention to how the writing they like works an trying to plicate those ef as piris

fects in their own work. This is not the same thing

yo know not to take another

s work an preten it

yor own. The very est writers got so goo not y copying wors an ieas withot giving proper creit t y imitating other writers their

stes

their tones their patterns of organiation an

sing these as starting points for eveloping their own voices. eaing actively

critically an with an eye towar orrowing helps

yo to ecome a etter writer

. owever

nothing helps yo learn to

write like writing itself. hile there will e a nmer of occasions in yor acaemic career when yo will e reire to han in formal type proofrea essays take avantage of the times when yo have to write informally in class in ornals online. Think of times when yo ont have to write t col sitting on the s waiting for yor compter to oot p an get ot a noteook an write. ike strengthening a mscle throgh repeate eercise the more yo se yor writing skills the stronger they will ecome. This strength will help yo when it is time to write formal acaemic essays an it can help to lessen aniety aot writing. very writer when face with more emaning assignments feels some form of rea trepiation or nervos ecitement. n other wors it is far from rare for writers of all levels of eperience to freee p space ot or throw in the towel. any of the est ways writers have fon

s

to get past the if ficlty of getting starte involve recogniing that writing is a process. eople often imagine a typical scene when they think of writing they see the writer hnche over the lank pa or in front of the lank screen waiting for inspiration to strike then having een strck fining the eact wors to epress this inspiration an then finishing leaning ack with a sigh of contentment at a o well one.

ery few people actally write this way .

ather than thinking that yo mst sit own an create a polishe piece of work ot of thin air

rememer that writers can go throgh

many stages when they write an that each stage can help proce a final proct. efore yo egin to write a first preritin ieas.

rt

try a nmer of

activities which can help yo rainstorm or come p with o can work p notes or a formal or informal otline efore

yo raft. t this point yo can also make se of comments yo wrote in the margins of yor tet. fter taking a first sta at a raft yo can reise . s important as recogniing that yo can reak own the writing process into these stages is knowing that they ont have to e followe. fter procing a raft yo may retrn to otlining an rainstorming. yo see yor main point yor

o can even o this as yo raft as tesis

changing or yor rent

taking a if ferent corse go ack to yor notes or otline an moify accoringly . hen yo get

to the revision stage when yo think yo

might e focsing on correctness an style yo may fin not only that yo nee to rewrite what yo wrote in the rafting stage t also that yo nee to rethink the ieas yo came p with ring the prewriting stage. hile smoothing ot the

trnsitions etween yor

prrps

yo may fin they are rogh ecase the connections

among yor ieas are also rogh an so yo will nee to smooth ot yor ieas efore yo can smooth ot yor epression of them. This may all son anting. t sholnt. Thinking aot writing as a recrsive process one in which yo loop ack to the starting point as yo revise an il on yor work means yo ont have to try to get everything perfect the first time. t allows yo to get yor ieas own on paper as they come to yo ecase yo know yo can always go ack an change them. t allows yo to think critically aot yor work ecase it never feels like it

s too late to improve

any aspect of it. ea as a writer reas critically

actively an

write as a writer writes in stages recrsively an pretty soon that is efore yo even know it yo will e a thoghtfl fli writer who enoys practicing his or her craft. There is no complicate mathematical formla to eplain the interrelation of critical reaing creative rainstorming carefl revision an all of the other elements that are part of what makes goo writing t the asic arithmetic reaing har work goo writing hols p. hope that yo enoy reaing the essays in this ook an that yo fin that they help yo with yor writing. t the en of this introction yoll fin an eample of an essay written in response to reaings in

Essys

. nnotations have een ae to highlight

important parts of the essay elements like the thesis statement transitions an a concsion . ea it for ieas aot how to pt together sentences an paragraphs how to constrct an argment

an how to ocment sorces. This essay is also a goo eample of sntesis

the process of consiering a nmer of if

ferent

reaings ptting them in conversation with each other yor own ci

an forming

or thesis making yor own statement. ememer

thogh that there s no one moel yo shol follow

no one way to

write aot anything. amples are goo t yo nee to fin yor own voice yor own way to say what yo want to say

.

Description The tet reas onathon chaf

f rofessor ohen nglish

erary angeros ality ow acism plits s in T onathon chaf

wo y

f have never een tol that am a prolem. have

een tol that my ehavior is prolematic t no one has ever tol me that there was something wrong with me st for eing me. s a white merican ve never een avoie on the street or enie a meal ecase of my skin color

. et many frican mericans have

face an contine to face this kin of iscrimination in merica. ince am not an frican merican can only try to nerstan the frican merican eperience of living in this contry

oth past an

present y smerging myself in the wors an ieas of lack writers. The sentence ince am not an frican merican can only try to nerstan the frican merican eperience of living in this contry

oth past an present y smerging myself in the wors

an ieas of lack writers is nerline iscsses his own point of view

margin note reas thor

.

ew paragraph. omething can happen to the hman min when it is informe that it is a prolem. hen people are treate if

ferently than

the way they see themselves the hman min creates a kin of ivie sense of self. s a reslt frican mericans who have een victimie y racism oftentimes see themselves in two if

ferent

irreconcilale ways an that ivie can have angeros conseences. The sentence frican mericans who have een victimie y racism oftentimes see themselves in two if irreconcilale ways an that ivie can have angeros conseences is nerline.

margin note reas Thesis

statement makes the athor s claim.

ferent

ew paragraph. The iea that split ientities form as a proct of racism may have een first introce y important essay

. . . ois in his

open otes f r pirital trivings close

otes in which he refers to a state of open otes ole consciosness. lose otes ois arges that lacks forty years after eing legally free felt they were lack an merican at the same time an yet not oth at once. ois wrote t is a pecliar sensation this ole consciosness this sense of always looking at one s self throgh the eyes of others of measring one

s worth y

the tape of a worl that looks on in amse contempt an pity

. ne

ever feels his twoness m ash an merican a egro two sols two thoghts two nreconcile strivings two warring ieals in one ark oy

whose ogge strength alone keeps it from eing torn asner

.

ew paragraph. ois saw himself throgh the eyes of the white maority an therefore col not flly separate his own ientity from the way he was perceive y other people. iven this it is easy to nerstan how his ole consciosness forme. ois sggests that eing oth lack an merican at least in was not only impossile t was an intersection where violence occrre. margin note reas se of otation illstrates argment of the original athor . ew paragraph. omething can happen to the hman min when it is informe that it is a prolem. hen people are treate if

ferently than

the way they see themselves the hman min creates a kin of ivie sense of self. s a reslt frican mericans who have een victimie y racism oftentimes see themselves in two if

ferent

irreconcilale ways an that ivie can have angeros conseences. The sentence frican mericans who have een

victimie y racism oftentimes see themselves in two if

ferent

irreconcilale ways an that ivie can have angeros conseences is nerline.

margin note reas Thesis

statement makes the athor s claim. ew paragraph. The iea that split ientities form as a proct of racism may have een first introce y important essay

. . . ois in his

open otes f r pirital trivings close

otes in which he refers to a state of open otes ole consciosness. lose otes ois arges that lacks forty years after eing legally free felt they were lack an merican at the same time an yet not oth at once. ois wrote t is a pecliar sensation this ole consciosness this sense of always looking at one s self throgh the eyes of others of measring one

s worth y

the tape of a worl that looks on in amse contempt an pity

. ne

ever feels his twoness m ash an merican a egro two sols two thoghts two nreconcile strivings two warring ieals in one ark oy

whose ogge strength alone keeps it from eing torn asner

ew paragraph. ois saw himself throgh the eyes of the white maority an therefore col not flly separate his own ientity from the way he was perceive y other people. iven this it is easy to nerstan how his ole consciosness forme. ois sggests that eing oth lack an merican at least in was not only impossile t was an intersection where violence occrre. margin note reas se of otation illstrates argment of the original athor .

.

Description The tet reas chaf

f ois

s essay has contine to echo in

the work of lack athors into the twentieth centry

. is ieas have

persiste largely ecase frican mericans contine to sf

fer

inignities long after slavery was aolishe. ntil the s im row laws prevente lacks from having access to the same ality of life that whites enoye y means of segregation. arring lacks from white swimming pools an restarants im row laws ha a corrosive effect on the frican merican psyche. n his essay open otes otes of a ative on close otes plishe in ames alwin writes aot his father a slave. alwin

a severe man an the son of

s father taght him to hate an mistrst whites

ecase they wol inevitaly o lacks harm. s he grew p alwin egan to nerstan his father

s itterness an the angers

it pose. alwin escries an enconter at a restarant in ew ersey that ha refse to serve him an which ene in his violent attack on the waitress col not get over two facts oth eally if

ficlt for the imagination

to grasp an one was that col have een mrere. t the other was that ha een reay to commit mrer

. saw nothing very

clearly t i see this that my life my real life was in anger not from anything other people might o t from the hatre carrie in my own heart. p. ew paragraph. alwin echoes ois

s point that the hatre

involve in ole consciosness is estrctive for frican mericans oth eternally an internally

. n orer to cr this hatre

alwin says that open otes it egan to seem that one wol have to hol in the min forever two ieas which seeme to e in opposition close otes . These two opposing ieas efine the

an

frican merican strggle etween accepting life

s instices an

fighting against the corrosive powers of hate that permeate the contry in the first half of the twentieth centry

.

ol alwin feel

the same way if he were alive toay ew paragraph. The work of contemporary frican merican athors reveals that toay s society contines to inform lacks that they are angeros an frightening. The sentence The work of contemporary frican merican athors reveals that toay

s society contines to

inform lacks that they are angeros an frightening is nerline . margin note reas T iea. rent taples

opic sentence states the paragraph s main

s essay

lack en an lic pace close otes of

open otes st

alk on y

fers a series of poignant

anecotes aot his life as a graate stent an an alt. taples recalls the fear he inspire in others as a haital nighttime walker

.

e recollects crossing the street an hearing people in their cars lock their oors. e also rememers the way other people wol cross the street if they were on corse to pass him on the siewalk . imilarly literary

ohn gar ieman a professor of fricana sties an

Description The tet reas arts at rown niversity

ientifies with eing avoie

ase on his skin color in his essay open otes The eat ot Taken. lose otes The seat net to ieman often remains empty for his entire commte on the mtrak train from ew

ork ity to

rovience hoe slan. espite the fact that ieman is well resse an can oviosly af

for the epensive train ticket he has

oserve that open otes times ot of people will shn a free seat if it means sitting esie me. lose otes The sentence espite the fact that ieman is well resse an can oviosly affor the epensive train ticket he has oserve that open otes times ot of people will shn a free seat if it means sitting esie me close otes is nerline

margin note reas thor ses

evience from an otsie sorce to spport his claim. ew paragraph. taples an ieman oth intelligent men an athors for the ew

ork Times seem to e ale to keep healthy

perspectives on who they are t this is not easy

. taples remarks

that he feels like he travels throgh open otes ear contry

close

otes late at night on the streets . eople take on the ferociosness of animals when they see him coming aron a corner The sentences taples remarks that he feels like he travels throgh open otes ear contry close otes late at night on the streets an eople take on the ferociosness of animals when they see him coming aron a corner are nerline.

margin note

reas thor ses smmary to make a point in his own wors. ieman on the other han initially claims that the empty seat net to him is a open otes privilege conferre pon me y color enoy the lry of an etra seat to myself. lose otes ltimately open otes cant accept the onty of an empty seat

to et he

.

withot rememering why it

s empty withot wonering if its

emptiness isnt something ite sa. n ite angeros also if left neamine. lose otes The open otes anger close otes represente y the empty seat is the anger of seeing threats where there are none of ging an avoiing others ase solely on skin color. ew paragraph. ecase of these angers pressre is pt on frican mericans to go ot of their way to appear nonthreatening. The sentence ecase of these angers pressre is pt on frican mericans to go ot of their way to appear nonthreatening is nerline.

margin note reas se of transition open otes

ecase close otes connects two ieas. T

o alert an pacify the

scare strangers he met on the street taples wol whistle traitionally white classical msic y eethoven an

ivali.

iewing

himself throgh white eyes taples fon a way to avoi casing trole. t walking own the street withot whistling the oonlight onata shol not instigate an attack.

et this is the reality for many

lack mericans. ase on how people react to their skin color pressre is pt pon them from the white maority to ehave a certain way even if that way is senseless an the conseences for failing to conform to it can reslt in violence. ew paragraph. s a white person fin it har to imagine the worl refleively avoiing me. t mst e if

ficlt for taples an ieman

to not feel as thogh they contrite to how people treat them or not feel as thogh there is something threatening locke p insie themselves. either have ever felt the hate that alwin escrie with the power to estroy his father nor een compelle to violence ecase ve eperience instice. eaing these athors tracing

ack from over a centry ago to present ay has mae me more conscios of the ivision race still inserts into or moern lives an

Description The tet reas the emotional an personal conseences of this opposition in the hman consciosness. erhaps this lack of nerstaning is what enales the ivie to contine toay ew paragraph. f lacks throghot or nation

.

s history have

sf fere from racism is it realistic to think that there is an en in sight ircmstances have change m ash first slavery gave way to im row

which has given way to more stle forms of

iscrimination which coeist with the same ol fashione street level racism ois alwin taples an ieman have all felt m ash t the nerlying ality remains an remains angeros. The sentence ircmstances have change m ash first slavery gave way to im row

which has given way to more stle forms of

iscrimination which coeist with the same ol fashione street level racism ois alwin taples an ieman have all felt m ash t the nerlying ality remains an remains angeros is nerline.

margin note reas onclsion sms p main point

an etens the athor

s ieas. s alwin pt it imagine that one

of the reasons people cling to their hates so stornly is ecase they sense once hate is gone that they will e force to eal with pain p. . ven thogh the nite tates electe an frican merican presient is the contry trly postracial There is a lot of pain that this contry will have to eal with if an when it lets go of its hate. t if the era of healing lasts half as long as the epoch of preice then we col e in for a etter way of living a way that prefers empathy to ignorance an nity to ivision. The sentence t if the era of healing lasts half as long as the epoch of preice then we col e in for a etter way of living a way that prefers empathy to ignorance an nity to ivision is nerline.

margin

note reas thor ses epressive iction an tone in concling paragraph. ew paragraph.

orks ite

ew paragraph. alwin ames. pen otes otes of a ative on. lose otes ssays th eition eite y amel ohen efort. artin

s

ew paragraph. ois

pages

.

. . . The ols of lack olk. .

ntroction y anall enan ignet ooks . ew paragraph. taples rent. pen otes st

alk on y lack

en an lic pace. lose otes ohen pages . ew paragraph. ieman ohn gar Taken. lose otes ew

. pen otes The eat ot

ork Times ct.

yperlink

egins www .nytimes.comopinionieman.htmlr. yperlink ens

eaings

raation orn Mruerite ohnson in St ouis Missouri in My neou hs been su

essfu dn er

fi tion riter rodu er nd dei on other boo

tor

dire tor ne ser editor

of neou

s nointed for

rd n she deivered her oe n the

use of Mornin rdution fro

ivi rihts eder

oishents er utobiorhi

now hy the age ir ings

tion oo

oet y riht

t the inuurtion of resident inton now hy the age ir ings

tes the story

s hih s hoo rdution in Sts rnss f tht

dy she rites h it s iortnt riht

r

s she tes

the story the iortn e of this dy for neou ro s beyond tht of the tyi rdution s you red note the y she refuy brins the reder on ith her s she re retes the ex iteent nd disointent of tht dy nd s she refe ts on the sinifi n e of the oent tht o ed her to sy in s ys in

e ere on to

e survived r

The chilren in tamps tremle visily with anticipation. ome alts were ecite too t to e certain the whole yong poplation ha come own with graation epiemic. arge classes were graating from oth the grammar school an the high school. ven those who were years remove from their own ay of glorios release were anios to help with preparations as a kin of ry rn. The nior stents who were moving into the vacating classes chairs were traition on to show their talents for leaership an

management. They strtte throgh the school an aron the camps eerting pressre on the lower graes. Their athority was so new that occasionally if they presse a little too har it ha to e overlooke. fter all net term was coming an it never hrt a sith graer to have a play sister in the eighth grae or a tenth year stent to e ale to call

a twelfth graer a. o all was enre

in a spirit of share nerstaning. t the graating classes themselves were the noility . ike travelers with eotic estinations on their mins the graates were remarkaly forgetfl. They came to school withot their ooks or talets or even pencils.

olnteers

fell over themselves to secre replacements for the missing eip ment. hen accepte the willing workers might or might not e thanke an it was of no importance to the pregraation rites. ven teachers were respectfl of the now iet an aging seniors an tene to speak to them if not as eals as eings only slightly lower than themselves. fter tests were retrne an graes given the stent oy

which acte like an etene family

knew who i

well who ecelle an what piteos ones ha faile. nlike the white high school afayette onty T

raining chool

istingishe itself y having neither lawn nor heges nor tennis cort nor climing ivy

. ts two ilings main classrooms the grae

school an home economics were set on a irt hill with no fence to limit either its onaries or those of orering farms. There was a large epanse to the left of the school which was se alternately as a aseall iamon or asketall cort. sty hoops on swaying poles represente the permanent recreational eipment althogh

ats an alls col e orrowe from the

.. teacher if the

orrower was alifie an if the iamon wasnt occpie. ver this rocky area relieve y a few shay tall persimmon trees the graating class walke. The girls often hel hans an no longer othere to speak to the lower stents. There was a saness aot them as if this ol worl was not their home an they were on for higher gron. The oys on the other han ha ecome more frienly

more otgoing. ecie change from the

close attite they proecte while stying for finals. ow they seeme not reay to give p the ol school the familiar paths an classrooms. nly a small percentage wol e contining on to college one of the oth

s

agricltral an mechanical

schools which traine egro yoths to e carpenters farmers hanymen masons mais cooks an ay nrses. Their ftre roe heavily on their sholers an line them to the collective oy that ha pervae the lives of the oys an girls in the grammar school graating class. arents who col af

for it ha orere new shoes an reay mae

clothes for themselves from ears an oeck or ontgomery ar. They also engage the est seamstresses to make the floating graating resses an to ct own seconhan pants which wol e presse to a military slickness for the important event.

h it was important all right. hitefolks wol atten the ceremony an two or three wol speak of o an home an the othern way of life an rs. arsons the principal

s wife wol play the

graation march while the lower grae graates parae own the aisles an took their seats elow the platform. The high school seniors wol wait in empty classrooms to make their ramatic entrance. n the tore was the person of the moment. The irthay girl. The center. ailey ha graate the year efore althogh to o so he ha ha to forfeit all pleasres to make p for his time lost in aton oge. y class was wearing tter yellow pi resses an omma lanche ot on mine. he smocke the yoke into tiny crisscrossing pckers then shirre the rest of the oice. er ark fingers cke in an ot of the lemony cloth as she emroiere raise aisies aron the hem. efore she consiere herself finishe she ha ae a crochete cf

f on the pf f sleeves an a pointy crochete

collar. was going to e lovely . walking moel of all the varios styles of fine han sewing an it int worry me that was only twelve years ol an merely graating from the eighth grae. esies many teachers in rkansas egro schools ha only that iploma an were license to impart wisom.

The ays ha ecome longer an more noticeale. The fae eige of former times ha een replace with strong an sre colors. egan to see my classmates clothes their skin tones an the st that wave of f pssy willows. los that lae across the sky were oects of great concern to me. Their shiftier shapes might have hel a message that in my new happiness an with a little it of time soon ecipher . ring that perio looke at the arch of heaven so religiosly my neck kept a steay ache. ha taken to smiling more often an my aws hrt from the naccstome activity

. etween the

two physical sore spots sppose col have een ncomfortale t that was not the case. s a memer of the winning team the graating class of

ha otistance npleasant sensations

y miles. was heae for the freeom of open fiels. oth an social approval allie themselves with me an we trammele memories of slights an inslts. The win of or swift passage remoele my featres. ost tears were pone to m an then to st.

ears of withrawal were rshe asie an left

ehin as hanging ropes of parasitic moss. y work alone ha aware me a top place an was going to e one of the first calle in the graating ceremonies. n the classroom lackoar as well as on the lletin oar in the aitorim there were le stars an white stars an re stars. o asences no tarinesses an my acaemic work was among the est of the year . col say the preamle to the onstittion even faster than ailey .

e time orselves often

e the people of the

nite tates in orer to form a more perfect nion . . . ha memorie the resients of the nite tates from

ashington to

oosevelt in chronological as well as alphaetical orer

.

y hair please me too. raally the lack mass ha lengthene an thickene so that it kept at last to its raie pattern an int have to yank my scalp off when trie to com it. oise an ha rehearse the eercises ntil we tire ot orselves. enry ee was class valeictorian. e was a small very lack oy with hooe eyes a long roa nose an an oly shape hea. ha amire him for years ecase each term he an vie for the est graes in or class. ost often he este me t instea of eing isappointe was please that we share top places etween s. ike many othern lack chilren he live with his granmother

who was as strict as omma an as kin as she

knew how to e. e was corteos respectfl an soft spoken to elers t on the playgron he chose to play the roghest games. amire him. nyone reckone sf

ficiently afrai or sf

ficiently

ll col e polite. t to e ale to operate at a top level with oth alts an chilren was amirale. is valeictory speech was entitle T

o e or ot to e. The rigi

tenth grae teacher ha helpe him write it. e een working on the ramatic stresses for months.

The weeks ntil graation were fille with heay activities. grop of small chilren were to e presente in a play aot ttercps an aisies an nny raits. They col e hear throghot the iling practicing their hops an their little songs that sone like silver ells. The oler girls nongraates of corse were assigne the task of making refreshments for the night s festivities. tangy scent of ginger cinnamon ntmeg an chocolate wafte aron the home economics iling as the ing cooks mae samples for themselves an their teachers. n every corner of the workshop aes an saws split fresh timer as the wooshop oys mae sets an stage scenery graates were left ot of the general stle.

. nly the e were free to sit in

the lirary at the ack of the iling or look in ite etachely natrally

on the measres eing taken for or event.

ven the minister preache on graation the nay efore. is sect was et yor light so shine that men will see yor goo works an praise yor ather

ho is in eaven. lthogh the

sermon was prporte to e aresse to s he se the occasion to speak to acksliers gamlers an general neer o wells. t since he ha calle or names at the eginning of the service we were mollifie. mong egroes the traition was to give presents to chilren going only from one grae to another . ow mch more important this was when the person was graating at the top of the class. ncle illie

an omma ha sent away for a ickey ose watch like ailey

s.

oise gave me for emroiere hankerchiefs. gave her crochete oilies. rs. nee the minister

s wife mae me an

nershirt to wear for graation an nearly every cstomer gave me a nickel or maye even a ime with the instrction eep on moving to higher gron or some sch encoragement. maingly the great ay finally awne an was ot of e efore knew it. threw open the ack oor to see it more clearly omma sai ister

t

come away from that oor an pt yor roe

on. hope the memory of that morning wol never leave me. nlight was itself yong an the ay ha none of the insistence matrity wol ring it in a few hors. n my roe an arefoot

in the

ackyar ner cover of going to see aot my new eans gave myself p to the gentle warmth an thanke o that no matter what evil ha one in my life e ha allowe me to live to see this ay omewhere in my fatalism ha epecte to ie accientally

. an

never have the chance to walk p the stairs in the aitorim an graceflly receive my har earne iploma. t of o

s mercifl

osom ha won reprieve. ailey came ot in his roe an gave me a o wrappe in hristmas paper . e sai he ha save his money for months to pay for it. t felt like a o of chocolates t knew ailey wolnt save

money to y cany when we ha all we col want ner or noses. e was as pro of the gift as . t was a soft leather on copy of a collection of poems y gar llan oe or

as ailey an calle

him ap. trne to nnael ee an we walke p an own the garen rows the cool irt etween or toes reciting the eatiflly sa lines. omma mae a nay reakfast althogh it was only riay

. fter

we finishe the lessing opene my eyes to fin the watch on my plate. t was a ream of a ay

. verything went smoothly an to my

creit int have to e remine or scole for anything. ear evening was too ittery to atten to chores so ailey volnteere to o all efore his ath. ays efore we ha mae a sign for the tore an as we trne ot the lights omma hng the caroar over the oor kno. t rea clearly

T.

y ress fitte perfectly an everyone sai that looke like a sneam in it. n the hill going towar the school ailey walke ehin with ncle illie who mttere o on . e wante him to walk ahea with s ecase it emarrasse him to have to walk so slowly. ailey sai he let the laies walk together wol ring p the rear

.

e all laghe nicely

.

an the men

ittle chilren ashe y ot of the ark like fireflies. Their crepe paper resses an tterfly wings were not mae for rnning an we hear more than one rip ryly

an the regretfl h h that

followe. The school lae withot gaiety

. The winows seeme col an

nfrienly from the lower hill. sense of ill fate timing crept over me an if omma hant reache for my han

wol have rifte

ack to ailey an ncle illie an possily eyon. he mae a few slow okes aot my feet getting col an tgge me along to the now strange iling. ron the front steps assrance came ack. There were my fellow greats the graating class. air rshe ack legs oile new resses an presse pleats fresh pocket hankerchiefs an little hanags all homesewn. h we were p to snf

f all right. oine

my comraes an int even see my family go in to fin seats in the crowe aitorim. The school an strck p a march an all classes file in as ha een rehearse.

e stoo in front of or seats as assigne an on

a signal from the choir irector

we sat. o sooner ha this een

accomplishe than the an starte to play the national anthem. rose again an sang the song after which we recite the plege of allegiance.

e remaine staning for a rief minte efore the choir

irector an the principal signale to s rather esperately thoght to take or seats. The comman was so nsal that or careflly

e

rehearse an smooth rnning machine was thrown of

f. or a fll

minte we fmle for or chairs an mpe into each other awkwarly . aits change or soliify ner pressre so in or state of nervos tension we ha een reay to follow or sal assemly pattern the merican national anthem then the plege of allegiance then the song every lack person knew calle the egro ational nthem. ll one in the same key

with the same

passion an most often staning on the same foot. ining my seat at last was overcome with a presentiment of worse things to come. omething nrehearse nplanne was going to happen an we were going to e mae to look a. istinctly rememer eing eplicit in the choice of pronon. t was we the graating class the nit that concerne me then. The principal welcome parents an friens an aske the aptist minister to lea s in prayer

. is invocation was rief an pnchy

an for a secon thoght we were getting on the high roa to right action. hen the principal came ack to the ais however ha change. ons always af

his voice

fecte me profonly an the

principal s voice was one of my favorites. ring assemly it melte an lowe weakly into the aience. t ha not een in my plan to listen to him t my criosity was pie an straightene p to give him my attention. e was talking aot ooker T

.

ashington or late great leaer

who sai we can e as close as the fingers on the han etc. . . .

Then he sai a few vage things aot frienship an the frienship of kinly people to those less fortnate than themselves. ith that his voice nearly fae thin away

. ike a river iminishing to a

stream an then to a trickle. t he cleare his throat an sai r speaker tonight who is also or frien came from T

earkana to

eliver the commencement aress t e to the irreglarity of the train schele he

s going to as they say speak an rn. e sai

that we nerstoo an wante the man to know that we were most gratefl for the time he was ale to give s an then something aot how we were willing always to ast to another an withot more ao give yo r

s program

. war onleavy

ot one t two white men came throgh the oor of

. f stage. The

shorter one walke to the speaker s platform an the tall one move to the center seat an sat own. t that was or principal

s seat

an alreay occpie. The isloge gentleman once aron for a long reath or two efore the aptist minister gave him his chair then with more ignity than the sitation eserve the minister walke of f the stage. onleavy looke at the aience once on reflection m sre that he wante only to reassre himself that we were really there aste his glasses an egan to rea from a sheaf of papers. e was gla to e here an to see the work going on st as it was in the other schools.

t the first men from the aience wille the of

fener to

immeiate eath y choking on the wor. t mens an

es sir s

egan to fall aron the room like rain throgh a ragge mrella. e tol s of the wonerfl changes we chilren in tamps ha in store. The entral chool natrally

the white school was entral

ha alreay een grante improvements that wol e in se in the fall. well known artist was coming from ittle ock to teach art to them. They were going to have the newest microscopes an chemistry eipment for their laoratory

. r . onleavy int leave

s long in the ark over who mae these improvements availale to entral igh. or were we to e ignore in the general etterment scheme he ha in min. e sai that he ha pointe ot to people at a very high level that one of the first line footall tacklers at rkansas gricltral an echanical ollege ha graate from goo ol afayette onty Training chool. ere fewer men

s were hear. Those few that i

reak throgh lay lly in the air with the heaviness of hait. e went on to praise s. e went on to say how he ha ragge that one of the est asketall players at isk sank his first all right here at afayette onty T

raining chool.

The white kis were going to have a chance to ecome alileos an aame ries an isons an agins an or oys the girls

werent even in on it wol try to e esse wenses an oe oises. wens an the rown omer were great heroes in or worl t what school official in the white goom of ittle ock ha the right to ecie that those two men mst e or only heroes ho ecie that for enry ee to ecome a scientist he ha to work like eorge

ashington arver

as a ootlack to y a losy

microscope ailey was oviosly always going to e too small to e an athlete so which concrete angel gle to what contry seat ha ecie that if my rother wante to ecome a lawyer he ha to first pay penance for his skin y picking cotton an hoeing corn an stying corresponence ooks at night for twenty years The man s ea wors fell like ricks aron the aitorim an too many settle in my elly

. onstraine y har learne manners

colnt look ehin me t to my left an right the pro graating class of ha roppe their heas. very girl in my row ha fon something new to o with her hankerchief. ome fole the tiny sares into love knots some into triangles t most were waing them then pressing them flat on their yellow laps. n the ais the ancient tragey was eing replaye. rofessor arsons sat a sclptor

s reect rigi. is large heavy oy seeme

evoi of will or willingness an his eyes sai he was no longer with s. The other teachers eamine the flag which was rape stage

right or their notes or the winows which opene on or now famos playing iamon. raation the hsh hsh magic time of frills an gifts an congratlations an iplomas was finishe for me efore my name was calle. The accomplishment was nothing. The meticlos

maps

rawn in three colors of ink learning an spelling ecasyllaic wors memoriing the whole of

he e of u re e

it was for

nothing. onleavy ha epose s. e were mais an farmers hanymen an washerwomen an anything higher that we aspire to was farcical an presmptos. Then wishe that ariel rosser an at T

rner ha kille all

whitefolks in their es an that raham incoln ha een assassinate efore the signing of the mancipation roclamation an that arriet T

man ha een kille y that low on her hea

an hristopher olms ha rowne in the

Snt Mri

.

t was awfl to e a egro an have no control over my life. t was rtal to e yong an alreay traine to sit ietly an listen to charges roght against my color with no chance of efense.

e

shol all e ea. thoght shol like to see s all ea one on top of the other. pyrami of flesh with the whitefolks on the ottom as the roa ase then the nians with their silly tomahawks an teepees an wigwams an treaties the egroes with their mops an recipes an cotton sacks an spiritals sticking ot of their moths.

The tch chilren shol all stmle in their wooen shoes an reak their necks. The rench shol choke to eath on the oisiana rchase

while silkworms ate all the hinese with

their stpi pigtails. s a species we were an aomination. ll of s. onleavy was rnning for election an assre or parents that if he won we col cont on having the only colore pave playing fiel in that part of rkansas. lso he never looke p to acknowlege the grnts of acceptance also we were on to get some new eipment for the home economics iling an the workshop. e finishe an since there was no nee to give any more than the most perfnctory thank yo

s he noe to the men on the stage

an the tall white man who was never introce oine him at the oor . They left with the attite that now they were of

f to something

really important. The graation ceremonies at afayette onty Training chool ha een a mere preliminary

.

The gliness they left was palpale. n ninvite gest who wolnt leave. The choir was smmone an sang a moern arrangement of nwar hristian oliers with new wors

pertaining to graates

seeking their place in the worl. t it int work. loise the aghter of the aptist minister

recite nvicts an col have

crie at the impertinence of am the master of my fate am the captain of my sol.

y name ha lost its ring of familiarity an ha to e nge to go an receive my iploma. ll my preparations ha fle. neither marche p to the stage like a conering maon nor i look in the aience for ailey

s no of approval. argerite ohnson

hear the name again my honors were rea there were noises in the aience of appreciation an took my place on the stage as rehearse. thoght aot colors hate ecr pce lavener

eige an

lack. There was shf fling an rstling aron me then enry ee was giving his valeictory aress T the whitefolks

e colnt

o e or ot to e. ant he hear

be so the estion was a waste of time.

enry s voice came ot clear an strong. feare to look at him. ant he got the message There was no noler in the min for egroes ecase the worl int think we ha mins an they let s know it. trageos fortne ow

that was a oke. hen the

ceremony was over ha to tell enry ee some things. That is if still care. ot r enry

erase. h there

s the erase. s.

enry ha een a goo stent in eloction. is voice rose on ties of promise an fell on waves of warnings. The nglish teacher ha helpe him to create a sermon winging throgh amlet To e a man a oer

a iler

a leaer

s soliloy

or to e a tool an nfnny

oke a crsher of fnky toastools. marvele that enry col go throgh with the speech as if we ha a choice.

.

ha een listening an silently retting each sentence with my eyes close then there was a hsh which in an aience warns that something nplanne is happening. looke p an saw enry ee the conservative the proper

the stent trn his ack to

the aience an trn to s the pro graating class of an sing nearly speaking ift evry voice an sing Till earth an heaven ring ing with the harmonies of ierty . . .

t was the poem written y ames

elon ohnson. t was the msic

compose y . osamon ohnson. t was the egro national anthem. t of hait we were singing it. r mothers an fathers stoo in the ark hall an oine the hymn of encoragement. kinergarten teacher le the small chilren onto the stage an the ttercps an aisies an nny raits marke time an trie to follow tony the roa we tro itter the chastening ro elt in the ays when hope norn ha ie. et with a steay eat ave not or weary feet ome to the place for which or fathers sighe

ach chil knew ha learne that song with his with ess oves e This now

s an along

. t personally ha never hear

it efore. ever hear the wors espite the thosans of times ha sng them. ever thoght they ha anything to o with me. n the other han the wors of atrick enry ha mae sch an impression on me that ha een ale to stretch myself tall an tremling an say

know not what corse others may take t as

for me give me lierty or give me eath. n now hear really for the first time e have come over a way that with tears has een watere e have come treaing or path throgh the loo of the slaghtere.

hile echoes of the song shivere in the air

enry ee owe his

hea sai Thank yo an retrne to his place in the line. The tears that slippe own many faces were not wipe away in shame. e were on top again. s always again.

e srvive. The epths

ha een icy an ark t now a right sn spoke to or sols. was no longer simply a memer of the pro graating class of was a pro memer of the wonerfl eatifl egro race. h lack known an nknown poets how often have yor actione pains sstaine s ho will compte the lonely

nights

mae less lonely y yor songs or the empty pots mae less tragic y yor tales

f we were a people mch given to revealing secrets we might raise monments an sacrifice to the memories of or poets t slavery cre s of that weakness. t may e enogh however

to have it

sai that we srvive in eact relationship to the eication of or poets incle preachers msicians an les singers .

or is ussion nd ritin . ow o the achievements for which the graation speaker praises recent graates from the narrator s school if fer from the narrator s hopes for herself an her classmates . ow oes ngelo se the orer in which she relates the ackgron information an events of her story to maniplate the reaer s emotions hy o yo think she oes this . connections ompare the importance of literatre in raation an in loria nala s ow to T ame a il T onge . hat oes poetry mean to ngelo here an what oes it mean to nala . rite aot a time in yor life when epectations an reality int match p. hat was the sitation ow i yo react i yo ast yor epectations r were yo ale to maintain them . ooinrter ngelo concles her story y writing aot the importance of the frican merican artistic traition. o some research on the writers msicians an other artists of this traition an then select one person write a short piece on him or her in the light of ngelo s viewpoint. ow is this person s work informe y frican merican history oes it reflect the eication ngelo cites f the work oes not o what ngelo escries then has it in some way faile onsier the assmptions ehin this estion.

ow to T ame a il T

onge

ori nd s born in in the io rnde

ey of South

exs t e eeven she ben orin in the fieds s irnt orer fter her fther

s deth she ored on her fiy

s nd

orin her y throuh s hoo she eventuy be e s hoote her nd then n dei sein nd ritin bout feinist esbin nd hi n issues nd bout utobiorhy is best no n for This rige alle y ack omen of olor

ritings y aical

hi h she edited ith herre Mor nd

orerlansa rontera The ew estia

o to

e

She

id

onue is fro

nd died in

orerlansa rontera.

n it

nd is on erned ith ny inds of borders bet een ntions utures sses enders nues hen she rites So if you nt to rey hurt e t bdy bout y nue

r

nd is ruin for the ys in hi h identity is intert ined ith the y e se nd for the ys in hi h eoe n be de to fee shed of their o n tonues eein hers id inorin the osin of inuisti borders is nd ssertin her identity

s y of

y ose ttention to the y she rites here

too her stye oud be seen s nother y in hi h she ees her tonue id ere going to have to control yor tonge the entist says plling ot all the metal from my moth. ilver its plop an tinkle into the asin. y moth is a motherloe.

The entist is cleaning ot my roots. get a whif

f of the stench when

gasp. cant cap that tooth yet yore still raining he says. ere going to have to o something aot yor tonge hear the anger rising in his voice. y tonge keeps pshing ot the was of cotton pshing ack the rills the long thin neeles. ve never seen anything as strong or as storn he says. n think how o yo tame a wil tonge train it to e iet how o yo rile an sale it ow o yo make it lie own ho is to say that roing a people of its langage is less violent than war T

rememer eing caght speaking panish at recess that was goo for three licks on the knckles with a sharp rler

. rememer

eing sent to the corner of the classroom for talking ack to the nglo teacher when all was trying to o was tell her how to prononce my name. f yo want to e merican speak merican. f yo ont like it go ack to eico where yo elong. want yo to speak nglish.

hr buen trbo tienes ue

sber hbr e ins bien u ve tod tu edu hbs ins on un

in si todv

accent my mother wol say

mortifie that

spoke nglish like a eican. t an merican niversity hicano stents were reire to take two speech classes. Their prpose to get ri of or accents.

an all

ttacks on one s form of epression with the intent to censor are a violation of the irst menment. rrn

enu

E no on r de ino ente nos

il tonges cant e tame they can only e ct

ot.

hods es uios e os uro eendo on nuestr roi sobr e sien io nos seut

En bo

errd no entrn os s

lies ont enter a close

moth is a saying kept hearing when was a chil. was to e a gossip an a liar rids

Ser hbdor

to talk too mch. Mu h hits bien

well re girls ont answer ack.

Es un ft de reseto

to

talk ack to one s mother or father. rememer one of the sins recite to the priest in the confession o the few times went to confession talking ack to my mother o i on

reeon

hisos

hbr trs reer

having a ig moth

carrying tales are all signs of eing

rid

. estioning

. n my cltre they are

all wors that are erogatory if applie to women ve never hear them applie to men.

The first time hear two women a erto ican an a an say the wor nosotrs eiste. hicanas se

was shocke. ha not known the wor nosotros whether were male or female.

e

are roe of or female eing y the mascline plral. angage is a male iscorse. n or tonges have ecome ry

the wilerness has

rie ot or tonges

an

we have forgotten speech.

ven or own people other panish speakers nddos en bo res de dei

nos uieren oner

. They wol hol s ack with their ag of .

y oo dr e enue de fronter uien tiene bo se euivo

o ho

cltral traitor

yore speaking the oppressor

s langage y

speaking nglish yore rining the panish langage have een accse y varios atinos an atinas. hicano panish is consiere y the prist an y most atinos eficient a mtilation of panish. t hicano panish is a orer tonge which evelope natrally hange

.

evou in enriue iiento de brs nuevs or

inven in o do in

have create variants of hicano panish

un

neuvo enue

. Un enue ue orresonde un odo de vivir

hicano panish is not incorrect it is a living langage. or a people who are neither panish nor live in a contry in which panish is the first langage for a people who live in a contry in which nglish is the reigning tonge t who are not nglo for a people who cannot entirely ientify with either stanar formal astillian panish nor stanar nglish

what recorse is left to

them t to create their own langage langage which they can connect their ientity to one capale of commnicating the realities an vales tre to themselves a langage with terms that are neither eso ni ins

t oth.

e speak a patois a forke

tonge a variation of two langages. hicano panish sprang ot of the hicanos nee to ientify orselves as a istinct people.

e neee a langage with which we

col commnicate with orselves a secret langage. or some of s langage is a homelan closer than the othwest for many hicanos toay live in the iwest an the ast. n ecase we are a comple heterogeneos people we speak many langages. ome of the langages we speak are . . . . . .

tanar nglish orking class an slang nglish tanar panish tanar eican panish orth eican panish ialect hicano panish T eas ew eico riona an alifornia have regional variations

. Te e . hu o

calle

y home tonges are the langages speak with my sister an rothers with my friens. They are the last five liste with an eing closest to my heart. rom school the meia an o sitations ve picke p stanar an working class nglish. rom amagrane ocha an from reaing panish an eican literatre ve picke p tanar panish an tanar eican panish. rom br eros

os re in edos

eican immigrants an

learne the orth eican ialect. ith eicans ll try

to speak either tanar eican panish or the orth eican ialect. rom my parents an hicanos living in the p hicano T

alley picke

eas panish an speak it with my mom yonger

rother who marrie a eican an who rarely mies panish with nglish ants an oler relatives. ith hicanas from

uevo Mxi o

or rion

will speak hicano

panish a little t often they ont nerstan what m saying. ith most alifornia hicanas speak entirely in nglish nless forget . hen first move to an rancisco rattle of

f something

in panish nintentionally emarrassing them. ften it is only with another hicana ten

that can talk freely .

ors istorte y nglish are known as anglicisms or

o hisos

The o ho is an anglicie eican or merican of eican origin who speaks panish with an accent characteristic of orth

.

mericans an who istorts an reconstrcts the langage accoring to the inflence of nglish.

Te e or panglish comes

most natrally to me. may switch ack an forth from nglish to panish in the same sentence or in the same wor. ith my sister an my rother ne an with hicano

teno

contemporaries

speak in Te e. rom kis an people my own age picke p

hu o hu o

the langage of the oot siters is a langage of reellion oth against tanar panish an tanar nglish. t is a secret langage. lts of the cltre an otsiers cannot nerstan it. t is mae p of slang wors from oth nglish an panish.

u

means girl or woman vto means gy or e

he

sin

iioner

means yes

petting ue ho eath is calle

hurro is sre talk is eriuir means how nery

eon

onte ui

means no means

means watch ot

. Throgh lack of practice an not having

others who can speak it ve lost most of the

hu o

tonge.

hicanos after years of panishnglo coloniation have evelope significant if

ferences in the panish we speak.

e

collapse two aacent vowels into a single syllale an sometimes shift the stress in certain wors sch as

i

ohete uete .

e leave ot certain consonants when they appear etween vowels doo

odooo

. hicanos from oth T

eas prononce

f as

as in ue fue . hicanos se archaisms wors that are no longer in the panish langage wors that have een evolve ot.

e say

seos

true hi

in r

that erives from an earlier h the rench hr

ermanic

hon

nsin

an niden .

e retain the archaic

as

or the th

which was lost to stanar panish in the

centry t which is still fon in several regional ialects sch as the one spoken in oth T the alley of oth T

eas. e to geography

eas were ct of

panish speakers.

hicanos from

f lingistically from other

e ten to se wors that the paniars roght

over from eieval pain. The maority of the panish coloniers in eico an the othwest

came from tremara ernn

orts was one of them an nalca. nalcians prononce like a y an their d s ten to e asore y aacent vowels ecomes tiro . They roght reionisos

e enue our

die tos y

.

hicanos an other panish speakers also shift e leave ot initial syllales saying for hor

tins

some wors . r

an uertorriueos

e

bote .

eginning of certain wors ometimes well say

e

to r

for to r

vste s v is

str

gets replace for str

.

other times vtes ste .

e se anglicisms wors orrowe from nglish hin de vr

bote

for

e a an aitional syllale at the

tes ver enings for the

from carpet

to s.

also leave ot initial letters of

e also leave ot the final syllale sch as

y torti or tortiy

sstitting the

to y an

tr for estr toy for estoy hor

. The intervocalic y the as in torti

ret

tirdo

bo

instea of vdor

washing machine. Te e argot create y aing a panish

from all from

son at the eginning or en of an nglish wor sch as cook

t hr

for watch rir

ooir

for park an rir

for rape is the

reslt of the pressres on panish speakers to aapt to nglish. e ont se the wor e ont say

ro

vosotross

or its accompanying ver form.

to mean yes inte

or e eo ion

nless we picke p panish from atinas ot of a ook or in a classroom. ther panish speaking grops are going throgh the same or similar evelopment in their panish.

esenuds Soos os de eso defi iente

e are yor lingistic

nightmare yor lingistic aerration yor lingistic sect of yor

bur

cltrally crcifie. acially

estise

the

ecase we speak with tonges of fire we are cltrally

an lingistically

soos hurfnos

e se n orhn tonue

hicanas who grew p speaking hicano panish have internalie the elief that we speak poor panish. t is illegitimate a astar langage. n ecase we internalie how or langage has een se against s y the ominant cltre we se or langage if ferences against each other. hicana feminists often skirt aron each other with sspicion an hesitation. or the longest time colnt figre it ot. Then it awne on me. T the mirror.

o e close to another hicana is like looking into

e are afrai of what well see there.

for

en

hame. ow

estimation of self. n chilhoo we are tol that or langage is wrong. epeate attacks on or native tonge iminish or sense of self. The attacks contine throghot or lives. hicanas feel ncomfortale talking in panish to atinas afrai of their censre. Their langage was not otlawe in their contries. They ha a whole lifetime of eing immerse in their native tonge generations centries in which panish was a first langage taght in school hear on raio an T

an rea in the newspaper

.

f a person hicana or atina has a low estimation of my native tonge she also has a low estimation of me. ften with tins

exi ns y

well speak nglish as a netral langage. ven among

hicanas we ten to speak nglish at parties or conferences. the same time were afrai the other will think were ecase we ont speak hicano panish. trying to ot hicano each other

rinds

e oppress each other

vying to e the real hicanas to

speak like hicanos. There is no one hicano langage st as there is no one hicano eperience. monolingal hicana whose first langage is nglish or panish is st as mch a hicana as one who speaks several variants of panish. hicana from ichigan or hicago or etroit is st as mch a hicana as one from the othwest. hicano panish is as iverse lingistically as it is regionally. y the en of this centry

et at

panish speakers will comprise the

iggest minority grop in the .. a contry where stents in high

schools an colleges are encorage to take rench classes ecase rench is consiere more cltre. t for a langage to remain alive it mst e se.

y the en of this centry nglish an

not panish will e the mother tonge of most hicanos an atinos. o if yo want to really hrt me talk aly aot my langage. thnic ientity is twin skin to lingistic ientity am my langage. ntil can take prie in my langage cannot take prie in myself. ntil can accept as legitimate hicano T

eas panish T

ee

an all the other langages speak cannot accept the legitimacy of myself. ntil am free to write

ilingally an to switch coes withot

having always to translate while still have to speak nglish or panish when wol rather speak panglish an as long as have to accommoate the nglish speakers rather than having them accommoate me my tonge will e illegitimate. will no longer e mae to feel ashame of eisting. will have my voice nian panish white. will have my serpent woman s voice my seal voice my poet

s tonge my

s voice. will overcome the

traition of silence. y fingers move sly against yor palm ike women everywhere we speak in coe. . . . T

T

ists orridos y oid y ative T onge n the s rea my first hicano novel. t was ohn echy

ity of iht

y

a gay Tean son of a cottish father an a eican

mother. or ays walke aron in stnne amaement that a hicano col write an col get plishe. hen rea oun

was srprise to see a ilingal ook y a hicano in

print. hen saw poetry written in T

e e for the first time a

feeling of pre oy flashe throgh me. felt like we really eiste as a people. n when starte teaching igh chool nglish to hicano stents trie to spplement the reire tets with works y hicanos only to e reprimane an forien to o so y the principal. e claime that was sppose to teach merican an nglish literatre. t the risk of eing fire swore my stents to secrecy an slippe in hicano short stories poems a play

.n

graate school while working towar a h.. ha to arge with one avisor after the other

semester after semester efore was

allowe to make hicano literatre an area of focs. ven efore rea ooks y hicanos or eicans it was the eican movies saw at the rive in the Thrsay night special of . a carloa that gave me a sense of elonging. s vists

onos

my mother wol call ot an we all granmother

rothers sister

an cosins seee into the car

.

e wolf own

cheese an ologna white rea sanwiches while watching ero nfante in meloramatic tearerkers like

osotros os

obres

the first

real eican movie that was not an imitation of ropean movies . rememer seeing

undo os hios se vn

an srmising that all

eican movies playe p the love a mother has for her chilren an what ngratefl sons an aghters sf

fer when they are not

evote to their mothers. rememer the singing type westerns of orge egrete an iel ceves ea. hen watching eican movies felt a sense of homecoming as well as alienation. eople who were to amont to something int go to eican movies or bies

or tne their raios to

boero rn herit

The whole time was growing p there was ntin

orrido msic.

norteo msic

sometimes calle orth eican orer msic or T hicano msic or

an

e e msic or

ar msic. grew p listening to

onuntos three or for piece ans mae p of folk msicians playing gitar

bo sexto

rms an tton accorion which

hicanos ha orrowe from the erman immigrants who ha come to entral T eas an eico to farm an il reweries. n the io rane

alley teve oran an ittle oe ernne were poplar

an laco imne was the accorion king. The rhythms of T

ee

msic are those of the polka also aapte from the ermans who in trn ha orrowe the polka from the echs an ohemians. rememer the hot sltry evenings when an eath on the T

eas eican orerlans revererate ot of

cheap amplifiers from the local ntins eroom winow

orridos songs of love an wafte in throgh my

.

orridos first ecame wiely se along the oth T

easeican

orer ring the early conflict etween hicanos an nglos. The

orridos are sally aot eican heroes who o valiant ees against the nglo oppressors. ancho

illa s song

is the most famos one. orridos of ohn are still very poplar in the

. enney an his eath

alley. ler hicanos rememer

enoa one of the great orer ori de

u r h yia

orrido singers who was calle

es . er E tno nero

sng ring the reat

epression mae her a singer of the people. The everpresent orridos narrate one hnre years of orer history

ringing news

of events as well as entertaining. These folk msicians an folk songs are or chief cltral myth makers an they mae or har lives seem earale. grew p feeling amivalent aot or msic. ontry western an rock an roll ha more stats. n the s an s for the slightly ecate an

rindo

hicanos there eiste a sense of shame

at eing caght listening to or msic.

et colnt stop my feet

from thmping to the msic col not stop hmming the wors nor hie from myself the ehilaration felt when hear it. There are more stle ways that we internalie ientification especially in the forms of images an emotions. or me foo an certain smells are tie to my ientity

to my homelan.

oosmoke

crling p to an immense le sky woosmoke perfming my granmother s clothes her skin. The stench of cow manre an the yellow patches on the gron the crack of a . rifle an the reek of corite. omemae white cheese siling in a pan melting insie a fole

torti

. y sister ila

s hot spicy enudo hie oordo

making it eep re pieces of rother arito areing miles away

n

an hominy floating on top. y

fits

in the ackyar. ven now an

can see my mother spicing the gron eef

pork an venison with

hie . y moth salivates at the thoght of

the hot steaming tes

wol e eating if were home.

Si e reunts i u eres entity is the essential core of who we are as inivials the conscios eperience of the self insie.

osotros os

hicanos strale the orerlans. n one sie of s

we are constantly epose to the panish of the eicans on the other sie we hear the nglos incessant clamoring so that we forget or langage. mong orselves we ont say

nosotros os

eri nos o nosotros os esoes o nosotros os hisnos say nosotros os exi nos

y exi nos

of eico we o not mean a national ientity istingish etween

exi nos de otro do

t a racial one . an exi nos de este

to o with which contry one lives in. eing eican is a state of of citienship. either eagle nor

serpent t oth. n like the ocean neither animal respects orers. ie on uien nds y te dire uien eres

e

we o not mean citiens

do . eep in or hearts we elieve that eing eican has nothing sol not one of min not one

.

e

Tell me who yor friens are an ll tell yo who yo are.

Si e reunts i u eres te dir Soy exi n y rothers an sister say the same. sometimes will answer

soy

exi n

t

an at others will say soy hi n o soy ten

ientifie as

efore ever ientifie as

exi n

or

hicana. s a cltre we call orselves panish when referring to orselves as a lingistic grop an when copping ot. t is then that we forget or preominant nian genes. call orselves ispanic

e are percent nian.

or panish merican or atin merican or

atin when linking orselves to other panish speaking peoples of the

estern hemisphere an when copping ot.

eican merican

e call orselves

to signify we are neither eican nor merican

t more the non merican than the aective eican an when copping ot . hicanos an other people of color sf

fer economically for not

accltrating. This volntary yet force alienation makes for psychological conflict a kin of al ientity we ont ientify with the nglo merican cltral vales an we ont totally ientify with the eican cltral vales.

e are a synergy of two cltres with

varios egrees of eicanness or ngloness. have so internalie the orerlan conflict that sometimes feel like one cancels ot the

e

other an we are ero nothing no one. ndie ero hst undo no o soy

ve es no soy nd ni

o soy

hen not copping ot when we know we are more than nothing we call orselves eican referring to race an ancestry

estio

when

affirming oth or nian an panish t we harly ever own or lack ancestory hicano when referring to a politically aware people orn anor raise in the .. hicanos

tenos

when referring to

when we are hicanos from T eas.

hicanos i not know we were a people ntil when easar have an the farmworkers nite an an

Unid

oun

was plishe

party was forme in T eas. ith that recognition

we ecame a istinct people. omething

momentos happene to

the hicano sol we ecame aware of or reality an acire a name an a langage hicano panish that reflecte that reality ow that we ha a name some of the fragmente pieces egan to fall together who we were what we were how we ha evolve. e egan to get glimpses of what we might eventally ecome. et the strggle of ientities contines the strggle of orers is or reality still. ne ay the inner strggle will cease an a tre integration take place. n the meantime tenos ue h er u h uin est roteiendo os rn hos de i ente uin est trtndo de errr fisur entre indi y e bn o en nuestr snre E hi no si e hi no ue nd oo un drn en su roi s

.

os hi nos

how patient we seem how very patient. There is the

iet of the nian aot s.

e know how to srvive. hen other

races have given p their tonge weve kept ors. is to live ner the hammer low of the ominant

e know what it norteeri no

cltre. t more than we cont the lows we cont the ays the weeks the years the centries the eons ntil the white laws an commerce an cstoms will rot in the eserts theyve create lie leache.

uides

yet pro

exi noshi nos

uietos yet wil

nosotros os

will walk y the crmling ashes as we go

aot or siness. torn persevering impenetrale as stone yet possessing a malleaility that reners s nreakale we the estis

an estios

or is ussion nd

will remain.

ritin

. ist the if ferent kins of langages nala speaks an organie them accoring to a principle of yor own selection. plain that principle an what the list it proces tells s aot the hicanoa eperience with langage. . ow oes nala se efinition to iscss her eperience with langage an to what ef fect . connections ompare nala s sense of herself as an merican to re ore s in The orth of ly . n what way oes each woman feel merican n what way oes each not . n her iscssion of moving ack an forth etween the varieties of langages she speaks nala ses the term switch coes par. . efine that term an write aot sitations in yor life in which yo switch coes. . ooinrter hen the ook from which this ecerpt comes was plishe in mch attention was eing pai to mlticltralism an reactions against it a conflict often calle the cltre wars. ea p on this controversy an iscss the if ferent political an philosophical visions informing the conflicting positions. here o yo stan on the isses raise y mlticltralism o yo think or

moel toay shol e the melting pot or what thenew mayor avi inkins calle the gorgeos mosaic

ork ity

n ompassion rbr er s her

born in

ored s

yers before she be e futie riter

yer for t o er essys hi h hve

ered in ne sers nd ines hve been oe ted in laying after ark

nd

The ait of oving

so ritten boos bout her brother withot ravity emoir of rief the ark omance

e

She hs

s deth fro S nd ron e

anscape ancing in

earning an the earch for the lime

orer s her dr s her exes for n ossion

fro ife in tht ity

he brief s enes she des ribes the en ounter

on the street orner the oent in the f o the reder to iine the thouhts nd feeins of the rti ints s you red te note of ho the se ifi detis of the ity eniven her exes nd the y tht se ifi ity hes the exes to iustrte her ruent The man s grin is less the reslt of circmstance than reams or maness. is ttonless shirt with one sleeve missing hangs otsie the waist of his aggy trosers. areflly plaite realocks espeak a etter time long ago. s he crosses anhattan eventy ninth treet his gait is the shf

s

fle of the forgotten ones hel

in place y gravity rather than plans. n the corner of aison vene he stops efore a lon ay in an prica stroller ay

. The

s mother waits for the light to change an her hans close

tighter on the stroller s hanle as she sees the man approach.

The others on the corner five men an women waiting for the crosstown s look away

. They ayream a it an gae into the

weak rays of ovemer light. man with a riefcase lifts an lowers the shiny toe of his right shoe watching the light reflect trying to catch an alance it as if he col hol an make it his to ease the heavy gray of coming anary

erary

an arch. The winter

months that will sen snow aron the feet calves

an knees of the

grinning man as he heas for the shelter of ran entral or ennsylvania tation. t for now fi on the ay

in this last gasp of atmn warmth he is still. is eyes . The mother removes her prse from her sholer

an rmmages throgh its contents lipstick a lace hankerchief an aress ook. he fins what she ollar over her chil

s looking for an passes a fole

s hea to the man who stans an stares even

thogh the light has change an traf

fic navigates aot his hips.

is hans contine to angle at his sies. e oes not know his part. e oes not know that acceptance of the gift an gratite are what make this transaction complete. The ay

weary of the

nwavering stare plls its lanket over its hea. The man oes not look away. ike a riegroom waiting at the altar

his eyes pierce the

white veil. The mother grows impatient an pshes the stroller efore her earing the ollar like a cross. inally aron green.

a lack han rises an closes

as it fear or compassion that motivate the gift p the avene at inety first treet there is a small rench rea shop where yo can sit an eat a ttery wash it own with rich cappccino. T

overprice croissant an wice when have stoppe here

to stave hnger or stay the col twice as have sat an rea an felt the warm rsh of hot cof fee an milk an ol man has wanere in an stoo insie the entrance. e wears a staine lanket plle p to his chin an a woolen hoo plle own to his gray

shy

eyerows. s he stans the scent of stale cigarettes an rine fills the small overheate room. The owner of the shop a mooy rench woman emerges from the kitchen with steaming coffee in a tyrofoam cp an a small paper ag of . . . of what

esteray s rea T

oay s croissant e

accepts the offering as silently as he came an is gone. Twice have witnesse this an twice have wonere what compels this woman to fee this man ity are ompassion r oes she simply want to ri her shop of his trolesome presence f eplsion were her motivation she wol not rewar his arrival with gifts of foo. ost proprietors o not. They chase the homeless from their mist with epletives an threats. s winter approaches the mayor of ew

ork ity is moving the

homeless off the streets an into elleve ospital. The ew ivil ierties nion is watchfl. They estion whether the rights of

ork

these people who live in or parks an oorways are eing violate y involntary hospitaliation. think the mayor s notion is hmane t fear it is something else as well. aw hmanity of

fens or sensiilities.

e want to protect

orselves from an awareness of rags with voices that make no sense an scream forth in inarticlate rage.

e o not wish to e

remine of the tentative state of or own well eing an sanity

.n

so the trolesome presence is remove from the awareness of the electorate. ike other cities there is mch aot anhattan now that resemles ickensian onon. aies in high heele shoes pick their way throgh poverty an maness.

o hear more cocktail party

complaints than sal st cant take ew citiens ream of the open spaces of

ork anymore. r yoming the manicre

eclsivity of oe on. n yet it may e that these are the conitions that finally give irth to empathy the mother of compassion.

e cannot eny the

eistence of the helpless as their presence grows. t is impossile to inslate orselves against what is at or very oorstep. ont elieve that one is orn compassionate. ompassion is not a character trait like a snny isposition. t mst e learne an it is learne y having aversity at or winows coming throgh the gates of or yars the walls of or towns aversity that ecomes so familiar that we egin to ientify an empathie with it.

or the ancient reeks rama taght an reinforce compassion within a society. The oect of reek tragey was to inspire empathy in the aience so that the common response to the hero

s fall was

There t for the grace of o go . ol it e that this was the response of the mother who offere the ollar

the rench woman

who gave the foo ol it e that the homeless like those ancients are remining s of or common hmanity f corse there is a if ference. This play oesnt en an the players cant go home.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat eamples of enconters with the homeless oes scher of fer . magine an list alternative eamples of enconters with the homeless that scher might have se. ow might their inclsion have change her essay . connections oth scher an ars ighner in n mpster iving write aot people who are own on their lck ighner as one who has een own on his lck himself scher from the perspective of the more fortnate. ow o their if fering perspectives inform their essays . here oes scher elieve compassion comes from o yo agree or isagree hy an yo illstrate yor argment with an eample from yor own eperience . ooinrter e to the crrent economic owntrn or feeral an state governments have ha to grapple with the estion of how mch government can an shol o to assist citiens who have fallen on har times. ow have these estions een aske an answere across history an across the gloe hat informs the answers hat s yor answer

otes of a ative on orn in re in re her nd ubished riter of revie s nd essys t youn e es d in be e noted riter of eri n rose houh he ived brod for u h of his dut ife in ris S iternd nd stnbu d in rote in isivey nd ssiontey bout the exerien e of bein b in eri is first nove o T ell t on the ontain

dre on his youth in the

hur h nd on his retionshi ith his re her fther s e s on the roin reetitive s ein nue of the seron is essy oe tion otes of a ative on

refe ted further on his o n

ife nd on fri n eri n exerien e s e s on the iterry nd utur rodu ts tht hve oe out of tht exerien e d in

s next noves iovanni s oom

nd

deved into the issue of hoosexuity

nother ontry n his oen

exortions in fi tion nd nonfi tion of tboo sube ts nd often hidden but soeties uite oen reudi es d in be e ode of

riter r ti in thouhtfu yet ys hertfet

eneent ith the ord otes of tive Son onsiders the htred t the hert of r e retions in id entury eri nd t the hert of d in retionshi ith his fther

ht d in

ets tht hte s neither

the totity nor the fin destintion of these retionshis is testent to his sensibiity nd strenth s

riter nd s n s

you red svor the ritin fro ine to ine nd rrh to

s

rrh nd thin bout the ys in hi h these ines nd rrhs dd u to su h uiety for efu ritin

n the th of ly hors later

in my father ie. n the same ay

a few

his last chil was orn. ver a month efore this while

all or energies were concentrate in waiting for these events there ha een in etroit one of the looiest race riots of the centry

.

few hors after my father s fneral while he lay in state in the nertaker

s chapel a race riot roke ot in arlem. n the morning

of the r of gst we rove my father to the graveyar throgh a wilerness of smashe plate glass. The ay of my father s fneral ha also een my nineteenth irthay

.

s we rove him to the graveyar the spoils of instice anarchy iscontent an hatre were all aron s. t seeme to me that o himself ha evise to mark my father

s en the most sstaine

an rtally issonant of coas. n it seeme to me too that the violence which rose all aot s as my father left the worl ha een evise as a corrective for the prie of his elest son. ha ecline to elieve in that apocalypse which ha een central to my father

s

vision very well life seeme to e saying here is something that will certainly pass for an apocalypse ntil the real thing comes along. ha incline to e contemptos of my father for the conitions of his life for the conitions of or lives. hen his life ha ene egan to woner aot that life an also in a new way aot my own.

to e apprehensive

ha not known my father very well. ecase we share in or if

e ha got on aly

partly

ferent fashions the vice of storn

prie. hen he was ea realie that ha harly ever spoken to him. hen he ha een ea a long time egan to wish ha. t seems to e typical of life in merica where opportnities real an fancie are thicker than anywhere else on the gloe that the secon generation has no time to talk to the first. o one incling my father seems to have known eactly how ol he was t his mother ha een orn ring slavery

. e was of the first generation

of free men. e along with thosans of other egroes came orth after an was part of that generation which ha never seen the lanscape of what egroes sometimes call the l ontry

.

e ha een orn in ew rleans an ha een a ite yong man there ring the time that ois rmstrong a oy

was rnning

errans for the ives an honky tonks of what was always presente to me as one of the most wicke of cities to this ay

whenever

think of ew rleans also helplessly think of oom an omorrah. y father never mentione ois rmstrong ecept to fori s to play his recors t there was a pictre of him on or wall for a long time. ne of my father ha place it there an forae my

s strong wille female relatives father to take it own. e never

i t he eventally manevere her ot of the hose an when some years later she was in trole an near eath he refse to o anything to help her .

e was think very hansome. gather this from photographs an from my own memories of him resse in his nay est an on his way to preach a sermon somewhere when was little. ansome pro an ingrown like a toe nail someoy sai. t he looke to me as grew oler

like pictres ha seen of frican

trial chieftains he really shol have een nake with war paint on an araric mementos staning among spears. e col e chilling in the plpit an inescrialy crel in his personal life an he was certainly the most itter man have ever met yet it mst e sai that there was something else in him rie in him which lent him his tremenos power an even a rather crshing charm. t ha something to o with his lackness think he was very lack with his lackness an his eaty

an with the fact that he knew

that he was lack t i not know that he was eatifl. e claime to e pro of his lackness t it ha also een the case of mch hmiliation an it ha fie leak onaries to his life. e was not a yong man when we were growing p an he ha alreay sf

fere

many kins of rin in his otrageosly emaning an protective way he love his chilren who were lack like him an menace like him an all these things sometimes showe in his face when he trie never to my knowlege with any sccess to estalish contact with any of s. hen he took one of his chilren on his knee to play the chil always ecame fretfl an egan to cry when he trie to help one of s with or homework the asoltely naating tension which emanate from him case or mins an or tonges to ecome paralye so that he scarcely knowing why rage an the chil not knowing why

flew into a

was pnishe. f it ever entere

his hea to ring a srprise home for his chilren it was almost nfailingly

the wrong srprise an even the ig watermelons he

often roght home on his ack in the smmertime le to the most appalling scenes. o not rememer

in all those years that one of

his chilren was ever gla to see him come home. rom what was ale to gather of his early life it seeme that this inaility to estalish contact with other people ha always marke him an ha een one of the things which ha riven him ot of ew rleans. There was something in him therefore groping an tentative which was never epresse an which was rie with him. ne saw it most clearly when he was facing new people an hoping to impress them. t he never i not for long.

e went from chrch to smaller an more

improale chrch he fon himself in less an less eman as a minister an y the time he ie none of his friens ha come to see him for a long time. e ha live an ie in an intolerale itterness of spirit an it frightene me as we rove him to the graveyar throgh those niet rine streets to see how powerfl an overflowing this itterness col e an to realie that this itterness now was mine. hen he ie ha een away from home for a little over a year that year ha ha time to ecome aware of the meaning of all my father s itter warnings ha iscovere the secret of his proly prse lips an rigi carriage ha iscovere the weight of white people in the worl. saw that this ha een for my ancestors an now wol e for me an awfl thing to live with an that the itterness which ha helpe to kill my father col also kill me.

.n

e ha een ill a long time in the min as we now realie reliving instances of his fantastic intransigence in the new light of his affliction an eneavoring to feel a sorrow for him which never came tre.

ite

e ha not known that he was eing eaten p y

paranoia an the iscovery that his crelty

to or oies an or

mins ha een one of the symptoms of his illness was not then enogh to enale s to forgive him. The yonger chilren felt ite simply relief that he wol not e coming home anymore. y mother s oservation that it was he after all who ha kept them alive all these years meant nothing ecase the prolems of keeping chilren alive are not real for chilren. The oler chilren felt with my father gone that they col invite their friens to the hose withot fear that their friens wol e inslte or

as ha sometimes

happene with me eing tol that their friens were in leage with the evil an intene to ro or family of everything we owne. int fail to woner

an it mae me hate him what on earth we

owne that anyoy else wol want. is illness was eyon all hope of healing efore anyone realie that he was ill. e ha always een so strange an ha live like a prophet in sch nimaginaly close commnion

with the or that

his long silences which were pnctate y moans an hallelahs an snatches of ol songs while he sat at the living room winow never seeme o to s. t was not ntil he refse to eat ecase he sai his family was trying to poison him that my mother was force to accept as a fact what ha ntil then een only an nwilling sspicion. hen he was committe it was iscovere that he ha

terclosis an as it trne ot the isease of his min allowe the isease of his oy to estroy him. or the octors col not force him to eat either an thogh he was fe intravenosly

it was

clear from the eginning that there was no hope for him. n my min

s eye col see him sitting at the winow

locke p in

his terrors hating an fearing every living sol incling his chilren who ha etraye him too y reaching towars the worl which ha espise him. There were nine of s. egan to woner what it col have felt like for sch a man to have ha nine chilren whom he col arely fee. e se to make little okes aot or poverty which never of corse seeme very fnny to s they col not have seeme very fnny to him either

or else or all too feele

response to them wol never have case sch rages. e spent great energy an achieve to or chagrin no small amont of sccess in keeping s away from the people who srrone s people who ha all night rent parties to which we listene when we shol have een sleeping people who crse an rank an flashe raor laes on eno

vene. e col not nerstan

why if they ha so mch energy to spare they col not se it to make their lives etter . e treate almost everyoy on or lock with a most ncharitale asperity an neither they

nor of corse

their chilren were slow to reciprocate. The only white people who came to or hose were welfare workers an ill collectors. t was almost always my mother who ealt with them for my father s temper which was at the mercy of his prie

was never to e trste. t was clear that he felt their very presence in his home to e a violation this was conveye y his carriage almost licrosly stif

f an y his voice harsh an vinictively

polite. hen was aron nine or ten wrote a play which was irecte y a yong white schoolteacher

a woman who then took

an interest in me an gave me ooks to rea an in orer to corroorate my theatrical ent ecie to

take me to see what she

somewhat tactlessly referre to as real plays. Theatergoing was forien in or hose t with the really crel intitiveness of a chil sspecte that the color of this woman

s skin wol carry the

ay for me. hen at school she sggeste taking me to the theater i not as might have one if she ha een a egro fin a way of iscoraging her

t agree that she shol pick me p at my

hose one evening. then very cleverly mother who sggeste to my father

left all the rest to my

as knew she wol that it

wol not e very nice to let sch a kin woman make the trip for nothing. lso since it was a schoolteacher

imagine that my mother

contere the iea of sin with the iea of ecation which wor even with my father carrie a kin of itter weight. efore the teacher came my father took me asie to ask

hy she

was coming what interest she col possily have in or hose in a oy like me. sai int know t too sggeste that it ha something to o with ecation. n nerstoo that my father was waiting for me to say something int ite know what perhaps that wante his protection against this teacher an her ecation. sai none of these things an the teacher came an we went ot. t

was clear ring the rief interview in or living room that my father was agreeing very mch against his will an that he wol have refse permission if he ha are. The fact that he i not are case me to espise him ha no way of knowing that he was facing in that living room a wholly npreceente an frightening sitation. ater

when my father ha een lai of

f from his o this woman

ecame very important to s. he was really a very sweet an generos woman an went to a great eal of trole to e of help to s particlarly ring one awfl winter

. y mother calle her y the

highest name she knew. he sai she was a christian. y father col scarcely isagree t ring the for or five years of or relatively close association he never trste her an was always trying to srprise in her open iwestern face the genine cnningly hien an hieos motivation. n later years particlarly when it egan to e clear that this ecation of mine was going to lea me to perition he ecame more eplicit an warne me that my white friens in high school were not really my friens an that wol see when was oler

how white people wol o anything to

keep a egro own. ome of them col e nice he amitte t none of them were to e trste an most of them were not even nice. The est thing was to have as little to o with them as possile. i not feel this way an was certain in my innocence that never wol.

t the year which precee my father

s eath ha mae a great

change in my life. ha een living in ew ersey

working in

efense plants working an living among sotherners white an lack. knew aot the soth of corse an aot how sotherners treate egroes an how they epecte them to ehave t it ha never entere my min that anyone wol look at me an epect

e

to ehave that way . learne in ew ersey that to e a egro meant precisely that one was never looke at t was simply at the mercy of the reflees the color of one s skin case in other people. acte in ew ersey as ha always acte that is as thogh thoght a great eal of myself ha to

t that way with reslts

that were simply nelievale. ha scarcely arrive efore ha earne the enmity

which was etraorinarily ingenios of all my

speriors an nearly all my coworkers. n the eginning to make matters worse simply i not know what was happening. i not know what ha one an shortly egan to woner what

nyone

col possily o to ring aot sch nanimos active an nearaly vocal hostility

. knew aot im crow t ha never

eperience it. went to the same self service restarant three times an stoo with all the rinceton oys efore the conter a hamrger an cof

waiting for

fee it was always an etraorinarily long time

efore anything was set efore me t it was not ntil the forth visit that learne that in fact nothing ha ever een set efore me ha simply picke something p. egroes were not serve there was tol an they ha een waiting for me to realie that was always the only egro present. nce was tol this etermine to go there all the time. t now they were reay for me an thogh

some reafl scenes were sseently enacte in that restarant never ate there again. t was the same story all over ew ersey

in ars owling alleys

iners places to live. was always eing force to leave silently

or

with mtal imprecations. very shortly ecame notorios an chilren giggle ehin me when passe an their elers whispere or shote they really elieve that was

ma. n it

i egin to work on my min of corse egan to e afrai to go anywhere an to compensate for this went places to which really shol not have gone an where o knows ha no esire to e. y reptation in town natrally enhance my reptation at work an my working ay ecame one long series of acroatics esigne to keep me ot of trole. cannot say that these acroatics scceee. t egan to seem that the machinery of the organiation worke for was trning over

ay an night with t one aim to eect

me. was fire once an contrive with the ai of a frien from ew ork to get ack on the payroll was fire again an once ack again. t took a while to fire me for the thir time t the thir time took. There were no loopholes anywhere. There was not even any way of getting ack insie the gates. That year in ew ersey lives in my min as thogh it were the year ring which having an nsspecte preilection for it first contracte some rea chronic isease the nfailing symptom of which is a kin of lin fever

a poning in the skll an fire in the

owels. nce this isease is contracte one can never e really

carefree again for the fever withot an instant s warning can recr at any moment. t can wreck more important things than race relations. There is not a egro alive who oes not have this rage in his loo one has the choice merely

of living with it consciosly

or srrenering to it. s for me this fever has recrre in me an oes an will ntil the ay ie. y last night in ew ersey

a white frien from ew

ork took me to

the nearest ig town T renton to go to the movies an have a few rinks. s it trne ot he also save me from at the very least a violent whipping. lmost every etail of that night stans ot very clearly in my memory. even rememer the name of the movie we saw ecase its title impresse me as eing so patly ironical. t was a movie aot the erman occpation of rance starring areen ara an harles aghton an calle

his nd s Mine

.

rememer the name of the iner we walke into when the movie ene it was the merican iner

. hen we walke in the

conterman aske what we wante an rememer answering with the casal sharpness which ha ecome my hait hamrger an a cp of cof

e want a

fee what o yo think we want o not

know why after a year of sch ref

fs so completely faile to

anticipate his answer which was of corse

e ont serve

egroes here. This reply faile to iscompose me at least for the moment. mae some saronic comment aot the name of the iner an we walke ot into the streets.

This was the time of what was calle the rown ot when the lights in all merican cities were very im. hen we reentere the streets something happene to me which ha the force of an optical illsion or a nightmare. The streets were very crowe an was facing north. eople were moving in every irection t it seeme to me in that instant that all of the people col see an many more than that were moving towar me against me an that everyone was white. rememer how their faces gleame. n felt like a physical sensation a i

at the nape of my neck as thogh some interior

string connecting my hea to my oy ha een ct. egan to walk. hear my frien call after me t ignore him. eaven only knows what was going on in his min t he ha the goo sense not to toch me ont know what wol have happene if he ha an to keep me in sight. ont know what was going on in my min either certainly ha no conscios plan. wante to o something to crsh these white faces which were crshing me. walke for perhaps a lock or two ntil came to an enormos glittering an fashionale restarant in which knew not even the intercession of the irgin wol case me to e serve. pshe throgh the oors an took the first vacant seat saw

at a tale for two an waite.

o not know how long waite an rather woner

ntil toay

what col possily have looke like. hatever looke like frightene the waitress who shortly appeare an the moment she appeare all of my fry flowe towars her

. hate her for her white

face an for her great astone frightene eyes. felt that if she fon a lack man so frightening wol make her fright worthwhile.

he i not ask me what wante t repeate as thogh she ha learne it somewhere

e ont serve egroes here. he i not

say it with the lnt erisive hostility to which ha grown so accstome t rather

with a note of apology in her voice an

fear. This mae me coler an more mreros than ever

. felt ha

to o something with my hans. wante her to come close enogh for me to get her neck etween my hans. o pretene not to have nerstoo her

hoping to raw her

closer. n she i step a very short step closer

with her pencil

poise incongrosly over her pa an repeate the formla . . . ont serve egroes here. omehow

with the repetition of that phrase which was alreay

ringing in my hea like a thosan ells of a nightmare realie that she wol never come any closer an that wol have to strike from a istance. There was nothing on the tale t an orinary water mg half fll of water

an picke this p an hrle it with all

my strength at her. he cke an it misse her an shattere against the mirror ehin the ar

. n with that son my froen

loo arptly thawe retrne from wherever ha een

s

for the first time the restarant the people with their moths open alreay

as it seeme to me rising as one man an realie what

ha one an where was an was frightene. rose an egan rnning for the oor

. ron pot ellie man grae me y the

nape of the neck st as reache the oors an egan to eat me

aot the face. kicke him an got loose an ran into the streets. y frien whispere

un

an ran.

y frien staye otsie the restarant long enogh to misirect my prsers an the police who arrive he tol me at once. o not know what sai to him when he came to my room that night. col not have sai mch. felt in the oest most awfl way

that ha

somehow etraye him. live it over an over an over again the way one relives an atomoile accient after it has happene an one fins oneself alone an safe. col not get over two facts oth eally if

ficlt for the imagination to grasp an one was that col

have een mrere. t the other was that ha een reay to commit mrer life my re

. saw nothing very clearly t i see this that my

life was in anger

an not from anything other people

might o t from the hatre carrie in my own heart.

ha retrne home aron the secon week in ne in great haste ecase it seeme that my father

s eath an my mother

s

confinement were oth t a matter of hors. n the case of my mother it soon ecame clear that she ha simply mae a miscalclation. This ha always een her tenency an ont elieve that a single one of s arrive in the worl or has since arrive anywhere else on time. t none of s awle so intoleraly aot the siness of eing orn as i my ay sister e sometimes amse orselves ring those enless stifling weeks y pictring the ay sitting within in the safe warm ark

.

itterly regretting the necessity of ecoming a part of or chaos an stornly ptting it of

f as long as possile. nerstoo her

perfectly an congratlate her on showing sch goo sense so soon. eath however

sat as prposeflly at my father

s esie as

life stirre within my mother s wom an it was harer to nerstan why he so lingere in that long shaow

. t seeme that he ha ent

an for a long time too all of his energies towars ying. ow eath was reay for him t my father hel ack. ll of arlem inee seeme to e infecte y waiting. ha never efore known it to e so violently still. acial tensions throghot this contry were eacerate ring the early years of the war

partly

ecase the laor market roght together hnres of thosans of ill prepare people an partly ecase egro soliers regarless of where they were orn receive their military training in the soth. hat happene in efense plants an army camps ha repercssions natrally

in every egro ghetto. The sitation in

arlem ha grown a enogh for clergymen policemen ecators politicians an social workers to assert in one reath that there was no crime wave an to of

fer in the very net reath sggestions as

to how to comat it. These sggestions always seeme to involve playgrons espite the fact that racial skirmishes were occrring in the playgrons too. laygron or not crime wave or not the arlem police force ha een agmente in arch an the nrest grew perhaps in fact partly as a reslt of the ghetto

s instinctive

hatre of policemen. erhaps the most revealing news item ot of the steay parae of reports of mggings staings shootings

assalts gang wars an accsations of police rtality is the item concerning si egro girls who set pon a white girl in the sway ecase as they all too accrately pt it she was stepping on their toes. nee she was all over the nation. ha never efore een so aware of policemen on foot on horseack on corners everywhere always two y two. or ha ever een so aware of small knots of people. They were on stoops an on corners an in oorways an what was striking aot them think was that they i not seem to e talking. ever

when passe

these grops i the sal son of a crse or a lagh ring ot an neither i there seem to e any hm of gossip. There was certainly on the other han occrring etween them commnication etraorinarily intense. nother thing that was striking was the nepecte iversity of the people who mae p these grops. sally

for eample one wol see a grop of sharpies staning on

the street corner iving the passing chicks or a grop of oler men sally

for some reason in the vicinity of a arer shop iscssing

aseall scores or the nmers or making rather chilling oservations aot women they ha known.

omen in a general

way tene to e seen less often together nless they were chrch women or very yong girls or prostittes met together for an nprofessional instant. t that smmer saw the strangest cominations large respectale chrchly matrons staning on the stoops or the corners with their hair tie p together with a girl in sleay satin whose face ore the marks of gin an the raor heavy set arpt no nonsense oler men in company with the

or

most isreptale an fanatical race men or these same race men with the sharpies or these sharpies with the chrchly women. eventh ay ventists an ethoists an piritalists seeme to e honoing with olyrollers an they were all alike entangle with the most flagrant iselievers something heavy in their stance seeme to inicate that they ha all increily

seen a common

vision an on each face there seeme to e the same strange itter shaow . The chrchly women an the matter of fact no nonsense men ha chilren in the rmy

. The sleay girls they talke to ha lovers there

the sharpies an the race men ha friens an rothers there. t wol have emane an nestioning patriotism happily as ncommon in this contry as it is nesirale for these people not to have een istre y the itter letters they receive y the newspaper stories they rea not to have een enrage y the posters then to e fon all over ew

ork which escrie the

apanese as yellow ellie aps. t was only the race men to e sre who spoke ceaselessly of eing revenge how this vengeance was to e eacte was not angers sf

clear for the inignities an

fere y egro oys in niform t everyoy felt a

irectionless hopeless itterness as well as that panic which can scarcely e sppresse when one knows that a hman eing one loves is eyon one

s reach an in anger

. This helplessness an

this gnawing neasiness oes something at length to even the toghest min. erhaps the est way to sm all this p is to say that the people knew felt mainly a pecliar kin of relief when they

knew that their oys were eing shippe ot of the soth to o attle overseas. t was perhaps like feeling that the most angeros part of a angeros orney ha een passe an that now

even if eath

shol come it wol come with honor an withot the complicity of their contrymen. ch a eath wol e in short a fact with which one col hope to live. t was on the th of ly

which elieve was a

enesay

that

visite my father for the first time ring his illness an for the last time in his life. The moment saw him knew why ha pt of

f this

visit so long. ha tol my mother that i not want to see him ecase hate him. t this was not tre. t was only that

hd

hate him an wante to hol on to this hatre. i not want to look on him as a rin it was not a rin ha hate. imagine that one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stornly is ecase they sense once hate is gone that they will e force to eal with pain. e travele ot to him his oler sister an myself to what seeme to e the very en of a very ong slan. t was hot an sty an we wrangle my ant an all the way ot over the fact that ha recently egn to smoke an as she sai to give myself airs. t knew that she wrangle with me ecase she col not ear to face the fact of her rother s ying. either col enre the reality of her espair

her nstate af

flement as to what ha happene to her

rother s life an her own. o we wrangle an smoke an from time to time she fell into a heavy reverie. overtly

watche her

face which was the face of an ol woman it ha fallen in the eyes were snken an lightless soon she wol e ying too. n my chilhoo it ha not een so long ago ha thoght her eatifl. he ha een ick witte an ick moving an very generos with all the chilren an each of her visits ha een an event. t one time one of my rothers an myself ha

thoght of

rnning away to live with her . ow she col no longer proce ot of her hanag some nepecte an yet familiar elight. he mae me feel pity an revlsion an fear no longer case me to feel af

. t was awfl to realie that she

fection. The closer we came to the

hospital the more erlos she ecame an at the same time natrally

grew more epenent on me. etween pity an gilt an

fear egan to feel that there was another me trappe in my skll like a ack in the o who might escape my control at any moment an fill the air with screaming. he egan to cry the moment we entere the room an she saw him lying there all shrivele an still like a little lack monkey

. The great

gleaming apparats which fe him an wol have compelle him to e still even if he ha een ale to move roght to min not eneficence t tortre the tes entering his arm mae me think of pictres ha seen when a chil of lliver

tie own y the

pygmies on that islan. y ant wept an wept there was a whistling son in my father

s throat nothing was sai he col not

speak. wante to take his han to say something. t o not know what col have sai even if he col have hear me. e

was not really in that room with s he ha at last really emarke on his orney an thogh my ant tol me that he sai he was going to meet ess i not hear anything ecept that whistling in his throat. The octor came ack an we left into that nearale train again an home. n the morning came the telegram saying that he was ea. Then the hose was senly fll of relatives friens hysteria an confsion an ickly left my mother an the chilren to the care of those impressive women who in egro commnities at least atomatically appear at times of ereavement arme with lotions provers an patience an an aility to cook. went owntown. y the time retrne later the same ay

my mother

ha een carrie to the hospital an the ay ha een orn.

or my father s fneral ha nothing lack to wear an this pose a nagging prolem all ay long. t was one of those prolems simple or impossile of soltion to which the min insanely clings in orer to avoi the min

s real trole. spent

owntown apartment of a girl knew

most of that ay at the celerating my irthay with

whiskey an wonering what to wear that night. hen planning a irthay celeration one natrally oes not epect that it will e p against competition from a fneral an this girl ha anticipate taking me ot that night for a ig inner an a night cl afterwars. ometime ring the corse of that long ay we ecie that we wol go ot anyway

when my father s fneral service was over .

imagine ecie it since as the fneral hor approache it ecame clearer an clearer to me that wol not know what to o

with myself when it was over. The girl stifling her very lively concern as to the possile ef fects of the whiskey on one of my father s chief morners concentrate on eing conciliatory an practically helpfl. he fon a lack shirt for me somewhere an irone it an resse in the arkest pants an acket owne an slightly rnk mae my way to my father s fneral. The chapel was fll t not packe an very iet. There were mainly my father s relatives an his chilren an here an there saw faces ha not seen since chilhoo the faces of my father one time friens. They were very ark an solemn now

s

seeming

somehow to sggest that they ha known all along that something like this wol happen. hief among the morners was my ant who ha arrele with my father all his life y which o not mean to sggest that her morning was insincere or that she ha not love him. sppose that she was one of the few people in the worl who ha an their incessant arreling prove precisely the strength of the tie that on them. The only other person in the worl as far as knew whose relationship to my father rivale my ant

s in epth

was my mother who was not there. t seeme to me of corse that it was a very long fneral. t it was if anything a rather shorter fneral than most nor

since there

were no overwhelming ncontrollale epressions of grief col it e calle if are to se the wor sccessfl. The minister who preache my father s fneral sermon was one of the few my father ha still een seeing as he neare his en. e presente to s in his

sermon a man whom none of s ha ever seen a man thoghtfl patient an forearing a hristian inspiration to all who knew him an a moel for his chilren. n no ot the chilren in their istre an gilty state

were almost reay to elieve this he ha

een remote enogh to e anything an anyway

the shock of the

incontrovertile that it was really or father lying p there in that casket prepare the min for anything. is sister moane an this grief stricken moaning was taken as corrooration. The other faces hel a ark non committal thoghtflness. This was not the man they ha known t they ha scarcely epecte to e confronte with hi

this was in a sense eeper than estions of fact the man

they ha not known an the man they ha not known may have een the real one. The real man whoever he ha een ha sf

fere

an now he was ea this was all that was sre an all that mattere now . very man in the chapel hope that when his hor came he too wol e elogie which is to say forgiven an that all of his lapses grees errors an strayings from the trth wol e investe with coherence an looke pon with charity

. This was

perhaps the last thing hman eings col give each other an it was what they emane after all of the or. nly the or saw the minight tears only e was present when one of is chilren moaning an wringing hans pace p an own the room. hen one slappe one s chil in anger the recoil in the heart revererate throgh heaven an ecame part of the pain of the niverse. n when the chilren were hngry an sllen an istrstfl an one watche them aily healong into anger

growing wiler

an frther away

an rnning

it was the or who knew what the charge

heart enre as the strap was lai to the acksie the or alone who knew what one oud have sai if one ha ha like the or the gift of the living wor. t was the or who knew of the impossiility every parent in that room face how to prepare the chil for the ay when the chil wol e espise an how to

rete

in the chil y what means a stronger antiote to this poison than one ha fon for oneself. The avenes sie streets ars illiar halls hospitals police stations an even the playgrons of arlem not to mention the hoses of correction the ails an the morge testifie to the potency of the poison while remaining silent as to the efficacy of whatever antiote irresistily raising the estion of whether or not sch an antiote eiste raising which was worse the estion of whether or not an antiote was esirale perhaps poison shol e foght with poison. ith these several schisms in the min an with more

terrors in the heart than col e

name it was etter not to ge the man who ha gone own ner an impossile ren. t was etter to rememer n

. hou no est this

s f but thou no est not his rssin

hile the preacher talke an watche the chilren years of changing their iapers scring them slapping them taking them to school an scoling them ha ha the perhaps inevitale reslt of making me love them thogh am not sre knew this then my min was sily reaking ot with a rash of isconnecte impressions. natches of poplar songs inecent okes its of ooks ha rea movie seences faces voices political isses thoght was going ma all these impressions sspene as it

were in the soltion of the faint nasea proce in me y the heat an lior

. or a moment ha the impression that my alcoholic

reath inef ficiently isgise with chewing gm fille the entire chapel. Then someone egan singing one of my father s favorite songs an arptly

was with him sitting on his knee in the hot

enormos crowe chrch which was the first chrch we attene. t was the yssinia aptist hrch on th treet.

e ha not

gone there long. ith this image a host of others came. ha forgotten in the rage of my growing p how pro my father ha een of me when was little. pparently father ha like to show me of

ha ha a voice an my

f efore the memers of the chrch.

ha forgotten what he ha looke like when he was please t now rememere that he ha always een grinning with pleasre when my solos ene. even rememere certain epressions on his face when he tease my mother ha he love her wol never know. n when ha it all egn to change or now it seeme that he ha not always een crel. rememere eing taken for a hairct an scraping my knee on the footrest of the arer an rememere my father

s chair

s face as he soothe my crying an

applie the stinging ioine. Then rememere or fights fights which ha een of the worst possile kin ecase my technie ha een silence. rememere the one time in all or life together when we ha really spoken to each other.

t was on a nay an it mst have een shortly efore left home. e were walking st the two of s in or sal silence to or from chrch. was in high school an ha een oing a lot

of writing an

was at aot this time the eitor of the high school magaine. t ha also een a plpit. ately

ong inister an ha een preaching from the ha een taking fewer engagements an preache

as rarely as possile. t was sai in the chrch ite trthflly

that

was cooling of f. y father aske me arptly

o rather write than preach

wolnt yo was astonishe at his estion ecase it was a real estion. answere

es.

That was all we sai. t was awfl to rememer that that was all we ha ever sai. The casket now was opene an morners were eing le p the aisle to look for the last time on the ecease. The assmption was that the family was too overcome with grief to e allowe to make this orney alone an watche while my ant was le to the casket an mf

fle in lack an shaking le ack to her seat.

isapprove of forcing the chilren to look on their ea father consiering that the shock of his eath or of eath as a reality ear

more trthflly

was alreay a little more than a chil col

t my gment in this matter ha een overrle an there

the shock

they were ewilere an frightene an very small eing le one y one to the casket. t there is also something very gallant aot chilren at sch moments. t has something to o with their silence an gravity an with the fact that one cannot help them. Their legs somehow seem exosed

so that it is at once increile an terrily

clear that their legs are all they have to hol them p. ha not wante to go to the casket myself an certainly ha not wishe to e le there t there was no way of avoiing either of these forms. ne of the eacons le me p an looke on my father s face. cannot say that it looke like him at all. is lackness ha een eivocate y power an there was no sggestion in that casket of what his power ha or col have een. e was simply an ol man ea an it was har to elieve that he ha ever given anyone either oy or pain.

et his life fille that room. rther

p the avene his wife was holing his neworn chil. ife an eath so close together an love an hatre an right an wrong sai something to me which i not want to hear concerning man concerning the life of man. fter the fneral while was owntown esperately celerating my irthay

a egro solier

in the loy of the otel raock got into

a fight with a white policeman over a egro girl. egro girls white policemen in or ot of niform an egro males in or ot of niform were part of the frnitre of the loy of the otel raock an this was certainly not the first time sch an incient ha occrre. t was estine however

to receive an

npreceente plicity

for the fight etween the policeman an the

solier ene with the shooting of the solier

. mor

flowing

immeiately to the streets otsie state that the solier ha een shot in the ack an instantaneos an revealing invention an that the solier ha ie protecting a egro woman. The facts were somewhat if ferent for eample the solier ha not een shot in the ack an was not ea an the girl seems to have een as ios a symol of womanhoo as her white conterpart in eorgia sally is t no one was intereste in the facts. They preferre the invention ecase this invention epresse an corroorate their hates an fears so perfectly . t is st as well to rememer that people are always oing this. erhaps many of those legens incling hristianity

to which the worl clings egan their conest

of the worl with st some sch concerte srrener to istortion. The effect in arlem of this particlar legen was like the ef

fect of a

lit match in a tin of gasoline. The mo gathere efore the oors of the otel raock simply egan to swell an to sprea in every irection an arlem eploe. The mo i not cross the ghetto lines. t wol have een easy eample to have gone over orningsie ark on the west sie or to have crosse the ran entral railroa tracks at th treet on the east sie to wreak havoc in white neighorhoos. The mo seems to have een mainly intereste in something more potent an real than the white face that is in white power an the principal amage one ring the riot of the smmer of was to white siness estalishments in arlem. t might have een a far looier

for

story of corse if at the hor the riot egan these estalishments ha still een open. rom the otel raock the mo fanne ot east an west along th treet an for the entire length of eno eventh an ighth avenes. long each of these avenes an along each maor sie street ars

th th th an so on

stores pawnshops restarants even little lncheonettes ha

een smashe open an entere an loote loote it might e ae with more haste than ef

ficiency. The shelves really looke as

thogh a om ha strck them. ans of eans an sop an og foo along with toilet paper

corn flakes sarines an milk tmle

every which way an aanone cash registers an cases of eer leane craily ot of the splintere winows an were strewn along the avenes. heets lankets an clothing of every escription forme a kin of path as thogh people ha roppe them while rnning. trly ha not realie that arlem

hd so many stores ntil

saw them all smashe open the first time the wor

eth

ever

entere my min in relation to arlem was when saw it scattere in the streets. t one

s first incongros impression of plenty was

contere immeiately y an impression of waste. one of this was oing anyoy any goo. t wol have een etter to have left the plate glass as it ha een an the goos lying in the stores. t wol have een etter

t it wol also have een intolerale for

arlem ha neee something to smash. T

o smash something is the

ghetto s chronic nee. ost of the time it is the memers of the ghetto who smash each other an themselves. t as long as the ghetto walls are staning there will always come a moment when

these otlets o not work. That smmer enogh to get into a fight on eno

for eample it was not vene or crse ot one

cronies in the arer shops. f ever

s

inee the violence which fills

arlem s chrches pool halls an ars erpts otwar in a more irect fashion arlem an its citiens are likely to vanish in an apocalyptic floo. That this is not likely to happen is e to a great many reasons most hien an powerfl among them the egro

s

real relation to the white merican. This relation prohiits simply anything as ncomplicate an satisfactory as pre hatre. n orer really to hate white people one has to lot so mch ot of the min an the heart that this hatre itself ecomes an ehasting an self estrctive pose. t this oes not mean on the other han that love comes easily the white worl is too powerfl too complacent too reay with gratitos hmiliation an aove all too ignorant an too innocent for that. ne is asoltely force to make perpetal alifications an one

s own reactions are always

canceling each other ot. t is this really

which has riven so many

people ma oth white an lack. ne is always in the position of having to ecie etween amptation an gangrene. mptation is swift t time may prove that the amptation was not necessary or one may elay the amptation too long. angrene is slow impossile to e sre that one is reaing one

s symptoms right. The

iea of going throgh life as a cripple is more than one can ear eally nearale is the risk of swelling p slowly poison. n the trole finally choices o not eist.

t it is an

in agony with

is that the risks are real even if the

t as for me an my hose my father ha sai we will serve the or. wonere as we rove him to his resting place what this line ha meant for him. ha hear him preach it many times. ha preache it once myself proly giving it an interpretation if

ferent

from my father s. ow the whole thing came ack to me as thogh my father an were on or way to nay school an were memoriing the golen tet

nd if it see evi unto you to serve the

ord hoose you this dy ho you i serve hether the ods hi h your fthers served tht ere on the other side of the food or the ods of the orites in hose nd ye d e but s for e nd y house e i serve the ord

sspecte in these familiar lines

a meaning which ha never een there for me efore. ll of my father s tets an songs which ha ecie were meaningless were arrange efore me at his eath like empty ottles waiting to hol the meaning which life wol give them for me. This was his legacy nothing is ever escape. That leakly memorale morning hate the nelievale streets an the egroes an whites who ha eally

mae them that way . t knew that it was folly

father wol have sai this itterness was folly

as my

. t was necessary to

hol on to the things that mattere. The ea man mattere the new life mattere lackness an whiteness i not matter to elieve that they i was to aciesce in one

s own estrction. atre which

col estroy so mch never faile to estroy the man who hate an this was an immtale law

.

t egan to seem that one wol have to hol in the min forever two ieas which seeme to e in opposition. The first iea was

acceptance the acceptance totally withot rancor

of life as it is an

men as they are in the light of this iea it goes withot saying that instice is a commonplace. t this i not mean that one col e complacent for the secon iea was of

eal power that one mst

never in one s own life accept these instices as commonplace t mst fight them with all one s strength. This fight egins however the heart an it now ha een lai to my charge to keep my own heart free of hatre an espair

. This intimation mae my heart

heavy an now that my father was irrecoverale wishe that he ha een esie me so that col have searche his face for the answers which only the ftre wol give me now

.

or is ussion nd ritin . entify all of the if ferent stories alwin tells in otes of a ative on . . ow oes alwin relate the story of his relationship with his father to the story of the relationship etween lack an white merica . connections hen T a ehisi oates s ook etter to My Son was plishe reviewers often compare his writing to alwin s. ea oates s The aranoi tyle of merican olicing alongsie otes of a ative on . ompare the wor choice the strctre an rhythm of the sentences an the se of rhetorical evices. o yo see similarities in the way the two athors write o yo see if ferences . rite aot a moment in yor life when yo were etremely angry . ow i yo hanle it an what oes the eperience tell yo aot yorself now . ooinrter t is one thing to hanle yorself well when yo are angry it is another thing for a large grop of people to hanle itself well in the face of etreme provocation an instice. esearch the history of nonviolent protest. hat has enale sch movements to avoi letting their anger lea them to meet violence with violence

in

hy ont ii

e omplain u ey r

born in e

or ity

s one

of the edin voi es of onservtive oiti s est no n s founder nd ontie editor of the oinion ourn

ational eview

of the S oiti t sho

u ey so rote

iring ine

nd host

syndi ted oun ontributed to ny ines nd uthored ore thn forty fi tion nd nonfi tion boos hy ont u ey

e oin oriiny ered in

sire

in

s onne tion of oiti thy to fiures to t in other

rts of ife is sti tiey tody

s you red thouh thin bout

tht hs hened in eri sin e the ritin of this rti e t was the very last coach an the only empty seat on the entire train so there was no trning ack. The prolem was to reathe. tsie the temperatre was elow freeing. nsie the railroa car temperatre mst have een aot egrees. took of

the f my

overcoat an a few mintes later my acket an notice that the car was flecke with the white shirts of passengers. soon fon my han moving to loosen my tie. rom one en of the car to the other as we rattle throgh

estchester onty

we sweate t we i

not moan. watche the train conctor appear at the hea of the car

. T ickets

all tickets please n a more virile age thoght the passengers wol seie the conctor an strap him own on a seat over the raiator to share the fate of his patrons. e shf

fle own the aisle

picking p tickets pnching commtation cars. ord to hi

o one ddressed

e approache my seat an rew a eep reath of

resoltion. onctor

egan with a consierale ege to my

voice. . . . nstantly the olefl eyes of my seatmate trne tirely from his newspaper to fi me with a resentfl stare what estion col e so important as to stify my siilant intrsion into his stpor was shaken y those eyes. am incapale of making a iscreet fss so mmle a

estion aot what time were we e

in tamfor int even ask whether it wol e efore or after ehyration col e epecte to set in got my reply ack to my newspaper an to wiping my row

an went .

The conctor ha nonchalantly walke own the gantlet of eighty sweating merican freemen an not one of them ha aske him to eplain why the passengers in that car ha een consigne to sf There is nothing to e one when the temperatre

fer.

outdoors is

egrees an inoors the air conitioner has roken own oviosly when that happens there is nothing to o ecept perhaps crse the ay that one was orn. t when the temperatre otoors is elow freeing it takes a positive act of will on someoy

s part to set the

temperatre indoors at . omewhere a valve was trne too far frnace overstoke a thermostat malaste something that col easily e remeie y trning of

f the heat an allowing the great

otoors to come inoors. ll this is so ovios. hat is not ovios is what has happene to the merican people.

a

t isnt st the commters whom we have come to visalie as a spine ree who have got onto the trick of sspening their sensory faclties twice a ay while they smit to the creeping issoltion of the railroa instry

. t isnt st they who have given p trying to

rectify irrational veations. t is the merican people everywhere. few weeks ago at a large movie theatre trne to my wife an sai The pictre is ot of focs. e iet she answere. oeye. t a few mintes later raise the point again with monting impatience. t will e all right in a minte she sai apprehensively. he wol rather lose her eyesight than e aron when make one of my infreent scenes. waite. t was

ust ot

of focs not glaringly ot t ot. y vision is an assme that is the vision aste of most people in the movie hose. o after hectoring my wife throghot the first reel finally prevaile pon her to amit that it

s

off an very annoying.

e

then settle own coming to rest on the presmption that a someone connecte with the management of the theatre mst soon notice the lr an make the correction or that someone seate near the rear of the hose wol make the complaint in ehalf of those of s p front or c that any

minte now the entire hose

wol eploe into catcalls an foot stamping calling ramatic attention to the irksome istortion. hat happene was nothing. The movie ene as it ha egn st ot of focs an as we troope ot we stretche or faces in a

variety of contortions to accstom the eye to the shock of normal focs. think it is safe to say that everyoy sf

fere on that occasion. n

think it is safe to assme that everyone was epecting someone else to take the initiative in going ack to speak to the manager . n it is proaly tre even that if we ha sppose the movie wol rn right throgh with the lrre image someone srely wol have smmone p the prposive inignation to get p ot of his seat an file his complaint. t notice that no one i. n the reason no one i is ecase we are all increasingly anios in merica to e notrsive we are relctant to make or voices hear hesitant aot claiming or rights we are afrai that or case is nst or that if it is not nst that it is amigos or if not even that that it is too trivial to stify the horrors of a confrontation with thority we will sit in an oven or enre a racking heaache efore nertaking a hea on m here to tell yo complaint. That tenency to passive compliance to a heeless enrance is something to keep one

s eyes on in sharp

focs. myself can occasionally smmon the corage to complain t cannot as have intimate complain softly . y own instinct is so strong to let the thing rie to forget aot it to epect that someone will take the matter p when the grievance is collective in my ehalf that it is only when the provocation is at a very special

key whose virations toch simltaneosly a comples of nerves allergies an passions that catch fire an fin the reserves of corage an assertiveness to speak p. hen that happens get ite carrie away

. y loo gets hot my row wet ecome

nearaly an nconscionaly sarcastic an ellicose am gire for a total showown. hy shol that e hy col not or anyone else on that railroa coach have sai simply to the conctor ack that sons sarcastic onctor

ir

take that

wol yo e goo

enogh to trn own the heat am etremely hot. n fact

ten to

get hot every time the temperatre reaches egr trike that last sentence. st en it with the simple statement that yo are etremely hot an let the conctor infer the case. very ew

ear s ve resolve to o something aot the

iletoast in me an vow to speak p calmly the etterment of or society ntering last ew

for my rights an for

on every appropriate occasion.

ear s ve was fortifie in my resolve ecase

that morning at reakfast ha ha to ask the waitress three times for a glass of milk. he finally roght it after ha finishe my eggs which is when ont want it any more. i not have the manliness to orer her to take the milk ack t settle instea for a cowarly slk an ostentatiosly refse to rink the milk thogh later pai for it rather than state plainly to the hostess as shol have why ha not rnk it an wol not pay for it.

o y the time the ew

ear shere ot the l riing in on my

morning s inignation an stimlate y the gastric ices of resoltion that flow so faithflly on ew

ear s ve renere my

vow. enceforwar wol coner my shyness my espicale isposition to spineness. wol speak ot like a man against the nnecessary annoyances of or time. orty eight hors later ico eak

was staning in line at the ski repair store in

ermont. ll neee to get on with my skiing was the

loan for one minte of a small screwriver

to tighten a loose

ining. ehin the conter in the workshop were two men. ne was instriosly engage in servicing the complicate reirements of a yong lay at the hea of the line an oviosly he wol e tie p for ite a while. The other iggs his workmate calle him was a mile age man who sat in a chair pf

fing a pipe

echanging small talk with his working partner . y plse egan its telltale acceleration. The mintes ticke on. stare at the ile shopkeeper hoping to shame him into action t he was impervios to my telepathic reproof an contine his small talk with his frien raenly insensitive to the nervos emans of si goo men who were raring to ski. enly my ew

ear s ve resoltion strck me. t was now or

never. roke from my place in line an marche to the conter

.

was going to control myself. g my nails into my palms. y ef

fort

was only partially sccessfl

f yo are not too sy

sai icily

wol yo min haning me a

screwriver ork stoppe an everyone trne his eyes on me an eperience that mortification always feel when am the center of centripetal shafts of criosity

resentment perpleity .

t the worst was yet to come. am sorry eferentially

sir sai iggs

moving the pipe from his moth. am not sppose to

move. have st ha a heart attack. That was the signal for a great whirring noise that escene from heaven. the winow

e looke stricken ot

an it appeare as thogh a cyclone ha senly

focse on the snowy cortyar etween the shop an the ski lift. enly a gigantic rmy helicopter materialie an hovere own to a laning. T wo men mpe ot of the plane carrying a stretcher tore into the ski shop an lifte the shopkeeper onto the stretcher iggs ae his companion goo y

was whiske ot the oor

into

the plane p to the heavens own we learne to a neary rmy hospital. looke p manflly into a score of man eating eyes. pt the eperience own as a reversal. s write this on an airplane have rn ot of paper an nee to reach into my riefcase ner my legs for more. cannot o this ntil my empty lnch tray is remove from my lap. arreste the stewaress as she passe empty hane own the aisle on the way to the kitchen to fetch the lnch trays for the passengers p forwar who havent een serve yet.

ol yo please take my tray

.

st a

oent

sir she sai an marche on sternly

her that since she is heae for the kitchen

ny y

. hall tell it cannot elay

the feeing of the other passengers y the two secons necessary to stash away my empty tray r remin her that not fifteen mintes ago she spoke nctosly into the lo speaker the wors notely evise y the airline

s highly pai plic relations

conselor f there is anything or iss rench can o for yo to make yor trip more enoyale

ese

let s have rn ot of

paper. think the oservale relctance of the maority of mericans to assert themselves in minor matters is relate to or increase sense of helplessness in an age of technology an centralie political an economic power. or generations mericans who were too hot or too col got p an i something aot it. ow we call the plmer or the electrician or the frnace man. The hait of looking after or own nees oviosly ha something to

o with the assertiveness

that characterie the merican family familiar to reaers of merican literatre. ith the technification of life goes or irect responsiility for or material environment an we are conitione to aopt a position of helplessness not only as regars the roken air conitioner fi the former

t as regars the overheate train. t takes an epert to t not the latter yet these istinctions as we

withraw into helplessness ten to fae away

.

r notorios political apathy is a relate phenomenon. very year whether the eplican or the emocratic arty is in of

fice more

an more power rains away from the inivial to fee vast reservoirs in far off places an we have less an less say aot the shape of events which shape or ftre. rom this aerration of personal power comes the sense of resignation with which we accept the political ispensations of a powerfl government whose hol pon s contines to increase. n eitor of a national weekly news magaine tol me a few years ago that as few as a oen letters of protest against an eitorial stance of his magaine was enogh to convene a plenipotentiary meeting of the oar of eitors to review policy

. o few people

complain or make their voices hear he eplaine to me that we assme a oen letters represent the inarticlate views of thosans of reaers. n the past ten years he sai the volme of mail has noticealy ecrease even thogh the circlation of his magaine has risen. hen or voices are finally mte when we have finally sppresse the natral instinct to complain whether the veation is trivial or grave we shall have ecome atomatons incapale of feeling. hen remier hrshchev first came to this contry late in he was prime we are informe to eperience the itter resentment of the merican people against his tyranny

against his persections

against the movement which is responsile for the then great nmer of merican eaths in orea for illions in taes every year an for life everlasting on the rink of isasters t hrshchev was pleasantly srprise an reporte ack to the ssian people that

he ha een met with overwhelming coriality rea apathy ecept to e sre for a few fascists who followe me aron with their wretche posters an shol e . . . horsewhippe. may e cray

t say there wol have een lots more posters in

a society where train temperatres in the ea of winter are not allowe to clim p to egrees withot complaint.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat are ckley s three eamples of sitations in which one might complain . hat oes ckley arge is the relationship etween or failre to complain an or failre to care aot politics ow oes he attempt to convince s of that relationship . connections ompare ckley s argment aot or ehavior as citiens with arara aear scher s in n ompassion . o they focs on the same kins of ehaviors ow o their if ferences in sect relate to the if ferences in their essays . rite an essay in which yo reflect on yor own political feelings an orientation. hat o yo care aot an why ow o yo emonstrate yor eliefs . ooinrter esearch one of yor political ieals. here oes it come from historically ow is it relevant in contemporary politics re there ways in which this ieal has een realie ays in which it has not re there things yo think government sholcol o to move closer to it

The rning esire for ot hicken nny hu is born nd bred os nees sorts riter ho so rites bout food e ored s n editori ssistnt ssistnt editor nd sso ite editor for

rantlan

no defun t ebsite

fo usin on onfor ournis bout our uture nd sorts e is no n sso ite editor t

rantlan

s su

essor The inger

for hi h he rites bout bsetb nd food his essy oriiny ered in n his or t

The inger . rantlan

nd The inger

hu hs often ten n

e e ti ro h to his sube t hether it is rti ur dish or bsetb yer

findin vrious ys of ro hin his sube t n

his essy he urnin esire for ot hi en hu rites bout hot hi en the dish but so bout the heistry of het bout o

uture nd bout his hidhood s you red y ttention to

the ys in hi h his

ount strys fro the strihtfor rd

ir in his entr on ern unti he tures it ears ago when he was still the mayor of ashville ill rcell receive a call from nglan. The son of rince harles wante to meet him.

dont no if tht

s girlfrien

s soethin need to do

thoght to himself. The voice on the other line clarifie the prpose of the meeting e wante to eat hot chicken.

ell then m in

rcell lrte ot. rcell is a man who while serving as maority leaer in the Tennessee ose of epresentatives eclare rince

s ot

he

hicken hack to e the est restarant in T

ennessee. n the

mayor an his royalty aacent gest met at rince to chat. rcell

s an sat own

s gest immeiately sai will have the etra hot.

h ont o that rcell sai.

o shol have the hot chicken.

e pointe to the winow art that greets visitors on their way in. ee rince

s ot hicken hack. That

s what they serve.

The men walke p to the conter to place their orer throgh a little sare opening in the wall which conceals the kitchen from civilians. The echange feels like a negotiation at a o of

fice.

ne arter chicken rown an white etra hot the gest sai. rince s owner nre rince ef

fries attempte to talk him of f the

lege t etra hot is what he got. rcell walke ack to the tale with a smile. e knew what was coming. The rit was T om arker owles the son of amilla now chess of ornwall. arker owles a prominent foo writer research trip for his ook

he

was on a

er of Etin nerousy ob

dventure in Ser h of uinry Extrees

e got what he wante

an he love his first ite. Then it starte to hrt. Then came the tears. owles wol eicate two pages in his ook to escriing the misery the rince s etra hot chicken pt him throgh. The only thing willing me on is pre pig heae prie owles wrote. ach mothfl ecomes more an more painfl an nming ntil m

ncertain as to whether m swallowing my saliva or st riling it ot of my moth. e thoght he was going to ie rcell tol me. hicken was a ish create for the epress prpose of ringing a man to his knees. ts origin myth wasnt the reslt of a mistake like chocolate chip cookies oca ola or the rench ip sanwich. ot chicken was premeitate to this ay

every ite of ashville hot

chicken is toche y the spectral presence of a etraye lover The story remains sch a fonational part of hot chicken that it ears repeating an frankly

. s allre

it never gets ol ack in the

s there was a man name Thornton rince who ha a reptation aron town as a serial philanerer

. is girlfrien at the

time sick of his shit an spening her nights alone ecie to o something aot it. fter a long night ot rince came home to reakfast. is girlfrien mae frie chicken his favorite. t efore serving it she cake on the most volatile spices she ha in the pantry presmaly cayenne pepper an

mstar see among

other things. f it int kill him at least he wol reevalate his life choices. e int o either rince fell harer for the over spice piece of chicken than he i for any woman he ever corte. rince implore her to make it for his family an friens they all love it too.

n act of revenge ecame a neighorhoo treasre an ashville one tre inigenos foo. The ientity of rince

s girlfrien the real

innovator here has een lost to time t the fearfl flashes of mortality that hot chicken eaters have eperience for more than years gives a particlar angel in heaven her wings. Technically hot chicken is straightforwar. The flavor profile has likely evolve since Thornton rince took his first ite an every restarant claims to have a secret preparation. t in essence it is frie chicken coate in a paste largely consisting of cayenne an other rie spices with a splash of hot oil from the fryer

. ecase the

paste is oil ase an searingly hot the skin stays crisp nlike f

falo wings which are prone to either rying ot or getting gloppy

in a hrry . ot chicken preates the first f

falo wing y three

ecaes. The finishe proct has a lri reish he that epening on the spice level ranges from alifornia snset to the owels of hell. ot chicken is serve with two manatory accompaniments a slice of plain ol white rea pon which the ir is perche an a few pickle chips skewere to the chicken with a toothpick. That s it. t is in my opinion a amn near perfect ish. The lines that separate love an hate pleasre an pain epectation an reality they issolve when yo eat hot chicken. f yo o it right it will hrt. o might cry . n yo will spen the net week thinking aot when yo might have it again.

s

ot chicken has ecome one of the iggest national foo trens of the last few years t int come to ashville to olms a ish that has eiste for nearly a centry sorce why merica

. i come to see from the

s fascination with hot chicken is eploing at

this particlar moment. s recently as years ago hot chicken wasnt a niversally acknowlege ish even in its irthplace. or the maority of its eistence it was largely containe within the preominantly lack ast ashville neighorhoos that create it kept ot of view ner the shro of lawfl segregation. rince s ol location was close to the yman itorim where the ran le pry performe for more than three ecaes. ts late night hors were perfect for performers an early aopters like ontry sic all of amer eorge organ helpe il a evot following. t in the segregation era to get their fi they ha to walk throgh a sie oor

. rince s was operate like a white

estalishment in reverse lacks orer in front whites ot ack. ven after esegregation hot chicken remaine hien in plain sight for mch of ashville e to what rcell escrie as comfort on oth sies of the racial ivie. think in terms of the first years or more there was a satisfaction y the family an families that were making hot chicken that they were oing something special an worthwhile rcell sai. t they ha no particlar inclination or esire in those ays to franchise it or move it eyon their own capacity to ensre its ality

. n it

satisfie them to e that way

an that s how they proceee. ot

nlike in some ways aspects of ashville at that time. ashville appears to e growing into itself an growing to accommoate strangers yo can tell from the afternoon congestion on the interstate where the grilock is eginning to resemle the kin yo eperience in tlanta or stin. There are a lot of people moving here from alifornia nrew

an er river

the traffic is as a as os ngeles. ashville is if

tol me. n ferent now.

There s miles etween s t ashville an have mtal interests. y favorite restarants col ole as a eieval T

imesese

show for misanrists where the male tears flow like wine. n high school a grop of friens an ventre to a traitional ichanese restarant st p the street from my school in the city of an ariel a sr east of os ngeles where more than percent of resients were sian as of the censs.

e orere a

traitional hot pot fll of meats an vegetales covere in a ling roth loae with rie whole chili pos an anesthetic ichan peppercorns an toppe of

f with what looke like a tanker eplosion

of crimson chili oil. n a cont of three we all agree to lean in an inhale eeply . nstantly everyone at the tale roke ot into a fit of ncontrollale coghing. t was

the most emaning meal any of s

ha ever eaten. t wasnt st a memorale lnch it was one of the est ll ever have. These are the kins of restarants m in constant

search of where what s eing serve challenges sensory norms an forces yo to reckon with foo

s capacity to change yo in the

moment not st emotionally

t physically

y search roght me to rince

s t it int stop there. n planning

my orney

.

fon inspiration in nthony orain who ha

tweete earlier this year that eating hot chicken was a three ay commitment. n so that

s what i. committe myself to eating

at three hot chicken oints in three ays orering the highest spice level availale at each one. realie now that isnt what orain meant.

T

. .

T

Si e eve ot oy want to see yo eat this the woman taking my orer sai. Those who orer the highest spice level at rince

s sally

torists as there seems to e an nwritten rle as a ashvillian to never orer the etra hot are almost always iscorage y the staff. aye it was the crae grin ha walking p the conter was met with minimal resistance.

t

o mst have een convincing

rcell tol me. ecase they will normally not st estion the orer

t attempt to talk yo own. ll got was an of

ressing free of charge. politely ecline.

fer of ranch

othing col have srprise me pon first ite ecept for what happene nothing. o tears no sweat minimal pain. aye sholve seen that coming. efore career aspirations efore stanarie testing hell efore first grae was fiate on increasing my spice tolerance on flfilling a family hallmark. s a year ol catiosly egan ipping my foo into sriracha as a year ol was my rother sos chef an esignate taste tester

helping him chop haaneros

for a salsa at his first college hose party last year eaper

s

ate a arolina

the hottest chili on the planet in front of a camera. Two

ecaes of pshing my onaries ha clminate in eating the ot at rince

s in front of a petrifie cople visiting from

hicago withot a hitch. esensitiing oneself to the rn of chilies roaens the palate. hen the sting is no longer a hinrance it

s easier to focs on actal

flavor. rince s spice len is heavily weighte towar cayenne an paprika among other spices the earthiness almost reminiscent of nclear aacan

oe

t s har to overstate how eatifl this frie

chicken is. t glows with a sheen emanating from every crevice. The flesh itself is perfect rince

s specifically is lae for a clanestine

marination technie that egins efore the ir ever hits the fryer hatever they o in their preparation mae that frie chicken the est ve ever ha hot or not.

.

as a little isappointe y the initial heat of rince

s re. t

ef fries the great niece of Thornton rince calls her chicken a hor chicken an she tells no lies. y moth may not have mine all the cayenne t my stomach was ner siege. The pain wasnt sharp like a knife staing throgh yo. t was ron an lnt t incessant like lows from a hammer teneriing yo from the insie. t can o strange things to a person as my hallcinatory reams that night wol attest. ven hant escape the wrath of rince

s

mythic heat. There are photos on elp of people passe ot on rince

s tales

trying to finish their foo. rcell once took a coworker to the restarant for lnch. The woman ehin the winow shook her hea. is coworker was visily pregnant. he cant have hot chicken the employee sai. hell have to come ack after the ay is orn. f corse there are also tales of pregnant women who have aske their partners to fetch rince s hot chicken for takeot in hopes of epeiting the elivering process. ain is pain sppose. t the strange mysticism srroning the siness oesnt en with its allege chilirth incing properties. rince mpy strip mall st of

s calls a small

f the ickerson ike in ast ashville its

home in an area known to e a hote for prostittion. n there are contless stories aot the role hot chicken plays as an aphroisiac for locals. nre rince ef

fries has seen firsthan the

rai seal appetite hot chicken can cast pon iners.

e o have a lay that comes an she

s een coming for aot as

long as ve een in siness she an others ef

fries tol the

othern ooways lliance in . n she gets it hot. he rings her sitors own here if

ferent sitors. he comes always on

the weeken an she gets it hot. ne night she st colnt wait to get ot so the finale was on the hoo of a car parke in front of the chicken shack. he s not the only one. . . . contine to o or work what were goo at. ey trn if

e st sht or eyes an if ferent things

ferent people on.

t why n more importantly

how or those answers well

nee a ick science lesson. apsaicin the compon in chilis that cases a rning sensation activates a receptor in the oy calle T the same receptor activate when the oy comes in contact with anything hotter than egrees ahrenheit. apsaicin is a fat solle compon which is normally a tiit se to tell yo to rink milk not water to ell the heat. t in hot chicken

s case it

eplains why the ish is so amn hot. ll the capsaicin in the spice mi is rawn ot in the oil ase application so with every ite the compon floos the receptors in yor moth ef

fectively signalling

to yor oy that yove committe self immolation. The rest of the oy respons accoringly

. or temperatre

increases. o start sweating profsely

. The loo vessels in yor

face egin to ilate to rsh loo in an ot of the prolem site casing swelling an reness. not is ripping from yor nose. t then yo start to feel loopy . The oy thinks it

s on fire so it

nleashes a wave of enorphins to help ell the rning.

o start

to feel something akin to a rnner s high. The sharp stinging pain will ssie t the rsh an sseent sense of tranility lasts a it longer . t that

s taking into accont only one iological process that goes

into eating hot chicken. s an imaginary fire envelops the senses the oy processes the fact that yore eating some of the est frie chicken in the contry . alatale foos are working on similar rewar centers in the rain compare to rgs like cocaine amphetamine an heroin sai atthew

ong a neroscientist

who spent three years researching the effects of at mory niversity . That s what makes s like certain foos more than others. The pleasre an pain of hot chicken

comes in layers in

waves. t is a simple ish t what it inspires in the oy is as mltivalent as a esigner rg. ll that science still oesnt eplain implsive se on the hoo of a car in front of an entire restarant fll of people. ase on what know aot the rain an what know aot people first of all there are ovios environmental factors involve ong sai. assme people are eating this stf assming theyre eating this stf

f late at night. m

f after eing ot an rinking. o if

yore alreay kin of rnk an yor inhiitions are own an yore increasing yor perceive oy temperatre y eating this very spicy chicken all of these things environmental as well as

iological proaly work together to increase the likelihoo of two people looking across the tale at each other an wanting to get own. ot chicken s mythology has grown immensely in the past ecae t it

s har to ivorce the ish

eperiences rince t s fnny

s allre from the over the top

s has fostere over its nearly years.

rcell the former mayor

sai. t

s a place where

nothing seems particlarly cray . t oesnt matter

somehow

whatever people are saying or oing it all seems st fine.

. .

T

Si e eve Extr ot fter chatting with people at ashville ars an restarants it seeme that olton

s picy hicken ish was more often the site

of ot of oy eperiences. ie at olton

eah yo have to try rince

s t

s a artener tol me. n if yore going there get

the hot fish. ashville was recently rate the frienliest city in merica accoring to rve eisure

so wasnt going to ignore the kinness an

wisom of locals. long with the etra hot chicken leg orere an etra hot frie catfish sanwich.

olton s co owner ollye ngram atthews incle fish on the men as a way of preserving one of her cherishe chilhoo memories the ackyar fish fry in her neighorhoo which egan to isappear as she grew oler

. hat is place efore yo

at olton s

might seem a it northoo to an otsier a whole filet reae an eep frie with a healthy osing of cayenne raw onion slivers pickle chips an a seee of rench

s yellow mstar etween two

pieces of plain white sanwich rea the filet overflowing the sies to a comical egree. t may e a hmle ish of hmle origin t it weaves a we of interconnecte flavors tetres an sensations the cayenne is ooste y the aciic components srroning it the elicate crisp of the fish is emrace y the pillowy natre of the rea. fter a few eers an the mile walk from ino allatin

s in which

vene crves into ain treet the fish sanwich at

olton s feels like estiny . The chicken is goo too thogh less cosmically aligne. The spice application in olton s is ryer than what yoll fin at rince

s akin

to a emphis arece ry r. The inivial granles of the spice mitre are visile on a piece of olton

s chicken the resial shake

glitters the piece of white rea eneath. The cayenne mitre itself has a righter heat than rince

s an to my tonge hotter

ngram atthews walke y to check on me. s that hot enogh for yo

too.

t wolve een nice to have a few tears fall ot of my eyes t yes. tol her it

s hotter than what ate at rince

she replie with calm certite. t

s. f corse it is

s what we pt in it.

olton s is a celeration of olton olk the ncle of ngram atthews

s hsan olton atthews an his contritions to the

proliferation of hot chicken. olk was the owner of olmo

s a hot

chicken shack that for a time was rince s only worthy competition to the throne. The two sinesses share roots. olk was the former fry cook at rince s efore a arrel with the rince family ha him mping ship an starting his own siness. ran le pry singer eorge organ was a freent cstomer an love olk

s chicken

so mch he ha a chemist analye the spice len so he e ale to replicate it at home. rcell rememers olmo

s well. t was where he ha his first ite

of hot chicken. can actally look ot the winow of my of

fice an

see where it was he sai. The former mayor generally speaks in measre gentle tones t is often consme y his own emotions talking aot the city an its foo staple.

rememer at that moment

thinking that never ha anything like this ont think there is anything like this think this might e the est thing ve ever ha. n that rcell

s a memory yo hopeflly never lose. havent. s evotion to the ish over the years le him to plan a

ashville hot chicken festival in while he was still mayor ashville s icentennial year

an rcell col think of no etter

. t was

way to celerate the city than y paying a trite to one of its great elicacies. ithot a tinge of haghtiness in his voice rcell creits the hot chicken festival for the ish s proplsion into a ashville mainstream cltral hallmark. think that the festival itself mae it clear to people who havent focse on it or ha it or nerstoo it efore st how nie an special it is that it is ors he sai. That it starte here an it will always e ors as long as we spport it an keep it alive. sic ity ot hicken estival celerate its th year this smmer . t s hel on the orth of ly every year

an while it may

seem strange to want to share a ay with the greatest celeration of merica rcell figre there was no etter setting. t

s one of

those times when people are celerating the natre of their civic relationships rcell sai. t is the one ay of the year where yo col e sre that everyoy wol e thinking aot what it meant to e a person in ashville in merica.

T

. .

TT

Si e eve Shut the u U t was strange yet reassring to hear rcell talk aot hot chicken as an affirmation of the merican spirit. ot chicken reflects certain attites an vales aot foo an cltre that int associate as merican. t was certainly an merica longe for

t one wasnt

sre eiste an merica that int always process etremes as pre gimmickry . The iea of a challenging foo ringing people

together in an immersive eperience was always something attrite more to my otheast sian pringing. t s not that merica oesnt have a history of chili consmption The atch chili is a staple of ew eico an well always

have people

eperimenting with new weapons grae saces t ew eico chilies arent cltivate specifically for heat an toying with capsaicin etract is more of a s scltral pastime. ot chicken is an anomaly a kin of etreme so rarely celerate y mericans en masse. t s a ish that otlaste the reat epression an segregation in merica an live long enogh to see itself ecome a moern merican foo tren an symol of gentrification. st aron the corner from rince

s an a short walk own

ickerson ike is a . arlier this year an ran it throgh the olonel

the chain took hot chicken

s Transmtation hamer

elivering

s ashville ot hicken a castrate proct that y mere mention of the wor ashville is meant to reinforce their moern raning

vuey Southern vuey soethin

Tesay is hot chicken night at ingerman

. s in nn ror

ew hot chicken specialists have opene in the ew

ichigan. ork ity

eattle an hicago metropolitan areas this year alone. y first ite of hot chicken came cortesy of owlin ay

s in os ngeles.

wner ohnny ay one has worke for oron amsay

ol

ochon an o atshisa t fon his calling ring a rief stint with ean rock

s othern astion sk in ashville where he

was first epose to hot chicken. T ogether with his wife mana he ecie to ring a sovenir ack to his hometown initially as a foo trck. ow ..

it s a limite hors storefront in a shopping comple in

s rapily gentrifying hinatown.

tylistically

the chicken at owlin ay

olton s ry application. t

s is highly inflence y

s a spiritally faithfl recreation owlin

the hottest option on their men is at least as hot as anything ve ha from the sorce. choke on my first ite of owlin ay chicken. y eyes geysere. lost control of my oy

s hot . was in love.

ot chicken s wiesprea poplarity sggests a shift in the national palate. t it

s a ish roote in a strong sense of place yoll always

know how to go irectly to the sorce. The most celerate an emlematic ish of one of the most poplos cities in the contry is something esigne to hrt yo. never felt more merican than when was eating hot chicken in ashville. wante to make one last stop efore oaring my flight ack home. attie

s estalishe in is one of the newer hot chicken oints

in the city its location in mitown ashville makes it a torist frienly alternative to many other iconic hot chicken shacks. was skeptical. attie

s was a topic of iscssion in nearly all of my er ries. n

my way to rince s my river to attie

icham wonere why wasnt going

s which he hear was the est. icham ha never trie

hot chicken efore .

n my way ack from rince

s my river gene an echange

or versions of the Thornton rince fale an he too wonere why as a torist int try attie

s first.

ell m gla yo went

to rince s gene sai. The gys at attie workers ot to rince

s once sent their

s to try to steal their marination recipe try to

get that flavor. t they oviosly colnt. attie

s ha een open only mintes t the line mostly

white mostly torists ent aron the restarant an ran own the street. hile there are a few tales in the store itself most ate from the treny

raise patio eck. t rince

s an olton

s there

was a sense of familial warmth the proct of years maye even generations of patronage. gs were echange y memers of the commnity who st happene to stop in for a ite at the same time. onsiering that attie

s hasnt even mae to a half ecae of

eistence it might e nfair to pit the restarant against that stanar t in its for years attie in two states rince

s alreay has three locations

s after nearly eight ecaes of serving hot

chicken only recently annonce an pcoming secon location. ame proct if

ferent ethos thogh the enterprising spirit attie

s has emonstrate in its franchising is merican too. ll cop to eing a little iscriminatory

. assme this thir wave of

hot chicken prveyors wol ilte the proct at least a it. hen it was time to orer

aske the attie

s cashier how their hottest

regrettaly name ht the lck p stacke p to rince

s an

olton s.

ell it s a if ferent flavor profile entirely she sai.

se ghost peppers. u

e

oll enoy it.

t wasnt that colnt hanle that one of my favorite

snacks is conal

s fries with a sprinkle of plverie ghost

peppers t was well aware of the kin of havoc

bhut ooi

can

wreak on a stomach. y flight was in for hors. The eterior of the chicken at attie

s is arker than what ha at

either rince s or olton s. pparently at the ht the lck p level the spice len incorporates haanero ghost pepper

an T rinia

corpion. The cashier was right the flavor profile is markely if ferent from a cayenne centric piece of hot chicken. The higher p yo go on the coville nit scale the more the pngency of a chili registers as aciic. Thai ir

s eye chilies haaneros ghost peppers

they all release a fresh floral essence that raors throgh other flavors as a trigger warning for the pain yore aot to eperience. That racing sensation not pain t the liminal ack an forth etween the rain an the palate signaling that yore in for trole is to me one of the est feelings in the worl. ate on the ack patio overlooking the line to get throgh the oor scenes at rince s an olton

s the attie

. nlike the intimate

s eperience is

roacast. invite people to watch me an my tremling fingers completely fine with the iea of people noticing my tremling fingers an heavy reathing. aske strangers to take pictres of my ste face my eperience ecame theirs.

There have een fascinating sties in recent years linking oy temperatre an moo. hile he was at the niversity of riona r . harles aison egan eperimenting with whole oy hyperthermia essentially toasting people from the neck own at high temperatres . aison

s sty was inspire y T

ietan monks p in

the imalayan montains who se special reathing technies in their meitation which sties have shown were ale to increase the temperatre of their etremities y egrees ahrenheit. oincientally

the capsaicin that ins itself to receptors on the

tonge an other parts of the moth can trick the min into thinking that something is egrees hotter than it is. apsaicin containing foos have the potential like heat to activate sensory fiers an fnction of rain areas involve in af cognition sai hristopher . owry

fect an

an associate professor of

integrative physiology at the niversity of olorao oler

who

worke alongsie aison in the heat sties. o the infrastrctre is there for hot chicken to affect moo an higher orer rain fnction. The hot chicken shack then ecomes more than st a restarant. t is a sweat loge a hot yoga stio a sana it is a safe

space to cry

among strangers. There is no pretense we all know the forces at work eckoning those tears an eas of sweat. once saw an ol hinese man at heng T

aste my favorite ichan restarant in

os ngeles crying into his owl of rice. caght myself staring an so i he. The man let ot a nervos smile an shrgge. y three

ays in ashville were fll of those moments. t strck me how the hot chicken tren has mirrore a recent oom in ichan restarants in ..

s eastern srs over the last three years. The hot chicken

shack in ashville not nlike the restarants freent in the strange sian le of the an ariel commnity

alley gathers a

an gimmick or not everyone is there for the same

reason to feel the great relief of sccming. ast month ack hite an his ashville ase Thir an ecors sccessflly lanche the cars raft a space proof vessel hosing a trntale attache to a high altite alloon that floate ot into the voi. on as perceive y hmans cannot e carrie in the vast emptiness of eep space.

alking ot of attie

s my face an

arms went nm tingling as glie in the cool post rile reee. stmle own the roa hearing only the faint ringing of my own oy fighting an imaginary fire as floate along the siewalk an into what mightve een oncoming traf fic. ors later high altite vessel myself

encase in a

feet in the air an climing the

hammers egan to escen. was cars.

or is ussion nd

ritin

. hat makes eating spicy foo enoyale . ha strctres his essay aron visits to if ferent restarants t the restarants themselves are not the main sect of his essay . hat is ow oes he se his strctre to eplore it . connections n writing aot his sect ha elves into history science an personal writing in aition to the foo writing yo might epect. nother essay in this ook that roams across a range of areas of iniry an genres of writing is loria nala s ow to

Tame a il T onge . hat is nala s sect an into what realms oes her essay roam to eamine it ompare the way the two essays se a nmer of if ferent approaches to get at their sects. re there commonalities in the way they comine these approaches an in their ef fectiveness re their if ferences . rite aot yor own eating eperiences one in particlar or one kin. re there foos yove een scare of or rawn to re there foos that yo ientify with yor family or ackgron that others might not appreciate in the same way n yor writing make sre to focs oth on yor escriptions of the foo an on its personal or cltral significance. . ooinrter ha ses the ver olms a slang term rawn from the eplorer s name that means to iscover or claim as one own something that is alreay known y others. e ses it to istance his essay from that criticism. T ry to fin some eamples of this kin of activity from contemporary cltre an write aot what it means to refer to it as olmsing. s all se or appreciation of things originating in other commnities or cltres appropriation hat makes it so or not so ho ecies

s

nly aghter Sndr isneros is Mexi n eri n riter

orn in in

hi o isneros re u in both Mexi o nd the United Sttes ttendin hih s hoo in hi o nd ernin her t oyo University hi o She erned n M

fro the o riters

orsho nd hs tuht ritin t both the hih s hoo nd oee eves est no n s the uthor of the nove treet

The ose on ango

isneros is so uthor of ny other boos in udin

the oetry oe tion story oe tion

y icke icke

ays the short

oman ollering reek an ther tories

nd the utobiorhi

ose of y wn

nce several years ago when was st starting ot my writing career was aske to write my own contritor

s note for an

anthology was part of. wrote am the only aghter in a family of si sons. ht

eplains everything.

ell ve thoght aot that ever since an yes it eplains a lot to me t for the reaer aghter in a

s sake shol have written am the only

Mexi n family of si sons. r even am the only

aghter of a eican father an a eican merican mother am the only aghter of a working class family of nine. ll of these ha everything to o with who am toay

.

wasam the only aghter an

. eing an only

ony a aghter

aghter in a family of si sons force me y circmstance to spen a lot of time y myself ecase my rothers felt it eneath them to

.r

play with a ir

in plic. t that aloneness that loneliness was

goo for a wol e writer it allowe me time to think an think to imagine to rea an prepare myself. eing only a aghter for my father meant my estiny wol lea me to ecome someone s wife. That s what he elieve. t when was in the fifth grae an share my plans for college with him was sre he nerstoo. rememer my father saying

ue bueno ni

that s goo. That meant a lot to me especially since my rothers thoght the iea hilarios. hat

int realie was that my father

thoght college was goo for girls goo for fining a hsan. fter for years in college an two more in graate school an still no hsan my father shakes his hea even now an says waste all that ecation. n retrospect m lcky my father elieve aghters were meant for hsans. t meant it int matter if maore in something silly like nglish. fter all fin a nice professional eventally

right This

allowe me the lierty to ptter aot emroiering my little poems an stories withot my father interrpting with so mch as a hat that yore writing t the trth is wante him to interrpt. wante my father to nerstan what it was was scriling to introce me as y only aghter Es estr

the writer. ot as This is only my aghter teacher . ot even

rofesor

. he teaches.

s

n a sense everything have ever written has een for him to win his approval even thogh know my father cant rea nglish wors even thogh my father s only reaing incles the rown ink sports magaines from eico ity an the looy

r

magaines that featre yet another sighting of

iren de

udue

Esto

on a tortilla or a wife s revenge on her philanering

hsan y ashing his skll in with a mae of volcanic rock . r the

o ete fotonoves

a kitchen mortar

the little pictre

paperacks with tragey an trama erpting from the characters moths in les. y father represents then the plic maority

. plic who is

nintereste in reaing an yet one whom am writing aot an for an privately trying to woo. hen we were growing p in hicago we move a lot ecase of my father. e sf

fere ots of nostalgia. Then we have to let go of

or flat store the frnitre with mother

s relatives loa the station

wagon with aggage an ologna sanwiches an hea soth. T eico ity

.

e came ack of corse. T

o yet another hicago flat another

hicago neighorhoo another atholic school. ach time my father wol seek ot the parish priest in orer to get a tition reak an complain or oast have seven sons.

o

e meant

siete hios seven chilren t he translate it as sons.

have seven sons. T o anyone who wol listen. The ears oeck employee who sol s the washing machine. The short orer cook where my father ate his ham an eggs reakfasts. have seven sons. s if he eserve a meal from the state. y papa. e int mean anything y that mistranslation m sre. t somehow col feel myself eing erase. tg my father sleeve an whisper ot seven sons. i an

s

one duhter

hen my olest rother graate from meical school he flfille my father s ream that we sty har an se this or heas instea of this or hans. ven now my father an yellow

s hans are thick

ste y a history of hammer an nails an twine an

coils an springs. se this my father sai tapping his hea an not this showing s those hans. e always looke tire when he sai it. asnt college an investment n hant spent all those years in college n if int marry

what was it all for hy wol anyone

go to college an then choose to e poor specially someone who ha always een poor ast year

.

after ten years of writing professionally the financial

rewars starte to trickle in. y secon ational nowment for the rts ellowship. gest professorship at the niversity of alifornia

erkeley . y ook which sol to a maor ew

ork plishing

hose. t hristmas flew home to hicago. The hose was throing same as always hot tes mother s pressre cooker

an sweet tes

hissing in my

an everyoy my mother

si

rothers wives aies ants cosins talking too lo an at the same time like in a ellini film ecase that went pstairs to my father

s st how we are.

s room. ne of my stories ha st een

translate into panish an plishe in an anthology of hicano writing an wante to show it to him. ver since he recovere from a stroke two years ago my father likes to spen his leisre hors horiontally . n that

s how fon him watching a ero nfante

movie on alavisin an eating rice ping. There was a glass filme with milk on the esie tale. There were several vials of pills an alle leene. n on the floor

one lack

sock an a plastic rinal that int want to look at t looke at anyway. ero nfante was aot to rst into song an my father was laghing. m not sre if it was ecase my story was translate into panish or ecase it was plishe in eico or perhaps ecase the story ealt with T epeyac the ooni my father was raise in an the hose he grew p in t at any rate my father pnche the mte tton on his remote control an rea my story

.

sat on the e net to my father an waite. e rea it very slowly s if he were reaing each line over an over

.

. e laghe at all the

right places an rea lines he like ot lo. e pointe an aske estions s this o an so

es sai. e kept reaing.

hen he was finally finishe after what seeme like hors my father looke p an aske here can we get more copies of this for the relatives f all the wonerfl things that happene to me last year

that was

the most wonerfl. or is ussion nd ritin . hat oes it mean to e a aghter in the athor s family . isneros tells the story of her chilhoo in this essay t the essay is not strctre chronologically as might e epecte. ow is it strctre hy o yo think isneros chose to orer the elements of her narrative in the way that she i . connections n rofessions for omen irginia oolf also eamines what it is like to e a woman writer . ompare the two essays o isneros an oolf focs on the same aspects life as a woman writer here o they if fer . Think aot whether there is something aot yor family sitation that shapes who yo are nmer of silings irth orer gener or something else. hat aot this sitation has ha an ef fect on yo an how o yo think it will help etermine yor ftre career . ooinrter hen isneros reconts ringing a translate copy of a story to show to her father she escries the kins of writing he sally reas. ow oes she reflect on what this reaing material means ow oes she generalie aot reaing eyon her father o some research into reaing patterns an write aot their larger social ramifications. hat might reaing haits mean for society

learct plaining the istance Ei re is

riter

tivist nd ubi seer ho re u in the

ifi orth est nd no ives in

eront is sube ts in ude

disbiity ueerness e e nd so i usti e e is the uthor of t o ors of retive nonfi tion re

nd

ieration

rilliant mperfection rappling with

ile an rie isaility

eerness an

nd oetry oe tion

ors in otion

The arrow

er ut s in uded in

s Telling

ile an rie

s you red it thin bout the vrious ys in hi h its uthor is n exie nd ho this ffe ts his ordvie ach ay after school rn the si miles from highway to my hose. The roa follows lk iver

. pass the airy farm the

plywoo mill that rne own three years ago the valley

s

volnteer fire epartment station the oat laning where recreational fishermen pt in their oats ring salmon season. have the crves an hills memorie tick the miles of

f skin salty with sweat lngs

working a har rhythm. know most of the people who rive y

. They

wave an swerve into the other lane. The logging trcks honk as they rmle y loae with or skinny logs. rememer when one or two hge logs mae a loa. shing p the last ig hill my lngs an legs egin to ache. T

wo crves efore my hose pass a

yellow an rown sign. t reas nite tates orest ervice. ntering the iskiyo ational orest. live now in sotheast ichigan on the ege of corn contry ook rowsing happen pon

er ut he

redy of ndustri

.

orestry . The ook ocments clearct logging throghot the nite tates an anaa. glance at the ig fll color photos of new clearcts secon growth forests ol

growth forests an tree

farms rea the captions an escriptions. The ook is ivie y state an province. look for regon an senly fin myself in the iskiyos the photograph overwhelmingly familiar

. The gron is

are heaps of ranches stmps an half logs hanging to the slope. There are no staning trees only snatches of green the new sprots of hckleerry

greasewoo gorse an tansy ragwort.

se to ct firewoo on clearcts like this one. priver near tler asin an al ontain after the last logs were riven away loggers lloe the remains ranches shattere logs trees too small to ck into logs stmps into one enormos pile. ather than rn these remains the orest ervice isse firewoo ctting permits. y father an wol spen the whole month of ctoer on these clearcts gathering or winter

s spply of

firewoo. e ct the logs into rons silver ar of chainsaw slicing throgh the woo spewing sawst. watch his hans holing the saw steay

knowing its virations were climing his arms my ears

fll of the ile an roar

.

trn from the photo to the accompanying tet. hotographer liaeth eryl writes hile in the ort rfor regon area hear of a slie along ear reek so ecie to investigate. othing col have prepare me for

the estimate tons of m rock an logging eris that ha een mpe on the roa an littere in the waterway

. This lowot

case y the heawall of the rainage giving way

ha also carve a

swath throgh the hillsie thirty feet eep sity feet across an a half mile long taking the rainage own to the erock.

e followe this

carnage aot a arter of a mile to the elly of the east the clearct pictre here.

orty thosan tons of rock m an logging eris to e washe ownstream from isaster reek to ear reek to al ontain reek to lk iver to the acific cean. lk iver river of my poems real an metaphor river of my chilhoo where swam skippe rocks watche heron an salmon learne to pale a canoe. rea an rerea the place names an the eplanation. n steep slopes trees literally hol the earth in place an ths clearctting can estailie whole montainsies inviting catastrophic slies calle lowots. know all this t cant stop reaing. ater

tell a frien aot fining this photo. he has never walke a

logging roa listene to the ile an roar of a chainsaw

or conte

growth rings on an ol growth stmp t we share a sensiility aot environmental estrction. escrie the photo eplain lowots talk aot watershe. hat ont say is how homesick feel for those place names plant names are slopes not nostalgic t lonely for a particlar kin of familiarity

a loneliness that reaches

eep ner my skin infses my mscles an tenons. ow o

eplain the istance the tension the isnction etween my politics an my loneliness he asks f yo went for a walk along lk iver now what changes wol yo notice try to escrie the images that have rmle aron my hea for ays. That winter

the river

mst have flooe chalky rown over the gravel ars. The net smmer

the kis who live near the river mst have fon their

swimming holes change the eep pools shallower

crrent rnning

faster. escrie spawning season at the conflence of lk iver an nvil reek. almon floner into the creek thrash p the shallows ig nests in the gravel floo the water with spawn. They are almost ea oies covere with white rot the gravel ars littere with their carcasses. The following smmer the river teems with coho an chinook fingerlings three inches long as they hea ownstream to the ocean. can arely register that the spawning e at nvil reek might e silte in with rock m an logging eris might not eist anymore. or years have wante to write this story

have trie poems

iatries an theories. ve faile mostly ecase havent een ale to rige the chasm etween my homesickness for a place thosans of miles away in the mile of logging contry an my ran create politics that have me raging at environmental estrction. have felt lonely an frstrate. ithot the wors for this story lose part of myself into the chasm. am the chil who grew p in the iskiyo ational orest in secon growth woos that wont e logge again for a long time. The hills

werent replante in the s an s when they were first clearct an so grew ack in a mi of aler

tan oak myrtle an marone

trees the timer instry consiers worthless. playe enlessly in this secon growth forest. ollowe the stream from or hose phill to the little am where we siphone water of

f to the holing tanks

that spplie or hose with water year ron. love taking the covers off the tanks listening to the trickle of water watching the reflection of trees waver in the cool ark srface. rank ig glps straight from the tanks my cheeks an chin growing col an wet. Then contine phill kicking throgh the aler an tan oak leaves scramling p slippery shale slies. plle the ark of

f marone

trees in crly re strips crmple myrtle leaves to smell their pngent ay leaf oor

. knew where the few remaining ol growth

firs still stoo. a my favorite climing trees white fir

gran fir

myrtle. wrap my hans aron their ranches skin against ark an pll my oy p clamering towar sky

resting in the crales

where ranch met trnk. r stay on the gron lean ack into the nmovale tower of trees. walke ot onto rotten logs that spanne the stream croche own to eamine moss liverwort lichen shelf mshrooms trie to name the oen shaes of green tan an rown poke at snails an anana slgs. n the smmer the hills were hot an ry

the sn reaching easily throgh the trees.

scramle across clearings tangle in erry ramles an gorse throgh an aron nergrowth phill to the rock ot of which the stream rippe.

grew p to the high whine of iesel onkeys an chainsaws yarers an cats net rige over

the enless clatter of plywoo mill

two miles ownstream. hen the warning whistle seale throgh the valley knew that logs were eing plle p ot of the gllies towar the loaing areas where empty logging trcks waite. grew p to the sweet smell of amp woo chips eing hale north on ighway

to the port in oos ay or the paper mill in ariner

.

watche for hors as gigantic lowing machines loae montains of woo chips onto freighters on for apan. revele in plant names hckleerry

salmonerry

lackerry

salal greasewoo

mananita scotch room foglove lpine rhooenron vine maple aler

tan oak re cear

white cear

ort rfor cear

.

wante a name for everything. still have a topographical map of the lk iver watershe each arant careflly tape to the net. am the ackpacker whose favorite trails now win throgh ol growth rain forest trees staning so tall cant fin their tops ark eeply groove ropy

fire scarre. The sn arely

reaches throgh

the canopy leaving small pools of light on the forest floor layere inches eep in fir an sprce neeles. verything cascaes green moss pon moss swortail ferns sproting from rotten logs. The trail ens again an again aron itka sprce their roots sticking p high aove gron knoy an twiste. There is no nergrowth only a thosan shaes of green. mong these trees fin a iet. am the activist who has never pore sgar into a cat t knows how

s gas tank

. The activist who has never spent a night in the top of

a oglas fir slate for felling the net morning t wol. The activist who has never lockae a logging site or a logging eective

s office as have military complees. am the socialist with

anarchist leanings who elieves the ig private timer corporations like

eyerhaeser an eorgia acific are corrpt an the

government agencies like the orest ervice that control plic lan are complicit. am the alt who still loves the smell of woo chips the roar of a lmer mill who knows ot of work loggers an ying logging towns. iving now on the ege of corn contry

am

the writer who wants to make sense. n the white

estern worl view that learne as a chil trees fish

an water were renewale resorces. nly years prior

they were

conceive of as enless resorces a myth white people roght west into the frontier . ometimes when hike priver towar tler ar an saw rige after rige covere with aler an tan oak mie with oglas fir an itka sprce elieve trees were enless. r when went to the cannery an saw a ay

s catch of

coho an chinook thoght fish were enless. articlarly in the mile of winter when rain renche the valley every ay

knew

water was enless. t in the s an s the powers that e in the plic schools government an instry taght s that trees an fish rather than eing enless were renewale. f clearcts were iligently replante we wol never rn ot of trees paper

or lmer

. f the salmon rns

were careflly maintaine y hatcheries we wol never rn ot of salmon. o one even othere to eplain aot water

.

learcts or teachers sai were goo. They encorage the growth of fir an pine the so calle goo meaning profitale trees that as seelings nee irect snlight to grow

. The practice of

replanting an the speriority of tree farms were place

at the center

of these lessons. t or teachers went far eyon trees in their efense of clearct logging. learcts my classmates an were tol provie ontifl rowsing for eer an other willife. nters an their spporters ickly ae that ecase this anance of foo cople with the isappearance of preators le to a cycle of overpoplation eer hnting was not st a sport t a necessity n so or worlview evelope layer pon layer

. ow i the

forest an its willife ever srvive efore clearctting replanting an sport hnting estion.

e int ask ecase we were chilren taght not to e elieve the propagana.

o one tol s aot ol growth forest. They int say a tree farm if fers from an ol growth forest.

nerstan e int sty the

cycle of an ecosystem that epens pon rotting logs on the forest floor an a tree canopy hnres of feet high a cycle neither static nor altogether preictale interrpte sometimes y fire climate changes or maor volcanic activity t nonetheless a cycle. knew ig ol trees eiste. rememer the winter my favorite fir lew own. fter we ct it into firewoo hnkere own y the stmp an conte its growth rings one for every year of its life. t was

.

years ol. t int know aot thosans of acres of ig ol trees. or i know aot animals like the northern spotte owl that live in ol growth forests. o one tol s an the logging instry ha ite a stake in the silence. . am part of the

oth onservation orps a smmer work

program for teenagers. ll smmer we have mae trails picke p trash maintaine campgrons an ilt fences in the islaw ational orest. This week we are campe east of apleton near a ten year ol tree farm thinning the trees. ach morning we fan ot into the woos to ct own all the trees for inches or less in iameter . The remaining trees will grow faster an igger

. n or

years the orest ervice will i these acres ot to some private company to clearct an then replant. am learning to swing an a to know what angle to start a ct at when to stop chopping an let gravity o the rest how to pll a tree all the way own to the gron so it wont lean against neighoring trees an kill them. t

s hot irty

work. girl on my crew went ack to camp early yesteray after she stmle into a ees nest an was stng times. veryone thinks m nts

for liking this o. t lnch sharpen my a the file flat

against the evele ctting ege. like the weight of its wooen hanle alance on my sholer as trge p an own the hills. like toching the trees as walk y

hans growing ark with pitch.

like the way my arms feel aching t loose at the en of the ay The sn is hot against my har hat. weat collects ner its an. can smell the woos on my skin.

.

long with trees stie salmon fascinate with their three year life cycle from spawning e to ocean ack to spawning e. ost of what knew came from the salmon hatchery two miles priver of my hose. n the winter stoo at the fish laer waiting for fish to come leaping p the cascaing stairs of water

then went to cont the ig

scarre animals in their holing tanks. ometimes visite the la where the iologists hel the spawn an incate the fertilie eggs. n the smmer roe my ike aron the holing pons an watche len an al fee the fingerlings their hans ipping into five gallon ckets of fee sweeping throgh the air

water coming

alive as the fish mpe to catch the pellets. ther times went across the river to the spawning e at nvil reek. knew two kins of salmon eiste hatchery salmon an wil salmon. thoght they were the same st as thoght a tree farm an an ol growth forest were the same. int know why hatchery salmon neee to e grown in lk iver knew ams on the olmia an ran polltion in the illamette ha nearly estroye the salmon rns in those rivers t there were no ams an minimal polltion on lk iver

. The propagana that

passe as otoor ecation int speak of the ef

fects of

clearctting on salmon haitat. o one eplaine that as spawning es silt p with logging eris an isappear

fewer an fewer wil

salmon can spawn. never hear that if the trees shaing a creek are ct the irect snlight warms the water

. n if the water

temperatre rises enogh in a watershe salmon which reire relatively col water to srvive are pt at risk. or i the

.

propagana speak of over fishing. The commercial salmon fishermen who mae their livelihoos fishing the smmer salmon rns of f the coast of alifornia regon

ashington ritish

olmia an laska hant yet hear of sstainale yiel. The salmon rns seeme enless. The powers that e int teach s that hatchery salmon if

fer from

wil salmon that they are genetically more homogeneos

more

ssceptile to isease an less hary once at sea. T

o raise salmon

year after year in a hatchery iologists se formalehye an other chemicals each smmer to comat recrring iseases that kill thosans of hatchery fingerlings. The continos pmping of water from the river into the hatchery s comple of tanks an ack to the river washes these chemicals into the ecosystem. n each winter when hatchery salmon ont retrn to the hatchery in large enogh nmers iologists go to natral spawning es an net wil salmon taking them to the hatchery to agment their spply of spawn. oon wil salmon might not eist. The propagana neglecte these etails. y classmates an were taght y teachers who worke for schools fne largely with timer taes y orest ervice rangers an their rochres an y instry spporte tetooks isplays slie shows an tors. The point isnt simply that we like schoolchilren across the contry

were taght half trths aot

trees an salmon. ather we learne even more fnamental lessons that trees an salmon are enlessly renewale

commoities. This view of the natral worl which pts clearctting replanting an hatcheries at its center

conveniently spporte the

two instries logging an fishing that sstaine the towns we live in. ot ntil left ort rfor i come into contact with other worlviews. iving in a city for the first time met people who knew salmon only as froen patties who se paper t ha never een to a paper mill. or them trees were the tall skinny maples oaks an eeches that grew along siewalks. They navigate the seemingly impossile parking strctres an s stops with ease an comfort. ome of them elieve that trees an salmon were more than commoities. They create a fy memories of

romanticie version of natre comining

alt isney natre movies with their occasional

smmer vacations to overcrowe national parks. r they elieve in a white ran version of tree spirits an other arth. ither way my new acaintances hel trees an fish in an awestrck reverence as they talke aot the angers of nclear power an the estrction of rain forests in rail aot clearctting as rape. simply listene. rrone y concrete an high rises slowly stoppe taking the familiar plants an animals of the iskiyo ational orest for grante. hen retrne home to

visit caght

glimpses of what was eatifl an etraorinary aot the place grew p in an what was gly an heartreaking. starte to elieve that trees an salmon werent st harvestale crops. rea ierra

l literatre the

Erth irst ourn

ave oreman

s ecotage

manal learne aot ove anal Three ile slan the evaa Test ite ig ontain an starte to trn from a right wing iertarian inflence chilhoo owar a progressive althoo. never grew into the white ran reverence of tree spirits an other arth a reverence often stolen from ative spirital traitions an change from a emaning reciprocal relationship with the worl into something naive an shallow that still places hman life an form at its center. or i ever grow comfortale with the metaphor of clearctting as rape the specificity of oth acts too vivi for me to ever compare or conflate them. t i come to elieve that trees an fish are their own eings important in an of themselves an that as activist consmer

an hman eing among the many

eings on this planet have a eeply comple relationship with them. The people in ort rfor who ha known me since was orn es mith the retire logger who ran the ort an taroar ia arlor

enita arstall the cashier at T re

ale arware erla

arsh the teller at irst nterstate ank no longer really knew me. treasre the anonymity of the city an relishe the mltite of cltres ieas an if

ferences encontere there. t still ache

for the trees the river the steep iet iskiyos. . am ackpacking alone on

ashington s lympic eninsla.

have spent the last week camping on the each near ole in the all reaing an writing letting high an low tie shape my ays.

ow am campe at a state park amist new clearcts. replenishe my foo spply at orks a familiar little logging town five or si one ton pickps parke otsie the chainsaw shop. caght a rie to this campgron with a man who works as a hoea replanting clearcts. am planning a three ay hike in the ol growth rain forest efore hea ack to eattle. can never get enogh of the ig ol trees. n the morning set ot for the trailhea. The logging roa m on follows the ogacheil iver

wining throgh rolling pastres an

secon growth forest that familiar mi of aler hear chainsaws ile an roar the net rige over

tan oak an fir . . or a time hear

the logging trcks on ighway tot ownshift as they chg p a hill. hear the high whine of the warning whistle. havent hear these sons in years. They mean home even as remin myself aot eyerhaeser

their nion sting tactics their langage of timer

management their efense of environmental estrction. great le heron startles me as it lifts of

f flapping ownstream on sky

le wings. ome is also the amp rotting log smell the fog lifting to roken sn an win. am climing steaily now

the two lane shale

roa narrowing. ron the net en an am senly in a new clearct stmps as far as can see the great heap of tree parts left ehin lloer tracks froen into the ry m. ont want this to mean estrction t rather to e home. strain towar the memories of happy ehasting trips to tler asin to ct firewoo sweat renche

ays east of apleton learning to swing an a. nstea see a graveyar a war one the earth looking nake an torn. imagine tree ghosts as real as crows. hatever metaphor se this is what white people have one to orth merica for years lai the lan are in the name of profit an progress. walk a mile then two knowing that am seeing for the first time seeing not as an otsier a torist horrifie y some srface gliness t as someone who grew p in this graveyar seeing with oth my alt politics an my chilhoo loyalties seeing throgh a lens of tension an contraiction. clim p onto a stmp an cont its growth rings trace the roght seasons marke y tight rings wrappe close together the wet seasons marke y loose rings space farther apart. want to rage an morn t instea feel orinary

matter

of fact as if the war one cant toch my heart. walk waiting for my one marrow to catch p to my politics. walk nm no longer in my oy

nale to contain the tg of war etween what is home an

what is war one. ron another en an am senly ack in secon growth forest. fin the trailhea. These trees are marke every feet with neon pink rion. arkers for a new roa profit assessment tear the rion of

f each tree stf f the plastic into a pocket raging now at the

impening estrction at the aacity of neon pink amist all the green. cross a stream on a narrow moss grown rige. n then am in ol growth forest national park lan. t has starte to rain softly. sit sheltere ner a western re cear

an eat my lnch

press my ack into the thick gray ark. The lines etween ol growth secon growth an clearct are sen an nmistakale. live in a very if ferent lanscape now . The lan is flat an open. The trees lose their leaves in an eplosion of re yellow

an orange

every fall regrow them in a rst of green every spring. n winter the snow comes wet an heavy

lining all the trees or light an ry

rifting in illows. The green here isnt layere an shae in a thosan varieties. ften hnger for the ocean the spawning es oglas fir

rain that lows horiontally across the hills. have fille

my hose with photographs maps stones shells san ollars fir cones an woo to remin me of the lanscape still call home a lanscape that incles the sights sons an smells of logging an commercial fishing.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat is the istance of the essay s stitle . escription is crcial to this essay . ake a list of the if ferent kins of things lare escries an the kins of wors he ses to escrie them. an yo see any patterns o certain kins of aectives go with certain kins of nons . connections ea learct net to tephanie ricsson s The ays e ie . hat role oes lying play in this essay hich of the many if ferent ways to lie appear in learct ow o they appear s there anything in lare s essay that might speak to ricsson s larger ieas aot ntrth anything that complicates reftes or etens her accont of the roles the telling of lies plays in or lives . lare escries himself as the writer who wants to make sense. s there something in yor life that yo wol like to make sense of some tension etween eliefs an loves or etween if ferent sets of

eliefs ick one an escrie an essay in which yo might o what lare attempts here which is to make sense of the tension etween two things y writing aot them. hat might yor essay look like . ooinrter lare escries what he learne in school aot logging an fishing as propagana. esearch propagana. hat is it in a contemporary eample of propagana an write aot it. hat makes it propagana ow oes it work ho proces it ho consmes it s anyone fighting to epose it

The aranoi tyle of merican olicing ehisi otes born in tiore Mrynd in ben his reer in ournis t the

ashington ity aper

nd ontributed to

the illage oice nd Time before be oin n editor nd ntion orresondent t the

tlantic. n he re eived both the tion

oo

rd for onfi tion for his utobiorhy

an e

nd visitin feo shi t the eri n ibrry in

etween the

orl

ris otes

s essy he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in s first

ubished in the

tlantic on e eber n it he ddresses

the rise in oi e vioen e inst the b

ounity nd the oss

of trust tht ny hve in the oi e s n ent of order nd usti e s you red thin bout your o n inter tions ith the oi e either su or erhs ore for oes ht otes sys rin true for your exerien e hen was aron years ol my father confronte a yong man who was sai to e cray

. The yong man was always too ick to

want to fight. fol in a game of was an inslt to his honor

.

cross wor was case for a el an yo never knew what that cross wor might e. ne ay my oler rother

the yong man got into it with one of

s friens. The yong man plle a metal stake ot

of the gron there was some work eing one neary an egan swinging it willy in a threatening manner . y father

my mother or

my oler rother ont recall which tol the other oy to go insie of or hose. y a then came otsie. ont really

rememer what my father sai to the yong man. erhaps he sai something like o home or maye something like on it

s over.

ont really recall. t what o recall is that my a i not shoot an kill the yong man. That wasnt the first time seen my father confront the violence of yong people withot resorting to killing them. This was not remarkale. hen yo live in commnities like ors or perhaps any commnity meiating violence etween yong people is part of eing an alt. ometimes the yong people are involve in scary ehavior like threatening people with metal oects. n yet the notion that it is permissile wise moral or avisale to kill sch a person as a metho of e escalation to kill ecase one was afrai i not really eist among parents in my commnity

.

The same col not e sai for those who came from otsie of the commnity . This weeken after a hicago police of son intonio erier

ficer kille her year ol

anet ooksey strggle to nerstan the

mentality of the people she pays to keep her commnity safe hat happene to T

asers even times my son was shot ooksey

sai. The police are sppose to serve an protect s an yet they take the lives ooksey sai.

here o we get or help she aske.

erier ha strggle with mental illness. hen erier attempte to reak own his father

s oor

his father calle the police who

apparently arrive to fin the year ol wieling a at. nterpreting this as a lethal threat one of the officers shot an kille erier an somehow manage to shoot an kill one of his neighors ettie ones. ooksey i not merely have a prolem with how the police acte t with the fact that the police were even calle in the first place. e shol have calle me ooksey sai of erier

s father.

nstea the father calle the hicago olice epartment. ikely he calle them ecase he investe them with some measre of legitimacy. This is nerstanale. n merica police of

ficers are

agents of the state an ths on y the social contract in a way that criminals an even ranom citiens are not. riminals an ranom citiens are not pai to protect other citiens. olice of

ficers

are. y that logic one might srmise that the police wol e etter ale to meiate conflicts than commnity memers. n hicago this appears very often not to e the case. t will not o to note that percent of the time the police meiate conflicts withot killing people anymore than it will o for a restarant to note that percent of the time rats ont rn throgh the ining room. or will it o to point ot that most lack citiens are kille y other lack citiens not police of

ficers anymore than it will o to

point ot that most merican citiens are kille y other merican

citiens not terrorists. f of ficers cannot e epecte to act any etter than orinary citiens why call them in the first place hy invest them with any more power egitimacy is what is ltimately at stake here. hen ooksey says that her son s father shol not have calle the police when she says that they are sppose to serve an protect s an yet they take the lives she is saying that police in hicago are police in name only. This opinion is wiely share. ske aot the possiility of an investigation elvin ones the rother of ettie ones col mster no confience. alreay know how that will trn ot he scoffe.

e all know how that will trn ot.

nee we proaly o. T

wo ays after ones an erier were

kille a istrict attorney in hio ecline to prosecte the two officers who rove p an within two secons of arriving kille the year ol T

amir ice. o one shol e srprise y this. n

merica we have ecie that it is permissile that it is wise that it is moral for the police to e escalate throgh killing. stanar which wol not have hel for my father in

est altimore which i

not hol for me in arlem is reserve for those who have the maimm power the right to kill on ehalf of the state. hen police can not ahere to the stanars of the neighorhoo of citiens or of parents what are they eyon a igger gn an a sharper swor y what right o they enforce their will save force itself

hen policing is elegitimie when it ecomes an occpying force the commnity sf

fers. The neighor on neighor violence in

hicago an in lack commnities aron the contry

is not an

optical illsion. olicing is one part of the soltion to that violence. t if citiens ont trst of

ficers then policing cant actally work.

n in hicago it is very har to mster reasons for trst. hen ettie ones

s rother isplays ero confience in an

investigation into the killing of his sister he is not eing cynical. e is shrewly oserving a government that eecte a yong man an soght to hie that fact from citiens. e is intelligently assessing a local government which for two ecaes ran a tortre ring. hat we have mae of or police epartments in merica what we have orere them to o is a irect challenge to any sale efinition of emocracy . state that allows its agents to kill to eat to tase withot any real sanction has cease to govern an has commence to simply rle.

or is ussion nd ritin . hy oes oates egin with a story from his chilhoo that has nothing irectly to o with policing . oates ses variations on the phrase it will not o more than once in this essay. ow oes he se it hy oes he repeat it magine other phrases he col have se to serve the same prpose why i he not se those . connections oates in The aranoi tyle of merican olicing an re ore in The orth of ly focs on racism in merica t in very if ferent ways. ompare an contrast the two essays in terms of their sects an their methos. hat kins of stories o ore an oates tell an to what ens hat kin of

evience oes each se ow o the kins of narratives an evience fit each athor s sect an argment . s oates writes percent of the time the police meiate conflicts withot killing people par. . rite a reflection aot one or more interactions yo have ha with the police from the serios to the casal how i the interaction s make yo feel ow o yo feel aot the police in general i the interaction s confirm yor opinion or change it f yove ha no irect ealings with a police officer of any kin write aot things yove witnesse or rea aot. . ooinrter ist oates s oections to the se of what he eems ecessive force y police. any connect to larger political estions aot the natre of the relationship etween the state an the citien. trapolate from these oections oates s theory of government. hy oes it eist hat is it for Then with the help of a little reaing connect this theory to contemporary thinking aot government s role in merican life.

The yth of the atin ame ara

oman st et a irl

udith rti ofer s born in uerto i o in nd re u there nd in e ersey utobiorher

She is oet fi tion riter

nd

nd te hes iterture nd ritin t the University of

eori n ofer s indu ted into the eori riters of e Mu h of her or su h s her nove nd

The ine of the n

The atin eli rose an oetry

exores her

exerien es s uerto i n ir nd tin er ost re ent boos in ude nove boos

f ol ly

nd three hidren

nimal amoree atino olktales

nd

The oet pstairs

ailar

he Myth of the tin on ust Met ir ed Mr onsiders the stereotyes eri ns hod bout tins nd it does so throuh nrrtive nd refe tion t the end of one of the stories she tes in her essy

dein ith n offensive n ofer rites

My friend oiented e on y oo hndin of the sitution r

nd then notes tht ht she rey nted to do s ush

the n into the oo oti e s you red the ys in hi h ofer is be in this essy

s in tht in ident to strie bn e bet een

ner nd nysis n a s trip to onon from for niversity where was earning some graate creits one smmer

s

a yong man oviosly fresh

from a p spotte me an as if strck y inspiration went own on

his knees in the aisle. ith oth hans over his heart he roke into an rish tenor s renition of ara from

est Side Story. y politely

amse fellow passengers gave his lovely voice the ron of gentle applase it eserve. Thogh was not ite as amse manage my version of an nglish smile no show of teeth no etreme contortions of the facial mscles was at this time of my life practicing reserve an cool. h that ritish

control how covete it.

t ara ha followe me to onon remining me of a prime fact of my life yo can leave the slan master the nglish langage an travel as far as yo can t if yo are a atina especially one like me who so oviosly elongs to ita oreno

s gene pool the

slan travels with yo. This is sometimes a very goo thing it may win yo that etra minte of someone s attention. t with some people the same things can make you an islan not so mch a tropical paraise as an lcatra a place nooy wants to visit. s a erto ican girl growing p in the nite tates an wanting like most chilren to elong resente the stereotype that my ispanic appearance calle forth from many people met. r family live in a large ran center in ew ersey ring the sities where life was esigne as a microcosm of my parents casas on the islan.

e spoke in panish we ate erto ican foo

oght at the oega an we practice strict atholicism complete with atray confession an nay mass at a chrch where or parents were accommoate into a one hor panish mass slot

performe y a hinese priest traine as a missionary for atin merica. s a girl was kept ner strict srveillance since virte an moesty were y cltral eation the same as family honor

.sa

teenager was instrcte on how to ehave as a proper seorita. t it was a conflicting message girls got since the erto ican mothers also encorage their aghters to look an act like women an to ress in clothes or nglo friens an their mothers fon too matre for or age. t was an is cltral yet often felt hmiliate when appeare at an merican frien

s party wearing a ress more

sitale to a semiformal than to a playroom irthay celeration. t erto ican festivities neither the msic nor the colors we wore col e too lo. still eperience a vage sense of letown when m invite to a party an it trns ot to e a marathon conversation in hshe tones rather than a fiesta with salsa laghter

an ancing

the kin of celeration rememer from my chilhoo. rememer areer ay in or high school when teachers tol s to come resse as if for a o interview

. t ickly ecame ovios that

to the arrio girls ressing p sometimes meant wearing ornate ewelry an clothing that wol e more appropriate y mainstream stanars for the company hristmas

party than as aily of fice

attire. That morning ha agonie in front of my closet trying to figre ot what a career girl wol wear ecase essentially ecept for arlo Thomas on T

ha no moels on which to ase

my ecision. knew how to ress for school at the atholic school

attene we all wore niforms knew how to ress for nay mass an knew what resses to wear for parties at my relatives homes. Thogh o not recall the precise etails of my areer ay otfit it mst have een a composite of the aove choices. t rememer a comment my frien an talian merican mae in later years that coalesce my impressions of that ay

. he sai that at the

siness school she was attening the erto ican girls always stoo ot for wearing everything at once. he meant of corse too mch ewelry

too many accessories. n that ay at school we were

simply mae the negative moels y the nns who were themselves not creile fashion eperts to any of s. t it was painflly ovios to me that to the others in their tailore skirts an silk loses we mst have seeme hopeless an vlgar

. Thogh now know that

most aolescents feel ot of step mch of the time also know that for the erto ican girls of my generation that sense was intensifie. The way or teachers an classmates looke at s that ay in school was st a taste of the cltre clash that awaite s in the real worl where prospective employers an men on the street wol often misinterpret or tight skirts an ingling racelets as a come on. ie cltral signals have perpetate certain stereotypes for eample that of the ispanic woman as the ot T

amale or seal

fireran. t is a one imensional view that the meia have fon easy to promote. n their special vocalary

avertisers have

esignate siling an smolering as the aectives of choice for escriing not only the foos t also the women of atin merica.

rom conversations in my hose recall hearing aot the harassment that erto ican women enre in factories where the oss men talke to them as if seal inneno was all they nerstoo an worse often gave them the choice of smitting to avances or eing fire. t is cstom however

not chromosomes that leas s to choose

scarlet over pale pink. s yong girls we were inflence in or ecisions aot clothes an colors y the women oler sisters an mothers who ha grown p on a tropical islan

where the

natral environment was a riot of primary colors where showing yor skin was one way to keep cool as well as to look sey . ost important of all on the islan women perhaps felt freer to ress an move more provocatively since in most cases they were protecte y the traitions mores an laws of a panishatholic system of morality an machismo whose main rle was sister but if you tou h her

i i you

ou y oo t y

The etene family an

chrch strctre col provie a yong woman with a circle of safety in her small pelo on the islan if a man wronge a girl everyone wol close in to save her family honor

.

This is what have gleane from my iscssions as an alt with oler erto ican women. They have tol me aot ressing in their est party clothes on atray nights an going to the town plaa to promenae with their girlfriens in front of the oys they like. The males were ths given an opportnity to amire the women an to epress their amiration in the form of

iroos

s

erotically charge street poems they compose on the spot. have een secte to a few piropos while visiting the slan an they can e otrageos althogh cstom ictates that they mst never cross into oscenity . This rital as nerstan it also entails a show of stie inif

ference on the woman s part if she is ecent

she mst not acknowlege the man

s impassione wors. o o

nerstan how things can e lost in translation. hen a erto ican girl resse in her iea of what is attractive meets a man from the mainstream cltre who has een traine to react to certain types of clothing as a seal signal a clash is likely to take place. The line first hear ase on this aspect of the myth happene when the oy who took me to my first formal ance leane over to plant a sloppy overeager kiss painflly on my moth an when int respon with sf

ficient passion sai in a resentfl tone

thoght yo atin girls were sppose to matre early my first instance of eing thoght of as a frit or vegetale was sppose to

rien

not st grow into womanhoo like other girls.

t is srprising to some of my professional friens that some people incling those who shol know etter place. Thogh rarer

still pt others in their

these incients are still commonplace in my

life. t happene to me most recently ring a stay at a very classy metropolitan hotel favore y yong professional weings. ate one evening after the theater

coples for their as walke towar my

room with my new colleage a woman with whom was coorinating an arts program a mile age man in a teo a yong girl in satin an lace on his arm steppe irectly into or path.

ith his champagne glass etene towar me he eclaime vita r way locke my companion an listene as the man half recite half ellowe ont ry for e rgentina. hen he finishe the yong girl sai ow aot a ron of applase for my ay

e complie hoping this wol ring the silly spectacle to a

close. was ecoming aware that or little grop was attracting the attention of the other gests. ay mst have perceive this too an he once more arre the way as we trie to walk past him. e egan to shot sing a itty to the tne of a ama ecept the lyrics were aot a girl name ara whose eploits all rhyme with her name an gonorrhea. The girl kept saying h ay an looking at me with pleaing eyes. he wante me to lagh along with the others. y companion an stoo silently waiting for the man to en his of fensive song. hen he finishe looke not at him t at his aghter

. avise her calmly never to ask her father what

he ha one in the army

. Then walke etween them an to my

room. y frien complimente me on my cool hanling of the sitation. confesse to her that really ha wante to psh the erk into the swimming pool. knew that this same man proaly a corporate eective well ecate even worlly y most stanars wol not have een likely to regale a white woman with a irty song in plic. e wol perhaps have checke his implse y assming that she col e someoy soebody

s wife or mother or at least

who might take offense. t to him was st an vita or

a ara merely a character in his cartoon poplate niverse.

ecase of my ecation an my proficiency with the nglish langage have acire many mechanisms for ealing with the anger eperience. This was not tre for my parents nor is it tre for the many atin women working at menial os who mst pt p with stereotypes aot or ethnic grop sch as They make goo omestics. This is another facet of the myth of the atin woman in the nite tates. ts origin is simple to ece. waitressing an factory os are all that

ork as omestics s availale to women with

little nglish an few skills. The myth of the ispanic menial has een sstaine y the same meia phenomenon that mae ammy from

one ith the

ind merica s iea of the lack

woman for generations ara the hosemai or conter girl is now inelily etche into the national psyche. The ig an the little screens have presente s with the pictre of the fnny ispanic mai misprononcing wors an cooking p a spicy storm in a shiny alifornia kitchen. This meia engenere image of the atina in the nite tates has een ocmente y feminist ispanic scholars who claim that sch portrayals are partially responsile for the enial of opportnities for pwar moility among atinas in the professions. have a hicana frien working on a h.. in philosophy at a maor niversity

. he

says her octor still shakes his hea in ple amaement at all the ig wors she ses. ince o not wear my iplomas aron my neck for all to see too have on occasion een sent to that kitchen where some think oviosly elong.

ne sch incient that has staye with me thogh recognie it as a minor offense happene on the ay of my first plic poetry reaing. t took place in iami in a oat restarant where we were having lnch efore the event. was nervos an ecite as walke in with my noteook in my han. n oler woman motione me to her tale. Thinking foolish me that she wante me to atograph a copy of my ran new slener volme of verse went over

. he orere a cp

of coffee from me assming that was the waitress. asy enogh to mistake my poems for mens sppose. know that it wasnt an intentional act of crelty ay

yet of all the goo things that happene that

rememer that scene most clearly

ecase it remine me of

what ha to overcome efore anyone wol take me seriosly

.n

retrospect nerstan that my anger gave my reaing fire that have almost always taken ots in my ailities as a challenge an that the reslt is most times a feeling of satisfaction at having won a convert when see the col appraising eyes warm to my wors the oy langage change the smile that inicates that have opene some avene for commnication. That ay rea to that woman an her lowere eyes tol me that she was emarrasse at her little fa pas an when wille her to look p at me it was my victory an she graciosly allowe me to pnish her with my fll attention.

e shook hans at the en of the reaing an

never saw her again. he has proaly forgotten the whole thing t maye not. et am one of the lcky ones. y parents mae it possile for me to acire a stronger footing in the mainstream cltre y giving me

the chance at an ecation. n ooks an art have save me from the harsher forms of ethnic an racial preice that many of my ispanic

oers

have ha to enre. travel a lot aron the

nite tates reaing from my ooks of poetry an my novel an the reception most often receive is one of positive interest y people who want to know more aot my cltre. There are however thosans of atinas withot the privilege of an ecation or the entre into society that have. or them life is a strggle against the misconceptions perpetate y the myth of the atina as whore omestic or criminal.

e cannot change this y legislating

the way people look at s. The transformation as see it has to occr at a mch more inivial level. y personal goal in my plic life is to try to replace the ol pervasive stereotypes an myths aot atinas with a mch more interesting set of realities. very time give a reaing hope the stories tell the reams an fears eamine in my work can achieve some niversal trth which will get my aience past the particlars of my skin color

my accent or my

clothes. once wrote a poem in which calle s atinas o aghters. This poem is really a prayer of sorts of

s rown fere pwar t

also throgh the hman to hman channel of art otwar. t is a prayer for commnication an for respect. n it atin women pray in panish to an nglo o with a ewish heritage an they are fervently hoping that if not omnipotent at least e e ilingal.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat o the incients on the s in the hotel an at the poetry reaing have in common . hat are the if ferent kins of atinas ofer says are recognie in mainstream nglo merican cltre y making eplicit her oservations of how others classify people like her what point oes she make aot classification in general . connections ompare ofer s feelings aot those who react to her ase on her ethnicity an her reactions to them as she relates them to s to ancy airs s feelings aot those who react to her ase on her isaility an her reactions to them in n eing a ripple . ow o their feelings compare ow o their reactions compare re there any if ferences f so how might they connect to the natre of the characteristics for which each is viewe as if ferent . rite aot how yo perceive others in certain ways ecase of something aot them how they look where they live what they o for a living. an we live withot these kins of snap gments an we live with them e sre to se specific eamples as yo write. . ooinrter o some research into the changing emographic pictre of the nite tates. hat is the crrent racial an ethnic reakown of the .. poplation y what year is it preicte that whites will no longer e the maority o yo think this will af fect the way minorities are thoght of an treate ow or how not

n eeping a oteook on idion fifthenertion ifornin born in hs been n essyist sin e her underrdute dys no n for refexive sef ons ious yet oo stye nd shr oiti eye idion hs in essys nd noves rved out uniue e in eri n etters est no n for her essy oe tions nd t ays

The hite lm nd

ante

lay t as

re so

le ights

her ife ith her te duhter

owars ethlehem

her noves in udin

The ast Thing e

idey red er test boo

loching T

is eoir bout

in nd renthood

n n eein oteboo idion rites bout ritin or bout the or tht she does rior to the ritin of her ubished rose s you red thin bout hether her notebooeein is entirey in the servi e of rertion for her ritin or if it is so bout other thins nd if so ho these other os iht onne t to her or That woman stelle the note reas is partly the reason why eorge harp an are separate toay rer

hote br

iinton

. irty reedehine M

uust Mondy

ornin ince the note is in my noteook it presmaly has some meaning to me. sty it for a long while. t first have only the most general notion of what was oing on an gst onay morning in the ar of the hotel across from the ennsylvania ailroa station in ilmington elaware waiting for a train missing one

why ilmington t o rememer eing there. The woman in the irty crepe e hine wrapper ha come own from her room for a eer

an the artener ha hear efore the reason why

eorge harp an she were separate toay went on mopping the floor.

. re he sai an

o tol me. t the other en of the ar

is a girl. he is talking pointely

not to the man esie her t to a

cat lying in the triangle of snlight cast throgh the open oor

. he is

wearing a plai silk ress from eck eck an the hem is coming own. ere is what it is the girl has een on the astern hore an now she is going ack to the city

leaving the man esie her

an all she

can see ahea are the viscos smmer siewalks an the

.

long istance calls that will make her lie awake an then sleep rgge throgh all the steaming mornings left in gst . ecase she mst go irectly from the train to lnch in ew ork she wishes that she ha a safety pin for the hem of the plai silk ress an she also wishes that she col forget aot the hem an the lnch an stay in the cool ar that smells of isinfectant an malt an make friens with the woman in the crepe e hine wrapper. he is af flicte y a little self pity

an she wants to

compare stelles. That is what that was all aot. hy i write it own n orer to rememer

of corse t eactly

what was it wante to rememer ow mch of it actally happene i any of it hy o keep a noteook at all t is easy to eceive oneself on all those scores. The implse to write things

.

own is a pecliarly complsive one ineplicale to those who o not share it sefl only accientally

only seconarily

in the way that

any complsion tries to stify itself. sppose that it egins or oes not egin in the crale. lthogh have felt compelle to write things own since was five years ol ot that my aghter ever will for she is a singlarly lesse an accepting chil elighte with life eactly as life presents itself to her

nafrai to go to sleep an

nafrai to wake p. eepers of private noteooks are a if ree altogether

ferent

lonely an resistant rearrangers of things anios

malcontents chilren af flicte apparently at irth with some presentiment of loss. y first noteook was a ig ive talet given to me y my mother with the sensile sggestion that stop whining an learn to amse myself y writing own my thoghts. he retrne the talet to me a few years ago the first entry is an accont of a woman who elieve herself to e freeing to eath in the rctic night only to fin when ay roke that she ha stmle onto the ahara esert where she wol ie of the heat efore lnch. have no iea what trn of a five year ol s min col have prompte so insistently ironic an eotic a story t it oes reveal a certain preilection for the etreme which has ogge me into alt life perhaps if were analytically incline wol onal ohnson

fin it a trer story than any might have tol aot s irthay party or the ay my cosin rena pt

itty itter in the aarim.

o the point of my keeping a noteook has never een nor is it now to have an accrate factal recor of what have een oing or thinking. That wol e a if

ferent implse entirely

an instinct for

reality which sometimes envy t o not possess. t no point have ever een ale sccessflly to keep a iary my approach to aily life ranges from the grossly negligent to the merely asent an on those few occasions when have trie tiflly to recor a ay

s

events oreom has so overcome me that the reslts are mysterios at est. hat is this siness aot shopping typing piece inner with epresse hopping for what T piece ho is

yping what

as this epresse or was epresse ho

cares n fact have aanone altogether that kin of pointless entry instea tell what some wol call lies. That

s simply not tre the

memers of my family freently tell me when they come p against my memory of a share event. The party was was not a lack wiow

it snt tht y t

not for yo the spier ery likely they are

right for not only have always ha trole istingishing etween what happene an what merely might have happene t remain nconvince that the istinction for my prposes matters. The cracke cra that recall having for lnch the ay my father came home from etroit in mst certainly e emroiery

worke into

the ay s pattern to len verisimilite was ten years ol an wol not now rememer the cracke cra. The ay

s events i not trn

on cracke cra. n yet it is precisely that fictitios cra that makes me see the afternoon all over again a home movie rn all too often

the father earing gifts the chil weeping an eercise in family love an gilt. r that is what it was to me. imilarly snow that gst in

perhaps it never i

ermont perhaps there never were flrries in

the night win an maye no one else felt the gron harening an smmer alreay ea even as we pretene to ask in it t that was how it felt to me an it might as well have snowe col have snowe i snow

.

o it fet to e

that is getting closer to the trth aot a noteook.

sometimes ele myself aot why keep a noteook

imagine that

some thrifty virte erives from preserving everything oserve. ee enogh an write it own tell myself an then some morning when the worl seems raine of woner

some ay when am only going

throgh the motions of oing what am sppose to o which is write on that ankrpt morning will simply open my noteook an there it will all e a forgotten accont with accmlate interest pai passage ack to the worl ot there ialoge overhear in hotels an elevators an at the hat check conter in avillon one mile age man shows his hat check to another an says That my ol footall nmer impressions of ettina ptheker an enamin onnenerg an T erus

ey r

. caplco taf

fer carefl

aot tennis rns an faile fashion moels an reek

shipping heiresses one of whom taght me a significant lesson a lesson col have learne from

. cott itgeral t perhaps we

all mst meet the very rich for orselves y asking when arrive to interview her in her orchi fille sitting room on the secon ay of a paralying ew

ork liar whether it was snowing otsie.

s

imagine in other wors that the noteook is aot other people. t of corse it is not. have no real siness with what one stranger sai to another at the hat check conter in avillon in fact sspect that the line That s my ol footall nmer toche not my own imagination at all t merely some memory of something once rea proaly The ighty

ar n. or is my concern with a woman in

a irty crepe e hine wrapper in a ilmington ar

. y stake is

always of corse in the nmentione girl in the plai silk ress. eeber ht it s to be e

that is always the point.

t is a if ficlt point to amit.

e are roght p in the ethic that

others any others all others are y efinition more interesting than orselves taght to e if

fient st this sie of self ef

facing.

ore the least important person in the room an ont forget it essica itfor

s governess wol hiss in her ear on the avent of

any social occasion copie that into my noteook ecase it is only recently that have een ale to enter a room withot hearing some sch phrase in my inner ear . nly the very yong an the very ol may recont their reams

at reakfast well pon self interrpt with

memories of each picnics an favorite ierty lawn resses an the rainow trot in a creek near olorao prings. The rest of s are epecte rightly

to affect asorption in other people s favorite

resses other people s trot. n so we o. t or noteooks give s away

for however tiflly

we recor what we see aron s the common enominator of all we see is always transparently shamelessly the implacale .

e

are not talking here aot the kin of noteook that is patently for plic consmption a strctral conceit for ining together a series of gracefl enses its of the min

we are talking aot something private aot

s string too short to se an iniscriminate an erratic

assemlage with meaning only for its maker . n sometimes even the maker has if

ficlty with the meaning.

There oes not seem to e for eample any point in my knowing for the rest of my life that ring sare mile of ew T

ork ity

tons of soot fell on every yet there it is in my noteook laele

. or o really nee to rememer that mrose ierce like

to spell elan tanfor

s name elan tanfor or that smart

women almost always wear lack in a a fashion hint withot mch potential for practical application. n oes not the relevance of these notes seem marginal at est n the asement msem of the nyo onty orthose in nepenence alifornia sign pinne to a manarin coat This T was often worn y rs. innie . rooks when giving

lectres on her T

T

T

.

ehea getting ot of car in front of everly ilshire otel chinchilla stole

itton ags with tags reaing T

ell perhaps not entirely marginal. s a matter of fact rs. innie . rooks an her

T pll me ack into my own

chilhoo for althogh never knew rs. rooks an i not visit nyo onty ntil was thirty

grew p in st sch

a worl in

hoses clttere with nian relics an its of gol ore an amergris an the sovenirs my nt ercy arnsworth roght ack from the rient. t is a long way from that worl to rs. o o

s worl

where we all live now an is it not st as well to rememer that ight not rs. innie . rooks help me to rememer what am ight not rs. o o help me to rememer what am not t sometimes the point is harer to iscern. hat eactly i have in min when note own that it cost the father of someone know a month to light the place on the son in which he live efore the rash hat se was planning to make of this line y immy of

fa may have my falts t eing wrong aint one of

them n althogh think it interesting to know where the girls who travel with the ynicate have their hair one when they fin themselves on the

est oast will ever make sitale se of it

ight not e etter of

f st passing it on to ohn ara hat is a

recipe for saerkrat oing in my noteook hat kin of magpie keeps this noteook

e s born the niht the

itni

ent do n

That seems a nice enogh line an even recall who sai it t is it not really a etter line in life than it col ever e in fiction t of corse that is eactly it not that shol ever se the line t that shol rememer the woman who sai it an the afternoon hear it.

e were on her terrace y the sea an we were finishing

the wine left from lnch trying to get what sn there was a

alifornia winter sn. The woman whose hsan was orn the night the itni

went own wante to rent her hose wante to go

ack to her chilren in aris. rememer wishing that col af the hose which cost

for

a month. omeay yo will she sai

laily . omeay it all comes. There in the sn on her terrace it seeme easy to elieve in someay

t later ha a low grae

afternoon hangover an ran over a lack snake on the way to the spermarket an was flooe with ineplicale fear when hear the checkot clerk eplaining to the man ahea of me why she was finally ivorcing her hsan. e left me no choice she sai over an over as she pnche the register ol ay y her

. e has a little seven month

he left me no choice. wol like to elieve that my

rea then was for the hman conition t of corse it was

for me

ecase wante a ay an i not then have one an ecase wante to own the hose that cost ecase ha a hangover

a month to rent an

.

t all comes ack. erhaps it is if

ficlt to see the vale in having

one s self ack in that kin of moo t o see it think we are well avise to keep on noing terms with the people we se to e whether we fin them attractive company or not. therwise they trn p nannonce an srprise s come hammering on the min oor at

..

s

of a a night an eman to know who eserte

them who etraye them who is going to make amens. all too soon the things we thoght we col never forget.

e forget e forget

the loves an the etrayals alike forget what we whispere an what we screame forget who we were. have alreay lost toch with a

cople of people se to e one of them a seventeen year ol presents little threat althogh it wol e of some interest to me to know again what it feels like to sit on a river levee rinking voka an orange ice an listening to es al an ary or an their echoes sing ow igh the oon on the car raio.

o see still

have the scenes t no longer perceive myself among those present no longer col even improvise the ialoge. The other one a twenty three year ol others me more. he was always a goo eal of trole an sspect she will reappear when least want to see her skirts too long shy to the point of aggravation always the inre party

fll of recriminations an little hrts an

stories o not want to hear again at once saening me an angering me with her vlneraility an ignorance an apparition all the more insistent for eing so long anishe. t is a goo iea then to keep in toch an sppose that keeping in toch is what noteooks are all aot. n we are all on or own when it comes to keeping those lines open to orselves yor noteook will never help me nor mine yo. hisey business

So ht

s ne in the

hat col that possily mean to yo T

o me it

means a lone in a cci athing sit sitting with a cople of fat men y the pool at the everly ills otel. nother man approaches an they all regar one another in silence for a while. o what in the whiskey siness one of the fat men finally says y way of welcome an the lone

stans p arches one foot an ips it in

the pool looking all the while at the caaa where ay ignatari is talking on the telephone. That is all there is to that ecept that

s new

several years later saw the lone coming ot of aks ifth in ew

vene

ork with her alifornia compleion an a volminos mink

coat. n the harsh win that ay she looke ol an irrevocaly tire to me an even the skins in the mink coat were not worke the way they were oing them that year

not the way she wol have wante

them one an there is the point of the story i not like to look in the mirror

. or a while after that

an my eyes wol skim the

newspapers an pick ot only the eaths the cancer victims the prematre coronaries the sicies an stoppe riing the eington

vene

T ecase notice for the first time that all the

strangers ha seen for years the man with the seeing eye og the spinster who rea the classifie pages every ay

the fat girl who

always got off with me at ran entral looke oler than they once ha. t all comes ack. ven that recipe for saerkrat even that rings it ack. was on ire slan when first mae that saerkrat an it was raining an we rank a lot of oron an ate the saerkrat an went to e at ten an listene to the rain an the tlantic an felt safe. mae the saerkrat again last night an it i not make me feel any safer t that is as they say

another story.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat are the reasons that iion keeps a noteook hat are reasons that other people might keep them that are not her reasons . iion is known as a master stylist. in five sentences yo think are stylish nsal or well constrcte or somehow striking. hat

makes them each goo magine how another writer might have written them what wol e if ferent hat wol e missing . connections ea iion s essay alongsie . . hite s nce ore to the ake p. . oth essays are concerne with aging with the past an with memory . n what ways are the methos y which iion an hite recollect an re create the past similar ow o they if fer hat o yo make of the comparison in terms of the if ference etween the two athors writing styles or proects or implicit eliefs aot the natre of selfhoo an memory . re yo on noing terms with the person yo se to e to orrow iion s line par. ick a time in yor life a few to many years ago an reflect on yor relationship to the person yo were then. hat kins of things aot that time o yo rememer from the small to the large o yo rememer how they mae yo feel or what yo thoght aot them o the events yo rememer an the reactions yo rememer tell yo something aot who yo were then o yo fin that person attractive company . ooinrter o some research into oan iion s career looking closely at the collection this essay was plishe in Sou hin o rds ethehe or more roaly at the range of work essays novels memoir she has written. ow o yo think the ieas aot writing an life iion escries in n eeping a oteook are reflecte in this work

earning to ea an

rite

rederi ouss s born sve in in Mrynd e erned to red nd rite es ed to e

or nd be e

eder in the boitionist oveent e ened in sein tours nd edited orth tar

ne ser ned for the one uide

es in Southern sves oud rey on to find their y to freedo ouss is best no n for his utobiorhy reerick oglass

arrative of the ife of

fro hi h ernin to ed nd rite

is ex erted n this see tion ouss tes the story of his oin to iter y s you red ee your eye on the ys in hi h ouss des ribes the ord oenin u for hi s he erns his etters nd the rne of eotions this ro ess evoes in hi live in aster gh

s family aot seven years. ring this time

scceee in learning to rea an write. n accomplishing this was compelle to resort to varios stratagems. ha no reglar teacher

.

y mistress who ha kinly commence to instrct me ha in compliance with the avice an irection of her hsan not only cease to instrct t ha set her face against my eing instrcte y any one else. t is e however

to my mistress to say of her that

she i not aopt this corse of treatment immeiately

. he at first

lacke the epravity inispensale to shtting me p in mental arkness. t was at least necessary for her to have some training in the eercise of irresponsile power treating me as thogh were a rte.

to make her eal to the task of

y mistress was as have sai a kin an tener hearte woman an in the simplicity of her sol she commence when first went to live with her to treat me as she sppose one hman eing oght to treat another. n entering pon the ties of a slaveholer

she i

not seem to perceive that sstaine to her the relation of a mere chattel an that for her to treat me as a hman eing was not only wrong t angerosly so. lavery

prove as inrios to her as it

i to me. hen went there she was a pios warm an tener hearte woman. There was no sorrow or sf not a tear. he ha rea for the hngry

fering for which she ha

clothes for the nake an

comfort for every morner that came within her reach. lavery soon prove its aility to ivest her of these heavenly alities. ner its inflence the tener heart ecame stone an the lam like isposition gave way to one of tiger like fierceness. The first step in her ownwar corse was in her ceasing to instrct me. he now commence to practice her hsan

s precepts. he finally ecame

even more violent in her opposition than her hsan himself. he was not satisfie with simply oing as well as he ha commane she seeme anios to o etter

. othing seeme to make her more

angry than to see me with a newspaper. he seeme to think that here lay the anger . have ha her rsh at me with a face mae all p of fry

an snatch from me a newspaper

in a manner that flly

reveale her apprehension. he was an apt woman an a little eperience soon emonstrate to her satisfaction that ecation an slavery were incompatile with each other

.

rom this time was most narrowly watche. f was in a separate room any consierale length of time was sre to e sspecte of having a ook an was at once calle to give an accont of myself. ll this however

was too late. The first step ha een taken.

istress in teaching me the alphaet ha given me the precation col prevent me from taking the

in h an no

e .

The plan which aopte an the one y which was most sccessfl was that of making friens of all the little white oys whom met in the street. s many of these as col converte into teachers. ith their kinly ai otaine at if

ferent times an in

if ferent places finally scceee in learning to rea. hen was sent of errans always took my ook with me an y going one part of my erran ickly

fon time to get a lesson efore my

retrn. se also to carry rea with me enogh of which was always in the hose an to which was always welcome for was mch etter of

f in this regar than many of the poor white chilren in

or neighorhoo. This rea se to estow pon the hngry little rchins who in retrn wol give me that more valale rea of knowlege. am strongly tempte to give the names of two or three of those little oys as a testimonial of the gratite an af

fection

ear them t prence foris not that it wol inre me t it might emarrass them for it is almost an nparonale of teach slaves to rea in this hristian contry

fence to

. t is enogh to say of

the ear little fellows that they live on hilpot treet very near rgin an ailey

s ship yar. se to talk this matter of slavery

over with them. wol sometimes say to them wishe col e

as free as they wol e when they got to e men. as soon as yo are twenty one

but

o will e free

sve for ife

ave not

as goo a right to e free as yo have These wors se to trole them they wol epress for me the liveliest sympathy

an

console me with the hope that something wol occr y which might e free. was now aot twelve years ol an the thoght of eing

sve

for ife egan to ear heavily pon my heart. st aot this time got hol of a ook entitle The olmian rator

. very

opportnity got se to rea this ook. mong mch of other interesting matter fon in it a ialoge etween a master an his slave. The slave was represente as having rn away from his master three times. The ialoge represente the conversation which took place etween them when the slave was retaken the thir time. n this ialoge the whole argment in ehalf of slavery was roght forwar y the master

all of which was ispose of y

the slave. The slave was mae to say some very smart as well as impressive things in reply to his master things which ha the esire thogh nepecte ef

fect for the conversation reslte in

the volntary emancipation of the slave on the part of the master . n the same ook met with one of herian

s mighty speeches on

an in ehalf of atholic emancipation. These were choice ocments to me. rea them over an over again with naate interest. They gave tonge to interesting thoghts of my own sol which ha freently lashe throgh my min an ie away for

want of tterance. The moral which gaine from the ialoge was the power of trth over the conscience of even a slaveholer got from herian was a ol ennciation of slavery

. hat

an a

powerfl vinication of hman rights. The reaing of these ocments enale me to tter my thoghts an to meet the argments roght forwar to sstain slavery t while they relieve me of one if ficlty

they roght on another

even more painfl than

the one of which was relieve. The more rea the more was le to ahor an etest my enslavers. col regar them in no other light than a an of sccessfl roers who ha left their homes an gone to frica an stolen s from or homes an in a strange lan rece s to slavery

. loathe them as eing the meanest as

well as the most wicke of men. s rea an contemplate the sect ehol that very iscontentment which aster gh ha preicte wol follow my learning to rea ha alreay come to torment an sting my sol to ntterale angish. s writhe ner it wol at times feel that learning to rea ha een a crse rather than a lessing. t ha given me a view of my wretche conition withot the remey

. t opene my eyes to the horrile pit t to no

laer pon which to get ot. n moments of agony fellow slaves for their stpiity

envie my

. have often wishe myself a east.

preferre the conition of the meanest reptile to my own. ny thing no matter what to get ri of thinking t was this everlasting thinking of my conition that tormente me. There was no getting ri of it. t was presse pon me y every oect within sight or hearing animate or inanimate. The silver trmp of freeom ha rose my sol to eternal wakeflness. reeom now appeare to isappear

no more forever. t was hear in every son an seen in every thing. t was ever present to torment me with a sense of my wretche conition. saw nothing withot seeing it hear nothing withot hearing it an felt nothing withot feeling it. t looke from every star it smile in every calm reathe in every win an move in every storm. often fon myself regretting my own eistence an wishing myself ea an t for the hope of eing free have no ot t that shol have kille myself or one something for which shol have een kille. hile in this state of min was eager to hear any one speak of slavery. was a reay listener . very little while col hear something aot the aolitionists. t was some time efore fon what the wor meant. t was always se in sch connections as to make it an interesting wor to me. f a slave ran away an scceee in getting clear

or if a slave kille his master

set fire to a

arn or i any thing very wrong in the min of a slaveholer

it was

spoken of as the frit of boition . earing the wor in this connection very often set aot learning what it meant. The ictionary af fore me little

or no help. fon it was the act of

aolishing t then i not know what was to e aolishe. ere was perplee. i not are to ask any one aot its meaning for was satisfie that it was something they wante me to know very little aot. fter a patient waiting got one of or city papers containing an accont of the nmer of petitions from the north praying for the aolition of slavery in the istrict of olmia an of the slave trae etween the tates. rom this time nerstoo the

wors boition

an boitionist

an always rew near when that

wor was spoken epecting to hear something of importance to myself an fellow slaves. The light roke in pon me y egrees. went one ay own on the wharf of r

.

aters an seeing two

rishmen nloaing a scow of stone went naske an helpe them. hen we ha finishe one of them came to me an aske me if were a slave. tol him was. e aske re ye a slave for life tol him that was. The goo rishman seeme to e eeply affecte y the statement. e sai to the other that it was a pity so fine a little fellow as myself shol e a slave for life. e sai it was a shame to hol me. They oth avise me to rn away to the north that shol fin friens there an that shol e free. pretene not to e intereste in what they sai an treate them as if i not nerstan them for feare they might e treacheros. hite men have een known to encorage slaves to escape an then to get the rewar catch them an retrn them to their masters. was afrai that these seemingly goo men might se me so t nevertheless rememere their avice an from that time resolve to rn away looke forwar to a time at which it wol e safe for me to escape. was too yong to think of oing so immeiately esies wishe to learn how to write as might have occasion to write my own pass. console myself with the hope that shol one ay fin a goo chance. eanwhile wol learn to write. The iea as to how might learn to write was sggeste to me y eing in rgin an ailey

s ship yar an freently seeing the

ship carpenters after hewing an getting a piece of timer reay for

.

se write on the timer the name of that part of the ship for which it was intene. hen a piece of timer was intene for the laroar sie it wol e marke ths . hen a piece was for the staroar sie it wol e marke ths . piece for the laroar sie forwar wol

e marke ths .

. hen a piece

was for staroar sie forwar it wol e marke ths .

.

or laroar aft it wol e marke ths . . or staroar aft it wol e marke ths . . soon learne the names of these letters an for what they were intene when place pon a piece of timer in the ship yar. immeiately commence copying them an in a short time was ale to make the for letters name. fter that when met with any oy who knew col write wol tell him col write as well as he. The net wor wol e ont elieve yo. et me see yo try it. wol then make the letters which ha een so fortnate as to learn an ask him to eat that. n this way got a goo many lessons in writing which it is ite possile shol never have gotten in any other way. ring this time my copy ook was the oar fence rick wall an pavement my pen an ink was a lmp of chalk. ith these learne mainly how to write. then commence an contine copying the talics in

ester s pelling

ook ntil col make them all withot looking on the ook. y this time my little aster Thomas ha gone to school an learne how to write an ha written over a nmer of copy ooks. These ha een roght home an shown to some of or near neighors an then lai asie. y mistress se to go to class meeting at the ilk treet meetinghose every onay afternoon an leave me to take care of the hose. hen left ths se to spen the time in writing

in the spaces left in aster Thomas

s copy ook copying what he

ha written. contine to o this ntil col write a han very similar to that of aster Thomas. Ths after a long teios ef

fort for

years finally scceee in learning how to write.

or is ussion nd ritin . ist the if ferent ways oglass taght himself to rea an write. hat other things i he learn . The main focs of this passage is the process y which oglass egan to ecome literate. ho else in the passage nergoes a learning process an what are the reslts . connections oglass teaches himself to rea an write in a society that conemns literacy for people like him. anra isneros in nly aghter tells a story aot her own writing a story set in a very if ferent time an place an ner a very if ferent set of circmstances. hat connections o yo see etween the eperiences relate y oglass an y isneros . oglass s ecation is presente as oth pleasrale an painfl opening p new worls to him at the same time as it helps him to nerstan painfl facts. escrie something yo have learne a new sect a new fact aot the worl that has een similarly ole ege for yo. . ooinrter common topic of conversation among ecators concerns the ltimate goal of learning. ne version of this conversation is aot the tension etween instrmentalist goals yo learn to prepare yorself to o certain things sch as a particlar o an the goal of knowlege for its own sake. ea p on this eate an think aot what oglass has to say aot ecation in that light. ow oes this istinction make sense in his sitation hat o yo think aot the istinction in this contet an in itself

erving in loria orn in nd rised in utte Montn rbr Ehrenrei h erned do torte in biooy before devotin hersef to ritin bout uture nd oiti s She hs ritten extensivey on so i ss or ender

nd oiti s in ouns nd in boos in udin

The

orst ears of r ives rreverent otes on a ecae of ree loo ites The rigins an istory of the assions for ickel an ime n ot etting y in merica right ie ow the elentless romotion of ositive Thinking as nermine merica

nd her ne est boo

il o oneliever

iving with a

s earch for the T rth aot verything

. Servin in orid oes fro

ickel an ime.

n the boo

Ehrenrei h re ounts her exerien es tryin to ive on the in oe erned orin nuber of o yin obs hie these stories re enrossin tht is not the ony reson they re in the boo s you red the stories in Servin in orid ee n eye out for the ys in hi h Ehrenrei h uses these stories to e nuber of oints bout onteorry eri n ife col rift along like this in some reamy proletarian iyll ecept for two things. ne is management. f have kept this sect to the margins so far it is ecase still flinch to think that spent all those weeks ner the srveillance of men an later women whose o it was to monitor my ehavior for signs of sloth theft rg ase or worse. ot that managers an especially assistant managers in

ar

low wage settings like this are eactly the class enemy . ostly

in the

restarant siness they are former cooks still capale of pinch hitting in the kitchen st as in hotels they are likely to e former clerks an pai a salary of only aot a week. t everyone knows they have crosse over to the other sie which is crely pt corporate as oppose to hman. ooks want to prepare tasty meals servers want to serve them graciosly

t managers are

there for only one reason to make sre that money is mae for some theoretical entity the corporation which eists far away in hicago or ew

ork if a corporation can e sai to have a physical

eistence at all. eflecting on her career

ail tells me reflly that

she swore years ago never to work for a corporation again. They ont ct yo no slack.

o give an yo give an they take.

anagers can sit for hors at a time if they want t it o to see that no one else ever oes even when there o an this is why rshes.

s their s nothing to

for servers slow times can e as ehasting as

o start ragging ot each little chore ecase if the

manager on ty catches yo in an ile moment he will give yo something far nastier to o. o wipe clean consoliate catsp ottles an recheck the cheesecake spply

even tor the tales to

make sre the cstomer evalation forms are all staning perkily in their places wonering all the time how many calories rn in these strictly theatrical eercises. n esperation even take the esserts ot of their glass isplay case an freshen them p with whippe cream an right new maraschino cherries anything to look sy

. hen on a particlarly ea afternoon t fins me glancing

at a US

ody a cstomer has left ehin he assigns me to

vacm the entire floor with the roken vacm cleaner

which has a

hanle only two feet long an the only way to o that withot incrring orthopeic amage is to procee from spot to spot on yor knees. n my first riay at earthsie there is a manatory meeting for all restarant employees which atten eager for insight into or overall marketing strategy an the niche yor asic hio cisine with a tropical twist we aim to inhait. t there is no we at this meeting. hillip or top manager ecept for an occasional consltant sent ot y corporate heaarters opens it with a sneer The reak room it

s isgsting. tts in the ashtrays

newspapers lying aron crms. This winowless little room which also hoses the time clock for the entire hotel is where we stash or ags an civilian clothes an take or half hor meal reaks. t a reak room is not a right he tells s it can e taken away.

e shol also know that the lockers in the reak room an

whatever is in them can e searche

at any time. Then comes

gossip there has een gossip gossip which seems to mean employees talking among themselves mst stop. f

f ty

employees are henceforth arre from eating at the restarant ecase other servers gather aron them an gossip. hen hillip has ehaste his agena of rekes oan complains aot the conition of the laies room an throw in my two its aot the vacm cleaner

. t ont see any ackp coming from my fellow

servers each of whom has slippe into her own personal fnk ail

my role moel stares sorrowflly at a point si inches from her nose. The meeting ens when ny aot reaking p his ay of

one of the cooks gets p mttering f for this almighty llshit.

st for ays later we are senly smmone into the kitchen at ..

even thogh there are live tales on the floor

.

e all

aot ten of s stan aron hillip who annonces grimly that there has een a report of some rg activity on the night shift an that as a reslt we are now to e a rg free workplace meaning that all new hires will e teste an possily also crrent employees on a ranom asis. am gla that this part of the kitchen is so ark ecase fin myself lshing as har as if ha een caght toking p in the laies room myself havent een treate this way line p in the corrior

threatene with locker searches peppere with

carelessly aime accsations since at least nior high school. ack on the floor

oan cracks et theyll e telling s we cant

have sex on the o. hen ask t what happene to inspire the crackown he st mtters aot management ecisions an takes the opportnity to prai ail an me for eing too generos with the rolls. rom now on there s to e only one per cstomer an it goes ot with the inner

not with the sala. e

s also een riing the

cooks prompting ny to come ot of the kitchen an oserve with the serenity of a man whose cstomary implement is a tcher knife that t has a eath wish toay

.

ater in the evening the gossip crystallies aron the theory that t is himself the rg clprit that he ses the restarant phone to

orer p mariana an sens one of the late servers ot to fetch it for him. The server was caght an she may have ratte ot t at least enogh to cast some sspicion on him ths acconting for his pissy ehavior . ho knows ersonally

m reay to elieve

anything a aot t who serves no evient fnction an presmes too mch on or common ethnicity

siling p to me one

night to engage in a little nativism irecte at the aitian immigrants feel like m the foreigner here. Theyre taking over the contry

.

till later that evening the rg in estion escalates to crack. ionel the soy st ehin t

entertains s for the rest of the shift y staning s ack an scking eliriosly on an imaginary oint

or maye a pipe. The other prolem in aition to the less than nrtring management style is that this o shows no sign of eing financially viale.

o might imagine from a comfortale istance that people

who live year in an year ot on to an hor have iscovere some srvival stratagems nknown to the mile class. t no. t

s

not har to get my coworkers talking aot their living sitations ecase hosing in almost every case is the principal sorce of isrption in their lives the first thing they fill yo in on when they arrive for their shifts. fter a week have compile the following srvey ail is sharing a room in a well known owntown flophose for a week. er roommate a male frien has egn hitting on her nts t the rent wol e impossile alone.

riving her

lae the aitian cook is esperate to get ot of the two room apartment he shares with his girlfrien an two other

nrelate people.

s far as can etermine the other aitian men live in similarly crowe sitations. nnette a twenty year ol server who is si months pregnant an aanone y her oyfrien lives with her mother arianne who is a reakfast server

a postal clerk.

an her oyfrien are paying

a week for a one person trailer. illy

who at an hor is the wealthiest of s lives in the trailer he

owns paying only the a month lot fee. The other white cook ny

lives on his ry ocke oat which as far

as can tell from his loving escriptions cant e more than twenty feet long. e of fers to take me ot on it once it s repaire t the of

fer comes

with iniries as to my marital stats so o not follow p on it. Tina another server an her hsan are paying a night for a room in the ays nn. This is ecase they have no car an the ays nn is in walking istance of the earthsie. hen arianne is tosse ot of her trailer for sletting which is against trailer park rles she leaves her oyfrien an moves in with T

ina an her hsan.

oan who ha foole me with her nmeros an tastefl otfits hostesses wear their own clothes lives in a van parke ehin a shopping center at night an showers in T ina s motel room. The clothes are from thrift shops.

t strikes me in my mile class solipsism that there is gross improvience in some of these arrangements. hen ail an are wrapping silverware in napkins the only task for which we are permitte to sit she tells me she is thinking of escaping from her roommate y moving into the ays nn herself. am astone how she can even think of paying to a ay t if was afrai of soning like a social worker

have come ot st soning like a

fool. he sints at me in iselief n where am sppose to get a month s rent an a month s eposit for an apartment een feeling pretty smg aot my ef mae possile only y the

ha allotte myself for start p

costs when egan my low wage life rent an eposit stf

ficiency t of corse it was for the first month

s

for initial groceries an cash in my pocket

fe away for emergencies. n poverty

as in certain

propositions in physics starting conitions are everything. There are no secret economies that norish the poor on the contrary there are a host of special costs. f yo cant pt p the two months rent yo nee to secre an apartment yo en p paying throgh the nose for a room y the week. f yo have only a room with a hot plate at est yo cant save y cooking p hge lentil stews that can e froen for the week ahea.

o eat fast foo or the

hot ogs an tyrofoam cps of sop that can e microwave in a convenience store. f yo have no money for health insrance an the earthsie

s niggarly plan kicks in only after three months

yo go withot rotine care or prescription rgs an en p paying the price. ail for eample was oing fine healthwise anyway

ntil

she ran ot of money for estrogen pills. he is sppose to e on the company health plan y now

t they claim to have lost her

application form an to e eginning the paperwork all over again. o she spens

a pop for pills to control the migraines she

wolnt have she insists if her estrogen spplements were covere. imilarly

arianne

s oyfrien lost his o as a roofer

ecase he misse so mch time after getting a ct on his foot for which he colnt af

for the prescrie antiiotic.

y own sitation when sit own to assess it after two weeks of work wol not e mch etter if this were my actal life. The sective thing aot waitressing is that yo ont have to wait for payay to feel a few ills in yor pocket an my tips sally cover meals an gas pls something left over to stf

f into the kitchen

rawer se as a ank. t as the torist siness slows in the smmer heat sometimes leave work with only in tips the gross is higher t servers share aot percent of their tips with the soys an arteners . ith wages incle this amonts to aot the minimm wage of . an hor

. The sm in the rawer is

piling p t at the present rate of accmlation will e more than short of my rent when the en of the month comes aron. or can see any epenses to ct. T rote yet t that

re havent gone the lentil stew

s ecase ont have a large cooking pot

potholers or a lale to stir with which wol cost a total of aot at mart somewhat less at a thrift store not to mention onions carrots an the inispensale ay leaf. o make my lnch almost every ay sally some slow rning high protein como like

froen chicken patties with melte cheese on top an canne pinto eans on the sie. inner is at the earthsie which of employees a choice of

fers its

T fish sanwich or hamrger for only .

The rger lasts longest especially if it

s heape with gt pckering

alapeos t y minight my stomach is growling again. o nless want to start sing my car as a resience have to fin a secon or an alternative o. call all the hotels fille ot hosekeeping applications at weeks ago the yatt oliay nn cono oge oo

s est

estern pls a half oen locally rn

gest hoses. othing. Then start making the rons again wasting whole mornings waiting for some assistant manager to show p even ipping into places so creepy that the front esk clerk greets yo from ehin llet proof glass an sells pints of lior over the conter . t either someone has epose my real life hosekeeping haits which are shall we say

mellow or am at

the wrong en of some infallile ethnic eation most

t y no

means all of the working hosekeepers see on my o searches are frican mericans panish speaking or refgees from the entral ropean post ommnist worl while servers are almost invarialy white an monolingally nglish speaking. hen finally get a positive response have een ientifie once again as server material. erry s again not the real name which is part of a well known national chain an physically attache here to another get hotel is reay to se me at once. The prospect is oth eciting an terrifying ecase with aot the same nmer of

tales an conter seats erry

s attracts three or for times the

volme of cstomers as the gloomy ol earthsie. ictre a fat person

s hell an ont mean a place with no foo.

nstea there is everything yo might eat if eating ha no oily conseences the cheese fries the chicken frie steaks the fge laen esserts only here every it mst e pai for

one

way or another in hman iscomfort. The kitchen is a cavern a stomach leaing to the lower intestine that is the garage an ishwashing area from which isse iarre smells comining the eile an the of

fal creamy carrion pia arf an that nie an

enigmatic erry s scent citrs fart. The floor is slick with spills forcing s to walk throgh the kitchen with tiny steps like san cogal in leg irons. inks everywhere are clogge with scraps of lettce ecomposing lemon weges water logge toast crsts. t yor han own on any conter an yo risk eing stck to it y the film of ancient syrp spills an this is nfortnate ecase hans are tensils here se for scooping p lettce onto the sala plates lifting ot pie slices an even moving hash rowns from one plate to another. The reglation poster in the single nise rest room amonishes s to wash or hans thoroghly

an even of fers

instrctions for oing so t there is always some vital sstance missing soap paper towels toilet paper an never fon all three at once. o learn to stf

f yor pockets with napkins efore

going in there an too a aot the cstomers who mst eat althogh they ont realie it almost literally ot of or hans.

The reak room smmaries the whole sitation there is none ecase there are no reaks at erry row yo never sit ecept to pee. ctally

s. or si to eight hors in a there are three foling

chairs at a tale immeiately aacent to the athroom t

harly

anyone ever sits in this the very rectm of the gastroarchitectral system. ather

the fnction of the peri toilet area is to hose the

ashtrays in which servers an ishwashers leave their cigarettes rning at all times like votive canles so they ont have to waste time lighting p again when they ash ack here for a pf

f. lmost

everyone smokes as if their plmonary well eing epene on it the mltinational mlange of cooks the ishwashers who are all echs here the servers who are merican natives creating an atmosphere in which oygen is only an occasional polltant. y first morning at erry s when the hypoglycemic shakes set in complain to one of my fellow servers that ont nerstan how she can go so long withot foo.

ell ont nerstan how

you can go so

long withot a cigarette she respons in a tone of reproach. ecase work is what yo o for others smoking is what yo o for yorself. ont know why the antismoking crsaers have never graspe the element of efiant self nrtrance that makes the hait so enearing to its victims as if in the merican workplace the only thing people have to call their own is the tmors they are norishing an the spare moments they evote to feeing them. ow

the nstrial evoltion is not an easy transition especially

my eperience when yo have to ip throgh it in st a cople of ays. have gone from craft work straight into the factory

from the

in

air conitione morge of the earthsie irectly into the flames. stomers arrive in hman waves sometimes isgorge fifty at a time from their tor ses pckish an whiny

. nstea of two girls

on the floor at once there can e as many as si of s rnning aron in or rilliant pink an orange awaiian shirts. onversations either with cstomers or with fellow employees selom last more than twenty secons at a time. n my first ay

in

fact am hrt y my sister servers colness. y mentor for the ay is a spremely competent emotionally ninflecte twenty three year ol an the others who gossip a little among themselves aot the real reason someone is ot sick toay an the sie of the ail on someone else has ha to pay ay

fin ot why

.

ignore me completely. n my secon

ell it s goo to see you again one of them

says in greeting. arly anyone comes ack after the first ay

.

feel powerflly vinicate a srvivor t it wol take a long time proaly months efore col hope to e accepte into this sorority. start ot with the eatifl heroic iea of hanling the two os at once an for two ays almost o it working the reakfastlnch shift at erry s from till arriving at the earthsie a few mintes late at an attempting to hol ot ntil . n the few mintes have etween os pick p a spicy chicken sanwich at the

eny s rive throgh winow

gole it own in the car

an

change from khaki slacks to lack from awaiian to rst colore polo. There is a prolem thogh. hen ring the oclock ea time finally sit own to wrap silver

my flesh seems to

on to the seat. try to refel with a prloine cp of clam chower as ve seen ail an oan o oens of times t t catches me an hisses o

etin

althogh there

s not a cstomer aron to e

offene y the sight of foo making contact with a server

s lips. o

tell ail m going to it an she hgs me an says she might st follow me to erry s herself. t the chances of this are minscle. he has left the flophose an her annoying roommate an is ack to living in her trck. t gess what she reports to me ecitely later that evening. hillip has given her permission to park overnight in the hotel parking lot as long as she keeps ot of sight an the parking lot shol e totally safe since it s patrolle y a hotel secrity gar ith the earthsie of

fering enefits like that how col anyone think of

leaving This mst e hillip

s theory anyway. e accepts my

resignation with a shrg his main concern eing that retrn my two polo shirts an aprons. ail wol have trimphe at erry corse in ehastion management.

s m sre t for me it

s a crash

ears ago the kinly fry cook

who traine me to waitress at a os ngeles trck stop se to say ever make an nnecessary trip if yo ont have to walk fast walk slow if yo ont have to walk stan. t at erry

s the effort of

istingishing necessary from nnecessary an rgent from whenever wol itself e too mch of an energy rain. The only thing to o is to treat each shift as a one time only emergency yove got fifty starving people ot there lying scattere on the attlefiel so

get ot there an fee them orget that yo will have to o this again tomorrow forget that yo will have to e alert enogh to oge the rnks on the rive home tonight st rn rn rn eally at some point yo enter what servers call a rhythm an psychologists term a flow state where signals pass from the sense organs irectly to the mscles ypassing the cereral corte an a en like emptiness sets in. m on a

..

shift now an a

male server from the morning shift tells me aot the time he plle a triple three shifts in a row

all the way aron the clock an

then got off an ha a rink an met this girl an maye he sholnt tell me this t they ha se right then an there an it was like beutifu

or is ussion nd ritin . hy is hrenreich working as a waitress . hrenreich ils her argment aot the if ficlties of living on minimm or near minimm wage throgh her se of eamples. er argment is well constrcte an her eamples plentifl t the effectiveness of many of her eamples comes from their eing part of a story. y looking closely at one of the stories she tells aot her eperiences an the eperiences of the men an women she works with escrie how hrenreich emes eamples in stories aot inivials. . connections ars ighner s n mpster iving makes most of its reaers rethink homelessness. imilarly hrenreich s piece makes s rethink employment contrary to what many comfortale mile or pper class people might think it is clear from erving in loria that employe people can e homeless or at least in a precarios financial position. ith regar to the way in which these pieces make s rethink ways of life how are hrenreich s an ighner s pieces similar ow are they if ferent

. ne of the key points of comparison etween erving in loria an ars ighner s n mpster iving is the position of the writer in relation to the life he or she is escriing. t is also a point of contrast as ighner was homeless when he wrote his ook while hrenreich was only living as a wage worker in orer to write her ook. rite a ialoge etween the two athors in which they iscss this if ference. ight ighner challenge hrenreich r praise her ow might she efen herself . ooinrter The first sentence of erving in loria incles the term roetrin . tsie of oman law the term is est known from its appearance in arist theory . o a little research on arist political theory. Thogh hrenreich oesnt iscss larger economic systems there is certainly a critie of capitalism here. o yo think this critie is informe y arist thoght o yo agree with the implicit critie of capitalism hrenreich makes here ase on yor limite research o yo agree with the eplicit critie ar mae

n mpster iving orn in

exs in rs Eihner be e fous ith the

ubi tion of his eoir

Travels with ieth Three

ears on the

oa an on the treets

he eoir of his nd his do

s

hoeessness

Travels with ieth

s ret su

ess but s

not enouh to ee Eihner nd ibeth off the streets Eventuy ith the suort of friends ne housin s found for the but ibeth died in Eihner ontinues to rite fi tion essys nd eroti nd hs ne do ned

i

n uster ivin is the essy tht ed to the ritin of ht s to be oe the rest of

Travels with ieth.

n it Eihner exins one

se t of his ife durin the three hrd yers tht re the sube t of his eoir the ro ess of feedin hisef fro the refuse of others he er

eyed y in hi h he des ribes this ro ess nd

the nner in hi h he situtes it in the rer uture e this essy orthy of refu redin ong efore egan mpster iving was impresse with mpsters enogh so that wrote the erriam

ester research

service to iscover what col aot the wor mpster

. learne

from them that mpster is a proprietary wor elonging to the empster mpster company

.

ince then have tiflly capitalie the wor althogh it was lowercase in almost all of the citations erriam photocopie for me. empster

ester

s wor is too apt. have never hear

these things calle anything t mpsters. o not know anyone who knows the generic name for these oects. rom time to time however hear a wino or hoo give some corrpte creit to the original an call them ipsy mpsters. egan mpster iving aot a year efore ecame homeless. prefer the term scavenging an se the wor scronging when mean to e oscre. have hear people eviently meaning to e polite sing the wor foraging t prefer to reserve

that wor for

gathering nts an erries an sch which o also accoring to the season an the opportnity

. mpster iving seems to me to e a

little too cte an in my case inaccrate ecase lack the athletic aility to lower myself into the mpsters as the tre ivers o mch to their increase profit. like the frankness of the wor scavenging which can harly think of withot pictring a ig lack snail on an aarim wall. live from the refse of others. am a scavenger . think it a son an honorale niche althogh if col wol natrally prefer to live the comfortale consmer life perhaps an only perhaps as a slightly less wastefl consmer owing to what have learne as a scavenger. hile my og ieth an were still living in the hose on

vene

in stin as my savings ran ot pt almost all my sporaic income into rent. The necessities of aily life egan to etract from

mpsters.

es we ate from mpsters. cept for eans all my

clothes came from mpsters. oom oes canles eing toilet paper meicine ooks a typewriter

a virgin male love oll change

sometimes amonting to many ollars acire many things from the mpsters. have learne mch as a scavenger

. mean to pt some of what

have learne own here eginning with the practical art of mpster iving an proceeing to the astract. hat is safe to eat fter all the fining of oects is ecoming something of an ran art. ven respectale employe people will sometimes fin something tempting sticking ot of a mpster or staning esie one. ite a nmer of people not all of them of the ohemian type are willing to rag that they fon this or that piece in the trash. t eating from mpsters is the thing that separates the ilettanti from the professionals. ating safely from the mpsters involves three principles sing the senses an common sense to evalate the conition of the fon materials knowing the mpsters of a given area an checking them reglarly was this iscare

an seeking always to answer the estion hy

erhaps everyone who has a kitchen an a reglar spply of groceries has at one time or another mae a sanwich an eaten half of it efore iscovering mol on the rea or got a mothfl of milk efore realiing the milk ha trne. othing of the sort

is likely

to happen to a mpster iver ecase he is constantly remine that most foo is iscare for a reason.

et a lot of perfectly goo

foo can e fon in mpsters. anne goos for eample trn p fairly often in the mpsters freent. ll ecept the most phoic people wol e willing to eat from a can even if it came from a mpster

. anne goos are

among the safest of foos to e fon in mpsters t are not tterly foolproof. lthogh very rare with moern canning methos otlism is a possiility . ost other forms of foo poisoning selom o lasting harm to a healthy person. t otlism is almost certainly fatal an often the first symptom is eath. cept for caronate everages all canne goos shol contain a slight vacm an sck air when first pnctre. lging rsty

ente cans an cans that spew when

pnctre shol e avoie especially when the contents are not very aciic or syrpy

.

eat can reak own the otlin t this reires mch more cooking than most people o to canne goos. T

o the etent that

otlism occrs at all of corse it can occr in cans on pantry shelves as well as in cans from mpsters. ee say that home

canne goos fon in mpsters are simply too risky to e recommene. rom time to time one of my companions aware of the sorce of my provisions will ask o yo think these crackers are really safe to eat or some reason it is most often the crackers they ask aot. This estion always makes me angry

. f corse wol not of

fer

my companion anything ha ots aot. t more than that woner why he cannot evalate the conition of the crackers for himself. have no special knowlege an have een wrong efore. ince he knows where the foo comes from it seems to me he oght to assme some of the responsiility for eciing what he will pt in his moth. or myself have few alms aot ry foos sch as crackers cookies cereal chips an pasta if they are free of visile contaminates an still ry an crisp. ost often sch things are fon in the original packaging which is not so mch a positive sign as it is the asence of a negative one. aw frits an vegetales with intact skins seem perfectly safe to me ecling of corse the oviosly rotten. any are minor imperfections which can e pare away grapes califlower

iscare for . eafy vegetales

roccoli an similar things may e contaminate

y liis an may e impractical to wash.

any

especially har cany

is sally safe if it has not rawn ants.

hocolate is often iscare only ecase it has ecome iscolore as the cocoa tter e emlsifie. anying after all is one metho of foo preservation ecase pathogens o not like very sgary sstances. ll of these foos might e fon in any mpster an can e evalate with some confience largely on the asis of appearance. eyon these are foos which cannot e correctly evalate withot aitional information. egan scavenging y plling pias ot of the mpster ehin a pia elivery shop. n general prepare foo reires cation t in this case knew when the shop close an went to the mpster as soon as the last of the help left. ch shops often get prank orers calle ogs. ecase help selom stays long at these places pias are often mae with the wrong topping refse on elivery for eing col or ake incorrectly. The procts to e iscare are oe p ecase inventory is kept y conting oes a oe pia can e written of an noe pia oes not eist. never place a ogs orer to increase the spply of pias an elieve no one else was scavenging in this mpster

. t the people

in the shop ecame sspicios an egan to retain their garage in the shop overnight.

f

hile it laste ha a steay spply of fresh sometimes warm pia. ecase knew the mpster knew the sorce of the pia an ecase visite the mpster reglarly knew what was fresh an what was yesteray

s.

The area freent is inhaite y many af

flent college stents.

am not here y chance the mpsters in this area are very rich. tents throw ot many goo things incling foo. n particlar they ten to throw everything ot when they move at the en of a semester efore an after reaks an aron miterm when many of them espair of college. o fin it avantageos to keep an eye on the acaemic calenar

.

The stents throw foo away aron the reaks ecase they o not know whether it has spoile or will spoil efore they retrn. typical iscar is a half ar of peant tter

. n fact nonorganic peant

tter oes not reire refrigeration an is nlikely to spoil in any reasonale time. The stent oes not know that an since it is ay

s money the stent ecies not to take a chance.

pene containers reire cation an some attention to the estion hy was this iscare t in the case of iscars from stent apartments the answer may e that the item was iscare throgh carelessness ignorance or wasteflness. This can sometimes e ece when the item is fon with many others incling some that are oviosly perfectly goo.

ome stents an others approach efrosting a freeer y chcking ot the whole lot. ot only o the circmstances of sch a fin tell the story

t also the mass of froen goos stays col for a

long time an items may e fon still froen or freshly thawe. ogrt cheese an sor cream are items that are often thrown ot while they are still goo. ccasionally fin a cheese with a spot of mol which of corse st pare of

f an ecase it is ovios why

sch a cheese was iscare treat it with less sspicion than an apparently perfect cheese fon in similar circmstances.

ogrt is

often iscare still seale only ecase the epiration ate on the carton ha passe. This is one of my favorite fins ecase yogrt will keep for several ays even in warm weather . tents throw ot canne goos an staples at the en of semesters an when they give p college at miterm. rgs pornography spirits an the like are often iscare when parents are epecte a

s ay

for eample. n spirits also trn p after

ig party weekens presmaly iscare y the newly reforme. ine an spirits of corse keep perfectly well even once opene. y test for caronate soft rinks is whether they still fi vigorosly any ices or other everages are too aci or too syrpy to case mch concern provie they are not visily contaminate. iis however reire some care.

.

ne hot ay fon a large g of at rien

s rricane mi. The

g ha een opene t it was still ice col. rank three large glasses efore it ecame apparent to me that someone ha ae the rm to the mi an not a little rm. never taste the rm an y the time egan to feel the ef fects ha alreay ingeste a very large antity of the everage. ome ivers wol

have consiere

this a oon t eing senly an thoroghly intoicate in a plic place in the early afternoon is not my iea of a goo time. have hear of people maliciosly contaminating iscare foo an even hanots t mostly have hear of this from people with vivi imaginations who have ha no eperience with the mpsters themselves. st efore the pia shop stoppe iscaring its garage at night alapeos egan showing p on most of the iscare pias. f inee this was meant to iscorage me it was a waste ef fort ecase am native T or myself avoi game poltry

ean. pork an egg ase foos

whether fin them raw or cooke. selom have the means to cook what fin t when o avail myself of plentifl spplies of eef which is often in very goo conition. sppose fish ecomes isagreeale efore it ecomes angeros. The og is happy to have any sch thing that is past its prime an in fact oes not recognie fish as foo ntil it is ite strong. ome leftovers as oppose to srplses from restarants are very often a. viently

especially among stents there is a common

type of personality that careflly wraps p even the smallest leftover an shoves it into the ack of the refrigerator for si months or so efore iscaring it. haracteristic of this type are the rese ars an margarine ts which hose the remains. avoi ethnic foos am nfamiliar with. f o not know what it is sppose to look like when it is goo cannot e certain will e ale to tell if it is a. o matter how carefl am still get ysentery at least once a month oftener in warm weather. o not want to paint too romantic a pictre. mpster iving has serios rawacks as a way of life. learne to scavenge graally

on my own. ince then have

initiate several companions into the trae. have learne that there is a preictale series of stages a person goes throgh in learning to scavenge. t first the new scavenger is fille with isgst an self loathing. e is ashame of eing seen an may lrk aron trying to ck ehin things or he may try to ive at night. n fact most people instinctively look away from a scavenger . y sklking aron the novice calls attention to himself an aroses sspicion. iving at night is inef

fective an neelessly messy

.

very grain of rice seems to e a maggot. verything seems to stink. e can wipe the egg yolk of f the fon can t he cannot erase the stigma of eating garage ot of his min. That stage passes with eperience. The scavenger fins a pair of rnning shoes that fit an look an smell ran new pocket calclator in perfect working orer

. e fins a

. e fins pristine ice

cream still froen more than he can eat or keep. e egins to nerstan people o throw away perfectly goo stf perfectly goo stf

f a lot of

f.

t this stage mpster shyness egins to issipate. The iver

after

all has the last lagh. e is fining all manner of goo things which are his for the taking. Those who isparage his profession are the fools not he. e may egin to hang onto some perfectly goo things for which he has neither a se nor a market. Then he egins to take note of the things which are not perfectly goo t are nearly so. e mates a alkman with roken earphones an one that is missing a attery cover. e picks p things which he can repair

.

t this stage he may ecome lost an never recover

. mpsters are

fll of things of some potential vale to someone an also of things which never have mch intrinsic vale t are interesting. ll the mpster ivers have known come to the point of trying to acire

everything they toch. hy not take it they reason since it is all free. This is of corse hopeless. ost ivers come to realie that they mst restrict themselves to items of relatively immeiate tility

. t in

some cases the iver simply cannot control himself. have met several of these pack rat types. Their ieas of the vales of varios pieces of nk verge on the psychotic. very it of glass may e a iamon they think an all that glistens gol. ten to gain weight when am scavenging. artly this is ecase always fin far more pia an oghnts than water packe tna nonfat yogrt an fresh vegetales. lso have not evelope mch faith in the reliaility of mpsters as a foo sorce althogh it has een proven to me many times. ten to eat as if have no iea where my net meal is coming from. t mostly st hate to see foo go to waste an so eat mch more than shol. omething like this rives the osession to collect nk. s for collecting oects sally restrict myself to collecting one kin of small oect at a time sch as pocket calclators snglasses

or campaign ttons. T

o live on the street mst

anticipate my nees to a certain etent mst pick p an save warm eing fin in gst ecase it will not e fon in mpsters in ovemer

. t even if ha a home with etensive

storage space col not save everything that might e valale in some contingency.

have proprietary feelings aot my mpsters. s have sggeste it is no accient that scavenge from mpsters where goo fins are common. t my limite eperience with mpsters in other areas sggests to me that it is the poplation of competitors rather than the afflence of the mpers that most af

fects the

feasiility of srvival y scavenging. The large nmer of competitors is what pts me of f the iea of trying to scavenge in places like os ngeles. riosly

o not min my irect competition other scavengers so

mch as hate the can scrongers. eople scronge cans ecase they have to have a little cash. have trie scronging cans with an ale oie companion. foot a can scronger simply cannot make more than a few ollars a ay

.

ne can etract the necessities of life from the mpsters irectly with far less effort than wol e reire to accmlate the eivalent vale in cans. an scrongers then are people who

ust

have small amonts of

cash. These are rg aicts an winos mostly the latter ecase the amonts of cash are so small. pirits an rgs o like all other commoities trn p in mpsters an the scavenger will from time to time have a half ottle of a rather goo wine with his inner

. t the wino cannot srvive on these

occasional fins he mst have his aily ose to stave of

f the T s. ll

the cans he can carry will y aot three ottles of il rish ose. o not egrge them the cans t can scrongers ten to tear p the mpsters miing the contents an littering the area. They ecome so specialie that they can see only cans. They earn my contempt y passing p change canne goos an reaily hockale items. There are precios few cortesies among scavengers. t it is a common practice to set asie srpls items pairs of shoes clothing canne goos an sch. tre scavenger hates to see goo stf go to waste an what he cannot se he leaves in goo conition in plain sight. an scrongers lay waste to everything in their path an will stir one of a pair of goo shoes to the ottom of a mpster

to e lost or

rine in the mck. an scrongers will even go throgh inivial garage cans something have never seen a scavenger o. nivial garage cans are set ot on the plic easement only on garage ays. n other ays going throgh them reires trespassing close to a welling. oing throgh inivial garage cans withot scattering litter is almost impossile. itter is likely to rece the plic

s tolerance of scavenging. nivial garage cans

are simply not as proctive as mpsters people in hoses an plees o not move as often an for some reason o not ten to

f

iscar as mch sefl material. oreover

the time reire to go

throgh one garage can that serves one hosehol is not mch less than the time reire to go throgh a mpster that contains the refse of twenty apartments. t my strongest reservation aot going throgh inivial garage cans is that this seems to me a very personal kin of invasion to which wol oect if were a hoseholer

. lthogh many things in

mpsters are oviosly meant never to come to light a mpster is somehow less personal. avoi trying to raw conclsions aot the people who mp in the mpsters freent. think it wol e nethical to o so althogh know many people will fin the iea of scavenger ethics too fnny for wors. mpsters contain ank statements ills corresponence an other ocments st as anyone might epect. t there are also less ovios sorces of information. ill ottles for eample. The laels on pill ottles contain the name of the patient the name of the octor

an the name of the rg. rgs an antipsychotic

meicines to name t two grops are specific an are selom prescrie for any other isorers. The plastic compacts for irth control pills sally have complete lael information. espite all of this sensitive information have ha only one apartment resient oect to my going throgh the mpster

. n that

case it trne ot the resient was a niversity athlete who was taking ets an who was afrai wol trn p his wager slips. ccasionally a fin tells a story

. once fon a small paper ag

containing some nse conoms several partial tes of flavore seal lricant a partially se compact of irth control

pills an

the torn pieces of a pictre of a yong man. learly she was throgh with him an planning to give p se altogether

.

mpster things are often sa aanone tey ears shree weing ooks espaire of sales kits. fin many pets lying in state in mpsters. lthogh hope to get of

f the streets so that

ieth can have a long an comfortale ol age know this hope is not very realistic. o sppose when her time comes she too will go into a mpster

. will have no etter place for her . n after all for

most of her life her livelihoo has come from the mpster

. hen

she fins something think is safe that has een spille from the mpster let her have it. he alreay knows the rote aron the est mpsters. like to think that if she srvives me she will have a chance of evaing the og catcher an of fining her sstenance on the rote. illy vanities also come to rest in the mpsters. am a rather accomplishe neeleworker

. get a lot of materials from the

mpsters. viently sorority girls hoping to impress someone perhaps themselves with their mastery of a womanly art y a lot of emroier y nmer kits work a few stitches horrily

an

eventally iscar the whole mess. pll ot their stitches trn the canvas over an work an original esign. o not think refrain from chckling as make original gifts from these kits. fin iaries an ornals. have often thoght of compiling a ook of literary fon oects. n perhaps will one ay

. t what fin is

hopelessly commonplace an a withot eing even nconsciosly

camp. ollege stents also iscar their papers.

am horrifie to iscover the kin of paper which now merits an in an nergraate corse. am gratefl however

for the nmer of

goo ooks an magaines the stents throw ot. n the area know est have never iscovere vermin in the mpsters t there are two kins of kitty srprise. ne is alley cats which meet as they leap claws first ot of mpsters. This is especially thrilling when have ieth in tow

. The other kin of kitty

srprise is a plastic garage ag fille with some poneros amorphos mass. This always proves to e se cat litter

.

ity ees harvest oghnt glae an this makes the mpster at the oghnt shop more interesting. y faith in the instinctive wisom of animals is always shaken whenever see ieth attempt to catch a ee in her moth which she oes whenever ees are present. viently some irs fin mpsters

profitale for irie

srprise is almost as common as kitty srprise of the first kin. n hnting season all kins of small game trn p in mpsters some

of it saly

not entirely ea. riosly

smmer an winter

maggots

are ncommon. The worst of the living an near living haars of the mpsters are the fire ants. The foo that they claim is not mch of a loss t they are vicios an aggressive. t is very easy to rsh against some srface of the mpster an pick p half a oen or more fire ants sally in some sensitive area sch as the nerarm. ne avantage of ringing ieth along as make mpster rons is that for ovios reasons she is very alert to gron ase fire ants. hen ieth recognies the signs of fire ant infestation aron or feet she oes the ance of the illion ire nts. have learne not to ignore this warning from ieth whether perceive the tiny ants or not t to remove orselves at ieth

s first pas e orre.

ll

the more so ecase the ants are the worst in the months wear flip flops if have them. erhaps someone will misnerstan the aove. ieth oes the ance of the illion ire nts when she recognies more fire ants than she cares to eat not when she is eing itten. ince have learne to react promptly

she oes not get itten at all. t is the

isolate patrol of fire ants that falls in ieth pity. ieth fins them ite tasty

s range that eserves

.

y far the est way to go throgh a mpster is to lower yorself into it. ost of the goo stf

f tens to settle at the ottom ecase it

is sally weightier than the rish. y more athletic companions

have often emonstrate to me that they can etract mch goo material from a mpster have alreay een over

.

To those psychologically or physically nprepare to enter a mpster

recommen a stot stick preferaly with some ar or

hook at one en. The hook can e se to gra plastic garage ags. hen fin canne goos or other oects loose at the ottom of a mpster sally can roll them into a small ag that can then hoist p. ch mpster iving is a matter of eperience for which nothing will o ecept practice. mpster iving is otoor work often srprisingly pleasant. t is not entirely preictale things of interest trn p every ay an some ays there are fins of great vale. am always very

please when

can trn p eactly the thing most wante to fin.

et in spite of the

element of chance scavenging more than most other prsits tens to yiel retrns in some proportion to the ef roght to ear

fort an intelligence

. t is very sweet to trn p a few ollars in change

from a mpster that has st een gone over y a wino. The lan is now covere with cities. The cities are fll of mpsters. think of scavenging as a moern form of self reliance. n any event after ten years of government service where everything is geare to the lowest common enominator

fin work that rewars initiative

an ef fort refreshing. ertainly wol e happy to have a sinecre again t am not heartroken not to have one anymore.

fin from the eperience of scavenging two rather eep lessons. The first is to take what can se an let the rest go y

. have come

to think that there is no vale in the astract. thing cannot se or make sefl perhaps y traing has no vale however fine or rare it may e. mean sefl in a roa sense so for eample some art wol think sefl an valale t other art might e otherwise for me. was shocke to realie that some things are not worth aciring t now think it is so. ome material things are white elephants that eat p the possessor s sstance. The secon lesson is of the transience of material eing. This has not ite converte me to a alist t it has mae some heaway in that irection. o not sppose that ieas are immortal t certainly mental things are longer live than other material things. nce was the sort of person who invests material oects with sentimental vale. ow no longer have those things t have the sentiments yet. any times in my travels have lost everything t the clothes was wearing an ieth. The things fin in mpsters the love letters an ragolls of so many lives remin me of this lesson. ow harly pick p a thing withot envisioning the time will cast it away

. This

think is a healthy state of min. lmost everything have now has

alreay een cast ot at least once proving that what own is valeless to someone. nyway

fin my esire to gra for the gay ale has een

largely sate. think this is an attite share with the

very wealthy

we oth know there is plenty more where what we have came from. etween s are the rat race millions who have confone their selves with the oects they grasp an who nightly scavenge the cale channels looking for they know not what. am sorry for them. or is ussion nd ritin . ighner is carefl to of fer efinitions of the key terms he ses. ist those key terms an their efinitions. . mmarie ighner s analysis of the practical stages throgh which a eginning mpster iver goes. hat oes his analysis tell s aot the larger eperience of having to scavenge for foo hat oes his writing style tell yo aot his views on his way of life . connections ea illiam . ckley r . s hy ont e omplain alongsie ighner s essay. ompare the two essayists attites aot their aily lives. ompare their lives sing the evience presente in their essays. ho sees his life as more if ficlt ho complains more hat o yo make of the if ferences etween their lives an their attites towar them . ow oes reaing ighner make yo feel aot yor own material vales ow o yo relate to mpster iving an to what he calls the gra for the gay ale par. . ooinrter n mpster iving is a classic eample of the rhetorical moe known as process analysis. ighner takes reaers throgh all of the things involve in mpster iving sharing escriptive etails an step y step acconts. arely oes he step ack an talk aot what living in this way has taght him aot how

the larger worl works. o yo think his close attention to the process of mpster iving helps him make a larger argment aot how the worl is or shol e or o yo think it oscres any larger point he might want to press rther o yo think his attention to the process is less effective as an epos ecase it makes something that col e seen as the egraing reslt of larger forces seem more acceptale

The

ays

e ie

s reen riter nd dvertisin oy riter

Stehnie Eri sson born

in nd rised in Sn rn is o is so n uthor of sefhe boos in udin on rief eaer

he

ompanion throgh the arkness nner ialoges ys

e ie oriiny ered in the

tne

. onsider s you red ho Eri sson bres do n the

tivity of yin into the different inds of ies e te but so nes to u toether the different se tions of her essy to e rer oint bout the roe yin ys in our ives nd our uture The ank calle toay an tol them my eposit was in the mail even thogh hant written a check yet. t een a rogh ay

. The

ay m pregnant with ecie to o aeroics on my lngs for two hors or three year ol aghter painte the living room coch with lipstick the pt me on hol for an hor

an was late to a

siness meeting ecase was tire. tol my client that traf fic ha een a. hen my partner came home his haggar face tol me his ay hant gone any etter than mine so when he aske ow was yor ay sai h fine knowing that one more straw might reak his ack. frien calle an wante to take me to lnch. sai was sy corse of a ay e lie.

e all o.

. or lies in the

none of which felt the least it gilty aot. e eaggerate we minimie we avoi

confrontation we spare people s feelings we conveniently forget we keep secrets we stify lying to the ig gy instittions. ike most

people inlge in small falsehoos an still think of myself as an honest person. re lie t it oesnt hrt anything. r oes it once trie going a whole week withot telling a lie an it was paralying. iscovere that telling the trth all the time is nearly impossile. t means living with some serios conseences

the

ank charges me in overraft fees my partner keels over when tell him aot my travails my client fires me for telling her int feel like eing on time an my frien takes it personally when say m not hngry . There mst e some merit to lying. t if stify lying what makes me any if

ferent from slick politicians

or the corporate roers who raie the instry aying it

s

okay to lie one way an not another is heging. cannot seem to escape the voice eep insie me that tells me when someone lies someone loses. hat far reaching conseences will or others pay as a reslt of my lie ill someone y

s trst e estroye ill someone else pay

penance ecase cke ot

e mst consier the

enin

of our tions . eception lies capital crimes an misemeanors all carry meanings.

ebster s efinition of ie is specific

. a false statement or action especially mae with the intent to eceive . anything that gives or is meant to give a false impression.

efinition like this implies that there are many lie. ere are st a few

n ho ont ie to

many ways to tell a

.

on hs very itte onsidertion for her

feeins

The white lie assmes that the trth will case more amage than a simple harmless ntrth. T

elling a frien he looks great when he

looks like hell can e ase on a ecision that the frien nees a compliment more than a frank opinion. t in ef eciing what is est for the lie to. ltimately

fect it is the liar it is a vote of no

confience. t is an act of stle arrogance for anyone to ecie what is est for someone else. et not all circmstances are ite so ct an rie. T

ake for

instance the sergeant in ietnam who knew one of his men was kille in action t liste him as missing so that the man

s family

wol receive inefinite compensation instea of the lmp sm pittance the military gives wiows an chilren. is intent was honorale.

et for twenty years this family kept their hopes alive

nale to move on to a new life.

Et tu rute

e all pt p faaes to one egree or another

. hen pt on a sit

to go to see a client feel as thogh am ptting on another face oeying the epectation that serios sinesspeople wear sits rather than sweatpants. t m a writer

. ormally

get p get the

ki of f to school an sit at my compter in my paamas ntil for in the afternoon. hen answer the phone the caller thinks m wearing a sit thogh the man knows etter . t faaes can e estrctive ecase they are se to sece others into an illsion. or instance recently realie that a former frien was a liar . e presente himself with all the right looks an the right wors an of

fere lots of new consciosness theories falos

ooks to rea an fascinating insights. Then i some siness with him an the time came for him to pay me. e trne ot to e all talk an no walk. hear a plethora of reasonale ecses incling in epth escriptions of the ig reak aron the corner si months of work saw less than a hnre cks. hen confronte him he raise oth eyerows an trie to convince me that hear him wrong that he mae no commitment to me. simple investigation into his past reveale a crowe graveyar of isenchante former friens.

e you ust understnd tht ther orter is ony hun

.n

TT

n the s the atholic hrch in assachsetts egan hearing complaints that ather ames orter was seally molesting chilren. ather than relieving him of his ties the

ecclesiastical

athorities simply move him from one parish to another etween an actally proviing him with a fresh spply of nsspecting families an innocent chilren to ase. fter treatment in for peophilia he went ack to work this time in innesota. The new iocese was aware of ather orter

s

osession with chilren t they neee priests an recklessly elieve treatment ha cre him. ore chilren were ase ntil he was relieve of his ties a year later

. y his own amission

orter may have ase as many as a hnre chilren. gnoring the facts may not in an of itself e a form of lying t consier the contet of this sitation. f a lie is ith the intent to de eive then the atholic hrch

fse tion done s conscios

covering for orter create irreparale conseences. The chrch ecame a co perpetrator with orter

.

hen you hve no bsis for n ruent buse the intiff

T

ve iscovere that can keep anyone from seeing the tre me y eing selectively latant. set a preceent of eing p front aot intimate isses t never ring p the things trly want to hie st let people assme m revealing everything. t

s an effective way

of hiing. ny goo liar knows that the way to perpetate an ntrth is to eflect attention from it. hen larence Thomas eploe with accsations that the enate hearings were a high tech lynching he simply switche the focs from a highly charge sect to a raioactive sect. ather than efening himself he took the offensive an accse the contry of racism. t was a rilliant manever . acism is now politically incorrect in of ficial circles nlike seal harassment which still rewars those who can get away with it. ome of the most skille eflectors are passive aggressive people who when accse of inappropriate ehavior

refse to respon to

the accsations. This yo ont eist stance infriates the accser who nerstanaly

screams something oscene ot of frstration.

The trap is sprng an the act of eflection sccessfl ecase now the passive aggressive person can inignantly say

ho can talk to

someone as nreasonale as yo The real isse is forgotten an the sins of the original victim ecome the focs. eeling gilty of name calling the victim is flly tame an crawls into a hole ashame. have watche this fighting technie work thosans of times in isptes etween men an women an what ve learne is

that the real clprit is not necessarily the one who swears the loest.

he rueest ies re often tod in sien e . . T

mission involves telling most of the trth mins one or two key facts whose asence changes the story completely . o reak a pair of glasses that are garantee ner normal se an get a new pair withot mentioning that the first pair roke ring a rowy game of asketall. ho hasnt trie something like that t what aot omission of information that col make a if

ference in how a person

lives his or her life or instance one ay fon ot that rainical legens tell of another woman in the aren of en efore ve. was stnne. The omission of the merian goess ilith from enesis as well as her emoniation y ancient misogynists as an emoiment of female evil felt like spirital roery

. felt like st fon ot my

mother was really my stepmother. To take seriosly the traition that am was create ot of the same m as his eal conterpart ilith reefines all of eo hristian history

.

ome renegae atholic feminists introce me to a view of ilith that ha een sppresse ring the many centries when this

strong goess was seen only as a spirit of evil. ilith was a pro goess who efie am

s nee to control her

attempte

negotiations an when this faile sai aios an left the aren of en. This omission of ilith from the ile was a patriarchal strategy to keep women weak. mitting the strong woman archetype of ilith from

estern religions an starting the story with ve

the i has

helpe keep hristian an ewish women elieving they were the lesser se for thosans of years.

here oinion does not exist the sttus uo be oes stereotyed nd oriinity is dis oured T

tereotype an clich serve a prpose as a form of shorthan. r nee for vast amonts of information in nanosecons has mae the stereotype vital to moern commnication. nfortnately

it often

shts own original thinking giving those hngry for the trth a cany ar of misinformation instea of a alance meal. The stereotype eplains a sitation with st enogh trth to seem nestionale. ll the isms racism seism ageism et al. are fone on an fele y the stereotype an the clich which are lies of

eaggeration omission an ignorance. They are always angeros. They take a single tree an make it a lanscape. They estroy criosity . They close mins an separate people. The single mother on welfare is assme to e cheating. ny lack male col tell yo how mch of his ientity is oliterate aily y stereotypes. at people gly people eatifl people ol people large reaste women short men the mentally ill an the homeless all col tell yo how mch more they are like s than we want to think. once amitte to a grop of people that ha a moth like a trck river ch to my srprise a man stoo p an sai m a trck river an never css. eeless to say

was hmle.

ho is ore fooish the hid frid of the dr or the n frid of the iht

rving anis in

i tis of rou hin

efines this sort of lie as a

psychological phenomenon within ecision making grops in which loyalty to the grop has ecome more important than

any other

vale with the reslt that issent an the appraisal of alternatives are sppresse. f yove ever worke on a committee or in a corporation yove encontere gropthink. t reires a comination of other forms of lying ignoring facts selective memory omission an enial to name a few

.

.

The tetook eample of gropthink came on ecemer . rom as early as the fall of the warnings came in one after another that apan was preparing for a massive military operation. The navy comman in awaii assme earl aror was invlnerale the apanese werent stpi enogh to attack the nite tates most important ase. n the other han racist stereotypes sai the apanese werent smart enogh to invent a torpeo ef fective in less than feet of water the fleet was ocke in feet after all technology hant een ale to o it. n riay

ecemer normal weeken leave was grante to all

the commaners at earl aror

even thogh the apanese

conslate in awaii was sy rning papers. ithin the tight goo ole oy cohesiveness of the comman in awaii the myth of invlneraility staye well entrenche. o one in the grop consiere the alternatives. The rest is history

.

he ony for of yin tht is beyond rero h is yin for its o n se

f all the ways to lie like this one the est proaly ecase get tire of trying to figre ot the real meanings ehin things. t least can trst the al face lie. once aske my five year ol nephew ho roke the fence ha seen him o it. e answere The mrerers. ho col arge

t least when this sort of lie is tol it can e easily confronte. s the person who is lie to know where stan. The al face lie oesnt toy with my perceptions it arges with them. t oesnt try to refashion reality it tries to refte it. ed y is

o sleight of

han. o gessing. f this were the only form of lying there wol e no sch things as floating aniety or the alt chilren of alcoholics movement.

y no ttention to tht n behind the urtin the ret T

ismissal is perhaps the slipperiest of all lies. ismissing feelings perceptions or even the raw facts of a sitation ranks as a kin of lie that can o as mch amage to a person as any other kin of lie. The roots of many mental isorers can e trace ack to the ismissal of reality . magine that a person is tol from the time she is a tot that her perceptions are inaccrate. Moy

s red

yore not arling.

dont ie tht n next door

he es e

that s a terrile thing to say

of corse yo like

fee i y

ohnny

him. o go over there right now an e nice to him. ve often mse over the iea that maness is actally a sane reaction to an insane worl. sychologist . . aing spports this

o

hypothesis in Snity Mdness nd the iy

an accont of his

investigation into the families of schiophrenics. The common threa that ran throgh all of the families he stie was a elierate stanch ismissal of the patient

s perceptions from a very early age.

ach of the patients starte ot with an accrate grasp of reality which throgh meticlos an methoical ismissal was emolishe ntil the only reality the patient col trst was catatonia. ismissal rns the gamt. il ismissal can e ite hany for forgiving the foiles of others in or ay to ay lives. T

olers who

have st learne to maniplate their parents attention sometimes are ismisse ot of necessity

. solte attention from the parents

wol reire so mch energy that no one wol get to eat inner

.

t we mst e carefl an attentive aot how far we take or necessary ismissals. ismissal is a angeros tool ecase it

s

nothing less than a lie.

e ie oudest hen e ie to ourseves

col write the ook on this one. elsion a cosin of ismissal is the tenency to see ecses as facts. t

s a powerfl lying tool

ecase it filters ot information that contraicts what we want to elieve. lcoholics who elieve that the prolems in their lives are legitimate reasons for rinking rather than reslts of the rinking of

fer

the classic eample of ele thinking. elsion ses the min

s

aility to see things in myria ways to spport what it wants to e the trth. t elsion is also a srvival mechanism we all se. f we were to flly contemplate the conseences of or stockpiles of nclear weapons or gloal warming we col harly fnction on a ay to ay level.

e ont want to incorporate that mch reality into or

lives ecase to o so wol e paralying. elsion acts as an ahesive to keep the stats o intact. t shamelessly employs ismissal omission an amnesia among other sorts of lies. ts most cnning efense is that it cannot see itself. he ir

s unishent

is tht he nnot beieve nyone ese

These are only a few of the ways we lie. r are lie to. s sai earlier it s not easy to entirely eliminate lies from or lives. o matter how pios we may try to e we will still emellish hege an omit to lricate the aily machinery of living. t there is a worl of if ference etween telling fnctional lies an living a lie. artin er once sai The lie is the spirit committing treason against itself. r acceptance of lies ecomes a cltral cancer that eventally shros an reorers reality ntil moral garage ecomes as invisile to s as water is to a fish.

ow mch o we tolerate efore we ecome sick an tire of eing sick an tire hen will we stan p an eclare or

riht to trst

hen o we stop accepting that the real trth is in the fine print hose lips o we rea this year when we vote for presient hen will we stop eing so reticent aot making gments hen o we stop trning over or personal power an responsiility to liars aye if ont tell the ank the check tolerant of the lies tol me every ay sai it all for me

s in the mail ll e less . contry song once hear

ove got to stan for something or yoll fall for

anything. or is ussion nd ritin . hat are the if ferent kins of lies ricsson catalogs . ow many kins of lies oes ricsson escrie ow oes the nmer of kins of lies help her make her larger point aot lying . connections hat might ricsson have to say aot what illiam . ckley r . escries in hy ont e omplain . . magine a ay in which yo tol no lies of any kin. rite a narrative telling the story of that ay an the conseences of yor total honesty. . ooinrter s there as ricsson writes a worl of if ference etween telling fnctional lies an living a lie par. egarless of yor opinion of ricsson s claim write a conterargment to that claim. hat is the strongest argment yo can come p with against ntrth ow can yo se it to conter her argment here oes yor conterargment come from that is on what moral or ethical system or elief oes it epen

rongfl irth en nn hs ored s n editor

riter nd oyeditor

She

erned her fro Srh ren e oee nd her M

fro the

University of Montn nn is rentin Editor for ebsite un hed by issues his essy

ew

The t

ork ine tht fo uses on oen

hi h oriiny ered in

ew

ork is bout

rentin but it is so bout issues tht tou h on oen exerien e edi ine

s s

insurn e nd nuber of other thins

ie u h of the best onfor ournis it is bout n iedite sube t nd so bout vriety of other broder

sinifi nt thins to

hi h the uthor onne ts it s you red ronfu irth t h for the ys nn brins u these different res nd ho she es one on

s story her o n story tht tou hes on ny

iortnt rts of onteorry ife Twice a ay in or hose we trn on a proector that casts cartoon msic vieos on a lank stretch of wall. The songs are catchy an right an sally keep or toler captivate for the amont of time we nee him to hol still. There are no monsters who live in or home goes one of my favorites. There s only me an my family who live in or home ase there are no monsters that live here. p on the wall two healthy looking cartoon chilren learn not to e scare of the ark while my son cltches my forearm an reathes tiflly into a mask. ometimes he spots something familiar an animal with a noise he can make a color he knows how to say an rshes to point it ot only to have his voice mf

fle y meical

eipment. nlike the home in the song ors oes have a monster one that oesnt hie ner the e or in the closet. alf of it lives in my hsan

s half in mine.

ere still figring ot what the

whole thing looks like t we o know it

s coming for or son. n lots

of ways it s alreay here. n the most asic sense this is why T

ag an are oth healthy

carriers of mtations that case the genetic isease cystic firosis. ley inherite two mtations one from each of s an this means he has the isease which reslts from the oy

s mishanling of

chlorie an soim. n the otsie this means patients have etra salty skin. n the insie it means they have thick sticky mcs in their lngs pancreas an other organs leaing to igestive prolems an low weight gain clogge airways an trappe acteria. The ecess mcs cases persistent lng infections severely limiting patients ailities to reathe ntil eventally

they no longer can. eople who have mst treat it

vigilantly with physical therapy to clear airways inhale meications an fistfls of pills. oing so takes lots of money an staggering amonts of time. Time is important in escriing life with cystic firosis how many hors each ay yo spen on treatments for my toler son two for alts p to for how many weeks at a time yo spen in the hospital a cople if yore having a tne p for a lng infection how many months since yo last saw a octor ring perios of relative health three . ow many years yo can epect to live n

half of all reporte eaths occrre efore the age of . n the later stages of the isease yo might measre time etween incients of coghing p loo keep track of how long yove een on oygen fll time or

shol yo alify for one cont the nmer

of years yore epecte to live after a ole lng transplant aot five . ost patients with ie in a hospital setting after a long steay ecline of overwhelming lng infections. The first time more alts than chilren were living with cystic firosis was st three years ago in . y son has always ha an always will.

e first learne it was a

possiility in pril of when ley was a week ol. The hospital calle to tell s that his neworn screening a loo test that checks for varios isorers not immeiately apparent after irth ha come ack anormal. ley neee something calle a sweat test the woman on the phone sai to see whether he ha cystic firosis. tol her this ha to e a mistake. f there were something wrong insiste we wol alreay know

. n a tone

attempting to e gentle she eplaine that this was not necessarily the case. n an ecational vieo aot neworn screenings T

ag an

watche soon after that phone call people perching on stools escrie what it means when a ay nees a sweat test which is eactly what it sons like an eamination of an infant aies like ley

s sweat.

we learne nee the test ecase their neworn

screenings inicate they iht

have cystic firosis. woman with

long hair tol the camera that only a very small nmer of these aies actally have

holing her forefinger an thm a hair

with apart to emonstrate st how few

s

. was impatient for my

family to e safely otsie that woman

s fingers t ecase very

yong aies ont make enogh sweat to test we ha to wait another two weeks. n the ay of ley

s sweat test the genetic conselor who took

own or information was peat. room kept warm alreay

e sat across from her in a im

efore the test starte col feel ley

overheating from the clothes we een instrcte to ress him in a hat a sweater thick socks. The conselor repeate what or peiatrician ha alreay eplaine how his neworn screening ha shown st one mtation how there were plenty of reasons esies cystic firosis a long agge laor

a toch of anice that col

e responsile for the anormal reslt. lso she pointe ot sai rememere having genetic tests ring pregnancy

. nless ha

an etremely rare genetic mtation a prenatal test wol have caght mine. ater that ay

when calle her ack after a eer at or favorite ar

the genetic conselor sone if

ferent. he een wrong aot

when the reslts wol e reay for her to rea. They wolnt e in ntil the net ay

she sai her voice newly hesitant. nnoyin

what think T ag calle that information.

is

e stoppe y the grocery

store proaly nrse once we got home. ley mst have gone

own for a nap ecase my hans were free when the conselor calle again an aske whether was alone. pt the phone on speaker

an T ag sat own net to me on the

coch or heas ent nerneath a shelf realie later always hate. The conselor claime she gone ack an was now ale to rea the reslts which mst have een a lie one almost wish calle her ot on if it hant een so hilariosly an heartreakingly kin in its intention. ve seen the reslts for myself an the nmers col not e clearer

. The normal range for chlorie in an infant s

sweat is aot millimoles or less per liter

. The sweat on ley

left arm came ack at his right at . know this is not what we were epecting the conselor sai choking p. y own voice rose aske the same estion once twice three times. r og trotte over an pee on the rg as if to epress his own iselief. repeate myself again ow col this have happene The conselor eplaine her theory

which we

fon ot later was not ite right. ll theories asie ten years ago when T each other in a ark ar of

ag an walke towar

f the sie of a highway in ontana this is

what we ha no iea we were walking towar the one in for chance of creating a chil permanently nwell. ecase we oth carry a mtation there is a percent chance any chil of ors will e orn a healthy carrier

like we are. There s a percent

s

chance of a ay with no mtations at all. n there

s a percent

chance of a ay with two isease casing mtations like ley ut if you hd no n ht then

.

a woman aske me earlier this

year shaking her hea her smile soft with pity . f respone at all an m not sre i cant rememer what sai. t know i not se the wor

bortion

or ring p or legal sitation or eplain

the concept of wrongfl irth. n a roomfl of people arely knew with ley pshing a plastic car ack an forth over the carpet neary

i not tell her that o know eactly what it is wol have

one. ring my first pregnancy appointment at eight weeks along it was Tag who aske the miwife whether most people i genetic testing. he tol s most people i. wrote p the orer

.

e agree to the tests the miwife

e were laying the fonation of a plan we

iscsse efore even gotten pregnant f something were wrong we ecie we wolnt contine the pregnancy

.

efore we left that appointment the miwife remine s of the practice s policy on test reslts. o ne s is ood ne s

nless tests

showe something negative no one wol call s. o one i. ntil ley was iagnose we i not know the natre of my reslts. omewhere etween the hospital that processe the reslts an the miwives who hanle my care something went awry answer to the estion we aske was

an the

never elivere. saw the

miwives at least once a month for the rest of my pregnancy . t every appointment we were tol how well everything was going. t first we colnt imagine sing them. t then we col. col. ley was iagnose in ay contacte a lawyer in ne. rememer eing so pro of myself for the way i not cry when eplaine everything over the phone not even once. ct of f or lawyer

artha crayer

as she le p

to the estion an stoppe her from asking it all the way wol have ha an aortion tol her

.

o cant iscss what happene to me withot iscssing aortion. n what s calle a wrongfl irth case plaintif

fs se a meical

practitioner for the failre to iagnose or inform them of a isease or isaility possile to etect in tero it is nerstoo that in almost all cases the plaintiff wol have aorte the pregnancy ha she een ale to make an informe ecision. The money aware in wrongfl irth cases goes towar the cost sally astronomically high of the chil s meical care. n other wors a mother esperate to help her chil eclares that she wol not have ha that chil. Tag ley

an met artha for the first time at the iner across

from or apartment. etween eplaining the particlars of meical malpractice she stoppe to smile at or ay present she eclaime. ook at him he

. e is st so s like m here grinne

ack at her as har as col as if the strength of a smile col

eclipse why we were sitting in front of pancakes the assertion that we wol not have ha him e here or anywhere ha we known. or the pro lifers who oppose wrongfl irth sits this parao what oes it mean to fight for someone when what yore fighting for is a misse chance at that person s not eisting is reason enogh to eliminate the legal pathway altogether . nti aortion crsaers paint wrongfl irth as an attack on those living with isaility or isease they accse mothers like me of wishing or chilren ha never een orn of seeking flawless esigner aies free of health isses. The langage proaly oesnt help o irth is ron

those against wrongfl irth love to point ot.

ot long after we met with artha went to gather my meical recors from the miwives. tol myself to wait ntil

got home t

instea opene the envelope a lock from my hose with ley in the carrier an his face against my chest. rememer holing the papers aove his hea to see the tet esuts ositive for one oy of de uttion nterrettion his individu is eneti

rrier of

ounsein is re oended to dis uss the otenti ini

ndor rerodu tive ii tions of this resut s e s re oendtions for testin other fiy ebers nd hen i be this individu

s rtner

ecase we een ner the impression that nothing ha come p on my prenatal genetic tests the genetic conselor we saw the ay of ley

s sweat test ha posite that ha a mtation too rare to

e etecte y the neworn screening. ont T st common it

ag oes. ine isnt

s the most common cystic firosis gene mtation

capale of eing etecte y a asic genetic screening. n the snlight the recommenation grew starker

the istance wiening

etween what col have happene an what i. The reproctive implication meanwhile contine his nap. sally

people nee a little it of time to nerstan the conitions

that create or sitation in the first place. The smmer after ley was orn my sister in law came to visit we were talking in the kitchen while he slept in the other room. t she sai trying to figre ot what it wol mean to se over a isease that cant e prevente or fie if yo ha known

interrpte her

wanting

to rsh ahea t promptly rsting into tears when sai it There wol e no ley

. rememer the look that crosse her face how

she noe slowly an sai twice That

s a lot.

The more iscss the aortion int have the easier that part gets to say alo terinted

oud hve ended the renn y

oud hve hd n bortion

oud hve

That s firmly in the past

an it is how wol have rearrange my actions given all the information. t s moving a piece of frnitre from one place to another efore anything can go wrong the way we got ri of or woly sie tales once ley learne to walk. hat

s so actely painfl is what

int ite mean to say to my sister in law

what all that past

rearranging wol mean right now no ley

.

arents like me often feel etraye y their chil

s cystic firosis

iagnosis aye there was meical malpractice maye an inherite mtation so rare it wasnt etecte prenatally

. ther

parents have chosen to avoi any kin of testing elieving it

s their

estiny to emrace whatever o or fate or genetics eals them. m horrifie y the sanctimony that often accompanies this acceptance especially when it s amire especially when it

s offere p y

mothers who ont elieve in prenatal testing or who have more than one chil with cystic firosis. The women who willingly mae choices that were never presente to me an chose a chil

s

sf fering ometimes hate them. also hate the women who were sppose to care for me. hate the faceless people at the la. hate them ferociosly

the way yo hate

a family memer or the closest of friens. hate them the way yo hate a spose for all the a they case an how closely tie that a is with goo. hate them for what feels like the slyest of eals hile my family

s life is now shape aron a isease wol never

willingly ring into the worl we are a family ecase of them nwittingly

they gave me my most precios gift. hate them for

making me a mother whose iggest mistake was ecoming one. y son has le eyes crly lon hair aring most of the time. e

slightly crooke teeth. e

s afrai of octors an anyone in a

s

flapping coat. want the people hate to know these etails aot him. want them to e ale to smell his soft reath in the morning st efore strap a mask over his face so he can inhale meication. want them to fathom telling a chil no amont of treatment can make his isease go away

that people with are so likely to pass

acteria etween each other they cant e in the same room that most men with are infertile that every rinking fontain hols the risk of a lng infection. want them to feel all the moments in a life affecte y this isease an eperience what it e ley

s going to e like to

. want to take all the pain an isappointment hell have

an rown them in it. t no matter whose falt it is giving irth to a chil with a terminal isease is something i o. This is st as ovios as it is important am the one who was pregnant an gave irth to ley That contine my pregnancy ner mistaken pretenses feels like an irreparale violation one that ont

think any man incling

the one who loves ley as mch as o is capale of nerstaning. woman once escrie the grief of her miscarriage to me as a iological loneliness that

s something close to what

wrongfl irth feels like. iological remorse. ogically gilt elongs elsewhere. t iologically

know the

feel a eep responsiility

a primal an niely female pain. n a woman name ortha iggs then ortha acos sccessflly se her octor for not iagnosing her with rella known to case a host of irth efects while she was pregnant

.

with her aghter esli. ers was the case that estalishe the legal concept of wrongfl irth paving the way for families like mine. esli who s now in her late s lives in an assiste living home ecase of the rella that infecte her cells in tero esli cannot see hear talk or walk. he has severe intellectal isailities an has ha over srgeries. was afrai of what her mother might think of me with a son like mine who looks relatively okay etween treatments. t ortha was easy to fin an reaily willing to speak with me insistent on asking aot my chil efore talking aot her own. ortha s voice was calm ring most of or talk t it i spee p once after roght p anger

. h yeah she sai. h

yeh

The

last time ortha saw the octor she se the now ecease ois Theimer was at a eposition more than years ago. n some ways she respects him ecase he int try to lie his way ot of anything. e never enie that ortha aske aot rella while she was pregnant. ont hate him she sai taking half a pase. ont

ie him.

e

oth laghe a little efore she grew serios again ont like what he i to me. he tol me aot going ack to r him esli ha een orn with the rella virs in her oy rememer

. Theimer to inform . ll always

she sai her voice fll of fresh woner even after all this

time him looking at me an saying m st going to have to e more carefl.

The conversation trne ack to ley sitation the similarities the if

an trie eplaining or ferences ening with a

sieways apology for having a chil with mch more of a chance than hers ever i. t it it s yor chil it olingly

s your chil she interrpte an when

s the worst.

aske ortha what she felt after the rling an

sseent settlement agreement with r

. Theimer aot

which was place in a fn for esli eplaining een thinking aot what might happen if we got a settlement. t int make her well she sai. t i not help her own pain. t helpe her get ot of et. t gave her some money for her aghter

.

ortha s gla her case ene the way it i t she

s not happy

aot the name the action ene p with ont like it she tol me. st think it with the wors

s horrile. f she col rename it she o away ronfu

an birth in favor of something like parental

choice. or whatever reason the langage controversial as it is oesnt other me. t

s clmsy an raw

an o think it

s horrile

st like the circmstances. Towar the en of or talk ortha gently helpe me with a estion reframing it to let me know col ask her aot gilt. he sai she oes feel gilty

sometimes. hell go ack an think aot what she

might have one if

ferently. er octor was a general practitioner

maye she shol have seen a gynecologist. he i call one t

he was too sy to see her

she sai in the voice of someone who s

tol herself the same complicate circlar story many times over

.

imilar ecisions mae when was pregnant contine to hant me. frien ha recommene see her miwife over the ones chose int take her avice. or my son

s sake wish chosen

if ferently the last half of that sentence swiftly yanking away the first. ortha thinks it s only natral for mothers like s to rove over the possiilities of what col have een what we i or int o. t s a life sentence she sai simply

years ahea of me in

serving hers. hen first starte writing aot ley

his treatments took

mintes in the morning more in the evening. That change. This smmer seudoons

s since

he teste positive for the acteria

an was prescrie an aitional treatment the

antiiotic T oramycin which takes to mintes to aminister via a nelier

a rg elivery evice that if

fses lii meication into

a fine spray so it can e inhale. hen he sits in front of cartoons with a mask on he s inhaling the antiiotics that work to kill the acteria. t

seudoons

infection that eventally

is likely to retrn it

s an opportnistic

ecomes immne to antiiotics. or cystic

firosis patients it s one of the factors associate with an earlier eath. ately

ley

s favorite wor is ore

The meaning seems to lr at

the eges sometimes can tell he wants more milk other times

he seems to mean something akin to again. t whatever he means when he says the wor he stares of f into the istance repeating himself as his voice grows ieter an ieter more of a plaintive mrmr than a eman. e etween treatments he s a sy the worl more an more each ay

s a toler

capale little oy

an

. e interacts with

an he wants things from it.

m afrai of what he might want from me someay estions hell want answere. e

ntil it s

of the kins of

s not m ell figre ot that

his isease shol have een etecte efore he was orn not after. The prenatal reslts shol have een commnicate to me y the miwives. genetic conselor shol have eplaine that eing a carrier oesnt necessarily mean an nhealthy fets. he shol have recommene that my hsan e teste st in case. he shol have eplaine that in the .. one in acasians carry a mtation. n even if T

ag were also a carrier a conselor shol

have tol s there was still a percent chance of the fets eing fine. wol have ha an amniocentesis or chorionic vills sampling to know for sre. t none of those reslts wol have een the ones we wante an we e p against the last n that

shoud shol have ha an aortion.

s where my conviction crmples ecase ont know how

m sppose to tell ley that someay love one sf

. t s one thing to watch a

fer. t s another to watch an know it s yor falt even if

only ecase of the way yor oy is mae. n it

s something

almost eyon me to imagine looking into ley

s eyes an

saying sorry didnt sve you fro your o n ife t s tre that the otlook for a cystic firosis patient has improve greatly especially over the past years. n the s most chilren with cystic firosis ie efore getting the chance to atten kinergarten. This progress was something emphasie to s over an over again after ley was iagnose. tients

eve ot dut

or clinic kept saying. t took me a little while to figre ot

why was sppose to feel gratefl to

hear aot them these fll

grown strangers whose isease once known nothing aot. These ays althoo is a ig part of what fear most for ley what that mst feel like to e an not sre what will look like if yo might see . r clinic recently ae a new memer to its staff a psychologist specially traine to focs on the mental health of cystic firosis patients who sf

fer from epression an aniety at

alarmingly high rates. ight now

ley oes not look ill in a way that wol startle

anyone. o one knows he s nwell nless we tell them. time will come know when the ecision to tell others aot his isease will elong to him.

ong alts with sometimes iscss this in the

contet of ating how an at what point in a new relationship to eplain what ve hear escrie as a long term terminal isease. hen we move forwar with or lawyer

first pictre the money

we might otain in a settlement like the crassest of apologies. col

give it to yong alt ley if his health seeme to e taking a trn for the worse an he col se it to travel the worl an see places ve never een in a glamoros rsh to fill his shortene life. t this is a silly thoght he almost certainly e too sick to travel. n we nee that money for his meical epenses. ecently

the approve ley

s particlar genetic mtations for

treatment with a miracle cystic firosis rg calle alyeco the first rg to fight the isease

s nerlying case. t

s a stnning

change one that col potentially a years to his life. The news oes not come withot complications alyeco costs aot a year

. f everything stays the same for or family

with

employment an health care politics insrance will pay for most of its cost. t the enormity of that ren makes me scare for s for ley

. t s sch a looming nee. n not even the millions an

millions of ollars we nee to prchase this rg otright can y what trly want for my son the chance to look ahea an see the same right mystery that healthy yong people see rimming in their perfect iiot yoth. f the on etween motherhoo an mortality

the novelist

amantha nt has written o one has ever looke at my kis an sai

ow. o mae three eaths.

hen mae ley

o mst really

nerstan life.

mae a particlarly rtal eath one that

starts in his cells which ont work ite right. ont know how to e sorry only that am. f ha receive my test reslts an gotten pregnant sing to ensre a healthy emryo wol still have

mae ley

this eact son only withot his isease That

possiility is agoniing to think of all the years of life cant give him. ove y hid ust the y he is

is a sentiment often pt forth

fiercely y the parents of sick or isale kis. t

s not har to

nerstan the intention every parent wants to make it clear that no challenge reners their love conitional. t given the choice if one eiste wol have ley another way healthy

.

rongfl

irth oesnt grant anyone that choice like ortha sai no legal otcome can ever make yor chil well. aving to pt this kin of pain into wors is to me the harest part of wrongfl irth. T

o have to specify what wol make me terminate

a pregnancy to imagine my life toay withot a toler

. There s no

escape from knowing that the opportnity for mercy ietly slippe y an that something as iiotic as a clerical error is responsile. t the most consming langage efying pain is st the other sie of the most overwhelming oy . There are no wors for the feeling of walking own the street with the person love most no wors to escrie why wante to have a chil in the first place. fter all this pain an hmiliation an anger oile own to recors an money an who i what the love have for my son feels like the one thing that cant e taken from me. t this worl.

s what know more than anything in

or is ussion nd ritin . hat is meant y the term wrongfl irth hy is it important to the athor . ne of the har things to o when writing aot emotionally if ficlt sects is to manage tone to navigate mile paths etween malin an ry meloramatic an ef fecting. ea throgh rongfl irth again an keep a log separately or in the margins of the ook noting the tones she ses an when she switches from one to another. Then reflect how oes she o it T o what effect . connections ike ann ancy airs n eing a ripple writes aot the physical an emotional ef fects of isease. t the sitations escrie in each essay are very if ferent. hat are the if ferences etween the two essays hanling of isease hat are the similarities airs s essay ens with her writing that if a cre eiste for her isease she take it in a minte. ow oes this relate to ann s feelings aot her son s wrongfl irth . ann relates how it feels to e her in the sitation she writes aot. Try to imagine yorself into the thoghts an feelings of another person involve in this story . hat wol it e like to e her hsan Tag er chil ley The miwife or the genetic conselor hat wol yo have to say aot the sitation hat reactions might yo have to ann s essay . ooinrter This essay s central concern toches on a estion that rns throgh many contemporary controversial social isses sch as ethanasia aortion an the eath penalty . ea p on these an other isses yo feel might e connecte to these kins of estions. hat are the central concerns hat isses of vales or morality or other philosophical or metaphysical elief systems inform the if ferent positions people take on these controversies

mall hange hy the evoltion ill ot e Tweete orn in Ennd in nd rised there nd in ntrio nd M o d e is stff riter for the

ew

orker nd uthor of

The Tipping oint ow ittle Things ake a ig if

ference

link The ower of Thinking withot Thinking tory of ccess nd

tliers The

hat the og aw n ther ventres

avi an oliath nerogs isfits an the rt of

attling iants d e

s or usuy tes the brod vie

ooin for

exntions for utur henoen so idesred tht they re often overooed s thins not needin or sus etibe to exntion ere in S hne hy the evoution

i ot e

eeted

he tes on henoenon tht is fr fro unnoti ed the deveoent of so i edi nd ossibe effe t of its ro th the re ent ste of revoutionry oveents o ever

d e

uses ny of the se te hniues nd ys of thinin to e his ruent s you red ee n eye out for the ys in hi h he es onne tions t for thirty in the afternoon on onay

erary

for

college stents sat own at the lnch conter at the

oolworth s in

owntown reensoro orth arolina. They were freshmen at orth arolina . T

. a lack college a mile or so away .

like a cp of cof

fee please one of the for

ell lair

sai to

the waitress. e ont serve egroes here she replie. The

oolworth s lnch conter was a long shape ar that col

seat sity si people with a stanp snack ar at one en. The seats were for whites. The snack ar was for lacks. nother employee a lack woman who worke at the steam tale approache the stents an trie to warn them away

.

ore acting

stpi ignorant she sai. They int move. ron five thirty

the

front oors to the store were locke. The for still int move. inally

they left y a sie oor

. tsie a small crow ha gathere

incling a photographer from the reensoro

e ord . ll e ack

tomorrow with . T . ollege one of the stents sai. y net morning the protest ha grown to twenty seven men an for women most from the same ormitory as the original for

. The

men were resse in sits an ties. The stents ha roght their schoolwork an stie as they sat at the conter stents from reensoro

.n

s egro seconary school ley igh

oine in an the nmer of protesters swelle to eighty Thrsay

enesay .y

the protesters nmere three hnre incling three

white women from the reensoro camps of the niversity of orth arolina. y atray

the sit in ha reache si hnre.

eople spille ot onto the street. hite teenagers wave onfeerate flags. omeone threw a firecracker

. t noon the . T

.

footall team arrive. ere comes the wrecking crew

one of the

white stents shote. y the following onay

sit ins ha sprea to inston alem

twenty five miles away an rham fifty miles away that stents at ayetteville tate T

. The ay after

eachers ollege an at ohnson

. mith ollege in harlotte oine in followe on

enesay y

stents at t. gstine

s ollege an haw niversity

n Thrsay an riay

the protest crosse state lines srfacing in

ampton an ortsmoth

in aleigh.

irginia in ock ill oth arolina an

in hattanooga T ennessee. y the en of the month there were sit ins throghot the oth as far west as T

eas. aske every

stent met what the first ay of the sitowns ha een like on his camps the political theorist ichael

aler wrote in issent . The

answer was always the same t was like a fever . veryone wante to go. ome seventy thosan stents eventally took part. Thosans were arreste an ntol thosans more raicalie. These events in the early sities ecame a civil rights war that englfe the oth for the rest of the ecae an it happene withot e mail teting aceook or T

witter.

The worl we are tol is in the mist of a revoltion. The new tools of social meia have reinvente social activism. ith aceook an Twitter an the like the traitional relationship

etween political

athority an poplar will has een pene making it easier for the powerless to collaorate coorinate an give voice to their concerns. hen ten thosan protesters took to the streets in

olova in the spring of to protest against their contry ommnist government the action was e the T

s witter

evoltion ecase of the means y which the emonstrators ha een roght together

. few months after that when stent

protests rocke T ehran the tate epartment took the nsal step of asking Twitter to sspen schele maintenance of its

e site

ecase the ministration int want sch a critical organiing tool ot of service at the height of the emonstrations. ithot T

witter

the people of ran wol not have felt empowere an confient to stan p for freeom an emocracy national secrity aviser

ark feifle a former

later wrote calling for Twitter to e

nominate for the oel eace rie. here activists were once efine y their cases they are now efine y their tools. aceook warriors go online to psh for change.

o are the est

hope for s all ames . lassman a former senior tate epartment of ficial tol a crow of cyer activists at a recent conference sponsore y aceook . T

. T . owcast T

an

oogle. ites like aceook lassman sai give the .. a significant competitive avantage over terrorists. ome time ago sai that l aea was eating or lnch on the nternet. That is no longer the case. l aea is stck in

e .. The nternet is now

aot interactivity an conversation. These are strong an pling claims. hy oes it matter who is eating whose lnch on the nternet re people who log on to their aceook page really the est hope for s all s for olova calle T witter evoltion vgeny oroov

a scholar at tanfor

s so

who has een the most persistent of igital evangelism

s critics

points ot that T witter ha scant internal significance in olova a contry where very few T witter acconts eist. or oes it seem to have een a revoltion not least ecase the protests as nne ppleam sggeste in the

shinton ost

may well have

een a it of stagecraft cooke p y the government. n a contry paranoi aot omanian revanchism

the protesters flew a

omanian flag over the arliament iling. n the ranian case meanwhile the people tweeting aot the emonstrations were almost all in the

est. t is time to get T witter s role in the events in

ran right olna sfaniari wrote this past smmer oi y . imply pt There was no T

in orein

witter evoltion insie ran.

The care of prominent loggers like nrew llivan who champione the role of social meia in ran sfaniari contine misnerstoo the sitation.

estern ornalists who colnt reach

or int other reaching people on the gron in ran simply scrolle throgh the nglish langage tweets post with tag iranelection she wrote. Throgh it all no one seeme to woner why people trying to coorinate protests in ran wol e writing in any langage other than arsi. ome of this graniosity is to e epecte. nnovators ten to e solipsists. They often want to cram every stray fact an eperience into their new moel. s the historian oert arnton has written The marvels of commnication technology in the present have proce a false consciosness aot the past even a sense that commnication has no history

or ha nothing of importance to

consier efore the ays of television an the nternet. t there is something else at work here in the otsie enthsiasm for social meia. ifty years after one of the most etraorinary episoes of social pheaval in merican history

we seem to have forgotten what

activism is. reensoro in the early nineteen sities was the kin of place where racial insorination was rotinely met with violence. The for stents who first sat own at the lnch conter were terrifie. sppose if anyone ha come p ehin me an yelle oo think wol have fallen of ay

f my seat one of them sai later . n the first

the store manager notifie the police chief who immeiately

sent two officers to the store. n the thir ay

a gang of white

toghs showe p at the lnch conter an stoo ostentatiosly ehin the protesters ominosly mttering epithets sch as rr hea nigger . local l lan leaer mae an appearance. n atray

as tensions grew someone calle in a om threat an

the entire store ha to e evacate. The angers were even clearer in the ississippi reeom mmer roect of another of the sentinel campaigns of

the civil rights

movement. The tent onviolent oorinating ommittee recrite hnres of orthern largely white npai volnteers to rn reeom chools register lack voters an raise civil rights awareness in the eep oth. o one shol go

ny here

t certainly not in an atomoile an certainly not at night they were instrcte. ithin ays of arriving in ississippi three

alone

volnteers ichael chwerner

ames haney

an nrew

ooman were kinappe an kille an ring the rest of the smmer

thirty seven lack chrches were set on fire an oens of

safe hoses were ome volnteers were eaten shot at arreste an traile y pickp trcks fll of arme men. arter of those in the program roppe ot. ctivism that challenges the stats o that attacks eeply roote prolems is not for the faint of heart. hat makes people capale of this kin of activism The tanfor sociologist og cam compare the reeom mmer ropots with the participants who staye an iscovere that the key if ference wasnt as might e epecte ieological fervor

.

applicants participants an withrawals alike emerge as highly committe articlate spporters of the goals an vales of the smmer program he concle. hat mattere more was an applicant s egree of personal connection to the civil rights movement. ll the volnteers were reire to provie a list of personal contacts the people they wante kept apprise of their activities an participants were far more likely than ropots to have close friens who were also going to ississippi. igh risk activism cam concle is a strong tie phenomenon. This pattern shows p again an again. ne sty of the e rigaes the talian terrorist grop of the nineteen seventies fon that seventy percent of recrits ha at least one goo frien alreay in the organiation. The same is tre of the men who oine the

of the

mahieen in fghanistan. ven revoltionary actions that look spontaneos like the emonstrations in ast ermany that le to the fall of the erlin

all are at core strong tie phenomena. The

opposition movement in ast ermany consiste of several hnre grops each with roghly a oen memers. ach grop was in limite contact with the others at the time only thirteen percent of ast ermans even ha a phone. ll they knew was that on onay nights otsie

t. icholas hrch in owntown eipig people

gathere to voice their anger at the state. n the primary eterminant of who showe p was critical friens the more friens yo ha who were critical of the regime the more likely yo were to oin the protest. o one crcial fact aot the for freshmen at the reensoro lnch conter avi ichmon ranklin cain ell lair

an

oseph ceil was their relationship with one another was a roommate of lair s in . T . s cott all ormitory roome with cain one floor p an lair

. ceil . ichmon

ichmon an cain

ha all gone to ley igh chool. The for wol smggle eer into the orm an talk late into the night in lair an ceil They wol all have rememere the mrer of mmett T the ontgomery s oycott that same year

s room. ill in

an the showown in

ittle ock in . t was ceil who roght p the iea of a sit in at

oolworth s. They iscsse it for nearly a month. Then ceil

came into the orm room an aske the others if they were reay There was a pase an cain sai in a way that works only with people who talk late into the night with one another re yo gys

.

chicken or not ell lair worke p the corage the net ay to ask for a cp of cof fee ecase he was flanke y his roommate an two goo friens from high school. The kin of activism associate with social meia isnt like this at all. The platforms of social meia are ilt aron weak ties. T

witter is a

way of following or eing followe y people yo may never have met. aceook is a tool for ef

ficiently managing yor acaintances

for keeping p with the people yo wol not otherwise e ale to stay in toch with. That s why yo can have a thosan friens on aceook as yo never col in real life. This is in many ways a wonerfl thing. There is strength in weak ties as the sociologist ark ranovetter has oserve. r acaintances not or friens are or greatest sorce of new ieas an information. The nternet lets s eploit the power of these kins of istant connections with marvellos ef

ficiency. t s terrific at

the if fsion of innovation interisciplinary collaoration seamlessly matching p yers an sellers an the logistical fnctions of the ating worl. t weak ties selom lea to high risk activism. n a new ook calle o erfu

he ronfy Effe t ui Effe tive nd

ys to Use So i Medi to rive So i hne

the

siness consltant ny mith an the tanfor siness chool professor ennifer aker tell the story of ameer hatia a yong ilicon

alley entreprener who came own with acte myelogenos

lekemia. t

s a perfect illstration of social meia

s strengths. hatia

neee a one marrow transplant t he col not fin a match among his relatives an friens. The os were est with a onor of his ethnicity an there were few oth sians in the national one marrow ataase. o hatia eplaining hatia

s siness partner sent ot an e mail

s plight to more than for hnre of their

acaintances who forware the e mail to their personal contacts aceook pages an

oT e vieos were evote to the elp

ameer campaign. ventally

nearly twenty five thosan new

people were registere in the one marrow ataase an hatia fon a match. t how i the campaign get so many people to sign p y not asking too mch of them. That s the only way yo can get someone yo ont really know to o something on yor ehalf. thosans of people to sign p for a onor registry

o can get ecase oing

so is pretty easy. o have to sen in a cheek swa an in the highly nlikely event that yor one marrow is a goo match for someone in nee spen a few hors at the hospital. onating one marrow isnt a trivial matter . t it oesnt involve financial or personal risk it oesnt mean spening a smmer eing chase y arme men in pickp trcks. t oesnt reire that yo confront socially entrenche norms an practices. n fact it

s the kin of

commitment that will ring only social acknowlegment an praise. The evangelists of social meia ont nerstan this istinction they seem to elieve that a aceook frien is the same as a real frien an that signing p for a onor registry in ilicon

alley toay

is activism in the same sense as sitting at a segregate lnch conter in reensoro in . ocial networks are particlarly effective at increasing motivation aker an mith write. t that not tre. ocial networks are ef

s

fective at increasing rti ition

y lessening the level of motivation that participation reires. The aceook page of the ave arfr oalition has memers who have onate an average of nine cents apiece. The net iggest arfr charity on

aceook has memers who

have onate an average of thirty five cents. elp ave arfr has memers who have given on average fifteen cents. spokesperson for the ave arfr oalition tol wolnt necessarily gage someone

e s ee

e

s vale to the avocacy

movement ase on what theyve given. This is a powerfl mechanism to engage this critical poplation. They inform their commnity

atten events volnteer

measre y looking at a leger

. t s not something yo can

. n other wors aceook activism

sccees not y motivating people to make a real sacrifice t y motivating them to o the things that people o when they are not motivate enogh to make a real sacrifice.

e are a long way from

the lnch conters of reensoro. The stents who oine the sit ins across the oth ring the winter of escrie the movement as a fever

. t the civil

rights movement was more like a military campaign than like a contagion. n the late nineteen fifties there ha een siteen sit ins in varios cities throghot the oth fifteen of which were formally organie y civil rights organiations like the an .

ossile locations for activism were scote. lans were rawn p. ovement activists hel training sessions an retreats for wol e protesters. The reensoro or were a proct of this gronwork all were memers of the

oth oncil. They ha close ties

with the hea of the local chapter

. They ha een riefe on

the earlier wave of sit ins in rham an ha een part of a series of movement meetings in activist chrches. hen the sit in movement sprea from reensoro throghot the oth it i not sprea iniscriminately

. t sprea to those cities which ha

preeisting movement centers a core of eicate an traine activists reay to trn the fever into action. The civil rights movement was high risk activism. t was also crcially

strategic activism a challenge to the estalishment

monte with precision an iscipline. The was a centralie organiation rn from ew

ork accoring to highly

formalie operating proceres. t the othern hristian eaership onference artin ther ing r nestione athority

. was the

. t the center of the movement was the lack

chrch which ha as lon . orris points ot in his sper sty

The rigins of the ivil ights ovement a careflly

emarcate ivision of laor

with varios staning committees an

iscipline grops. ach grop was task oriente an coorinate its activities throgh athority strctres orris writes. nivials were hel accontale for their assigne ties an important conflicts were resolve y the minister ltimate athority over the congregation.

who sally eercise

This is the secon crcial istinction etween traitional activism an its online variant social meia are not aot this kin of hierarchical organiation. aceook an the like are tools for iling which are the opposite in strctre an character

net ors of hierarchies.

nlike hierarchies with their rles an proceres networks arent controlle y a single central athority

. ecisions are mae throgh

consenss an the ties that in people to the grop are loose. This strctre makes networks enormosly resilient an aaptale in low risk sitations. ikipeia is a perfect eample. t oesnt have an eitor

sitting in ew

ork who irects an corrects each entry

. The

effort of ptting together each entry is self organie. f every entry in ikipeia were to e erase tomorrow restore ecase that

the content wol swiftly e

s what happens when a network of thosans

spontaneosly evote their time to a task. There are many things thogh that networks ont o well. ar companies sensily se a network to organie their hnres of sppliers t not to esign their cars. o one elieves that the articlation of a coherent esign philosophy is est hanle y a sprawling leaerless organiational system. ecase networks ont have a centralie leaership strctre an clear lines of athority they have real if ficlty reaching consenss an setting goals. They cant think strategically they are chronically prone to conflict an error. ow o yo make if

ficlt choices aot tactics or strategy or

philosophical irection when everyone has an eal say

The alestine ieration rganiation originate as a network an the international relations scholars ette ilstrp angiovanni an alvert ones arge in a recent essay in

nterntion Se urity

that

this is why it ran into sch trole as it grew trctral featres typical of networks the asence of central athority nchecke atonomy of rival

the

grops an the inaility to aritrate

arrels throgh formal mechanisms mae the

... ecessively

vlnerale to otsie maniplation an internal strife. n ermany in the nineteen seventies they go on the far more nifie an sccessfl left wing terrorists tene to organie hierarchically with professional management an clear ivisions of laor . They were concentrate geographically in niversities where they col estalish central leaership trst an camaraerie throgh reglar

face to face meetings. They selom etraye their

comraes in arms ring police interrogations. Their conterparts on the right were organie as ecentralie networks an ha no sch iscipline. These grops were reglarly infiltrate an memers once arreste easily gave p their comraes. imilarly was most angeros when it was a nifie hierarchy issipate into a network it has prove far less ef

l aea . ow that it has

fective.

The rawacks of networks scarcely matter if the network isnt intereste in systemic change if it st wants to frighten or hmiliate or make a splash or if it oesnt nee to think strategically. t if yore taking on a powerfl an organie estalishment yo have to e a hierarchy

. The ontgomery s

oycott reire the participation of tens of thosans of people who epene on plic transit to get to an from work each ay

.t

laste a yer . n orer to persae those people to stay tre to the case the oycott

s organiers taske each local lack chrch with

maintaining morale an pt together a free alternative private carpool service with forty eight ispatchers an forty two pickp stations. ven the hite itiens oncil ing later sai concee that the carpool system move with military precision. y the time ing came to irmingham for the climactic showown with olice ommissioner gene ll onnor ollars an a hnre fll time staf

he ha a get of a million f memers on the gron ivie

into operational nits. The operation itself was ivie into steaily escalating phases mappe ot in avance. pport was maintaine throgh consective mass meetings rotating from chrch to chrch aron the city

.

oycotts an sit ins an nonviolent confrontations which were the weapons of choice for the civil rights movement are high risk strategies. They leave little room for conflict an error . The moment even one protester eviates from the script an

respons to

provocation the moral legitimacy of the entire protest is compromise. nthsiasts for social meia wol no ot have s elieve that ing

s task in irmingham wol have een mae

infinitely easier ha he een ale to commnicate with his followers throgh aceook an contente himself with tweets from a irmingham ail. t networks are messy think of the ceaseless pattern of correction an revision amenment an eate that

characteries ikipeia. f artin ther ing r wiki oycott in ontgomery

. ha trie to o a

he wol have een steamrollere y

the white power strctre. n of what se wol a igital commnication tool e in a town where ninety eight percent of the lack commnity col e reache every nay morning at chrch The things that ing neee in irmingham iscipline an strategy were things that online social meia cannot provie. The ile of the social meia movement is lay hirky oes Everybody

. hirky

who teaches at ew

s ere ork niversity

ot to emonstrate the organiing power of the nternet an he egins with the story of van who worke on

all treet an his

frien vanna after she left her smart phone an epensive iekick on the ack seat of a ew

ork ity taica. The telephone

company transferre the ata on vanna

s lost phone to a new

phone wherepon she an van iscovere that the iekick was now in the hans of a teenager from eens who was sing it to take photographs of herself an her friens. hen van e maile the teenager

asha asking for the phone

ack she replie that his white ass int eserve to have it ack. if fe he set p a

e page with her pictre an a escription of

what ha happene. e forware the link to his friens an they forware it to their friens. omeone fon the ypace page of asha s oyfrien an a link to it fon its way onto the site. omeone fon her aress online an took a vieo of her home while riving y van poste the vieo on the site. The story was

sets

picke p y the news filter igg. van was now p to ten e mails a minte. e create a lletin oar for his reaers to share their stories t it crashe ner the weight of responses. van an vanna went to the police t the police file the report ner lost rather than stolen which essentially close the case. y this point millions of reaers were watching hirky writes an oens of mainstream news otlets ha covere the story

. owing to the

pressre the reclassifie the item as stolen. asha was arreste an van got his frien

s iekick ack.

hirky s argment is that this is the kin of thing that col never have happene in the pre nternet age an he

s right. van col

never have tracke own asha. The story of the iekick wol never have een plicie. n army of people col never have een assemle to wage this fight. The police wolnt have owe to the pressre of a lone person who ha misplace something as trivial as a cell phone. The story to hirky

illstrates the ease an

spee with which a grop can e moilie for the right kin of case in the nternet age. hirky consiers this moel of activism an pgrae. t it is simply a form of organiing which favors the weak tie connections that give s access to information over the strong tie connections that help s persevere in the face of anger . t shifts or energies from organiations that promote strategic an iscipline activity an towar those which promote resilience an aaptaility

. t makes it

easier for activists to epress themselves an harer for that

epression to have any impact. The instrments of social meia are well site to making the eisting social orer more ef

ficient. They

are not a natral enemy of the stats o. f yo are of the opinion that all the worl nees is a little f

fing aron the eges this

shol not trole yo. t if yo think that there are still lnch conters ot there that nee integrating it oght to give yo pase. hirky ens the story of the lost iekick y asking portentosly hat happens net no ot imagining ftre waves of igital protesters. t he has alreay answere the estion. hat happens net is more of the same. networke weak tie worl is goo at things like helping teenage girls. iv revou in

all treeters get phones ack from .

or is ussion nd ritin . hat iea aot social meia is lawell arging against . The most important comparison lawell makes here is etween revoltionary moments pre an post nternet. ow oes he se this comparison not only to make his point t also to strctre his essay magine other ways in which he col have strctre it. ow wol they have if fere ol they have een less ef fective . connections ompare lawell on social meia to alcolm .. alay in The hosts in r achines on the internet p. .n connection to what nontechnological phenomenon oes each iscss his technological topic hat oes each have to say aot the connection ltimately how oes each essay reconsier the natre of oth elements of the connection . econsier lawell s argment from the point of view of someone who elieves in the possiility of social meiaenale revoltions. ake yor argment oth in response to lawell s points an eamples an with yor own. hat evience or proof or logical point spports the case for T witter revoltions

. ooinrter lawell wrote this essay efore ccpy all treet. esearch the ccpy movement escrie social meia s role s an consier whether incling ccpy if lawell ha written this essay after its inception wol olster or nermine his argment.

hat s a rrito rimer orn nd rised in os nees onthn od s usi nd food riti

osey identified ith e hd ouns in

nd the os ngeles T

eekly

imes nd s the resturnt riti for

ine e s no n for fo usin on

ormet

s s iirnt

o ned resturnts rther thn the trdition sube ts of resturnt revie s fn y

hitetbe oth estbishents od s the first

food riter to in the uiter rie for riti is e is the sube t of do uentry

ity of ol

hen he died in t the e

of fiftyeiht nuber of buidins nd ndrs in os nees ere iuinted s rt of

ity of od tribute

have never een ale to change a T

aiwanese woman s min when

tilt against her favorite soy milk an there is no arging rigatoni with a certain kin of talian merican at least nless yor opinion is that his mother makes the single est version in the worl. hen praise one kin of ramen at the epense of another

half epect to

en the evening with a race of feathere anerillas stck into my flanks as if were a panting ll. iscssing the finer points of frie clams with a ew nglaner has all the charm of sticking a fork into a wall socket. t to talk aot rritos is to charge own a roa line with s every mp potentially the charge that is going to sen yo flying into a itch every screeching crve potentially yor last. T what kin of rrito yo like an will tell yo who yo are t tell me what kin of rrito yo really think shol like an start

ell me

looking for the net escape rote ot of town. The last time we casally escrie the moist overstf

fe monstrosity that an

rancisco calls a rrito it was almost enogh to pro the weepy lack eancraving citiens to rie their fiies own here to picket. o we are inslt the ooing tes

of melte cheese that pass for

rritos in an iego the eep frie mail oms in riona or the spprating man prses yo fin in olorao ee we even aress the fngs mnching re snos who claim the rrito is as n eican as ck

orne

n a late smmer ay when the montains were in flames an the temperatre soare into the hnres nne ishein the photographer whose pictres have illstrate this colmn since the late s ecie that she wante to go on an etene astsie rrito rn a orney throgh the heart of arkness that is eans frie with nte

as the goo or intene tortillas crispe on

overheate griles molten cheese rnning throgh its veins. ecase it

s never too hot for a goo rrito.

rrito is the crackly skinne marvel at pe

s

fille to orer

while the tortilla is still on the grile so that it evelops oth intense toaste grain flavor an sprting fmaroles of spicy eef stew if yo are so ol as to slie it ot of its paper wrapper as yo eat. rrito is the slener

home style proct of T

onia s a rrito stan that has

een holing own its corner of ico ivera for half of forever

.

rrito is the save lar scente creation sli ot from the arre winows at l ea

s a rrito so tasty that recently sprng cons

seee into line ehin the niforme eniens of the police station own the lock an the green chile salsa is practically a sacrament. rrito is the fat ooing lock esltorily assemle at the ico ivera pe to pe

s

s that may or may not have ha a primorial relationship years ago t not so yo know it. pe

s has

een owne since the early s y T

che a rrito master who

apprentice ner the late foner of T

onia s even some year

cstomers ont know that her real name isnt pe. fter minight a rrito is the ean an cheese specialty of in onteello a stan that looks like a relic of the isenhower aministration. ..

s most athentic taerias think they serve rritos as a plic

service to their m orthern cosins who ont know that yore sppose to eat

stor

in a taco. Taeria rritos are fille with

stewe eans instea of refrie eans with grille chicken instea of gristly eef an often with nholy spplements of rice. ertain prists wol like to tell yo otherwise t in os ngeles an other regions of orthern eico the rrito came into eing as the rogh eivalent of a harhat

s lnch pail a metho of

constrcting a filling portale meal from a tortilla last night

s eans

an a spoonfl of stew if there was one. rrito is a hicano thing a os ngeles thing proly eican merican. t is the foo of mom. or is ussion nd ritin

. hat oes the first paragraph which is not aot rritos have to o with the rest of the essay . ol ses many terms that may e nfamiliar to yo ecase yo may not e a foo critic yo may not e from os ngeles anor yo may not know panish. ake a list of the terms yo ont know an fin efinitions for them. Then reflect on the ef fects of ol s choice to incle them withot efining them. hat is it like for yo as a reaer . connections hat s a rrito col not in many ways e more if ferent from anny ha s The rning esire for ot hicken . They are if ferent in form an content from their lengths an styles to their sects. et they oth elong to the same genre of writing foo writing an oth treat foo as important in itself an as meaningfl in other ways. ompare these two essays along these lines an reflect on the nerlying similarities ami the if ferences. . rite yor own piece of foo criticism. t can e aot the fanciest meal yo ever ha something yo eat at home all the time or following ol s lea a ish yo enoy at a local strip mall gas station or foo trck. ememer to escrie the foo an the eperience of eating it as specifically as possile an also to try to reflect on why yo like it or what it means to yo in terms other than strictly gstatory . . ooinrter o some research into the foo yo wrote aot in or another if yo wish . egarless of whether yo think it might e interesting look into the history of the ish cisine or restarant or if the restarant is yor kitchen at home the history of the person who cooke it an see what yo ncover . There might e a srprising story aot how the main ingreient came to the contry of the foo s origin or a fnny story aot how it came to e calle what it s calle no arl of anwich stories please or a revealing story aot how yor mom came to think it was okay to melt marshmallows on top of sweet potatoes.

oing t lone h ie is n Eritren eri n riter ho re u in South orid She rites short stories nd essys her or hs ered in ny es in udin againe

acific tanar fee rooklyn

nd est merican T

the est merican T

ravel

ravel

riting .

ne of the thins

riting series sho s bout trve ritin is

tht the best is bout u h ore thn the es to hi h trve riters ourney or even thn the ourneys to those es it

s

bout the trvein riter nd the utures fro hi h they oe nd in hi h they trve s you red oin t one ee n eye out for the thins its uthor is interested in tht o beyond the ourney nd the destintion t s the spring of an m ten miles soth of amascs irginia where an annal celeration calle T

rail ays has st

wrappe p. ast night temperatres plmmete into the thirties. Toay

long istance ppalachian T

rail hikers who slept in

hammocks an maile their nerilts home too soon were groaning into their morning coffee. few small fires shot woosmoke at the sn as thosans of tent stakes were isloge. ver the net hors most of the hikers in attenance wol pack p an hit the mile stretch of the ve se the T

T that rns north throgh

irginia.

rail ays layover as an opportnity to stash most of

my elongings with friens an complete a short section of the misse near the T ennessee irginia orer

T

. s m moving along a

ay hiker heaing in the opposite irection stops me for a chat. e

s

affale an inisitive. e asks what many have aske efore here are yo from tell him iami. e laghs an says o t really

. here are yo from from e

mentions something aot my featres my thin nose

an then trails

off. tell him my family is from ritrea a contry in the orn of frica net to thiopia. e looks relieve. knew it he says.

ore not lack.

say that of corse am. one more lack weakly oke. ot really

he says.

ore frican not lack lack. lacks ont

hike. m tire of this man. is from froms an lack lacks. e wishes me goo lck an leaves. e means it too he isnt malicios. T

o him

there s nothing anormal aot or conversation. e has categorie me an the worl makes sense again. ot lack lack. hike the remaining miles ack to my tent an ont emerge for hors. eaing north from pringer ontain in eorgia the ppalachian Trail class of wol have to walk miles efore reaching the first conty that i not vote for onal T percentage of voters who i vote for T

rmp. The average rmp a enophoic

caniate who was spporte y avi ke in those miles

eventy si. pproimately miles farther away

they come to a

hiker hostel that proly flies a onfeerate flag. ater they wol reach the ewis ontain campgron in henanoah ational ark create in

irginia in ring the im row era an rea

plaes acknowleging its former history as the segregate ewis ontain egro rea. The campgron was swarming with

s

flying onfeerate flags when hike throgh. This flag wol hant the hikers all the way to ont atahin the trail

s en point in

northern aine. They wol see it in every state feeling the tenrils of hatre that roote it to the lan they walke pon. ring the early part of my throgh hike arrive in atlinrg Tennessee one afternoon a little later than planne. was one of many thirtysomethings who ene their relationships it their os left their pets with est friens an flown to eorgia. y this point m miles into my aros rain soake trek. verything aches. The lets an wilflowers have emerge an ve taken a reak in town to respply

miway throgh my iggest challenge ths

far the mokies. t isnt ntil m aot to leave town that see it lackface soap a oke item that spposely will trn a white person lack if yo can trick them into sing it. m in a general store opposite toor enter

the antahala

. The soap is in a iscont in net to the cash

register. poppe in to y chocolate milk an was instea remine of a line from laia ankine

s ook itien

a life sentence a lnt instrment aime at tomorrow

The past is .

There s a shttle ack to the trail at ewfon ap leaving in mintes. fmle to take a photograph of the cartoon white woman on the packaging staning in front of her athroom sink. he cant elieve it. ow col this happen er face an hans are lack. he scrs to no avail. leave. ars honk. m staning at an intersection an straining to retrn to the worl. The shttle arrives to take s from town to trailhea. The van leas s p p into the montains. t

s a clear

ay . ikers are laghing revenate. i yo have fn in town a frien met on the trail asks. This visiility is nreal says another nose against the winow . e thinks he has spotte a ear

. The sn

has lifte spirits. The van spills s ot t can arely see a thing. Two ays later my vision lr

a stream of tets hit my phone. rince has ie. feel sit own on the first rock see an ont move for a

while. The hikers who walk past ask if m hrt. m sorry to tell yo this ll hear myself say . rince st ie. o one knows who m talking aot. will see variations of the same vacant epression for the rest of the ay . The rince of

ales one hiker asks.

m losing light. have to get to the net shelter

. The afternoon has

een a learning eperience the trail is no place to share lack grief. ater

when eyonc releases

eonde

an alm that speaks

powerflly to lack women wont permit myself to hear it ot here. m lonely enogh as it is withot feeling aitional isolation. keep it

from myself an follow the laes north. tell the trees the trth of it some ays feel like reaking. The ational ark ervice celerate its centennial last year rochre a white man stans olly

precariosly

. n one

in ocky

ontain ational ark gaing at a massive rock face. e wears a fll pack. e is reay to tackle the impossile. The poster saltes years of getting away from it all. The parenthetical is implie if not ovios for some. na

er

interview from a lack man name oert

Taylor was aske aot the harest things he face throgh hike of the ppalachian T the T an the acific rest T

ring his

rail. e recently complete oth

rail. y prolems were mainly with

people he sai. n towns people yelle racist threats at me in st aot every state went throgh. They say

e ont like yo an

ore a nigger . nce when stoppe at a mail rop the postmaster sai oy

get ot of here.

e got no mail rop for yo.

t will e several months efore realie that most

T hikers in

are naware of the clear ivision that eists etween what hikers of color eperience on the trail generally positive an in town not so mch . hile fellow throgh hikers an trail angels are some of the kinest an most generos people ll ever enconter

many trail

towns have no iea what to make of people who look like me. They say they ont see mch of my kin aron here an leave the rest hanging in the air.

The rle is yo ont talk aot politics on the trail. The trth is yo cant talk aot iversity in the otoors withot talking aot politics since politics is a ig reason why the otoors look the way they o. rom the park system

s inception im row laws an

ative merican removal campaigns limite access to recreation y race. rom the montains to the eaches otoor leisre was often accompanie y the wors whites only

. The repercssions for

isoeience were grave. or me the fear is like a hearteat always present while at the same time intangile elsive an if hite wrote in her essay lack

ficlt to efine velyn . omen an the ilerness.

n it she eplains why the thoght of hiking in regon which some writer friens invite her to o fills her with rea. n wilerness hite oes not see freeom t a portal to the past. t is a trigger

.

The history of sf fering is too mch for her to overcome. This fear has conre a similar paralysis nationwie. t says to the minority e in this place an someone might seie the opportnity to en yo. atre itself is the least of hite

s concerns. ear paws have

harme fewer lack oies in the wil than hman hans. he oes not wish to e the only one who looks like her in a place with history like this. erspective is everything. There are

cats at o eoples

s incora iking ostel in

ampton T ennessee. hen ask eoples how he keeps track of

them he respons They keep track of me. places he s hike an the people he hiking cltre of any contry

e talk aot the

s met. ermans have the est

he says. f there was a trail to hell

ermans wol e on it. The chance of precipitation the net ay is percent. hen it riles the rain plays me procing if sons as it strikes hat acket an pack cover

ferent

. f the many reasons

to pase while hiking this remains my favorite. The smell an son of the ampening forest is a sensory gift a time for reflection. The first mper sticker see in ot prings orth arolina says that pril is onfeerate istory onth. week later hostel near oan ontain T

stay in a

ennessee net to a hose that

s flying

a onfeerate flag. ikers whove hitche into town tell me that the ries they got were all from rnk white men. e carefl they warn. reconsier going into town at all. t

s near freeing. T wo ays ago

woke p on oan ontain itself in a fiel of froen mayapples. Toay wear my f

f heaan like a hea scarf ner my fleece

hat. hen walk a thir of a mile ack to the trailhea alone the net morning look at the neighor

s flag an woner if someone will

assme m slim whether m ptting myself at risk. lower the f

f to my neck an worry that m eing paranoi. i months later

the an rancisco hronicle will report on a woman of color who was hiking in remont alifornia while wearing a f anana an retrne to fin her car

f like a

s rear winow smashe along

with a note. ia wearing itch it sai. This is or nation now get

the fck ot. he wasnt slim t that

s not the point. The point is

the ease with which a person ecomes a them in the woos. Two weeks later at Trail ays there s a parae celerating crrent an past hikers. lack man with the trail name terminator aims a water gn at a white crow as he moves along. e shoots their white chilren. They lagh an shoot ack with their own water gns. This goes on for yars. pase to corral my galloping aniety

. e is

safe tell myself. This event is one of the few places in merica where ont fear for a lack man with a toy gn in a plic setting. The othern overty aw enter tracke more than hate crimes an ias incients that occrre in the month after the election. n ovemer

the ppalachian T

poste information aot racist trail graf

rail onservancy fiti on its aceook page. t

showe p along the trail corrior in ennsylvania. The grop was encoraging anyone who encontere of

fensive graffiti or

vanalism to report it via e mail. tarting in ami the violence of im row as the reen oo

a plication known

fnctione as a gie for getting lack motorists

from point to point safely

. t tol yo which gas stations wol fill

yor tank which restarants wol seat yo an where yo col lay yor hea at night withot fear

. t remaine in print for years.

s recently as years ago lack families neee a gie st to travel throgh merica nharme.

There is nothing approimating a reen oo

for minorities

navigating the merican wilerness. ow col there e

o simply

step otsie an hope for the est. ne of the first estions aske of many women who solo hike the ppalachian T rail is whether they roght a gn. ome fin it preposteros. t one hiker of color spoke to insiste on carrying a machete an nnecessarily heavy piece of gear.

o can never e too sre he tol me.

s a eer lack woman m among the last people anyone epects to see on a throgh hike. t natre is a place ve always elonge. y home in oth loria spanne the swamp the eys an the rege lan in etween. y father an eplore them all waving at everything from egrets to prple gallinles an paling y the owe roots of mangroves. This was efore rmese pythons overran the verglaes when the rstling of leaves in the canopy aove or canoe still veere mammalian. Throghot my yoth my granmother an took walks in iami where hear her say the wors tm nifas. t meant a elicios win a norishing win. These eperiences shape how viewe movement throghot the natral worl. ow view it still. The elements thoght col en my hnger

.

ittle has change since. ow the rocks gnaw at my shins. th against the gron my tonge coate in irt. pick myself ack p an start again.

very ay eat the montains an the montains they eat me. ess to carry

tell the others this skin merica the weight of that

past self. y hiking partners are concerne an nconvince. There is a weight to yo still they tell me. They are not wrong. y footing has een of f for ays. There were things ha race for at the eginning of this orney that have finally starte to no me. were all hrtling throgh the nfamiliar

e

aching choppy estroye y

weather trying not to tear apart. t some of s were looking aron as well. y the time mae it throgh arylan it was har not to think of the ppalachian T rail as a mile trek throgh T lawn signs. n ly

rmp

rea the names of more lack men kille y

police hilano astile lton terling. ever i imagine that the constant of the woos wol e my friens rging pleaing that never retrn home. That was then. ack home in aklan alifornia now hrt. strggle with the stairs. woner if it

my knees

s yme isease from an

nseen tick ite. The weight lost has come ack. y arms the lackest ever saw them after weeks in the smmer sn have fae to their sal ark rown. The rises on my collarones from my pack straps are no more. y legs arent ooing loo. y feet havent throe in for months. am once again soft an nlemishe an pleaing with my aniety every ay for a few hors of peace. y timing colnt e worse. The news is relentless. acts mean nothing. The trth is ont know how to move throgh the worl these ays. verything feels like it nees saving. can arely keep p.

ho is wilerness for t epens on who yo ask. n T

rail ife

a faith ase organiation was estalishe as a irect response to the oy cots of merica

s ecision to allow openly

gay kis into their program. statement y the grop mae the rles clear T rail ife will not amit yoth who are open or avowe aot their homoseality

an it will not amit oys who are not

iologically male or oys who wish to ress an act like girls. oghly two years later

news otlets profile the aical onarchs

a grop for chilren of color etween the ages of eight an twelve intene as a irl cots for social activists. ealines like aical rownies re

elling lack ives atter

ot awking irl cot

ookies highlighte what an intersectional approach to yoth activism col look like. rganiations sch as T

rail ife an

aical onarchs show opposite ens of the otoor spectrm. or conservative hristian men religion is se as a means of tying eclsionary practices to otoor participation. or people of color the wilerness is everywhere they look. They ont nee montains. ilerness lives otsie their front oors. rienteering skills mean navigating white aniety aot them. They are elaying to ef change. n even then their ef

forts might not e enogh.

eople on the trail overwhelmingly avertise for s says ryan inckler who went y the trail name oomer anything otoor relate it

fect

are goo people t it isnt a lack

T throgh hiker

. f yo see a commercial for

s always a white person on it. think if

people saw someone who looke like them they wol e intereste. t s not avertise so people think That

s not for me.

rittany eavitt an toor fro trip leaer ase in .. echoe this sentiment. me recently.

ashington

o ont see it in the meia she tol

o ont see it avertise when yo go into otoor

stores. hen o a hike talk aot what

s historically in the area.

atre has always een part of lack history

.

he s right. toor skills were a matter of srvival for lack people efore they ecame a form of eclsion. arriet T

man is rarely

celerate as one of the most important otoor figres in merican history espite traversing thosans of miles over the same montains walke this year

.

ow can we make eing in the otoors a conit for helping people realie nerstan an ecome comfortale with the space they occpy in the worl says rystal illiams a lack woman who throgh hike the

T in

. The change is happening slowly

in large part ecase of plic figres ringing attention to the otoors. arack ama esignate more national monments than any presient efore him. prah has calle her year of aventre. y favorite thing on earth is a tree she tol ranger helton ohnson an avocate for iversity in the national parks when she met him in osemite in . recent photo of prah at the ran anyon shows her carrying a fll pack. iking reires no particlar skill only two feet an a stry pair of shoes she sai.

o set the pace.

o choose the trail.

o lock into a certain

rhythm with the roa an that rhythm ecomes yor clarion song. alfway throgh the escent into aleville

irginia fon myself

lying on the trail floor wincing p at the canopy . ha taken a sen tmle an was ae. y right ankle ache aly

thogh

my trekking poles ha save me from a trly nasty sprain. t was not a if ficlt stretch of trail some packe irt

a few small rocks

plenty of switchacks. felt etraye an then ashame. col feel my confience evaporating. f colnt walk a well groome trail what in the worl was going to o with the oler scramles awaiting me in the north alls col e fatal. t worst this one was a slight emarrassment t it marke the first time neee to forgive myself for what col not control. very inch of my eing y that point ha een shape y an eplicit choice. n prsit of atahin which reache on ctoer after si months of hiking ha wept an choppe of

f the long natral

hair so politicie in merica that my granmother ha tol me to always treasre. y afro was no more. ha left my skin to ash my lips to crack. wore my transmission tower print anana like an electric prayer. The ppalachian T rail was the longest conversation ever ha with my oy

oth where fit in it an where it fits in the

worl. ne of the poplar ppalachian T

rail ooks rea while preparing

for my trek aske reaers to make a short list of reasons why they

wante to o it. The athor sggeste we nerstan these reasons own to or core efore emarking coming p with something eeper than like natre. took ot this ocment often when things felt overwhelming on the T when the enormity of the prsit threatene to swallow me whole. ooking ack the list is a series of nrealie hopes. ne line reas have always een the token in a grop have never chosen how want to lea. nother says t will e the first time get to iscover not whether will sccee t who am ecoming. The last line is a eclaration want to e a role moel to lack women who are intereste in the otoors incling myself. There were ays when the only thing that kept me going was knowing that each step was one towar progress a oot to the granite face of white spremacy . elong here tol the trail. t reware me in lasting ways. The weight carrie as a lack woman pale in comparison with the oy felt aily among my peers in that wilerness. They shape my heart into what it will e for the rest of my life. ne of the most common sentiments one hears aot the ppalachian T rail is how it restores a person s faith in hmanity . t is no nerstatement to say that the friens mae an

the

eperiences ha with strangers who at times literally gave me the shirt off their ack save my life. owe a great et to the throgh hiking commnity that welcome me with open arms that showe me what col e an helpe me when faltere. There is no

impossile they taght me only goo ieas of etraorinary magnite.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat is the connection etween aile s hike an the presiential election of . oing t lone tells a story t it is not strctre in a linear fashion retelling events chronologically one after the other like sccessive segments of a trail. ow is it strctre T o what effect hy o yo think aile chose to strctre it in this way . connections The essay asks the estion hat is wilerness for nother essay that asks this estion is li lare s learct plaining the istance . ow oes each essay ask this estion oes each essay answer it ow . erspective is everything aile writes in her essay . ick a place yo go or have een or an activity yo o or have one that yo think wol look if ferent from the perspective of someone if ferent from yo. ow oes this place look or this eperience feel to yo ow oes it look or feel if ferent to this other person hat aot the if ference etween the two of yo eplains the if ference etween yor eperiences . ooinrter lthogh racial iscrimination an political ivision figre prominently from the essay s start commnity ecomes increasingly important over the corse of the essay . trangers often seen as threats are also y the en of the essay what the athor vales most highly aot her time on the ppalachian T rail. iven the essay s focs on the presiential election of an its aftermath how wol yo characterie the state of the merican commnity toay ase yor answer on research. hat nmers spport yor conclsions hat historical trens hat lanmark events

hen ink allet lippers

ont o

enine oes is nonfi tion riter ho so ors s

oy riter

nd retive dire tor in dvertisin n her nonfi tion or she rites bout rentin nd bein sine other rsons S hoo of esin nd her M

She erned her fro fro Sdin University

hen in et Siers ont o deonstrtes its uthor

s eye

for the detis of onteorry ife tht on ern ern e er etion nd identity

n eye tht ertiny serves her e in her

dy ob s you red t h out for the ys in hi h oes sho s her understndin of the onne tions bet een ho eoe see the ord nd ho they see theseves s an frican merican mother of a rown skinne year ol girl seek empowering eamples for my aghter

.

fter seven years of infertility an one horrenos miscarriage aopte my aghter

lia from thiopia at months ol an mae

motherhoo my mission. he plays with olls that look like her

reas

ooks that featre rown chilren an ha the esame treet vieo of a mppet proclaiming that she loves her kinky crly hair in steay rotation.

et or most powerfl eperience of racial ientity

came throgh a pair of allet tights. lia longe to atten classes at the ance Theater of arlem with her oler pal ae. er aition this winter oors ran an hor

hel ehin close

. Two weeks later the reslts arrive. lia thanks

to her preschool allet lessons ha mae the ct.

e heae to the school store to prchase her gear

. saleswoman

plle a pair of tan tights from a asket an hel them against lia

s

forearm. mm too right. he retrne to the asket. y criosity followe. nsie spie an assortment of legwear from ntmeg to milk chocolate to espresso in neat packaging. he trie a cognac colore pair ow that

.

s a match.

Mt h T o her skin tone. y eyes wiene. given allet an its niform little thoght since stie the form as an year ol in a etroit stio ecaes ago. wore an inky lack leotar paire with snowy white tights. The pairing mae a ol graphic statement mch like a ran line painting or a pengin or a gran piano. ack then no one consiere my skin tone. allet tights were typically white st as the allet ancers typically were. ow

years later

my aghter

allet school protocol peele ack my rain. et the saleswoman hel p a pair of cotton cany colore slippers an eplaine that wol nee to ye them to match the tights so

s

the line of lia

s leg wol e continos to the eye. That

s the look

we want to create. noe stying my assignment. rthr itchell a professional frican merican ancer with the ew ork ity allet fone the ance Theater of arlem along with arel hook in . r

. itchell wante to create opportnities in

the arlem commnity where he grew p. ith fning from lva imel wife of the oar chairman of imel rothers the or onation an his own savings r

. itchell opene his school.

et he set ot to open mins. nitially

ance Theater of arlem ancers wore pink tights an toe

shoes nna lass the eective irector of the school is ote as saying in a year retrospective. t rthr itchell change corse as he elieve pink tights visally interrpte his ancer

s lines. The warroe staf

f worke

with each ancer to comine the correct amont of it yes to match their inivial skin tone then applie presse power to their rions an shoes to seamlessly len the color

. ow

matching

tights an toe shoes to skin tone ecame a traemark of ance Theater of arlem. n with that r

. itchell roke a year ol traition.

n the neoclassical company ete at the ggenheim sem in ew

ork ity

wearing cstom skin tone shoes an

tights which nearly years later

remains the company s

signatre. To have a elove art form reflecte ack in oy shapes an hes that mirror yors is powerfl. That was part of the magic ehin the sccess of the lockster lack anther when it opene in erary

. or frican mericans to see actors of color reflecte as

the protagonist antagonist scientist even the een create a revelry of hmanity that reslte in over illion in ticket sales. t that familiarity wasnt waiting in the wings when era stin first slippe on her slippers. he wol ecome the first lack principal ancer with a maor merican company

the ennsylvania

allet in ecaes efore isty opelan. ow is sch a rive orn withot a asket of rown he tights erhaps re fon the key

. eaty has no ovios se nor is

there any clear cltral necessity for it.

et civiliation col not o

withot it. s. stin colnt either

.

wish we live in a worl where rown he allet tights int matter so mch. erhaps one ay well achieve it. t for now matters eeply . t matters in enya at the iera allet chool

it

where teachers ring that eaty an resilience to stents who live in the slms helping create the net generation of ancers for the national company. t mattere to ichaela erince a soloist in the tch ational allet who iscovere her connection to ance at a yong age. he wrote in her memoir

ope in a allet hoe aot

eing a chil in an orphanage in ierra eone when she spotte a magaine with the image of a allerina on the cover lowing against the gate. he reame of ecoming a allerina an carrie that ream to starom. ot every rown girl who loves classical ance will e a star of corse t many can fin inspiration throgh their tights their oies their eing. want that opportnity for my aghter

that

nie confience coe. ome professional ancers have taken to social meia to protest the lack of toe shoes mass proce eyon the range of pink an lack. t as a woman of color who has for years mie fonation to match my skin tone as an act of self love view tinting allet shoes as an act of love for my aghter

.

n the first ay of classes helpe lia get resse an line p with the other stents. The girls amire their forms. There

s an

inherent sweetness to tiny allerinas. s stie the talea of ark chocolate cinnamon an caf a lait legs the sense of racial prie self ientity an elonging set me glowing.

t not everyone seeme to fall ner the same spell esie me a mom with long thin rais perse her aceook fee on her ihone. T ime to go the teacher annonce. oms an as stoo. more.

e checke the girls pswept ns once

e plante kisses on their smooth foreheas.

e watche

or aghters troop own the hall towar the stio in a conga line of cteness. y eyes glosse over

.

eally eatifl right hear from ehin. trne. The aceook aict. re is. he sighe. Those rown tights get me every single time. ha to look at aceook so wolnt start crying. or is ussion nd ritin . hy oes the athor tint her aghter s allet shoes . olmes egins her essay in the personal writing as she says as an frican merican mother of a rown skinne seven year ol girl an rings in interviews an historical facts over the corse of her essay. he ens with a scene focsing on an inivial t not herself. hy o yo think she oes this hat is the ef fect on yo as a reaer

. connections ea anra isneros s nly aghter net to olmes s essay. Thogh we ont know if olmes s aghter will ecome a professional allet ancer she has moels availale an new traitions reay to accept her . ol the path to isneros s writing career have een easier if she ha ha eamples of people like her prsing it . Think of an activity sports arts even school for which a parent or garian prepare yo an reflect on it in the way olmes reflects on her preparing her own chil for allet. ist the ways in which they i so from ying eipment to picking ot clothes to telling yo how to act. hat kins of things o yo think they were thinking aot when they got yo reay ere they concerne with how yo an they might e perceive i they o the same that ha een one for them when they were yong in the same way or was the sitation an so the preparation somehow if ferent . ooinrter ea p on the sociological concept calle socialiation. hat are the if ferent kins of socialiation hat are the if ferent grops or categories into which inivials are socialie eflect on olmes s story anor yor story in estion in light of what yo learn.

alvation orn in in oin Missouri nston uhes be e or fiure in the re enissn e fo erin of fri n eri n iterture rt usi nd s horshi in the s nd s e s first nd foreost oet in orortin the vern ur of the streets nd the rhyths of the y riht fi tion riter

ubs into his voi e e s so n essyist nd n utobiorher

Svtion e n see the sis ith hi h uhes reted iintive iterture here in nonfi tion he both tes the story of n iortnt oint in his ife nd es his reders thin bout sinifi nt ides doin so oeti y nd ith ret e onoy nd exressiveness s you red ee the essy

s tite in the b of

your hed nd thin bout hy uhes iht hve hosen it was save from sin when was going on thirteen. t not really save. t happene like this. There was a ig revival at my ntie ee

s chrch. very night for weeks there ha een mch

preaching singing praying an shoting an some very harene sinners ha een roght to hrist an the memership of the chrch ha grown y leaps an ons. Then st efore the revival ene they hel a special meeting for chilren to ring the yong lams to the fol. y ant spoke of it for ays ahea. That night was escorte to the front row an place on the morners ench with all the other yong sinners who ha not yet een roght to ess.

n

y ant tol me that when yo were save yo saw a light an something happene to yo insie n ess came into yor life n o was with yo from then on he sai yo col see an hear an feel ess in yor sol. elieve her

. ha hear a great

many ol people say the same thing an it seeme to me they oght to know. o sat there calmly in the hot crowe chrch waiting for ess to come to me. The preacher preache a wonerfl rhythmical sermon all moans an shots an lonely cries an ire pictres of hell an then he sang a song aot the ninety an nine safe in the fol t one little lam was left ot in the col. Then he sai yo come to ess

ont yo come

ong lams wont yo come n he hel

ot his arms to all s yong sinners there on the morners ench. n the little girls crie. n some of them mpe p an went to ess right away . t most of s st sat there. great many ol people came an knelt aron s an praye ol women with et lack faces an raie hair

ol men with work

gnarle hans. n the chrch sang a song aot the lower lights are rning some poor sinners to e save. n the whole iling rocke with prayer an song. till kept waiting to

see ess.

inally all the yong people ha gone to the altar an were save t one oy an me. e was a roner

s son name

estley.

ont

estley an were srrone y sisters an eacons praying. t was very hot in the chrch an getting late now

. inally

estley sai

to me in a whisper o amn m tire o sitting here. et

s get p

an e save. o he got p an was save. Then was left all alone on the morners ench. y ant came an knelt at my knees an crie while prayers an songs swirle all aron me in the little chrch. The whole congregation praye for me alone in a mighty wail of moans an voices. n kept waiting serenely for ess waiting waiting t he int come. wante to see him t nothing happene to me. othing wante something to happen to me t nothing happene. hear the songs an the minister saying hy ont yo come y ear chil why ont yo come to ess ess is waiting for yo. e wants yo. hy ont yo come ister ee what is this chil

s

name angston my ant soe. angston why ont yo come hy ont yo come an e save h am of o hy ont yo come ow it was really getting late. egan to e ashame of myself holing everything p so long. egan to woner what o thoght aot

estley who certainly hant seen ess either

now sitting proly on the platform swinging his

t who was

knickerockere

legs an grinning own at me srrone y eacons an ol women on their knees praying. o ha not strck

estley ea for

taking his name in vain or for lying in the temple. o ecie that maye to save frther trole etter lie too an say that ess ha come an get p an e save. o got p. enly the whole room roke into a sea of shoting as they saw me rise.

aves of reoicing swept the place.

omen leape in the

air. y ant threw her arms aron me. The minister took me y the han an le me to the platform. hen things iete own in a hshe silence pnctate y a few ecstatic mens all the new yong lams were lesse in the name of o. Then oyos singing fille the room. That night for the last time in my life t one for was a ig oy twelve years ol crie. crie in e alone an colnt stop. rie my hea ner the ilts t my ant hear me. he woke p an tol my ncle was crying ecase the oly host ha come into my life an ecase ha seen ess. t was really crying ecase colnt ear to tell her that ha lie that ha eceive everyoy in the chrch an hant seen ess an that now int elieve there was a ess any more since he int come to help me.

or is ussion nd ritin . hy oes ghes cry that night . ghes s story is tol very riefly how oes that revity make it more powerfl ow might a longer version have een less affecting . connections ompare the feeling the yong ghes has when he is the last chil on the ench to the feeling eorge rwell has when the crow follows him in hooting an lephant . hat are the ef fects of eing watche on each . rite aot a time when yo felt yor family hel certain epectations for yo. as it a positive eperience a negative one or oth hy . ooinrter There are people toay who profess what some refer to as seclar religion. esearch this topic then escrie it. f yo col speak to the twelve year ol angston ghes or to the alt ghes who wrote alvation what might yo say to him aot it ow wol yo relate it to the eperience he writes aot

ow t eels to e olore e orn in in rur b nd rised in orid or ee urston rrived in e

or t the heiht of the re

enissn e fo erin of fri n eri n iterture rt usi nd s horshi in the s nd s nd be e n tive rti int ritin stories nd outhorin y ith nston uhes er interest in the fo uture of the South infuen ed by her studies ith noted nthroooist rn os ed to her return to orid to study her ntive ounity nd eventuy hi h she is best no n the nove

Their yes

to the or for ere

atching o

hen redin o t ees to e oored Me it is interestin to thin bout urston

s stteents bout r e nd

identity su h s her ie of eoe of different r es s different oored bs stuffed ith siir ontents in the ontext of this nthroooi trinin am colore t of

fer nothing in the way of etenating

circmstances ecept the fact that am the only egro in the nite tates whose granfather on the mother

s sie was not an nian

chief. rememer the very ay that ecame colore. p to my thirteenth year live in the little egro town of atonville loria. t is eclsively a colore town. The only white people knew passe throgh the town going to or coming from rlano. The native whites roe sty horses the orthern torists chgge own the sany village roa in atomoiles. The town knew the otherners an

never stoppe cane chewing when they passe. t the ortherners were something else again. They were peere at catiosly from ehin crtains y the timi. The more ventresome wol come ot on the porch to watch them go past an got st as mch pleasre ot of the torists as the torists got ot of the village. The front porch might seem a aring place for the rest of the town t it was a gallery seat for me. y favorite place was atop the gate post. roscenim o for a orn first nighter

. ot only i enoy the

show t int min the actors knowing that like it. sally spoke to them in passing. wave at them an when they retrne my salte wol say something like this owy o well thank yo where yo goin sally atomoile or the horse pase at this an after a eer echange of compliments wol proaly go a piece of the way with them as we say in farthest loria. f one of my family happene to come to the front in time to see me of corse negotiations wol e rely roken of

f. t even so it is

clear that was the first welcome to or state loriian an hope the iami hamer of ommerce will please take notice. ring this perio white people if

fere from colore to me only in

that they roe throgh town an never live there. They like to hear me speak pieces an sing an wante to see me ance the parse me la an gave me generosly of their small silver for oing these things which seeme strange to me for wante to o them so mch that neee riing to stop. nly they int know it. The colore people gave no imes. They eplore any oyfl tenencies

in me t was their ora nevertheless. elonge to them to the neary hotels to the conty everyoy

s ora.

t changes came in the family when was thirteen an was sent to school in acksonville. left atonville the town of the oleaners as ora. hen isemarke from the river oat at acksonville she was no more. t seeme that ha sf

fere a sea change. was not

ora of range onty any more was now a little colore girl. fon it ot in certain ways. n my heart as well as in the mirror ecame a fast rown warrante not to r nor rn. t am not tragically colore. There is no great sorrow amme p in my sol nor lrking ehin my eyes. o not min at all. o not elong to the soing school of egrohoo who hol that natre somehow has given them a lowown irty eal an whose feelings are all hrt aot it. ven in the helter skelter skirmish that is my life have seen that the worl is to the strong regarless of a little pigmentation more or less. o o not weep at the worl am too sy sharpening my oyster knife. omeone is always at my elow remining me that am the granaghter of slaves. t fails to register epression with me. lavery is sity years in the past. The operation was sccessfl an the patient is oing well thank yo. The terrile strggle that mae me an merican ot of a potential slave sai n the line The econstrction sai et set an the generation efore sai o am off to a flying start an mst not halt in the stretch to look

ehin an weep. lavery is the price pai for civiliation an the choice was not with me. t is a lly aventre an worth all that have pai throgh my ancestors for it. o one on earth ever ha a greater chance for glory. The worl to e won an nothing to e lost. t is thrilling to think to know that for any act of mine shall get twice as mch praise or twice as mch lame. t is ite eciting to hol the center of the national stage with the spectators not knowing whether to lagh or to weep. The position of my white neighor is mch more if

ficlt. o rown

specter plls p a chair esie me when sit own to eat. o ark ghost thrsts its leg against mine in e. The game of keeping what one has is never so eciting as the game of getting. o not always feel colore. ven now often achieve the nconscios ora of atonville efore the egira.

feel most

colore when am thrown against a sharp white ackgron. or instance at arnar. esie the waters of the son feel my race. mong the thosan white persons am a ark rock srge pon an overswept t throgh it all remain myself. hen covere y the waters am an the e t reveals me again. ometimes it is the other way aron. white person is set own in or mist t the contrast is st as sharp for me. or instance when sit in the rafty asement that is The ew a white person my color comes.

orl aaret with

e enter chatting aot any little

nothing that we have in common an are seate y the a waiters. n the arpt way that a orchestras have this one plnges into a nmer

. t loses no time in circmloctions t gets right own to

siness. t constricts the thora an splits the heart with its tempo an narcotic harmonies. This orchestra grows ramnctios rears on its hin legs an attacks the tonal veil with primitive fry

rening

it clawing it ntil it reaks throgh to the ngle eyon. follow those heathen follow them eltingly yell within whoop shake my assegai tre to the mark yeeeeoo

. ance willy insie myself aove my hea hrl it

am in the ngle an living in the

ngle way . y face is painte re an yellow an my oy is painte le. y plse is throing like a war rm. want to slaghter something give pain give eath to what o not know t the piece ens. The men of the orchestra wipe their lips an rest their fingers. creep ack slowly to the veneer we call civiliation with the last tone an fin the white frien sitting motionless in his seat smoking calmly. oo msic they have here he remarks rmming the tale with his fingertips. sic. The great los of prple an re emotion have not toche him. e has only hear what felt. e is far away an see him t imly across the ocean an the continent that have fallen etween s. e is so pale with his whiteness then an am

so colore.

.

t certain times have no race am

e . hen set my hat at a

certain angle an santer own eventh

vene arlem ity

feeling as snooty as the lions in front of the orty econ treet irary

for instance. o far as my feelings are concerne eggy

opkins oyce on the ole ich with her gorgeos raiment stately carriage knees knocking together in a most aristocratic manner has nothing on me. The cosmic ora emerges. elong to no race nor time. am the eternal feminine with its string of eas. have no separate feeling aot eing an merican citien an colore. am merely a fragment of the reat ol that srges within the onaries. y contry

right or wrong.

ometimes feel iscriminate against t it oes not make me angry. t merely astonishes me. ow pleasre of my company t

n any eny themselves the

s eyon me.

t in the main feel like a rown ag of miscellany proppe against a wall. gainst a wall in company with other ags white re an yellow. or ot the contents an there is iscovere a mle of small things priceless an worthless. first water

iamon an

empty spool its of roken glass lengths of string a key to a oor long since crmle away

a rsty knife lae ol shoes save for a

roa that never was an never will e a nail ent ner the weight of things too heavy for any nail a rie flower or two still a little fragrant. n yor han is the rown ag. n the gron efore yo is the mle it hel so mch like the mle in the ags col they

e emptie that all might e mpe in a single heap an the ags refille withot altering the content of any greatly glass more or less wol not matter tf

. it of colore

. erhaps that is how the reat

fer of ags fille them in the first place who knows

or is ussion nd ritin . hat point is rston trying to make in her first paragraph s she the only egro in the nite tates whose granfather on the mother s sie was not an nian chief . onsier rston s se of imagination in her escriptions of the white neighor her eperience at the a cl an in the final paragraph. ow oes she se specific etails to gron these flights of imagination ow oes she se these imaginative moments to make her points . connections ame an frican merican writer in this ook whom yo think rston might incle in what she calls the soing school of egrohoo par. . ow might he or she answer rston s criticism . ow o yo respon to the conception of race with which rston ens her essay oes it agree with how yo nerstan race . ooinrter rston s reference to the reat tf fer of ags is not meant to e a serios engagement with religion t it can e taken as more than a throwaway line. Think an maye o a little research aot how conceptions of race have een tie to larger systems of elief oth religios an seclar . ow have if ferent ieas aot the natre of race epene on varying systems of elief aot how hman eings came to e hy an in what ways are they if ferent from each other hat o yo elieve an why

The eclaration of nepenence orn in in the ritish oony tht is no the stte of

irini

hos efferson des endnt of one of the first fiies of

irini

ent on to be oe foundin fther of the ntion born out of thirteen united oonies n ddition to bein the riry riter of the e rtion of ndeenden e efferson s overnor of

irini

vi e resident resident fro to nd founder of the University of irini he e rtion is ore thn histori do uent t is effe tive ie e of ritin

er nd

e resent both n ery version nd the

fin do uent s you red note the hoi es tht ere de in its ritin in rti ur the revisions evident in the fin drft

Decrtionoteepresentties oteD ineneronressssee

hen in the corse of hman events it ecomes necessary for a people to avance from that sorination in which they have hitherto remaine

to assme among the powers of the earth the

eal inepenant station to which the laws of natre of natre go entitle them a ecent respect to the opinions of mankin reires that they shol eclare the cases which impel them to the change.

s

e hol these trths to e sacre neniale that all men are create eal inepenant that from that eal creation they erive rights inherent inalienale among which are the preservation of life

lierty

the spirit of happiness that to secre

these ens governments are institte among men eriving their st powers from the consent of the governe that whenever any form of government shall ecome estrctive of these ens it is the right of the people to alter or to aolish it

to institte new

government laying its fonation on sch principles organiing its powers in sch form as to them shall seem most likely to ef fect their safety happiness. prence inee will ictate that governments long estalishe shol not e change for light transient cases an accoringly all eperience hath shewn that mankin are more ispose to sf

fer while evils are sf ferale than to right themselves

y aolishing the forms to which they are accstome. t when a long train of ases srpations egn at a istingishe perio prsing invarialy the same oect evinces a esign to sect them to aritrary power

it is their right it is their ty

to throw off

sch government to provie new gars for their ftre secrity sch has een the patient sf

ferance of these colonies sch is

now the necessity which constrains them to epnge their former systems of government. The history of his present maesty is a history of nremitting inries an srpations among which no one fact stans single or solitary to contraict the niform tenor of the rest all of which have in irect oect the estalishment of an asolte tyranny over these states. to prove this let facts e

.

smitte to a cani worl for the trth of which we plege a faith yet nsllie y falsehoo. he has refse his assent to laws the most wholesome an necessary for the plic goo he has forien his governors to pass laws of immeiate pressing importance nless sspene in their operation till his assent shol e otaine an when so sspene he has neglecte tterly to atten to them he has refse to pass other laws for the accommoation of large istricts of people nless those people wol relinish the right of representation a right inestimale to them

formiale to tyrants alone

he has issolve epresentative hoses repeately continally

for

opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people he has refse for a long space of time to case others to e electe wherey the legislative powers incapale of annihilation have retrne to the people at large for their eercise the state remaining in the mean time epose to all the angers of invasion from withot

convlsions

within he has sf fere the aministration of stice totally to cease in some of these colonies refsing his assent to laws for estalishing iciary powers he has mae or ges epenant on his will alone for the tenre of their offices an amont of their salaries

he has erecte a mltite of new of

fices y a self assme power

sent hither swarms of officers to harrass or people eat ot their sstance he has kept among s in times of peace staning armies ships of war he has affecte to rener the military

inepenent of sperior to the

civil power he has comine with others to sect s to a risiction foreign to or constittions an nacknowlege y or laws giving his assent to their pretene acts of legislation for artering large oies of arme troops among s for protecting them y a mock trial from pnishment for any mrers they shol commit on the inhaitants of these states for ctting of f or trae with all parts of the worl for imposing taes on s withot or consent for epriving s of the enefits of trial y ry he has eneavore to prevent the poplation of these states for that prpose ostrcting the laws for natraliation of foreigners refsing to pass others to encorage their migrations hither raising the conitions of new appropriations of lans for transporting s eyon seas to e trie for pretene of

fences

for taking away or charters altering fnamentally the forms of or governments

for sspening or own legislatres eclaring themselves investe with power to legislate for s in all cases whatsoever he has aicate government here withrawing his governors eclaring s ot of his allegiance protection he has plnere or seas ravage or coasts rnt or towns estroye the lives of or people he is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of eath esolation tyranny

alreay egn with

circmstances of crelty perfiy nworthy the hea of a civilie nation he has eneavore to ring on the inhaitants of or frontiers the merciless nian savages whose known rle of warfare is an nistingishe estrction of all ages sees

conitions of eistence

he has incite treasonale insrrections of or fellow citiens with the allrements of forfeitre confiscation of or property he has wage crel war against hman natre itself violating its most sacre rights of life lierty in the persons of a istant people who never offene him captivating carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incr miserale eath in their transportation thither this piratical warfare the opprorim of

.

infide powers is the warfare of

the T king of reat ritain etermine to keep open a market where shol e oght sol he has prostitte his negative for sppressing every legislative attempt to prohiit or to restrain this eecrale commerce an that this assemlage of horrors might want no

fact of istingishe ie he is now eciting those very people to rise in arms among s an to prchase that lierty of which them y mrering the people pon whom

he has eprive

he also otre them ths

paying off former crimes committe against the iberties of one people with crimes which he rges them to commit against the ives of another.

in every stage of these oppressions we have petitione for reress in the most hmle terms or repeate petitions have een answere y repeate inry

. a prince whose character is ths marke y every

act which may efine a tyrant is nfit to e the rler of a people who mean to e free. ftre ages will scarce elieve that the hariness of one man aventre within the short compass of twelve years only on so many acts of tyranny withot a mask over a people fostere fie in principles of lierty

.

or have we een wanting in attentions to or ritish rethren. we have warne them from time to time of attempts y their legislatre to eten a risiction over these or states. we have remine them of the circmstances of or emigration settlement here no one of which col warrant so strange a pretension that these were effecte at the epence of or own loo treasre nassiste y the wealth or the strength of reat ritain that in constitting inee or several forms of government we ha aopte one common king therey laying a fonation for perpetal leage amity with them t that smission to their arliament was no art of or onstittion nor ever in ea if istory may e creite an we appeale to their native stice magnanimity

as to the ties of or

common kinre to isavow these srpations which were likely to interrpt or corresponence connection. they too have een eaf to the voice of stice of consanginity

when occasions have

een given them y the reglar corse of

their laws of removing

from their concils the istrers of or harmony free election re estalishe them in power

they have y their

. at this very time too they

are permitting their chief magistrate to sen over not only soliers of or common loo t cotch foreign mercenaries to invae elge s in loo. these facts have given the last sta to agoniing affection an manly spirit is s to renonce for ever these nfeeling rethren. we mst eneavor to forget or former love for them an to hol them as we hol the rest of mankin enemies in war in peace friens. we might have een a free a great people together t a commnication of graner of freeom it seems is elow their ignity

. e it so since they will have it the roa to glory

happiness is open to s too we will clim it in a separate state an aciesce in the necessity which prononces or everlasting ie e therefore the representatives of the nite tates of merica in eneral ongress assemle o in the name y athority of the goo people of these states reect an renonce all allegiance section to the kings of reat ritain all others who may hereafter claim y

throgh or ner them we tterly issolve

reak of f all political connection which may have heretofore ssiste etween s the people or parliament of reat ritain an finally we o assert an eclare these colonies to e free an inepenant states an that as free inepenant states they shall

hereafter have power to levy war concle peace contract alliances estalish commerce

to o all other acts an things

which inepenant states may of right o. n for the spport of this eclaration we mtally plege to each other or lives or fortnes or sacre honor

.

nonress enniosDecrtionote irteennite ttesoeric

hen in the orse of hman events it ecomes necessary for one people to issolve the political ans which have connecte them with another an to assme among the powers of the earth the separate an eal station to which the aws of atre an atre

of

s o entitle them a ecent respect to the opinions of

mankin reires that they shol eclare the cases which impel them to the separation. e hol these trths to e self evient that all men are create eal that they are enowe y their reator with certain nalienale ights that among these are ife ierty

an the

prsit of appiness. That to secre these rights overnments are institte among en eriving their st powers from the consent of the governe. That whenever any orm of overnment ecomes estrctive of these ens it is the ight of the eople to alter or to aolish it an to institte new overnment laying its fonation on

sch principles an organiing its powers in sch form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their afety an appiness. rence inee will ictate that overnments long estalishe shol not e change for light an transient cases an accoringly all eperience hath shewn that mankin are more ispose to sf

fer while evils are sf ferale than right themselves

y aolishing the forms to which they are accstome. t when a long train of ases an srpations prsing invarialy the same ect evinces a esign to rece them ner asolte espotism it is their right it is their ty

to throw off sch overnment an to

provie new ars for their ftre secrity

. ch has een the

patient sf ferance of these olonies an sch is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former ystems of overnment. The history of the present ing of reat ritain is a history of repeate inries an srpations all having in irect oect the estalishment of an asolte T

yranny over these tates. T o prove

this let acts e smitte to a cani worl. e has refse his ssent to aws the most wholesome an necessary for the plic goo. e has forien his overnment to pass laws of immeiate an pressing importance nless sspene in their operation till his ssent shol e otaine an when so sspene he has tterly neglecte to atten to them.

e has refse to pass other aws for the accommoation of large istricts of people nless those people wol relinish the right of epresentation in the egislatre a right inestimale to them an formiale to tyrants only

.

e has calle together legislative oies at places nsal ncomfortale an istant from the epository of their lic ecors for the sole prpose of fatiging them into compliance with his measres. e has issolve epresentative oses repeately

for opposing

with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. e has refse for a long time after sch issoltions to case others to e electe wherey the egislative owers incapale of nnihilation have retrne to the eople at large for their eercise the tate remaining in the mean time epose to all the angers of invasion from withot an convlsions within. e has eneavore to prevent the poplation of these tates for that prpose ostrcting the aws for atraliation of oreigners refsing to pass others to encorage their migration hither raising the conitions of new ppropriations of ans. e has ostrcte the ministration of stice y refsing his ssent to aws for estalishing iciary owers.

an

e has mae ges epenent on his ill alone for the tenre of their offices an the amont an payment of their salaries. e has erecte a mltite of ew f

fices an sent hither swarms

of f ficers to harass or people an eat ot their sstance. e has kept among s in times of peace taning rmies withot the onsent of or legislatres. e has af fecte to rener the ilitary inepenent of an sperior to the ivil ower

.

e has comine with others to sect s to a risiction foreign to or constittion an nacknowlege y or laws giving his ssent to their cts of pretene egislation or artering large oies of arme troops among s or protecting them y a mock T

rial from

pnishment for any rers which they shol commit on the nhaitants of these tates or ctting of the worl or imposing T

f or T rae with all parts of

aes on s withot or onsent or

epriving s in many cases of the enefits of T

rial y ry or

transporting s eyon eas to e trie for pretene of

fenses or

aolishing the free ystem of nglish aws in a neighoring rovince estalishing therein an ritrary government an enlarging its onaries so as to rener it at once an eample an fit instrment for introcing the same asolte rle into these olonies or taking away or harters aolishing or most valale aws an altering fnamentally the orms of or

overnments or sspening or

own egislatres an eclaring

themselves investe with power to legislate for s in all cases whatsoever. e has aicate overnment here y eclaring s ot of his rotection an waging

ar against s.

e has plnere or seas ravage or oasts rnt or towns an estroye the lives of or people. e is at this time transporting large rmies of foreign ercenaries to complete the works of eath esolation an tyranny

alreay egn

with circmstances of relty erfiy scarcely parallele in the most araros ages an totally nworthy the ea of a civilie nation. e has constraine or fellow itiens taken aptive on the high eas to ear rms against their ontry

to ecome the

eectioners of their friens an rethren or to fall themselves y their ans. e has ecite omestic insrrections amongst s an has eneavore to ring on the inhaitants of or frontiers the merciless nian avages whose known rle of warfare is an nistingishe estrction of all ages sees an conitions.

n every stage of these ppressions

e have etitione for eress

in the most hmle terms r repeate etitions have een answere only y repeate inry

. rince whose character is ths

marke y every act which may efine a T

yrant is nfit to e the

rler of a free people. or have

e een wanting in attention to or ritish rethren.

e

have warne them from time to time of attempts y their legislatre to eten an nwarrantale risiction over s.

e have remine

them of the circmstances of or emigration an settlement here. e have appeale to their native stice an magnanimity

an we

have conre them y the ties of or common kinre to isavow these srpations which wol inevitaly interrpt or connections an corresponence. They too have een eaf to the voice of stice an of consanginity

.

e mst therefore aciesce in the

necessity which enonces or eparation an hol them as we hol the rest of mankin nemies in e T

ar in eace riens.

the epresentatives of the

T

T T

in eneral ongress ssemle appealing to the preme ge of the worl for the rectite of or intentions o in the ame an y thority of the goo eople of these

olonies

solemnly plish an eclare That these nite olonies are an of ight oght to e

TT

T

that they are

solve from all llegiance to the ritish rown an that all political connection etween them an the tate of reat ritain is an oght to e totally issolve an that as ree an nepenent

tates they have fll ower to levy

ar concle eace contract

lliances estalish ommerce an to o all other cts an Things which nepenent tates may of right o. n for the spport of this eclaration with a firm reliance on the protection of ivine rovience we mtally plege to each other or ives or ortnes an or sacre onor

.

or is ussion nd ritin . ow many eamples of wrongs one y the rown to the colonies are offere here hat is the ef fect of this list . n small grops compile lists of all of the if ferences etween the first an secon rafts of the eclaration. rite p a smmary of these changes an an analysis of how they make the final ocment more effective. . connections ompare the eclaration an eorge rwell s hooting an lephant . ow o these two conemnations of the ritish mpire if fer . Think aot merica toay . rom yor personal eperience an oservations iscss how it meets the promise of the opening of the eclaration s secon paragraph an how it oes not. . ooinrter ne of the state rationales ehin merican intervention in the affairs of other nations historically has een the iea that other peoples want to live ner the same kin of system of government that the eclaration helpe estalish in the nite tates. eeping in min the many far flng places where this ynamic has playe ot an oing some research if yo nee to which elements of the eclaration might have appeale to these peoples hich elements might e more prolematic

The gly T orist i in id s born Eine otter i hrdson in ntiu in nd rised there unti she eft for e

or hen she s

seventeen orin s doesti she returned to s hoo erned her hih s hoo nd oee derees nd returned to e

or to

rite here under her ne ne she eventuy be e stff riter for the ew

orker. She is the uthor of fifteen boos of oetry

fi tion nd nonfi tion bout her ribben hoe her fiy rdenin on other toi s in udin nnie ohn other he Uy

t the ottom of the iver

cy

y rother

The toiography of y

nd

ee ow Then

ourist hi h oriiny ered in

be e the oenin hter of

nd

arper s in

mall lace.

orker ree ted the essy s too nry

he editor of the ew

nd hen the fu boo

ered ny of the revie s reed o ever findin the boo

ny did not

s tone rorite to its sube t s you red ut

yoursef in the shoes of these editors nd revie ers oud you hve eted he Uy

ourist for ubi tion ht ind of revie

oud you hve iven it The thing yo have always sspecte aot yorself the minte yo ecome a torist is tre a torist is an gly hman eing.

o are

not an gly person all the time yo are not an gly person orinarily yo are not an gly person ay to ay nice person. rom ay to ay

. rom ay to ay

yo are a

all the people who are sppose to

love yo on the whole o. rom ay to ay

as yo walk own a sy

street in the large an moern an prosperos city in which yo work an live ismaye ple a clich t only a clich can eplain yo at how alone yo feel in this crow how awfl it is to go nnotice how awfl it is to go nlove even as yo are srrone y more people than yo col possily get to know in a lifetime that laste for millennia an then ot of the corner of yor eye yo see someone looking at yo an asolte pleasre is written all over that person s face an then yo realise that yo are not as revolting a presence as yo think yo are for that look st tol yo so . n so orinarily

yo are a nice person an attractive person a person

capale of rawing to yorself the af

fection of other people people

st like yo a person at home in yor own skin sort of mean in a way mean yor ismay an plement are natral to yo ecase people like yo st seem to e like that an so many of the things people like yo fin amirale aot yorselves the things yo think aot the things yo think really efine yo seem roote in these feelings a person at home in yor own hose an all its nice hose things with its nice ack yar an its nice ack yar things at home on yor street yor chrch in commnity activities yor o at home with yor family friens yo are a whole person. t one ay

yor relatives yor when yo are sitting

somewhere alone in that crow an that awfl feeling of isplaceness comes over yo an really

as an orinary person

yo are not well eippe to look too far inwar an set yorself aright ecase eing orinary is alreay so taing an eing orinary takes all yo have ot of yo an thogh the wors mst get away o not actally pass across yor lips yo make a leap

from eing that nice lo st sitting like a oo in yor amniotic sac of the moern eperience to eing a person visiting heaps of eath an rin an feeling alive an inspire at the sight of it to eing a person lying on some faraway each yor stille oy stinking an glistening in the san looking like something first forgotten then rememere then not important enogh to go ack for to eing a person marvelling at the harmony orinarily

what yo wol say is

the ackwarness an the nion these other people an they are other people have with natre. n yo look at the things they can o with a piece of orinary cloth the things they fashion ot of cheap vlgarly colore to yo twine the way they sat own over a hole they have mae in the gron the hole itself is something to marvel at an since yo are eing an gly person this gly t oyfl thoght will swell insie yo their ancestors were not clever in the way yors were an not rthless in the way yors were for then wol it not e yo who wol e in harmony with natre an ackwars in that charming

way n gly thing that is what yo are

when yo ecome a torist an gly

empty thing a stpi thing a

piece of rish pasing here an there to gae at this an taste that an it will never occr to yo that the people who inhait the place in which yo have st passe cannot stan yo that ehin their close oors they lagh at yor strangeness yo o not look the way they look the physical sight of yo oes not please them yo have a manners it is their cstom to eat their foo with their hans yo try eating their way

yo look silly yo try eating the way

yo always eat yo look silly they o not like the way yo speak yo have an accent they collapse helpless from laghter

mimicking the way they imagine yo mst look as yo carry ot some everyay oily fnction. They o not like yo. ie e

hey do not

That thoght never actally occrs to yo. till yo feel a

little neasy . till yo feel a little foolish. till yo feel a little ot of place. t the anality of yor own life is very real to yo it rove yo to this etreme spening yor ays an yor nights in the company of people who espise yo people yo o not like really people yo wol not want to have as yor actal neighor

. n so

yo mst evote yorself to pling ot how mch of what yo are tol is really

really tre s gron p ottle glass in peant sace

really a elicacy aron here or will it o st what yo think gron p ottle glass will o s this rare mlticolore snot mothe fish really an aphroisiac or will it case yo to fall asleep permanently . h the har work all of this is an is it any woner then that on yor retrn home yo feel the nee of a long rest so that yo can recover from yor life as a torist That the native oes not like the torist is not har to eplain. or every native of every place is a potential torist an every torist is a native of somewhere. very native everywhere lives a life of overwhelming an crshing anality an oreom an esperation an epression an every ee goo an a is an attempt to forget this. very native wol like to fin a way ot every native wol like a rest every native wol like a tor

. t some natives

most natives in the worl cannot go anywhere. They are too poor They are too poor to go anywhere. They are too poor to escape the reality of their lives an they are too poor to live properly in the place

.

where they live which is the very place yo the torist want to go so when the natives see yo

the torist they envy yo they envy

yor aility to leave yor own anality an oreom they envy yor aility to trn their own anality an oreom into a sorce of pleasre for yorself.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat oes incai arge is wrong with how torists think of natives . n aition to its revity what is notale aot The gly T orist is the length of its first paragraph. hat is the ef fect of reaing sch a long paragraph hy o yo think incai chose to write it that way . connections ea incai s essay net to arara hrenreich s erving in loria . ow are oth aot torism ow are oth aot class hat can the if ferences etween the two tell s aot each . rite aot a trip yo have taken it can e to another town or state or even another part of yor town it oesnt have to e to another contry . ow i it feel to e a torist i anything in yor eperience relate to incai s escription of torism lternatively write aot a time when yo have felt like a native in the presence of people from elsewhere visiting yor home. . ooinrter incai arges that it is a recognition of the anality an oreom par. of their lives that leas people to visit other parts of the worl. magine a conterargment to incai s. re there other reasons to want to see the rest of the worl ow wol yo compare them to the one incai assmes

eaing to

rite

Stehen in s born in in ortnd Mine nd rised in Mine

is onsin ndin nd onne ti ut e hs uthored

doens of noves of horror susense nd s ien e fi tion nine oe tions orth of short stories nd five boos of nonfi tion ny of his noves nd stories hve been de into fis in udin The hining

tan y e

hawshank eemption

nd

arrie

isery The reen ile

The hie

often thouht of s enre riter soeone ho rites the inds of our stories ie horror or s ien e fi tion in his se tht re not uite onsidered iterry fi tion his or hs in resiny been et ith riti rise edin to rite is ten fro in the raft

s boo n

n it this iny roifi

riting emoir of

riter ives dvi e bout

ritin tht ends u bein s u h bout ho to use one

s tie s it

is bout se ifi re oended tivities s you red see if you n extr t n underyin hiosohy of ife fro in f yo want to e a writer

s essy

yo mst o two things aove all others

rea a lot an write a lot. There

s no way aron these two things

that m aware of no shortct. m a slow reaer

t sally get throgh seventy or eighty ooks a

year mostly fiction. ont rea in orer to sty the craft rea ecase like to rea. t chair. imilarly

s what o at night kicke ack in my le

ont rea fiction to sty the art of fiction t

simply ecase like stories.

et there is a learning process going

on. very ook yo pick p has its own lesson or lessons an ite often the a ooks have more to teach than the goo ones. hen was in the eighth grae happene pon a paperack novel y rray einster

a science fiction plp writer who i most of his

work ring the forties an fifties when magaines

like in

Stories pai a penny a wor. ha rea other ooks y r

. einster

enogh to know that the ality of his writing was neven. This particlar tale which was aot mining in the asteroi elt was one of his less sccessfl ef actally

forts. nly that s too kin. t was terrile

a story poplate y paper thin characters an riven y

otlanish plot evelopments.

orst of all or so it seeme to me at

the time einster ha fallen in love with the wor

estfu .

haracters watche the approach of ore earing asterois with estfu sies

. haracters sat own to spper aoar their mining

ship with estfu nti ition

. ear the en of the ook the hero

swept the large reaste lone heroine into a

estfu ebr e

. or

me it was the literary eivalent of a smallpo vaccination have never so far as know se the wor

estfu in a novel or a story.

o willing never will. steroid Miners

which wasnt the title t that

an important ook in my life as a reaer

s close enogh was

. lmost everyone can

rememer losing his or her virginity

an most writers can rememer

the first ook heshe pt own thinking

n do better thn this

e doin better thn this

hat col e more encoraging to

the strggling writer than to realie hisher work is nestionaly etter than that of someone who actally got pai for hisher stf

f

ne learns most clearly what not to o y reaing a prose one novel like steroid Miners

or ey of the os o ers in the tti

an he rides of Mdison ounty

to name st a few is worth a

semester at a goo writing school even with the sperstar gest lectrers thrown in. oo writing on the other han teaches the learning writer aot style gracefl narration plot evelopment the creation of elievale characters an trth telling. novel like

he res of rth

may

fill a new writer with feelings of espair an goo ol fashione ealosy ll never e ale to write anything that goo not if live to e a thosan t sch feelings can also serve as a spr goaing the writer to work harer an aim higher

. eing swept away

y a comination of great story an great writing of eing flattene in fact is part of every writer

s necessary formation. o

cannot hope to sweep someone else away y the force of yor writing ntil it has een one to yo. o we rea to eperience the meiocre an the otright rotten sch eperience helps s to recognie those things when they egin to creep into or own work an to steer clear of them.

e also rea in

orer to measre orselves against the goo an the great to get a sense of all that can e one. n we rea in orer to eperience if ferent styles.

o may fin yorself aopting a style yo fin particlarly eciting an there s nothing wrong with that. hen rea ay rary as a ki wrote like ay rary everything green an wonros an seen throgh a lens smeare with the grease of nostalgia. hen rea ames . ain everything wrote came ot clippe an strippe an har oile. hen rea ovecraft my prose ecame lrios an yantine. wrote stories in my teenage years where all these styles merge creating a kin of hilarios stew stylistic lening is a necessary part of eveloping one t it oesnt occr in a vacm.

. This sort of s own style

o have to rea wiely

refining an reefining yor own work as yo o so. t

constantly s har for me

to elieve that people who rea very little or not at all in some cases shol presme to write an epect people to like what they have written t know it

s tre. f ha a nickel for every person

who ever tol me heshe wante to ecome a writer t int have time to rea col y myself a pretty goo steak inner

. an e

lnt on this sect f yo ont have time to rea yo ont have the time or the tools to write. imple as that. eaing is the creative center of a writer

s life. take a ook with me

everywhere go an fin there are all sorts of opportnities to ip in. The trick is to teach yorself to rea in small sips as well as in long swallows.

aiting rooms were mae for ooks of corse t so

are theater loies efore the show an everyone s favorite the ohn.

long an oring checkot lines o can even rea while yore

riving thanks to the aioook revoltion. f the ooks rea each year anywhere from si to a oen are on tape. s for all the

wonerfl raio yo will e missing come on how many times can yo listen to eep rple sing ighway tar eaing at meals is consiere re in polite society epect to sccee as a writer

t if yo

reness shol e the secon to

least of yor concerns. The least of all shol e polite

society an

what it epects. f yo inten to write as trthflly as yo can yor ays as a memer of polite society are nmere anyway here else can yo rea There

.

s always the treamill or whatever

yo se own at the local health cl to get aeroic. try to spen an hor oing that every ay

an think go ma withot a goo

novel to keep me company. ost eercise facilities at home as well as otsie it are now eippe with Ts t T while working ot or anywhere else really is aot the last thing an aspiring writer nees. f yo feel yo mst have the news analyst lowhars on while yo eercise or the stock market lowhars on or the sports lowhars on it

s time for yo to

estion how serios yo really are aot ecoming a writer

. o

mst e prepare to o some serios trning inwar towar the life of the imagination an that means m afrai that eralo eith lermann an ay eno mst go. eaing takes time an the glass teat takes too mch of it. nce weane from the ephemeral craving for T

most people will

fin they enoy the time they spen reaing. like to sggest that trning of f that enlessly acking o is apt to improve the ality

of yor life as well as the ality of yor writing. n how mch of a sacrifice are we talking aot here ow many

rsier

an E

rerns oes it take to make one merican life complete ow many ichar immons infomercials ow many whiteoyfatoy eltway insiers on h man ont get me starte. erry pringer r

.

re ge y erry alwell onny an arie rest my case. hen my son wen was seven or so he fell in love with rce pringsteen s treet an particlarly with larence lemons the an

s rly sa player

. wen ecie he wante to learn to play

like larence. y wife an were amse an elighte y this amition.

e were also hopefl as any parent wol e that or ki

wol trn ot to e talente perhaps even some sort of proigy

.

e got wen a tenor saophone for hristmas an lessons with oron owie one of the local msic men. Then we crosse or fingers an hope for the est. even months later sggeste to my wife that it was time to iscontine the sa lessons if wen concrre. wen i an with palpale relief he hant wante to say it himself

especially not

after asking for the sa in the first place t seven months ha een long enogh for him to realie that while he might love larence lemons s ig son the saophone was simply not for him o ha not given him that particlar talent. knew not ecase wen stoppe practicing t ecase he was practicing only ring the perios r

. owie ha set for him half an

hor after school for ays a week pls an hor on the weekens. wen mastere the scales an the notes nothing wrong with his memory his lngs or his eye han coorination t we never hear him taking of f srprising himself with something new himself ot. n as soon as his practice time was over

lissing

it was ack

into the case with the horn an there it staye ntil the net lesson or practice time. hat this sggeste to me was that when it came to the sa an my son there was never going to e any real playtime it was all going to e rehearsal. That s no goo. f there it s st no goo. t

s no oy in it

s est to go on to some other area where the

eposits of talent may e richer an the fn otient higher

.

Talent reners the whole iea of rehearsal meaningless when yo fin something at which yo are talente yo o it whatever

it is

ntil yor fingers lee or yor eyes are reay to fall ot of yor hea. ven when no one is listening or reaing or watching every oting is a ravra performance ecase yo as the creator are happy. erhaps even ecstatic. That goes for reaing an writing as well as for playing a msical instrment hitting a aseall or rnning the for forty . The sort of strenos reaing an writing program avocate for to si hors a ay

every ay will not seem

strenos if yo really enoy oing these things an have an aptite for them in fact yo may e following sch a program alreay

. f yo

feel yo nee permission to o all the reaing an writing yor little heart esires however

consier it herey grante y yors trly

.

The real importance of reaing is that it creates an ease an intimacy with the process of writing one comes to the contry of the writer with one s papers an ientification pretty mch in orer

.

onstant reaing will pll yo into a place a min set if yo like the phrase where yo can write eagerly an withot self consciosness. t also of fers yo a constantly growing knowlege of what has een one an what hasnt what is trite an

what is fresh what works an

what st lies there ying or ea on the page. The more yo rea the less apt yo are to make a fool of yorself with yor pen or wor processor.

or is ussion nd ritin . hy oes ing say that people who want to e writers shol rea . eaing to rite might not seem to e literatre it s nonfiction an informational rather than creative t it is well written. ake some oservations aot the way it is written ing s wor choices the kins of voice he ses the kins of stories he tells an consier what yo might learn as a ing writer from reaing it. . connections ompare ing s essay to reerick oglass s earning to ea an rite . n some ways these essays are very if ferent one is a reflection y a writer on achieving literacy espite his enslavement an the ef fect of this on his life the other an offering of avice on one important part of learning to write. n what ways are they similar re there points of comparison etween the athors motivations etween the ways they prse their share goal etween the ways they feel aot prsing it . rite a piece inspire y ing s essay. t can e aot writing if yo are passionate aot that or aot some other prsit acaemic creative or neither. Try to incle elements inspire y ing s essay tell a story or two aot yorself of fer oservations aot something important to that prsit maye one that others might overlook an convey the sense of eication that ing conveys in eaing to rite.

. ooinrter n rging aspiring writers to trn of f their televisions when eercising so they might se that time for reaing ing calls T the glass teat par. . rite a response informe y research on contemporary television which arges that writers have something to learn from television. ow might yo arge that T is not a glass teat t a sorce of information aot the worl as well as a place where goo writing can also e fon

r

anishing ight

ost city skies have ecome virtally empty of stars orn in in oordo nd rised in o nd iforni

eryn

inenbor hs h in Enish fro rin eton University nd hs tuht iterture nd retive ritin t nuber of oees nd universities e is on the editori bord of the is the uthor of aking ay The ral ife

ur

ork Times nd

The ast ine T

e hs ritten for the

eographic arper

ew ew

ime nd orker ational

s nd ny other ines

nishin iht hi h first ered in

ational eographic

sho s inenbor doin ore thn ritin bout the rur ife he hs tured so evo tivey in his ie es for the

ew

ork Times. s

you red observe ho he defty in orortes history nd s ien e into his ritin f hmans were trly at home ner the light of the moon an stars we wol go in arkness happily

the minight worl as visile to s

as it is to the vast nmer of noctrnal species on this planet. nstea we are irnal creatres with eyes aapte to living in the sn s light. This is a asic evoltionary fact even thogh most of s ont think of orselves as irnal eings any more than we think of orselves as primates or mammals or arthlings.

et it s the only

way to eplain what weve one to the night weve engineere it to receive s y filling it with light.

This kin of engineering is no if

ferent than amming a river . ts

enefits come with conseences calle light polltion whose effects scientists are only now eginning to sty

. ight polltion is

largely the reslt of a lighting esign which allows artificial light to shine otwar an pwar into the sky instea of focsing

where it s not wante

it ownwar where it is. ll esigne lighting

washes ot the arkness of night an raically alters the light levels an light rhythms to which many forms of life incling orselves have aapte. herever hman light spills into the natral worl some aspect of life migration reproction feeing is af fecte. or most of hman history

the phrase light polltion wol have

mae no sense. magine walking towar onon on a moonlit night aron when it was arth

s most poplos city

. early a

million people live there making o as they always ha with canles an rshlights an torches an lanterns. nly a few hoses were lit y gas an there wol e no plic gaslights in the streets or sares for another seven years. rom a few miles away wol have een as likely to

se

yo

onon as to see its im

collective glow. ow most of hmanity lives ner intersecting omes of reflecte refracte light of scattering rays from overlit cities an srs from light flooe highways an factories. early all of nighttime rope is a nela of light as is most of the nite tates an all of apan. n the soth tlantic the glow from a single fishing fleet si

fishermen lring their prey with metal halie lamps can e seen from space rning righter

in fact than enos ires or io e

aneiro. n most cities the sky looks as thogh it has een emptie of stars leaving ehin a vacant hae that mirrors or fear of the ark an resemles the ran glow of ystopian science fiction.

eve grown

so se to this pervasive orange hae that the original glory of an nlit night ark enogh for the planet

ens to throw shaows on

arth is wholly eyon or eperience eyon memory almost. n yet aove the city

s pale ceiling lies the rest of the niverse

tterly niminishe y the light we waste a right shoal of stars an planets an galaies shining in seemingly infinite arkness. eve lit p the night as if it were an noccpie contry

when

nothing col e frther from the trth. mong mammals alone the nmer of noctrnal species is astonishing. ight is a powerfl iological force an on many species it acts as a magnet a process eing stie y researchers sch as T

ravis ongcore an atherine

ich co foners of the os ngelesase ran illans rop. The ef

fect is so powerfl that scientists speak of songirs

an seairs eing captre y searchlights on lan or y the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms circling an circling in the thosans ntil they rop. igrating at night irs are apt to collie with rightly lit tall ilings immatre irs on their first orney sf fer isproportionately .

nsects of corse clster aron streetlights an feeing at those insect clsters is now ingraine in the lives of many at species. n some wiss valleys the ropean lesser horseshoe at egan to vanish after streetlights were installe perhaps ecase those valleys were senly fille with light feeing pipistrelle ats. ther noctrnal mammals incling esert roents frit ats opossms an agers forage more catiosly ner the permanent fll moon of light polltion ecase theyve ecome easier targets for preators. ome irs lackirs an nightingales among others sing at nnatral hors in the presence of artificial light. cientists have etermine that long artificial ays an artificially short nights ince early reeing in a wie range of irs. n ecase a longer ay allows for longer feeing it can also af ne poplation of ewick

fect migration scheles.

s swans wintering in nglan pt on fat

more rapily than sal priming them to egin their ierian migration early. The prolem of corse is that migration like most other aspects of ir ehavior

is a precisely time iological

ehavior . eaving early may mean arriving too soon for nesting conitions to e right. esting sea trtles which show a natral preisposition for ark eaches fin fewer an fewer of them to nest on. Their hatchlings which gravitate towar the righter

more reflective sea horion fin

themselves confse y artificial lighting ehin the each. n loria alone hatchling losses nmer in the hnres of thosans every

year. rogs an toas living near rightly lit highways sf

fer

noctrnal light levels that are as mch as a million times righter than normal throwing nearly every aspect of their ehavior ot of oint incling their nighttime reeing chorses. f all the polltions we face light polltion is perhaps the most easily remeie. imple changes in lighting esign an installation yiel immeiate changes in the amont of light spille into the atmosphere an often immeiate energy savings. t was once thoght that light polltion only af

fecte astronomers

who nee to see the night sky in all its glorios clarity

. n in fact

some of the earliest civic efforts to control light polltion in lagstaf f riona half a centry ago were mae to protect the view from owell servatory

which sits high aove that city .

lagstaf f has tightene its reglations since then an in it was eclare the first nternational ark ky ity

. y now the ef fort to

control light polltion has sprea aron the gloe. ore an more cities an even entire contries sch as the ech eplic have committe themselves to recing nwante glare. nlike astronomers most of s may not nee an niminishe view of the night sky for or work t like most other creatres we o nee arkness. arkness is as essential to or iological welfare to or internal clockwork as light itself. The reglar oscillation of waking an sleep in or lives one of or circaian rhythms is nothing less than a iological epression of the reglar oscillation of

light on arth. o fnamental are these rhythms to or eing that altering them is like altering gravity. or the past centry or so weve een performing an open ene eperiment on orselves etening the ay an short circiting the hman oy

shortening the night

s sensitive response to light.

The conseences of or right new worl are more reaily perceptile in less aaptale creatres living in the peripheral glow of or prosperity . t for hmans too light polltion may take a iological toll. t least one new sty has sggeste a irect correlation etween higher rates of reast cancer in women an the nighttime rightness of their neighorhoos. n the en hmans are no less trappe y light polltion than the frogs in a pon near a rightly lit highway own making we have ct orselves of

. iving in a glare of or

f from or evoltionary an

cltral patrimony the light of the stars an the rhythms of ay an night. n a very real sense light polltion cases s to lose sight of or tre place in the niverse to forget the scale of or eing which is est measre against the imensions of a eep night with the ilky

ay the ege of or galay arching overhea.

or is ussion nd ritin .

eve lit p the night as if it were an noccpie contry when nothing col e frther from the trth linkenorg writes par. ow have we one this y what is the night occpie . linkenorg makes an argment in r anishing ight t he oes so throgh the se of precise evocative escriptions. ften

.

these escriptions are of phenomena reaers may not have known aot or realie. ow o these kins of escriptions help linkenorg to make his argment . connections n mall hange hy the evoltion ill ot e Tweete alcolm lawell is pessimistic aot the potential of crrent social movements or at least those roote in social meia to ring aot real change. oes r anishing ight elieve in the possiility of change oes it consier the if ferences etween inivial action an social movements in ringing aot change . linkenorg escries the shortening of the night an lighting p of the night sky as an eperiment weve een performing on orselves. Think aot yor own life in these terms aot the amont of sleep yo get an the amont of night light yo eperience. o yo think the moern eperiment with light polltion has ha ef fects on yo . ooinrter oing some research think aot light polltion an other ways in which hmans have change the planet we live on. ollow yor thinking an see where it takes yo how oes the way we have change other things compare to this ave we change any things for the etter s it or place to worry aot the ef fect of the way we live hat will the planet look like in a hnre years n a thosan

The orth of ly udre orde e

s oet nd nonfi tion riter

orn in

or ity to ribben iirnts orde trined nd ored

s ibrrin nd be e

idey ubished oet in the s

hen she so be e oiti y tive er oetry oe tions in ude The irst ities lack nicorn

ales to age

nd

The

her other boos ere eoir nd oiti nd

so i theory in udin

The ancer ornals

nd

ami

ew pelling of y ame he ourth of uy is beutifuy sre yet for efu ie e of ritin n it reders n see the ner tht surred u h of orde hether bout r is s in this essy

s ritin

or bout sexis or

hoohobi but they n so see the ontro ith hi h orde exressed her ides nd the honesty ith hi h she ii ted hersef nd her fiy in her ritin The first time went to

ashington .. was on the ege of the

smmer when was sppose to stop eing a chil. t least that

s

what they sai to s all at graation from the eighth grae. y sister hyllis graate at the same time from high school. ont know what she was sppose to stop eing. t as graation presents for s oth the whole family took a orth of ly trip to ashington .. the fale an famos capital of or contry t was the first time ever een on a railroa train ring the ay hen was little an we se to go to the onnectict shore we

. .

always went at night on the milk train ecase it was cheaper

.

reparations were in the air aron or hose efore school was even over.

e packe for a week. There were two very large

sitcases that my father carrie an a o fille with foo. n fact my first trip to

ashington was a moile feast starte

eating as

soon as we were comfortaly ensconce in or seats an i not stop ntil somewhere after hilaelphia. rememer it was hilaelphia ecase was isappointe not to have passe y the ierty ell. y mother ha roaste two chickens an ct them p into ainty ite sie pieces. he packe slices of rown rea an tter an green pepper an carrot sticks. There were little violently yellow ice cakes with scallope eges calle marigols that came from shman

s akery . There was a spice n an rock cakes from

ewton s the ark

est nian akery across eno

vene from t.

s chool an ice tea in a wrappe mayonnaise ar

were sweet pickles for s an ill pickles for my father

. There an peaches

with the f still on them inivially wrappe to keep them from rising. n for neatness there were piles of napkins an a little tin o with a washcloth ampene with rosewater an glycerine for wiping sticky moths. wante to eat in the ining car ecase ha rea all aot them t my mother remine me for the mpteenth time that ining car foo always cost too mch money an esies yo never col tell

whose hans ha een playing all over that foo nor where those same hans ha een st efore. y mother never mentione that lack people were not allowe into railroa ining cars heae soth in . s sal whatever my mother i not like an col not change she ignore. erhaps it wol go away

eprive of her

attention. learne later that hyllis

s high school senior class trip ha een to

ashington t the nns ha given her ack her eposit in private eplaining to her that the class all of whom were white ecept hyllis wol e staying in a hotel where hyllis wol not e happy meaning ay eplaine to her i not rent rooms to egroes.

also in private that they e will take yo to

ashington

orselves my father ha avowe an not st for an overnight in some measly fleaag hotel. merican racism was a new an crshing reality that my parents ha to eal with every ay of their lives once they came to this contry

.

They hanle it as a private woe. y mother an father elieve that they col est protect their chilren from the realities of race in merica an the fact of merican racism

y never giving them

name mch less iscssing their natre.

e were tol we mst

never trst white people t

hy was never eplaine nor the

natre of their ill will. ike so many other vital pieces of information in my chilhoo was sppose to know withot eing tol. t always seeme like a very strange innction coming from my mother

who

looke so mch like one of those people we were never sppose to

trst. t something always warne me not to ask my mother why she wasnt white an why ntie illah an ntie tta werent even thogh they were all that same prolematic color so if

ferent

from my father an me even from my sisters who were somewhere in etween. n

ashington .. we ha one large room with two ole es

an an etra cot for me. t was a ack street hotel that elonge to a frien of my father s who was in real estate an spent the whole net ay after ass sinting p at the incoln emorial where arian nerson ha sng after the ... refse to allow her to sing in their aitorim ecase she was lack. r ecase she was olore my father sai as he tol s the story

. cept that what he

proaly sai was egro ecase for his times my father was ite progressive. was sinting ecase was in that silent agony that characterie all of my chilhoo smmers from the time school let ot in ne to the en of ly

roght aot y my ilate an vlnerale eyes

epose to the smmer rightness. viewe lys throgh an agoniing corolla of aling whiteness an always hate the orth of ly

even efore came to realie

the travesty sch a celeration was for lack people in this contry y parents i not approve of snglasses nor of their epense.

.

spent the afternoon sinting p at monments to freeom an past presiencies an emocracy

an wonering why the light an

heat were oth so mch stronger in home in ew

ashington .. than ack

ork ity . ven the pavement on the streets was a

shae lighter in color than ack home. ate that

ashington afternoon my family an walke ack own

ennsylvania

vene.

e were a proper caravan mother right an

father rown the three of s girls step stanars in etween. ove y or historical srronings an the heat of early evening my father ecree yet another treat. e ha

a great sense of history a

flair for the ietly ramatic an the sense of specialness of an occasion an a trip. hall we stop an have a little something to cool of

f in

Two locks away from or hotel the family stoppe for a ish of vanilla ice cream at a reyer s ice cream an soa fontain. noors the soa fontain was im an fan coole eliciosly relieving to my scorche eyes. ore an crisp an pinafore the five of s seate orselves one y one at the conter

. There was etween my mother an father

an my two sisters on the other sie of my mother

.

e settle

orselves along the white mottle marle conter

an when the

waitress spoke at first no one nerstoo what she was saying an so the five of s st sat there.

The waitress move along the line of s closer to my father an spoke again. sai kin give yo to take ot t yo cant eat here. orry . Then she roppe her eyes looking very emarrasse an senly we hear what it was she was saying all at the same time lo an clear

.

traight acke an inignant one y one my family an got own from the conter stools an trne aron an marche ot of the store iet an otrage as if we ha never een lack efore. o one wol answer my emphatic estions with anything other than a gilty silence. t we hant one anything This wasnt right or fair ant written poems aot ataan an freeom an emocracy for all y parents wolnt speak of this instice not ecase they ha contrite to it t ecase they felt they shol have anticipate it an avoie it. This mae me even angrier e acknowlege y a like fry

. y fry was not going to

. ven my two sisters copie my

parents pretense that nothing nsal an anti merican ha occrre. was left to write my angry letter to the presient of the nite tates all y myself althogh my father i promise col type it ot on the of fice typewriter net week after showe it to him in my copyook iary

.

The waitress was white an the conter was white an the ice cream never ate in

ashington .. that smmer left chilhoo

was white an the white heat an the white pavement an the white

stone monments of my first

ashington smmer mae me sick to

my stomach for the whole rest of that trip an it wasnt mch of a graation present after all.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat aective oes ore se si times in the essay s one sentence final paragraph hy o yo think she chose to se it so many times . Thogh ore says that the story she tells here really happene to her it is as careflly constrcte as any short story . ne aspect of story constrction she pays special attention to is setting things p in sch a way that the ramatic moment will have its greatest impact. hat is the ramatic moment in The orth of ly ow oes ore tell the story in a way that makes that moment especially effective . connections amaica incai s The gly T orist is in many ways ite if ferent from ore s essay from its narrative voice to its setting t oth essays are aot torists an race. ompare an contrast these two essays hat are their concerns ow o they eplore them ow o they se point of view scene an setting an narrative to get their points across inally how are their topics relate s there any way in which one col e mae to speak to the other . eflect on ore s se of irony in this essay . n one level irony is simply when yo say one thing t mean another or when people in a narrative perceive a sitation one way while reaers know theyre wrong on another eeper level irony is aot how things in the worl are wiely sai to e one way when in fact they are not that way at all. ow oes ore se the srface ironies availale to narrative the ways in which things arent what they seem to write aot the eeper ironies of merican society . ooinrter hat might re ore have to say aot this chilhoo eperience if she were still alive toay ow might the election of arack ama as presient have change the way she looke ack on this visit to ashington .. magine her possile reactions an not st in a things sre have change kin of way

try to consier ways in which her reactions might e mie an even contraictory .

n eing a ripple orn in in on e h iforni nd rised north of oston Mss husetts n y Mirs is oet essyist nd te her

She

hs ritten eoirs nd erson essys bout oen

s issues

disbiity nd deth in onteorry uture n n ein rie Mirs deonstrtes the o er of ritin tht onfronts so i issues throuh erson nrrtive s e s ierson nysis Strtin ith her bunt tite the ie e offers n extended onsidertion of ho definition ffe ts ho rites r

e hoose to ne disbiity

nd ho tht

e thin bout it not disese she

ote other o erfu oents in her essy hen

these t o strnds ross o es e is nothin ot to es e is nothin

The other ay was thinking of writing an essay on eing a cripple. was thinking har in one of the stalls of the women s room in my office iling as was shoving my shirt into my eans an tgging p my ipper

. reoccpie flshe picke p my ook ag took

my cane own from the hook an nlatche the oor

. o many

movements nalance me an as plle the oor open fell over ackwar laning flly clothe on the toilet seat with my legs splaye in front of me the ol eetle on its ack rotine. atray afternoon the iling eserte was free to lagh alo as wriggle ack to my feet my voice oncing of

f the yellowish tiles

from all irections. a anyone een there with me have een

still an faint an hot with chagrin. ecie that it was high time to write the essay. irst the matter of semantics. am a cripple. choose this wor to name me. choose from among several possiilities the most common of which are hanicappe an isale. mae the choice a nmer of years ago withot thinking naware of my motives for oing so. ven now

m not sre what

those motives are

t recognie that they are comple an not entirely flattering. eople cripple or not wince at the wor cripple as they o not at hanicappe or isale. erhaps want them to wince. want them to see me as a togh cstomer

one to whom the

fatesgosvirses have not een kin t who can face the rtal trth of her eistence sarely

. s a cripple swagger .

t to e fair to myself a certain amont of honesty nerlies my choice. ripple seems to me a clean wor straightforwar an precise. t has an honorale history

having mae its first appearance

in the inisfarne ospel in the tenth centry

. s a lover of wors

like the accracy with which it escries my conition have lost the fll se of my lims. isale y contrast sggests any incapacity physical or mental. n certainly ont like hanicappe which implies that have elierately een pt at a isavantage y whom cant imagine my o is not a anicapper eneral in orer to ealie chances in the great race of life. These wors seem to me to e moving away from my conition to e wiening the gap etween wor an reality

. ost remote is the recently coine

ephemism if

ferently ale which partakes of the same semantic

hopeflness that transforme contries from nevelope to nerevelope then to less evelope an finally to eveloping nations. eople have contine to starve in those contries ring the shift. ome realities o not oey the ictates of langage. ine is one of them. hatever yo call me remain cripple. t ont care what yo call me so long as it isnt if

ferently ale

which strikes me as pre veral garage esigne y its aility to escrie anyone to escrie no one. sscrie to eorge rwell

s

thesis that the slovenliness of or langage makes it easier for s to have foolish thoghts. n refse to participate in the egeneration of the langage to the etent that eny that have lost anything in the corse of this calamitos isease refse to preten that the only if ferences etween yo an me are the varios orinary ones that istingish any one person from another

. t call

me isale or hanicappe if yo like. have long since grown accstome to them an if they are vage at least they hint at the trth. oreover

se them myself. ociety is no reaier to accept

crippleness than to accept eath war

se sweat or wrinkles.

wol never refer to another person as a cripple. t is the wor se to name only myself. havent always een cripple a fact for which am sonly gratefl. To e whole of lim is know from eperience infinitely more pleasant an sefl than to e cripple an if that knowlege leaves

one open to itterness at my loss the physical sonness once enoye thogh i not enoy it half enogh is well worth the occasional sta of regret. Thogh never any goo at sports was a normally active chil an yong alt. clime trees playe hopscotch mpe rope skate swam roe my icycle saile. espise team sports spening some of the wretcheest afternoons of my life sweaty an hmiliate ehin a fiel hockey stick an ner a asketall hoop. trampe alone for miles along the rile paths that wee the woos ehin the hose grew p in. swaye throgh contless im hors in the arms of one man or another ner the scattere shot of light from mirrore alls an gyrate throgh contless more as T

a nter an ohnny athis

gave way to the olling tones reeence learwater evival ream. walke own the aisle. pshe ay carriages change tires in the rain marche for peace. hen was twenty eight starte to trip an rop things. hat at first seeme my natral clmsiness soon ecame too prononce to shrg of f. conslte a nerologist who tol me that ha a rain tmor . attery of tests increasingly isagreeale reveale no tmor . ot a year an a half later evelope a lrre spot in one eye. ha at last the episoes isseminate in space an time reisite for a iagnosis mltiple sclerosis. have never een sorry for the octor s initial misiagnosis however . or almost a week ntil the negative reslts of the tests were in thoght that was going to ie right away . very ay for the past nearly ten years then has een a kin of gift. accept all gifts.

ltiple sclerosis is a chronic egenerative isease of the central nervos system in which the myelin that sheathes the nerves is somehow eaten away an scar tisse forms in its place interrpting the nerves signals. ring its corse which is npreictale an ncontrollale one may lose vision hearing speech the aility to walk control of laer anor owels strength

in any or all

etremities sensitivity to toch viration anor pain potency coorination of movements the list of possiilities is lengthy an yes horrifying. ne may also lose one s sense of hmor . That s the easiest to lose an the harest to srvive withot. n the past ten years have sstaine some of these losses. haracteristic of are sen attacks calle eacerations followe y remissions an these have not ha. nstea my isease has een slowly progressive. y left leg is now so weak that walk with the ai of a race an a cane an for istances se an migo a variation on the electric wheelchair that looks rather like an electrifie kiie car

. no longer have mch se of my left han. ow

my right sie is weakening as well. still have the lrre spot in my right eye. verall thogh ve een lcky so far

. y worl has of

necessity een circmscrie y my losses t the terrain left me has een ample enogh for me to contine many of the activities that asor me writing teaching raising chilren an cats an plants an snakes reaing speaking plicly aot an epression even playing rige with people patient an honorale enogh to let me scatter cars every which way withot sneaking a peek.

est egin to son like ollyanna however

let me say that ont

like having . hate it. y life hols realities harsh ones some of them that no right mine hman eing oght to accept withot grmling. ne of them is fatige. know of no one with who oes not complain of one weariness in a isease that presents an astonishing variety of symptoms fatige seems to e a common factor. wake p in the morning feeling the way most people o at the en of a a ay

an take it from there. s a reslt spen a

lot of time in extreis

an impatient with limitation ten to ignore

my fatige ntil my oy reaks own in some way an forces rest. Then miss picnics inner parties poetry reaings the rief visits of ol friens from ot of town. The of eceptional veneraility

fspring of a pritanical traition of

cannot view these lapses withot shame.

y life often seems a series of small failres to o as oght. lea on the whole an orinary life proaly rather like the one wol have le ha not ha . am lcky that my preilections were alreay solitary

seentary

an ookish nlike the worl

famos rench cellist have rea aot or the yong

woman

talke with one long afternoon who wante only to e a ockey st egn graate school when fon ot something was wrong with me an have remaine interminaly

a graate stent.

erhaps wol not have if thoght ha the stamina to retrn to a fll time o as a technical eitor t ve enoye my sties. n aition to stying teach writing corses. also teach meical stents how to give nerological eaminations. pick p freelance

. ha

eiting os here an there. have raise a foster son an sent him into the worl where he has mae me two granaies an am still escorting my aghter an son throgh aolescence. go to ass every atray

. am a sper if messy

cook. am also an

enthsiastic lanress capale of sorting a hamper fll of clothes into five stly if

ferentiate piles t a terrile hosekeeper

o italic writing an in an emergency

. can

athe an oil soake cat. play

a fienish game of crale. hen have the time an the money like to sit on my front steps with my hsan rinking maretto an smoking a cigar as we imagine or conterparts in eningra an make sre that the sn gets own once more ehin the sharp chilish scrawl of the T cson ontains. This lively plenty has its leak complement of corse in all the things can no longer o. will never rn again ecept in reams an one ay may have to write that will never walk again. like to go camping t cant follow eorge an the chilren along the trails that waner ot of a campsite throgh the esert or into the montains. n fact even on the level ve learne never to check the weather or try to hol a coherent conversation nee all my attention for my waywar feet. f late have egn to catch myself wonering how people can propel themselves withot canes. ith only one sale han have to select my clothing with care not so mch for style as for ease of ingress an egress an even so ressing can e laorios. can no longer o fine stitchery aies play the piano rai my hair

. am immoilie y acte

pick p

attacks of epression which may or may not e physiologically relate to t are certainly its logical concomitant. These two elements the plenty an the privation are never pre nor are the elight an wretcheness that accompany them. lmost every pickle that get into as a reslt of my weakness

an

clmsiness an get into plenty is fnny as well as maening an sometimes painfl. recall one ay afternoon when a frien an were going ot for a rink after finishing p at school. s we were climing into opposite sies of my car

chatting trippe an fell flat

an har onto the asphalt parking lot my arpt epartre interrpting him in mi sentence. here yo go he calle as he came aron the ack of the car to fin me haling myself p y the oor frame. re yo all right rattly an we rove of

es tol him was fine st a it

f to fin a shay patio an some eer

got home an hor or so later

. hen

my aghter greete me with hat

have yo one to yorself looke own. ne elow of my white trtleneck with the green froggies one knee of my white trosers one white kneesock were loosoake.

e peele of f the clothes

an inspecte the amage which was nasty enogh t not alarming. That part wasnt fnny the arasions took a long time to heal an one got a little infecte. ven so when think of my frien talking earnestly senly

to the hot thin air while roppe from his

view as thogh throgh a trap oor something from a ar rothers movie.

fin the image as silly as

may fin it easier than other cripples to amse myself ecase live proppe y the acceptance an the assistance an sometimes the amsement of those aron me. rocery clerks tear my checks ot of my checkook for me an sales clerks fin chairs to pt into ressing rooms when want to try on clothes. The people work with make sre teach at times when am least likely to e fatige in places can get to with the materials nee. y stents with one anonymos eception in an en of the semester evalation have een npertre y my isaility

. ome even like it. ne was

immensely cheere y the information that paint my own fingernails she ecie she tol me that if col go to sch trole over fine etails she col keep on writing essays. sppose ecame some sort of right fingere mse. he wrote goo essays too. The most important strts in the framework of my eistence of corse are my hsan an chilren. ismayingly few marriages srvive the test an why shol they ost twenty two an nineteen year ols like eorge an me can vow in clear conscience after a chilhoo of chicken po an smmer cols to keep one another in sickness an in health so long as they oth shall live. ot many are eippe for catastrophe the ismay

the

epression the etra work the oreom that a egenerative isease can insinate into a relationship. n or society

with its emphasis

on fn an its association of fn with physical performance of little encoragement for a whole spose to stay with a cripple partner. hilren eperience similar stresses when face with a

fers

cripple parent an they are more helpless since parents an chilren cant sally get ivorce. They hate of corse to e if ferent from their peers an the chil whose mother is tacking own the aisle of a school aitorim packe with pro parents like a ape o inghy in a stif

f reee olly well stans ot in a crow.

eprive of legal ivorce the chil can at least eny the mother isaility

s

even her eistence forgetting to tell her aot recitals an

T meetings refsing to accompany her to stores or chrch or the movies never inviting friens to the hose. any o. t ve een limping along for ten years now the chilren are still at my left elow

an so far eorge an

holing tight. nne an

atthew vacm floors an st frnitre an hal trash an rake p og roppings an tton my cf

fs an ake lasagna an T

oll ose

cookies with st enogh grmling so know that they ont have rain fever . n far from hiing me theyre forever ragging me y racks of fancy clothes or throgh teeming school corriors or welcoming gaggles of friens while m wanering throgh the hose in nne s filmy pink ayoll paamas. eorge generally calls efore he rings someone home t he oes st as many m thankless chores as the chilren. n they all yell at me lagh at some of my okes write me fnny letters when were apart in short treat me as an orinary hman eing for whom they have some se. think they like me. nless theyre faking. . . . aking. There s the r. T

gging at the fringes of my consciosness

always is the terror that people are kin to me only ecase m a

cripple. y mother almost shattere me once with that instinct mothers have lin think in this case t nerring nonetheless for striking lows along the falt lines of their chilren telling me in an attack on my selfishness

s hearts y

e all have to make

allowances for yo of corse ecase of the way yo are. rom the istance of a cople of years have to amit that havent any iea st what she meant an m not

sre that she knew either . he

was awflly angry . t at the time as the wors the home felt my worst fear senly realie. col ear eing calle selfish am. t colnt ear the corrooration that those aron me were oing in fact what always sspecte them of oing professing fonness while silently ptting p with me ecase of the way am. cripple. ve een a little cracke ever since. long with this fear that people are secretly accepting shoy goos comes a relentless pressre to please to prove myself worth the rens impose gess or to il a sstantial accont of goowill against which may write rafts in times of nee. art of the pressre arises from social epectations. n or society

anyone who

eviates from the norm ha etter fin some way to compensate. ike fat people who are epecte to e olly lot meekly an cheerflly

cripples mst ear their

. grmpy cripple isnt playing y the rles.

n mch of pressre is self generate. arly on vowe that if ha to have y o was going to o it well. This is a class act laies an gentlemen. o tears no recriminations no faint hearteness.

ne way an another

then win p feeling like T

iny Tim peering

over the ege of the tale at the hristmas goose waving my crtch piping own o

s lessing on s all. nly sometimes ont want to

play Tiny Tim. rather e alian a most scrvy monster ortnately

.

at home no one mch cares whether m a goo cripple

or a a cripple as long as make vichyssoise with fair reglarity

.

ne evening several years ago nne was reaing at the ining room tale while cooke inner

. s opene a can of tomatoes the

can slippe in my left han an ice spattere me an the conter with looy spots. atige an infriate ellowe m so sick of eing cripple nne glance at me over the top of her ook. There now she sai o yo feel etter went ack to her reaing. felt etter

es sai yes o. he . That s aot all the attention

my scrviness ever gets. ecase hate eing cripple sometimes hate myself for eing a cripple. ver the years have come to epect even accept attacks of violent self loathing. ckily

in general or society no

longer connects eformity an isease irectly with evil thogh a charismatic once tol me that have ecase a evil is in me an so m allowe to move largely at will even among small chilren. t m not sre that this revision

of attite has een

particlarly helpfl. hysical imperfection even free of moral isapproation still efies an violates the ieal especially for women whose confinement in their oies as oects of esire is far from over. ach age of corse has its ieal an ot that ors is any etter or worse than any other . Toay s ieal woman who lives

on the glossy pages of oens of magaines seems to e etween the ages of eighteen an twenty five her hair has oy flash white her reath smells minty

her teeth

her nerarms are ry she has

a career t is still a falos cook especially of meals that take less than twenty mintes to prepare she oes not orinarily appear to have a hsan or chilren she is trim an eeply tanne she ogs swims plays tennis ries a icycle sails t oes not owl she travels wiely

even to ot of the way places like inlan an

amoa always in the company of the ieal man who possesses a nearly ientical set of characteristics. There are a few eceptions. Thogh sally white an often lone she may e lack ispanic sian or ative merican so long as she is nsally sleek. he may e ol provie she is selling a laative or is aren acall. f she is selling a etergent she may e marrie an have a flock of strikingly messy chilren. t she is never a cripple. ike many women know with my oy

have always ha an neasy relationship

. was not a poplar chil largely

was pecliar intelligent intense mooy

think now ecase

shy given to nepecte

actions an ineplicale notions an emotions. t as entere aolescence elieve myself npoplar ecase was homely my reasts too flat my moth too wie my hips too narrow

my clothing

never ite right in fit or style. was not in fact particlarly gly photographs inform me thogh was well of f the ieal t carrie this sense of self alienation with me into althoo where it regenerate in response to the epreations of . ven with my race walk with a limp so prononce that seeing myself on the

ol

vieotape of a television program on the isale colnt elieve that anything t an inchworm col make progress hmping along like that. y sholers roop an my pelvis thrsts forwar as try to alance myself pright throwing my frame into a ony . s a reslt of contractres one sholer is higher than the other an carry one arm ent in front of me the fingers crle into a claw an leg have waste into pipestems an try

. y left arm

always to keep them

covere. hen think aot how my oy mst look to others especially to men to whom have een traine to isplay myself feel licros even loathsome. t my age however

ont spen mch time thinking aot my

appearance. The rning egocentricity of aolescence which assres one that all the worl is looking all the time has passe thank o an m generally too caght p in what m oing to step ack as se to an watch myself as thogh pon a stage. m also too ol to elieve in the accracy of self image. know that m not a hieos crone that in fact when m reste well resse an well mae p look fine. The self loathing feel is neither physically nor intellectally sstantial. hat hate is not me t a isease. am not a isease. n a isease is not at least not singlehanely going to etermine who am thogh at first it seeme to e going to. sting to a chronic incrale illness have move throgh a process similar to that otline y lisaeth ler oss in

n

eth nd yin

. The maor if ference an it is far more

significant than most people recognie is that cant e sre of the otcome as the terminally ill cancer patient can. esearch sties inicate that with proper meical care may achieve a normal life span. n in or society

with its vision of eath as the

ltimate evil worse even than ecrepite the response to sch news is h well at least yore not going to

die. re there worse

things than ying think that there may e. think of two women know

oth with oth enogh oler than

to have serve me as moels. ne took to her e several years ago an has een there ever since. lthogh she can sit in a high acke wheelchair

ecase she is incontinent she refses to go ot

at all even thogh incontinence pants which are reaily availale at any pharmacy col protect her from emarrassment. nstea she stays at home an insists that her hsan a small iet man a retire civil servant stay there with her ecept for a ick weekly foray to the spermarket. The other woman whose illness was iagnose when she was eighteen a nrsing stent engage to a yong octor

finishe her training marrie her octor

accompanie

him to ermany when he was in the service ore three sons an a aghter

now grown an gone. hen she can she travels with her

hsan

she plays rige emroiers swims reglarly she works

like me as a symptomatic patient instrctor of meical stents in nerology . ess which woman hope to e.

t the eginning thoght aot having almost incessantly an ecase of the npreictale corse of the isease my thoghts were always terrifie. ach night get into e wonering whether get ot again the net morning whether e ale to see to speak to hol a pen etween my fingers. nowing that the ay might come when e physically incapale of killing myself thoght perhaps oght to o so right away

while still ha the

strength. raally came to nerstan that the ancy who might one ay lie inert ner a esheet arms an legs paralye nale to fee or athe herself nale to reach ot for a gn a ottle of pills was not the ancy was at present an that col not presme to make ecisions for that ftre ancy

who might well not

want in the least to ie. ow the only provision ve mae for the ftre ancy is that when the time comes an it is likely to come in the form of pnemonia frien to the weak an the ol am not to e treate with machines an meications. f she is nale to commnicate y then hope she will e satisfie with these terms. Thinking all the time aot having grew tiresome an intrsive especially in the large an tragic moe in which was accstome to consiering my plight. onths an even years went y withot catastrophe at least withot one relate to awflly sy

an really was

what with eorge an chilren an snakes an

stents an poems an hant the time let alone the inclination to evote myself to eing a isease. T

oo the richer my life ecame

the fnnier it seeme as thogh there were some connection etween largesse an laghter

an so my tragic stance egan to

waver ntil even with the ai of a race an a cane colnt hol it for very long at a time. fter several years was satisfie with my astment. ha sf my grief an fry an terror

fere

thoght t now was at ease with my

lot. Then one smmer ay set ot with eorge an the chilren across the esert for a vacation in alifornia. art way to ecame aware that my right leg felt fnny

ma

. think ve ha an

eaceration tol eorge. hat shall we o he aske. think we etter get the hell to alifornia sai ecase ont know whether ll ever make it again.

o we went on to an iego an

then to range p the acific oast ighway to anta r across to osemite own to eoia an osha T

ree an so ack over

the esert to home. t was a fine two week trip fille with friens an fair weather an wolnt have misse it for the worl thogh i in fact make it ack to alifornia two years later

. or wol there

have een any point in missing it since in once the symptoms have appeare the nerological amage has een one an there s no way to preict or prevent that amage. The incient spoile my self satisfaction however grief an fry an terror

. t renewe my

an learne that one never finishes

asting to . ont know now why thoght one wol. ne oes not after all finish asting to life an is simply a fact of my life not my favorite fact of corse t as orinary as my nose an my tropical fish an my yellow aa station wagon. t may at any time get worse t no amont of worry

or anticipation

can prepare me for a new loss. y life is a lesson in losses. learn one at a time. n ha est e patient in the learning since ll have to o it like it or not. s any rock fan knows yo cant always get what yo want. articlarly when yo have .

o cant for eample get cre. n

recent years researchers an the organiations that fn research have starte to pay some attention even thogh it isnt fatal perhaps they have egn to see that life is something other than a antitative phenomenon that one may e very mch alive for a very long time in a life that isnt worth living. The researchers have mae some progress towar nerstaning the mechanism of the isease it may well e an atoimmne reaction triggere y a slow acting virs. t they are nowhere near its prevention control or cre. n most of s want to e cre. ome nale to accept incraility

grasp at one treatment after another no matter how

iarre megavitamin therapy

glten free iet inections of cora

venom hypothermal sits lymphocytopharesis hyperaric chamers. any treatments are proaly harmless enogh t none are crative. The asence of a cre often makes patients itter towar their octors. octors are after all the priests of moern society

the new

shamans whose siness is to heal an many an patient roves from one to another searching for the goo octor who will make him well. octors too think of themselves as healers an for this reason many have trole ealing with patients whose isease

in its intransigence efeats their aims an mocks their skills. T

oo few

octors it is tre treat their patients as whole hman eings t the reverse is also tre. have always trie to e gentle with my octors who often have more at stake in terms of ego than o. may e frstrate maene epresse y the incraility of my isease t am not iminishe y it an they are. hen psh myself p from my seat in the waiting room an stmle towar them incarnate the limitation of their powers. The least can o is refse to press on their tenerest spots. This gentleness is part of the reason that m not sorry to e a cripple. int have it efore. erhaps have evelope it anyway how col know sch a thing an wish ha more of it t m gla of what have. t has opene an enriche my life enormosly

this sense that my frailty an nee mst e mirrore in

others that in searching for an shaping a stale core in a life wrenche y change an loss change an loss mst recognie the same process ner inivial conitions in the lives aron me. o not eprecate sch knowlege however ve come y it. ll the same if a cre were fon wol take it n a minte. may e a cripple t m only occasionally a loony an never a saint. nyway

in my ran of theology o oesnt give ons points for a

limp. take a cre st ont nee one. frien who also has startle me once y asking o yo ever say to yorself hy me or o ichael ont tol him ecase whenever try the only response can think of is hy not f col make a

cosmic eal who wol pt in my place hat in my life wol give p in echange for son lims an a thrilling rsh of energy o one. othing. might as well o the o myself. ow that m getting the hang of it.

or is ussion nd ritin . ake two lists one of airs s talents an one of the activities her makes if ficlt or impossile. . s a cripple swagger airs writes par. . hat oes this mean ore generally what is airs saying aot her in this essay ow oes this se of the wor rie help her say it . connections airs reects the laels hanicappe an isale preferring cripple even thogh many see it as of fensive. ompare airs s attention to wors in this essay to loria nala s in ow to Tame a il T onge . hat power oes nala see wors having hat can wors o an no re there moments when nala harnesses that power for herself in ways analogos to what airs oes in n eing a ripple . Think aot the way others see yo an the way yo see yorself. ow wol yo correct their perception of yo if it were possile . ooinrter ea p on ranklin elano oosevelt s physical isaility . hile some attites an laws have change since the s o yo think they have change enogh that if he were presient toay he col or wol act if ferently aot his isaility ake an argment ase on evience incling crrent laws an crrent politicians.

The hosts in r achines Mtthe

Mdy is

riter

ereey

e erned his underrdute deree fro Syr use

University nd his S hoo e is

editor nd ttorney ivin in

deree fro the University of Mi hin

ounist for

late nd The wl nd hs ritten for

other ines in udin the

ew eplic

the ew

e hs been editor of

ork Times againe.

chool againe

nd

the ew

orker nd olmia aw

trong againe.

he hosts in ur M hines first ered on the

ew

orker

ebsite s uture es hi h it des ribes s in udin onverstions bout ovies teevision thetre usi nd other utur events hen you red this essy

thin bout hy the

uture es editor nted it for the uture es ht utur event henoenon or deveoent is it bout tht erned it its eent very now an again when ve een working for too many hors withot a reak or have spent an entire ay writing something mp on oogle aps treet The images on treet

iew an get lost in my past. iew taken y fancy cameras that are sally

thogh not always strappe to the tops of cars are a oon for asement welling architectre f

fs an those who want to see the

worl withot going roke. se the site for far less cosmopolitan prposes. track own aseall iamons an ike trails playe on as a ki. locate comic ook shops from ack in the ay

ol college

orms hotels my family staye in ring smmer vacations ack when we took smmer vacations as a family . plop own in places ve een places that have meant something to me an look aron. Then compare the contemporary to what

s in my memory.

t s a way to nwin a respite from more taing laptop ase eneavors. n some cases the all fiel or iling rememer no longer eists. wol never call the crmmy two story hose live in

ring the

smmer etween nergra an law school paraise t it was in fact knocke own pave over

an trne into a parking lot. ther

times ve happene pon more pleasant changes eatifl floweres that werent there in a new in gron swimming pool at the rec center etter paint choices. hen really want to ig in ll treat these treet

iew aventres as mini treasre hnts

attempting to come p with the most oscre an faintly hel memory of a place to make my search for that location as if ficlt as possile. arlier this year

rememere a weir mile school trip

took to somewhere in eorgia for what amonte to a national convention of nery kis. ts of

ficial name was caemic ames.

was twelve at the time an all recalle aot the event was that it was hel at some gigantic type place in the woos an that lost the fishing ro ha roght all the way from ennsylvania when was showing off for some girls. y grip slippe while casting an accientally chcke it into the lake. nyway treet

fon that place on

iew. The campgron is st north of atonton eorgia. y

fishing ro is somewhere at the ottom of ock agle ake.

That was a togh one. t took me a while to fin. ore recently treet

on a late night after a long ay of writing picke a

iew target that was mch simpler

so col take a ick

mental ant an then go to e. ecie to check ot a hose live in ring my late teens an that my mother contine to live in ntil she passe away

nepectely

right aron this time two

years ago. crrently live miles from that home an hant een there since a few years efore my mom ie. mainly wante to see how the street an neighorhoo ha change. starte at the top of the street an worke my way own towar her hose. The oogle aps car ha apparently passe y on the most glorios of spring ays. The sky le.

in the pictres is a rilliant shae of

ars teem with right crimson apanese maples an well

manicre shrery

. s move the crsor own the street

notice all sorts of newly constrcte picket fences that never seen efore. T rees ha sprote p in the yars of my former neighors. ccoring to the

e site the images ha een taken in pril of

an was gla to see that my ol street was oing st fine. That was no great srprise thogh my mom live on a

sran

lock in a mile class neighorhoo with lots of trees. hat saw was pretty mch what ha epecte to see.

hen reache my mother

s hose that all change. irst notice

that a gigantic merican flag ha een af

fie to the mailo post at

the corner of the riveway . That was new. Then spotte the fire pit in the front yar that my mom an her hsan my stepfather for lock parties an the grill on the patio an my mom

se s car. n

then there she was ot front walking on the path that leas from the riveway to the home s front oor . y mom. t first was convince that it colnt e her things. hen

that was st seeing

s the last time yove spotte someone yo know on

oogle aps never ha. n my mother alive. t colnt e her

esies is no longer

.

That feeling passe ickly

. ecase it

s

her. n the photo my

mom is wearing a pair of lack slacks an a floral print lose. er hair is eactly as always rememer it. he

s carrying what appears

to e a small grocery ag. The conflence of emotions when registere what was looking at was nlike anything ha ever eperience something akin to the simltaneos rsh of a million overlapping feelings. There was oy certainly om fon yo an yo elieve it t also eep eep saness. There was heartreak an hrt criosity an woner

an everything seemingly

in etween.

crie for a minte. Then chckle. shook my hea. t was as thogh my min an oy ha no cle how to appropriately respon

so was mae to o a little it of everything all at once. t almost immeiately realie how fortnate was to have mae the iscovery at some point in the ftre an proaly ite soon oogle will pate the pictres of my mom

s ol street an those

images of her will isappear from the nternet. it my lip an starte clicking aron. y moving the camera position p an own the street an sing the oom fnction col trace my mom s movements on that ay as the oogle car rove y n the first frame she s a few paces from the oor

with her ack to

the street she was proaly st retrning from work. Then she veers from the path towar the neighor

s hose yo can see in

another photo that neighor ot front picking p a newspaper m pretty certain my mom riefly stoppe to say

hello. Then in the net

cople of frames she reaches the front oor

opens it an goes

insie. n that last one yo can arely see my mom as the oor closes ehin her

.

t took me a while to fall asleep that night an the whole net ay walke aron in a ae. ll col think aot was my mom. t was impossile to concentrate on anything else for more than a few moments. eeling share the eperience with a close frien a woman who nlike me is ite religios an who lost her father to cancer a few years ago. he ha helpe me get throgh the pain an sorrow felt after my mom ie. hen my frien hear aot the treet

iew iscovery

she was thrille. These things happen she

tol me. n theyll sneak p on yo at the oest times. he sai

.

she calls nepecte connections with lost love ones winks an that they happen to her often. ertain songs will come on the raio when she is thinking of her father or shell fin something on the each with his initials on it stf

f like that. ont generally think aot

things in the intensely spirital way this frien oes t fining these oogle aps photos of my mother felt like a wink of monmental proportions. t is now a few weeks later an that late night iscovery still occpies my min for long stretches of each ay

. t has also

prompte me to pay more attention to the epaning mltifacete role technology plays in the eperience of grief. aceook is awash in memorials an posts paying trite to ecease love ones of corse an scores of

e sites are in the online oitary siness.

t in most instances people have to seek ot that content in one way or another. t oesnt sneak p on yo. ot so for the amsh style online reminers that egan arriving shortly after my mom

s

eath an still throw me for a loop every single time. ach year

receive atomate aceook reminers rging me not

to forget to wish my mom a happy irthay leaing p to other

s ay

. ring the weeks

the flower company T withot fail

sens etween five an ten e mails to my ol

ahoo accont telling

me that shol not wait any longer efore orering flowers for mom. int even realie that my mother ha oine inken ntil anary n of this year

when receive one of those maening compter

generate e mails informing me that her o anniversary was coming p. These fleeting online occrrences can make an alreay if

ficlt

grieving process even more complicate an iarre mainly ecase it

s more if ficlt than yo might epect to ecie finally

what to make of these things or what to o aot them. y treet iew iscovery was the est t it was also the worst. Those aceook pings aot my ecease mom ont think want them to go away forever

s irthay other me t .

n some ways these sorrowfl little lips feel like a reoot of an ol low tech phenomenon the way that after the loss of a love one people pop p at every trn to either ask yo how yo are oing or rge yo to think of all the goo times. t my mom s fneral several people hant seen in years or arely knew came p to me an mi hg sai things like o yo rememer that time we all went to sch an sch place together or ememer when yor mom sai sch an sch an it was st so wonerfl n each case i rememer the times eing reference an for the most part was happy to have een remine of them. They also mae the saness hit even harer thogh an interactions like that contine for weeks after someone close to yo ies.

The nepecte tech taps ve eperience ring the past few years feel similarly welcome an nwelcome heartwarming an grief eacerating mch appreciate an yet still somehow pretty terrile. f yo were to ask me right now whether m looking forwar to receiving the e mails that are sre to appear in my ino ring the first few weeks of ecemer

iniring whether like to sen

another holiay wreath to my mom this year

or whether my mother

might want another frame photo from rt.com wol answer withot any heging or hesitation asoltely not. t trth e tol when those e mails arrive in aition to ecoming very sa will also e remine of my mom an will e gla for that. ntil those rane mortality reminers start rolling in later this year ll still have the iracle on oogle treet

iew to recall. took

screenshots of my mom from every angle availale on the site save them to my har rive an e maile copies to myself st in case my har rive crashes at some point. Then like a living reathing grief complicating clich e maile the images to family an friens in orer to simltaneosly righten an rin their ays. or is ussion nd ritin . The phrase ghost in the machine originate in philosophy an refers to the iea that the min an the physical oy are separate an inepenent things. t has also come to e se to refer to the phenomenon of compters seeming to o other than what they are sppose to as if possessing or possesse y an inepenent consciosness. hat is alay referring to when he ses the phrase

. .

.

.

in his title hy o yo think he might have wante to se this phrase ow wol yo characterie tone in this essay ow oes it epress what its athor seems to e trying to commnicate connections Think aot alay s essay in relation to alcolm lawell s mall hange hy the evoltion ill ot e T weete . ow oes each essay reflect on the presence of the igital in or lives hat role oes each athor think compters play in or lives rite aot grief yor eperience of it yor oservations of others eperiences yor thoghts aot how if ferent cltres grieve. ow o we o it hy hat oes it mean hat can it tell s aot what we vale an aot or worl ooinrter se oogle aps to investigate places from yor past an write aot what yo fin. o things look as yo rememer them as anything change hat is it like to see them again

Two

ays to elong in merica

orn in nd rised in utt ndi hrti Muheree iirted to the United Sttes in nd erned n M

nd

h in iterture Muheree is the uthor of sever noves in udin Tiger s aghter aghters

nd

asmine

The Tree rie

short story oe tions su h s

esirale

She hs so ritten

The ileman an ther tories

She is rofessor eerit t the University of iforni ereey o

ys to eon in eri first ered in the

ew

ork

Times. t s ritten to ddress oveent in onress to te y overnent benefits fro resident iens ie her fi tion thouh it is bout the issues tht onfront iirnts in eri This is a tale of two sisters from alctta ira an harati who have live in the nite tates for some years t who fin themselves on if ferent sies in the crrent eate over the stats of immigrants. am an merican citien an she is not. am move that thosans of long term resients are finally taking the oath of citienship. he is not. ira arrive in etroit in to sty chil psychology an pre school ecation. followe her a year later to sty creative writing at the niversity of owa. hen we left nia we were almost ientical in appearance an attite.

e resse alike in saris we

epresse ientical views on politics social isses love an

marriage in the same alctta convent school accent.

e wol

enre or two years in merica secre or egrees then retrn to nia to marry the grooms of or father

s choosing.

nstea ira marrie an nian stent in who was getting his siness aministration egree at

ayne tate niversity

. They

soon acire the laor certifications necessary for the green car of hassle free resience an employment. ira still lives in etroit works in the othfiel ich. school system an has ecome nationally recognie for her contritions in the fiels of pre school ecation an parent teacher relationships. fter years as a legal immigrant in this contry

she

clings passionately to her nian citienship an hopes to go home to nia when she retires. n owa ity in

marrie a fellow stent an merican of

anaian parentage. ecase of the accient of his orth akota irth ypasse laor certification reirements an the race relate ota system that favore the applicant

s contry of origin

over his or her merit. was prepare for an even welcome the emotional strain that came with marrying otsie my ethnic commnity . n years of marriage we have live in every part of orth merica. y choosing a hsan who was not my father selection was opting for fliity

s

self invention le eans an T

shirts an renoncing years at least of caste oservant pre cltre marriage in the kheree family

. y ooks have often

een rea as napologetic an in some arters overenthsiastic tets for cltral an psychological mongreliation. t

s a wor

celerate. ira an have staye sisterly close y phone. n or reglar nay morning conversations we are ngarely af am her only loo relative on this continent.

fectionate. e epect to see each

other throgh the looming crises of aging an ill health withot eing aske. ong efore

ice resient ore

s itienship ... rive

we ha or polite argments over the ethics of retaining an overseas citienship while epecting the permanent protection an economic enefits that come with living an working in merica. ike well raise sisters we never sai what was really on or mins t we proaly pitie one another

. he for the lack of strctre in

my life the erasre of nianness the asence of an nvarying aily core. for the narrowness of her perspective her ninvolvement with the mythic epths or the sperficial pop cltre of this society t now

.

with the scapegoatings of aliens ocmente or illegal

on the increase an the targeting of long term legal immigrants like ira for new scrtiny an new self consciosness she an orselves nale to maintain the same polite iscretion. always nacknowlege aversaries an we are now ever sisters. feel se ira rage on the phone the other night. feel maniplate an iscare. This is sch an nfair way to treat a

fin e were more than

person who was invite to stay an work here ecase of her talent. y employer went to the ... an petitione for the laor certification. or over years ve investe my creativity an professional skills into the improvement of this contry s pre school system. ve oeye all the rles ve pai my taes love my work love my stents love the friens ve mae. ow are merica now change its rles in mistream f merica wants to make new rles crtailing enefits of legal immigrants they shol apply only to immigrants who arrive after those rles are alreay in place. To my ears it sone like the escription of a long enring comfortale yet loveless marriage withot risk or recklessness. ave we the right to eman an to epect that we e love That to me is the stet of the argments y immigration avocates. y sister is an epatriate professionally generos an creative socially corteos an gracios an that

s as far as her

mericaniation can go. he is here to maintain an ientity

not to

transform it. aske her if she wol follow the eample of others who have ecie to ecome citiens ecase of the anti immigration ills in ongress. n here she srprise me. f merica wants to play the maniplative game ll play it too she snappe. ll ecome a .. citien for now

then change ack to nia when m reay to go

home. feel some kin of irrational attachment to nia that ont to merica. ntil all this hysteria against legal immigrants was totally happy. aving my green car meant col visit any place in the

worl wante to an then come ack to a o that

s satisfying an

that o very well. n one family from two sisters alike as peas in a po there col not e a wier ivergence of immigrant eperience. merica spoke to me marrie it emrace the emotion from epatriate aristocrat to immigrant nooy

srrenering those thosans of

years of pre cltre the saris the

elightflly accente nglish.

he retaine them all. hich of s is the freak ira

s voice realie is the voice not st of the immigrant oth

sian commnity t of an immigrant commnity of the millions who have staye roote in one o one city

one hose one ancestral

cltre one cisine for the entirety of their proctive years. he speaks for greater nmers than possily can. nly the flency of her nglish an the anger her ecation if

rather than fear orn of confience from

ferentiate her from the seamstresses the

omestics the technicians the shop owners the millions of har working t ef

fectively silence ocmente immigrants as well as

their less fortnate illegal rothers an sisters. early years ago when was living in my hsan

s ancestral

homelan of anaa was always well employe t never allowe to feel part of the local eec or larger anaian society throgh a reen aper that invite a national referenm on the nwante sie ef

fects of nontraitional immigration the

. Then

government officially trne against its immigrant commnities particlarly those from oth sia. felt then the same sense of etrayal that ira feels now

. will never

forget the pain of that sen trning an the casal racist otrsts the reen aper elicite. That sense of etrayal ha its esire effect an rove me an thosans like me from the contry ira an if

.

fer however in the ways in which we hope to interact

with the contry that we have chosen to live in. he is happier to live in merica as epatriate nian than as an immigrant merican. nee to feel like a part of the commnity have aopte as trie to feel in anaa as well . nee to pt roots own to vote an make the if ference that can. The price that the immigrant willingly pays an that the eile avois is the trama of self transformation. or is ussion nd ritin . ake a list of specific alities ehaviors an eliefs for each of the two sisters. hat similarities an if ferences are evient . kheree spens mch of this essay comparing herself to her sister. hat larger comparison oes this analysis spport . connections kheree s essay contains a lot of ackgron information aot politics an history which she skillflly weaves into the story she tells aot herself an her sister . ompare the way she weaves together these two strans of the narrative with the methos employe y ahawa aile in oing t lone . . Think of a siling or frien with whom yo isagree vehemently over some isse or iea. escrie yor argments aot it. re they polite as kheree says hers are with her sister . ooinrter kheree otes her sister as escriing her own allegiance to her native cltre as some kin of irrational

attachment par. . ol yo escrie it as irrational as some critics of mlticltralism o r o yo fin it a natral reslt of her ientity as avocates of mlticltralism o esearch mlticltralism an iscss Two ays to elong in merica light of mlticltralism as oth emographic fact an political philosophy.

in the

nian eas oy rne is

riter nd n enroed eber of the heyenne

nd rhoe tribes e s born nd rised in nd iforni rne erned S in sound enineerin nd n M

fro the

nstitute of eri n ndin rts here he no te hes his essy is the rooue of rne

s debut nove There There s you

red thin bout it in itsef but so s it ered in rne

s nove

ithout hvin red the nove ho do you thin the rooue iht rere reders for ht foo s ht inds of hr ters thees nd settins do you exe t ht uestions iht it s

There was an nian hea the hea of an nian the rawing of the hea of a hearesse long haire nian epicte rawn y an nknown artist in roacast ntil the late s to merican Ts everywhere after all the shows ran ot. t

s calle the nian

ea test pattern. f yo left the T on yo hear a tone at hert the tone se to tne instrments an yo see that nian srrone y circles that looke like sights throgh riflescopes. There was what looke like a ll

s eye in the mile of

the screen with nmers like coorinates. The nian hea was st aove the llseye like all yo nee to o was no p in agreement to set the sights on the target. This was st a test.

n colonists invite assasoit chief of the

ampanoags to a

feast after a recent lan eal. assasoit came with ninety of his men. That meal is why we still eat a meal together in ovemer

.

elerate it as a nation. t that one wasnt a thanksgiving meal. t was a lan eal meal. T

wo years later there was another similar

meal meant to symolie eternal frienship. T

wo hnre nians

roppe ea that night from sppose nknown poison. y the time assasoit

s son etacomet ecame chief there were no

nian ilgrim meals eing eaten together

. etacomet also known

as ing hillip was force to sign a peace treaty to give p all nian gns. Three of his men were hange. is rother

amstta was

let s say very likely poisone after eing smmone an seie y the lymoth cort. ll of which lea to the first of The first war with nians. ing hillip

s

ficial nian war .

ar. Three years later the

war was over an etacomet was on the rn. e was caght y enamin hrch aptain of the very first merican anger force an an nian y the name of ohn lerman. etacomet was eheae an ismemere. artere. They tie his for oy sections to neary trees for the irs to plck. ohn lerman was given etacomet

s han which he kept in a ar of rm an for years

took it aron with him charge people to see it. etacomet hea was sol to the lymoth olony for thirty shillings the going rate for an nian hea at the time. The hea was spike an carrie throgh the streets of lymoth efore it was pt on isplay at lymoth olony ort for the net twenty five years.

s

n anywhere from for to seven hnre eot were gathere for their annal green corn ance. olonists srrone the eot village set it on fire an shot any eot who trie to escape. The net ay the assachsetts ay olony ha a feast in celeration an the governor eclare it a ay of thanksgiving. Thanksgivings like these happene everywhere whenever there were what we have to call sccessfl massacres. t one sch celeration in anhattan people were sai to have celerate y kicking the heas of eot people throgh the streets like soccer alls. The first novel ever written y a ative person an the first novel written in alifornia was written in y a herokee gy name ohn ollin ige. is novel The ife an ventres of oain rieta was ase on a sppose real life eican anit from alifornia y the same name who in was kille y a grop of Teas rangers. T o prove they kille rrieta an collect the five thosan ollar rewar pt on his hea they ct it of

f. ept it in a

ar of whiskey . They also took the han of his fellow anit Three ingere ack. The rangers took oain

s hea an the han on a

tor throghot alifornia charge a ollar for the show The nian hea in the ar

.

the nian hea on a pike were like flags

flown to e seen cast roaly

. st like the nian hea test pattern

was roacast to sleeping mericans as we set sail from or living rooms over the ocean le green glowing air waves to the shores the screens of the ew

orl.

There s an ol heyenne story aot a rolling hea.

e hear it sai

there was a family who move away from their camp move near a lake hsan wife aghter

son. n the morning when the

hsan finishe ancing he wol rsh his wife

s hair an paint

her face re then go of f to hnt. hen he came ack her face wol e clean. fter this happene a few times he ecie to follow her an hie see what she i while he was gone. e fon her in the lake with a water monster some kin of snake thing wrappe aron her in an emrace. The man ct the monster p an kille his wife. e roght the meat home to his son an aghter notice it taste if

. They

ferent. The son who was still nrsing sai y

mother tastes st like this. is oler sister tol him it

s st eer

meat. hile they ate a hea rolle in. They ran an the hea followe them. The sister rememere where they playe how thick the thorns were there an she roght the thorns to life ehin them with her wors. t the hea roke throgh kept coming. Then she rememere where rocks se to e pile in a if

ficlt way . The

rocks appeare when she spoke of them t int stop the hea so she rew a har line in the gron which mae a eep chasm the hea colnt cross. t after a long heavy rain the chasm fille with water. The hea crosse the water

an when it reache the other

sie it trne aron an rank all that water p. The rolling hea ecame confse an rnk. t wante more. ore of anything. ore of everything. n it st kept rolling.

ne thing we shol keep in min moving forwar is that no one ever rolle heas own temple stairs. el ison mae that p. t we o have in or mins those of s who saw the movie the heas rolling own temple stairs in a worl meant to resemle the real nian worl in the s in eico. eicans efore they were eicans. efore pain came. eve een efine y everyone else an contine to e slanere espite easy to look p on the internet facts aot the realities of or histories an crrent state as a people.

e have the sa

efeate nian silhoette an the heas rolling own temple stairs we have it in or heas evin ostner saving s ohn

ayne s si

shooter slaying s an talian gy name ron yes oy playing or parts in movies.

e have the litter morning tear rien nian in

the commercial also ron yes oy an the sink tossing cray nian who was the narrator in the novel the voice of the u oo

s est

ne e ver

e have all the logos an mascots. The copy of

a copy of the image of an nian in a tetook. ll the way from the top of anaa the top of laska own to the ottom of oth merica nians were remove then rece to a feathere image. r heas are on flags erseys an coins. r heas were on the penny first of corse the nian cent an then on the f

falo nickel

oth efore we col even vote as a people which like the trth of what happene in history all over the worl an like all that spille loo from slaghter

are now ot of circlation.

ome of s grew p with stories aot massacres. tories aot what happene to or people not so long ago. ow we came ot of it. t an reek we hear it sai that they mowe s own with their howiters.

olnteer militia ner olonel ohn hivington

came to kill swe were mostly women chilren an elers. The men were away to hnt. They tol s to fly the merican flag. flew that an a white flag too. rrener

e

the white flag wave.

e

stoo ner oth flags as they came at s. They i more than kill s. They tore s p. tilate s. roke or fingers to take or rings ct of f or ears to take or silver

scalpe s for or hair

.

e hi in

the hollows of tree trnks rie orselves in san y the riverank. That same san ran re with loo. They tore norn aies ot of ellies took what we intene to e or chilren efore they were chilren aies efore they were aies they rippe them ot of or ellies. They roke soft ay heas against trees. Then they took or oy parts as trophies an isplaye them on a owntown enver

stage in

. olonel hivington ance with ismemere

parts of s in his hans with women

s pic hair

rnk he ance

an the crow gathere there efore him was all the worse for cheering an laghing along with him. t was a celeration.

etting s to cities was sppose to e the final necessary step in or assimilation asorption erasre the completion of a five hnre year ol genocial campaign. t the city mae s new an we mae it ors.

e int get lost ami the sprawl of tall

ilings the stream of anonymos masses the ceaseless in of

traffic.

e fon one another

starte p nian enters roght ot

or families an powwows or ances or songs or eawork. e oght an rente homes slept on the streets ner freeways we went to school oine the arme forces poplate nian ars in the ritvale in aklan an in the ission in an rancisco. live in ocar villages in ichmon.

e

e mae art an we mae

aies an we mae way for or people to go ack an forth etween reservation an city

.

e i not move to cities to ie. The

siewalks an streets the concrete asore or heaviness. The glass metal rer

an wires the spee the hrtling masses

the city took s in.

e were not ran nians then. This was part of

the nian elocation ct which was part of the nian T olicy

ermination

which was an is eactly what it sons like. ake them look

an act like s. ecome s. n so isappear

. t it wasnt st like

that. lenty of s came y choice to start over

to make money or

for a new eperience. ome of s came to cities to escape the reservation. ietnam too.

e staye after fighting in the econ

orl

ar. fter

e staye ecase the city sons like a war

an yo

cant leave a war once yove een yo can only keep it at ay which is easier when yo can see an hear it near yo that fast metal that constant firing aron yo cars p an own the streets an freeways like llets. The iet of the reservation the sie of the highway towns rral commnities that kin of silence st makes the son of yor rain on fire that mch more prononce. lenty of s are ran now

. f not ecase we live in cities then

ecase we live on the internet. nsie the high rise of mltiple

rowser winows. They se to call s siewalk nians. alle s citifie sperficial inathentic cltreless refgees apples. n apple is re on the otsie an white on the insie. t what we are is what or ancestors i. ow they srvive. we ont rememer

e are the memories

which live in s which we feel which make s

sing an ance an pray the way we o feelings from memories that flare an loom nepectely in or lives like loo throgh a lanket from a won mae y a llet fire y a man shooting s in the ack for or hair

for or heas for a onty

or st to get ri of

s. hen they first came for s with their llets we int stop moving even thogh the llets move twice as fast as the son of or screams an even when their heat an spee roke or skin shattere or ones sklls pierce or hearts we kept on even when we saw the llets sen or oies flailing throgh the air like flags like the many flags an ilings that went p in place of everything we knew this lan to e efore. The llets were premonitions ghosts from reams of a har fast ftre. The llets move on after moving throgh s ecame the promise of what was to come the spee an the killing the har fast lines of orers an ilings. They took everything an gron it own to st as fine as gnpower

they fire their gns into the air in victory an the strays

flew ot into the nothingness of histories written wrong an meant to e forgotten. tray llets an conseences are laning on or nsspecting oies even now

.

ran nians were the generation orn in the city

.

eve een

moving for a long time t the lan moves with yo like memory ran nian elongs to the city

.n

an cities elong to the earth.

verything here is forme in relation to every other living an nonliving thing from the earth. ll or relations. The process that rings anything to its crrent form chemical synthetic technological or otherwise oesnt make the proct not a proct of the living earth. ilings freeways cars are these not of the earth

ere they shippe in from ars the moon s it

ecase theyre processe manfactre or that we hanle them re we so if

ferent

entirely oo siens

ere we at one time not something else single celle organisms space st

nientifiale pre ang antm theory ities form in the same way as galaies. ran nians feel at home walking in the shaow of a owntown iling.

e came to know the owntown aklan skyline

etter than we i any sacre montain range the rewoos in the aklan hills etter than any other eep wil forest.

e know the

son of the freeway etter than we o rivers the howl of istant trains etter than wolf howls we know the smell of gas an freshly wet concrete an rne rer etter than we o the smell of cear or sage or even fry rea which isnt traitional like reservations arent traitional t nothing is original everything comes from something that came efore which was once nothing. verything is new an oome.

e rie ses trains an cars across over

ner concrete plains. eing nian has never een aot retrning to the lan. The lan is everywhere or nowhere.

an

or is ussion nd ritin . hy is this piece title nian eas T o what oes it refer . hat might at first seem like a isointe collection of anecotes is actally a complicate careflly strctre essay . hat are the if ferent threas that rn throgh nian eas . connections eve een efine y everyone else an contine to e slanere range writes. ea ith rti ofer s The yth of the atin oman in light of this phrase. ow o each of these writers confront this phenomenon hat oes the act of their writing aot it mean . range writes what we are is what or ancestors i. eflect on what he means y this an then write aot who yo nerstoo however yo wish are in the same terms. hat i yor ancestors o that mae yo who yo are . ooinrter ncestry an ientity are complicate things. Think aot one of the ways in which yo ientify sing the yo of estion or another way of nerstaning ientity orn into or raise in or chosen an o some research into the history of the grop with which yo ientify . hat happene in the past of that grop what was one to them an y them that informs who yo are now

hooting an lephant orn in ndi in Eri ir s the son of n Enish ivi servnt in the ritish the rue of ndi by the ritish s s his fther Edu ted in Ennd ir s n ieri oi en in ndi for five yers but he resined nd returned to Ennd to ursue his dre of be oin

riter

oete ith en ne eore

r e no n best for his noves r e

s oiti

nimal arm

nd

on erns ere exressed in nonfi tion s

e in ors su h s his hroni e of ife on the oor t in aris an onon

own an

e use of his stnds inst

e onoi inusti e nd totitrinis r e reins n infuenti fiure s the de tivition of his en ne sho s

rwellian

hs entered the vern ur s ter to des ribe the vioen e done to nue nd oon sense by totitrinis

Shootin n

Eehnt

s ife hen his

tes the story of oent ery in r e

sense of inusti e surf ed s you red t h for the ys in hi h r e uses the toos of nrrtive ritin to drtie the oent n olmein in ower rma was hate y large nmers of people the only time in my life that have een important enogh for this to happen to me. was s ivisional police of

ficer of the

town an in an aimless petty kin of way anti ropean feeling was very itter . o one ha the gts to raise a riot t if a ropean woman went throgh the aaars alone someoy wol proaly spit etel ice over her ress. s a police of

ficer was an ovios

target an was aite whenever it seeme safe to o so. hen a

nimle rman trippe me p on the footall fiel an the referee another rman looke the other way hieos laghter

the crow yelle with

. This happene more than once. n the en the

sneering yellow faces of yong men that met me everywhere the inslts hoote after me when was at a safe istance got aly on my nerves. The yong hist priests were the worst of all. There were several thosans of them in

the town an none of them

seeme to have anything to o ecept stan on street corners an eer at ropeans. ll this was perpleing an psetting. or at that time ha alreay mae p my min that imperialism was an evil thing an the sooner chcke p my o an got ot of it the etter

. Theoretically an

secretly of corse was all for the rmese an all against their oppressors the ritish. s for the o was oing hate it more itterly than can perhaps make clear . n a o like that yo see the irty work of mpire at close arters. The wretche prisoners hling in the stinking cages of the lock ps the grey

cowe faces

of the long term convicts the scarre ttocks of the men who ha een flogge with amoos all these oppresse me with an intolerale sense of gilt. t col get nothing into perspective. was yong an ill ecate an ha ha to think ot my prolems in the tter silence that is impose on every nglishman in the ast. i not even know that the ritish mpire is ying still less i know that it is a great eal etter than the yonger empires that are going to spplant it. ll knew was that was stck etween my hatre of the empire serve an my rage against the evil spirite

little easts who trie to make my o impossile. ith one part of my min thoght of the ritish a as an nreakale tyranny something clampe own in

se u se uoru

as

pon the will of

prostrate peoples with another part thoght that the greatest oy in the worl wol e to rive a ayonet into a hist priest

s gts.

eelings like these are the normal y procts of imperialism ask any nglo nian of

ficial if yo can catch him of f ty

.

ne ay something happene which in a ronaot way was enlightening. t was a tiny incient in itself t it gave me a etter glimpse than ha ha efore of the real natre of imperialism the real motives for which espotic governments act. arly one morning the s inspector at a police station the other en of the town rang me p on the phone an sai that an elephant was ravaging the aaar

.

ol please come an o something aot it i not

know what col o t wante to see what was happening an got on to a pony an starte ot. took my rifle an ol . inchester an mch too small to kill an elephant t thoght the noise might e sefl

in terrore . arios rmans stoppe me on

the way an tol me aot the elephant corse a wil

s oings. t was not of

elephant t a tame one which ha gone mst. t

ha een chaine p as tame elephants always are when their attack of mst is e t on the previos night it ha roken its chain an escape. ts mahot the only person who col manage it when it was in that state ha set ot in prsit t ha taken the wrong irection an was now twelve hors orney away morning the elephant ha senly reappeare in the town. The

an in the

rmese poplation ha no weapons an were ite helpless against it. t ha alreay estroye someoy

s amoo ht kille a

cow an raie some frit stalls an evore the stock also it ha met the mnicipal rish van an when the river mpe ot an took to his heels ha trne the van over an inflicte violences pon it. The rmese s inspector an some nian constales were waiting for me in the arter where the elephant ha een seen. t was a very poor arter

a layrinth of sali amoo hts

thatche with palm leaf wining all over a steep hillsie. rememer that it was a cloy

stf fy morning at the eginning of the rains.

egan estioning the people as to where the elephant ha gone an as sal faile to get any efinite information. That is invarialy the case in the ast a story always sons clear enogh at a istance t the nearer yo get to the scene of events the vager it ecomes. ome of the people sai that the elephant ha gone in one irection some sai that he ha gone in another

some

professe not even to have hear of any elephant. ha almost mae p my min that the whole story was a pack of lies when we hear yells a little istance away of o away

. There was a lo scanalie cry

chil o away this instant an an ol woman with a

switch in her han came ron the corner of a ht violently shooing away a crow of nake chilren. ome more women followe clicking their tonges an eclaiming eviently there was something that the chilren oght not to have seen. rone the ht an saw a man s ea oy sprawling in the m. e was an nian a lack

e

raviian coolie almost nake an he col not have een ea many mintes. The people sai that the elephant ha come senly pon him ron the corner of the ht caght him with its trnk pt its foot on his ack an gron him into the earth. This was the rainy season an the gron was soft an his face ha score a trench a foot eep an a cople of

yars long. e was lying

on his elly with arms crcifie an hea sharply twiste to one sie. is face was coate with m the eyes wie open the teeth are an grinning with an epression of nenrale agony me y the way

. ever tell

that the ea look peacefl. ost of the corpses

have seen looke evilish. The friction of the great east

s foot ha

strippe the skin from his ack as neatly as one skins a rait. s soon as saw the ea man sent an orerly to a frien

s hose

neary to orrow an elephant rifle. ha alreay sent ack the pony not wanting it to go ma with fright an throw me if it smelt the elephant. The orerly came ack in a few mintes with a rifle an five cartriges an meanwhile some rmans ha arrive an tol s that the elephant was in the pay fiels elow

only a few hnre

yars away . s starte forwar practically the whole poplation of the arter flocke ot of the hoses an followe me. They ha seen the rifle an were all shoting ecitely that was going to shoot the elephant. They ha not shown mch interest in the elephant when he was merely ravaging their homes t it was if ferent now that he was going to e shot. t was a it of fn to them as it wol e to an nglish crow esies they wante the meat. t

mae me vagely neasy

. ha no intention of shooting the elephant

ha merely sent for the rifle to efen myself if necessary an it is always nnerving to have a crow following yo. marche own the hill looking an feeling a fool with the rifle over my sholer an an ever growing army of people ostling at my heels. t the ottom when yo got away from the hts there was a metalle roa an eyon that a miry waste of pay fiels a thosan yars across not yet ploghe t soggy from the first rains an otte with coarse grass. The elephant was staning eight yars from the roa his left sie towars s. e took not the slightest notice of the crow s approach. e was tearing p nches of grass eating them against his knees to clean them an stf

fing them into his

moth. ha halte on the roa. s soon as saw the elephant knew with perfect certainty that oght not to shoot him. t is a serios matter to shoot a working elephant it is comparale to estroying a hge an costly piece of machinery an oviosly one oght not to o it if it can possily e avoie. n at that istance peaceflly eating the elephant looke no more angeros than a cow an think now that his attack of

. thoght then

mst was alreay passing of

f in

which case he wol merely waner harmlessly aot ntil the mahot came ack an caght him. oreover

i not in the least

want to shoot him. ecie that wol watch him for a little while to make sre that he i not trn savage again an then go home.

t at that moment glance ron at the crow that ha followe me. t was an immense crow two thosan at the least an growing every minte. t locke the roa for a long istance on either sie. looke at the sea of yellow faces aove the garish clothes faces all happy an ecite over this it of fn all certain that the elephant was going to e shot. They were watching me as they wol watch a conrer aot to perform a trick. They i not like me t with the magical rifle in my hans was momentarily worth watching. n senly realie that shol have to shoot the elephant after all. The people epecte it of me an ha got to o it col feel their two thosan wills pressing me forwar irresistily . n it was at this moment as stoo there with the rifle in my hans that first graspe the hollowness the ftility of the white man s ominion in the ast. ere was the white man with his gn staning in front of the narme native crow seemingly the leaing actor of the piece t in reality was only an asr pppet pshe to an fro y the will of those yellow faces ehin. perceive in this moment that when the white man trns tyrant it is his own freeom that he estroys. e ecomes a sort of hollow posing mmy

the conventionalie figre of a sahi. or it is the

conition of his rle that he shall spen his life in trying to impress the natives an so in every crisis he has got to o what the natives epect of him. e wears a mask an his face grows to fit it. ha got to shoot the elephant. ha committe myself to oing it when sent for the rifle. sahi has got to act like a sahi he has got to appear resolte to know his own min an o efinite things. To come all that way rifle in han with two thosan people

marching at my heels an then to trail feely away

having one

nothing no that was impossile. The crow wol lagh at me. n my whole life every white man

s life in the ast was one long

strggle not to e laghe at. t i not want to shoot the elephant. watche him eating his nch of grass against his knees with that preoccpie granmotherly air that elephants have. t seeme to me that

it wol

e mrer to shoot him. t that age was not seamish aot killing animals t ha never shot an elephant an never wante to. omehow it always seems worse to kill a re

animal. esies

there was the east s owner to e consiere. live the elephant was worth at least a hnre pons ea he wol only e worth the vale of his tsks five pons possily ickly

. t ha got to act

. trne to some eperience looking rmans who ha

een there when we arrive an aske them how the elephant ha een ehaving. They all sai the same thing he took no notice of yo if yo left him alone t he might charge if yo went too close to him. t was perfectly clear to me what oght to o. oght to walk p to within say twenty five yars of the elephant an test his ehavior he charge col shoot if he took no notice of me it wol e safe to leave him ntil the mahot came ack. t also knew that was going to o no sch thing. was a poor shot with a rifle an the gron was soft m into which one wol sink at every step. f the elephant charge an misse him shol have aot as mch

.f

chance as a toa ner a steam roller

. t even then was not

thinking particlarly of my own skin only of the watchfl yellow faces ehin. or at that moment with the crow watching me was not afrai in the orinary sense as wol have een if ha een alone. white man mstnt e frightene in front of natives an so in general he isnt frightene. The sole thoght in my min was that if anything went wrong those two thosan rmans wol see me prse caght trample on an rece to a grinning corpse like that nian p the hill. n if that happene it was ite proale that some of them wol lagh. That wol never o. There was only one alternative. shove the cartriges into the magaine an lay own on the roa to get a etter aim. The crow grew very still an a eep low

happy sigh as of people

who see the theater crtain go p at last reathe from innmerale throats. They were going to have their it of fn after all. The rifle was a eatifl erman thing with cross hair sights. i not then know that in shooting an elephant one wol shoot to ct an imaginary ar rnning from ear hole to ear hole. oght therefore as the elephant was sieways on to have aime straight at his ear hole actally aime several inches in front of this thinking the rain wol e frther forwar. hen plle the trigger i not hear the ang or feel the kick one never oes when a shot goes home t hear the evilish roar of glee that went p from the crow. n that instant in too short a time one wol have thoght even for the llet to get there a

mysterios terrile change ha come over the elephant. e neither stirre nor fell t every line of his oy ha altere. e looke senly stricken shrnken immensely ol as thogh the frightfl impact of the llet ha paralye him withot knocking him own. t last after what seeme a long time it might have een five secons are say he sagge flaily to his knees. is moth sloere. n enormos senility seeme to have settle pon him. ne col have imagine him thosans of years ol. fire again into the same spot. t the secon shot he i not collapse t clime with esperate slowness to his feet an stoo weakly pright with legs sagging an hea rooping. fire a thir time. That was the shot that i for him.

o col see the agony of it olt

his whole oy an knock the last remnant of strength from his legs. t in falling he seeme for a moment to rise for as his hin legs collapse eneath him he seeme to tower pwar like a hge rock toppling his trnk reaching skywars like a tree. e trmpete for the first an only time. n then own he came his elly towars me with a crash that seeme to shake the gron even where lay got p. The rmans were alreay racing past me across the m. t was ovios that the elephant wol never rise again t he was not ea. e was reathing very rhythmically with long rattling gasps his great mon of a sie painflly rising an falling. is moth was wie open col see far own into caverns of pale pink throat. waite a long time for him to ie t his reathing i not weaken. inally fire my two remaining shots into the spot where thoght his heart mst e. The thick loo welle ot of him

.

like re velvet t still he i not ie. is oy i not even erk when the shots hit him the tortre reathing contine withot a pase. e was ying very slowly an in great agony

t in some

worl remote from me where not even a llet col amage him frther . felt that ha got to pt an en to that reafl noise. t seeme reafl to see the great east lying there powerless to move an yet powerless to ie an not even to e ale to finish him. sent ack for my

small rifle an pore shot after shot into his heart

an own his throat. They seeme to make no impression. The tortre gasps contine as steaily as the ticking of a clock. n the en col not stan it any longer an went away

. hear

later that it took him half an hor to ie. rmans were ringing ahs an askets even efore left an was tol they ha strippe his oy almost to the ones y the afternoon. fterwars of corse there were enless iscssions aot the shooting of the elephant. The owner was frios t he was only an nian an col o nothing. esies legally ha one the right thing for a ma elephant has to e kille like a ma og if its owner fails to control it. mong the ropeans opinion was ivie. The oler men sai was right the yonger men sai it was a amn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie ecase an elephant was worth more than any amn oringhee coolie. n afterwars was very gla that the coolie ha een kille it pt me legally in the right an it gave me a sf

ficient pretet for shooting the elephant.

often wonere whether any of the others graspe that ha one it solely to avoi looking a fool.

or is ussion nd ritin . hy oes rwell shoot the elephant . rwell ses the anecote of his shooting an elephant to illstrate his feelings aot imperialism. hat are those feelings an how oes the anecote illstrate them . connections ea rwell s essay against a very if ferent one onathan wift s oest roposal . These pieces are eeply political yet in very if ferent ways oth in terms of the points they make an the ways in which they make them. ow o these if ferences relate to each other o the strategies serve the messages . hat wol yo have one if yo ha een in rwell s place hy . ooinrter esearch the historical sitation ot of which rwell was writing. Thogh we are now sai to e in a postcolonial age sitations like the one rwell escries still eist in the worl. an yo imagine a similar story eing tol from somewhere in toay s worl here escrie this secon sitation an compare it to rwell s. an the eact same story e tol ow might it if fer

The llegory of the ave to s born in

E

in thens ree e e is no n s

student of So rtes nd te her of ristote Most of ht e no bout So rtes in f t oes fro to

s ritins ny of hi h

re onstru ted s hiosohi dioues bet een So rtes nd his students to is best no n for the

eplic

or of oiti

hiosohy bsed in ethysi s hi h exines the nture of reity ethi s the study of riht ondu t nd eisteooy the study of no ede itsef s in his other ors he is not on erned ony ith ho

e shoud t but so ith ho

e no

ho e re

nd ht is true he eory of the ve ten fro the this ixture of on erns in to

eplic

deonstrtes

s or n eory is

reresenttion story or ie tht drties bstr t ides s you red note the ys in hi h his thouhts bout oiti s re rounded in his understndin of the nture of hun exerien e nd no ede n now

sai let me show in a figre how far or natre is

enlightene or nenlightene ehol hman eings living in an nergron en which has a moth open towars the light an reaching all along the en here they have een from their chilhoo an have their legs an necks chaine so that they cannot move an can only see efore them eing prevente y the chains from trning ron their heas. ove an ehin them a fire is laing at a istance an etween the fire an the prisoners there is a raise

way an yo will see if yo look a low wall ilt along the way

like

the screen which marionette players have in front of them over which they show the pppets. see. n o yo see sai men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels an states an figres of animals mae of woo an stone an varios materials which appear over the wall ome of them are talking others silent. o have shown me a strange image an they are strange prisoners. ike orselves replie an they see only their own shaows or the shaows of one another

which the fire throws on the opposite

wall of the cave Tre he sai how col they see anything t the shaows if they were never allowe to move their heas n of the oects which are eing carrie in like manner they wol only see the shaows es he sai.

n if they were ale to converse with one another

wol they not

sppose that they were naming what was actally efore them ery tre. n sppose frther that the prison ha an echo which came from the other sie wol they not e sre to fancy when one of the passers y spoke that the voice which they hear came from the passing shaow o estion he replie. To them sai the trth wol e literally nothing t the shaows of the images. That is certain. n now look again an see what will natrally follow if the prisoners are release an isase of their error

. t first when

any of them is lierate an compelle senly to stan p an trn his neck ron an walk an look towars the light he will sf sharp pains the glare will istress him an he will e nale to see the realities of which in his former state he ha seen the shaows an then conceive someone saying to him that what he saw efore was an illsion t that now

when he is approaching nearer to

eing an his eye is trne towars more real eistence he has a clearer vision what will e his reply n yo may frther imagine

fer

that his instrctor is pointing to the oects as they pass an reiring him to name them will he not e perplee ill he not fancy that the shaows which he formerly saw are trer than the oects which are now shown to him ar trer

.

n if he is compelle to look straight at the light will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him trn away to take refge in the oects of vision which he can see an which he will conceive to e in reality clearer than the things which are now eing shown to him Tre he sai. n sppose once more that he is relctantly ragge p a steep an rgge ascent an hel fast ntil he is force into the presence of the sn himself is he not likely to e paine an irritate hen he approaches the light his eyes will e ale an he will not e ale to see anything at all of what are now calle realities. ot all in a moment he sai. e will reire to grow accstome to the sight of the pper worl. n first he will see the shaows est net the reflections of men an other oects in the water

an then the oects themselves then

he will gae pon the light of the moon an the stars an the

spangle heaven an he will see the sky an the stars y night etter than the sn or the light of the sn y ay ertainly . ast of all he will e ale to see the sn an not mere reflections of him in the water t he will see him in his own proper place an not in another an he will contemplate him as he is. ertainly . e will then procee to arge that this is he who gives the season an the years an is the garian of all that is in the visile worl an in a certain way the case of all things which he an his fellows have een accstome to ehol learly

he sai he wol first see the sn an then reason aot

him. n when he rememere his ol haitation an the wisom of the en an his fellow prisoners o yo not sppose that he wol felicitate himself on the change an pity them ertainly

he wol.

n if they were in the hait of conferring honors among themselves on those who were ickest to oserve the passing shaows an to

remark which of them went efore an which followe after

an

which were together an who were therefore est ale to raw conclsions as to the ftre o yo think that he wol care for sch honors an glories or envy the possessors of them

ol he not

say with omer etter to e the poor servant of a poor master

an to enre anything rather than think as they o an live after their manner es he sai think that he wol rather sf

fer anything than

entertain these false notions an live in this miserale manner

.

magine once more sai sch an one coming senly ot of the sn to e replace in his ol sitation wol he not e certain to have his eyes fll of arkness To e sre he sai. n if there were a contest an he ha to compete in measring the shaows with the prisoners who ha never move ot of the en while his sight was still weak an efore his eyes ha ecome steay an the time which wol e neee to acire this new hait of sight might e very consierale wol he not e riiclos en wol say of him that p he went an own he came withot his eyes an that it was etter not even to think of

ascening an if any one trie to loose another an lea him p to the light let them only catch the offener

an they wol pt him to

eath. o estion he sai. This entire allegory sai yo may now appen ear lacon to the previos argment the prison hose is the worl of sight the light of the fire is the sn an yo will not misapprehen me if yo interpret the orney pwars to e the ascent of the sol into the intellectal worl accoring to my poor elief which at yor esire have epresse whether rightly or wrongly o knows. t whether tre or false my opinion is that in the worl of knowlege the iea of goo appears last of all an is seen only with an ef

fort

an when seen is also inferre to e the niversal athor of all things eatifl an right parent of light an of the lor of light in this visile worl an the immeiate sorce of reason an trth in the intellectal an that this is the power pon which he who wol act rationally either in plic or private life mst have his eye fie. agree he sai as far as am ale to nerstan yo. oreover

sai yo mst not woner that those who attain to this

eatific vision are nwilling to escen to hman af

fairs for their

sols are ever hastening into the pper worl where they esire to well which esire of theirs is very natral if or allegory may e trste.

es very natral. n is there anything srprising in one who passes from ivine contemplations to the evil state of man misehaving himself in a riiclos manner if while his eyes are linking an efore he has ecome accstome to the srroning arkness he is compelle fight in corts of law

or in other places aot the images or the

shaows of images of stice an is eneavoring to meet the conceptions of those who have never yet seen asolte stice nything t srprising he replie. nyone who has common sense will rememer that the ewilerments of the eyes are of two kins an arise from two cases either from coming ot of the light or from going into the light which is tre of the min

s eye ite as mch as of the oily

eye an he who rememers this when he sees anyone whose vision is perplee an weak will not e too reay to lagh he will first ask whether that sol of man has come ot of the righter life an is nale to see ecase naccstome to the ark or having trne from arkness to the ay is ale y ecess of light. n he will cont the one happy in his conition an state of eing an he will pity the other or if he have a min to lagh at the sol which comes from elow into the light there will e more reason in this than in the lagh which greets him who retrns from aove ot of the light into the en.

to

That he sai is a very st istinction. t then if am right certain professors of ecation mst e wrong when they say that they can pt a knowlege into the sol which was not there efore like sight into lin eyes. They notely say this he replie. hereas or argment shows that the power an capacity of learning eists in the sol alreay an that st as the eye was nale to trn from arkness to light withot the whole oy

so too

the instrment of knowlege can only y the movement of the whole sol e trne from the worl of ecoming into that of eing an learn y egrees to enre the sight of eing an of the rightest an est of eing or in other wors of the goo. ery tre. n mst there not e some art which will ef

fect conversion in the

easiest an ickest manner not implanting the faclty of sight for that eists alreay

t has een trne in the wrong irection an is

looking away from the trth es he sai sch an art may e presme. n whereas the other so calle virtes of the sol seem to e akin to oily alities for even when they are not originally innate they

can e implante later y hait an eercise the virte of wisom more than anything else contains a ivine element which always remains an y this conversion is renere sefl an profitale or on the other han hrtfl an seless. i yo never oserve the narrow intelligence flashing from the keen eye of a clever roge how eager he is how clearly his paltry sol sees the way to his en he is the reverse of lin t his keen eyesight is force into the service of evil an he is mischievos in proportion to his cleverness ery tre he sai. t what if there ha een a circmcision of sch natres in the ays of their yoth an they ha een severe from those sensal pleasres sch as eating an rinking which like leaen weights were attache to them at their irth an which rag them own an trn the vision of their sols pon the things that are elow if say they ha een release from these impeiments an trne in the opposite irection the very same faclty in them wol have seen the trth as keenly as they see what their eyes are trne to now. ery likely. es sai an there is another thing which is likely

or rather a

necessary inference from what has precee that neither the necate an ninforme of the trth nor yet those who never

make an en of their ecation will e ale ministers of tate not the former ecase they have no single aim of ty which is the rle of all their actions private as well as plic nor the latter

ecase

they will not act at all ecept pon complsion fancying that they are alreay welling apart in the islans of the lesse. ery tre he replie. Then sai the siness of s who are the foners of the tate will e to compel the est mins to attain that knowlege which we have alreay shown to e the greatest of all they mst contine to ascen ntil they arrive at the goo t when they have ascene an seen enogh we mst not allow them to o as they o now hat o yo mean mean that they remain in the pper worl t this mst not e allowe they mst e mae to escen again among the prisoners in the en an partake of their laors an honors whether they are worth having or not. t is not this nst he sai oght we to give them a worse life when they might have a etter o have again forgotten my frien sai the intention of the legislator who i not aim at making any one class in the tate happy aove the rest the happiness was to e in the whole tate

.

an he hel the citiens together y persasion an necessity making them enefactors of the tate an therefore enefactors of one another to this en he create them not to please themselves t to e his instrments in ining p the tate. Tre he sai ha forgotten. serve lacon that there will e no instice in compelling or philosophers to have a care an provience of others we shall eplain to them that in other tates men of their class are not olige to share in the toils of politics an this is reasonale for they grow p at their own sweet will an the government wol rather not have them. eing self taght they cannot e epecte to show any gratite for a cltre which they have never receive. t we have roght yo into the worl to e rlers of the hive kings of yorselves an of the other citiens an have ecate yo far etter an more perfectly than they have een ecate an yo are etter ale to share in the ole ty

. herefore each of yo

when his trn comes mst go own to the general nergron aoe an get the hait of seeing in the ark. hen yo have acire the hait yo will see ten thosan times etter than the inhaitants of the en an yo will know what the several images are an what they represent ecase yo have seen the eatifl an st an goo in their trth. n ths or tate which is also yors will e a reality

an not a ream only

an will e

aministere in a spirit nlike that of other tates in which men fight with one another aot shaows only an are istracte in the

strggle for power

which in their eyes is a great goo. hereas the

trth is that the tate in which the rlers are most relctant to govern is always the est an most ietly governe an the tate in which they are most eager the worst. ite tre he replie. n will or ppils when they hear this refse to take their trn at the toils of tate when they are allowe to spen the greater part of their time with one another in the heavenly light mpossile he answere for they are st men an the commans which we impose pon them are st there can e no ot that every one of them will take office as a stern necessity an not after the fashion of or present rlers of tate. es my frien sai an there lies the point.

o mst contrive for

yor ftre rlers another an a etter life than that of a rler

an

then yo may have a well orere tate for only in the tate which offers this will they rle who are trly rich not in silver an gol t in virte an wisom which are the tre lessings of life. hereas if they go to the aministration of plic af

fairs poor an hngering

after their own private avantage thinking that hence they are to snatch the chief goo orer there can never e for they will e fighting aot of

fice an the civil an omestic roils which ths

arise will e the rin of the rlers themselves an of the whole tate.

ost tre he replie. n the only life which looks own pon the life of political amition is that of tre philosophy . o yo know of any other nee o not he sai. or is ussion nd ritin . hat oes the cave stan for in lato s allegory ake a list of the other elements in the allegory chains light arkness an so on an eplain what they represent. . lato compares a nmer of things in this essay the material worl to the worl of ieas the life of the min to the work of governing silver an gol to virte an wisom. ow oes he se his comparisons to make his argment . connections Thogh eorge rwell in hooting an lephant is a if ferent kin of leaer than the rlers in lato s allegory he is in a position of athority . o yo think there points of connection etween the two essays in this area an yo consier rwell s reflection on his actions an the tangle of motivations ehin them in light of lato s iscssion of the potentially conflicting motivations of rlers . lato arges that working in plic af fairs an working for one s own private avantage cannot mi. ow might contemporary politics ear ot this assertion or contraict it . ooinrter n The llegory of the ave legislators are escrie as aiming not at making any one class in the tate happy aove the rest the happiness was to e in the whole tate par. . onsier contemporary politics throgh this statement. n what ways o yo fin the aim here ascrie to legislators to e share y contemporary electe of ficials n what ways o yo not

st

anna e

verage

orn in to tin iirnts nd rised in South entr os nees Mie ose is rofessor of edu tion t U nd n dvo te for the deo rtition of the university nd for retive te hin is

ives on the onary The trggles an

chievements of merica

s nerprepare

reedi edu tion nd

investited

ossile ives The romise of lic

cation in merica

s the rodu t of four yers of

reser h into te hin in eri ust

nn e

vere ten fro

ives on the onary

exines ernin no ede nd exe ttions nd is dr n fro ose s o n exerien es in s hoo f no ede ose rites t enbed e to do thins in the ord sie nd rofound onsider

r

n ide t on e

s you red the inds of thins tht

your edu tion hs o ed you to do ht ese do you need to ern to do thins in the ord t took two ses to get to r ay of ercy

. The first starte eep

in oth os ngeles an caght me at mipoint. The secon rifte throgh neighorhoos with trees parks ig lawns an lots of flowers. The ries were long t were livene p y a grop of oth .. veterans whose parents also thoght that ope ha set p shop in the west en of the conty

. There was hristy iggars who at

siteen was ealing an was accoring to rmor

a pimp as well.

There were ill o an ohnny onales grease pencil artists etraorinaire who left emtal enhance swirls of o an

ohnny on the corrgate walls of the s. n then there was Tyrrell ilson. T yrrell was the coolest ki knew . e ran the oens like a metric halfack lai own a rap that otrhyme an otpointe o whose rap was goo t not great the crse of a moerately solfl ki trappe in white skin. t it was o who wol sneak a raio onto the s an ths nerwrote his with ittle ichar ats omino hck erry rnie . oe own elow

patter

the oasters an

s mother in law an awfl woman who was sent from . n so it was that hristy an o an ohnny .

an T yrrell an an assorte others picke p along the way passe or ays in the ack of the s a fnny mi roght together y geography an parental esire. ntrance to school rings with it forms an releases an assessments. ercy relie on a series of tests mostly the tanfor inet for placement an somehow the reslts of my tests got confse with those of another stent name ose. The other ose apparently int o very well for was place in the vocational track a ephemism for the ottom level. either nor my parents realie what this meant.

e ha no sense that siness

ath T yping an nglishevel were ea ens. The crrent spate of reports on the schools criticies parents for not involving themselves in the ecation of their chilren. t how wol someone like Tommy ose with his two years of talian schooling know what to ask n what sort of pressre col an ehaste waitress apply The error went netecte an remaine in the vocational track for two years. hat a place.

y homeroom was spervise y rother ill a trole an nstale man who also taght freshman nglish. hen his class rifte away from him which was often his voice wol rise in paranoi accsations an occasionally he wol lose control an shake or smack s. hant een there two months when one of his risk face trning slaps ha my glasses sliing own the aisle. hysical ecation was also pretty harsh. r teacher was a sty e lineman who ha playe ol time pro all in the iwest. e rotinely ha s graing or ankles to receive his stinging pale across or tts. e i that he sai to make men of s. ose he ellowe on or first enconter me staning geeky in line in my aggy shorts. ose hat the hell kin of name is that talian sir

seake.

talian o. ose o yo know the son a ag of shit makes when it hits the wall o sir

.

op ophomore nglish was taght y r

. itropetros. e was a large

eewele man who manage the parking lot at the

hrine

itorim. e wol crow an preen an list for s the stars he rshe against.

e ask estions an glance knowingly an

snicker an all that fele the poor gy to rag some more. arking

cars was his night o. e ha little training in nglish so his lesson plan for his ay work ha s reaing the istrict uius esr

alo for the semester

.

s reire tet

e finishe the play way

efore the twenty weeks was p so he have s switch parts again an again an start again ave nyer

the fastest gy at ercy

mscling throgh aesar to the reathless seals of alprnia as interprete y teve sco a srfer who owne the school envie panele wagon.

s most

eek ten an ave an teve wol take

on new roles as wol we all an rener a water logge assis an a rts that are eyon my powers of escription. panish taken in the secon year fell into the hans of a new recrit. r

. onte was a tiny man slight five foot si at the most

soft spoken an elicate. panish was a particlarly rowy class an r

. onte was as prepare for it as a oily maker at a hammer

throw. e wol tap his pencil to a room in which teve sco was propelling spitalls from his heavy lips in which ike weet was tanting illy awk a half nian half panish ree thin ietly eplosive oy . The vocational track at r ay of ercy mie kis traveling in from oth .. with oth ay srfers an a few lavs an hicanos from the harors of an ero. This was a angeros miscellany srfers an hoas an oth entral lacks all alae to the metronomic tapping of ector onte

s pencil.

ne ay illy lost it. t of the corner of my eye saw him strike ot with his right arm an catch weet across the neck. ick as a spasm weet was ot of his seat scattering esks cracking illy

on the sie of the hea right ehin the eye. nyer an sco an others roke it p t the room felt hot an close an nake. r onte

.

s tenos athority was finally rippe to shres an think

everyone felt a little strange aot that. The charae was over

an

when it came own to it ont think any of the kis really wante it to en this way . They ha pshe an pshe an llie their way into a freeom that oth scare an emarrasse them. tents will float to the mark yo set. an the others in the vocational classes were oing in pretty shallow water

. ocational

ecation has aime at increasing the economic opportnities of stents who o not o well in or schools. ome serios programs sccee in oing that an throgh eceptional teachers like r ross in

or e

s oroise

.

stents learn to evelop

hypotheses an troleshoot reason throgh a prolem an commnicate ef fectively the tre o skills. The vocational track however is most often a place for those who are st not making it a mping gron for the isaf

fecte. There were a few teachers who

worke har at ecation yong rother lattery

for eample

comine a stern voice with weekly ies to try to pass along to s a skeletal otline of worl history

. t mostly the teachers ha no

iea of how to engage the imaginations of s kis who were scttling along at the ottom of the pon. n the teachers wol have neee some inventiveness for none of s was groome for the classroom. t wasnt st that int know things int know how to simplify algeraic fractions colnt

ientify if

ferent kins of clases ngle panish translations

t that ha evelope varios falty an inaeate ways of oing algera an making sense of panish.

orse yet the years of

efensive tning ot in elementary school ha given me a way to escape ickly while seeming at least half alert. ring my time in oc. . evelope frther into a meiocre stent an a somnamlant prolem solver

an that af fecte the sects i

have the wherewithal to hanle eteste hakespeare got ore with history. y attention flitte here an there. foole aron in class an rea my ooks inif

ferently the intellectal eivalent of

playing with yor foo. i what ha to o to get y

an i it

with half a min. t i learn things aot people an eventally came into my own socially. like the gys in

oc. . rowing p where i

nerstoo an amire physical prowess an there was an anance of mscle here. There was ave nyer halfack of tre ality

a sprinter an

. ave s aility an his ick wit gave him a

natral appeal an he was welcome in any clie thogh he always kept a little inepenent. e enoye acting the fool an col care less aot sties t he possesse a certain matrity an never case the faclty mch trole. t was a testament to his inepenence that he incle me among his friens eventally went ot for track t was a earth of

no ock. wing to the atin alphaet an

s an Ss nyer sat ehin ose an we starte

echanging one liners an ecame friens.

There was Te ichar a mch tote ittle eage pitcher

. e was

chnky an ha a ay face an came to r ay of ercy as a seasone street fighter . Te was ick to lagh an he ha a lo olly lagh t when he got angry he smile a little smile the kin that simply raises the corner of the moth a arter of an inch. or those who knew it was an eerie signal. Those who int fon themselves in ig trole for T

e was very ick. e love to carry

on what we wol come to call philosophical iscssions hat is corage oes o eist e also love wors enoye picking p ig ones like subrious

an euivo

an sing them in or

conversations laghing at himself as the wor hit a chckhole rolling off his tonge. T e int o all that well in school aseall an parties an testing the corage he speclate aot took p his time. is tetooks were

rosy

an ied nd Stre

newspapers he fin on the s stop from the

whatever

iy orer

to

pornography conversations with ncles or hoos or sinessmen he meet in a cof fee shop he d Mn nd the Se

. ith

hinsight can see that T e was eveloping into one of those rogh hewn intellectals whose sorces are a mi of the learne an the apocryphal whose iscssions are oth assre an sa. n then there was en arvey

. en was goo looking in a pf

fy

way an ha a fll an oily cktail an was a car enthsiast . . . a hoa. ne ay in religion class he sai the sentence that trne ot to e one of the most memorale of the hnres of thosans hear in those

oc. . years.

e were talking aot the parale of

the talents aot achievement working har oing the est yo can

o lah lah lah when the teacher calle on the restive en arvey for an opinion. en thoght aot it t st for a secon an sai with stie minimal af That woke me p.

fect

st wanna e average.

verage ho wants to e average Then the

athletes chime in with the clichs that make yo want to laryngectomie them an the echange ecame a platitinos melee. t the time thoght en

s assertion was stpi an wrote

him off. t his sentence has staye with me all these years an think am finally coming to nerstan it. en arvey was gasping for air

. chool can e a tremenosly

isorienting place. o matter how a the school yore going to enconter notions that ont fit with the assmptions an eliefs that yo grew p with maye yoll hear these issonant notions from teachers maye from the other stents an maye yoll rea them. oll also e thrown in with all kins of kis from all kins of ackgrons an that can e nsettling this is especially tre in places of rich ethnic an lingistic mi like the .. asin.

oll see

a hanfl of stents far ecel yo in corses that son eotic an that are only in the crriclm of the elite rench physics trigonometry. n all this is happening while yore trying to shape an ientity

yor oy is changing an yor emotions are rnning

wil. f yore a working class ki in the vocational track the options yoll have to eal with this will e constraine in certain ways yore efine y yor school as slow yore place in a crriclm that isnt esigne to lierate yo t to occpy yo or yore lcky

train yo thogh the training is for work the society

if

oes not esteem other stents are picking p the ces from yor school an yor crriclm an interacting with yo in particlar ways. f yore a ki like T

e ichar yo trn yor ack on all this

an let yor min roam where it may

. t yongsters like T

e are

rare. hat en an so many others o is protect themselves from sch sf

focating maness y taking on with a vengeance the ientity

implie in the vocational track. eect the confsion an frstration y openly efining yorself as the ommon oe. hampion the average. ely on yor own goo sense. ck this llshit. llshit of corse is everything yo an the others fear is eyon yo ooks essays tests acaemic scramling compleity reasoning philosophical iniry

scientific

.

The tragey is that yo have to twist the knife in yor own gray matter to make this efense work. reect intellectal stimli or if cltivate stpiity

oll have to sht own have to

fse them with sarcasm have to

have to convert oreom from a malay into a

way of confronting the worl. eep yor vocalary simple act stone when yore not or act more stone than yo are flant ignorance materialie yor reams. t is a powerfl an ef

fective

efense it netralies the inslt an the frstration of eing a vocational ki an when perfecte it rives teachers p elightfl seconary ef

the wall a

fect. t like all strong magic it eacts a price.

y own eliverance from the

oc. . worl egan with sophomore

iology . very stent college prep to vocational ha to take iology

an nlike the other corses the same person taght all

sections. hen teaching the vocational grop rother lint proaly slowe own a it or omitte a little of the fnamental iochemistry t he se the same ook an more or less the same syllas across the oar. f one class got togh he col get togher

.e

was yong an powerfl an very hansome an looks an physical strength were high crrency . o one gave him any trole. was pretty a at the issecting tale t the lectres an the tetook were interesting plastic overlays that with each trne page peele away skin then veins an mscle then organs own to the very ones that rother lint pointer in han wol tap ot on or hanging skeleton. ave nyer was in ig trole for the sty of life verss the living of it was sticking in his craw

.

e worke

ot a coe for or mltiple choice eams. e poke me in the ack once for the answer ner

twice for

an so on an when he

hit the right one look p to the ceiling as thogh were lost in thoght. oke cytoplasm. oke poke methane. oke poke poke illiam arvey

. oke poke poke poke islets of angerhans. This

int work ot perfectly

t ave passe the corse an

mastere the reamy look of a gy on a recor acket. n something else happene. rother lint ple over this

oc. .

ki who was racking p s an s on his tests. e checke the school s recors an iscovere the error

. e recommene that

egin my nior year in the ollege rep program. ccoring to all ve rea since sch a shift as one report pt it is virtally impossile. is at that level rarely cross tracks. The telling thing is how chancy oth my placement into an eit from

oc. . was

neither nor my parents ha anything to o with it. live in one worl ring spring semester

an when came ack to school in the

fall was living in another . witching to ollege rep was a mie lessing. was an erratic stent. was niscipline. n hant caght onto the rles of the game why work har in a class that int gra my fancy was also hopelessly ehin in math. hemistry was

har toying with my

chemistry set years efore hant prepare me for the chemist eations. ortnately

s

the priest who taght oth chemistry an

secon year algera was also the school

s athletic irector .

emership on the track team covere me knew wolnt get lower than a . .. history was taght pretty well an i okay

.

t civics was taken over y a footall coach who ha trole reaing the tetook alo an reaing alo was the centerpiece of his peagogy . ollege rep at ercy was certainly an improvement over the vocational program at least it carrie some stats t the social science crriclm was weak an the mathematics an physical sciences were simply eyon me. ha a miserale antitative ackgron an ene p copying some assignments an finessing the rest as est col. et me try to eplain how it feels to see again an again material yo shol once have learne t int. o are given a prolem. t reires yo to simplify algeraic fractions or to mltiply epressions containing sare roots. know this is pretty asic material ecase yove seen it for years.

o

nce a teacher took some time with yo an yo learne how to carry ot these operations. imple versions anyway

. t that was a

year or two or more in the past an these are more comple versions an now yore not sre. n this yo keep telling yorself is ninth or even eighth grae stf et it

f.

s a wor prolem. This is also ol hat. The asic elements are

as familiar as story characters trains speeing so many miles per hor or shaows of ilings angling so many egrees. aye yo know enogh have sat throgh enogh eplanations to e ale to egin setting p the prolem f one train is going this fast . . . or This shaow is really one line of a triangle. . . . Then et

s see . .

. ow i ones o this mmmm. o. o that wont work. or attention wavers.

o woner aot other things a footall

game a ance that cte new checker at the market. on the prolem again.

o try to focs

o scrile on paper for a while t the

tension wins ot an yor attention flits elsewhere.

o crmple the

paper an egin ayreaming to ease the frstration. The particlars will vary

t in essence this is what a nmer of

stents go throgh especially those in so calle remeial classes. They open their tetooks an see once again the familiar an impenetrale formlas an iagrams an terms that

have stmpe

them for years. There is no ecitement here. o ecitement. egarless of what the teacher says this is not a new challenge. There is rather emarrassment an frstration an not srprisingly some anger in eing remine once again of long staning

inaeacies. o woner so many stents finally attrite their if ficlties to something inorn organic That part of my rain st oesnt work. iven the troling histories many of these stents have it s miraclos that any of them can lift the shro of hopelessness sf ficiently to make eliverance from these classes possile. Throgh this entire perio my father

s health was eteriorating with

crel momentm. is arteriosclerosis progresse to the point where a simple nick on his shin wolnt heal. ventally it lcerate an wiene. o inton wol come y aily to change the ressing. e trie renting an oscillating e which we place in the front room to force loo throgh the constricte arteries in my father

s

legs. The e hmme throgh the night moving in place to war of

f

the inevitale. The lcer contine to sprea an the octors finally ha to amptate. y granfather ha lost his leg in a stockyar accient. ow my father too was cripple. is convalescence was slow t steay ehailitation enter

an the octors place him in the anta onica a sn leache iling that opene ot onto

the warm spray of the acific. The place gave him some strength an some color an some training in walking with an artificial leg. e i pretty well for a year or so ntil he slippe an roke his hip. e was confine to a wheelchair after that an the confinement contrite to the iminishing of his oy an spirit. am holing a pictre of him. e is sitting in his wheelchair an smiling at the camera. The smile appears force nsteay

seems to

aver

thogh it is froen in silver nitrate. e is in his mi sities

an looks eighty . ate in my nior year

he ha a stroke an never

came ot of the reslting coma. fter that wol see him only in reams an to this ay that is how oin him. ometimes the reams are sa an grisly an primal my father lying in a e soake with his sppration holing me rocking me. t sometimes the reams ring him ack to me healthy him talking to me on an empty street or ying some pictres to ecorate or ol hose or transforme somehow into someone strong an aept with tools an the physical. ack acarlan colnt have come into my life at a etter time. y father was ea an ha logge p too many years of scholastic inif ference. r . acarlan ha a master

s egree from olmia

an ecie at twenty si to fin a little school an teach his heart ot. e never took any creentialing corses colnt ear to he sai so he ha to fin employment in a private system. e ene p at r ay of ercy teaching five sections of senior nglish. e was a eatnik who was orn too late. is teeth were staine he tcke his sorry tie in etween the thir an forth ttons of his shirt an his pants were chronically wrinkle. t first we colnt elieve this gy

thoght he slept in his car . t within no time he

ha s so startle with work that we int mch worry aot where he slept or if he slept at all.

e wrote three or for essays a month.

e rea a ook every two to three weeks starting with the ening p with emingway

id

. e gave s a i on the reaing every

other ay . e roght a prep school crriclm to ercy igh.

an

acarlan

s lectres were crafte an as he elivere them he

wol pace the room iggling a piece of chalk in his cppe han sing it to scrile on the oar the names of all the writers an philosophers an plays an novels he was weaving into his iscssion. e aske estions often raise everything from eno parao to the repeate last line of rost

s topping y

s oos on a

nowy vening. e slowly an careflly ilt p or knowlege of estern intellectal history with facts with connections with speclations.

e learne aot reek philosophy

liaethan worlview

aot ante the

the ge of eason eistentialism. e

analye poems with s ha s reaing sections from ohn iari o oes oe Men

making a potentially if ficlt ook

accessile with his own eplanations. poems iari int cover emingway

an

ie

.

e gave oral reports on

e imitate the styles of onra

magaine.

e wrote an talke wrote an

talke. The man immerse s in langage. ven acarlan

s ars were literary

. f im itsimmons hng

over an irritale trie to smart ass him he reoin with a florish that wol spark the inomitale kip aison who lost his front teeth in a hapless tackle to flick his tonge throgh the gap an opine goo chop rawing ot the single o in stinging inictment. ack acarlan this toacco staine intellectal ranishe lingistic weapons of a kin this ehed

for o

hant encontere efore. ere was

s sake keeping some pretty if ficlt people in

line. n from what hear ike weet an teve sco an all the notorios

oc. . crow settle own as well when acarlan

s

took the poim. Thogh a lot of gys grose in the schoolyar it st seeme that giving trole to this particlar teacher was a silly thing to o. T omfoolery not to mention assalt ha no place in the worl he was trying to create for s an instinctively everyone knew that. f nothing else we all recognie acarlan

s consierale

intelligence an respecte the hors he pt into his work. t came to this the trolemaker wol look foolish rather than aring. ven im itsimmons was reaing

n the od

an trning his incipient

alcoholism to literary ens. There were some lives that were alreay eyon ack acarlan

s

ministrations t mine was not. starte reaing again as hant since elementary school. wol go into or gloomy little eroom or sit at the inner tale while on the television anny chane was paralying r

. oto with the atomic rop an work slowly ack

throgh ert of rness

trying to catch the wors in onra

sentences. certainly was not acarlan

s est stent most of

the other gys in ollege rep even my fellow slackers ha etter ackgrons than i. t worke very har for acarlan ha hooke me. e tappe my ol interest in reaing an creating stories. e gave me a way to feel special y sing my min. n he provie a role moel that wasnt shape on physical prowess alone an something insie me that wasnt ite aware of respone to that. ack acarlan estalishe a literacy cl to orrow a phrase of rank mith

s an invite me invite all of s to oin.

s

There s een a goo eal of research an speclation sggesting that the acknowlegment of school performance with etrinsic rewars smiling faces stars nmers graes iminishes the intrinsic satisfaction chilren eperience y engaging in reaing or writing or prolem solving. hile it

s certainly tre that weve create

an ecational system that encorages or est an rightest to ecome cynical grae collectors an in general have evelope an osession with evalation an assessment mst tell yo that venal thogh it may have een love getting goo graes from acarlan. now know how sective graes can e t then they came tcke in the ack of essays

like its of scientific ata

some sort of spectroscopic reaot that sai oectively an plicly

that ha mae something of vale. sppose een

meiocre for too long an enoye a plic reefinition. n sppose the workings of my min sch as they were ha een private for too long. y lingistic play move into the worl . . . these papers with their circle re plses an minses linke my min to something otsie it. carrie them aron like a cl emlem. ne ay in the ecemer of my senior year

r . acarlan aske

me where was going to go to college. hant thoght mch aot it. any of the stents teach toay spent their last year in high school with a physics tet in one han an the tanfor catalog in the other t wasnt even aware of what entrance reirements were. y folks wol say that they wante me to go to college an e a octor

t ont know how seriosly ever took that it

seeme a sweet thing to say

a it of spportive family chatter

telling a gangly aghter she

s gracefl. The reality of higher

like

ecation wasnt in my scheme of things no one in the family ha gone to college only two of my ncles ha complete high school. figre get a night o an go to the local nior college ecase knew that nyer an ompany were going there to play all. t hant even prepare for that. hen finally sai ont know acarlan looke own at me was seate in his of

fice an

sai isten yo can write. y graes stank. ha

s in iology an a hanfl of

nglish an social science classes. ll the rest were

s in a few s or worse.

acarlan sai wol o well in his class an lai own the law aot oing well in the others. till the recor for my first three years wolnt have een acceptale to any for year school. T

o nooy

s

srprise was trne own flat y an . t ack acarlan was on the case. e ha receive his achelor from oyola niversity

s egree

so he mae calls to ol professors an talke

to someoy in amissions an wrote me a strong letter

. oyola

finally accepte me as a proationary stent. wol e on trial for the first year an if i okay

wol e grante reglar stats.

acarlan also intervene to get me a loan for col never have affore a private college withot it. or more years of religion classes an for more years of oys at one school girls at another t at least was going to college. maing.

.

n my last semester of high school electe a special nglish corse fashione y r

. acarlan an it was throgh this elective that

there arose at ercy a flegling literati. rt it the eitor of the school newspaper an a very smart gy oine y me an y ark ever

was the kingpin. e was

a iet oy who wrote eatiflly

an who wol ie efore he was forty

. acarlan occasionally

invite s to his apartment an those visits ecame the high point of or apprenticeship we clamp on or training wheels an rive to his salon. e live in a crampe an clttere place near the airport tcke away in the kin of iling that architectral critic eyner anham calls a dinbt

. ooks were all over stacke pile tosse an

crate nerline an og eare well worn an new ashes crste with cof

. igarette

fee in sacers or spilling over the sies of

motel ashtrays. The little eroom ha along two of its walls ricks an oars loae with notes magaines an oversie ooks. The kitchen oine the living room an there was a stack of erman newspapers ner the sink. ha never seen anything like it a great flophose of langage frnishe y ity ights an af le etro. rea every title. flippe throgh paperacks an scanne ackets an memorie names ogol ackson ollock

innens

oney snd of the Mind

eri n enissn e

all sorts of re

e

na arnes . . atthiessen

roubed See

he Edu tion of enry ds

ichar

tler

edburn Seson in e it

eats argerite ras

n the cover of lain ornier

s he

s

an ay

right i s rt nderer was an war

illiam .

orey rawing of a yong man on a roa wining into ark trees. y the hotplate sat a strange afka novel calle

eri

in which an

aolescent hero crosses the tlantic to fin the atre Theater of klahoma. rt an ark wol e talking aot a movie or the school newspaper an wol e consming my nglish teacher lirary . t was heay stf

f. felt like a op

arner athlete on sterois.

rt ark an wol y stogies an trianglate from acarlan apartment to the inema which now shows rate films t was then ..

s premier art theater an then to the msty herokee

ookstore in ollywoo to hono with eatnik homoseals smoking rinking oron an cof phrases we gleane from or mentor

fee an trying ot awkwar s ookshelves. was happy

an precocios an a little scare as well for ollywoo olevar was thick with a kin of ecaence that was foreign to the oth ie. fter the herokee we wol hea ack to the secrity of acarlan

s apartment slaphappy with hipness.

et me e the first to amit that there was a goo eal of aolescent passion in this emrace of the avant gare self asorption seally charge peantry

an elevation of the o an aanone. till it

was a time ring which asore an awfl lot of information long lists of titles images from epressionist paintings new wave shioleths snippets of philosophy sco

an names that rea like teve

s misspellings oethe ietsche ierkegaar. ow this is

harly the stf

s

f of eep nerstaning. t it was an introction a

phrase ook a aeeker to a vocalary of ieas an it felt goo at

s

the time to know all these wors. ith hinsight realie how layere an important that knowlege was. t enale me to o things in the worl. col rowse ohemian ookstores in far of f mysterios ollywoo col go to the inema an see events throgh the lenses of ropean irectors an most of all col share an evening talk that talk with ack acarlan the man most amire at the time. nowlege was ecoming a oning agent. ithin a year or two the persona of the isaf

fecte

hipster wol prove too cynical too alienate to last. t for a time it was new an eciting it provie a critical perspective on society an it allowe me to act as thogh were living eyon the limiting onaries of oth

ermont.

or is ussion nd ritin . ist the if ferent teachers ose writes aot in this essay aing a sentence to each name escriing his significance for ose. . This essay is from ose s powerfl ook ives on the oundry . hat onaries oes ose write aot here hat acts of classification o these onaries serve . connections ose is pt on the vocational track accientally an remains there for two years while there he learns how profon the effect of environment on ientity can e. e also learns how important the intervention of one teacher can e. ow can yo connect ose s essay to loria nala s ow to T ame a il Tonge on the sect of ecation an ientity hat kin of teacher oes nala try to e for her stents ow o her methos compare to ack acarlan s hat are the aims of each an the strategies for achieving them . tents will float to the mark yo set ose writes par. . rite aot a time in yor life when this was tre of yo an reflect more generally on yor life as a stent. ave yo fon that yor

ecational eperiences ths far have pshe yo to ecee what yo originally thoght was possile hat kins of motivation are ilt into or ecational system as traitional motivation sch as getting goo graes worke for yo hat kin of an ecational system might motivate stents . ooinrter esearch the recent emphasis on stanarie testing in plic ecation throgh initiatives sch as o hil eft ehin. hat are the argments for an against the increase se of testing o yo fin one set of argments more compelling f so for what reasons f not are there frther sties yo think nee to e one on the isse escrie them.

oes T rth atter r Sn

s n stronoer best no n for his

our s ien e ritin nd for the teevision series ersonal

oyage

osmos

hi h he o rote nd nrrted Sn ored in

strohysi s strobiooy

nd osooy s on the f uty t

rvrd University nd orne University

here he served s

dire tor of the bortory for netry Studies nd s n dvisor to the US ir or e nd S Sn s so devoted to the ser h for inteient extrterrestri ife is boos in uded the ragons of en peclations on the voltion of man ntelligence

hi h on the uiter rie

on the omance of cience

roca s rain eflections osmos

boo bsed

on nd extendin the teevision series nd seue to ale le ot

osmos

ision of the man tre in pace

Sn s devoted reder of s ien e fi tion in his youth nd rote nove bout inteient extrterrestri ife hi h in Sn

ontact

s de into ovie of the se ne

s ny interests in uded the rootion of riti thinin

of the eoyent of s ientifi seti is inst suerstition nd seudos ien e s you red oes beief ers o we care what s tre oes it matter here inorn e is biss

ruth Mtter oo for ys this

is foy to be ise

wrote the poet Thomas ray . t is it win ook ir e of the Sesons

ay Teale in his

nerstoo the ilemma etter

t is morally as a not to care whether a thing is tre or not so long as it makes yo feel goo as it is not to care how yo got yor money as long as yo have got it.

t s isheartening to iscover government corrption an incompetence for eample t is it etter

not to know aot it

hose interest oes ignorance serve f we hmans ear

say

hereitary propensities towar the hatre of strangers isnt self knowlege the only antiote f we long to elieve that the stars rise an set for s that we are the reason there

is a niverse oes

science o s a isservice in eflating or conceits n he eneoy of Mors an after

rierich ietsche as so many efore

ecries the nroken progress in the self elittling of man

roght aot y the scientific revoltion. ietsche morns the loss of man s elief in his ignity

his nieness his irreplaceaility in

the scheme of eistence. or me it is far etter to grasp the niverse as it really is than to persist in elsion however satisfying an reassring. hich attite is etter geare for or long term srvival hich gives s more leverage on or ftre n if or naive self confience is a little nermine in the process is that altogether sch a loss s there not case to welcome it as a matring an character iling eperience

To iscover that the niverse is some to illion an not to thosan years ol

improves or appreciation of its sweep an

graner to entertain the notion that we are a particlarly comple arrangement of atoms an not some reath of ivinity least enhances or respect for atoms to iscover

at the very as now seems

proale that or planet is one of illions of other worls in the ilky ay alay an that or galay is one of illions more maestically epans the arena of what is possile to fin that or ancestors were also the ancestors of apes ties s to the rest of life an makes possile important if occasionally refl reflections on hman natre. lainly there is no way ack. ike it or not we are stck with science. e ha etter make the est of it. hen we finally come to terms with it an flly recognie its eaty an its power

we will fin in

spirital as well as in practical matters that we have mae a argain strongly in or favor . t sperstition an pseoscience keep getting in the way istracting s proviing easy answers oging skeptical scrtiny

casally pressing or awe ttons an

cheapening the eperience making s rotine an comfortale practitioners as well as victims of crelity

. es the worl

oud be a

more interesting place if there were s

lrking in the eep waters

off erma an eating ships an planes or if ea people col take control of or hans an write s messages. t wol e fascinating if aolescents were ale to make telephone hansets rocket off their crales st y thinking at them or if or reams

col more often than can e eplaine y chance an or knowlege of the worl accrately foretell the ftre.

cience as a orce of piritality n its enconter with atre science invarialy elicits a sense of reverence an awe. The very act of nerstaning is a celeration of oining merging even if on a very moest scale with the magnificence of the osmos. n the cmlative worlwie ilp of knowlege over time converts science into something only a little short of a transnational transgenerational metamin. pirit comes from the atin wor to reathe. hat we reathe is air which is certainly matter however thin. espite sage to the contrary there is no necessary implication in the wor spirital that we are talking of anything other than matter incling the matter of which the rain is mae or anything otsie the realm of science. n occasion will feel free to se the wor. cience is not only compatile with spiritality it is a profon sorce of spiritality

. hen we recognie or place in an

immensity of light years an in the passage of ages when we grasp the intricacy eaty

an stlety of life then that soaring feeling that sense

of elation an hmility comine is srely spirital. o are or emotions in the presence of great art or msic or literatre or of acts of eemplary selfless corage sch as those of ohanas anhi or artin ther ing r

. The notion that science an spiritality are somehow mtally

eclsive oes a isservice to oth.

These are all instances of pseoscience. They prport to se the methos an finings of science while in fact they are faithless to its

natre often ecase they are ase on insf ecase they ignore cles that point the other way glliility

ficient evience or . They ripple with

. ith the ninforme cooperation an often the cynical

connivance of newspapers magaines ook plishers raio television movie procers an the like sch ieas are easily an wiely availale. ar more if

ficlt to come pon are the alternative

more challenging an even more aling finings of science. seoscience is easier to contrive than science ecase istracting confrontations with reality where we cannot control the otcome of the comparison are more reaily avoie. The stanars of argment what passes for evience are mch more relae. n part for these same reasons it is mch easier to present pseoscience to the general plic than science. t this isnt enogh to eplain its poplarity . atrally people try varios elief systems on for sie to see if they help. n if were esperate enogh we ecome all too willing to aanon what may e perceive as the heavy ren of skepticism. seoscience speaks to powerfl emotional nees that science often leaves nflfille. t caters to fantasies aot personal powers we lack an long for like those attrite to comic ook sperheroes toay

an earlier

to the gos . n some of its manifestations it of fers

satisfaction of spirital hngers cres for isease promises that eath is not the en. t reassres s of or cosmic centrality an importance. t vochsafes that we are hooke p with tie to the

niverse.

ometimes it s a kin of halfway hose etween ol

religion an new science mistrste y oth. t the heart of some pseoscience an some religion also ew ge an l is the iea that wishing makes it so. ow satisfying it wol e as in folklore an chilren

s stories to flfill or heart

s

esire st y wishing. ow sective this notion is especially when compare with the har work an goo lck sally reire to achieve or hopes. The enchante fish or the genie from the lamp will grant s three wishes anything we want ecept more wishes. ho has not ponere st to e on the safe sie st in case we ever come pon an accientally r an ol sat rass oil lamp what to ask for rememer

from chilhoo comic strips an ooks a top hatte

mstachioe magician who ranishe an eony walking stick. is name was atara. e col make anything happen ow i he o it asy

anything at all.

. e ttere his commans ackwars. o if

he wante a million ollars he wol say srallo noillim a em evig. That s all there was to it. t was something like prayer t mch srer of reslts. spent a lot of time at age eight eperimenting in this vein commaning stones to levitate esir lame my pronnciation.

enots. t never worke.

The etaphysicist as o aoratory The trth may e pling or conterintitive. t may contraict eeply hel eliefs. periment is how we get a hanle on it. t a inner many ecaes ago the physicist oert

.

oo was aske to respon to the

toast T o physics an metaphysics. y metaphysics people then meant something like philosophy or trths yo col recognie st y thinking aot them. They col also have incle pseoscience. oo answere along these lines The physicist has an iea. The more he thinks it throgh the more sense it seems to make. e conslts the scientific literatre. The more he reas the more promising the iea ecomes. Ths prepare he goes to the laoratory an evises an eperiment to test it. The eperiment is painstaking. any possiilities are checke. The accracy of measrement is refine the error ars rece. e lets the chips fall where they may. e is evote only to what the eperiment teaches. t the en of all this work throgh carefl eperimentation the iea is fon to e worthless. o the physicist iscars it frees his min from the cltter of error

an moves on to something else.

The if ference etween physics an metaphysics

oo concle as he

raise his glass high is not that the practitioners of one are smarter than the practitioners of the other. The if ference is that the metaphysicist has no laoratory .

seoscience is emrace it might e arge in eact proportion as real science is misnerstoo ecept that the langage reaks own here. f yove never hear of science to say nothing of how it works yo can harly e aware yore emracing pseoscience.

ore simply thinking in one of the ways

that hmans always have.

eligions are often the state protecte nrseries of pseoscience althogh there s no reason why religions have to play that role. n a way it s an artifact from times long gone. n some contries nearly everyone elieves in astrology an precognition incling government leaers. t this is not simply rmme into them y religion it is rawn ot of the enveloping cltre in which everyone is comfortale with these practices an af

firming testimonials are

everywhere. ost of the case histories will relate are merican ecase these are the cases know est not ecase pseoscience an mysticism are more prominent in the nite tates than elsewhere. t the psychic spoonener an etraterrestrial channeler ri eller hails from srael. s tensions rise etween lgerian seclarists an oslem fnamentalists more an more people are iscreetly conslting the contry

s soothsayers an

clairvoyants aot half of whom operate with a license from the government . igh rench of

ficials incling a former presient of

rance arrange for millions of ollars to e investe in a scam the lf itaine scanal to fin new petrolem reserves from the air ermany

there is concern aot carcinogenic arth rays

netectale y science they can e sense only y eperience owsers ranishing forke sticks. sychic srgery florishes in the hilippines. hosts are something of a national osession in ritain. ince

orl

ar apan has spawne enormos nmers

of new religions featring the spernatral. n estimate

.n

fortnetellers florish in apan the clientele are mainly yong women. m hinrikyo a sect thoght to e involve in the release of the nerve gas sarin in the Tokyo sway system in arch featres levitation faith healing an among its main tenets. ollowers at a high price rank the miracle pon water from the ath of saraha their leaer

. n Thailan iseases are treate with

pills manfactre from plverie sacre criptre. itches are toay eing rne in oth frica. stralian peacekeeping forces in aiti resce a woman tie to a tree she is accse of flying from rooftop to rooftop an scking the loo of chilren. strology is rife in nia geomancy wiesprea in hina. erhaps the most sccessfl recent gloal pseoscience y many criteria alreay a religion is the in octrine of transcenental meitation T . The soporific homilies of its foner an spirital leaer

the aharishi ahesh

ogi can e seen on

television. eate in the yogi position his white hair here an there flecke with lack srrone y garlans an floral of has a oo visage.

ferings he

ne ay while channel srfing we came pon this o know who that is aske or for year ol son. o.

The worlwie T organiation has an estimate valation of illion. or a fee they promise throgh meitation to e ale to walk yo throgh walls to make yo invisile to enale yo to fly thinking in nison they have they say

.y

iminishe the crime rate in

ashington .. an case the collapse of the oviet nion among other seclar miracles. ot one smattering of real evience has een of fere for any sch claims. T sells folk meicine rns

traing companies meical clinics an research niversities an has nsccessflly entere politics. n its oly charismatic leaer its promise of commnity

an the of fer of magical powers in

echange for money an fervent elief it is typical of many pseosciences markete for sacerotal eport. t each relinishing of civil controls an scientific ecation another little spn in pseoscience occrs. eon T

rotsky escrie it for

ermany on the eve of the ier takeover t in a escription that might eally have applie to the oviet nion of ot only in peasant homes t also in city skyscrapers there lives along sie the twentieth centry the thirteenth. hnre million people se electricity an still elieve in the magic powers of signs an eorcisms. . . . ovie stars go to meims. create y man

viators who pilot miraclos mechanisms

s genis wear amlets on their sweaters. hat

inehastile reserves they possess of arkness ignorance an savagery

ssia is an instrctive case. ner the tsars religios sperstition was encorage t scientific an skeptical thinking ecept y a few tame scientists was rthlessly epnge. ner ommnism oth religion an pseoscience were systematically sppresse ecept for the sperstition of the state ieological religion. t was avertise as scientific t fell as far short of this ieal as the most nself critical mystery clt. ritical thinking ecept y scientists in hermetically seale compartments of knowlege was recognie as angeros was not taght in the schools an was pnishe

where epresse. s a reslt post ommnism many

ssians

view science with sspicion. hen the li was lifte as was also tre of virlent ethnic hatres what ha all along een ling ssrface was epose to view

. The region is now awash in s

poltergeists faith healers ack meicines magic waters an ol rime sperstition. stnning ecline in life epectancy

increasing

infant mortality rampant epiemic isease sminimal meical stanars an ignorance of preventative meicine all work to raise the threshol at which skepticism is triggere in an increasingly esperate poplation. s write the electorally most poplar memer of the ma a leaing spporter of the ltranationalist laimir hirinovsky

is one natoly ashpirovsky a faith healer

who remotely cres iseases ranging from hernias to y glaring at yo ot of yor television set. is face starts stoppe clocks. somewhat analogos sitation eists in hina. fter the eath of ao eong an the graal emergence of a market economy s channeling an other eamples of

estern pseoscience

emerge along with sch ancient hinese practices as ancestor worship astrology an fortne telling especially that version that involves throwing yarrow sticks an working throgh the hoary tetragrams of the hin

The government newspaper lamente that

the sperstition of feal ieology is reviving in or contrysie. t was an remains a rral not primarily an ran af

fliction.

nivials with special powers gaine enormos followings. They col they sai proect i the energy fiel of the niverse ot of their oies to change the moleclar strctre of a chemical kilometers away to commnicate with aliens to cre iseases. ome patients ie ner the ministrations of one of these masters of i ong who was arreste an convicte in .

ang

ongcheng an amater chemist claime to have synthesie a lii small amonts of which when ae to water

wol convert

it to gasoline or the eivalent. or a time he was fne y the army an the secret police t when his invention was fon to e a scam he was arreste an imprisone. atrally the story sprea that his misfortne reslte not from fra t from his nwillingness to reveal his secret formla to the government. imilar stories have circlate in merica for ecaes sally with the government role replace y a maor oil or ato company

. sian rhinos are eing

riven to etinction ecase their horns when plverie are sai to prevent impotence the market encompasses all of ast sia. The government of hina an the hinese ommnist arty were alarme y certain of these evelopments. n ecemer they isse a oint proclamation that rea in part lic ecation in science has een withering in recent years. t the same time activities of sperstition an ignorance have een growing an anti science an pseoscience cases have ecome freent. Therefore effective measres mst e applie as soon as possile to strengthen plic ecation in science. The level of plic ecation in science an technology is an important sign of the national scientific

accomplishment. t is a matter of overall importance in economic evelopment scientific avance an the progress of society

.

e mst

e attentive an implement sch plic ecation as part of the strategy to moernie or socialist contry an to make or nation powerfl an prosperos. gnorance is never socialist nor is poverty .

o pseoscience in merica is part of a gloal tren. ts cases angers iagnosis an treatment are likely to e similar everywhere. ere psychics ply their wares on etene television commercials personally enorse y entertainers. They have their own channel the sychic riens etwork a million people a year sign on an se sch giance in their everyay lives. or the s of maor corporations for financial analysts for lawyers an ankers there is a species of astrologersoothsayerpsychic reay to avise on any matter. f people knew how many people especially the very rich an powerfl ones went to psychics their aws wol rop throgh the floor

says a psychic from levelan hio. oyalty has

traitionally een vlnerale to psychic fras. n ancient hina an ome astrology was the eclsive property of the emperor any private se of this potent art was consiere a capital of

fense.

merging from a particlarly crelos othern alifornia cltre ancy an onal eagan relie on an astrologer in private an plic matters nknown to the voting plic. ome portion of the ecision making that inflences the ftre of or civiliation is plainly in the hans of charlatans. f anything the practice is comparatively mte in merica its vene is worlwie.

s amsing as some of pseoscience may seem as confient as we may e that we wol never e so gllile as to e swept p y sch a octrine we know it

s happening all aron s.

Transcenental eitation an m hinrikyo seem to have attracte a large nmer of accomplishe people some with avance egrees in physics or engineering. These are not octrines for nitwits. omething else is going on. hat

s more no one intereste in what religions are an how they

egin can ignore them. hile vast arriers may seem to stretch etween a local single focs contention of pseoscience an something like a worl religion the partitions are very thin. The worl presents s with nearly insrmontale prolems. wie variety of soltions are of fere some of very limite worlview

some of

portentos sweep. n the sal arwinian natral selection of octrines some thrive for a time while most ickly vanish. t a few sometimes as history has shown the most scrf

fy an least

prepossessing among them may have the power to profonly change the history of the worl. The continm stretching from ill practice science pseoscience an sperstition ew ge or l all the way to respectale mystery religion ase on revelation is inistinct. try not to se the wor clt in its sal meaning of a religion the speaker islikes t try to reach for the heastone of knowlege o they really know what they claim to know veryone it trns ot has relevant epertise.

am critical of the ecesses of theology

ecase at the etremes it

is if ficlt to istingish pseoscience from rigi octrinaire religion. evertheless want to acknowlege at the otset the proigios iversity an compleity of religios thoght an practice over the millennia the growth of lieral religion an ecmenical fellowship ring the last centry

an the fact that as in the

rotestant eformation the rise of eform aism

atican an

the so calle higher criticism of the ile religion has foght with varying egrees of sccess its own ecesses. t in parallel to the many scientists who seem relctant to eate or even plicly iscss pseoscience many proponents of mainstream religions are relctant to take on etreme conservatives an fnamentalists. f the tren contines eventally the fiel is theirs they can win the eate y efalt. ne religios leaer writes to me of his longing for iscipline integrity in religion e have grown far too sentimental. . . . evotionalism an cheap psychology on one sie an arrogance an ogmatic intolerance on the other istort athentic religios life almost eyon recognition. ometimes come close to espair

t then live tenaciosly an

always with hope. . . . onest religion more familiar than its critics with the istortions an asrities perpetrate in its name has an active interest in encoraging a healthy skepticism for its own prposes. . . . There is the possiility for religion an science to forge a potent partnership against pseoscience. trangely engage also in opposing pseo religion.

think it wol soon e

The iren ong of nreason nde in the r

is the title of a corageos largely ilically ase

ook y Thomas y

plishe in onon in attacking the

witchhnts then in progress as a scam to ele the people. ny illness or storm anything ot of the orinary

was poplarly attrite to

witchcraft. itches mst eist y ote the witchmongers as arging else how shol these things e or come to pass or mch of or history we were so fearfl of the otsie worl with its npreictale angers that we glaly emrace anything that promise to soften or eplain away the terror . cience is an attempt largely sccessfl to nerstan the worl to get a grip on things to get hol of orselves to steer a safe corse. icroiology an meteorology now eplain what only a few centries ago was consiere sf

ficient case to rn women to

eath. y also warne of the anger that the ations will perish for lack of knowlege.

voiale hman misery is more often case not so mch

y stpiity as y ignorance particlarly or ignorance aot orselves. worry that especially as the illennim eges nearer

pseoscience

an sperstition will seem year y year more tempting the siren song of nreason more sonoros an attractive. here have we hear it efore henever or ethnic or national preices are arose in times of scarcity ring challenges to national self esteem or nerve when we agonie aot or iminishe cosmic place an prpose or when fanaticism is ling p aron s men haits of thoght familiar from ages past reach for the controls. The canle flame gtters. ts little pool of light tremles. arkness gathers. The emons egin to stir

.

seoscience if

fers from erroneos science. cience thrives on

errors ctting them away one y one. alse conclsions are rawn all the time t they are rawn tentatively

. ypotheses are frame

so they are capale of eing isprove. sccession of alternative hypotheses is confronte y eperiment an oservation. cience gropes an staggers towar improve nerstaning. roprietary feelings are of corse of fene when a

scientific hypothesis is

isprove t sch isproofs are recognie as central to the scientific enterprise. seoscience is st the opposite. ypotheses are often frame precisely so they are invlnerale to any eperiment that of

fers a

prospect of isproof so even in principle they cannot e invaliate. ractitioners are efensive an wary

. keptical scrtiny is oppose.

hen the pseoscientific hypothesis fails to catch fire with scientists conspiracies to sppress it are ece. otor aility in healthy people is almost perfect. an fall ecept in yong an ol age.

e rarely stmle

e can learn tasks sch as

riing a icycle or skating or skipping mping rope or riving a car an retain that mastery for the rest of or lives. ven if weve gone a ecae withot oing it it comes ack to s ef

fortlessly. The

precision an retention of or motor skills may

however give s a

false sense of confience in or other talents. r perceptions are fallile.

e sometimes see what isnt there.

illsions. ccasionally we hallcinate. illminating ook calle

o

e are prey to optical

e are error prone. most

e no ht snt So he ibiity

of un eson in Everydy ife

y Thomas ilovich shows how

people systematically err in nerstaning nmers in reecting npleasant evience in eing inflence y the opinions of others. ere goo in some things t not in everything. isom lies in nerstaning or limitations. or an is a giy thing teaches illiam hakespeare. That

s where the stf fy skeptical rigor of

science comes in. erhaps the sharpest istinction etween science an pseoscience is that science has a far keener appreciation of hman imperfections an falliility than oes pseoscience or inerrant revelation . f we resoltely refse to acknowlege where we are liale to fall into error error even serios error

then we can confiently epect that profon mistakes will e or

companion forever. t if we are capale of a little corageos self assessment whatever refl reflections they may engener

or

chances improve enormosly . f we teach only the finings an procts of science no matter how sefl an even inspiring they may e withot commnicating its critical metho how can the average person possily istingish science from pseoscience oth then are presente as nspporte assertion. n ssia an hina it se to e easy . thoritative science was what the athorities

taght. The

istinction etween science an pseoscience was mae

for yo.

o perpleities neee to e mle throgh. t when profon political changes occrre an strictres on free thoght were

loosene a host of confient or charismatic claims especially those that tol s what we wante to hear gaine a vast following. very notion however improale ecame athoritative. t is a spreme challenge for the poplarier of science to make clear the actal tortos history of its great iscoveries an the misapprehensions an occasional storn refsal y its practitioners to change corse. any

perhaps most science

tetooks for ing scientists trea lightly here. t is enormosly easier to present in an appealing way the wisom istille from centries of patient an collective interrogation of atre than to etail the messy istillation apparats. The metho of science as stogy an grmpy as it may seem is far more important than the finings of science.

n sence of lien rtifacts ome allege actees say that tiny implants perhaps metallic were inserte into their oies high p their nostrils for eample. These implants alien action therapists tell s sometimes accientally fall ot t in all t a few of the cases the artifact has een lost or iscare. These actees seem stpefyingly incrios. strange oect possily a transmitter sening telemetere ata aot the state of yor oy to an alien spaceship somewhere aove the arth rops ot of yor nose yo ily eamine it an then throw it in the garage. omething like this is tre we are tol of the maority of action cases. few sch implants have een proce an eamine y eperts. one has een confirme as of nearthly manfactre. o components

are mae of nsal isotopes espite the fact that other stars an other worls are known to e constitte of if

ferent isotopic proportions than

the arth. There are no metals from the transranic islan of staility where physicists think there shol e a new family of nonraioactive chemical elements nknown on arth. hat action enthsiasts consiere the est case was that of ichar rice who claims that aliens acte him when he was eight years ol an implante a small artifact in his penis. arter centry later a physician confirme a foreign oy emee there. fter eight more years it fell ot. oghly a millimeter in

iameter an millimeters long it

was careflly eamine y scientists from T an assachsetts eneral ospital. Their conclsion ollagen forme y the oy at sites of inflammation pls cotton fiers from rice n gst

s nerpants.

television stations owne y pert roch ran

what was prporte to e an atopsy of a ea alien shot on millimeter film. aske pathologists in vintage raiation protection sits with rectanglar glass winows to see ot of ct p a large eye fingere figre an eamine the internal organs. hile the film was sometimes ot of focs an the view of the caaver often locke y the hmans crowing aron it some viewers fon the ef ies

fect chilling. The

of onon also owne y roch int know what to make of it

althogh it i ote one pathologist who thoght the atopsy performe with nseemly an nrealistic haste ieal thogh for television viewing . t was sai to have een shot in ew eico in y a participant now in his eighties who wishe to remain anonymos. hat appeare to e the clincher was the annoncement that the leaer of the film its first few feet containe coe information that oak the manfactrer ate to . owever

it trns ot that the fll film magaine was not

presente to oak t at most the ct leaer

. or all we know

the

leaer col have een ct from a newsreel anantly archive in merica an the atopsy stage an filme separately an recently

.

There s a ragon footprint all right t a fakale one. f this is a hoa it reires not mch more cleverness than crop circles an the ocment. n none of these stories is there anything strongly sggestive of etraterrestrial origin. There is certainly no retrieval of cnning machinery far eyon crrent technology

.

o actee has filche a page from the captain

s logook or an

eamining instrment or taken an athentic photograph of the interior of the ship or come ack with etaile an verifiale scientific information not hitherto availale on arth. hy not These failres mst tell s something.

ince the mile of the twentieth centry

weve een assre y

proponents of the etraterrestrial hypothesis that physical evience not star maps rememere from years ago not scars not istre soil t real alien technology was in han. The analysis wol e release momentarily

. These claims go ack to the earliest

crashe sacer scam of ewton an eaer later an were still waiting. here are the articles

. ow it s ecaes plishe in the

referee scientific literatre in the metallrgical an ceramics ornals in plications of the nstitte of lectrical an lectronic ngineers in S ien e or ture

ch a iscovery wol e momentos. f there were real artifacts physicists an chemists wol e fighting for the privilege of iscovering that there are aliens among s who se say nknown alloys or materials of etraorinary tensile strength or ctility or conctivity

. The practical implications of sch a fining

never min the confirmation of an alien invasion wol e immense. iscoveries like this are what scientists live for . Their asence mst tell s something.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat is the if ference etween pseoscience an erroneos science . agan ses many eamples in making his argment. ook ack throgh the essay an make a list of his eamples. hat if ferent kins of eamples oes he se an how oes he se them hat formal alities characterie them . connections ook at agan s essay net to tephanie ricsson s The ays e ie . hich of the ways ricsson escries might e relevant to agan s iscssion hat oes it mean to talk aot the sects of agan s skepticism as lies . agan cites a religios leaer as promoting honest religion religion that engages with healthy skepticism. hat are yor thoghts on this iea re religios faith an aherence to scientific skepticism mtally eclsive or can they coeist . ooinrter rite aot yor own religios eliefs incling nonelief or agnosticism . hat role oes scientific skepticism play in the way yo think aot the eistence or noneistence of a eity or eities or a spirital or spernatral imension of life s the natre of yor eliefs shape in some way y yor knowlege of science or yor employment of scientific skepticism f so how

The ea

as ever le

Mri Mi he Sssi te hes n ient hiosohy t the University of is in ty

She is the uthor of ny boos on the n ient ord

in udin The cience of an in ncient reece eginnings of hilosophy in reece

The

nd boos on

eo ritus nd So rtes n her ref e to the Enish trnstion of ncient reece

The cience of an in

Sssi rites bout the oenin u in ssi

studies of interest in reviousy nee ted ors for exe the ttention tht strted bein id round the turn of the st entury to ristote

s oooi tretises rther thn ony to his

etaphysics an thics

s you red he Se

ssays on s ever ue

ee n eye out for this in intion by Sssi to oo t thins other eoe iht not hve ooed t s u h or s osey

in udin

ooin itsef omer se two aectives to escrie aspects of the color le uneos

to enote a ark shae of le merging into lack an

uos

to escrie a sort of le grey notaly se in thena

epithet uois ig starry

her grey gleaming eyes. e escries the sky as

or of iron or rone ecase of its soli fiity . The tints

of a rogh sea range from whitish to eep le an almost lack epanse is sai to e pansy like prple

s

orhureos

oios

uneos es

an le grey

The sea in its calm

ioeides wine like

t whether sea or sky

uos oinos

it is never st le. n

or

fact within the entirety of ncient reek literatre yo cannot fin a single pre le sea or sky

.

ellow too seems strangely asent from the reek leicon. The simple wor xnthos covers the most varios shaes of yellow the shining lon hair of the gos to amer fire. horos

since it s relate to

from

to the reish lae of

hoe grass sggests the color

green t can also itself convey a vivi yellow

like honey.

The ncient reek eperience of color oes not seem to match or own. n a well known aphorism rierich ietsche captres the strangeness of the reek color vocalary ow if

ferently the reeks mst have viewe their natral worl since

their eyes were lin to le an green an they wol see instea of the former a eeper rown an yellow instea of the latter an for instance they also wol se the same wor for the color of ark hair that of the corn flower an that of the sothern sea an again they wol employ eactly the same wor for the color of the greenest plants an of the hman skin of honey an of the yellow resins so that their greatest painters reproce the worl they live in only in lack white re an yellow .

y translation

ow is this possile i the reeks really see the colors of the worl if ohann

ferently from the way we o olfgang von oethe too oserve these featres of

reek chromatic vision. The versatility of

xnthos an

horos le

him to infer a pecliar fliity of reek color vocalary

. The

reeks he sai were not intereste in efining the if

ferent hes.

oethe nerpinne his gment throgh a carefl eamination of the theories on vision an colors elaorate y the reek philosophers sch as mpeocles lato an ristotle who attrite an active role to the visal organ eippe with light coming out of the eye an interacting with aylight so as to generate the complete range of colors. oethe also note that ancient color theorists tene to erive colors from a mitre of lack an white which are place on the two opposite poles of light an ark an yet are still calle colors. The ancient conception of lack an white as colors often primary colors is remarkale when compare with saac ewton s eperiments on the ecomposition of light y refraction throgh a prism. The common view toay is that white light is colorless an arises from the sm of all the hes of the spectrm whereas lack is its asence. oethe consiere the ewtonian theory to e a mathematical astraction in contrast with the testimony of the eyes an ths ownright asr. n fact he claime that light is the most simple an homogeneos sstance an the variety of colors arise at the eges where ark an light meet. oethe set the reeks approach to color inst

ewton s for their having caght the sective

of color perception. The reeks alreay knew f the eye were not n like it col never see the n.

sie

oethe wrote that

nother eplanation for the apparent oness of reek perception came from the eminent politician an ellenist illiam lastone who evote a chapter of his e

Studies on oer nd the oeri

to perceptions an se of color

. e too notice the

vageness of the green an le esignations in omer

as well as

the asence of wors covering the centre of the le area. here lastone if

fere was in taking as normative the ewtonian list of

colors re orange yellow

green le inigo violet . e

interprete the reeks sppose lingistic poverty as eriving from an imperfect iscrimination of prismatic colors. The visal organ of the ancients was still in its infn y

hence their strong sensitivity to

light rather than he an the relate inaility to clearly istingish one he from another . This argment fit well with the post arwinian climate of the late th centry nee it prompte ietsche

an came to e wiely elieve. s own gment an le to a series of

investigations that soght to prove that the reek chromatic categories o not fit in with moern taonomies. Toay

no one thinks that there has een a stage in the history of

hmanity when some colors were not yet eing perceive. t thanks to or moern anthropological gae it is accepte that every cltre has its own way of naming an categorising colors. This is not e to varying anatomical strctres of the hman eye t to the fact that if ferent oclar areas are stimlate which triggers if emotional responses all accoring to if

ferent cltral contets.

ferent

o was oethe right that the reek pecliar

exerien e of colors is ite

es he was. There is a specific reek chromatic cltre

st as there is an gyptian one an nian one a ropean one an the like each of them eing reflecte in a vocalary that has its own pecliarity

an not to e measre only y the scientific meter

of the ewtonian paraigm. The estion then is how can we hope to nerstan how the reeks saw their worl et s egin with the colorimetric system ase on the olor phere create in y an merican artist name lert enry nsell. ccoring to this moel any color sensation can e efine throgh three interacting aspects the

hue etermine y the

position in the ewtonian spectrm y which we iscriminate one color from another the lack an the of the color

hro

vue

or lightness ranging from white to

which correspons to the prity or satration

epening on the wavelength istrition of light. ire

re an sky le are highly satrate whereas grey is not at all. to these the concept of

sien y

that is the capacity of a color

to catch visal attention an the efective efinition of le an green that lastone interprete as a symptom of color linness can e eplaine since the lingistic efinition of he is proportionate to the saliency of a color . That is why re the most salient color the first to e efine in terms of he in any cltre

eruthros in

reek while green an le are generally first perceive as rightness ecase they are less salient colors an are slowly focse as hes later

. This means that in some contets the reek

is

aective euos

horos shol e translate as fresh instea of green or as shining rather than white. The reeks were perfectly

ale to er eive the le tint t were not particlarly intereste in des ribin the le tone of sky or sea at least not in the same way as we are with or moern sensiility This moel is helpfl for escriing the if

. ferent ways in which a

chromatic cltre can segment the hge range of possile cominations of the three imensions y privileging one or the other cltre might emphasise he or chroma or vale each with varying intensity. n so the nsell moel is sefl in that it helps to emonstrate the remarkale reek preilection for

brihtness

an the fact that the reeks eperience colors in egrees of lightness an arkness rather than in terms of he. owever

the nsell moel oesnt completely eplain how the

reeks perceive color since it leaves ot the richness of the color

event the sective felt perspective of color that oethe

so vale. or the reeks color was a asic nit of information necessary to nerstaning the worl aove all the social worl. ne s compleion was a maor criterion of social ientity

so mch so

that contrasting light women an ark men was a wiesprea in reek literatre an iconography

i h

roote in the preice that the

pale compleion of women is e to their living in the arkness of the omestic sphere whereas men are tanne an strengthene y physical eertion an otoor sports. o the reek wor hro hroi

means oth the colore srface of a thing an the

.

color itself an is significantly relate to an skin color

hros which means skin

. The emotional an ethical vales of color cannot

e forgotten in trying to iscern reek chromatic cltre. f se are two frther parameters in aition to the nsell moel an the sective vale of color

. There is the itter effe t of color

which is proce y the interplay of the tetre of the oect an the light conitions an there is the

teri

or te hnooi ro ess

y

which a certain color is otaine in the practice of painters an yers. ith these in han the fll range of reek colors will come into view even the notorios crios case of

orhureos

the

chromatic term most if ficlt to grasp. ot only oes

orhureos

not correspon to any efinite he place

as it is on the orerline etween re an le in ewtonian terms t it is often applie to oects that o not appear straightforwarly prple as in the case of the sea. The fact that the sea can appear prple at snset is not sf

ficient to eplain the freency of this

epithet in reek literatre. hen the sea is calle

orhureos

what

is escrie is a mi of rightness an movement changing accoring to the light conitions at if

ferent hors of the ay an with

if ferent weather which was the aspect of the sea that most attracte reek sensitivity

. This is why omer calls the sea winey

which alles not so mch to the wine tint of the water as to the shine of the lii insie the cps se to rink ot of at a symposim. s shown y the naval friees an the aatic animals painte insie many rinking vessels vase painters trne the

image aron so that the srface of the rink sggeste the waving of the sea. orhureos

conveys this comination of rightness an

movement a chromatic term impossile to nerstan withot consiering the glimmer ef fect. The material effect of shimmering ner the light rays is well caght y ristotle within a iscssion on the colors of the rainow one of them eing violet . n his

Meteorooy

he states

The same effect as in the rainow can also e seen in yes for there is an inescriale if

ference in the appearance of the colors in woven

an emroiere materials when they are if instance prple is ite if

ferently arrange for

ferent on a white or a lack ackgron an

variations of light can make a similar if ference. o emroierers say they often make mistakes in their colors when they work y lamplight picking ot one color in mistake for another

.

The lminos ality of prple tetiles is e to the particlar manfactring of

orhur

the teri

from which the ye was

rawn. rple ye was proce as early as in from rine sea water

an ink from the laer of

hoenicia urex

snails. To

etract the snails the shells were pt in a vat where their ptrefying oies ecrete a yellowish lii that wol e oile the ver orhur

means swirling esies growingying prple .

arios

nances from yellow to green to le to re col e otaine epening on how mch water was ae an when the oiling process was stoppe. The re an prple tones were greatly prie in antiity ecase of the costliness of the process one mollsc

proviing st a few rops of nilte ice an the color i not easily fae on the contrary

it ecame righter with weathering

an snlight. This is why prple was associate throghot antiity an eyon with power

prestige an glorios eaty

worn for

centries y mperors an kings carinals an opes. o the crios case of

orhur

shows how the effects of

movement variation an lminosity went along with resonances of preciosness. ol was also appreciate for similar reasons an it is not y chance that the heroes an gos from omer to hilostrats are often attire in gol an

orhur

y moving

eyon the ewtonian moel a clearer pictre of the reek chromatic worl emerges. owever

there is one lingering estion

aot the reek perception of color why

after all i the reeks

vale rightness so mch The philosophers that inspire oethe offer a cle. The first pre ocratic philosopher to mention color was armenies who wrote in the fifth centry that changing place an altering in right color mortals ascrie to reality

are among the characteristics that trsting them to e tre. Then came

mpeocles with a fragment that compares the miing of the for elements that il the sensile worl to the work that painters o when miing if

ferent pigments in variale proportions

s when painters ecorate votive of

ferings

men throgh cnning well taght in their skill

who when they take the many colore pigments in their hans miing in harmony more of these an less of those ot of them they proce shapes similar to all things creating trees an men an women an easts an irs an fishes nrtre in water an long live gos highest in honors

The effect of splenor was likely important to mpeocles concept of color

as he eplaine the proction of all colors throgh the

mitre of two elements fire an water

which correspon

respectively to white light an lack arkness an are consiere the two etremes in the chromatic continm. ring the secon half of the fifth centry emocrits arge that the natre of colors epens on the interaction etween visal rays aylight an the atomic strctre of oects. e consiere rilliance to e a factor as important as he for efining colors. oreover

in eplaining the varios colors as mitres of a asic set

of for white lack re an green or as mitres of the primary mitres he consiere the mitre of re an white corresponing to the golen an copper color pls a small amont of green aing a sense of freshness an life to give the most eatifl color

proaly gol . e regare prple as a particlarly

elightfl color

on the grons that it comes from white lack an

re the presence of white eing inicate y its rilliance an lminosity . The same appreciation of rilliance is fon in lato whose accont of vision in

ieus

is centre on the interaction of

three factors namely the fire internal to the oserver

s eye aylight

an the flame that is again the light transmitte y the colore oect. lato

s list of primary colors incles white lack re an

most remarkaly

the rilliant an shining which to s is not a

color at all. ristotle if

fers from lato on crcial points in metaphysics an

psychology. evertheless he shares lato colors. n

n Sense nd the Sensibe

s preilection for rilliant he evotes a chapter to

color where he arges that the varios colors arise from if

ferent

proportions in the mitres of white an lack. These last two moreover correspon in his view to the fire an the water in the physical oies an etermine the transparent meim as light an arkness respectively . e prple green an

dr

le

unoun

are primary mitres of white an lack the remaining colors reslting from mitres of the primary ones. rple re an green are most pleasant to the eye as they are enowe with a pecliar reflectivity which is e to the neat proportion of light an arkness in their composition. ristotle elaorates on the aesthetic assmptions of his preecessors an makes eplicit statements on color eing an inicator of vitality an vigor

both in the worl an in painting

which recalls the nee to take into accont the emotional meaning of a color . nee ristotle escries the emryo his iological work n the enertion of nis painting practice

s evelopment in y an analogy with

n the early stages of the emryo

s formation the parts are all trace ot

in otline later on they get their varios colors an softnesses an harnesses ite as if a painter were at work on them the painter eing natre. ainters as we know

first of all otline the figre of the animal

an after that go on to apply the colors.

hat is more visile in painting to ristotle eplain the emryo

s eyes so as to help to

s growth is how the pairing of line an color

works first the rawing of an otline provies the essential featres of an image then comes color to a flesh an the eaty of life. t is most noteworthy that a similar attite emerges from a nmer of ancient escriptions of the aesthetic ef fect proce y the coloring of states pervae y the celeration of the rightening an enlivening properties of color . or instance the character of elen in ripies tragey

in complaining aot the evastating events

case y her eaty

wishes for her colors to e erase from a

state so as to eliminate her fatal charm. The literary evience has recently receive striking corrooration on this sect from important archaeological reconstrctions of ancient sclptral polychromy. The effect soght y applying the most rilliant an satrate colors was eactly one of splenor

along with energy

movement an life. o oethe was right. n trying to see the worl throgh reek eyes the ewtonian view is only somewhat sefl.

e nee to

spplement it with the reeks own color theories an to eamine the way in which they actally trie to escrie their worl. ithot

this the crcial role of light an rightness in their chromatic vision wol e lost as wol any chance to make sense of the moility an fliity of their chromatic vocalary mathematical astractions of ewton

. f we rely only on the s optics it will e impossile to

imagine what the reeks saw when they stoo on their shores gaing ot pon the

orhureos

sea stretching into the istant

horion. his Essy s oriiny ubished in

eon

eon o

or is ussion nd ritin . hat oes assi mean y saliency hy is it an important concept in her essay . ome essays set ot to prove a point that they name at the start others like The ea as ever le are constrcte more like a etective story asking estions that they strive to answer over the corse of the essay . nnotate this essay with s an s in the margins. ooking ack over the essay can yo say anything aot its form from the placement of these annotations here oes the athor ask estions an where oes she answer them . connections assi cites oethe s preference of the reeks way of seeing color over ewton s saying that oethe favore the sective sie of color perception. ompare this treatment of science to arl agan s treatment of it in oes T rth atter .s assi isagreeing with agan hat oes she think the importance of science is in the contet of her topic . ne of the if ficlties that arises in reaing literatre from another time an place is the if ficlty of imagining how the athor an the characters epicte in the work saw their worl. very image feeling an oservation in any short story novel poem or play is shape y the conventional ways of nerstaning an perceiving things inherent in the historical perio an cltre ot of which the work came. hat aot life toay might leave ftre stents scratching their heas

. ooinrter Thinking of works of literatre an nonfiction yove rea what kins of if ferences are important to recognie when reaing something ancient or something from another cltre ick something yove rea that is from another time or place an research the historical contet. hat o yo have to nerstan aot how they saw or see the worl to flly nerstan the piece

ike ys orn in in ohnston ity

e

or vid Sedris re u in

eih orth roin e is y riht in obortion ith his sister y nd n essyist hose or hs been fetured reury on tion ubi dio nd in the essy oe tions ress

ake

or amily in orroy an enim

nglfe in lames

nd

hen

et s plore iaetes with wls

s e s the short story oe tion hipmnk oest estiary

irrel eeks is ost re ent boos in ude

s Theft y ining iaries oe tion alypso

o re

nd the essy

Sedris

s or tends to rd the stiri

but even the ost i edy ointed of his ie es re red by n ironi stn e tht in udes the uthor on those huns hose foy ust be stiried s you red ie uys note ho even hen the in obe t of his s orn is other eoe nd their ttitudes he tes ins to onsider his o n foy hortly efore graate from eighth grae it was annonce that come fall or conty school system wol aopt a policy of racial integration y way of force sing. y panish teacher roke the news in a way she hope might lea s to a greater nerstaning of her eaty an generosity

.

rememer the time was at the state fair

staning in line for a

no one she sai fingering the kiss crls that frame her sat compact face. n a little colore girl ran p an tgge at my skirt

asking if she col toch my hair

. st once she sai. st one

time for goo lck. ow

ont know aot the rest of yo t my hair means a lot to

me. The memers of my class noe to signify that their hair meant a lot to them as well. They inche forwar in their seats eager to know where this story might e going. erhaps the little egro girl was holing a conceale raor lae. aye she was one of the trolemakers ot for a fresh white scalp. sat marveling at their navet. ike all her previos anecotes this woman s story was heae straight p her ass. checke to make sre she int have any cany on her hans an then ent own an let this little colore girl toch my hair teacher s eyes assme the ewy

. The

faraway look she reserve for

sch allmark moments. Then this little fge colore girl pt her han on my cheek an sai h she sai wish col e white an pretty like yo. he pase positioning herself on the ege of the esk as thogh she were posing for a portrait the feeral government might se on a stamp commemorating gallantry . The thing to rememer

she sai is that more than anything in this

worl those colore people wish they were white. wasnt ying it. This was the same teacher who when annoncing her pregnancy sai st pray that my firstorn is a oy

. ll have a

oy an then maye later ll have a girl ecase when yo o it the

other way ron there

s a goo chance the oy will trn ot to e

fnny . nny

as in having no arms an legs aske.

That the teacher sai is far from fnny

. That is tragic an yo

sir shol have yor lips sewn sht for saying sch a crel an gly thing. hen say fnny

mean fnny as in . . . he relae her

wrist allowing her han to angle an flop. mean fnny kin of fnny

as in tht

. he mince across the room t it faile to illstrate

her point as this was more or less her natral walk a series of gamoling little steps her ack hel straight giving the impression she was alancing something of vale atop her empty hea. y seventh perio math teacher i a mch etter version. natching a prse of f the ack of a stent

s chair he wol prance aot the

room atting his eyes an lowing kisses at the oys seate in the front row. o fairy nice to meet yo he say

.

earfl of rawing any attention to myself hoote an sawke along with the rest of the class all the while thinking ht tin bout

s e he

f was going to make fn of people ha to epect a

little something in retrn that seeme only fair

. till thogh it

othere me that they fon sch an easy way to get a lagh. s entertainers these teachers were nothing ero. They col arely impersonate themselves. ook at yo my secon perio gym teacher wol shot his sneakers sealing against the asketall cort.

ore a grop of laies a pack of tap ancing eers.

s

The other oys shrgge their sholers or smile own at their shoes. They reacte as if they ha een calle hists or vampires sre it was an inslt t no one wol ever mistake them for the real thing. a they ever chante in the privacy of their ackyar temple or slept in a cof

fin they wol have felt the sting of

recognition an share my fear of iscovery

.

ha never one anything with another gy an literally praye that never wol. s mch as fantasie aot it nerstoo that there col e nothing worse than making it of

ficial. o seen them

on television from time to time the homoseals maye on one of the afternoon talk shows. o one ever came ot an calle them a eer

t yo col st tell y their voices as they flattere the host

an proclaime great respect for their fellow gests. These were the celerities never aske aot their home life the comeians rnning scarves eneath their topees or framing their pf

fy faces with their

open palms in an effort to eliminate the circles eneath their eyes. The poor man s face lift my mother calle it. egarless of their natty attire these men appeare sweaty an esperate willing to play the fool in echange for the stio applase they seeme to mistake for love an acceptance. saw something of myself in their mock weary elivery

in the way they crosse their legs an laghe

at their own okes. pictre their homes the finicky placement of their throw rgs an sectional sofas the magaines careflly fanne st so pon the cof

fee tales with no wives or chilren to istr

their orer . imagine the pornography hien in their closets an envisione them powerless an soing as the police le them away

in shackles past the teenage oy who stoo athe in the light of the television news camera an shote That

s him e s the one

who toche my hair t was my hope to win a contest cash in the pries an se the money to visit a psychiatrist who might cre me of having homoseal thoghts. lectroshock rain srgery was willing to try anything. ner a octor

hypnotism

s spervision wol

ckle own an really change swore wol. y parents knew a cople whose son ha kille a resyterian minister while riving rnk. They ha friens whose elest aghter ha sprinkle a nt cake with omet an knew of a chil who high on spray paint ha set fire to the family s cocker spaniel. et they spoke of no one whose son was a homoseal.

The os

strck me as iarre t the message was the same this was clearly the worst thing that col happen to a person. The ay to ay aniety was a enogh withot my instrctors taking their feele little potshots. f my math teacher were ale to stract the alcohol from his iet he still e on the footall fiel where he elonge an my panish teacher

s creentials were ase on nothing more

than a long weeken in T iana as far as col tell. it taking their tests an completing their homework assignments accepting s rather than elivering the graes thoght might promote their reptations as goo teachers. t was a strategy that hrt only me t thoght it cnning.

e each ha or self efeating schemes all the

oys ha come to ientify as homoseals. cept for a few

transfer stents ha known most of them since the thir grae. e spent years gathere together in ciner lock of

fices as one

speech therapist after another trie to cre s of or lisps. a there een a walking specialist we proaly wol have met there too. These were the same oys who carrie poorly forge notes to gym class an were the first to raise their hans when the nglish teacher aske for a volnteer to rea alo from ies

he

erin

or ord of the

e ha long ago ientifie one another an nerstoo that

ecase of everything we ha in common we col never e friens. T o socialie wol have rawn too mch attention to orselves.

e were memers of a secret society fone on self

loathing. hen a teacher or classmate mae fn of a real homoseal mae certain my lagh was loer than anyone else s. hen a cl memer

s clothing was thrown into the locker

room toilet was always the first to cheer . hen it was my clothing watche as the faces of my fellows roke into recogniale epressions of relief. ots

thoght.

his shoud hve been you

everal of my teachers when iscssing the pcoming school integration wol scratch at the amp stains eneath their arms plling ack their lips to reveal every it of tooth an gm. They mae monkey noises a manic sccession of ohhs an ahhs meant to sggest that soon or school wol e no if

ferent than a ngle.

a a genine ape een seate in the room gesse he might have ientifie their calls as a cry of panic. nything that case them sf fering roght me oy

t ote they wol talk this way

come fall. rom everything seen on television the egros wol

never stan for sch foolishness.

s a people they seeme to stick

together. They knew how to fight an hope that once they arrive the attle might come own to the glaiators leaving the rest of s alone. t the en of the school year

my sister isa an were ecse

from or volnteer os an sent to reece to atten a month long smmer camp avertise as the rown ewel of the onian ea. The camp was reserve eclsively for reek mericans an featre instrction in sch topics as folk singing an something calle religios prayer an flag. espise the iea of smmer camp t longe to oast that ha een to rope. t changes people or neighor ha sai. ollowing a visit to aint T

rope she

ha marke her garen with a series of tisse sie international flags. once iscreet an moest woman she now parae aot her yar wearing nothing t clogs an a flame stitche ikini. rope is the est thing that can happen to a person especially if yo like wine saw rope as an opportnity to re invent myself. might still look an speak the same way

t having walke those colestone

streets wol e ientifie as ontinental. e has a passport my classmates wol whisper

. ick let

s rn efore he ges s

tol myself that wol fin a girlfrien in reece. he wol e a rench torist wanering the each with a loaf of rea eneath her arm. isette wol prove that wasnt a homoseal t a man with

refine tastes. saw s holing hans against the silhoette of the cropolis the girl egging me to take her accorion as a memento of or love. illy yo wol say

rshing the tears from her eyes

st give me the eret that will e enogh to hol yo in my heart ntil the en of time. n case no one elieve me wol have my sister as a witness. isa an werent getting along very well t hope that the warm eiterranean waters might melt the icicle she seeme to have mistaken for a rectal thermometer. ace with a contry of strangers she wol have no choice t to appreciate my company r father accompanie s to ew

.

ork where we met or fellow

campers for the charter flight to thens. There were hnres of them each one confient an celeratory

. They tosse their

complimentary egean irlines tote ags across the room shoting an ostling one another . This wol e the way act once we finally retrne from camp t not one moment

efore.

ere it an

all girl s camp wol have een ale to work p some enthsiasm. a they sent me alone to pry leeches of

f the acks of loothirsty

ygmies might have gone ravely t spening a month in a ormitory fll of oys that was asking too mch. trie to pt it ot of my min t face with their oisteros presence fon myself growing progressively more hysterical. y nervos tics shifte into their highest gear an a small crow gathere to watch what they elieve to e an eotic folk ance. f my sister was anios aot or trip she certainly int show it. rying my fingers of

f her wrist

she crosse the room an introce herself to a girl who stoo picking salvageale tts ot of the staning ashtray

. This was a

togh looking eens native name tefani eartattacks or Testicockles. recall only that her last name ha grante her a lifelong spply of resentment. tefani wore mirrore aviator snglasses an carrie an oversie com in the ack pocket of her hiphgger eans. f all the girls in the room she seeme the least likely caniate for my sister

s frienship. They sat esie each other

on the plane an y the time we isemarke in thens isa was speaking in a very a eens accent. ring the long flight while sat cowering esie a oy name eamen my sister ha nergone a complete physical an cltral transformation. er sholer length hair was now parte on the sie covering the left half of her face as if to conceal a nasty scar. he crse an spat scowling ot the winow of the chartere s as if she come to reece with the sole intention of kicking its sty ass. hat a shithole she yelle. ee if knowe it was gonna e is hot wola staye home wit my heain a oven right girls t shame me to hear my sister strggle so har with an accent that i nothing t emean her

yet silently congratlate her on the

attempt. approache her once we reache the camp a clster of whitewashe ilings hgging the esolate coast far from any neighoring village. isten asshole she sai as far as this place is concerne ont know yo an yo sre as shit ont know me yo got that he

spoke as if she were aitioning for a toring company of

est Side

Story one han on her hip an the other fingering her pocket com as if it were a switchlae. ey

arolina one of her new friens calle.

righta reay

she raye. m comin m comin.

That was the last time we spoke efore retrning home. isa ha aste with remarkale ease t something eep in my stomach sggeste wolnt thrive nearly as well. amp laste a month ring which time never once ha a owel movement. was se to having a semiprivate athroom an col not ring myself to occpy one of the men s room stalls fearfl that someone might recognie my shoes or

even worse not see my shoes at all an

walk in on me. itting own three times a ay for a heavy reek meal ecame an eercise akin to packing a msket. tol myself sneak off ring one of or fiel trips t those toilets were nothing more than a hole in the floor a hole col have fille with no prolem whatsoever . consiere sing the onian ea t for some neplaine reason we were not allowe to swim in those waters. The camp ha an lympic sie pool that was fe from the sea an soon grew mrky with stray its of ellyfish that ha een plverie y the pmp. The tiny tentacles raise welts on campers skin so shortly after arriving it was annonce that we col photograph oth the pool nd the ocean t col swim in neither ha invente emocracy

. The reeks

ilt the cropolis an then calle it a ay

.

r swimming perio was converte into contemplation hor for the girls an an etene soccer practice for the oys. really think e etter of

f contemplating tol the coach

massaging my istene stomach. ve got a personal prolem that s sort of weighing me own. ecase we were first an foremost mericans the camp was asically an etension of nior high school ecept that here everyone ha an ecess of moles or a single eyerow sports mine oys ran the show

. The attractive

crrying favor from the staf f an

rining or weekly otoor movie with their inane heckling. rom time to time the rente tor ses wol carry s to view one of the contry s many splenors an we wol rai the gift shops stealing anything that wasnt chaine to the shelf or locke in a gare case. These were cheap plate ple rings an pint sie vases little pom pomme shoes an cof

fee mgs reaing

T

. y shoplifting eperience was the only thing that gave me an ege over the poplar oys. ol it like this whisper

. Then

swivel aron an slip the state of iana own the ack of yor shorts covering it with yor T shirt. ememer to ack ot the oor while leaving an never forget to wave goo ye. There was one oy at camp felt might get along with a etroit native name ason who slept on the nk eneath mine. ason tene to look away when talking to the other oys shifting his eyes as thogh he were stying the weather conitions. ike me he

se his free time to crl into a fetal position staring at the esie calenar pon which he e ot all the ays he ha enre so far.

e were finishing or to wash an rinse segment one

morning when or ormitory conselor arrive for inspection shoting hat are yo a nch of goamne faggots who cant make yor es giggle ot lo at his stpiity

. f anyone knew how to make a e

it was a faggot. t was the others he neee to worry aot. saw ason laghing too an soon we took to mocking this conselor referring to each other first as faggots an then as stinking faggots.

e were lay faggots an snrne faggots efore we

eventally ecame faggoty faggots.

e colnt protest the wor

as that wol have meant acknowleging the trth of it. The most we col o was emrace it as a oke. moying the term in all its clich glory

we mince an prance aot the room for each

other s entertainment when the others werent looking. fon myself easily otperforming my teachers who ha faile to captre the proper spirit of loopy ravao inherent in the role.

ot

as a wor

was always elivere in a harsh nforgiving tone efitting those weak or stpi enogh to act pon their implses.

e se it as a

oke an accsation an finally as a are. ate at night feel my nk ck an sway

knowing that ason was either mastrating or

eating eggs for an omelette. s it e he

s thinin bout

follow

his lea an wake the net morning to fin or entire iron frame nit ha wanere a goo eighteen inches away from the wall. r love ha the power to move nks.

aving no willpower

we epene on circmstances to keep s

apart. his nnot hen esprings whining

was accompanie y the son of h but ybe ust this on e

There came an

afternoon when rnning late for flag worship we fon orselves alone in the ormitory . hat starte of

f as name calling escalate

into a series of mock angry slaps.

e wrestle each other onto one

of the lower nks oth of s longing to

e pinne.

o kis think

yo invente se my mother was fon of saying. t hant we ith no instrction manal or feerally enforce training perio int we all come away feeling we iscovere something nspeakaly moern hat proce in others a feeling of ehilaration left ason an me with a mortifying sense of gilt.

e

fle the room as if in or fmlings we ha ncappe some virs we still might escape if we ran fast enogh. a one of the conselors not caght me scaling the fence felt certain col have mae it ack to aleigh y morning skittering across the srface of the ocean like one of those liars often featre on television willife programs. hen iscovere making ot with one of the reek s rivers a siteen year ol camper was force to stan esie the flagpole resse in long pants an thick sweaters.

e watche her cook in

the hot sn ntil flly roaste she crmple to the pavement an passe ot. That the chief conselor sai is what happens to people who play aron.

f this was the pnishment for a oy an a girl felt certain the penalty for two oys somehow involve are wire a team of onkeys an the nearest volcano. othing however

col match

the crelty an hmiliation ason an soon practice pon each other. e starte a rmor that ha stolen an athletic spporter from another camper an secretly wore it over my moth like a srgical mask. retaliate claiming he ha epresse a esire to ecome a ancer . That s nothing he sai to the assemle crow take a look at what fon on avi

s e e reache into the pocket of

his tennis shorts an withrew a sheet of noteook paper pon which were written the wors

. resente as an

inictment the ocment was oth pathetic an comic.

ol

spposely have written the note to remin myself of that fact lest forget a intene to wear it tape to my ack avertising my preference the net time or rente ses carrie s of

f to yet

another swinging seal playgron . e hel the paper aove his hea trning a slow circle so that everyone might get a chance to see. sppose he ha originally intene to plant the paper on my nk for one of the conselors to fin. resenting it himself ha foile the note intene ef

s

fect. ather than eating me with sticks an heavy

the other oys simply groane an looke away

wonering why he

picke the thing p an carrie it aron in his pants pocket. e might as well have hoiste a glistening tr shoting ook what he i T

shoes

oching sch a fol ocment mae him sspect an gilty y

association. n attempting to iscreit each other alienating orselves even frther son

we won p

.

even his name seeme af

fecte. ring meals stie

him from across the room. ere was sweating onto my plate my stomach knotte an crampe when

he was the one fll of shit.

learly he ha tricke me cast a spell or slippe something into my foo. watche as he efriene a girl name Theoora an hel her han ring a screening of

ovey

y to ie

one of the cave

paintings the hea conselor of

fere as a weekly movie.

he wasnt a a person Theoora. omeay the octors might fin a way to transplant a calf s rain into a hman skll an then she e st as lively an intelligent as he was. trie to fin a girlfrien of my own t my one possile caniate was sent ack home when she tmle own the steps of the arthenon casing serios amage to her leg race. ason looke convincing enogh in the company of his girlfrien. They scramle aot the varios rins snapping each other pictres while hng ack fming watching them nle an coo. y ealosy stemme from the elief that he ha een cre. ne fistfl of my flesh an he ha lost all symptoms of the isease. amp ene an flew home with my legs crosse ropping my ag of stolen sovenirs an racing to the athroom where spent the net several ays sitting on the toilet an stying my face in a

s

han mirror . ie uys

The wors ha settle themselves into my

featres. was a professional now

an it showe.

retrne to my volnteer o at the mental hospital carrying harsh reek cigarettes as an incentive to some of the more if

ficlt

patients. aggot a woman shote stooping to protect her collection of pinecones. et yor faggoty hans away from my raio transmitters. ont min ary liaeth the orerly sai. he

s cray .

aye not thoght holing a pinecone p against my ear

. he s

gotten the faggot part right so maye she was onto something. The moment we oare or retrn flight from enney to aleigh isa re arrange her hair saying

roppe her accent an trne

to me

ell thoght that was very nice how aot yo ver the

corse of five mintes she ha eliminate all traces of her reckless ropean self. hy colnt o the same n late gst my class schele arrive along with the news that wol not e se. There ha een violence in other towns an conties trole as far away as oston t in aleigh the transition was peacefl. ot only stents t many of the teachers ha een shifte from one school to another . y new science teacher was a

lack man very aept at swishing his way across the room mocking everyone from lert instein to the weeish host of a poplar chilren s television program. lack an white the teachers of

fere

their riicle as thogh it were an olive ranch. ere they sai this is something we each have in common proof that were all rothers ner the skin.

or is ussion nd ritin . hy oes earis tell the story of his school s impening integration in an essay aot his seality . f all the rhetorical evices irony is the one most employe y satire ecase it is a moe well site to showing the istance etween the way things are an the way they shol e. t is also the moe most employe y earis in this essay for the same reason. in three eamples of irony in the essay an eplain how each of them works in itself an in the larger contet of the essay . . connections The last sentence of re ore s The orth of ly starts The aitress was white an the conter was white an the ice cream never ate in ashington .. that smmer left chilhoo was white p. . ea ike ys net to ore s essay. ol earis escrie the smmer that is the setting of this essay sing the same langage n what ways might he e sai to e telling the story of the smmer he left chilhoo . an yo think of a time when yo have riicle someone else ecase of some featre of their ientity f not can yo think of a time when yo were the oect of sch riicle T ell the story incling etails of the kin that earis ses to paint scene frther eposition an create tone. . ooinrter ne way to think aot the phenomenon of inivials looking own on themselves ecase of the way others look own on them is what ... ois calle ole consciosness. esearch ois an his creation an se of the term. Then apply the term to ike ys . ho sf fers from this conition ow

st

alk on y lack en an lic pace

rent Stes born in in hester

ennsyvni hs

do torte in sy hooy nd hs tuht but he hs buit

reer s

reorter nd ounist e is on the editori bord of the ork Times

here he rites on edu tion uture nd oiti s e

hs so ontributed to Stes

ew

s eoir

s. arper

s nd other ines

arallel T ime rowing p in lack an hite

tes the story of his youth nd tht of his youner brother hose vioent ife foo ed very different th ust

on y oriiny ered in

s.

s you red thin

bout hy this ie e iht be rorite for ubi tion intended ririy for oen y first victim was a woman white well resse proaly in her early twenties. came pon her late one evening on a eserte street in ye ark a relatively af

flent neighorhoo in an

otherwise mean impoverishe section of hicago. s swng onto the avene ehin her

there seeme to e a iscreet

ninflammatory istance etween s. ot so. he cast ack a worrie glance. T o her the yongish lack man a roa si feet two inches with a ear an illowing hair

oth hans shove into

the pockets of a lky military acket seeme menacingly close. fter a few more ick glimpses she picke p her pace an was soon rnning in earnest. ithin secons she isappeare into a cross street.

That was more than a ecae ago was twenty two years ol a graate stent newly arrive at the niversity of hicago. t was in the echo of that terrifie woman s footfalls that first egan to know the nwiely inheritance come into the aility to alter plic space in gly ways. t was clear that she thoght herself the arry of a mgger

a rapist or worse. f

fering a ot of insomnia

however was stalking sleep not efenseless wayfarers. s a softy who is scarcely ale to take a knife to a raw chicken let alone hol one to a person s throat was srprise emarrasse an ismaye all at once. er flight mae me feel like an accomplice in tyranny. t also mae it clear that was inistingishale from the mggers who occasionally seepe into the area from the srroning ghetto. That first enconter

an those that followe

signifie that a vast nnerving glf lay etween nighttime peestrians particlarly women an me. n soon gathere that eing perceive as angeros is a haar in itself. only neee to trn a corner into a icey sitation or crow some frightene arme person in a foyer somewhere or make an errant move after eing plle over y a policeman. here fear an weapons meet an they often o in ran merica there is always the possiility of eath. n that first year my first away from my hometown was to ecome thoroghly familiar with the langage of fear

. t ark shaowy

intersections col cross in front of a car stoppe at a traf an elicit the thun thun thun thun

fic light

of the river lack white

male or female hammering own the oor locks. n less travele

streets after ark grew accstome to t never comfortale with people crossing to the other sie of the street rather than pass me. Then there were the stanar npleasantries with policemen oormen oncers carivers an others whose siness it is to screen ot trolesome inivials move to ew

before there is any nastiness.

ork nearly two years ago an have remaine an

avi night walker . n central anhattan the near constant crow cover minimies tense one on one street enconters. lsewhere in oo for eample where siewalks are narrow an tightly space ilings sht ot the sky things can get very tat inee. fter ark on the warrenlike streets of rooklyn where live often see women who fear the worst from me. They seem to have set their faces on netral an with their prse straps strng across their chests anolier style they forge ahea as thogh racing themselves against eing tackle. nerstan of corse that the anger they perceive is not a hallcination.

omen are particlarly

vlnerale to street violence an yong lack males are rastically overrepresente among the perpetrators of that violence.

et these

trths are no solace against the kin of alienation that comes of eing ever the sspect a fearsome entity with whom peestrians avoi making eye contact. t is not altogether clear to me how reache the ripe ol age of twenty two withot eing conscios of the lethality nighttime peestrians attrite to me. erhaps it was ecase in hester

ennsylvania the small angry instrial town where came of age in the s was scarcely noticeale against a ackrop of gang warfare street knifings an mrers. grew p one of the goo oys ha perhaps a half oen fistfights. n retrospect my shyness of comat has clear sorces. s a oy

saw contless togh gys locke away have since

rie several too. They were aies really a teenage cosin a rother of twenty two a chilhoo frien in his mi twenties all gone own in episoes of ravao playe ot in the streets. came to ot the virtes of intimiation early on. chose perhaps nconsciosly

to remain a shaow timi t a srvivor

.

The fearsomeness mistakenly attrite to me in plic places often has a perilos flavor . The most frightening of these confsions occrre in the late s an early s when worke as a ornalist in hicago. ne ay

rshing into the of fice of a magaine

was writing for with a ealine story in han was mistaken for a rglar

. The office manager calle secrity an with an a hoc

posse prse me throgh the layrinthine halls nearly to my eitor s oor . ha no way of proving who was. col only move riskly towar the company of someone who knew me. nother time was on assignment for a local paper an killing time efore an interview . entere a ewelry store on the city

s afflent

ear orth ie. The proprietor ecse herself an retrne with an enormos re oerman pinscher straining at the en of a leash.

he stoo the og etene towar me silent to my estions her eyes lging nearly ot of her hea. took a crsory look aron noe an ae her goo night. elatively speaking however

never fare as aly as another

lack male ornalist. e went to neary

akegan llinois a cople

of smmers ago to work on a story aot a mrerer who was orn there. istaking the reporter for the killer

police officers hale him

from his car at gnpoint an t for his press creentials wol proaly have trie to ook him. ch episoes are not ncommon. lack men trae tales like this all the time. ver the years learne to smother the rage felt at so often eing taken for a criminal. ot to o so wol srely have le to maness. now take precations to make myself less threatening.

move

aot with care particlarly late in the evening. give a wie erth to nervos people on sway platforms ring the wee hors particlarly when have echange siness clothes for eans. f happen to e entering a iling ehin some people who appear skittish may walk y

letting them clear the loy efore retrn so

as not to seem to e following them. have een calm an etremely congenial on those rare occasions when ve een plle over y the police. n on late evening constittionals employ what has prove to e an ecellent tension recing measre whistle meloies from eethoven an

ivali an the more poplar classical composers.

ven steely ew

orkers hnching towar nighttime estinations

seem to rela an occasionally they even oin in the tne.

irtally

everyoy seems to sense that a mgger wolnt e warling right snny selections from

ivali s our Sesons

. t is my

eivalent of the cowell that hikers wear when they know they are in ear contry

.

or is ussion nd ritin . ow oes taples escrie himself ow is he sometimes seen y others . taples egins his essay y iscssing the ef fect of his presence on another person. owever others reactions to his presence af fect him in retrn an he spens mch of the essay eplaining the emotional an practical ef fects he eperiences as a conseence of his interactions. ow are the complication an parao of these sitations epresse y the last sentence aot taples s whistling classical msic eing the eivalent of the cowell that hikers wear when they know they are in ear contry par. . connections ompare taples s reaction to race inflecte enconters to ames alwin s reaction to the enconter in the restarant in otes of a ative on . hat might the if ferences tell s aot the inivials an their respective times . The person with whom yo fin yorself ientifying in a story sometimes epens on yor own ientity . ith whom i yo ientify at the start of taples s essay an how i it af fect yor reaing of the fll piece . ooinrter magine a response to st alk on y that takes isse with the tactics taples employs in orer to avoi frightening people with his mere presence. hat argments might someone make against his choice to accommoate the irrational fears of others n what asis might oections to this practice e raise

e ies an vertising ori Steine is ournist nd oiti

tivist orn nd rised in

oedo hio Steine ttended Sith oee fter ettin her or ubished s freen e riter ontr etion in

sire

for hi h she ored s

nd no

in udin ie e on eno n rti e

itress in the e

or yboy ub in

order to hroni e the istretent of the itresses no n s bunnies she s hired s

ounist t

ew

ork ine n

Steine ofounded the roundbrein feinist ine s.

hi h ben s se i issue of

tive in oen

ew

ork She hs been

s nd other so i uses nd in oiti s for six

de des orin fro ithin the oiti ro ess to hne it in ys tht roote the thins she beieves in s you red Sex ies nd dvertisin note ho Steine ors fro ithin the ine industry to hne it ot three years ago as

snost

was eginning an

to e ening was invite to a press lnch for a oviet of

Ms seeme ficial. e

entertaine s with anecotes aot new prolems of emocracy in his contry . ocal ommnist leaers were eing criticie in their meia for the first time he eplaine an they were angry

.

o ll have to ask my merican friens he finishe pointely more stly to control the press. n the silence that followe sai vertising.

how

The reporters laghe t later

one of them took me asie ow

are sggest that freeom of the press was limite ow are imply that his newsweekly col e inflence y as eplaine that was thinking of avertising

s meiawie inflence

on most of what we rea. ven newsmagaines se soft cover stories to sell as confse reaers with avertorials an occasionally self censor on sects known to e a prolem with ig avertisers. t also eplaine was thinking especially of women magaines. There it isnt st a little content that

s

s evote to

attracting as it s almost all of it. That s why avertisers not reaers have always een the prolem for

Ms s the only

women s magaine that int spply what the a worl ephemistically escries as spportive eitorial atmosphere or complementary copy for instance articles that praise foo fashioneaty sects to spport an complement foofashioneaty as

Ms col never attract enogh avertising

to reak even. h

oen

s magaines the ornalist sai with contempt.

veryoy knows theyre catalogs t who cares They have nothing to o with ornalism. cant tell yo how many times ve ha this argment in years of working for many kins of plications. cept as moneymaking

machines cash cows as they are so elegantly calle in the trae women

s magaines are rarely taken seriosly . Thogh changes

eing mae y women have een calle more far reaching than the instrial revoltion an thogh many eitors try har to reflect some of them in the few pages left to them after all the a relate sects have een covere the magaines serving the female half of this contry are still far elow the ornalistic an ethical stanars of news an general interest plications. ost epressing of all this oesnt even rate an epose. f

ie

an e s ee

ha to lavish praise on

creit eneral otors in particlar to get

M

rs in general an as there wol e a

scanal maye a criminal investigation. hen women magaines from Seventeen to er

s

s praise eaty procts in

general an creit evlon in particlar to get as it

s st siness

as sal.

. hen

Ms egan we int consier not taking as. The most

important reason was keeping the price of a feminist magaine low enogh for most women to af for. t the secon an almost eal reason was proviing a form where women an avertisers col talk to each other an improve avertising itself. fter all it was an still is as potent a sorce of information in this contry as news or T an movie ramas.

e ecie to procee in two stages. irst we wol convince makers of people procts se y oth men an women

t

avertise mostly to men cars creit cars insrance son eipment financial services an the like that their as shol e place in a women s magaine. ince they were accstome to the ivision etween eitorial an avertising in news an general interest magaines this wol allow or eitorial content to e free an iverse. econ we wol a the est as for whatever traitional women

s procts clothes shampoo fragrance foo

an so on that srveys showe

Ms reaers se. t we wol ask

them to come in ithout the sal i pro o of complementary copy. e knew the secon step might e harer always emane that women

. oo avertisers have

s magaines plish recipes an

articles on entertaining preferaly ones that name their procts in retrn for their as clothing avertisers epect to e srrone y fashion spreas especially ones that creit their esigners an shampoo fragrance an eaty procts in general sally insist on positive eitorial coverage of eaty sects pls photo creits esies. That

s why women s magaines look the way they o. t if

we col reak this link etween as an eitorial content then we wante goo as for women

s procts too.

y playing their part in this npreceente mi of all the things or reaers nee an se avertisers also wol e reware as for procts like cars an mtal fns wol fin a new growth market

the est as for women

s procts wol no longer e lost in

ceans of as for the same category an oth wol have access to a laoratory of smart an caring reaers whose response wol help create effective as for other meia as well. thoght then that or main prolem wol e the imagery in as themselves. ar makers were still raping lones in evening gowns over the hoos like ornaments. thority figres were almost always male even in as for procts that only women se. aistic he man campaigns even won instry praise. or instance

dvertisin

e

ha haile the infamos ilva Thin cigarette theme ow to et

a

oman s ttention gnore er

as rilliant. ven in meical

ornals tranilier as showe epresse hosewives staning esie piles of irty ishes an promise to get them ack to viosly

ork.

Ms wol have to avoi sch as an seek ot the est

ones t this int seem impossile.

he e

orer ha een

selecting as for aesthetic reasons for years a practice that only seeme to make avertisers more eager to e in its pages.

Ebony

an Essen e were asking for as with positive lack images an thogh their strggle was har they werent eing calle nreasonale. learly

what Ms neee was a very special plisher an a sales

staff. col think of only one woman with eperience on the siness sie of magaines atricia arine who recently ha ecome a vice presient of

M

s as well as its eitor in chief

an the reason knew her name was a goo omen. he ha een managing eitor at oo

really the eitor

t its owner refse to

pt a female name at the top of his masthea when was writing a colmn there. fter i an early interview with esar have then st emerging as a leaer of migrant laor

an the plisher trne it

own ecase he was worrie aot as from nkist at was the one who intervene. s learne later

she ha tol the plisher

she wol resign if the interview wasnt plishe. ainly ecase oo

colnt af

for to lose at it was plishe an the as from

nkist never arrive . Thogh arely knew this woman she ha one two things always rememere pt her o on the line in a way that eitors often talk aot t rarely o an een so loyal to her colleages that she never tol me or anyone otsie ortnately at i agree to leave salary to ecome plisher of

oo

that she ha one so.

M

s an take a hge ct in

Ms he ecame responsile for

training an inspiring generations of yong women who oine the Ms a sales force many of whom went on to ecome firsts at the top of plishing. hen

Ms first starte however

there were so few

women with eperience selling space that at an mae the rons of a agencies orselves. ater the fact that companies to o siness in a if

Ms was asking

ferent way meant or saleswomen

ha to make many times the sal nmer of calls first to convince agencies an then client companies esie an to present enless amonts of research. was often aske to o a final

a presentation or see some higher ecision maker or speak to women employees so eectives col see the interest of women they worke with. That s why spent more time persaing avertisers than eiting or writing for

Ms an why ene p with an

nsentimental ecation in the seamy nersie of plishing that few writers see an even fewer magaines can plish . et me take yo with s throgh some eperiences st as they happene heere on y early spport from olkswagen an one or two other car companies we scrape together time an money to pt on a maor reception in etroit. e know .. car makers firmly elieve that women choose the pholstery not the car t we are arme with statistics an reaer mail to prove the contrary a car is an important prchase for women one that symolies moility an freeom. t almost nooy comes.

e are left with many pons of

shrimp on the tale an ite a lot of egg on or face.

e

lame orselves for not gessing that there wol e a aseall pennant play off on the same ay

t eectives go ot of their

way to eplain they wolnt have come anyway

. Ths egins

ten years of knocking on hostile oors presenting enless ocmentation an hiring a fll time saleswoman in etroit all necessary efore Ms gets any real reslts. This long saga has a semihappy ening foreign an later omestic car makers eventally provie

Ms with enogh

avertising to make cars one of or top sorces of a revene. lowly

etroit egan to take the women

enogh to pt car as in other women

s market seriosly s magaines too ths

freeing a few pages from the hothose of fashion eaty foo as. t long after figres showe a thir even a half of many car moels eing oght y women .. makers contine to e ncomfortale aressing women. nlike foreign car makers etroit never ite learne the secret of creating intelligent as that ecle no one an then placing them in women magaines to overcome past eclsion.

s

Ms reaers were so

gratefl for a rotine ona a featring rack an pinion steering for instance that they sent fan mail. ven now

etroit

contines to ask hol we make special as for women erhaps that s why some foreign cars still have a isproportionate share of the .. women

s market.

n the Ms aette we o a rief report on a congressional hearing into chemicals se in hair yes that are asore throgh the skin an may e carcinogenic. ewspapers report this too t lairol a ristol yers ssiiary that makes oens of procts a few of which have st egn to avertise in Ms is otrage. ot at newspapers or newsmagaines st at s. t

s a enogh that

women s magaine refsing to provie the sal

Ms is the only

complementary articles an eaty photos t to criticie one of their categories

tht is going too far.

e offer to plish a letter from lairol telling its sie of the story. n an ecess of solicitosness we even pt this letter in the aette not in etters to the itors where it elongs. onetheless an in spite of srveys that show

Ms reaers

are active women who se more of almost everything lairol makes than o the reaers of any other women

s magaine

Ms gets almost none of these as for the rest of its natral life. eanwhile lairol changes its hair coloring formla apparently in response to the hearings we reporte. r saleswomen set ot early to attract as for consmer electronics son eipment calclators compters s an the like.

e know that or reaers are etermine to e

incle in the technological revoltion. srveys that Ms reaers are ying this stf high as those of magaines like yboy

e know from reaer f in nmers as or men to the

prime targets of the consmer electronics instry nlike traitional women

. oreover

s procts that or reaers y t

ont nee to rea articles aot these are sects they want covere in or pages. There actally is a spportive eitorial atmosphere. t women ont nerstan technology

say eectives at the

en of a presentations. aye not we respon t neither

o men an we all y it. f women o y it say the ecision makers theyre asking their hsans an oyfriens what to y first. letters from Ms reaers saying how trne of

e proce f they are when

salesmen say things like et me know when yor hsan can come in. fter several years of this we get a few as for compact son systems. ome of them come from whose vice presient arry lias is trying to convince his apanese osses that there is something calle a women s market. t his invitation fin myself speaking at hge trae shows in hicago an as egas trying to persae ealers that showrooms ont have to e locker rooms where women are mae to feel nwelcome. t as it trns ot the shows themselves are part of the prolem. n as

egas the only women aron the

technology isplays are semine moels serving champagne. n hicago the ig attraction is arilyn hamers who followe ina ovelace of

ee hrot

fame as hck T

raynor s captive

anor employee. s are eing emonstrate with her porn vieos. n the en we get as for a car stereo now an then t no s some personal compters t no pple or apanese ones. on

e notice that office magaines like orin

an Svvy ont enefit as mch as they shol from

office eipment as either

. n the electronics worl women an

technology seem mtally eclsive. t remains a ecae ehin even etroit. ecase we get letters from little girls who love toy trains an who ask or help in changing as an o top photos that featre little oys only

we try to get toy train as from ionel. t

trns ot that ionel eectives have een concerne aot little girls. They mae a pink train an were srprise when it int sell. ionel ows to consmer pressre with a photograph of a oy nd a girl t only on some of their oes. They fear that if trains are associate with girls they will e evale in the mins of oys. eeless to say

Ms gets no train as an little

girls remain a mostly neplore market. y ionel is pt p for sale. t for if

ferent reasons we havent ha mch lck with other

kins of toys either . n spite of many articles on chil rearing an annal listing of nonseist mlti racial toys y etty ottin ogrein tories for ree hilren a reglar featre also eite y etty an other priewinning featres for or aot chilren we get virtally no toy as. enerations of

Ms saleswomen

eplain to toy manfactrers that a larger proportion of

Ms

reaers have preschool chilren than o the reaers of other women s magaines t this instry cant elieve feminists have or care aot chilren.

hen

Ms egins the staf f ecies not to accept as for

feminine hygiene sprays or cigarettes they are amaging an carry no appropriate health warnings. Thogh we ont think we shol tell or reaers what to o we o think we shol provie facts so they can ecie for themselves. ince the antismoking loy has een pressing for health warnings on cigarette as we ecie to take them only as they comply

.

hilip orris is among the first to o so. ne of its rans irginia lims is also sponsoring women s tennis an the first national polls of women s opinions. n the other han the irginia lims theme

ove come a long way

ay

has more

than a ay prolem. t makes smoking a symol of progress for women. e eplain to hilip orris that this slogan wont o well in or pages t they are convince its sccess with some women means it will work with an a for a

women. inally

we agree to plish

irginia lims calenar as a test. The letters from

reaers are critical an smart. or instance

ol yo show

a lack man picking cotton the same man in a arin sit an symolie the antislavery an civil rights movements y smoking f corse not. t instea of honoring the test reslts the hilip orris people seem angry to e proven wrong. They take away as for

their many rans.

This costs Ms aot

the first year

can no longer keep track. ccasionally

. fter five years we a new set of eectives

listens to Ms saleswomen t ecase we wont take

irginia

lims not one hilip orris proct retrns to or pages for the net years. raally

we also realie or naivet in thinking we col

ecie against taking cigarette as. They ecame a isproportionate spport of magaines the moment they were anne on television an few magaines col compete an srvive withot them certainly not s. which lacks so many other categories. y the time statistics in the s showe that women s rate of lng cancer was approaching men s the necessity of taking cigarette as has ecome a kin of prison. eneral ills illsry tof

arnation elonte ole raft

fer ormel aisco yo name the foo giant we try it.

t no matter how esirale the

Ms reaership or lack of

recipes is lethal. e eplain to them that placing foo as only net to recipes associates foo with work. or many women it is a negative that works against the as. hy not place foo as in iverse meia withot recipes ths reaching more men who are now a thir of the shoppers in spermarkets anyway an leave the recipes to specialty magaines like ouret

a thir of whose

reaers are also men These argments elicit interest t ecept for an occasional a for a convenience foo instant cof fee iet rinks yogrt or

sch etras as avocaos an almons this mainstay of the plishing instry stays close to s. erio. Traitionally

wines an liors int avertise to women men

were thoght to make the ran ecisions even if women i the ying. t after enless presentations we egin to make a ent in this category . Thanks to the nconventional ichel o of arillon mporters istritors of ran arnier

solt

oka an others who assmes that foo an rink have no gener

some as are leaving their men s cl.

eermakers are still selling masclinity

. t takes Ms flly eight

years to get its first eer a ichelo . n general however lior as are less stereotype in their imagery an far less controlling of the eitorial content aron them than are women s procts. t given the nerrepresentation of other categories these very facts ten to create a isproportionate nmer of alcohol as in the pages of

Ms This in trn ismays

reaers worrie aot women an alcoholism. e hear in that women in the oviet nion have een procing feminist

sidt

nergron self plishe

ooks an circlating them throghot the contry

.s

pnishment for of the leaers have een eile. Thogh we are operating on or sal shoe string we solicit inivial contritions to sen oin organ to interview these women in ienna.

The reslt is an eclsive cover story that incles the first news of a poplist peace movement against the fghanistan occpation a preiction of glasnost to come an a grassroots intimate view of oviet women s lives. rom the poplar press to women s sties corses the response is great. The story wins a ront age awar. onetheless this ornalistic cop noes years of ef

forts to get

an a schele from evlon. hy ecase the oviet women on or cover re not erin eu or years of research an presentations go into convincing airlines that women now make travel choices an siness trips. nite the first airline to avertise in

Ms is so impresse with

the response from or reaers that one of its eectives appears in a film for or a presentations. s sal goo as get great reslts. t we have prolems nrelate to sch reslts. or instance ecase merican irlines flight attenants incle among their laor emans the stiplation that they col choose to have their last names precee y

Ms

on their name tags in a

long elaye revolt against the stanar am

yor pilot

aptain othgart an this is yor flight attenant iny e merican of ficials seem to hol the magaine responsile. get no as.

e

There is still a if ferent prolem at astern. vice presient cancels sscriptions for thosans of copies on astern flights. hy ecase he is of

fene y as for lesian poetry ornals

in the Ms lassifie. family airline as he eplains to me colly on the phone has to raw the line somewhere. t s ovios that

Ms cant ecle lesians an serve women.

eve een trying to make that point ever since or first isse incle an article y an aot lesians an oth anne evine or managing eitor hitters as osner or Mine inst

an were lectre y sch heavy

then eitor of e s ee

an now of ew

who insiste that Ms shol position itself

lesians. t or avertisers have pai to reach a

garantee nmer of reaers an soliciting new sscriptions to compensate for astern wol cost

pls reating

money in the meantime. ike almost everything a relate this presents an elaorate organiing prolem. fter ays of searching for sympathetic memers of the astern oar rank Thomas presient of the or onation kinly of

fers to call oswell ilpatrick a

irector of astern. talk with r

. ilpatrick who calls rank

orman then the presient of astern. rank orman calls me to say that his airline is not in the siness of censoring magaines

Ms will e retrne to astern flights.

omen s access to insrance an creit is vital t with the eception of itale an a few other a pioneers sch

financial services aress men. or almost a ecae after the al reit pportnity ct passes in we try to convince merican press that women are a growth market t nothing works. inally a former professor of ssian name erry

elsh

ecomes hea of marketing. e assmes that women shol e carholers an persaes his colleages to featre women in a campaign. Thanks to this s series the growth rate for female carholers srpasses that for men. or this article aske erry

elsh if he wol eplain why

merican press waite so long. re he sai they were afrai of having a pink car. omen of color rea Ms in isproportionate nmers. This is a sorce of prie to

Ms staffers who are also more racially

representative than the eitors of other women s magaines. t this reality is oscre y as fille with enogh white women to make a reaer snow lin. at arine rememers mostly astonishment when she reeste frican merican ispanic sian an other iverse images. arcia nn illespie a

Ms eitor who was previosly

the eitor in chief of Essen e witnesses a ias a secon time having trie for Essen e to get white avertisers to se lack images evlon i so eventally

t

ral aer

an other companies never i she sees similar prolems

hanel

getting integrate as for an integrate magaine. nee the a worl often creates lack an ispanic as only for lack an ispanic meia. n an eact parallel of the fear that marketing a proct to women will enanger its appeal to men the response is sally

t yor white reaers wont ientify

n fact those we are ale to get for instance a a actor a mae for Essen e that ina

achner gives s after she

ecomes presient are praise y white reaers too. t there are pathetically few sch images. y the en of proction an mailing costs have risen astronomically a income is flat an competition for as is stiffer than ever. The preponerance of eit over as that we promise to reaers ecomes chilren

s stories most

poetry an some fiction are casalties of less space in orer to get variety into limite pages the length an sometimes the epth of articles sf

fers an thogh we o refse most of the

as that wol look like a paroy in or pages we get so worn own that some slip throgh. . . . till reaers perform miracles. Thogh we havent een ale to af

for a sscription mailing in

two years they maintain or garantee circlation of . onetheless meia reports on

Ms often insist that or nprofitaility

mst e e to reaer isinterest. The myth that avertisers simply follow reaers is very strong. ot one reporter notes that other comparale magaines or sie say

nity ir

or he tnti

have een losing more money in one year than Ms has lost in years. o matter how mch never to e recovere cash is pore into starting a magaine or keeping one going

appearances seem to

e all that matter which is why we havent een ale to eplain or fragile state in plic. othing cases a flight like the smell of nonsccess. y healthy response is anger . y not so healthy response is constant worry also an osession with fining one more resce. There is harly a night when ont wake p with sweaty palms an poning heart scare that we wont e ale to pay the printer or the post office scare most of all that closing or oors will hrt the women s movement. t of chtpah an esperation arrange a lnch with eonar aer

presient of stee aer

. ith the eception of linie

the rainchil of arol hillips none of aer procts has een avertise in

s hnres of

Ms year s schele of as for st

three or for of them col save s. nee as the scion of a family owne company whose a practices are followe y the eaty instry he is one of the few men who col lierate many pages in all women s magaines st y changing his min aot complementary copy . ver a lnch that costs more than we can pay for some articles eplain the nee for his leaership. also lay ot the recor of more literary an ornalistic pries won more new isses

Ms

introce into the main stream new writers iscovere an impact on society than any other magaine more articles that ecame ooks stories that ecame movies ieas that ecame television series an newly avertise procts that ecame profitale an most important for him a place for his as to reach women who arent reachale throgh any other women

s magaine. nee if

there is one constant characteristic of the ever changing Ms reaership it is their impact as leaers. hether it later to have first aies or pioneering

s waiting ntil

as sn protection in

cosmetics whatever they are oing toay a thir to a half of merican women will e oing three to five years from now

.t s

never faile. t he says

Ms reaers are not our women. Theyre not intereste

in things like fragrance an lsh on. f they were

Ms wol write

articles aot them. n the contrary

eplain srveys show they are more likely to y

sch things than the reaers of say

osooitn

or oue

Theyre goo cstomers ecase theyre ot in the worl enogh to nee several sets of everything home work prse travel gym an so on. They st ont nee to rea articles aot these things. ol

he ask a men s magaine to plish monthly colmns on how

to shave efore he avertise ramis procts his line for men e concees that eaty featres are often concocte more for avertisers than reaers. t

Ms isnt appropriate for his as

anyway he eplains. hy ecase stee aer is selling a kept woman mentality. cant ite elieve this. ity percent of the sers of his procts are salarie an generally resemle

Ms reaers. esies his

company has the appeal of having een starte y a creative an harworking woman his mother That oesnt matter wol

stee aer

.

he says. e knows his cstomers an they

ie to e kept women. That s why he will never avertise in

Ms n ovemer y vote of the ommnication

Ms onation for cation an

Ms s owner an plisher

the Ms onation for

the meia ssiiary of

omen Ms was sol to a company whose

officers stralian feminists anra

ates an nne mmers

raise the investment money in their contry that

Ms colnt fin in

its own. They also starte Sssy for teenage women. n their two year tenre circlation was raise to y investment in circlation mailings an to the ismay of some reaers eitorial featres on clothes an new procts mae a more traitional i for as. onetheless a pages fell elow previos levels. n aition

Sssy

whose fresh voice an seal frankness

were an npreceente sccess with yong reaers was targete y two mothers from niana who egan as one of them pt it

calling every hristian organiation col think of. n response to this controversy several crcial avertisers plle ot. ch links etween as an eitorial content was a prolem in stralia too t to a lesser egree. r reaers pay two times more for their magaines nne eplaine so avertisers have less power to threaten a magaine s viaility . was shocke sai anra

ates with characteristic irectness. n

stralia we think yo have freeom of the press t yo ont. ince nne an anra ha not met their get

s proections for a

revene their investors force a sale. n ctoer assy were oght y ale ang owner of orin on

Ms an orin Mother

an one of the few inepenent plishing

companies left among the conglomerates. n response to a reest from the original Ms staff as well as to reaer letters rging that Ms contine pls his own elief that

Ms wol enefit his other

magaines y laing a trail he agree to try the a free reaer spporte

Ms yo hol now an to give s complete eitorial

control.

. o yo think as once i that avertisers make ecisions ase on soli research

ell think again. roaly speaking says

oseph mith of toy mith nc. a consmer research firm there is no persasive evience that the eitorial contet of an a matters.

vertisers who eman sch complementary copy

even in the

asence of respectale sties clearly are operating ner a ole stanar. The same foo companies place as in recipes. osmetic companies spport the

e

eoe

with no

orer with no

reglar eaty colmns. o where oes this hait of controlling the content of women s magaines come from Traition. ver since

dies Mine

ete in oston in

eitorial copy irecte to women has een informe y something other than its reaers wishes. There were no as then t in an age when marrie women were legal minors with no right to their own money there was another revene sorce to e kept in min hsans. sans may rest assre wrote eitor arah osepha ale that nothing fon in these pages shall case her his wife to e less assios in preparing for his reception or encorage her to srp station or encroach pon prerogatives of men. ale went on to ecome the eitor of

odey s dy

s oo

a

magaine featring fashion plates engraving of resses for reaers to take to their seamstresses or copy themselves. ale ae how to articles which set the tone for women

s service

magaines for years to come how to write politely avoi snrn an in no fewer than wors how to maintain a goose ill pen. he avocate ecation for women t avoie controversy st as most women

s magaines now avoi politics poll their

reaers on isses like aortion t rarely take a stan an praise

.

socially approve lifestyles ale saw to it that

odey s avoie the

hot topics of its ay slavery aolition an women

s sf frage.

hat efinitively trne women

s magaines into catalogs however

were two events llen tterick

s invention of the clothing pattern in

an the mass manfactre of patent meicines containing everything from colore water to cocaine. or the first time reaers col prchase what magaines encorage them to want. s sch magaines ecame more profitale they also egan to attract men as eitors. ost women

s magaines contine to have men as top

eitors ntil the feminist s. war ok who ecame eitor of the dies oe ourn

in iscovere the power of

avertisers when he reecte as for patent meicines an fon that other avertisers cancele in retrition. n the early th centry

ood ouseeein

starte its nstitte to test an

approve procts. ts eal of pproval ecame the granfather of crrent vale ae programs that of

fer avertisers sch onses

as proct sampling an epartment store promotions. y the time sf

fragists finally won the vote in women

s

magaines ha ecome too entrenche as catalogs to help women learn how to se it. The main fnction was to create a esire for procts teach how to se procts an make procts a crcial part of gaining social approval pleasing a hsan an performing as a homemaker. ome nrelate articles an short stories were incle to persae women to pay for these catalogs. t articles were neither consmerist nor reellios. ven fiction was sally

sect to formla if a woman ha any seal life otsie marriage she was sppose to come to a a en. n elen rley rown egan to change part of that formla y ringing the seal revoltion to women an a oriente way

s magaines t in

. ttracting mltiple men reire even more

consmerism as the osmo irl mae clear

than fining one

hsan. n response to the workplace revoltion of the s traitional women s magaines that is trae ooks for women working at home were oine y

Svvy orin on

an other trae

ooks for women working in of fices. t y keeping the fashioneatyentertaining articles necessary to get traitional as an then aing career articles esies they inavertently proce the antifeminist stereotype of per

oman. The male imitative

ress for sccess woman carrying a riefcase ecame the meia image of a woman worker even thogh a le collar woman

s salary

was often higher than her glorifie secretarial sister s an thogh women at a real riefcase level are statistically rare. eeless to say these ress for sccess women were also thin white an eatifl. n recent years avertisers control over the eitorial content of women s magaines has ecome so instittionalie that it is written into insertion orers or ictate to a salespeople as of

ficial policy.

The following are recent typical orers to women s magaines

ow s leaning rocts stiplates that as for its ivi an pray n ash procts shol e aacent to chilren or fashion eitorial as for athroom leaner hol e net to home frnishingfamily featres an so on for other rans. f a magaine fails for the rans or more the ow orer warns it will e omitte from frther consieration. ristol yers the parent of lairol ine rano f ferin an mch more stiplates that as e place net to a fll page of compatile eitorial. .. ohnson on makers of ohnson a lawn an lanry procts insect sprays hair sprays an so on orers that its as shol not be oosite extreey ontroversi fetures or teri ntitheti to the nture oy of the dvertised rodu t talics theirs. aienform manfactrer of ras an other apparel leaves a lank for the particlar proct an states The creative concept of the campaign an the very natre of the proct itself appeal to the positive emotions of the reaerconsmer . Therefore it is imperative that all eitorial aacencies reflect that same ositive tone. The eitorial mst not e negative in content or len itself contrary to the proct imagerymessage e editori retin to iness disiusionent re sie fshion etc. . talics mine. The e eers iamon company a ig seller of engagement rings prohiits magaines from placing its as with aacencies to har news or antilove romance theme eitorial. rocter amle one of this contry s most powerfl an iversifie avertisers stans ot in the memory of nne mmers an anra ates no mean feat in this contet its procts were not to e place in ny isse that incle ny material on gn control aortion the occlt clts or the isparagement of religion. ation was also emane in any isse covering se or rgs even for ecational prposes.

Those are the most ovios chains aron women

s magaines.

There are also rles so clear they neent e written own for instance an overall look compatile with eaty an fashion as. ven real nonmoel women photographe for a woman

s

magaine are sally mae p resse in creite clothes an retoche ot of all reality

. hen eitors o incle articles on less

than cheerfl sects for instance omestic violence they ten to keep them short an nillstrate. The oint is to e peat. st as women in the street are aske hy ont yo smile honey women s magaines acire an instittional smile. ithin the tet itself praise for avertisers procts has ecome so ritalie that fiels like eaty writing have een invente. ne of its freent practitioners eplaine seriosly that t

s a if ficlt art.

ow many new aectives can yo fin ow mch greater can yo make a lipstick son The restricts what companies can say on laels t we create illsion. n a agencies are on the phone all the time pshing yo to get their proct in. lot of them keep the siness ase on how many eitorial clippings they proce every month. The worst are procts like aer

s as the writer

confirme with their own name involve. t

s all ego.

ften eitorial ecomes one giant a. ast ovemer er

s featre an elegant woman eective on the cover

for instance . n the

contents page we learne she was wearing erlain makep an amsara a new fragrance y erlain. nsie were fll page as for amsara an erlain antiwrinkle cream. n the cover profile we

learne that this eective was responsile for lanching amsara an is erlam

s irector of plic relations. hen the

ournis evie

oubi

i one of the few articles to incle women

s

magaines in coverage of the inflence of as eitor rances ear was ote as efening her magaine ecase this kin of thing is one all the time. ften avertisers also plnge o shape as into the tet no matter what the cost to the reaers. t

on

sy

a magaine

originally fone y a spermarket chain eitor in chief llen evine sai The ay the copy ha to rag aron a chicken leg was not a happy one. vertisers are also aamant aot where in a magaine their as appear. hen evlon was not place as the first eaty a in one earst magaine for instance evlon plle its as from magaines. th hitney eitor in chief of of these emans to a agencies wanting to

earst

our

attrites some

prove to a client that

theyve seee the last rop of loo ot of a magaine. he also is she says sick an tire of hearing that women

s magaines are

controlle y cigarette as. elatively speaking she

s right. To e

as censoring as are many avertisers for women s procts toacco companies wol have to eman articles in praise of smoking an epect glamoros photos of eatifl women smoking their rans. ont mean to imply that the eitors ote here share my oections to as most assme that women

s magaines have to e

the way they are. t it

s also tre that only former eitors can e

completely honest. ost of the pressre came in the form of irect proct mentions eplains ey hassler edboo

from the sities to the eighties.

who was eitor in chief of e got threats from the ig

gys the evlons lackmail threats. They wolnt rn as nless we creite them. t it

s not fair to single ot the eaty avertisers ecase these

pressres came from everyoy

. vertisers want to know two

things hat are yo going to charge me hat to o for me t

ese are yo going

s a holp. or instance management felt that fiction

took p too mch space. They colnt pt any avertising in that. or the last ten years the nmer of fiction entries into the ational againe

wars has ecline.

n pressres are getting worse. ore magaines are more ottom line oriente ecase they have een taken over y companies with no interest in plishing. also think avertisers o this to women

s magaines especially he

concle ecase of the general isrespect they have for women. ven meia eperts who ont give a amn aot women

s

magaines are alarme y the sprea of this a eit linkage. n a climate the

Street ourn

epression for meia women

escries as an nacknowlege s procts are increasingly ale to

take their low stanars wherever they go. or instance newsweeklies plish ncritical stories on fashion an fitness. The e

or

ies Mine

recently ran an article on firming

creams complete with mentions of avertisers. plishe a profile of one maor avertiser

nity ir

alph aren illstrate

y the same photographer who oes his as an trne the lifestyle of another alvin lein into a cover story ven the otrageos

Sy

has tone own since it egan to go after fashion as. n st to make s really worry films an ooks the last meia that go irectly to the plic withot having to attract as first are in anger

too. rocers are eginning to epen on payments for

isplaying procts in movies an ooks are now eing commissione y companies like eeral press. t the trth is that women

s procts like women

s magaines

have never een the sects of mch serios reporting anyway ews an general interest plications incling the style or living sections of newspapers write aot foo an clothing as cooking an fashion an almost never evalate sch procts y ran name. Thogh chemical aitives pesticies an animal fats are maor health risks in the nite tates an clothes shoy or not asor more consmer ollars than cars this lack of information is serios. o is ignoring the contents of eaty procts that are asore into or oies throgh or skins an that have profit margins so ig they wol make a loan shark lsh.

.

. hat col women

s magaines e like if they were as free as

ooks as realistic as newspapers as creative as films as iverse as women s lives

e ont know .

t well only fin ot if we take women

s magaines seriosly . f

reaers were to act in a concerte way to change traitional practices of

women s magaines an the marketing of

women s procts we col o it. fter all they are operating on or consmer ollars money that we now control.

o an col

write to eitors an plishers with copies to avertisers that were willing to pay ore for magaines with eitorial inepenence t will not contine to pay for those that are st eitorial etensions of as write to avertisers with copies to eitors an plishers that we want fiction political reporting consmer reporting whatever is or is not spporte y their as pt as mch energy into reaking avertising s control over content as into changing the images in as or protesting as for harmfl procts like cigarettes spport only those women s magaines an procts that take s seriosly as reaers an consmers. Those of s in the magaine worl can also se the carrot an stick technie. or instance pointing ot that if magaines were a reglate meim like television the emans of avertisers wol e against rles. ayola an etortion col e pnishe. s it is there are proaly illegalities. magaine

s postal rates are

etermine y the ratio of a to eit pages an the former costs more than the latter. o mch for the stick. The carrot means appealing to enlightene self interest. or instance there are many sties showing that the greatest factor in etermining an a

s effectiveness is the creiility of its

srronings. The higher the rating of eitorial elievaility concle a srvey y the

ourn of dvertisin eser h

the higher the rating of the avertising. Ths an impenetrale wall etween eit an as wol also e in the est interest of avertisers. nfortnately

few agencies or clients hear sch argments. itors

often maintain the false prity of refsing to talk to them at all. nstea they see a salespeople who know little aot eitorial are traine in siness as sal an are sally pai y commission. itors might also an together to take on controversy

. That

happene once when all the maor women s magaines i articles in the same month on the al ights menment. t col happen again. t s almost three years away from life etween the grinstones of avertising pressres an reaers nees. m st eginning to realie how eges got smoothe own in spite of all or resistance.

rememer feeling pt pon when change orsche to car in a piece aot ai imagery in erman pornography y nrea workin feeling sre nrea wol nerstan that

olkswagen

the istritor of orsche an one of or few spportive avertisers aske only to e far away from ai sects. t

s taken me all this

time to realie that nrea was the one with a right to feel pt pon. ven as write this get a call from a writer for

Ee

whole article on where women part their hair. hy

who is oing a she wants to

know o part mine in the mile t s all so familiar. writer trying to make something of a nothing assignment an eitor laoring to think of new ways to attract as reaers assming that other women mst want

this riiclos stf

f

more women sf fering for lack of information insight creativity an laghter that col e on these same pages. ask yo ant we o etter than this or is ussion nd ritin . ccoring to teinem what makes women s magaines if ferent from other magaines . e ies an vertising is fll of strong eamples often images that captre eactly the iea that teinem is trying to convey . om throgh the essay make a list of ten eamples that yo fin striking an eplain how each eample works an why each is ef fective. . connections Think aot this essay in relation to avi earis s ike ys . hat are the similarities an if ferences etween the attites aot gener an seality eamine in these two essays

entify an compare the assmptions hel y mch of society in each aot women an gay men an eplain how they appear in the ehavior of the people who hol these assmptions. inally eplore the ways each athor aresses these assmptions hea on or inirectly throgh scene or eposition ispassionately or with great feeling an compare their approaches. s one approach more effective for yo . ne of the ieas that teinem epens on an promotes here is that avertising is a cltrally significant practice that it not only reflects what is going on in a cltre t shapes it. hat avertisements have yo seen in print on T online that yo think are significant ick one avertisement an analye it. ow is it significant hat is it selling an how hat assmptions aot the worl or time hman natre oes it rely pon hat oes it tell yo aot merican cltre . ooinrter ome people se the power of the oycott to attempt to shape the ehavior of large corporations. or eample there are grops that have organie oycotts of companies who y avertising on meia otlets of which the grops o not approve. o some research on this practice of employing the power of the wallet for political prposes an answer some asic estions ow wiesprea is this practice hat are some eamples of it s it effective Then reflect on this moe of protest how o yo feel aot it as a se of the market an consmer power o yo approve or isapprove ol yo o it hy or why not

oest roposal orn in in rend nd rised there by Enish rents onthn S ift s den of St tri

s thedr in ubin nd

roifi oet stirist nd heteer for his stiri nove lliver

hie he is best no n tody s Travels nd for Modest

roos his oiti hets nd essys on behf of rish uses hd ret i t nd re theseves sterie es of oiti irony

S ift s or is thouht by soe to reve

isnthroi seti nd hoeess hert but there ys exists in his ritin the ossibiity of terntives the hoe for iroveent n Modest roos S ift rites herefore reet et no n t to e of these nd the ie exedients ti he hs t est soe ise of hoe tht there i be ever soe herty nd sin ere ttet to ut the in r ti e

r

s you red this essy nd

try to tese out S ift s esses ee this ide in ind n

hen Modest roos s ubished yers of drouht

hd been ex erbted by

ro fiure tht used thousnds of

rish to strve to deth nd this sufferin s essentiy inored by Enish ndo ners Modest roos is S ift

s resonse to this

tredy t is a melancholy oect to those who walk throgh this great town or travel in the contry

when they see the streets the roas an cain

oors crowe with eggars of the female se followe y three for

or si chilren all in rags an importning every passenger for

an alms. These mothers instea of eing ale to work for their

honest livelihoo are force to employ all their time in strolling to eg sstenance for their helpless infants who as they grow p either trn thieves for want of work or leave their ear native contry to fight for the pretener in pain or sell themselves to the araoes. think it is agree y all parties that this proigios nmer of chilren in the arms or on the acks or at the heels of their mothers an freently of their fathers is in the present eplorale state of the kingom a very great aitional grievance an whoever col fin ot a fair

therefore

cheap an easy metho of making

these chilren son sefl memers of the commonwealth wol eserve so well of the plic as to have his state set p for a preserver of the nation. t my intention is very far from eing confine to provie only for the chilren of professe eggars it is of a mch greater etent an shall take in the whole nmer of infants at a certain age who are orn of parents in ef fect as little ale to spport them as those who eman or charity in the streets. s to my own part having trne my thoghts for many years pon this important sect an matrely weighe the several schemes of or proectors have always fon them grossly mistaken in their comptation. t is tre a chil st roppe from its am may e spporte y her milk for a solar year

with little other norishment

at most not aove the vale of s. which the mother may certainly get or the vale in scraps y her lawfl occpation of egging an

it is eactly at one year ol that propose to provie for them in sch a manner as instea of eing a charge pon their parents or the parish or wanting foo an raiment for the rest of their lives they shall on the contrary contrite to the feeing an partly to the clothing of many thosans. There is likewise another great avantage in my scheme that it will prevent those volntary aortions an that horri practice of women mrering their astar chilren alas too freent among s sacrificing the poor innocent aes ot more to avoi the epense than the shame which wol move tears an pity in the most savage an inhman reast. The nmer of sols in this kingom eing sally reckone one million an a half of these calclate there may e aot coples whose wives are reeers from which nmer stract coples who are ale to maintain their own chilren althogh apprehen there cannot e so many

ner the present istress of

the kingom t this eing grante there will remain reeers. again stract for those women who miscarry whose chilren ie y accient or isease within the year

or . There only

remain chilren of poor parents annally orn. The estion therefore is how this nmer shall e reare an provie for which as have alreay sai ner the present sitation of af is tterly impossile y all the methos hitherto propose. or we can neither employ them in hanicraft of agricltre we neither il hoses mean in the contry nor cltivate lan they can very

fairs

selom pick p a livelihoo y stealing till they arrive at si years ol ecept where they are of towarly parts althogh confess they learn the riments mch earlier ring which time they can however e properly looke pon only as proationers as have een informe y a principal gentleman in the conty of avan who proteste to me that he never knew aove one or two instances ner the age of si even in a part of the kingom so renowne for the ickest proficiency in that art. am assre y or merchants that a oy or a girl efore twelve years ol is no salale commoity an even when they come to this age they will not yiel aove . or . s. . at most on the echange which cannot trn to accont either to the parents or kingom the charge of ntriment an rags having een at least for times that vale. shall now therefore hmly propose my own thoghts which hope will not e liale to the least oection. have een assre y a very knowing merican of my acaintance in onon that a yong healthy chil well nrse is at a year ol a most elicios norishing an wholesome foo whether stewe roaste ake or roile an make no ot that it will eally serve in a fricassee or a ragot. o therefore hmly of chilren alreay compte

fer it to plic consieration that of the may e reserve for

ree whereof only one forth part to e males which is more than we allow to sheep lack cattle or swine an my reason is that these chilren are selom the frits of marriage a circmstance not mch regare y or savages therefore one male will e sf to serve for females. That the remaining may ol e of

ficient at a year

fere in sale to the persons of ality an fortne throgh

the kingom always avising the mother to let them sck plentiflly in the last month so as to rener them plmp an fat for a goo tale. chil will make two ishes at an entertainment for friens an when the family ines alone the fore an hin arter will make a reasonale ish an seasone with a little pepper or salt will e very goo oile on the forth ay

especially in winter.

have reckone pon a meim that a chil st orn will weigh pons an in a solar year

if toleraly nrse will increase to

pons. grant this foo will e somewhat ear

an therefore very proper for

lanlors who as they have alreay evore most of the parents seem to have the est title to the chilren. nfants flesh will e in season throghot the year

t more plentifl

in arch an a little efore an after for we are tol y a grave athor

an eminent rench physician that fish eing a prolific iet

there are more chilren orn in oman atholic contries aot nine months after ent than at any other season therefore reckoning a year after ent the markets will e more gltte than sal ecase

the nmer of popish infants is at least three to one in this kingom an therefore it will have one other collateral avantage y lessening the nmer of papists among s. have alreay compte the charge of nrsing a eggar

s chil in

which list reckon all cottagers laorers an for fifths of the farmers to e aot s. per annm rags incle an elieve no gentleman wol repine to give s. for the carcass of a goo fat chil which as have sai will make for ishes of ecellent ntritive meat when he has only some particlar frien or his own family to ine with him. Ths the sire will learn to e a goo lanlor an grow poplar among the tenants the mother will have s. net profit an e fit for work till she proces another chil. Those who are more thrifty as mst confess the times reire may flay the carcass the skin of which artificially resse will make amirale gloves for laies an smmer oots for fine gentlemen. s to or city of lin shamles may e appointe for this prpose in the most convenient parts of it an tchers we may e assre will not e wanting althogh rather recommen ying the chilren alive an ressing them hot from the knife as we o roasting pigs. very worthy person a tre lover of his contry

an whose virtes

highly esteem was lately please in iscorsing on this matter to offer a refinement pon my scheme. e sai that many gentlemen of this kingom having of late estroye their eer

he conceive that

the want of venison might e well spplie y the oies of yong las an maiens not eceeing forteen years of age nor ner twelve so great a nmer of oth sees in every contry eing now reay to starve for want of work an service

an these to e

ispose of y their parents if alive or otherwise y their nearest relations. t with e eference to so ecellent a frien an so eserving a patriot cannot e altogether in his sentiments for as to the males my merican acaintance assre me from freent eperience that their flesh was generally togh an lean like that of or schooloys y continal eercise an their taste isagreeale an to fatten them wol not answer the charge. Then as to the females it wol think with hmle smission e a loss to the plic ecase they soon wol ecome reeers themselves an esies it is not improale that some scrplos people might e apt to censre sch a practice althogh inee very nstly as a little orering pon crelty which confess has always een with me the strongest oection against any proect how well soever intene. t in orer to stify my frien he confesse that this epeient was pt into his hea y the famos salmanaar

a native of the islan

ormosa who came from thence to onon aot twenty years ago an in conversation tol my frien that in his contry when any yong person happene to e pt to eath the eectioner sol the carcass to persons of ality as a prime ainty an that in his time the oy of a plmp girl of fifteen who was crcifie for an attempt to poison the emperor was sol to his imperial maesty s prime minister

of state an other great manarins of the cort in oints from the giet at crowns. either inee can eny

that if the same

se were mae of several plmp yong girls in this town who withot one single groat to their fortnes cannot stir aroa withot a chair an appear at the playhose an assemlies in foreign fineries which they never will pay for the kingom wol not e the worse. ome persons of a esponing spirit are in great concern aot the vast nmer of poor people who are age isease or maime an have een esire to employ my thoghts what corse may e taken to ease the nation of so grievos an encmrance. t am not in the least pain pon that matter

ecase it is very well known

that they are every ay ying an rotting y col an famine an filth an vermin as fast as can e reasonaly epecte. n as to the yong laorers they are now in as hopefl conition They cannot get work an conseently pine away for want of norishment to a egree that if at any hire to common laor

time they are accientally

they have not strength to perform it an ths

the contry an themselves are happily elivere from the evils to come. have too long igresse an therefore shall retrn to my sect. think the avantages y the proposal which have mae are ovios an many

as well as of the highest importance.

or first as have alreay oserve it wol greatly lessen the nmer of papists with whom we are yearly overrn eing the

principal reeers of the nation as well as or most angeros enemies an who stay at home on prpose to eliver the kingom to the retener

hoping to take their avantage y the asence of

so many goo rotestants who have chosen rather to leave their contry than stay at home an pay tithes against their conscience to an piscopal crate. econly

The poor tenants will have something valale of their

own which y law may e mae liale to istress an help to pay their lanlor

s rent their corn an cattle eing alreay seie an

money a thing nknown. Thirly

hereas the maintenance of chilren from two

years ol an pwar cannot e compte at less than ten shillings a piece per annm the nation s stock will e therey increase per annm esie the profit of a new ish introce to the tales of all gentlemen of fortne in the kingom who have any refinement in taste. n the money will circlate among orselves the goos eing entirely of or own growth an manfactre. orthly

The constant reeers esie the gain of s. sterling per

annm y the sale of their chilren will e ri of the charge of maintaining them after the first year. ifthly

This foo wol likewise ring great cstom to taverns where

the vintners will certainly e so prent as to procre the est receipts for ressing it to perfection an conseently have their

hoses freente y all the fine gentlemen who stly vale themselves pon their knowlege in goo eating an a skilfl cook who nerstans how to olige his gests will contrive to make it as epensive as they please. ithly

This wol e a great incement to marriage which all wise

nations have either encorage y rewars or enforce y laws an penalties. t wol increase the care an tenerness of mothers towar their chilren when they were sre of a

settlement for life to

the poor aes provie in some sort y the plic to their annal profit instea of epense.

e shol see an honest emlation

among the marrie women which of them wol ring the fattest chil to the market. en wol ecome as fon of their wives ring the time of their pregnancy as they are now of their mares in foal their cows in calf their sows when they are reay to farrow nor of fer to eat or kick them as is too freent a practice for fear of a miscarriage. any other avantages might e enmerate. or instance the aition of some thosan carcasses in or eportation of arrele eef the propagation of swine s flesh an improvement in the art of making goo acon so mch wante among s y the great estrction of pigs too freent at or tale which are no way comparale in taste or magnificence to a well grown fat yearling chil which roaste whole will make a consierale figre at a lor mayor s feast or any other plic entertainment. t this an many others omit eing stios of revity

.

pposing that families in this city wol e constant cstomers for infants flesh esies others who might have it at merry meetings particlarly at weings an christenings compte that lin wol take of

f annally aot carcasses an the

rest of the kingom where proaly they will e sol somewhat cheaper the remaining . can think of no one oection that will possily e raise against this proposal nless it shol e rge that the nmer of people will e therey mch lessene in the kingom. This freely own an it was inee one principal esign in of

fering it to the worl. esire the

reaer will oserve that calclate my remey for this one inivial kingom of relan an for no other that ever was is or think ever can e pon earth. Therefore let no man talk to me of other epeients of taing or asentees at s. a pon of sing neither clothes nor hosehol frnitre ecept what is of or own growth an manfactre of tterly reecting the materials an instrments that promote foreign lry of cring the epensiveness of prie vanity ileness an gaming in or women of introcing a vein of parsimony prence an temperance of learning to love or contry

in the want of which we if fer even from aplaners an the

inhaitants of T opinamoo of itting or animosities an factions nor acting any longer like the ews who were mrering one another at the very moment their city was taken of eing a little catios not to sell or contry an conscience for nothing of teaching lanlors to have at least one egree of mercy towar their tenants lastly of ptting a spirit of honesty

instry

an skill into or

shopkeepers who if a resoltion col now e taken to y only or native goos wol immeiately nite to cheat an eact pon s in the price the measre an the gooness nor col ever yet e roght to make one fair proposal of st ealing thogh often an earnestly invite to it. Therefore repeat let no man talk to me of these an the like epeients till he has at least some glimpse of hope that there will e ever some hearty an sincere attempt to pt them in practice. t as to myself having een wearie ot for many years with offering vain ile visionary thoghts an at length tterly espairing of sccess fortnately fell pon this proposal which as it is wholly new so it has something soli an real of no epense an little trole fll in or own power

an wherey we can incr no anger

in isoliging nglan. or this kin of commoity will not ear eportation the flesh eing of too tener a consistence to amit a long continance in salt althogh perhaps col name a contry which wol e gla to eat p or whole nation withot it. fter all am not so violently ent pon my own opinion as to reect any offer propose y wise men which shall e fon eally innocent cheap easy an ef fectal. t efore something of that kin shall e avance in contraiction to my scheme an of etter

fering a

esire the athor or athors will e please matrely to

consier two points. irst as things now stan how they will e ale to fin foo an raiment for seless moths an acks. n

seconly

there eing a ron million of creatres in hman figre

throghot this kingom whose ssistence pt into a common stock wol leave them in et . sterling aing those who are eggars y profession to the lk of farmers cottagers an laorers with the wives an chilren who are eggars in ef

fect

esire those politicians who islike my overtre an may perhaps e so ol as to attempt an answer

that they will first ask the parents of

these mortals whether they wol not at this ay think it a great happiness to have een sol for foo at a year ol in the manner prescrie an therey have avoie sch a perpetal scene of misfortnes as they have since gone throgh y the oppression of lanlors the impossiility of paying rent withot money or trae the want of common sstenance with neither hose nor clothes to cover them from the inclemencies of the weather an the most inevitale prospect of entailing the like or greater miseries pon their ree for ever. profess in the sincerity of my heart that have not the least personal interest in eneavoring to promote this necessary work having no other motive than the plic goo of my contry

y

avancing or trae proviing for infants relieving the poor

an

giving some pleasre to the rich. have no chilren y which can propose to get a single penny the yongest eing nine years ol an my wife past chilearing.

or is ussion nd ritin

. ist the ways in which the proposal is presente that make it appear rational. . f there eists a typical metho for making an argment wift s metho here is not it. hat is the real point wift is arging an how oes it relate to the apparent point the speaker makes . connections wift s se of a persona here the proector who makes this proposal involves the se of irony to make a political point while Thomas ef ferson s eclaration of nepenence is straightforwar. hy might these tets if fering strategies e appropriate for their political goals . rite a short response to oest roposal focsing on the eperience of reaing it. ow o yor responses to the eginning to the moment when the proposal is lai ot to the hanling of oections change . ooinrter ea p on conitions in relan at the time this essay was written. hat if ferent factors contrite to relan s ire state Think aot the contemporary worl an perhaps o a little more research on places where poverty an hnger are rampant. o yo see parallels re there ways in which wift s non ironic sggestions for improving relan s sitation might e applicale

other T onge y

n born in

s rised in northern iforni orery

business riter boo o

n is no

The oy ck l s ife

noveist She is best no n for her first but hs so ritten

The itchen

The onesetter s aghter

from rowning

nd

aving ish

The alley of maement

er

fi tion is rooted in her exerien es s the hid of hinese iirnts ro in u nd ivin in eri n uture n Mother

onue

n des ribes the vriety of Enishes she uses

n doin so she ddresses the onne tions bet een nues nd utures but in her ritin she so deonstrtes ht she sys bout hersef in the essy

riter

soeone ho hs ys oved nue

nd by tht definition r

s you red

note the ys in hi h this ove for nue nifests itsef am not a scholar of nglish or literatre. cannot give yo mch more than personal opinions on the nglish langage an its variations in this contry or others. am a writer . n y that efinition am someone who has always love langage. am fascinate y langage in aily life. spen a great eal of my time thinking aot the power of langage the way it can evoke an emotion a visal image a comple iea or a simple trth. angage is the tool of my trae. n se them all all the nglishes grew p with.

ecently

was mae keenly aware of the if

ferent nglishes o

se. was giving a talk to a large grop of people the same talk ha alreay given to half a oen other grops. The natre of the talk was aot my writing my life an my ook

he oy u ub

.

The talk was going along well enogh ntil rememere one maor if ference that mae the whole talk son wrong. y mother was in the room. n it was perhaps the first time she ha hear me give a lengthy speech sing the kin of nglish have never se with her

.

was saying things like The intersection of memory pon imagination an There is an aspect of my fiction that relates to ths an ths a speech fille with careflly wroght grammatical phrases rene it senly seeme to me with nominalie forms past perfect tenses conitional phrases all the forms of stanar nglish that ha learne in school an throgh ooks the forms of nglish i not se at home with my mother

.

st last week was walking own the street with my mother

an

again fon myself conscios of the nglish was sing the nglish o se with her

.

e were talking aot the price of new an se

frnitre an hear myself saying this ot waste money that way y hsan was with s as well an he int notice any switch in my nglish. n then realie why

. t s ecase over the twenty

years weve een together ve often se that same kin of nglish with him an sometimes he even ses it with me. t has ecome or langage of intimacy

a if ferent sort of nglish that relates to family

talk the langage grew p with.

.

o yoll have some iea of what this family talk hear sons like ll ote what my mother sai ring a recent conversation which vieotape an then transcrie. ring this conversation my mother was talking aot a political gangster in hanghai who ha the same last name as her family s

an how the gangster in his

early years wante to e aopte y her family comparison. ater

which was rich y

the gangster ecame more powerfl far richer

than my mother s family an one ay showe p at my mother weing to pay his respects. ere

s

s what she sai in part

song having siness like frit stan. ike of e is like ong t not T

f the street kin.

sng ming slan people. The

local people call ptong the river east sie he elong to that sie local people. That man want to ask ong father take him in like ecome own family . ong father wasnt look own on him t int take seriosly

ntil that man ig like ecome a mafia. ow

important person very har to inviting him. hinese way to show respect ont stay for inner

came only

. espect for making ig

celeration he shows p. ean gives lots of respect. hinese cstom. hinese social life that way

. f too important wont have to

stay too long. e come to my weing. int see hear it. gone to oy s sie they have inner

. hinese age was nineteen.

o shol know that my mother

s epressive comman of nglish

elies how mch she actally nerstans. he reas the report listens to stockroker

Street

ee

orbes

converses aily with her

reas all of hirley acaine

s ooks with ease all

kins of things cant egin to nerstan.

et some of my friens

tell me they nerstan percent of what my mother says. ome say they nerstan to percent. ome say they nerstan none of it as if she were speaking pre hinese. t to me my mother s nglish is perfectly clear

perfectly natral. t

s my mother

tonge. er langage as hear it is vivi irect fll of oservation an imagery . That was the langage that helpe shape the way saw things epresse things mae sense of the worl. ately

ve een giving more thoght to the kin of nglish my

mother speaks. ike others have escrie it to people as roken or fractre nglish. t wince when say that. t has always othere me that can think of no other way to escrie it other than roken as if it were amage an neee to e fie as if it lacke a certain wholeness an sonness. ve hear other terms se limite nglish for eample. t they seem st as a as if everything is limite incling people

s perceptions of the limite

nglish speaker . know this for a fact ecase when was growing p my mother limite nglish limite

y

perception of her. was ashame of her

nglish. elieve that her nglish reflecte the ality of what she ha to say . That is ecase she epresse them imperfectly her thoghts were imperfect. n ha plenty of empirical evience to spport me the fact that people in epartment stores at anks an at restarants i not take her seriosly

i not give her goo

s

service pretene not to nerstan her

or even acte as if they i

not hear her. y mother has long realie the limitations of her nglish as well. hen was fifteen she se to have me call people on the phone to preten was she. n this gise was force to ask for information or even to complain an yell at people who ha een re to her time it was a call to her stockroker in ew

. ne

ork. he ha cashe

ot her small portfolio an it st so happene we were going to go to ew

ork the net week or very first trip otsie alifornia. ha to

get on the phone an say in an aolescent voice that was not very convincing This is rs. T

an.

n my mother was staning in the ack whispering loly

hy he

ont sen me check alreay two weeks late. o ma he lie to me losing me money. n then sai in perfect nglish

es m getting rather concerne.

o ha agree to sen the check two weeks ago t it hasnt arrive. Then she egan to talk more loly

. hat he want come to ew

ork tell him front of his oss yo cheating me n was trying to calm her own make her e iet while telling the stockroker cant tolerate any more ecses. f ont receive the check immeiately in ew

am going to have to speak to yor manager when m

ork net week. n sre enogh the following week there

we were in front of this astonishe stockroker there re face an iet an my mother

an was sitting

the real rs. T an was

shoting at his oss in her impeccale roken nglish. e se a similar rotine st five ays ago for a sitation that was far less hmoros. y mother ha gone to the hospital for an appointment to fin ot aot a enign rain tmor a

T scan ha

reveale a month ago. he sai she ha spoken very goo nglish her est nglish no mistakes. till she sai the hospital i not apologie when they sai they ha lost the

T scan an she ha

come for nothing. he sai they i not seem to have any sympathy when she tol them she was anios to know the eact iagnosis since her hsan an son ha oth ie of rain tmors. he sai they wol not give her any more information ntil the net time an she wol have to make another appointment for that. o she sai she wol not leave ntil the octor calle her aghter

. he

wolnt ge. n when the octor finally calle her aghter

me

who spoke in perfect nglish lo an ehol we ha assrances the

T scan wol e fon promises that a conference call on

onay wol e hel an apologies for any sf

fering my mother

ha gone throgh for a most regrettale mistake. think my mother s nglish almost ha an ef

fect on limiting my

possiilities in life as well. ociologists an lingists proaly will tell yo that a person s eveloping langage skills are more inflence y peers. t o think that the langage spoken in the family especially in immigrant families which are more inslar

plays a large

role in shaping the langage of the chil. n

elieve that it

affecte my reslts on achievement tests tests an the hile my nglish skills were never ge as poor

T.

compare to

math nglish col not e consiere my strong sit. n grae school i moerately well getting perhaps

s sometimes

plses in nglish an scoring perhaps in the sitieth or seventieth percentile on achievement tests. t those scores were not goo enogh to overrie the opinion that my tre ailities lay in math an science ecase in those areas achieve

s an score in the

ninetieth percentile or higher. This was nerstanale. ath is precise there is only one correct answer. hereas for me at least the answers on nglish tests were always a gment call a matter of opinion an personal eperience. Those tests were constrcte aron items like fill in the lank sentence completion sch as ven thogh T thoght he was

om was

ary

. n the correct answer always seeme to

e the most lan cominations of thoghts for eample ven thogh T om was shy ary thoght he was charming with the grammatical strctre even thogh limiting the correct answer to some sort of semantic opposites so yo wolnt get answers like ven thogh T

om was foolish ary thoght he was riiclos.

ell accoring to my mother

there were very few limitations as to

what Tom col have een an what ary might have thoght of him. o never i well on tests like that.

The same was tre with wor analogies pairs of wors in which yo were sppose to fin some sort of logical semantic relationship for eample

Sunset is to nihtf

as

is to

. n here

yo wol e presente with a list of for possile pairs one of which showe the same kin of relationship is to rriv his

is to fever y n

red is to stoiht bus

is to borin .

ell col never

think that way. knew what the tests were asking t col not lock ot of my min the images alreay create y the first pair sunset is to nihtf arkening sky

an wol see a rst of colors against a

the moon rising the lowering of a crtain of stars.

n all the other pairs of wors re s stoplight oring st threw p a mass of confsing images making it impossile for me to sort ot something as logical as saying snset precees nightfall is the same as a chill precees a fever . The only way wol have gotten that answer right wol have een to imagine an associative sitation

for eample my eing isoeient an staying ot past

snset catching a chill at night which trns into feverish pnemonia as pnishment which inee i happen to me. have een thinking aot all this lately

aot my mother

s nglish

aot achievement tests. ecase lately ve een aske as a writer why there are not more sian mericans represente in merican literatre. hy are there few sian mericans enrolle in creative writing programs hy o so many hinese stents go into engineering

ell these are roa sociological estions cant

egin to answer . t have notice in srveys in fact st last week that sian stents as a whole always o significantly

etter on math achievement tests than in nglish. n this makes me think that there are other sian merican stents whose nglish spoken in the home might also e escrie as roken or limite. n perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing an into math an science which is what happene to me. ortnately

happen to e reellios in natre an enoy the

challenge of isproving assmptions mae aot me. ecame an nglish maor my first year in college after eing enrolle as pre me. starte writing nonfiction as a freelancer the week after was tol y my former oss that writing was my worst skill an shol hone my talents towar accont management. t it wasnt ntil that finally egan to write fiction. n at first wrote sing what thoght to e wittily crafte sentences sentences that wol finally prove ha mastery over the nglish langage. ere

s an eample from the first raft of a story that later

mae its way into he oy u ub

t withot this line That was

my mental anary in its nascent state. terrile line which can arely prononce. ortnately

for reasons wont get into toay

later ecie shol

envision a reaer for the stories wol write. n the reaer ecie pon was my mother

ecase these were stories aot

mothers. o with this reaer in min an in fact she i rea my early rafts egan to write stories sing all the nglishes grew

p with the nglish spoke to my mother

which for lack of a etter

term might e escrie as simple the nglish she se with me which for lack of a etter term might e escrie as roken my translation of her hinese which col certainly e escrie as watere own an what

imagine to e her translation of her

hinese if she col speak in perfect nglish her internal langage an for that soght to preserve the essence t neither an nglish nor a hinese strctre. wante to captre what langage aility tests can never reveal her intent her passion her imagery the rhythms of her speech an the natre of her thoghts. part from what any critic ha to say aot my writing knew ha scceee where it conte when my mother finishe reaing my ook an gave me her verict o easy to rea.

or is ussion nd ritin . ist the if ferent nglishes T an escries efining each. . f her mother s nglish T an writes That was the langage that helpe shape the way saw things epresse things mae sense of the worl par. . ow was the ef fect of her mother s nglish positive an how was it negative . connections loria nala in ow to T ame a il T onge epresses a complicate set of feelings aot her lingistic inheritances an what they mean to her an to the worl aron her . ompare her feelings to T an s as epresse in other T onge . ow oes each eal with the way the worl thinks of their langage s . o yo se if ferent nglishes yorself ven if nglish is yor sole langage consier how yor se of it changes epening on circmstances an aience. rite an essay in which yo escrie the if ferent ways yo speak an the meaning of these if ferences.

. ooinrter hen literary writing particlarly fiction attempts literal representation of accente or region race ethnicity or class inflecte nglish speech in ialoge it is often sai to e oing ialect. t times in .. history this practice has een seen not as an attempt at realism t rather as the proct of preice or at least as a means of nintentionally confirming stereotypes aot people who ont speak tanar nglish. ea p on this practice an check ot some eamples. hat o yo think aot it s it possile to make any kin of lanket gment re there some cases where yo think this technie is acceptale an others yo think are of fensive

ivil isoeience enry vid horeu s born in nd rised in on ord Mss husetts ivin there for ost of his ife on ith h do Eerson horeu s one of the ost iortnt thiners of his tie in eri nd is sti idey red tody

alen

the

or for hi h he is best no n is dr n fro the ourn he et durin his t oyer

on sty in

bin on

den ond n

alen

horeu exores his interests in nturis individuis nd sef suffi ien y horeu is so reebered for his essy ivi isobedien e n ery

infuenti stteent of this t ti of rotest ter

r ti ed by Mht ndhi nd under the edershi of Mrtin uther in r

by ny in the ivi rihts oveent s you or

your y throuh this essy

ee n eye out not ust for the

ruents horeu es in suort of his rer oint but the e rfted ys in hi h he es the heartily accept the motto That government is est which governs least

an shol like to see it acte p to more rapily

an systematically . arrie ot it finally amonts to this which also elieve That government is est which governs not at all an when men are prepare for it that will e the kin of government which they will have. overnment is at est t an epeient t most governments are sally

an all governments are sometimes

inepeient. The oections which have een roght against a staning army

an they are many an weighty

an eserve to

prevail may also at last e roght against a staning government. The staning army is only an arm of the staning government. The government itself which is only the moe which the people have chosen to eecte their will is eally liale to

e ase an

perverte efore the people can act throgh it. itness the present eican war

the work of comparatively a few inivials sing the

staning government as their tool for in the otset the people wol not have consente to this measre. This merican government what is it t a traition a recent one eneavoring to transmit itself nimpaire to posterity t each instant losing some of its integrity t has not the vitality an force of a single living man for a single man can en it to his will. t is a sort of wooen gn to the people themselves. t it is not the less necessary for this for the people mst have some complicate machinery or other an hear its in to satisfy that iea of government which they have. overnments show ths how sccessflly men can e impose on even impose on themselves for their own avantage. t is ecellent we mst all allow

. et this

government never of itself frthere any enterprise t y the alacrity with which it got ot of its way . t oes not keep the contry free. oes not settle the

t

est. t oes not ecate. The character inherent

in the merican people has one all that has een accomplishe an it wol have one somewhat more if the government ha not sometimes got in its way. or government is an epeient y which men wol fain sccee in letting one another alone an as has een sai when it is most epeient the governe are most let alone

y it. T rae an commerce if they were not mae of nia rer wol never manage to once over the ostacles which legislators are continally ptting in their way an if one were to ge these men wholly y the ef fects of their actions an not partly y their intentions they wol eserve to e classe an pnishe with those mischievos persons who pt ostrctions on the railroas. t to speak practically an as a citien nlike those who call themselves no government men government t

ask for not at once no

t on e a etter government. et every man make

known what kin of government wol comman his respect an that will e one step towar otaining it. fter all the practical reason why

when the power is once in the

hans of the people a maority are permitte an for a long

perio

contine to rle is not ecase they are most likely to e in the right nor ecase this seems fairest to the minority t ecase they are physically the strongest. t a government in which the maority rle in all cases cannot e ase on stice even as far as men nerstan it. an there not e a government in which maorities o not virtally ecie right an wrong t conscience in which maorities ecie only those estions to which the rle of epeiency is applicale st the citien ever for a moment or in the least egree resign his conscience to the legislator hy has every man a conscience then think that we shol e men first an sects afterwar. t is not esirale to cltivate a respect for the law so mch as for the right. The only oligation which have a

right to assme is to o at any time what think right. t is trly enogh sai that a corporation has no conscience t a corporation of conscientios men is a corporation

ith a conscience. aw never

mae men a whit more st an y means of their respect for it even the well ispose are aily mae the agents of instice. common an natral reslt of an ne respect for law is that yo may see a file of soliers colonel captain corporal privates power monkeys

an all marching in amirale orer over hill an

ale to the wars against their wills ay

against their common sense

an consciences which makes it very steep marching inee an proces a palpitation of the heart. They have no ot that it is a amnale siness in which they are concerne they are all peacealy incline. ow

what are they en at all or small

movale forts an magaines at the service of some nscrplos man in power

isit the avy

ar an ehol a marine sch a

man as an merican government can make or sch as it can make a man with its lack arts a mere shaow an reminiscence of hmanity

a man lai ot alive an staning an alreay

as one

may say rie ner arms with fneral accompaniments thogh it may e ot a rm was hear not a fneral note s his corse to the rampart we hrrie ot a solier ischarge his farewell shot er the grave where or hero we rie.

The mass of men serve the state ths not as men mainly machines with their oies. They are the staning army militia ailers constales posse comitats

t as an the

c. n most cases there

is no free eercise whatever of the gment or of the moral sense t they pt themselves on a level with woo an earth an stones an wooen men can perhaps e manfactre that will serve the prpose as well. ch comman no more respect than men of straw or a lmp of irt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses an ogs.

et sch as these even are commonly esteeme goo

citiens. thers as most legislators politicians lawyers ministers an of fice holers serve the state chiefly with their heas an as they rarely make any moral istinctions they are as likely to serve the evil withot

intendin it as o. very few

as heroes

patriots martyrs reformers in the great sense an en

serve the

state with their consciences also an so necessarily resist it for the most part an they are commonly treate as enemies y it. wise man will only e sefl as a man an will not smit to e clay an stop a hole to keep the win away

t leave that of

fice to his st

at least am too high orn to e propertie To e a seconary at control r sefl serving man an instrment To any sovereign state throghot the worl.

e who gives himself entirely to his fellow men appears to them seless an selfish t he who gives himself partially to them is

prononce a enefactor an philanthropist. ow oes it ecome a man to ehave towar this merican government toay answer

that he cannot withot isgrace e

associate with it. cannot for an instant recognie that political organiation as y

government which is the sve s government

also. ll men recognie the right of revoltion that is the right to refse allegiance to an to resist the government when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great an nenrale. t almost all say that sch is not the case now. t sch was the case they think in the evoltion of . f one were to tell me that this was a a government ecase it tae certain foreign commoities roght to its ports it is most proale that shol not make an ao aot it for can o withot them. ll machines have their friction an possily this oes enogh goo to conteralance the evil. t any rate it is a great evil to make a stir aot it. t when the friction comes to have its machine an oppression an roery are organie say let s not have sch a machine any longer

. n other

wors when a sith of the poplation of a nation which has nertaken to e the refge of lierty are slaves an a whole contry is nstly overrn an conere y a foreign army an secte to military law

think that it is not too soon for honest men

to reel an revoltionie. hat makes this ty the more rgent is the fact that the contry so overrn is not or own t ors is the invaing army .

aley

a common athority with many on moral estions in his

chapter on the ty of mission to ivil overnment resolves all civil oligation into epeiency an he procees to say

that so

long as the interest of the whole society reires it that is so long as the estalishe government cannot e resiste or charge withot plic inconveniency

it is the will of o that the estalishe

government e oeye an no longer

. . . . This principle eing

amitte the stice of every particlar case of resistance is rece to a comptation of the antity of the anger an grievance on the one sie an of the proaility an epense of reressing it on the other. f this he says every man shall ge for himself. t aley appears never to have contemplate those cases to which the rle of epeiency oes not apply

in which a people as well as an

inivial mst o stice cost what it may

. f have nstly

wreste a plank from a rowning man mst restore it to him thogh rown myself. This accoring to aley

wol e inconvenient. t

he that wol save his life in sch a case shall lose it. This people mst cease to hol slaves an to make war on eico thogh it cost them their eistence as a people. n their practice nations agree with aley t oes anyone think that assachsetts oes eactly what is right at the present crisis ra of state a cloth o silver slt To have her train orne p an her sol trail in the irt.

ractically speaking the opponents to a reform in assachsetts are not a hnre thosan politicians at the oth t a hnre thosan merchants an farmers here who are more intereste in commerce an agricltre than they are in hmanity

an are not

prepare to o stice to the slave an to eico cost what it may arrel not with far of

.

f foes t with those who near at home co

operate with an o the iing of those far away whom the latter wol e harmless.

an withot

e are accstome to say that

the mass of men are nprepare t improvement is slow ecase the few are not materially wiser or etter than the many . t is not so important that many shol e as goo as yo as that there e some asolte gooness somewhere for that will leaven the whole lmp. There are thosans who are in opinion oppose to slavery an to the war who yet in effect o nothing to pt an en to them who esteeming themselves chilren of

ashington an ranklin sit own

with their hans in their pockets an say that they know not what to o an o nothing who even postpone the estion of freeom to the estion of free trae an ietly rea the prices crrent along with the latest avices from eico after inner an it may e fall asleep over them oth. hat is the price crrent of an honest man an patriot toay They hesitate an they regret an sometimes they petition t they o nothing in earnest an with ef

fect. They will wait

well ispose for others to remey the evil that they may no longer have it to regret. t most they give only a cheap vote an a feele contenance an o spee to the right as it goes y them. There are nine hnre an ninety nine patrons of virte to one virtos

man. t it is easier to eal with the real possessor of a thing than with the temporary garian of it. ll voting is a sort of gaming like checkers or ackgammon with a slight moral tinge to it a playing with right an wrong with moral estions an etting natrally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not stake. cast my vote perchance as think right t am not vitally concerne that that right shol prevail. am willing to leave it to the maority . ts oligation therefore never ecees that of epeiency . ven voting for the riht is doin nothing for it. t is only epressing to men feely yor esire that it shol prevail. wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance nor wish it to prevail throgh the power of the maority . There is t little virte in the action of masses of men. hen the maority shall at length vote for the aolition of slavery

it will e ecase they are inif

ferent to

slavery or ecase there is t little slavery left to e aolishe y their vote. hey will then e the only slaves. nly

his vote can

hasten the aolition of slavery who asserts his own freeom y his vote. hear of a convention to e hel at altimore or elsewhere for the selection of a caniate for the resiency

mae p chiefly of

eitors an men who are politicians y profession t think what is it to any inepenent intelligent an respectale man what ecision they may come to hall we not have the avantage of his wisom an honesty nevertheless an we not cont pon some inepenent votes re there not many inivials in the contry

who o not atten conventions t no fin that the responsile man so calle has immeiately rifte from his position an espairs of his contry when his contry has more reason to espair of him. e forthwith aopts one of the caniates ths selecte as the only vibe

one ths proving that he is himself vibe

for

any prposes of the emagoge. is vote is of no more worth than that of any nprinciple foreigner or hireling native who may have een oght. for a man who is a

n

an as my neighor says

has a one in his ack which yo cannot pass yor han throgh r statistics are at falt the poplation has een retrne too large. ow many en

are there to a sare thosan miles in this contry

arly one. oes not merica of

fer any incement for men to settle

here The merican has winle into an ellow

one who

may e known y the evelopment of his organ of gregariosness an a manifest lack of intellect an cheerfl self reliance whose first an chief concern on coming into the worl is to see that the lmshoses are in goo repair an efore yet he has lawflly onne the virile gar to collect a fn for the spport of the wiows an orphans that may e who in short ventres to live only y the ai of the tal nsrance ompany

which has promise to ry

him ecently . t is not a man s ty eraication of any

as a matter of corse to evote himself to the even the most enormos wrong he

may still

properly have other concerns to engage him t it is his ty least to wash his hans of it an if he gives it no thoght longer to give it practically his spport. f evote myself to other prsits

at not

an contemplations mst first see at least that o not prse them sitting pon another man s sholers. mst get of

f him first

that he may prse his contemplations too. ee what gross inconsistency is tolerate. have hear some of my townsmen say shol like to have them orer me ot to help pt own an insrrection of the slaves or to march to eico see if wol go an yet these very men have each irectly y their allegiance an so inirectly

at least y their money

frnishe a sstitte. The

solier is applae who refses to serve in an nst war y those who o not refse to sstain the nst government which makes the war is applae y those whose own act an athority he isregars an sets at naght as if the tate were penitent to that egree that it hire one to scorge it while it sinne t not to that egree that it left of f sinning for a moment. Ths ner the name of rer an ivil overnment we are all mae at last to pay homage to an spport or own meanness. fter the first lsh of sin comes its inif ference an from immoral it ecomes as it were

unmoral

an not ite nnecessary to that life which we have mae. The roaest an most prevalent error reires the most isintereste virte to sstain it. The slight reproach to which the virte of patriotism is commonly liale the nole are most likely to incr . Those who while they isapprove of the character an measres of a government yiel to it their allegiance an spport are notely its most conscientios spporters an so freently the most serios ostacles to reform. ome are petitioning the tate to issolve the nion to isregar the reisitions of the resient.

hy o they not issolve it themselves the nion etween themselves an the tate an refse to pay their ota into its treasry o not they stan in the same relation to the tate that the tate oes to the nion n have not the same reasons prevente the tate from resisting the nion which have prevente them from resisting the tate ow can a man e satisfie to entertain an opinion merely

an

enoy it s there any enoyment in it if his opinion is that he is aggrieve f yo are cheate ot of a single ollar y yor neighor yo o not rest satisfie with knowing that yo are

cheate or with

saying that yo are cheate or even with petitioning him to pay yo yor e t yo take ef

fectal steps at once to otain the fll

amont an see that yo are never cheate again. ction from principle the perception an the performance of right changes things an relations it is essentially revoltionary an oes not consist wholly with anything which was. t not only ivies states an chrches it ivies families ay

it ivies the

individu

separating

the iaolical in him from the ivine. nst laws eist shall we e content to oey them or shall we eneavor to amen them an oey them ntil we have scceee or shall we transgress them at once en generally

ner sch a

government as this think that they oght to wait ntil they have persae the maority to alter them. They think that if they shol resist the remey wol e worse than the evil.

t makes it worse.

hy is it not more apt to anticipate an provie for reform hy

oes it not cherish its wise minority hy oes it cry an resist efore it is hrt hy oes it not encorage its citiens to e on the alert to point ot its falts an

do etter than it wol have them

hy oes it always crcify hrist an ecommnicate opernics an ther

an prononce

ashington an ranklin reels

ne wol think that a elierate an practical enial of its athority was the only offense never contemplate y government else why has it not assigne its efinite its sitale an proportionate penalty f a man who has no property refses t once to earn nine shillings for the tate he is pt in prison for a perio nlimite y any law that know an etermine only y the iscretion of those who place him there t if he shol steal ninety times nine shillings from the tate he is soon permitte to go at large again. f the instice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government let it go let it go perchance it will wear smooth certainly the machine will wear ot. f the instice has a spring or a plley or a rope or a crank eclsively for itself then perhaps yo may consier whether the remey will not e

worse than the evil t

if it is of sch a natre that it reires yo to e the agent of instice to another then say reak the law . et yor life e a conter friction to stop the machine. hat have to o is to see at any rate that o not len myself to the wrong which conemn. s for aopting the ways which the tate has provie for remeying the evil know not of sch ways. They take too mch time an a

man s life will e gone. have other af fairs to atten to. came into this worl not chiefly to make this a goo place to live in t to live in it e it goo or a. man has not everything to o t something an ecase he cannot o that he shol o

soethin

everythin

it is not necessary

wrong. t is not my siness to e

petitioning the overnor or the egislatre any more than it is theirs to petition me an if they shol not hear my petition what shol o then t in this case the tate has provie no way its very onstittion is the evil. This may seem to e harsh an storn an nconciliatory t it is to treat with the tmost kinness an consieration the only spirit that can appreciate or eserves it. o is all change for the etter oy

like irth an eath which convlse the

.

o not hesitate to say that those who call themselves olitionists shol at once ef

fectally withraw their spport oth in person an

property from the government of assachsetts an not wait till they constitte a maority of one efore they sf

fer the right to prevail

throgh them. think that it is enogh if they have o on their sie withot waiting for that other one. oreover

any man more right

than his neighors constittes a maority of one alreay

.

meet this merican government or its representative the tate government irectly an face to face once a year no more in the person of its ta gatherer this is the only moe in which a man sitate as am necessarily meets it an it then says istinctly ecognie me an the simplest the most ef

fectal an in the

present postre of af fairs the inispensalest moe of treating with it on this hea of epressing yor little satisfaction with an love for it is to eny it then. y civil neighor

the ta gatherer

is the very man

have to eal with for it is after all with men an not with parchment that arrel an he has volntarily chosen to e an agent of the government. ow shall he ever know well what he is an oes as an of

ficer of the government or as a man ntil he is

olige to consier whether he shall treat me his neighor

for whom

he has respect as a neighor an well ispose man or as a maniac an istrer of the peace an see if he can get over this ostrction to his neighorliness withot a rer an more impetos thoght or speech corresponing with his action. know this well that if one thosan if one hnre if ten men whom col name if ten

honest men only ay

this tate of assachsetts

if one T

esin to hod sves

man in were actally to

withraw from this copartnership an e locke p in the conty ail therefore it wol e the aolition of slavery in merica. or it matters not how small the eginning may seem to e what is once well one is one forever

. t we love etter to talk aot it that we

say is or mission. eform keeps many scores of newspapers in its service t not one man. f my esteeme neighor amassaor

the tate s

who will evote his ays to the settlement of the

estion of hman rights in the oncil hamer

instea of eing

threatene with the prisons of arolina were to sit own the prisoner of assachsetts that tate which is so anios to foist the sin of slavery pon her sister thogh at present she can iscover only

an act of inhospitality to e the gron of a arrel with her the egislatre wol not wholly waive the sect the following winter ner a government which imprisons any nstly a st man is also a prison. The proper place toay

.

the tre place for the only place

which assachsetts has provie for her freer an less esponing spirits is in her prisons to e pt ot an locke ot of the tate y her own act as they have alreay pt themselves ot y their principles. t is there that the fgitive slave an the eican prisoner on parole an the nian come to plea the wrongs of his race shol fin them on that separate t more free an honorale gron where the tate places those who are not inst

ith her t

her the only hose in a slave tate in which a free man

can aie with honor

. f any think that their inflence wol e lost

there an their voices no longer afflict the ear of the tate that they wol not e as an enemy within its walls they o not know y how mch trth is stronger than error

nor how mch more eloently an

effectively he can comat instice who has eperience a little in his own person. ast yor whole vote not a strip of paper merely

t

yor whole inflence. minority is powerless while it conforms to the maority it is not even a minority then t it is irresistile when it clogs y its whole weight. f the alternative is to keep all st men in prison or give p war an slavery

the tate will not hesitate which to

choose. f a thosan men were not to pay their ta ills this year that wol not e a violent looy measre as it wol e to pay them an enale the tate to commit violence an she innocent loo. This is in fact the efinition of a peaceale revoltion if any

sch is possile. f the ta gatherer or any other plic of

ficer asks

me as one has one t what shall o my answer is f yo really wish to o anything resign yor of refse allegiance an the of

fice. hen the sect has

ficer has resigne his of fice then the

revoltion is accomplishe. t even sppose loo shol flow

.s

there not a sort of loo she when the conscience is wone Throgh this won a man

s real manhoo an immortality flow ot

an he lees to an everlasting eath. see this loo flowing now

.

have contemplate the imprisonment of the of fener rather than the seire of his goos thogh oth will serve the same prpose ecase they who assert the prest right an conseently are most angeros to a corrpt tate commonly have not spent mch time in accmlating property

. To sch the tate reners

comparatively small service an a slight ta is wont to appear eoritant particlarly if they are olige to earn it y special laor with their hans. f there were one who live wholly withot the se of money the tate itself wol hesitate to eman it of him. t the rich man not to make any inviios comparison is always sol to the instittion which makes him rich. soltely speaking the more money the less virte for money comes etween a man an his oects an otains them for him an it was certainly no great virte to otain it. t pts to rest many estions which he wol otherwise e tae to answer while the only new estion which it pts is the har t sperflos one how to spen it. Ths his moral gron is

taken from ner his feet. The opportnities of living are

iminishe in proportion as what are calle the means are

increase. The est thing a man can o for his cltre when he is rich is to eneavor to carry ot those schemes which he entertaine when he was poor. hrist answere the eroians accoring to their conition. how me the trite money

sai he an one took a

penny ot of his pocket if yo se money which has the image of aesar on it an which he has mae crrent an valale that is if you re en of the Stte

an glaly enoy the avantages of

aesar s government then pay him ack some of his own when he emans it ener therefore to aesar that which is aesar to o those things which are o

s

s an

leaving them no wiser

than efore as to which was which for they i not wish to know

.

hen converse with the freest of my neighors perceive that whatever they may say aot the magnite an seriosness of the estion an their regar for the plic tranillity

the long an the

short of the matter is that they cannot spare the protection of the eisting government an they rea the conseences to their property an families of isoeience to it. or my own part shol not like to think that ever rely on the protection of the tate. t if eny the athority of the tate when it presents its ta ill it will soon take an waste all my property an so harass me an my chilren withot en. This is har. This makes it impossile for a man to live honestly an at the same time comfortaly

in otwar respects. t

will not e worth the while to accmlate property that wol e sre to go again.

o mst hire or sat somewhere an raise t a

small crop an eat that soon.

o mst live within yorself an

epen pon yorself always tcke p an reay for a start an

not have many affairs. man may grow rich in T rkey even if he will e in all respects a goo sect of the T

rkish government.

onfcis sai f a state is governe y the principles of reason poverty an misery are sects of shame if a state is not governe y the principles of reason riches an honors are the sects of shame. o ntil want the protection of assachsetts to e etene to me in some istant othern port where my lierty is enangere or ntil am ent solely on iling p an home y peacefl enterprise can af

estate at

for to refse allegiance to

assachsetts an her right to my property an life. t costs me less in every sense to incr the penalty of isoeience to the tate than it wol to oey

. shol feel as if were worth less in that case.

ome years ago the tate met me in ehalf of the hrch an commane me to pay a certain sm towar the spport of a clergyman whose preaching my father attene t never myself. ay

it sai or e locke p in the ail. ecline to pay

nfortnately

.t

another man saw fit to pay it. i not see why the

schoolmaster shol e tae to spport the priest an not the priest the schoolmaster for was not the tate

s schoolmaster t

spporte myself y volntary sscription. i not see why the lycem

shol not present its ta ill an have the tate to ack its

eman as well as the hrch. owever

at the reest of the

selectmen conescene to make some sch statement as this in writing now all men y these presents that enry Thorea o not wish to e regare as a memer of any incorporate society which have not oine. This gave to the town clerk an he has it.

The tate having ths learne that i not wish to e regare as a memer of that chrch has never mae a like eman on me since thogh it sai that it mst ahere to its original presmption that time. f ha known how to name them shol then have signe of f in etail from all the societies which never signe on to t i not know where to fin a complete list. have pai no poll ta for si years. was pt into a ail once on this accont for one night an as stoo consiering the walls of soli stone two or three feet thick the oor of woo an iron a foot thick an the iron grating which straine the light col not help eing strck with the foolishness of that instittion which treate me as if were mere flesh an loo an ones to e locke p. wonere that it shol have concle at length that this was the est se it col pt me to an ha never thoght to avail itself of my services in some way. saw that if there was a wall of stone etween me an my townsmen there was a still more if ficlt one to clim or reak throgh efore they col get to e as free as was. i not for

a

moment feel confine an the walls seeme a great waste of stone an mortar . felt as if alone of all my townsmen ha pai my ta. They plainly i not know how to treat me t ehave like persons who are nerre. n every threat an in every compliment there was a lner for they thoght that my chief esire was to stan on the other sie of that stone wall. col not t smile to see how instriosly they locke the oor on my meitations which followe them ot again withot let or hinrance an

they were really all that

was angeros. s they col not reach me they ha resolve to

pnish my oy st as oys if they cannot come at some person against whom they have a spite will ase his og. saw that the tate was half witte that it was timi as a lone woman with her silver spoons an that it i not know its friens from its foes an lost all my remaining respect for it an pitie it. Ths the tate never intentionally confronts a man intellectal or moral t only his oy

s sense

his senses. t is not arme

with sperior wit or honesty t with sperior physical strength. was not orn to e force. will reathe after my own fashion. et s see who is the strongest. hat force has a mltite They only can force me who oey a higher law than . They force me to ecome like themselves. o not hear of

en

eing for ed to live this way or

that y masses of men. hat sort of life were that to live hen meet a government which says to me

or money or yor life why

shol e in haste to give it my money t may e in a great strait an not know what to o cannot help that. t mst help itself o as o. t is not worth the while to snivel aot it. am not responsile for the sccessfl working of the machinery of society

. am not the

son of the engineer. perceive that when an acorn an a chestnt fall sie y sie the one oes not remain inert to make way for the other t oth oey their own laws an spring an grow an florish as est they can till one perchance overshaows an estroys the other. f a plant cannot live accoring to its natre it ies an so a man.

The night in prison was novel an interesting enogh. The prisoners in their shirt sleeves were enoying a chat an the evening air in the oorway when entere. t the ailer sai ome oys it is time to lock p an so they isperse an hear the son of their steps retrning into the hollow apartments. y room mate was introce to me y the ailer as a first rate fellow an a clever man. hen the oor was locke he showe me where to hang my hat an how he manage matters there. The rooms were whitewashe once a month an this one at least was the whitest most simply frnishe an proaly the neatest apartment in the town. e natrally wante to know where came from an what roght me there an when ha tol him aske him in my trn how he came there presming him to e an honest man of corse an as the worl goes elieve he was. hy

sai he they accse me of rning a arn

t never i it. s near as col iscover

he ha proaly gone

to e in a arn when rnk an smoke his pipe there an so a arn rnt. e ha the reptation of eing a clever man ha een there some three months waiting for his trial to come on an wol have to wait as mch longer t he was ite omesticate an contente since he got his oar for nothing an thoght that he was well treate. e occpie one winow

an the other an saw that if one

staye there long his principal siness wol e to look ot the winow . ha soon rea all the tracts that were left there an eamine where former prisoners ha roken ot an where a grate ha een sawe of

f an hear the history of the varios occpants

of that room for fon that even here there was a history an a gossip which never circlate eyon the walls of the ail. roaly this is the only hose in the town where verses are compose which afterwar printe in a circlar form t not plishe. was shown ite a long list of verses which were compose y some yong men who ha een etecte in an attempt to escape who avenge themselves y signing them. pmpe my fellow prisoner as ry as col for fear shol never see him again t at length he showe me which was my e an left me to low ot the lamp. t was like travelling into a far contry

sch as ha never epecte

to ehol to lie there for one night. t seeme to me that never ha hear the town clock strike efore nor the evening sons of the village for we slept with the winows open which were insie the grating. t was to see my native village in the light of the ile ges an or oncor was trne into a hine stream an visions of knights an castles passe efore me. They were the voices of ol rghers that hear in the streets. was

an involntary

spectator an aitor of whatever was one an sai in the kitchen of the aacent village inn a wholly new an rare eperience to me. t was a closer view of my native town. was fairly insie of it. never ha seen its instittions efore. This is one of its pecliar instittions for it is a shire town. inhaitants were aot.

egan to comprehen what its

n the morning or reakfasts were pt throgh the hole in the oor in small olong sare tin pans mae to fit an holing a pint of chocolate with rown rea an an iron spoon. hen they calle for the vessels again was green enogh to retrn what rea ha left t my comrae seie it an sai that shol lay that p for lnch or inner

. oon after he was let ot to work at haying in a

neighoring fiel whither he went every ay till noon so he ae me goo ay

an wol not e ack

saying that he ote if he

shol see me again. hen came ot of prison for someone interfere an pai that ta i not perceive that great changes ha taken place on the common sch as he oserve who went in a yoth an emerge a tottering an gray heae man an yet a change ha to my eyes come over the scene the town an tate an contry greater than any that mere time col ef

fect. saw yet more istinctly the

tate in which live. saw to what etent the people among whom live col e trste as goo neighors an friens that their frienship was for smmer weather only that they i not greatly propose to o right that they were a istinct race from me y their preices an sperstitions as the hinamen an alays are that in their sacrifices to hmanity

they ran no risks not even to their

property that after all they were not so nole t they treate the thief as he ha treate them an hope y a certain otwar oservance an a few prayers an y walking in a particlar straight thogh seless path from time to time to save their sols. This may

e to ge my neighors harshly for elieve that many of them are not aware that they have sch an instittion as the ail in their village. t was formerly the cstom in or village when a poor etor came ot of ail for his acaintances to salte him looking throgh their fingers which were crosse to represent the grating of a ail winow ow o ye o y neighors i not ths

salte me t first looke

at me an then at one another as if ha retrne from a long orney . was pt into ail as was going to the shoemaker

s to get a

shoe which was mene. hen was let ot the net morning proceee to finish my erran an having pt on my mene shoe oine a hckleerry party who were impatient to pt themselves ner my conct an in half an hor for the horse was soon tackle was in the mist of a hckleerry fiel on one of or highest hills two miles off an then the tate was nowhere to e seen. This is the whole history of y risons. have never ecline paying the highway ta ecase am as esiros of eing a goo neighor as am of eing a a sect an as for spporting schools am oing my part to ecate my fellow contrymen now . t is for no particlar item in the ta ill that refse to pay it. simply wish to refse allegiance to the tate to withraw an stan aloof from it ef corse of my ollar

fectally . o not care to trace the

if col till it ys a man or a msket to shoot

one with the ollar is innocent t am concerne to trace the

effects of my allegiance. n fact ietly eclare war with the tate after my fashion thogh will still make what se an get what avantage of her can as is sal in sch cases. f others pay the ta which is emane of me from a sympathy with the tate they o t what they have alreay one in their own case or rather they aet instice to a greater etent than the tate reires. f they pay the ta from a mistaken interest in the inivial tae to save his property

or prevent his going to ail it is ecase

they have not consiere wisely how far they let their private feelings interfere with the plic goo. This then is my position at present. t one cannot e too mch on his gar in sch a case lest his action e iase y ostinacy or an ne regar for the opinions of men. et him see that he oes only what elongs to himself an to the hor think sometimes hy

.

this people mean well they are only

ignorant they wol o etter if they knew how why give yor neighors this pain to treat yo as they are not incline to t think again this is no reason why shol o as they o or permit others to sf fer mch greater pain of a if

ferent kin. gain

sometimes say to myself hen many millions of men withot heat withot ill will withot personal feeling of any kin eman of yo a few shillings only withot the possiility

sch is their constittion of

retracting or altering their present eman an withot the possiility

on yor sie of appeal to any other millions why epose

yorself to this overwhelming rte force hnger

o o not resist col an

the wins an the waves ths ostinately yo ietly

smit to a thosan similar necessities.

o o not pt yor hea

into the fire. t st in proportion as regar this as not wholly a rte force t partly a hman force an consier that have relations to those millions as to so many millions of men an not of mere rte or inanimate things see that appeal is possile first an instantaneosly

from them to the aker of them an seconly

from them to themselves. t if pt my hea elierately into the fire there is no appeal to fire or to the aker of fire an have only myself to lame. f col convince myself that have any right to e satisfie with men as they are an to treat them accoringly

an not

accoring in some respects to my reisitions an epectations of what they an oght to e then like a goo sslman

an

fatalist shol eneavor to e satisfie with things as they are an say it is the will of o. n aove all there is this if

ference

etween resisting this an a prely rte or natral force that can resist this with some effect t cannot epect like rphes

to

change the natre of the rocks an trees an easts. o not wish to arrel with any man or nation. o not wish to split hairs to make fine istinctions or set myself p as etter than my neighors. seek rather

may say even an ecse for conforming

to the laws of the lan. am t too reay to conform to them. nee have reason to sspect myself on this hea an each year as the ta gatherer comes ron fin myself ispose to review

the acts an position of the general an tate governments an the spirit of the people to iscover a pretet for conformity . e mst af fect or contry as or parents n if at any time we alienate r love or instry from oing it honor e mst respect ef fects an teach the sol atter of conscience an religion n not esire of rle or enefit.

elieve that the tate will soon e ale to take all my work of this sort ot of my hans an then shall e no etter a patriot than my fellow contrymen. een from a lower point of view

the onstittion

with all its falts is very goo the law an the corts are very respectale even this tate an this merican government are in many respects very amirale an rare things to e thankfl for sch as a great many have escrie them t seen from a point of view a little higher they are what have escrie them seen from a higher still an the highest who shall say what they are or that they are worth looking at or thinking of at all owever

the government oes not concern me mch an shall

estow the fewest possile thoghts on it. t is not many moments that live ner a government even in this worl. f a man is thoght free fancy free imagination free that which is not never for a long time appearing to be to him nwise rlers or reformers cannot fatally interrpt him.

know that most men think if ferently from myself t those whose lives are y profession evote to the sty of these or kinre sects content me as little as any

. tatesmen an legislators

staning so completely within the instittion never istinctly an nakely ehol it. They speak of moving society t have no resting place withot it. They may e men of a certain eperience an iscrimination an have no ot invente ingenios an even sefl systems for which we sincerely thank them t all their wit an seflness lie within certain not very wie limits. They are wont to forget that the worl is not governe y policy an epeiency ester

.

never goes ehin government an so cannot speak with

athority aot it. is wors are wisom to those legislators who contemplate no essential reform in the eisting government t for thinkers an those who legislate for all time he never once glances at the sect. know of those whose serene an wise speclations on this theme wol soon reveal the limits of his min

s range an

hospitality. et compare with the cheap professions of most reformers an the still cheaper wisom an eloence of politicians in general his are almost the only sensile an valale wors an we thank eaven for him. omparatively

he is always strong

original an aove all practical. till his ality is not wisom t prence. The lawyer

s trth is not T rth t consistency

or a

consistent epeiency . Trth is always in harmony with herself an is not concerne chiefly to reveal the stice that may consist with wrong oing. e well eserves to e calle as he has een calle the efener of the onstittion. There are really no lows to e given y him t efensive ones. e is not a leaer t a follower

.

is leaers are the men of .

have never mae an ef

fort he

says an never propose to make an ef fort have never contenance an ef

fort an never mean to contenance an ef

fort to

istr the arrangement as originally mae y which the varios tates came into the nion. till thinking of the sanction which the onstittion gives to slavery

he says ecase it was a part of the

original compact let it stan. otwithstaning his special acteness an aility

he is nale to take a fact ot of its merely

political relations an ehol it as it lies asoltely to e ispose of y the intellect what for instance it ehooves a man to o here in merica toay with regar to slavery t ventres or is riven to make some sch esperate answer as the following while professing to speak asoltely

an as a private man from which

what new an singlar coe of social ties might e inferre The manner says he in which the governments of those tates where slavery eists are to reglate it is for their own consieration ner their responsiility to their constitents to the general laws of propriety hmanity

an stice an to o. ssociations forme

elsewhere springing from a feeling of hmanity

or any other case

have nothing whatever to o with it. They have never receive any encoragement from me an they never will. They who know of no prer sorces of trth who have trace p its stream no higher stan an wisely stan y the ile an the onstittion an rink at it there with reverence an hmility t they who ehol where it comes trickling into this lake or that pool

gir p their loins once more an contine their pilgrimage towar its fontain hea. o man with a genis for legislation has appeare in merica. They are rare in the history of the worl. There are orators

politicians an

eloent men y the thosan t the speaker has not yet opene his moth to speak who is capale of settling the mch vee estions of the ay

.

e love eloence for its own sake an not for

any trth which it may tter or any heroism it may inspire. r legislators have not yet learne the comparative vale of free trae an of freeom of nion an of rectite to a nation. They have no genis or talent for comparatively hmle estions of taation an finance commerce an manfactrers an agricltre. f we were left solely to the wory wit of legislators in ongress for or giance ncorrecte y the seasonale eperience an the effectal complaints of the people merica wol not long retain her rank among the nations. or eighteen hnre years thogh perchance have no right to say it the ew T estament has een written yet where is the legislator who has wisom an practical talent enogh to avail himself of the light which it shes on the science of legislation The athority of government even sch as am willing to smit to for will cheerflly oey those who know an can o etter than an in many things even those who neither know nor can o so well is still an impre one to e strictly st it mst have the sanction an consent of the governe. t can have no pre right over my

person an property t what concee to it. The progress from an asolte to a limite monarchy emocracy

from a limite monarchy to a

is a progress towar a tre respect for the inivial.

ven the hinese philosopher

was wise enogh to regar the

inivial as the asis of the empire. s a emocracy sch as we know it the last improvement possile in government s it not possile to take a step frther towars recogniing an organiing the rights of man There will never e a really free an enlightene tate ntil the tate comes to recognie the inivial as a higher an inepenent power

from which all its own power an athority

are erive an treats him accoringly

. please myself with

imagining a tate at last which can af for to e st to all men an to treat the inivial with respect as a neighor which even wol not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it not meling with it nor emrace y it who flfille all the ties of neighors an fellow men. tate which ore this kin of frit an sf

fere it to rop of

f as fast as it ripene wol prepare the

way for a still more perfect an glorios tate which also have imagine t not yet anywhere seen.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat two specific sitations is Thorea most nhappy aot . or a ocment that has proven so important in worl history ivil isoeience seems ite personal. hat aot the way that Thorea presents himself an the way he aresses his reaers makes it feel this way . connections Thorea egins from the premise that government is est which governs least par. an says he even elieves that the est government wol e one that oesnt govern at all.

ompare this elief to that implie y wift s inirectly mae argment in oest roposal . hat eactly o yo think wift elieves government s role col e in correcting the ire sitation of the rish poor hat o yo think Thorea wol think of it f yo ha to pick one of the two men s positions which wol yo pick hy . Thorea s writing has een rememere not only ecase its ieas remain appealing t ecase he states them memoraly . rite aot what yo think it is that makes his writing stylistically memorale. ook at the way he sometimes ses mottoes or aphorisms an think aot how they work in terms of wor choice an strctre. ook also at the way he strings his thoghts together how he ils his argment how he strikes emotional chors. . ooinrter hile ivil isoeience was important to ahatma anhi an artin ther ing r . it was also inspirational for many in the ietnam era antiwar movement. o a little research into contemporary protest movements at home an aroa. as this essay important to memers of these movements too f not eplicitly rea y them o yo see evience that the principles champione y Thorea ha some inflence ow f not were other statements of protest inflential to them or other principles

ast ays of the ickshaw vin

riin s born nd rised in nss ity

Missouri e

ttended

e University nd served in the US ry

riin s

reorter t

Time ine unti he ent to or for the

ew

orker

in for hi h he rote dist hes fro the South on the ivi rihts oveent nd fro over the ountry on sorts of sube ts in his US ourn oun hi h rn for fifteen yers e so uthored onrunnin oun in ed Un ivi iberties

The ation nd for syndi tion riin is erhs ost eno n s food

riter but he is so no n for his ritin on oiti s in udin onrunnin series of doere oes nd for his erson ritin on sube ts rnin fro his te ife i e to his fther

riin s or

hs rned fr nd ide in ser h of sube ts but in of the his een observtion eye dry huor

nd interest in the vriety of

rrneents of hun ife re evident s you red of the i sh

st ys

reeber to oo for eviden e of these uities

The strategy of rivers in olkata rivers of private cars an tais an ses an the enclose three wheel scooters se as itneys an even peicas is simple orge ahea while honking. There are no stop signs to speak of. To a visitor the signs that say in large lock letters T come across as a it of lack hmor . ring a recent stay in olkata the metho evise for crossing maor thoroghfares was to wait ntil col attach myself to more peestrians than figre a tai was willing to knock own. n the narrow sie streets known as the lanes lo honking is the

signal that a tai or even a small trck is aot to ron the corner an come arreling own a space not meant for anything wier than a icycle. t occasionally

ring a rief lll in the honking hear

the tinkling of a ell ehin me. n merican who has watche too many allmark hristmas specials might trn aron half epecting to see a pair of raft horses plling a sleigh throgh t what came into view was a rickshaw

snowy woos.

. nstea of eing plle y

a horse it was eing plle y a man sally a skinny eraggle arefoot man who int look ite p to the task. ooke aron his finger was a single ell that he shook continosly

procing what is srely the most enign son to

emanate from any vehicle in olkata. mong the great cities of the worl olkata the capital of

est

engal an the home of nearly million people is often mentione as the only one that still has a large fleet of han plle rickshaws. s it happens that is not a istinction treasre y the governing athorities. hy t

s tempting of corse to lame other T

eresa.

politician in olkata tol me that the city is known for the three arism

ishti

an other T

eresa.

s

est engal has ha a

government ominate y the ommnist arty for years. ishti is a sweetene yogrt that olkatans love thogh theyre also partial to a sweet calle rossoo

There is no ot that the international

attention given to other T eresa s work among the wretche an the ying firmly linke olkata in the

estern min with salor no

matter how often olkatans point ot that mai for eample has

more etensive slms an that no other city in nia can match the richness of olkata s intellectal an cltral life. The most loyal ooster of olkata wol acknowlege that the city has ha some geninely trying times in the years since nia ecame inepenent starting well efore the emergence of other Teresa. The partition that accompanie inepenence meant that withot sstantial help from the central government olkata ha to asor several million refgees from what ecame ast akistan. There were times in the s an s when it seeme olkata wol never recover from the trama of those refgees followe y another wave of refgees who came ring the war that trne ast akistan into anglaesh. Those were years marke y power otages an laor nrest an the flight of instry an the reathtaking violence nleashe y the aalite movement which egan with peasants emaning lan reistrition in rral

est

engal an was transforme y college stents into ran gerrilla warfare. n nia calle olkata a ying city

s own prime minister then aiv anhi .

There are still a lot of people sleeping on the streets in olkata t there have een great changes in recent years. fter ecaes concentrating on its ase among the rral poor an isaining otsie investment the ommnist arty of fiercely emrace capitalism an moernity

est engal has . lthogh the

government s symols remain what might e epecte from a party that still has a politro street name changes have reslte in an

of

merican conslate with the aress o hi inh oa the city reglarly corts

estern elegations looking for investment

opportnities. olkata now has moern shopping malls an moern overpasses. as the only

alking aron the city recently for a week or so often esterner in sight was approache y precisely two

eggars. till the image of any city has a half life of many years. o oes its name officially change in from alctta to olkata which is closer to what the wor sons like in engali. onversing in nglish never hear anyone call the city anything t alctta. T

o

esterners the conveyance most ientifie with olkata is not its moern sway a facility whose spacios stations have art on the walls an cricket matches on television monitors t the han plle rickshaw

. tories an films celerate a primitive looking cart

with high wooen wheels plle y someone who looks close to neeing the sccor of other T

eresa. or years the government has

een talking aot eliminating han plle rickshaws on what it calls hmanitarian grons principally on the gron that as the mayor of olkata has often sai it is of

fensive to see one man sweating

an straining to pll another man. t these ays politicians also lament the impact of han plle rickshaws on a moern city traffic an particlarly

on its image.

esterners try to associate

eggars an these rickshaws with the alctta lanscape t this is not what alctta stans for

the chief minister of

est engal

hae hattacharee sai in a press conference in . r city stans for prosperity an evelopment. The chief minister the

s

eivalent of a state governor went on to annonce that han plle rickshaws soon wol e anne from the streets of olkata. ickshaws are not there to hal aron torists. ctally

saw

almost no torists in olkata apart from the yong ackpackers on er treet in what se to e a re light istrict an is now sai to e the single place in the city where the services a rickshaw h

offers may incle proviing female

company to a gentleman

for the evening. t s the people in the lanes who most reglarly se rickshaws not the poor t people who are st a notch aove the poor. They are people who ten to travel short istances throgh lanes that are sometimes inaccessile to even the most aring tai river . n oler woman with marketing to o for instance can arrive in a rickshaw have the rickshaw wallah wait ntil she comes ack from varios stalls to loa her prchases an then e taken home. eople in the lanes se rickshaws as a hor amlance service. roprietors of cafs or corner stores sen rickshaws to collect their spplies. ne morning saw a rickshaw wallah take on a loa of live chickens tie in pairs y the feet so they col e rape over the shafts an the fole ack canopy an even the ale. y the time he trotte of f he was carrying aot a hnre psie own chickens. The rickshaw pllers tol me their steaiest cstomers are schoolchilren. ile class families contract with a pller to take a chil to school an pick him p the pller essentially ecomes a family retainer.

rom ne to eptemer olkata can get torrential rains an its rainage system oesnt nee torrential rain to egin acking p. esients who favor a toch of hyperole say that in olkata if a stray cat pees there s a floo. ring my stay it once raine for aot hors. ntire neighorhoos colnt e reache y motorie vehicles an the newspapers showe pictres of rickshaws eing plle throgh water that was p to the pllers waists. hen it

s raining the normal cstomer ase for rickshaw

wallahs epans greatly

as oes the price of a orney

. writer in

olkata tol me hen it rains even the governor takes rickshaws. hile was in olkata a magaine calle

ndi

ody plishe its

annal ranking of nian states accoring to sch measrements as prosperity an infrastrctre. mong nia

s largest states ihar

finishe ea last as it has for for of the past five years. ihar

a

cople hnre miles north of olkata is where the vast maority of rickshaw wallahs come from. nce in olkata they sleep on the street or in their rickshaws or in a der

a comination garage an

repair shop an ormitory manage y someone calle a

srdr

or

sleeping privileges in a era pllers pay rpees aot . a month which sons like a pretty goo eal ntil yove visite a era. They gross etween an rpees a ay

ot of which

they have to pay rpees for the se of the rickshaw an an occasional or more for a payof

f if a policeman stops them for say

crossing a street where rickshaws are prohiite. sty fon that rickshaw wallahs are near the ottom of olkata occpations in income oing etter than only the ragpickers an the

eggars. or someone withot lan or ecation that still eats trying to make a living in ihar . There are people in olkata particlarly ecate an politically aware people who will not rie in a rickshaw

ecase they are

offene y the iea of eing plle y another hman eing or ecase they consier it not the sort of thing people of their station o or ecase they regar the han plle rickshaw as a relic of colonialism. ronically some of those people are not enthsiastic aot anning rickshaws. The eitor of the eitorial pages of olkata s eerh

rangsh kheree a former acaemic

who still writes history ooks tol me for instance that he sees hmanitarian consierations as coming own on the sie of keeping han plle rickshaws on the roa. refse to e carrie y another hman eing myself he sai t estion whether we have the right to take away their livelihoo. ickshaw spporters point ot that when it comes to emeaning occpations rickshaw wallahs are harly nie in olkata. hen aske one rickshaw wallah if he thoght the government

s

plan to ri the city of rickshaws was ase on a genine interest in his welfare he smile with a ick shake of his hea a gestre interprete to mean f yo are so naive as to ask sch a estion will answer it t it is not worth wasting wors on. ome rickshaw wallahs met were resigne to the imminent en of their livelihoo an pin their hopes on eing of

fere something in its place. s

migrant workers they ont have the political clot enoye y

say

olkata s siewalk hawkers who after spposely eing scale ack at the eginning of the moerniation rive still clog the siewalks selling asoltely everything or

as fon ring the

hors of rain asoltely everything t mrellas. The government was the government of the poor people one sarar tol me. ow they shake hans with the capitalists an try to get ri of poor people. t others in olkata elieve that rickshaws will simply e confine more strictly to certain neighorhoos ot of the view

of

orl ank

traffic consltants an alifornia investment elegations or that they will e allowe to ie ot natrally as theyre spplante y more moern conveyances. hae hattacharee after all is not the first high

est engal of ficial to say that rickshaws wol e

off the streets of olkata in a matter of months. imilar statements have een mae as far ack as . The an ecree y hattacharee has een elaye y a cort case an y a wiely hel elief that some retraining or social secrity settlement oght to e of fere to rickshaw rivers. t may also have een elaye y a iet relctance to give p something that has een part of the faric of the city for more than a centry . olkata a resient tol me has if ficlty letting go. ne ay a city of

ficial hane me a report from

the mnicipal government laying ot options for how rickshaw wallahs might e rehailitate. hich option has een chosen aske noting that the report was ate almost eactly a year efore my visit.

That hasnt een ecie he sai. hen will it e ecie That hasnt een ecie he sai. or is ussion nd ritin . hy might it e in the title s wors the last ays of the rickshaw . hile mch of T rillin s sstantial otpt as a writer has een hmoros from his many comic essays to his hnres of political limericks this essay colnt e sai to have as its main prpose the evoking of laghter . t oes however se hmor . erea the essay an ientify places where the athor ses hmor . ow oes each se work hat makes each fnny ow oes T rillin se these its of hmor in service of his larger points . connections ompare ast ays of the ickshaw to arara hrenreich s erving in loria . hile oth focs on low wage work the relationships etween the two athors an their specific sects are ite if ferent as are the sects themselves an the social contet in which they eist. hat oes work mean to the people in each of these os hat oes it mean to the people aron them hat oes it mean to the athors ow mch of the if ference etween these two pieces can e ascrie to the if ferent social contets ow mch is similar across these contets . rite an essay from the point of view of a h . f yo want imagine yorself as one of the rickshaw operators T rillin oserves or imagine that yo are a h who has st rea this article. hat might yo say ight yor nerstaning of things if fer from Trillin s ow ight yo agree with the essay t have a if ferent way of talking aot what yo o for a living the place where yo o it an the way the people of olkata see yo . ooinrter Trillin wrote this essay for tion eorhi magaine. esearch this magaine. hat is its history hat has it ecome famos for as it ecome infamos for anything T ry to connect this history to Trillin s essay. ow oes it fit into the history of the magaine in which it appears

The owest nimal Mr

in is the no de ue of riter Sue eens

one of the bestno n riters in US history

orn in

nd rised in nnib Missouri he eft s hoo t e t eve to renti e for rinter

t fifteen he ored s tyesetter nd

rote for his brother s ne ser he eft nnib t nineteen to or s rinter in e

or ity

hidehi St ouis nd

in innti returnin to the Mid est to or s stebot iot on the Mississii iver

fter orin s iner in evd

turned to ournis settin off for ood on

in

reer tht oud see

hi rite huorous reion tes su h s those oe ted in elerate mping rog of alaveras onty iterture su h s

nnocents roa

ife on the ississippi ckleerry inn

trve oghing t

nd noves su h s

The ventres of T

The nd

The ile ge

om awyer

The ventres of

an nhea ilson

s es

ny other ors both short nd on ter in his ife id oney troubes

in rote nd ubished ny shorter nonfi tion ie es

tht onfired ht oud be ened of his vie s fro his fi tion in udin his stn es on the svery he re u ith in his Missouri youth on eri n ieriis on the ornition of bor

nd on

reiion thouh it snt unti fter his deth tht u h of his oentry on tht sube t s ubished in ors su h s from the arth

nd his utobiorhy

yers fter his deth

hi h ered in

etters

he o est ni s ritten round the turn of the entury nd ered in

etters from the arth

suressed by the fiy unti

hi h ontined ors in s duhter r reversed her

osition s you red it onsider ht it is bout the essy tht used it to o unubished for so on ho iht it hve offended ho iht it sti his s to hve been ref ed by ne ser iins hi h renty det ith reiious erse utions in rete he iins hve been ost hey robby referred to the retn revot of

n gst

similar things were occrring in aris an

elsewhere in rance. n this case it was hristian against hristian. The oman atholics y previos concert sprang a srprise pon the nprepare an nsspecting rotestants an tchere them y thosans oth sees an all ages. This was the memorale t. artholomew

s ay . t ome the ope an the hrch gave

plic thanks to o when the happy news came. ring several centries hnres of heretics were rne at the stake every year ecase their religios opinions were not satisfactory to the oman hrch. n all ages the savages of all lans have mae the slaghtering of their neighoring rothers an the enslaving of their women an chilren the common siness of their lives.

ypocrisy roery

envy malice crelty swinling arson igamy

vengeflness section rape altery

an the oppression an

hmiliation of the poor an the helpless in all ways have een an still are more or less common among oth the civilie an ncivilie peoples of the earth. or many centries the common rotherhoo of man has een rge on nays an patriotism on nays an weekays oth.

et triotis ontetes the oosite of

oon

brotherhood oman s eality with man has never een concee y any people ancient or moern civilie or savage. have een stying the traits an ispositions of the lower animals so calle an contrasting them with the traits an ispositions of man. fin the reslt hmiliating to me. or it oliges me to renonce my allegiance to the arwinian theory of the scent of an from the ower nimals since it now seems plain to me that that theory oght to e vacate in favor of a new an trer one this new an trer one to e name the

es ent of an from the igher

nimals. n proceeing towar this npleasant conclsion have not gesse or speclate or conectre t have se what is commonly calle the scientific metho. That is to say

have secte every

postlate that presente itself to the crcial test of actal eperiment

an have aopte it or reecte it accoring to

the reslt. Ths

verifie an estalishe each step of my corse in its trn efore avancing to the net. These eperiments were mae in the onon oological arens an covere many months of painstaking an fatiging work. efore particlariing any of the eperiments wish to state one or two things which seem to more properly elong in this place than frther along. This in the interest of clearness. The masse eperiments estalishe to my satisfaction certain generaliations to wit . That the hman race is of one istinct species. t ehiits slight variations in color statre mental calier an so on e to climate environment an so forth t it is a species y itself an not to e confone with any other . . That the arpes are a istinct family also. This family ehiits variations in color sie foo preferences an so on t it is a family y itself. . That the other families the irs the fishes the insects the reptiles etc. are more or less istinct also. They are in the procession. They are links in the chain which stretches own from the higher animals to man at the ottom. ome of my eperiments were ite crios. n the corse of my reaing ha come across a case where many years ago some hnters on or reat lains organie a f

falo hnt for the

entertainment of an nglish earl that an to provie some fresh meat for his larer . They ha charming sport. They kille seventy two of those great animals an ate part of one of them an left the

seventy one to rot. n orer to etermine the if

ference etween an

anacona an an earl if any case seven yong calves to e trne into the anacona

s cage. The gratefl reptile immeiately

crshe one of them an swallowe it then lay ack satisfie. t showe no frther interest in the calves an no isposition to harm them. trie this eperiment with other anaconas always with the same reslt. The fact stoo proven that the if

ference etween an

earl an an anacona is that the earl is crel an the anacona isnt an that the earl wantonly estroys what he has no se for

t the

anacona oesnt. This seeme to sggest that the anacona was not escene from the earl. t also seeme to sggest that

the earl

was escene from the anacona an ha lost a goo eal in the transition. was aware that many men who have accmlate more millions of money than they can ever se have shown a rai hnger for more an have not scrple to cheat the ignorant an the helpless ot of their poor servings in orer to partially appease that appetite. frnishe a hnre if

ferent kins of wil an tame animals the

opportnity to accmlate vast stores of foo t none of them wol o it. The sirrels an ees an certain irs mae accmlations t stoppe when they ha gathere a winter spply

s

an col not e persae to a to it either honestly or y

chicane. n orer to olster p a tottering reptation the ant pretene to store p spplies t was not eceive. know the ant. These eperiments convince me that there is this if

ference

etween man an the higher animals he is avaricios an miserly they are not. n the corse of my eperiments convince myself that among the animals man is the only one that harors inslts an inries roos over them waits till a chance offers then takes revenge. The passion of revenge is nknown to the higher animals. oosters keep harems t it is y consent of their concines therefore no wrong is one. en keep harems t it is y rte force privilege y atrocios laws which the other se were allowe no han in making. n this matter man occpies a far lower place than the rooster. ats are loose in their morals t not consciosly so. an in his escent from the cat has roght the cat

s looseness with him t

has left the nconsciosness ehin the saving grace which ecses the cat. The cat is innocent man is not. necency

vlgarity

oscenity these are strictly confine to man

he invente them. mong the higher animals there is no trace of them. They hie nothing they are not ashame. an with his soile min covers himself. e will not even enter a rawing room with his reast an ack nake so alive are he an his mates to inecent sggestion. an is The nimal that aghs. t so oes the monkey as r . arwin pointe ot an so oes the stralian ir

that is calle the laghing ackass. o an is the nimal that lshes. e is the only one that oes it or has occasion to. t the hea of this article we see how three monks were rnt to eath a few ays ago an a prior pt to eath with atrocios crelty . o we inire into the etails o or we shol fin ot that the prior was secte to nprintale mtilations. an when he is a orth merican nian goges ot his prisoner

s eyes when he

is ing ohn with a nephew to rener ntrolesome he ses a re hot iron when he is a religios ealot ealing with heretics in the ile ges he skins his captive alive an scatters salt on his ack in the first ichar

s time he shts p a mltite of ew families in a

tower an sets fire to it in olms

s time he captres a family of

panish ews an t that is not printale in or ay in nglan a man is fine ten shillings for eating his mother nearly to eath with a chair an another man is fine forty shillings for having for pheasant eggs in his possession withot eing ale to satisfactorily eplain how he got them. f all the animals man is the only one that is crel. e is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasre of oing it. t is a trait that is not known to the higher animals. The cat plays with the frightene mose t she has this ecse that she oes not know that the mose is sf

fering. The cat is moerate

nhmanly moerate she only scares the mose she oes not hrt it she oesnt ig ot its eyes or tear of

f its skin or rive splinters

ner its nails man fashion when she is one playing with it she makes a sen meal of it an pts it ot of its trole. an is the rel nimal. e is alone in that istinction.

The higher animals engage in inivial fights t never in organie masses. an is the only animal that eals in that atrocity of atrocities

ar. e is the only one that gathers his rethren aot

him an goes forth in col loo an with calm plse to eterminate his kin. e is the only animal that for sori wages will march ot as the essians i in or evoltion an as the oyish rince apoleon i in the l war

an help to slaghter strangers of his

own species who have one him no harm an with whom he has no arrel. an is the only animal that ros his helpless fellow of his contry takes possession of it an rives him ot of it or estroys him. an has one this in all the ages. There is not an acre of gron on the gloe that is in possession of its rightfl owner

or that has not een

taken away from owner after owner cycle after cycle y force an looshe. an is the only lave. n he is the only animal who enslaves. e has always een a slave in one form or another

an has always

hel other slaves in onage ner him in one way or another

. n or

ay he is always some man s slave for wages an oes that man work an this slave has other slaves ner him for minor wages an they o

his work. The higher animals are the only ones who

eclsively o their own work an provie their own living. an is the only atriot. e sets himself apart in his own contry ner his own flag an sneers at the other nations an keeps

s

mltitinos niforme assassins on han at heavy epense to gra slices of other people s contries an keep

the

from graing

slices of his n in the intervals etween campaigns he washes the loo of

f his hans an works for the niversal rotherhoo of man

with his moth. an is the eligios nimal. e is the only eligios nimal. e is the only animal that has the Tre eligion several of them. e is the only animal that loves his neighor as himself an cts his throat if his theology isnt straight. e has mae a graveyar of the gloe in trying his honest est to smooth his rother

s path to happiness an

heaven. e was at it in the time of the aesars he was at it in ahomet

s time he was at it in the time of the nisition he was at

it in rance a cople of centries he was at it in nglan in ary ay

s

he has een at it ever since he first saw the light he is at it

toay in rete as per the telegrams ote aove he will e at it somewhere else tomorrow. The higher animals have no religion. n we are tol that they are going to e left ot in the ereafter woner why t seems estionale taste. an is the easoning nimal. ch is the claim. think it is open to ispte. nee my eperiments have proven to me that he is the nreasoning nimal. ote his history

as sketche aove. t seems

plain to me that whatever he is he is not a reasoning animal. is recor is the fantastic recor of a maniac. consier that the strongest cont against his intelligence is the fact that with that

.

recor ack of him he lanly sets himself p as the hea animal of the lot whereas y his own stanars he is the ottom one. n trth man is incraly foolish. imple things which the other animals easily learn he is incapale of learning. mong my eperiments was this. n an hor taght a cat an a og to

e

friens. pt them in a cage. n another hor taght them to e friens with a rait. n the corse of two ays was ale to a a fo a goose a sirrel an some oves. inally a monkey

. They

live together in peace even af fectionately. et in another cage confine an rish atholic from T

ipperary an

as soon as he seeme tame ae a cotch resyterian from ereen. et a T

rk from onstantinople a reek hristian from

rete an rmenian a ethoist from the wils of rkansas a hist from hina a rahman from enares. inally rmy olonel from

a alvation

apping. Then staye away two whole ays.

hen came ack to note reslts the cage of igher nimals was all right t in the other there was t a chaos of gory os an ens of trans an fees an plais an ones an flesh not a specimen left alive. These easoning nimals ha isagree on a theological etail an carrie the matter to a igher ort. ne is olige to concee that in tre loftiness of character

an

cannot claim to approach even the meanest of the igher nimals. t is plain that he is constittionally incapale of approaching that altite that he is constittionally af

flicte with a efect which mst

make sch approach forever impossile for it is manifest that this efect is permanent in him inestrctile ineraicale. fin this efect to e

the Mor Sense

e is the only animal that

has it. t is the secret of his egraation. t is the ality enbes hi to do ron

hi h

t has no other of fice. t is incapale of

performing any other fnction. t col never have een intene to perform any other. ithot it man col o no wrong. e wol rise at once to the level of the igher nimals. ince the oral ense has t the one of

fice the one capacity to

enale man to o wrong it is plainly withot vale to him. t is as valeless to him as is isease. n fact it manifestly is a isease. bies

is a t it is not so a as this isease. aies enales a

man to o a thing which he col not o when in a healthy state kill his neighor with a poisonos ite. o one is the etter man for having raies. The oral ense enales a man to o wrong. t enales him to o wrong in a thosan ways. aies is an innocent isease compare to the oral ense. o one then can e the etter man for having the oral ense. hat now rimal rse to have een lainly

o we fin the

what it was in the eginning the

infliction pon man of the oral ense the aility to istingish goo from evil an with it necessarily

the aility to do evil for there can

e no evil act withot the presence of consciosness of it in the oer of it.

n so fin that we have escene an egenerate from some far ancestor some microscopic atom wanering at its pleasre etween the mighty horions of a rop of water perchance insect y insect animal y animal reptile y reptile own the long highway of smirchless innocence till we have reache the ottom stage of evelopment namale as the man eing. elow s nothing. othing t the renchman. There is only one possile stage elow the oral ense that is the mmoral ense. The renchman has it. an is t little lower than the angels. This efinitely locates him. e is etween the angels an the rench. an seems to e a rickety poor sort of a thing any way yo take him a kin of ritish sem of infirmities an inferiorities. e is always nergoing repairs. machine that was as nreliale as he is wol have no market. n top of his specialty the oral ense are pile a mltite of minor infirmities sch a mltite inee that one may roaly call them contless. The higher animals get their teeth withot pain or inconvenience. an gets his throgh months an months of crel tortre an at a time of life when he is t ill ale to ear it. s soon as he has got them they mst all e plle ot again for they were of no vale in the first place not worth the loss of a night s rest. The secon set will answer for a while y eing reinforce occasionally with rer or plgge p with gol t he will never get a set which can really e epene on till a

entist makes him one. This set will e calle false teeth as if he ha ever worn any other kin. n a wil state a natral state the igher nimals have a few iseases iseases of little conseence the main one is ol age. t man starts in as a chil an lives on iseases till the en as a reglar iet. e has mmps measles whooping cogh crop tonsillitis iphtheria scarlet fever

almost as a matter of corse.

fterwar as he goes along his life contines to e threatene at every trn y cols coghs asthma ronchitis itch cholera cancer consmption yellow fever

ilios fever

typhs fevers hay

fever age chillains piles inflammation of the entrails inigestion toothache earache eafness mness linness inflena chicken po cowpo smallpo liver complaint constipation looy fl warts pimples oils carncles ascesses nions corns tmors fistlas pnemonia softening of the rain melancholia an fifteen other kins of insanity ysentery

anice iseases of the

heart the ones the skin the scalp the spleen the kineys the nerves the rain the loo scrofla paralysis leprosy

neralgia

palsy fits heaache thirteen kins of rhematism forty si of got an a formiale spply of gross an nprintale isorers of one sort an another . lso t why contine the list The mere names of the agents appointe to keep this shackly machine ot of repair wol hie him from sight if printe on his oy in the smallest type known to the foner

s art. e is t a asket of pestilent corrption

provie for the spport an entertainment of swarming armies of acilli armies commissione to rot him an estroy him an each

army eippe with a special etail of the work. The process of waylaying him persecting him rotting him killing him egins with his first reath an there is no mercy

no pity no trce till he raws

his last one. ook at the workmanship of him in certain of its particlars. hat are his tonsils for They perform no sefl fnction they have no vale. They have no siness there. They are t a trap. They have t the one of

fice the one instry to provie tonsillitis an insy

an sch things for the possessor of them. n what is the vermiform appeni for t has no vale it cannot perform any sefl service. t is t an amscae enemy whose sole interest in life is to lie in wait for stray grapesees an employ them to ree stranglate hernia. n what are the male

s mammals for or

siness they are ot of the estion as an ornament they are a mistake. hat is his ear for t performs no sefl fnction it is a nisance an a iscomfort all nations hate it all nations persecte it with the raor . n ecase it is a nisance an a iscomfort atre never allows the spply of it to fall short in any man s case etween perty an the grave.

o never see a man al heae on his

chin. t his hair t is a gracefl ornament it is a comfort it is the est of all protections against certain perilos ailments man pries it aove emerals an ries. n ecase of these pts it on half the time so that it wont stay . an

things atre s sight smell

hearing sense of locality how inferior they are. The conor sees a corpse at five miles man has no telescope that can o it. The loohon follows a scent that is two ays ol. The roin hears the

earthworm rrowing his corse ner the gron. The cat eporte in a close asket fins its way home again throgh twenty miles of contry which it has never seen. ertain fnctions loge in the other se perform in a lamentaly inferior way as compare with the performance of the same fnctions in the igher nimals. n the hman eing menstration gestation an partrition are terms which tan for horrors. n the igher nimals these things are harly even inconveniences. or style look at the engal tiger that ieal of grace eaty physical perfection maesty . n then look at an that poor thing. e is the nimal of the ig the T

repanne kll the ar T

the lass ye the asteoar ose the orcelain T

rmpet

eeth the ilver

inpipe the

ooen eg a creatre that is mene an

patche all over

from top to ottom. f he cant get renewals of his

ric a rac in the net worl what will he look like e has st one stpenos speriority

. n his intellect he is

spreme. The igher nimals cannot toch him there. t is crios it is noteworthy that no heaven has ever een of fere him wherein his one sole speriority was provie with a chance to enoy itself. ven when he himself has imagine a heaven he has never mae provision in it for intellectal oys. t is a striking omission. t seems a tacit confession that heavens are provie for the igher nimals alone. This is matter for thoght an for serios thoght. n it is fll

of a grim sggestion that we are not as important perhaps as we ha all along sppose we were.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat is the point of T wain s comparisons of hman ehavior to the ehavior of other animals ow oes he make this point . Twain arges here that an shol e calle not the nimal that aghs t rather the nimal that lshes par. . hat oes he mean y this n how oes he himself se hmor perhaps paraoically to prove his point ore roaly eamine his se of hmor generally. ow oes he create it an to what ens oes he se it n how oes he alance it with the istinctly nfnny moments in the essay some of which are ite shocking . connections ea T wain s essay net to arl agan s oes T rth atter oth of which refer to the scientific metho an oth of which are concerne with the estion of trth an with hman ehavior . ow o their ses of the concept in these two essays compare hat is the ltimate goal of each athor in invoking it n the en what oes each think aot reason an hman se of it . hat o yo think of T wain s opinion of hmans ow mch of what he says once yo analye his statements an separate the ironic from the irect o yo agree with hy . ooinrter esearch controversy over arwin s theory of evoltion aron the time of T wain s writing The owest nimal . escrie the if ferent positions hel at the time. ow oes T wain s commentary here fit into this lanscape

The efgee risis snt ot efgees. t ot s. i

ei ei s born in in eiin is fther s

s

eno n

oet ho s denoun ed by the overnent nd sent ith his fiy

to bor

i

ei ei s one yer od t the tie nd

he nd his fiy ere not o ed to return to eiin unti fter Mo edon

s deth nd the end of the utur evoution

fter their return nd t o yers of studyin t the eiin i dey

i ived in the United Sttes for t eve yers studyin rt

orin odd obs nd be oin n exert rofession b yer in tnti ity he estbished

eturnin to hin hen his fther be e i reer s n rtist in ny edi in udin

r hite ture do uentry usi video nd

visu rt insttions nd usi nd

hroni er of eiin

estbished bo for his oiti

oentry

s rt s ene e so ovin to

hen the overnent shut do n the bo n

itter

fter yers of

tivis he s rrested nd hed for dys he hs ived brod sin e bein o ed to eve hin in i

s essy beins ith

the story of his hidhood s you red thin bout the effe t of his hvin hosen to strt in this y was orn in the same year hina prge more than intellectals incling writers teachers ornalists an whoever are to criticie the newly estalishe commnist government. s part of a series of campaigns le y what was known as the anti

rightist movement these intellectals were sent to laor camps for re ecation. ecase my father

i ing was the most renowne poet in hina

then the government mae a symolic eample of him. n my family was force from or home in eiing an anishe to the most remote area of the contry we ha no iea that this was the eginning of a very ark long orney that wol last for two ecaes. n the years that followe my father was sentence to har laor cleaning latrines in a work camp in north west hina. e was also force to criticie himself plicly

.

rom my yoth eperience inhmane treatment from society

.t

the camp we ha to live in an nergron got an were secte to neplainale hatre iscrimination nprovoke inslts an assalts all of which aime to crsh the asic hman spirit roote in my father s eliefs. s a reslt rememer eperiencing what felt like enless instice. n sch circmstances there is no place to hie an there is no way to escape.

o feel like yor life is

p against a wall or that life itself is a imming light on the verge of eing completely etingishe. oping with the hmiliation an sf fering ecame the only way to srvive. share this personal ackgron ecase it shes light on my emotional connection to the crrent gloal refgee conition which

ocmente in the film

un o

. y eperience clarifies why

ientify so eeply with all these nfortnate people who are pshe into etreme conitions y otsie forces they are powerless to resist. ring two years of filming we travele to nations an refgee camps. ome of the camps are relatively new

coping with those who

have fle from the war in yria. ther camps sch as the in al ilweh camp in eanon have eiste for ecaes an have now sheltere three generations of refgees. n the months since the film s release some of the areas we covere have eteriorate even frther yanmar

. The ohingya refgee sitation in

for eample has erpte in a wave of more than half a

million newly isplace people aing to the alreay eisting million refgees worlwie. serving an researching recent an historical refgee events makes some conclsions anantly clear

. ot a single refgee we

met ha willingly left their home even when home was impoverishe an nevelope. The promise of economic prosperity is not more important than place. eople left their homes ecase they were force to y violence which case the eaths of family memers relatives an fellow citiens. ften it is not st a single hose that is estroye t entire villages vanish ner iniscriminate oming. There is simply no way for them to stay. leeing is the only choice they have to preserve their own lives an the lives of those they love.

common argment is that many of the people who try to reach the west are economic migrants who wish to take nfair avantage of its prosperity. owever

this view ignores the contraiction etween

toay s physical orers an the real political an economic onaries of or gloalie worl. lso implicit is a refsal to acknowlege that throgh gloaliation certain states instittions an inivials have greatly profite at the irect epense of those in many parts of the worl who are vlnerale an increasingly eploite. t this moment the west which has isproportionately enefite from gloaliation simply refses to ear its responsiilities even thogh the conition of many refgees is a irect reslt of the gree inherent in a gloal capitalist system. f we map the pls orer walls an fences ilt etween nations in the past three ecaes increasing from roghly a oen after the fall of the erlin

all we

can see the etent of gloal economic an political isparities. The people most negatively affecte y these walls are the poorest an most esperate of society . n natre there are two approaches to ealing with flooing. ne is to il a am to stop the flow

. The other is to fin the right path to

allow the flow to contine. iling a am oes not aress the sorce of the flow it wol nee to e ilt higher an higher eventally holing ack a massive volme. f a powerfl floo were to occr

it col wipe ot everything in its path. The natre of water

is to flow. man natre too seeks freeom an that hman esire is stronger than any natral force. an physical orers stop refgees nstea of iling walls we shol look at what is casing people to ecome refgees an work to solve those conitions to stem the flow at its sorce. T

o o so will

reire the most powerfl nations in the worl to ast how they are actively shaping the worl how they are sing political an economic ieology enforce y overwhelming military power to isrpt entire societies. ow o we think the poor

isplace or occpie

can eist when their societies are estroye hol they simply isappear an we recognie that their contine eistence is an essential part of or share hmanity f we fail to recognie this how can we speak of civilie evelopment The refgee crisis is not aot refgees rather

it is aot s. r

prioritiation of financial gain over people s strggle for the necessities of life is the primary case of mch of this crisis. The west has all t aanone its elief in hmanity an spport for the precios ieals containe in eclarations on niversal hman rights. t has sacrifice these ieals for short sighte cowarice an gree. stalishing the nerstaning that we all elong to one hmanity is the most essential step for how we might contine to coeist on this sphere we call arth. know what it feels like to e a refgee an to eperience the ehmaniation that comes with isplacement from home an contry

. There are many orers to ismantle t the

most important are the ones within or own hearts an mins these are the orers that are iviing hmanity from itself.

or is ussion nd ritin . i writes The refgee crisis is not aot refgees rather it is aot s par. . hat oes he mean y this ho is s ow is it aot s . ne rhetorical evice i makes se of is the rhetorical estion. here oes he se this evice ist each eample. ow oes each work nswer each of them. hat o yo think the esire ef fect was o yo think that ef fect is achieve . connections ea this essay net to ark T wain s The owest nimal . Thogh these essays were written over a hnre years apart an take very if ferent approaches to their topics there are some notale parallels in their argments an their sect matter . The if ferences are ovios incling tone an egree of irectness. ame some of the parallels oth in terms of the kins of events an historical phenomena each focses on an in terms of the eeper more niversal hman tenencies that arise in looking at these things. . The athor writes that ecase of his chilhoo eperiences as a isplace person he has an emotional connection to the crrent gloal refgee sitation par. . ost of s have not ha the kin of chilhoo i ha an so we o not know what it feels like to e a refgee par. in the way that he oes. ecase one way to try to nerstan others eperience is to imagine one s way into it try to write a short narrative from the point of view of the athor or someone who has ecome a refgee in another particlar specific historical sitation. T ell the story of yor imagine chilhoo as a refgee. hat might it feel like to e isplace hat might it feel like to eperience the loss of place of familiar srronings friens an family f yo have eperience this kin of life an feel comfortale writing aot it please o. . ooinrter rite a researche version of the assignment in estion . hether it is i s eperience or another imagine version rea p on the historical an political sitation on the geography on the travel an living conitions particlar to yor

imagine narrator s specific eperience. fterwars reflect on yor revision. hat oes aing the facts o for the narrative ow oes it change oth the writing an reaing eperience o yo think yor feelings aot the gloal refgee crisis have change at all or i eefing p yor narrative with research serve to confirm yor opinions

nce ore to the ake orn in Mount

ernon e

or in E hite s n editor

essyist nd riter of hidren

s boos e is identified in soe

ir es s the riter of set hes oes editoris nd essys for the youn ew

orker ine nd in others s the uthor of the

hidren s boos tart ittle

nd

is so no n for his revision of

harlotte s ii Strun r

e

e

s The lements of

tyle hite

s invoveent ith

The lements of tyle

hihihts ht is for

ny the ost iortnt eeent of his ritin his stye s you red

n e More to the e

oo for tein detis in his

des ritions nd te note of the inds of ords he hooses ne smmer

along aot my father rente a camp on a lake

in aine an took s all there for the month of gst. ringworm from some kittens an ha to r on

e all got s tract on or

arms an legs night an morning an my father rolle over in a canoe with all his clothes on t otsie of that the vacation was a sccess an from then on none of s ever thoght there was any place in the worl like that lake in aine.

e retrne smmer after

smmer always on gst for one month. have since ecome a salt water man t sometimes in smmer there are ays when the restlessness of the ties an the fearfl col of the sea water an the incessant win that lows across the afternoon an into the evening make me wish for the placiity of a lake in the woos. few weeks ago this feeling got so strong oght myself a cople of ass hooks

an a spinner an retrne to the lake where we se to go for a week s fishing an to revisit ol hants. took along my son who ha never ha any fresh water p his nose an who ha seen lily pas only from train winows. n the orney over to the lake egan to woner what it wol e like. wonere how time wol have marre this nie this holy spot the coves an streams the hills that the sn set ehin the camps an the paths ehin

the camps. was sre that the tarre roa wol have

fon it ot an wonere in what other ways it wol e esolate. t is strange how mch yo can rememer aot places like that once yo allow yor min to retrn into the grooves that lea ack.

o rememer one thing an that senly remins yo of

another thing. gess rememere clearest of all the early mornings when the lake was cool an motionless rememere how the eroom smelle of the lmer it was mae of an of the wet woos whose scent entere throgh the screen. The partitions in the camp were thin an i not eten clear to the top of the rooms an as was always the first p wol ress softly so as not to wake the others an sneak ot into the sweet otoors an start ot in the canoe keeping close along the shore in the long shaows of the pines. rememere eing very carefl never to r my pale against the gnwale for fear of istring the stillness of the catheral. The lake ha never een what yo wol call a wil lake. There were cottages sprinkle aron the shores an it was in farming

contry althogh the shores of the lake were ite heavily wooe. ome of the cottages were owne y neary farmers an yo wol live at the shore an eat yor meals at the farmhose. That

s what

or family i. t althogh it wasnt wil it was a fairly large an nistre lake an there were places in it that to a chil at least seeme infinitely remote an primeval. was right aot the tar it le to within half a mile of the shore. t when got ack there with my oy

an we settle into a camp near

a farmhose an into the kin of smmertime ha known col tell that it was going to e pretty mch the same as it ha een efore knew it lying in e the first morning smelling the eroom an hearing the oy sneak ietly ot an go of

f along the

shore in a oat. egan to sstain the illsion that he was an therefore y simple transposition that was my father . This sensation persiste kept cropping p all the time we were there. t was not an entirely new feeling t in this setting it grew mch stronger. seeme to e living a al eistence. wol e in the mile of some simple act wol e picking p a ait o or laying own a tale fork or wol e saying something an senly it wol e not t my father who was saying the wors or making the gestre. t gave me a creepy sensation. e went fishing the net morning. felt the same amp moss covering the worms in the ait can an saw the ragonfly alight on the tip of my ro as it hovere a few inches from the srface of the water. t was the arrival of this fly that convince me eyon any

ot that everything was as it always ha een that the years were a mirage an that there ha een no years. The small waves were the same chcking the rowoat ner the chin as we fishe at anchor an the oat was the same oat the same color green an the ris roken in the same places an ner the flooroars the same fresh water leavings an ris the ea helgramite the wisps of moss the rsty iscare fishhook the rie loo from yesteray s catch.

e stare silently at the tips of or ros at the

ragonflies that came an went. lowere the tip of mine into the water tentatively pensively isloging the fly

which arte two feet

away poise arte two feet ack an came to rest again a little farther p the ro. There ha een no years etween the cking of this ragonfly an the other one the one that was part of memory looke at the oy

.

who was silently watching his fly an it was my

hans that hel his ro my eyes watching. felt iy an int know which ro was at the en of. e caght two ass haling them in riskly as thogh they were mackerel plling them over the sie of the oat in a sinesslike manner withot any laning net an stnning them with a low on the ack of the hea. hen we got ack for a swim efore lnch the lake was eactly where we ha left it the same nmer of inches from the ock an there was only the merest sggestion of a reee. This seeme an tterly enchante sea this lake yo col leave to its own evices for a few hors an come ack to an fin that it ha not stirre this constant an trstworthy oy of water the shallows the ark water soake sticks an twigs smooth an

.n

ol were nlating in clsters on the ottom against the clean rie san an the track of the mssel was plain. school of minnows swam y

each minnow with its small inivial shaow

oling the attenance so clear an sharp in the snlight. ome of the other campers were in swimming along the shore one of them with a cake of soap an the water felt thin an clear an nsstantial. ver the years there ha een this person with the cake of soap this cltist an here he was. There ha een no years. p to the farmhose to inner throgh the teeming sty fiel the roa ner or sneakers was only a two track roa. The mile track was missing the one with the marks of the hooves an the splotches of rie flaky manre. There ha always een three tracks to choose from in choosing which track to walk in now the choice was narrowe own to two. or a moment misse terrily the mile alternative. t the way le past the tennis cort an something aot the way it lay there in the sn reassre me the tape ha loosene along the ackline the alleys were green with plantains an other wees an the net installe in ne an remove in eptemer sagge in the ry noon an the whole place steame with miay heat an hnger an emptiness. There was a choice of pie for essert an one was leerry an one was apple an the waitresses were the same contry girls there having een no passage of time only the illsion of it as in a roppe crtain the waitresses were still fifteen their hair ha een washe that was the

only if ference they ha een to the movies an seen the pretty girls with the clean hair. mmertime oh smmertime pattern of life inelile the fae proof lake the woos nshatterale the pastre with the sweetfern an the niper forever an ever

smmer withot en this was the

ackgron an the life along the shore was the esign the cottages with their innocent an tranil esign their tiny ocks with the flagpole an the merican flag floating against the white clos in the le sky

the little paths over the roots of the trees leaing from

camp to camp an the paths leaing ack to the othoses an the can of lime for sprinkling an at the sovenir conters at the store the miniatre irchark canoes an the postcars that showe things looking a little etter than they looke. This was the merican family at play escaping the city heat wonering whether the newcomers in the camp at the hea of the cove were common or nice wonering whether it was tre that the people who rove p for nay inner at the farmhose were trne away ecase there wasnt enogh chicken. t seeme to me as kept rememering all this that those times an those smmers ha een infinitely precios an worth saving. There ha een ollity an peace an gooness. The arriving at the eginning of gst ha een so ig a siness

in itself at the

railway station the farm wagon rawn p the first smell of the pine laen air

the first glimpse of the smiling farmer an the great

importance of the trnks an yor father

s enormos athority in

sch matters an the feel of the wagon ner yo for the long ten mile hal an at the top of the last long hill catching the first view of the lake after eleven months of not seeing this cherishe oy of water. The shots an cries of the other campers when they saw yo an the trnks to e npacke to give p their rich ren. rriving was less eciting nowaays when yo sneake p in yor car an parke it ner a tree near the camp an took ot the ags an in five mintes it was all over

no fss no lo wonerfl fss

aot trnks. eace an gooness an ollity

. The only thing that was wrong now

really was the son of the place an nfamiliar nervos son of the otoar motors. This was the note that arre the one thing that wol sometimes reak the illsion an set the years moving. n those other smmertimes all motors were inoar an when they were at a little istance the noise they mae was a seative an ingreient of smmer sleep. They were one cyliner an two cyliner engines an some were make an reak an some were mp spark t they all mae a sleepy son across the lake. The one lngers throe an flttere an the twin cyliner ones prre an prre an that was a iet son too. t now the campers all ha otoars. n the aytime in the hot mornings these motors mae a petlant irritale son at night in the still evening when the afterglow lit the water they whine aot one ears like mositoes. y oy love or rente otoar an his great esire was to achieve single hane mastery over it an athority

an he soon learne the trick of choking it a little t not

s

too mch an the astment of the neele valve.

atching him

wol rememer the things yo col o with the ol one cyliner engine with the heavy flywheel how yo col have it eating ot of yor han if yo got really close to it spiritally

. otoroats in those

ays int have cltches an yo wol make a laning y shtting off the motor at the proper time an coasting in with a ea rer t there was a way of reversing them if yo learne the trick y ctting the switch an ptting it on again eactly on the final ying revoltion of the flywheel so that it wol kick ack

against

compression an egin reversing. pproaching a ock in a strong following reee it was if

ficlt to slow p sf

ficiently y the orinary

coasting metho an if a oy felt he ha complete mastery over his motor he was tempte to keep it rnning eyon its time an then reverse it a few feet from the ock. t took a cool nerve ecase if yo threw the switch a twentieth of a secon too soon yo wol catch the flywheel when it still ha spee enogh to go p past center an the oat wol leap ahea charging ll fashion at the ock. e ha a goo week at the camp. The ass were iting well an the sn shone enlessly

ay after ay

.

e wol e tire at night an

lie own in the accmlate heat of the little erooms after the long hot ay an the reee wol stir almost imperceptily otsie an the smell of the swamp rift in throgh the rsty screens. leep wol come easily an in the morning the re sirrel wol e on the roof tapping ot his gay rotine. kept rememering everything lying in e in the mornings the small steamoat that ha a long

.

rone stern like the lip of a angi an how ietly she ran on the moonlight sails when the oler oys playe their manolins an the girls sang an we ate oghnts ippe in sgar

an how sweet the

msic was on the water in the shining night an what it ha felt like to think aot girls then. fter reakfast we wol go p to the store an the things were in the same place the minnows in a ottle the plgs an spinners isarrange an pawe over y the yongsters from the oys camp the ig ewtons an the eeman

s

gm. tsie the roa was tarre an cars stoo in front of the store. nsie all was st as it ha always een ecept there was more oca ola an not so mch oie an root eer an irch eer an sarsaparilla.

e wol walk ot with the ottle of pop

apiece an sometimes the pop wol ackfire p or noses an hrt.

e eplore the streams ietly

where the trtles sli of

f the

snny logs an g their way into the soft ottom an we lay on the town wharf an fe worms to the tame ass. verywhere we went ha trole making ot which was the one walking at my sie the one walking in my pants. ne afternoon while we were there at that lake a thnerstorm came p. t was like the revival of an ol melorama that ha seen long ago with chilish awe. The secon act clima of the rama of the electrical istrance over a lake in merica ha

not change in any

important respect. This was the ig scene still the ig scene. The whole thing was so familiar the first feeling of oppression an heat an a general air aron camp of not wanting to go very far away miafternoon it was all the same a crios arkening of the sky

.n

an a lll in everything that ha mae life tick an then the way the oats senly swng the other way at their moorings with the coming of a reee ot of the new arter

an the premonitory

rmle. Then the kettle rm then the snare then the ass rm an cymals then crackling light against the ark an the gos grinning an licking their chops in the hills. fterwar the calm the rain steaily rstling in the calm lake the retrn of light an hope an spirits an the campers rnning ot in oy an relief to go swimming in the rain their right cries perpetating the eathless oke aot how they were getting simply renche an the chilren screaming with elight at the new sensation of athing in the rain an the oke aot getting renche linking the generations in a strong inestrctile chain. n the comeian who wae in carrying an mrella. hen the others went swimming my son sai he was going in too. e plle his ripping trnks from the line where they ha hng all throgh the shower an wrng them ot. angily

an with no

thoght of going in watche him his har little oy

skinny an

are saw him wince slightly as he plle p aron his vitals the small soggy icy garment. s he ckle the swollen elt senly my groin felt the chill of eath.

or is ussion nd ritin . hy oes hite escrie the lake as fae proof an the woos as nshatterale par.

. hite ses escription to give a fairly simple story great richness. ote an eplain the ef fectiveness of five escriptive moments in the essay. . connections s long as there has een writing the natral worl has serve writers as a sect in its own right an as vehicle for epressing other things. ea nce ore to the ake net to li lare s learct plaining the istance with this iea in min. ow oes each writer se the natral worl ow oes each essay se natre as topic ow oes each se it as vehicle . escrie a chilhoo trip yo rememer well. T ry to orrow escriptive evices from hite. . ooinrter hite reas the changes on an aron the lake in terms of his own mortality. ow else might they e rea iterary critics with ecological concerns sometimes rea works of art for what they reveal aot or attites towar the natral worl an or place in it. Try to rea nce ore to the ake in this way . hat can yo say aot the way natre is thoght of an treate y people within the essay as well as y its athor

lang in merica t hitn

s born nd rised in e

or stte

he s born nd ived in untinton on on snd nd fro the e of four ored in

ived in rooyn e eft s hoo t e eeven nd offi e he ter ored s tyesetter

riter nd

editor t vrious ne sers tuht nd founded his o n short ived ne ser

hie ritin fi tion nd oetry for vrious

ubi tions hitn

s eaves of rass

oe tion of

oetry tht oud ontinue to ro nd be revised by the uthor for the rest of his ife is one of the bestno n nd ost infuenti ors of eri n oetry

ontinin iortnt oes su h s

Son of Mysef nd rossin rooyn erry ubi tion

eaves of rass

in udin by h

s enery ositivey re eived

do Eerson but s ondened s obs ene

by others urin the ivi yster

t the tie of its

r hitn ored in the ry

s offi e nd vounteered s nurse e rote the oetry

oe tion rm T

aps durin this eriod seein it to

ubi tion onth fter the end of the r sterie e

eaves of rass

hitn so rodu ed eri n history

hie revisin his

u to ust before his deth in

emocratic oiti s nd uture

istas boo on emorana ring the

boo on his tie in ry hosits durin the r nd oe tion of nonfi tion ie es

pecimen ays

Sn in eri first ubished in is the uintin oentry on nue use by oet ho s s deey

ar

interested in deo r y nd hun diversity s he s fs inted by everydy eri n see h s you red it thin bout the ys our ttitudes bout nue n be onne ted to our ttitudes bout eoe nd so iety iew freely

the nglish langage is the accretion an growth of

every ialect race an range of time an is oth the free an compacte composition of all. rom this point of view

it stans for

angage in the largest sense an is really the greatest of sties. t involves so mch is inee a sort of niversal an coneror

asorer

cominer

. The scope of its etymologies is the scope not only of

man an civiliation t the history of atre in all epartments an of the organic niverse roght p to ate for all are comprehene in wors an their ackgrons. This is when wors ecome vitali an stan for things as they nerringly an soon come to o in the min that enters on their sty with fitting spirit grasp an appreciation. lang profonly consier

is the lawless germinal element elow

all wors an sentences an ehin all poetry

an proves a certain

perennial rankness an protestantism in speech. s the nite tates inherit y far their most precios possession the langage they talk an write from the l

orl ner an ot of its feal

instittes will allow myself to orrow a simile even of those forms farthest remove from merican emocracy

. onsiering angage

then as some mighty potentate into the maestic aience hall of the monarch ever enters a personage like one of hakspere s clowns

an takes position there an plays a part even in the stateliest ceremonies. ch is lang or inirection an attempt of common hmanity to escape from al literalism an epress itself illimitaly which in highest walks proces poets an poems an otless in pre historic times gave the start to an perfecte the whole immense tangle of the ol mythologies. or

crios as it may

appear it is strictly the same implse sorce the same thing. lang too is the wholesome fermentation or erctation of those processes eternally active in langage y which froth an specks are thrown p mostly to pass away thogh occasionally to settle an permanently chrystallie. To make it plainer it is certain that many of the olest an soliest wors we se were originally generate from the aring an license of slang. n the processes of wor formation myrias ie t here an there the attempt attracts sperior meanings ecomes valale an inispensale an lives forever literally only straight. ron nterity

. Ths the term riht means

primarily meant twiste istorte.

meant oneness. Sirit meant reath or flame.

suer iious person was one who rais his eyerows. T to leap against. f yo

o insut was

infuen d a man yo t flow into him. The

erew wor which is translate

rohesy

meant to le p an

por forth as a fontain. The enthsiast les p with the pirit of o within him an it pors forth rohe y

from him like a fontain. The wor

is misnerstoo. any sppose that it is limite to mere

preiction that is t the lesser portion of prophecy

. The greater

work is to reveal o. very tre religios enthsiast is a prophet.

angage e it rememer

is not an astract constrction of the

learn or of ictionary makers t is something arising ot of the work nees ties oys af fections tastes of long generations of hmanity

an has its ases roa an low

close to the gron. ts

final ecisions are mae y the masses people nearest the concrete having most to o with actal lan an sea. t impermeates all the ast as well as the resent an is the granest trimph of the hman intellect. Those mighty works of art says ington ymons which we call langages in the constrction of which whole peoples nconsciosly co operate the forms of which were etermin not y inivial genis t y the instincts of sccessive generations acting to one en inherent in the natre of the race Those poems of pre thoght an fancy

caence not in wors t

in living imagery fontainheas of inspiration mirrors of the min of nascent nations which we call ythologies these srely are more marvellos in their infantine spontaneity than any more matre proction of the races which evolv them.

et we are tterly

ignorant of their emryology the tre science of rigins is yet in its crale. aring as it is to say so in the growth of angage it is certain that the retrospect of slang from the start wol e the recalling from their nelos conitions of all that is poetical in the stores of hman tterance. oreover

the honest elving as of late years y the

erman an ritish workers in comparative philology

has pierc

an ispers many of the falsest les of centries an will isperse many more. t was long recore that in caninavian

mythology the heroes in the orse araise rank ot of the sklls of their slain enemies. ater investigation proves the wor taken for sklls to mean horns of easts slain in the hnt. n what reaer ha not een eercis over the traces of that feal cstom y which seineurs warm their feet in the owels of serfs the aomen eing open for the prpose t now is mae to appear that the serf was only reire to smit his nharm aomen as a foot cshion while his lor spp an was reire to chafe the legs of the seineur with his hans. t is criosly in emryons an chilhoo an among the illiterate we always fin the gronwork an start of this great science an its nolest procts. hat a relief most people have in speaking of a man not y his tre an formal name with a ister to it t y some o or homely appellative. The propensity to approach a meaning not irectly an sarely

t y circitos styles of

epression seems inee a orn ality of the common people everywhere evience y nick names an the inveterate etermination of the masses to estow s titles sometimes riiclos sometimes very apt. lways among the soliers ring the ecession

ar one hear of ittle ac en. clellan or of

ncle illy en. herman . The ol man was of corse very common. mong the rank an file oth armies it was very general to speak of the if ferent tates they came from y their slang names. Those from aine were call oes ew ampshire ranite oys assachsetts ay taters slan n lints onnectict

ermont reen ontain oys hoe ooen tmegs ew

ork

nickerockers ew ersey

lam atchers ennsylvania ogher

eas elaware skrats arylan law Thmpers eagles orth arolina T

irginia

ar oilers oth arolina

easels

eorgia ars oisiana reoles laama iars entcky orn rackers hio ckeyes ichigan

olverines niana

oosiers llinois ckers issori kes ississippi T

a oles

loria ly p the reeks isconsin agers owa awkeyes regon ar ases. nee am not sre t slang names have more than once mae resients. l ickory

en. ackson is

one case in point. T ippecanoe an T yler too another . fin the same rle in the people

s conversations everywhere.

hear this among the men of the city horse cars where the conctor is often call a snatcher i.e. ecase his characteristic ty is to constantly pll or snatch the ell strap to stop or go on . Two yong fellows are having a frienly talk ami which says st conctor conctor

hat i yo o efore yo was a snatcher nswer of ail. T

ranslation of answer work as

carpenter. hat is a oom says one eitor to another

. steem

contemporary says the other a oom is a lge. arefoot whiskey is the T ennessee name for the nilte stimlant. n the slang of the ew

ork common restarant waiters a plate of ham

an eans is known as stars an stripes cofish alls as sleeve ttons an hash as mystery The

.

estern tates of the nion are however

as may e

sppose the special areas of slang not only in conversation t in

names of localities towns rivers etc. late regon traveller says n yor way to lympia y rail yo cross a river calle the hookm hck yor train stops at places name ewakm T

mwater

an

Totle an if yo seek frther yo will hear of whole conties laell ahkiakm or nohomish or itsar an enolelops greet an of

or likatat an owlit ookim

fen yo. They complain in lympia that

ashington Territory gets t little immigration t what woner hat man having the whole merican continent to choose from wol willingly ate his letters from the conty of nohomish or ring p his chilren in the city of enolelops The village of T

mwater is as am

reay to ear witness very pretty inee t srely an emigrant wol think twice efore he estalish himself either there or at T

otle. eattle

is sf ficiently araros telicoom is no etter an sspect that the orthern acific ailroa termins has een fie at T

acoma ecase it

is one of the few places on get on whose name oes not inspire horror.

Then a evaa paper chronicles the epartre of a mining party from eno The toghest set of roosters that ever shook the st off any town left eno yesteray for the new mining istrict of orncopia. They came here from for ew

irginia. mong the crow were

ork cock fighters two hicago mrerers three altimore

risers one hilaelphia prie fighter hoolms three

for an rancisco

irginia eats two nion acific roghs an two

check gerrillas. mong the far west newspapers have een or are he iry he he oo

olorao

obstone Eith

ue he Soid Mudoon of evaa

he ie ute

of issori. hirttail en hiskey lat ppytown

of ray of Teas an

il

ankee anch aw lat awhie anch oafer

itch lch T tte conty

s avine

oenail ake are a few of the names of places in al.

erhaps inee no place or term gives more lriant illstrations of the fermentation processes have mention an their froth an specks than those ississippi an acific coast regions at the present ay . asty an grotese as are some of the names others are of an appropriateness an originality nsrpassale. This applies to the nian wors which are often perfect. klahoma is propose in ongress for the name of one of or new T erritories. og eye ick skillet ake pocket an teal easy are the names of some Tean towns. iss remer fon among the aorigines the following names en

s ornpoint on in tan an look ot The

lo that goes asie ron toe eek the sn ron flash e ottle hite spinle lack og T

wo feathers of honor ray grass

shy tail Thner face o on the rning so pirits of the ea.

omen s eep the fire pirital woman econ aghter

of the hose le ir. ertainly philologists have not given enogh attention to this element an its reslts which repeat can proaly e fon working everywhere to ay

ami moern conitions with as mch life an

activity as in far ack reece or nia ner prehistoric ones. Then the wit the rich flashes of hmor an genis an poetry arting ot often from a gang of laorers railroamen miners rivers or oatmen ow often have hover

at the ege of a crow of them

to hear their repartees an imprompts

o get more real fn from

half an hor with them than from the ooks of all the merican hmorists. The science of langage has large an close analogies in geological science with its ceaseless evoltion its fossils an its nmerless smerge layers an hien strata the infinite go efore of the present. r

perhaps angage is more like some vast living oy

perennial oy of oies. n slang not only rings the first feeers of it t is afterwar the start of fancy

imagination an hmor

reathing into its nostrils the reath of life.

or is ussion nd ritin . ow is the sty of langage like geological science as hitman says it is . hitman s form is enlessly interesting if yo are intereste in form an we hope yo are . ne element of hitman s style here is his iction the wors he chooses to se. f particlar note is his se of a wie range of kins of wors from the most everyay two syllale wors to the rare mltisyllaic atinate wors perhaps fittingly for an essay aot his love of all kins of wors. ea throgh the essay an ientify five wors yo i not know . ook them p as yo always shol when yo enconter a wor yo ont know write own the efinition in yor own wors an reflect on what yo proce. hy o yo think hitman chose these wors ere there simpler wors he col have chosen o other wors eist that he col have se instea or are these the only wors for the meaning he s trying to convey hat s the effect of these choices on the reaer eel free to incle erctation in yor list. . connections ompare hitman s essay to aria ichela assi s The ea as ever le on the topic of langage. ow o their sects compare ow o the ways they eplore them compare

or

ow oes each athor iscss the power of langage here o they if fer in their conclsions an assmptions . hitman more than once ses metaphors involving life giving to escrie colloial langage in this essay wors are vitali par. slang reathe the reath of life into langage. e are taght in primary an seconary school that the kins of wors we se in or writing for school shol e proper an correct an so shol not contain slang. t lingists an stents of composition know as hitman i that everyay langage rings writing to life this oesnt mean that proper or acaemic nglish oesnt have vale an isnt reire in certain settings t it s not etter in any meaningfl sense. n proper nglish write a sstantial paragraph aot yorself or yor ay or a movie yo st saw the sect oesnt really matter an then rewrite it in less proper colloial colorfl slang rien nglish. Then reflect on what yove written. as one easier or more fn to write than the other ereaing yor two paragraphs is one easier or more entertaining or more informative than the other s there a way to write that comines these two registers . ooinrter o a little research into proper nglish. hat can yo fin ot aot how people efine it where it comes from how it is se an how it is vale mmarie these finings an reflect on the conventions we follow in or school an work lives not only in writing t also in speaking. hat oes the eistence of these conventions tell yo aot the organiation of society hat oes speaking proper nglish or not speaking it mean in yor commnity n yor school n yor workplace

rofessions for orn deine

omen

irini Stehen in ondon in

irini oof is

one of the ost iortnt riters not ust of her tie but of iterry history odernist oof on ith onteorries su h s es oy e

S Eiot Er ound nd ertrude Stein

revoutionied iterture by inventin ne fors tht exored the ri h inner ives of their sube ts She is no n ese iy for the noves rs. alloway

nd

nonfi tion nd feinist ne se tion of sister of

To the ighthose oom of ne

oom of ne

s wn

but so for the

s wn is devoted to the iinin of

ii Shesere euy tented but be use of the

ossibiities vibe to oen of her tie nd e unbe to rete sterie es s he hd oof iines this ounterf tu in order to rue for exnded ossibiities for oen s you red rofessions for oen thin of it s oof did s seue to oom of ne

s wn

nd onsider the ys it further refe ts on its

on erns but so rises soe ne ones of its o n hen yor secretary invite me to come here she tol me that yor ociety is concerne with the employment of women an she sggeste that might tell yo something aot my own professional eperiences. t is tre am a woman it is tre am employe t what professional eperiences have ha t is if

ficlt to say . y

profession is literatre an in that profession there are fewer eperiences for women than in any other stage fewer

with the eception of the

mean that are pecliar to women. or the roa was

ct many years ago y anny rney

y phra ehn y arriet

artinea y ane sten y eorge liot many famos women an many more nknown an forgotten have een efore me making the path smooth an reglating my steps. Ths when came to write there were very few material ostacles in my way . riting was a reptale an harmless occpation. The family peace was not roken y

the scratching of a pen. o eman was mae

pon the family prse. or ten an sipence one can y paper enogh to write all the plays of hakespeare if one has a min that way. ianos an moels aris

ienna an erlin masters an

mistresses are not neee y a writer

. The cheapness of writing

paper is of corse the reason why women have scceee as writers efore they have scceee in the other professions. t to tell yo my story it is a simple one.

o have only got to

figre to yorselves a girl in a eroom with a pen in her han. he ha only to move that pen from left to right from ten oclock to one. Then it occrre to her to o what is simple an cheap enogh after all to slip a few of those pages into an envelope fi a penny stamp in the corner an rop the envelope into the re o at the corner. t was ths that ecame a ornalist an my ef

fort was

reware on the first ay of the following month a very glorios ay it was for me y a letter from an eitor containing a chee for one pon ten shillings an sipence. t to show yo how little eserve to e calle a professional woman how little know of the strggles an if

ficlties of sch lives have to amit that instea of

spening that sm pon rea an tter

rent shoes an stockings

or tcher

s ills went ot an oght a cat a eatifl cat a

ersian cat which very soon involve me in itter isptes with my neighors. hat col e easier than to write articles an to y ersian cats with the profits t wait a moment. rticles have to e aot something. ine seem to rememer

was aot a novel y a

famos man. n while was writing this review

iscovere that if

were going to review ooks shol nee to o attle with a certain phantom. n the phantom was a woman an when came to know her etter calle her after the heroine of a famos poem The ngel in the ose. t was she who se to come etween me an my paper when was writing reviews. t was she who othere me an waste my time an so tormente me that at last kille her

. o

who come of a yonger an happier generation may not have hear of her yo may not know what mean y the ngel in the ose. will escrie her as shortly as can. he was intensely sympathetic. he was immensely charming. he was tterly nselfish. he ecelle in the if

ficlt arts of family life. he sacrifice herself aily

f there was chicken she took the leg if there was a raght she sat in it in short she was so constitte that she never ha a min or a wish of her own t preferre to sympathie always with the mins an wishes of others. ove all nee not say it she was pre. er prity was sppose to e her chief eaty her lshes her great grace. n those ays the last of een

ictoria every

hose ha its ngel. n when came to write encontere her with the very first wors. The shaow of her wings fell on my page

.

hear the rstling of her skirts in the room. irectly

that is to say

took my pen in my han to review that novel y a famos man she slippe ehin me an whispere y ear

yo are a yong

woman. o are writing aot a ook that has een written y a man. e sympathetic e tener flatter eceive se all the arts an wiles of or se. ever let anyoy gess that yo have a min of yor own. ove all e pre. n she mae as if to gie my pen. now recor the one act for which take some creit to myself thogh the creit rightly elongs to some ecellent ancestors of mine who left me a certain sm of money shall we say five hnre pons a year so that it was not necessary for me to epen solely on charm for my living. trne pon her an caght her y the throat. i my est to kill her

. y ecse if were to e ha p in a cort of

law wol e that acte in self efence. a not kille her she wol have kille me. he wol have plcke the heart ot of my writing. or

as fon irectly pt pen to paper

yo cannot review

even a novel withot having a min of yor own withot epressing what yo think to e the trth aot hman relations morality

se.

n all these estions accoring to the ngel of the ose cannot e ealt with freely an openly y women they mst charm they mst conciliate they mst to pt it lntly tell lies if they are to sccee. Ths whenever felt the shaow of her wing or the raiance of her halo pon my page took p the inkpot an flng it at her. he ie har. er fictitios natre was of great assistance to her. t is far harer to kill a phantom than a reality . he was always creeping ack when thoght ha espatche her

. Thogh flatter

myself that kille her in the en the strggle was severe it took

mch time that ha etter have een spent pon learning reek grammar or in roaming the worl in search of aventres. t it was a real eperience it was an eperience that was on to efall all women writers at that time. illing the ngel in the ose was part of the occpation of a woman writer . t to contine my story

. The ngel was ea what then remaine

o may say that what remaine was a simple an common oect a yong woman in a eroom with an inkpot. n other wors now that she ha ri herself of falsehoo that yong woman ha only to e herself. h t what is herself mean what is a woman assre yo o not know

. o not elieve that yo know

. o not

elieve that anyoy can know ntil she has epresse herself in all the arts an professions open to hman skill. That inee is one of the reasons why have come here ot of respect for yo who are in process of showing s y yor eperiments what a woman is who are in process of proviing s y yor failres an sccesses with that etremely important piece of information. t to contine the story of my professional eperiences. mae one pon ten an si y my first review an oght a ersian cat with the procees. Then grew amitios. ersian cat is all very well sai t a ersian cat is not enogh. mst have a motor car

. n it

was ths that ecame a novelist for it is a very strange thing that people will give yo a motor car if yo will tell them a story

. t is a still

stranger thing that there is nothing so elightfl in the worl as telling stories. t is far pleasanter than writing reviews of famos novels.

n yet if am to oey yor secretary an tell yo my professional eperiences as a novelist mst tell yo aot a very strange eperience that efell me as a novelist. n to nerstan it yo mst try first to imagine a novelist s state of min. hope am not giving away professional secrets if say that a novelist s chief esire is to e as nconscios as possile. e has to ince in himself a state of perpetal lethargy . e wants life to procee with the tmost iet an reglarity

. e wants to see the same faces to rea the

same ooks to o the same things ay after ay

month after month

while he is writing so that nothing may reak the illsion in which he is living so that nothing may istr or isiet the mysterios nosings aot feelings ron arts ashes an sen iscoveries of that very shy an illsive spirit the imagination. sspect that this state is the same oth for men an women. e that as it may

want

yo to imagine me writing a novel in a state of trance. want yo to figre to yorselves a girl

sitting with a pen in her han which for

mintes an inee for hors she never ips into the inkpot. The image that comes to my min when think of this girl is the image of a fisherman lying snk in reams on the verge of a eep lake with a ro hel ot over the water

. he was letting her imagination sweep

nchecke ron every rock an cranny of the worl that lies smerge in the epths of or nconscios eing. ow came the eperience the eperience that elieve to e far commoner with women writers than with men. The line race throgh the girl fingers. er imagination ha rshe away

s

. t ha soght the pools

the epths the ark places where the largest fish slmer

. n then

there was a smash. There was an eplosion. There was foam an

confsion. The imagination ha ashe itself against something har. The girl was rose from her ream. he was inee in a state of the most acte an if

ficlt istress. T

o speak withot figre she

ha thoght of something something aot the oy

aot the

passions which it was nfitting for her as a woman to say . en her reason tol her

wol e shocke. The consciosness of what

men will say of a woman who speaks the trth aot her passions ha rose her from her artist

s state of nconsciosness. he col

write no more. The trance was over. er imagination col work no longer. This elieve to e a very common eperience with women writers they are impee y the etreme conventionality of the other se. or thogh men sensily allow themselves great freeom in these respects ot that they realie or can control the etreme severity with which they conemn sch freeom in women. These then were two very genine eperiences of my own. These were two of the aventres of my professional life. The first killing the ngel in the ose think solve. he ie. t the secon telling the trth aot my own eperiences as a oy

o not think

solve. ot that any woman has solve it yet. The ostacles against her are still immensely powerfl an yet they are very if ficlt to efine. twarly twarly

what is simpler than to write ooks

what ostacles are there for a woman rather than for a

man nwarly

think the case is very if ferent she has still many

ghosts to fight many preices to overcome. nee it will e a long time still think efore a woman can sit own to write a ook withot fining a phantom to e slain a rock to e ashe against.

n if this is so in

literatre the freest of all professions for women

how is it in the new professions which yo are now for the first time entering Those are the estions that shol like ha time to ask yo. n inee if have lai stress pon these professional eperiences of mine it is ecase elieve that they are thogh in if

ferent

forms yors also. ven when the path is nominally open when there is nothing to prevent a woman from eing a octor

a lawyer a

civil servant there are many phantoms an ostacles as elieve looming in her way. To iscss an efine them is think of great vale an importance for ths only can the laor e share the if ficlties e solve. t esies this it is necessary also to iscss the ens an the aims for which we are fighting for which we are oing attle with these formiale ostacles. Those aims cannot e taken for grante they mst e perpetally estione an eamine. The whole position as see it here in this hall srrone y women practising for the first time in history know not how many if ferent professions is one of etraorinary interest an importance.

o have won rooms of yor own in the hose

hitherto eclsively owne y men. great laor an ef hnre pons a year

o are ale thogh not withot

fort to pay the rent. o are earning yor five . t this freeom is only a eginning the

room is yor own t it is still are. t has to e frnishe it has to e ecorate it has to e share. ow are yo going to frnish it how are yo going to ecorate it ith whom are yo going to share it an pon what terms These think are estions of the tmost

importance an interest. or the first time in history yo are ale to ask them for the first time yo are ale to ecie for yorselves what the answers shol e. illingly wol stay an iscss those estions an answers t not to night. y time is p an mst cease.

or is ussion nd ritin . hat is the ngel in the ose . Think aot narrative form in this essay . oolf claims early in it that her story is a simple one par. . s it f not how oes she complicate it hy oes she claim early on that it is . connections oolf asks hat is a woman par. not in isolation t as part of her story of ecoming a writer . ea this essay alongsie oan iion s n eeping a oteook . ow is iion s essay in part implicitly aot the eplicit sect of oolf s essay here o yo think iion s eploration of the story of her writing life toches on the same concerns as oolf s s there an ngel in iion s hose . n one of her motivations for ecoming a novelist oolf writes t is a very strange thing that people will give yo a motor car if yo will tell them a story par. . hile it is a lry to o work that yo love if yo col choose a profession prely ot of interest while eing realistic e.g. no professional asketall players an selecting something that wol pay give yo a motor car what wol it e hy o yo think yo will en p oing it hy or why not . ooinrter in one or two eamples of people who have sccessflly ilt careers in the fiel yo wol like to work in. They can e famos enogh to have online iographies yo can conslt or they can e people yo interview . ow i they get there hat i they have to o in terms of schooling training an other work to prepare themselves an gain entry into their fiel hat ostacles i they enconter an how i they overcome them

et T ny

ortoise ho ill tlive s ll nihr s born in os nees iforni nd rised in

ny es in udin iforni e

or Mrynd

exs nd

ii she is fourth enertion iin nd ttended hih s hoo there

nihr ttended Sith oee nd ored in

ubi ity in e one ast T

or fter oee She s

riter nd editor t

raveler unti she be e editor

ork Times tyle againe

in hief of The ew

She is the uthor of t o noves

eople in the T rees nd

The

ittle ife

very morning re takes a walk aron my parents yar in sran onoll. The yar thogh small aron sare feet is eatifl green an cool an ngly

ensely plante with lacy

native ferns an heavy heae crimson heliconia an fragrant with white flowers garenia plmeria ginger

night looming asmine.

re is years ol an pons an since my parents aopte him two years ago he has never left this yar. hen he is oing in the shae the ol shower trees otsie the picket fence that srrons the yar rain their pink an yellow petals own on him. eople get p early in awaii y kis are eing roppe of

f

at school an alts are riving to work an yet re oesnt start moving ntil or

sometimes . y the time he oes the

neighorhoo is silent. veryone else has alreay egn the ay t eceptions are mae for re ecase re has nowhere to go an nothing to o an my parents epect nothing from him. This is

.

ecase re is not a hman t a slcata tortoise an implse prchase

from a man living a few mintes rive away

near

aikiki whose conseences as with all implse prchases were not ite flly imagine. very morning re mitre of timothy hay

mst e fe a

romaine an protein rich kile which is

sprea across a aking tray so he can see it easily

. s re is

eating his trs wet col fat as han rolle cigars an strafe with nigeste hay an grass mst e collecte an the lawn aron them ose with water

. ome five hors later

lnch mst

e provie. Then at aron in the evening someone has to check that re has pt himself to e in his wooen hose where he spens at least mintes mping an scraping against the walls an the floor the slcata which is native to s aharan frica is like most tortoises a rrower y natre in those ari climates tortoises will ig eep tnnels in orer to access amper cooler earth. y parents neighorhoo is hmi it rains every morning an every evening a light rief mist that makes the air smell loamy an slightly feral t re is conitione to ig regarless his stmpy ack legs chafing against the flagstones eneath his hose. y p.m. he is silent slggish like all reptiles re is collooe an he will remain in his hose ntil the morning an the retrn of the sn an its heat. re is not rare not as a species the slcata is one of the largest species of tortoise in the worl an not even as a pet not in awaii at least where there is a largely sian poplation which associates them with goo fortne wisom an long life. n yet when the

occasional passer y looks over the fence an sees re marching across the yar his legs chrning with the same steay

hary

energy of a toler elighting in his newfon aility to walk they are always startle. The srprise is attritale to his sie as well as his shape an color at first glance yo might mistake him for a large rock only to then realie that the rock is moving. t think the other srprise of re has less to o with his nepecte presence an more to o with what he represents. T

oe

in the company of a tortoise is to e remine instantly inarticlaly of the olness of the worl an the newness of s hmans specifically

t also mammals in general . atre has

create thosans of creatres t most of s have een rerawn over the millennims r heas have grown larger smaller or legs longer

or teeth

or aws weaker . t tortoises some

varieties of which are million years ol oler than the inosars are a rogh raft that was never refine ecase they to e. They are proof of natre

never neee

s genis an of or own imperfection

or fragility an revity in a worl that eiste long efore s an will eist long after were gone. They are oler than we are in all ways as a trie an as inivials they can live years an can grow to e pons . s sch yo cannot help feeling a sort of hmility aron them They may e slow an ngainly an lmpily fashione t they are in their raility an nchangeaility perfect in a way we arent. t is all this that makes them nie an nsettling animals to live with for to e aron them is to e

remine incessantly

of or own vlneraility an or own

imminent eaths. ast ly

went to onoll to meet re an to spen the smmer

with my parents. y parents an have a warm relationship even thogh or perhaps ecase ont speak to or visit them freently ntil my most recent trip there the previos ly in si years. live in ew

hant seen them

ork an they live in awaii an while it

tre that traveling to the islans reires a certain commitment of time the real reason staye away is that there were other places wante to go an other things wante to see. f all the gifts an avantages my parents have given me one of the greatest is their nerstaning of this esire their conviction that it is the ty of chilren to leave an o what they want an the ty of parents to not st accept this t to encorage it. hen was an first leaving my parents then living in ast T

eas to atten high

school in onoll my father tol me that any parent who epecte anything from his chil he was speaking of money an accomplishment t he also meant love evotion an caretaking was on to e isappointe ecase it was foolish an selfish to raise chilren in the hope that they might someay repay the et of their eistence he has maintaine this ever since. t is in a cltre that cherishes familial proimity a raical way of thinking y people who otherwise prie themselves on their conventionality thogh lovaly all .

their iea of the conventional tens to not actally e so at

s

This philosophy eplains an contraicts their attachment to a pet that in many ways efies what we elieve a pet shol e. Those of s with animals in or lives ont like to think of orselves as having epectations for them t we o

e want their loyalty an

eication an we want these things to e epresse in a way that we can nerstan we want the ir chirping when we walk in the oor

the og trotting towar s rooling an hopefl the cat

rmling with pleasre as she tts her hea against or fist the horse nickering an shf re however

fling in his stall as he hears or footfall.

provies none of these things. ther than a series of

grnts when he s efecating he cant make noises. lthogh hell let yo stroke the top of his cool leathery hea he nhggale. lthogh he is in his way

s literally

frienly or

less generosly

n shy every eliveryman or neighor who enters the yar is approache an inspecte he is not a creatre who yo feel has any particlar fonness for yo. wning a pet is often an act of assme aleit nacknowlege reciprocity when people speak of their pet s nconitional love they are in fact revealing the nspoken highly one sie echange of pet ownership the hman will provie yo with foo an shelter yo the pet will give me enless af

fection an acceptance no

matter how crmmy a person may e. hilren eing hmans an therefore maniplale only to a certain etent may isappoint a pet is not allowe to isappoint or else it wont remain a pet for long.

an

ch as the role of a chil has change in the past centry from nersie workers to creatres to spoil an cherish so too have the animals in or lives come to flfill a certain nee. any of s in the evelope worl have easier lives than or foreears ha There is less aros laor there is less laor in general. t it can often feel that the lry of time has een accompanie y a heightene commensrate craving for love art of the moern conition is wonering who might love s an how that love might e more perfectly epresse an animals new ty is to answer oth of those prolems to make this loneliest of ages feel a little less lonely . eing with re therefore makes me re evalate why we keep pets at all. long with his inaility to ehave as a moern pet oght his appeal as an animate eing is of a specific an stle kin e is stoli an implacale neither of which are traits we typically vale in any species we hope to employ as companions. Then there is the fact of the amont of care he emans which is accompanie y the contraictory sspicion that he might e perfectly content on his own withot s s mch as he may enoy them re oesnt actally nee company

or water or even foo were he at home in

an he wol e eating ry grasses shrery only every few ays. T o own a trtle then means accepting that yo will e seen as the neighorhoo eccentrics people who have chosen a seconary position in their own hosehols. f people who love cats are self assre t self asore an people who love ogs are self satisfie t insecre then it might e sai that people who love trtles are to some egree fatalistic oving a trtle means poring

enless amonts of af

fection into a cket that will never fill ecase

it has a hole ct in its ottom. n yet re

s presence in my parents life seeme to e an

epression of something eyon mere eccentricity s the ays passe colnt help seeing him as a late in life yank of the parental tether. y parents are an am . re therefore will most likely otlive not only my father an mother t me as well. n the miafternoon when re was at his most alert wol sit an watch him his asplike face his etermine plcky trge which mae his hea once a little with every step his piggy nostrils each the sie an shape of a watermelon see the faint coin sie inentations on the sie of his hea where his ears lay

. s watche

him wonere hy wol my parents assme sch a responsiility hy wol they ring into their my or lives something so isrptive The easy eplanation was that they ha simply chosen not to consier it y parents are yong enogh an nsentimental enogh that eath how

when where was still sf ficiently istant to e an

astraction a inner tale conversation. t thogh they claime to e reay to ie at any moment they ha reache an age in which they viewe life as a contractor s pnch list a series of tasks that ha een satisfactorily

or at least competently complete re

arrival elie those claims. Their aoption of him sggeste that they might actally have epecte something from my rother an me after all. y parents werent pset when we left home they were in

s

fact pretty gleefl an yet here in re was a collective prolem a challenge that wol force a renion of or small family

. or what

after all makes alt chilren remain in contact with their parents onness of corse love. t in the asence of or in aition to those there is inheritance the stf f an arrels an resentments that will e left ehin when the parents ie. n a post instrialie contry an era there are fewer an fewer practical reasons for a family to stay together once its chilren are grown.

e o so ot of traition t traition isnt an imperative.

re however

was his own imperative a if ficlty that emane a

response a legacy that nlike a car or a hose neee a caretaker an animal who was oth a repository of a srpls of parental love an an annoncement of parental nee ome home. ee what weve taken on. hen yo see him will yo rememer s re was a way of reesting evotion withot having to literally ask. wish col say that we ha ecie what to o with re y the time left awaii t we hant. nstea we watche re circle the yar speaking of him with the same af fectionate ewilerment we wol a precocios chil. ha alreay tol my parents that wolnt take re when they ie my rother sai he wolnt either. r refsal seeme to provie them with a crios even paraoical contentment my rother an might not nee them to stay alive we wol like them to t like is not the same as nee t re i or so they col elieve. n so for him they wol. f

one of pets great gifts is their aility to make s feel love their greater gift is how they make s feel necessary . n the months after my retrn home my parents sent me messages re was getting igger

. e ha roken throgh one of the metal

gates an trie to escape. e was having iarrhea. e like only re hiiscs not pink. e ha reecte the wiss char they trie to fee him. e was a whim that was ecoming a ren. n yet they colnt imagine letting him go. e was their pet an they were going to take care of him even if they int trly nerstan what that might entail. t what person who

s responsile for another

living creatre ever really nerstans what care entails think yo know

o may

or have some sense. t yo never trly know ntil

yo are oing the actal work of caring in particlar for something that may not care for yo in retrn t to whom yo have sworn yor allegiance. ometimes after reaing these messages fon myself slipping into a ayream imagining re

s life an y etension my own

years into the ftre. imagine a ay in which my parents were ea an still no one ha etermine what to o with re where he wol live who wol talk to him.

imagine re eging ot of his

wooen hose to fin something to eat a yong specimen of an ol species on a yong islan in an ol worl. imagine him sitting an waiting for someone to come fee him. n when no one i aye he wol start eating the grass. n then when the grass was gone he might eat the petals from the shower trees. n then

the ferns. n then the ti leaves. n then the garenia shes. e wol eat an eat an when the yar ha een ene of anything green he wol wait ntil the lawn trne green once more. tortoise knows how to wait. t is another piece of wisom that comes from eing a memer of a species that is so very ol. e was always thoght an nattractive animal his eyes might kinly e calle eay

his moth a pckere seam the writer

ane aram once escrie a tortoise as having an ol man

s

mean little moth t over my smmer with my parents also realie that was mesmerie y him even that respecte him. ow col not n animal that emans so little an craves even less n animal so nlike the animal am one with sch a evelope sense of self possession hat secret i re know that i not n those ayreams wol think of how

when the light was winy

an golen like to sit on the porch steps an watch re trnle across the lawn. few weeks into my stay

we grown familiar

enogh that he wol tole right p to me an stretch ot his neck its skin sagging into crepey pleats an let me pat his hea closing his little lack eyes as i. n those moments fon myself talking to him sally aot anal things asking if he enoye the hiiscs flowers snappe of

f a neighor s sh if he col feel

the myna irs that occasionally perche on his ack. This time thogh aske him something else something more intimate something aot what it was like to e the creatre he was what it

was like to live withot a sense of oligation or pity or gilt all the things that make eing a hman so sa an so mysterios an so wonrosly rich. e int answer

of corse. t for a moment he hel his position

his hea motionless eneath my han a short pase in his very long life. n then he move on an stoo an watche him go.

or is ussion nd ritin . hy is the athor ple y her parents choice of a pet . This essay aot a tortoise is in fact an essay aot many if ferent things. ne of its athor s tasks then was to ring all of these if ferent things together into a coherent whole. erea the essay an mark the primary sect of each paragraph. nvent a way to visally map the essay s strctre try alloons arrows flow charts whatever works. hen yo are one reflect on the essay s strctre. ow many if ferent topics are there ow oes the athor connect them ow oes anagihara make it work . connections ea this essay with erlyn linkenorg s r anishing ight . These two essays one on light polltion one on a tortoise have in common oservations aot the fact that something valale that we se to have is slowly eing lost. or linkenorg what eactly is the valale thing aot hman eperience that is eing lost as we lose the arkness of light or anagihara what valale thing is lost in or eperience when the traition of families staying together once chilren are grown is less ominant hat oes it mean that we cant see the stars an we cant see or parents or chilren . Towar the en of the essay anagihara asks hat secret i re know that i not par. an she even tries to talk to him. rite a short piece from re s point of view. e as literal an scientific or as imaginative an whimsical as yo wish t try to imagine yorself into his shell an ask serios estions. hat might his eperience of life e like ow oes it feel to move so slowly an live so long

oes he feel alone oes he feel connecte to the athor s parents oes he think aot her the way she thinks aot him . ooinrter esearch the sect of animal consciosness. There is a range of scientific an nonscientific opinion on the estions of how or whether animals feel think an commnicate. hat o yo think of what yo fin in yor research oes yor og love yo re olphins smart re we as if ferent from the other animals as we think or are we more if ferent

re ame ve irin is n eri n sorts riter

e rites bout the oiti s of

rofession nd oee sorts for the ine the hosts one od st ed

ge of ports

ation e so nd ohosts nother

irin

is the uthor of eiht boos on the history nd oiti s of sorts in udin boos on ohn ros Muhd i nd the e onoi s of te o nershi ree is dr n fro irin olitics as T

s boo

rne the ports

ame ver ow

orl psie own

s you red

ee tht subtite in ind in rti ur the histori nrrtive it iies tht thins re hnin in sorts nd t h for ho tht nrrtive ers in the essy n arch the iami eat chose to pt own their asketalls an pt on their hooies. s a team they stoo sholer to sholer an i what we are tol athletes no longer o mae a conscios political stan for stice. The entire eat roster from stars eron ames wyane

ae an hris osh to oth akota

s ike

iller to the nearly forty year ol reserve wan owar stoo as one for seventeen year ol T rayvon artin who ha een recently kille y arme self appointe neighorhoo watch leaer eorge immerman. hile artin

s killer ha a nine millimeter

the teenager

ha nothing t a pack of kittles an a can of riona ice tea in his pocket. Trayvon was wearing a hooie when he ie which some pnits in their infinite wisom elieve mae him sspicios an worthy of eing prse.

f all the teams in the leage the eat were the most shocking yet also most appropriate to step p an e hear. t was shocking ecase the eat are often painte as eing a collection of prima onnas as allegely sperficial as the town they call home. t was also appropriate ecase this was T

rayvon s favorite team an he

was kille after leaving his hose ring halftime of the ll tar ame where he was watching ames an iven the otrage over T

rayvon artin

sothern loria the eat

ae perform. s eath particlarly in

s powerfl gestre harly came ot of the

le. hat may e srprising for many fans is that the ing himself eron ames rove the ef photo was reportely ames

fort. The arch team

s iea an was first poste to his

personal Twitter accont with the hashtag

e antstice.

ames later sai t was very emotional an emotional ay for all of s. T aking that pictre were happy that were ale to she light on the sitation that we feel is nst. is teammate

ae commente

to the ssociate ress This sitation hit home for me ecase last hristmas all my olest son wante as a gift was hooies. o when hear aot this a week ago thoght of my sons. m speaking p ecase feel it

s necessary that we get past the stereotype of

yong lack men. ince he was a teenager

ing ames has een pegge as

potentially the greatest asketall player alive. e company with legs an ths far

s a ortne

has a very careflly crafte

apolitical image. e is also someone who was raise y a single mother in kron hio at times so poor that they were living in a car

.

e has everything as well as memories of having ha nothing. erhaps this is why he once sai that his ream is to e a gloal icon like hamma li.

eve rarely seen evience of his ef forts to

achieve this ream t the hooie photo col e a reslt of the li in him straining to e hear. t the eat

s home game the following riay night ames an

several of his teammates took the floor with messages sch as Trayvon artin an

e want stice scrawle on their sneakers.

Their actions inspire others across the . layers spanning the gamt from stars like teve ash an armelo nthony

to less

famos ocks sch as ill ynm an ranon night spoke ot to raise awareness. nthony nicks change his own T

the high profile star of the ew

ork

witter pictre to show him in a hooie with

am T rayvon artin sperimpose over his oy etroit istons center reg onroe eplaine to the

. etroit ree

ress why so many players wante to say something. These kis come from the same neighorhoos we walke or worse. n we see the same news everyoy sees. hen we trn on we ont have a special channel. hen we get plle over no special millionaire cops. To pt it a if

there s

ere st pai to play asketall.

ferent way athletes arent cartoon characters or roots.

They are a part of this worl.

e are often tol that toay

s athletes

have no stake as their foreears i in fighting for change. t one time athletes particlarly athletes of color an women athletes ha a self interest in roaer strggles against iscrimination t no longer. The argment goes that we are now somehow a postracial postpolitical society . t while there are more people than ever telling s that the worl has change instice iscrimination an ineality of opportnity still rle the lan. n the real worl any change at all has een incremental an har won. n the sports worl there

s een a if

ferent kin of change an

it colnt e more ramatic. ver the last thirty years the athletic instrial comple has transforme itself into a trillion ollar

gloal

entity. ne way it s one this is y making its proct an its players as eplicitly apolitical as possile. rom eyton anning to erek eter to anica atrick the ominant message proecte y athletes has een that it s far more important to e a ran than an inivial an that a moern ock shol never sacrifice commercial concerns for political principle. This creo echoes esse wens the great lympic star

who once sai The only time the lack fist has

significance is when there s money insie. twenty for hor talk raio an a seemingly ottomless appetite for istraction have eploe the sie of or sports worl an its profits into the stratosphere. n connction with this epansion politics has also een actively iscorage y management an slamme y sports colmnists. egenary

sportscaster owar osell towar the en of his life e it rle nmer one of the ockocracy sports an politics st ont mi. et over the last several years the specter of politics has een hanting sports. osell

s olen le has een repeately an

flagrantly reache. ore athletes are speaking ot across the political spectrm as a series of revoltions occpations an protests has efine the gloal lanscape. The real worl is gaining on the sports worl an the sports worl is starting to look over its sholer

. . . . s hope to show

whether we see orselves as sports

fans or not we all have a stake in nerstaning why the sports page is insf ficient for nerstaning sports.

n inco e ayo in the

s hoeni ns went where no

merican sports team ha gone efore. n their playof

f game against

the an ntonio prs the sa took to the cort wearing erseys that rea simply os ns. They were coming ot as one against riona

s enate ill which critics sai wol coify racial

profiling y criminaliing anyone sspecte of eing an nocmente immigrant. This was the first time in .. sports history that an entire team from owner to general manager to players ha epresse any kin of nifie political stance. This aacios move y the ns was perhaps the most plicie moment of a low freency sea change in the worl of sports.

There were the memers of the reen ay ackers who stoo an contine to stan ehin the workers of isconsin ner attack y the state s overnor cott

alker.

There were the soccer players an cls in the ile ast who playe a leaing role in the ra pring an with npreceente impact are helping shape their revoltions. There were the two players ro owler renon

yanaeo

an ew rleans aints per owl hero cott ita who spoke ot in favor of T marriage eality in the fall of . They have een oine y asketall star teve ash ew nglan atriot o ronkowski ew ean

ork iant ichael trahan ew

very harles arkley

ork anger

ichael rvin an other players willing

to speak ot on what was recently a taoo locker room sect. ther political eplosions have recently etonate insie the worl of sports. aor lockots in the an have roght a taste of the roaer economic crisis that provoke the ccpy movement into this spposely privilege space. The eplosive chil molestation charges at enn tate niversity an roaer isses of corrption in the have raise political estions that speak to the very role we epect or niversities to play

. ollege athletes in

the revene procing sports of footall an asketall have signe petitions to form organiations an nshackle themselves from an gly

tterly corrpt system.

iscssions aot T

im Teow

eremy in aster emenya an

many others have create a an a ialoge eyon the confines of sports raio. hen oston rins goalie T trne own the team won the

im Thomas

s invitation to go to the hite ose after they

tanley p he wasnt content with iet protest an

instea poste a T page. hen oel

ea artyinflence monologe on his aceook ar a lack player for the

ashington apitals

score a playof f clinching goal on Thomas in the racist ile on Twitter was so intense that players an the meia felt compelle to respon. The more recent political erptions are in many respects a hangover from the elections when an npreceente nmer of athletes went plic in spport of arack ama

s caniacy an the ef

forts

to elect an frican merican presient. ome of the most commercially sccessfl an therefore some of the most commercially vlnerale ocks ecame involve in the campaign. eron ames wore ama T

shirts to games an all star players

like aron avis an hancey illps vocally spporte his caniacy

. oston eltics star evin arnett wore sneakers with

ote for hange scrawle on their sies. Then enver ggets star armelo nthony plege that he wol score forty for points in a game in honor of the ftre forty forth presient he only score twenty eight which was one can assme not a trite to ilson . hen illps was aske if he was concerne that his plic spport of ama wol hrt his enorsement chances he sai ike give a shit.

oorow

s it trns ot a whole new generation of ocks for stice is reecting the yoke of apathy an speaking ot aot the worl. players like ash tan Thomas an oakim oah as well as players cott ita an alis Thomas raise oections against the .. war in ra. ven ltimate ighting champion ef

f the

nowman onson took to istriting antiwar pamphlets on his way to the ctagon an was arreste protesting at the eplican ational onvention. s artina avratilova sai to ustrted

in t

Sorts

s like athletes have woken p to what actors

an msicians have known forever have this amaing platform why not se it These small acts of soliarity may seem negligile t they matter. hether we like it or not athletes are role moels it

s worth

asking then what are they in fact moeling hile not every athlete acts like his life is to e featre on T ris the meia loves to salacios an scanalos. t footall player en oethliserger

s amition of f the playing fiel highlight the

s not st the worst eamples like who was investigate twice for

rape or am ac an ones getting in trole with the law at gentleman s cls. s a rle the pro athletes who engage in the most minless conspicos consmption are the ones who ten to e highlighte. f instea of moeling crass materialism more athletes chose to isplay a roaer sense of commnity awareness no matter the

isse or politics we all e etter of

f. ven when personally

isagree with the politics of an athlete see T im Teow the mere fact that he is saying anything has the potential to initiate a ialoge more fll an involving than anything we get from apitol ill. aving athletes risk their prime perch in society for the greater goo also ecomes a kin of weather vane a crackling signal that we have entere a new era. n political strggle was part of the oygen of the sports worl. The people an the games we watche were shape y the strggles in the streets. n a time that has seen revolts from the ile ast to the iwest we can look at the facts on the gron an note that the citael of merican sports has also een reache. The apolitical s were e the vacation from history

.

ell vacation is over an history

has retrne with a vengeance severe enogh to cross the moat an enter the locker room. hy are more athletes speaking ot ome point to social meia as a critical elivery system for a generation of athletes who ont trst ol school reporters. nre an forty character rsts an aceook posts of

fer the aility to speak withot a filter irectly to

fans. nother theory is that players are now actally encorage for commercial reasons to efine their own ran. spoke at a seminar for rookies where the ominant theme was how

players col istingish themselves an create a memorale persona for their aience. st repeating clichs y rote like

e

give percent an play one game at a time is now seen as a liaility . t the most compelling reason is simply

as reg onroe

sai that the worl is changing an athletes are a part of that worl. t speaking ot still has a cost. aea leaer an

e saw this in ay

after al

mastermin sama in aen

was kille y

.. avy s. n the aftermath of his assassination the sports worl emrace the plic erption of patriotism. rom the spontaneos cheers of forty thosan fans in hilaelphia to ampe ilitary ppreciation ight celerations at staims aron the contry

the sports worl elte in the ephoria of in aen

s

ramatic emise. et some athletes are to ck the tren an in the process learne a togh lesson aot the limits of free speech in the ockocracy . hris oglas oerts former emphis asketall all merican an ilwakee ck respone to in aen

s eath with

a litany of reasons why he wasnt oining the party tweeting among other things t took eaths to kill that one gy years

ars to kill that gy . t cost s

to kill that gy

. t took

roghly

. t we winning thogh. aaaa.

arcasm . rofanity

threats an the general elief that he was stpi an a

moron who shol sht his m epletive moth ecase he is

not intelligent came rolling in. oglas oerts trie to hit ack tweeting hat m sayin has nothing to o with aen . still feel a for the

or that gy in

families t feel

a for

the war families. . . . eople are telling me to get ot of merica now c m against

people ying everyay c m

T

against a year

hatever happene to or freeom of

speech hat ve learne tonight athletes sholnt have perspectives. t ont care. T

e feel certain ways aot things

.

ashar enenhall the ro owl rnning ack for the ittsrgh teelers raise eyerows even higher with his comments writing or those of yo who sai yo want to see in aen rn in hell an piss on his ashes ask how wol o feel aot yor heart . . . hat kin of person celerates eath enenhall then took it frther an voice his ots aot the of attacks casing Sorts ustrted

ficial story of the s senior footall writer on anks

to write a piece title enenhall st the atest layer to pot tter onsense. The otrage intensifie to the point where teelers presient rt ooney a ig money nler for resient ama an the .. amassaor to relan ha to actally isse a formal statement aot a tweet writing have not spoken with ashar so it is har to eplain or even comprehen what he meant with

his recent Twitter

comments. The entire teelers organiation is very pro of the o

or military personnel have one an we can only hope this leas to or troops coming home soon. hether or not yo spporte some or all the wars of the last ecae it shol e clear that the garians of ock cltre are trying to teach athletes a lesson yo have signe away yor right to have an opinion eyon yor choice of sneaker or sports rink. This is something that rns very eeply in the marrow of or sports worl the iea that athletes particlarly athletes of color p an play

shol st sht

.

oglas oerts an enenhall also nintentionally epose the most iarre contraiction of this no politics rle. layers are strongly encorage y management family

an the meia to follow the

rles an never talk politics t whether we choose to acknowlege it or not a politically charge atmosphere pervaes all of professional sports. ont st say that ecase live in a town where people root for a team calle the eskins. say so ecase at every sporting event we are encorage to collectively celerate the isplays of nationalism patriotism an military might that festoon every corner. n aition the politics of ig siness an ig sponsorship eals satrate sports arenas. t one point aseall owners wante to pt as for

Sider Mn

on every secon ase

an only acke away when fans erpte in otrage. ven college footall players so calle amaters are trsse in as to a egree that wol shame . f only the owners of pro sports teams

col create a re white an le eer

they might collectively keel

over in oy . t throghot history

weve also seen athletes take this setp an

stan it on its hea. This has happene when they have se their ealte hypercommercialie platform to say something aot the worl an then are those in power to sht them p. There is a reason we associate people like ackie oinson with the civil rights movement hamma li with the s illie ean ing with the women s movement or lympian T

om

aell the foner of

the ay ames with T rights. This history inicates that sports is never st a spectacle that it has a potential to tap into sentiments for social change. r sports cltre shapes societal attites relationships an power arrangements. t is where cltral meanings or very notions of who we are an how we see each other

not only as

mericans t also as inivials play ot. t frames the ways in which we nerstan an iscss isses of gener n as ever

race an class.

it is crcial for nerstaning how these norms an

power strctres have een negotiate strggle with an resiste. or is ussion nd ritin . hat oes irin mean when he claims that athletes are a part of this worl par. n what way col people think athletes are not a part of this worl hat oes it mean for irin that they are . ather than presenting oth sies isinterestely irin takes a strong position in re ame . ow oes he take that position ist

five or si ways in which he presses his point. oes he arge from evience an proof or throgh se of rhetoric or some comination of the two . connections The srge in political awareness an political speech among the athletes irin escries in re ame is significant t what oes irin have to say aot its ef fect Think aot this estion in the light of alcolm lawell s mall hange . ocial meia play a role in many of the moments of protest irin iscsses wol they have ha the same impact withot the nternet ow might irin respon to lawell . ollege an professional sports in the nite tates are illion ollar instries. n networks pai a total of . illion for the roacast rights to ational ootall eage games. ow o yo feel aot the place of sports in society that this fact reflects re yo a fan o yo estion national priorities or o yo not care o yo think there are positive or negative ramifications for the place sports hol in or economy an cltre . ooinrter irin alles to the controversy over the name of the ashington ational ootall eage team. esearch this isse smmariing the argments on oth sies an listing the positions taken for an against. ase on yor research where o yo stan hy

otes

ays to ea ctively .

ors in olface are treate in the glossary of writing terms which starts

on page

.

ow to T ame a il T . ay wyn mith

Moornd s od ountry

. rena lepfis e ish oen

onge

i rye hey s nthooy

nplishe ook.

The orney ome in

he

ribe of in

elanie ayeantrowit an rena lepfis es.

ontpelier

T inister isom ooks

. . . rtega

ie too e rrio

. trans. ortencia . lwan os

ngeles . . rtega lisher ookseller

.

. aro ernan hve nrew . ohen an nthony

. eltramo

E enue de os hi nos eion nd So i hr teristi s of nue Used by Mexi n eri ns

rlington

enter for pplie ingistics

. . ernan hve vii. . rena lepfis eclar ewish entity of in

iishkayt in merica in

ayeantrowit an lepfis es. .

. elanie ayeantrowit ign in ritins

he

ittsrgh

. oolfo onales

e Se in ode oes nd ther

otheroot lications nc. oun

o Soy oun

. ew

ork

ooks . t was first plishe in . . ershen afman chenkman ooks nc. . ohn . hve

She he o er of rin

amrige

. he ost nd he hi o es of the South est

lere niversity of ew eico ress

.

antam

ribe

. ispanic is erive from

isnis

Es

a name given to the erian

eninsla in ancient times when it was a part of the oman mpire an is a term esignate y the .. government to make it easier to hanle s on paper. . The Treaty of aalpe ialgo create the eican merican in . . nglos in orer to alleviate their gilt for ispossessing the hicano stresse the panish part of s an perpetrate the myth of the panish othwest.

e have accepte the fiction that we are ispanic that is panish

in orer to accommoate orselves to the ominant cltre an its ahorrence of nians. hve .

learct plaining the istance . er ut he

redy of ndustri orestry

e. ill eval. ierra l

ooks . . rom

ooks .

er ut he

redy of ndustri orestry

e. ill eval. ierra l

n eeping a oteook . pers

nsights rench . .

. penses

Thoghts reflections rench . .

erving in loria . col fin no statistics on the nmer of employe people living in cars or vans t accoring to a report of the ational oalition for the omeless yths an acts aot omelessness nearly one fifth of all homeless people in twenty nine cities across the nation are employe in fll or part time os. hrenreich

s note.

n mpster iving . pas e orre allet step rench . .

mall hange hy the evoltion ill ot e Tweete . rencis

from the rench revanche revenge political policy of a

nation or an ethnic grop intene to regain lost territory or staning. .

ow t eels to e olore e . eir . ssei

flight to escape anger spear . .

..

oes T rth atter . o thinking religios person elieves this. l hat writes one of the referees of this ook. t many scientific creationists not only elieve it t are making increasingly aggressive an sccessfl ef

forts to have it taght in

the schools msems oos an tetooks. hy ecase aing p ie egats the ages of patriarchs an others in the ile gives sch a figre an the ile is inerrant. . lthogh it

s har for me to see a more profon cosmic connection than the

astonishing finings of moem nclear astrophysics cept for hyrogen all the atoms that make each of s p the iron in or loo the calcim in or ones the caron in or rains were manfactre in re giant stars thosans of light years away in space an illions of years ago in time. are as like to say starstf f. . s the pioneering physicist enamin ranklin pt it n going on with these eperiments how many pretty systems o we il which we soon fin orselves olige to estroy t the very least he thoght the eperience sf fice to help to make a vain an hmle.

e

ivil isoeience . oernsest

ossily a reference to The est government is that which

governs least the motto of the United Sttes Mine nd eo rti evie

or the less government we have the etter

alo merson

from alph

s olitics . .

. tepresenteicnr

olitionists consiere the ..eican

an ef

fort to eten slavery into former eican territory

. nooernenten

ar ..

narchists. .

. po erones

The oys who carrie gnpower for soliers. .

. rom The rial of ir ohn oore at ornna y harles

olfe

.. . possecoitts

iterally

the power of the conty a sherif

f s posse.

. . rom amlet

.i.. .

. rom ing ohn .e

.ii.. .

illiam aley

an nglish theologian an philosopher

. . rom yril T .

eo

orner

s he evener

s redy

..

memer of the nepenent rer of ellows a

fraternal organiation originating in nglan in the mi s. . . opernicsn ter

icolas opernics

olish foner of moern astronomy artin ther

was the

was a

.

erman monk who was integral to the rotestant eformation. . . esteee neior

Thorea is referring to amel oar

a

assachsetts congressman who was sent to oth arolina to protest the seire an enslavement of lack sailors. e was threatene an force ot of the state withot secring the stice he soght. . . en ertereoreicreo . ce . sireton . ssn . rpes

s

atthew . .

hall where plic lectres are hel. . town with a cort conty of

fices an ails. .

slim. . n reek mythology

rphes

s msic was so af fecting that his

songs col charm rocks trees an animals. . . rom eorge eele

s tte of r

acte printe .

. .

ester

. eno

aniel

ester

the secretary of state from to . .

The men who wrote the onstittion in . .

. teinesepiosoper

ost likely onfcis. .

The owest nimal . This was to have een preface y newspaper clippings which apparently ealt with religios persections in rete. The clippings have een lost. They proaly referre to the retan revolt of .

lossary of

riting Terms

sion reference to an artistic work person place or event aot which reaers are assme to alreay know . The relevance of the reference is also not sally eplaine eaers are assme to nerstan the connection etween the writer s sect an the thing referre to. s a reslt of these assmptions allsion is an economical way of making a point as it crams a lot of information into a few wors. hen ith rti ofer in The yth of the atin oman st et a irl ame aria p. refers to poplar songs as she oes in her title to a song from the msical est Side Story she is making allsions assming that we will e familiar with her references an that we will nerstan the connections she is trying to make etween poplar songs an stereotypes. no n etene comparison. n analogy eplains featres of one thing y reference to featres share with something more commonly known an nerstoo. n oest roposal p. onathan wift makes an analogy etween the treatment of the poor in relan an a hypothetical imagine treatment that wol e nthinkale an impossile t if consiere in a certain way is not far from what is actally happening to them. wift presents the analogy inirectly it may not e ntil yo are far into the essay that yo realie what he s oing t the power of the connection is the greater for it. rent riting that attempts to prove a point throgh reasoning. rgment presses its case y sing logic an y spporting its logic with eamples an ei ence . hen Thomas ef ferson in The eclaration of nepenence p. makes his case for why the merican colonies shol e given their inepenence he introces his list like this The history of the present ing of reat ritain is a history of repeate inries an srpations all having in irect oect the estalishment of an asolte T yranny over these tates. T o prove this let acts e smitte to a cani worl par . . aking a ci an then making the transition to spporting eamples ef ferson s writing is argment. ience s actors have aiences who can see an hear them writers have reaers. aving a sense of aience is important in writing ecase we write if ferently

epening on who we think will e reaing or work. f the aience is specific we write in sch a way that will appeal to a small grop if it is general we write in sch a way that as many people as possile will listen to an e ale to hear what we have to say. t is especially easy to see consierations of aience in speeches as in plic ocments sch as Thomas ef ferson s eclaration of nepenence p. t it can also e seen in works in which writers are trying to eplain their eperiences to reaers who might not have ha sch eperiences themselves as in rent taples s st alk on y lack en an lic pace p. . sen eect nalysis of events or sitations in which reasons are soght an ef fects are consiere. riters tracing the chain of events leaing to a present sitation or arging the conseences of a ftre ecision are oing case an ef fect writing. n hy ont e omplain p. illiam . ckley r . makes his focs on case an ef fect eplicit he is asking what the case of a particlar phenomenon is why it eists. ver the corse of his essay he escries the phenomenon offers eamples of it an attempts to ventre some possile eplanations of the case of it as many case an ef fect essays o. n this case the case of a ehavior failre or relctance to complain is eplaine y a larger cltral evelopment an increase sense of helplessness. e then goes on to eplain tht phenomenon as the proct of even larger historical evelopments technologiation an centraliation of political an economic power . To take eception to ckley s argment one ths has to refte at least two layers of case an ef fect eplanations. i hat an argment tries to prove often calle a tesis . n The aranoi tyle of merican olicing p. Ta ehisi oates makes an argment that police violence against the commnity elegitimies the police force in the eyes of the people. is claim is straightforwar when citiens cannot trst the police the system is roken. pporting that claim reires evience an the well reasone aressing of opposing viewpoint t the claim itself remains simple an clear . ssiictionn iision The sorting ot of elements into classes or grops or the separation of something into its parts. lassification an ivision are se when a writer wants to reak something own into its elements or grop a nmer of things in orer to analye them. hen ike ose talks aot if ferent kins of teachers an stents in st anna e verage p. he is classifying

when my T an in other T onge p. the varios nglishes she ses she is iviing.

reaks own her langage se into

ic n ol tire epression that writers shol avoi like the plage. ike the plage is an eample of clich. hen rafting an especially when revising writers scan their work for wors an phrases that have that less than fresh feeling an strike them ot. ike the plage for eample can e replace with a new concrete image which like the plage mst have een at one time closer to the time of the plage itself perhaps . The nieness of a writer s voice comes in part from the wors chosen. sing well worn often chosen phrases can e thoght of then as a lost opportnity . oprisonn contrst amination of similarities an if ferences. ne sally t not always appears with the other. harati kheree s Two ays to elong in merica p. shows in its first sentence that if ferences often arise etween similar things an so that comparison an contrast often go together This is a tale of two sisters from alctta ira an harati who have live in the nite tates for some years t who fin themselves on if ferent sies in the crrent eate over the stats of immigrants par . . oncsion The ening of an ess which shol ring the writer s point home in a few sentences or even a prrp or two. oo conclsions o more than repeat a tesis an they can even sometimes point the way to etensions of the thesis t they shol not introce entirely new thoghts. onclsions can also e fnny as when wift at the en of oest roposal p. insists he has no personal interest at stake in his ironic proposal that the people of relan eat their infants as in his wors have no chilren y which can propose to get a single penny the yongest eing nine years ol an my wife past chilearing par . . Deinition planation of the natre of a wor thing or iea. sss that efine may se many other kins of writing sch as escription eposition an nrrtion . efinition essays often are really reefinition essays they attempt to make s nerstan something we thoght we alreay nerstoo. hen ancy airs writes in n eing a ripple p. s a cripple swagger par . she is emracing a lael that others have trie not to se an she is reefining what it means.

Description epiction throgh sensory evience. escription is not st visal it can se etails of toch smell taste an hearing. These concrete etails can spport a specific rent give the reaer a sense of immeiacy or estalish a moo. escription while tie to the concrete can also se etpor as when erlyn linkenorg writes in r anishing ight p. n yet aove the city s pale ceiling lies the rest of the niverse tterly niminishe y the light we waste a right shoal of stars an planets an galaies shining in seemingly infinite arkness par . . Diction or choice. iction can e characterie in terms of level of formality formal or informal concreteness specific or astract an other choices that reflect a level appropriate to the writer s sect an ience . iction is a central vehicle y which a writer makes her meaning clear an it is a maor element of a writer s style as well an so of her tone. The eclaration of nepenence p. is an ecellent eample of carefl wor choice. n this important ocment Thomas ef ferson ha to make every wor cont an in his choice of wors some repeate sch as eu usurtions tyrnt an indeendent ef ferson mae his meaning very clear inee. Drt n nfinishe ess . raft may have a concsion t it has not een completely revise eite an proofrea. hen still in the raft stage writers can rethink not st the strctre of their essay t their ieas as well. ss short nonfiction piece of writing. writer shol present one main iea in an essay. There are if ferent kins of essays scholarly an personal formal an informal an many that mi these if ferent kins of writing. i ence The facts that spport an rent . vience takes if ferent forms epening on the kin of writing in which it appears t it generally is concrete agree on information that can e pointe to as eample or proof. n erving in loria p. arara hrenreich spports the narrative of her eperiences living as a low income worker with oth a etaile srvey of the living conitions of her coworkers an statistical spport gleane from research. hrenreich s argment is strengthene y inclsion of these if ferent kins of evience.

epiiction roviing specific instances in spport of general ieas. n n ompassion p. arara aear scher tells a nmer of anecotes that serve as eamples of enconters etween the less fortnate an those who of fer help. position riting that eplains. ather than showing as in nrrtie eposition tells. maority of esss contain some eposition ecase they nee to convey information give ackgron or tell how events occrre or processes work. ars ighner ses eposition in n mpster iving p. to eplain who scavenges from mpsters how they o it how things in mpsters get there an many other things relate to mpster iving. c logical error . allacies weaken an argment. They incle the making of false choices the false assigning of case as in saying that ecase something happene after something else the first event case the secon the making of false generaliations an many others. ieprrpess o shol e familiar with this format from high school. t is taght ecase it provies an easy template for composition an introctory prrp which contains yor tesisstteent three oy paragraphs laying ot three rents pieces of ei ence or other kins of spport for yor tesis an a final concling paragraph restating the thesis an smmariing the material in the oy . hile it can e a sefl tool for eginning writers it is confining an tens to encorage ninspiring nimaginative writing. o will notice that none of the athors in this ook se that format an yo sholnt either . t is the cic of writing essays an like actal clichs shol e avoie like the plage. ntro ction The eginning of an ess it shol generally state a writer s main point. n introction can incle a tesisstteent an can even egin to evelop the tesis t it can also simply pose a estion the answer to which will e the essay s thesis or it can egin with a stor ot of which the thesis will come. illiam . ckley r . s hy ont e omplain p. is a goo eample of this kin of introction. ron

eral irony is writing that says one thing while it means something else often the opposite of what it says sarcasm is one form of veral irony . The if ference etween literal meaning an implicit meaning is often se to sggest the if ference etween what a sitation or person seems or pretens to e an what it or he really is. This se of irony is the reason irony often appears in satirical writing writing that mocks a sitation or iea . onathan wift s oest roposal p. is entirely ironic the if ficlty lies in figring ot what meaning wift intens since the literal meaning is certainly not his message. hen something occrs that is conter to what is epecte what people often refer to when they say something is ironic it is sometimes calle sitational irony . n eample of this latter form of irony can e seen in the conclsion of angston ghes s alvation p. . etpor etaphor can e nerstoo as a figre of speech a nonliteral se of langage that says one thing is another or in the form of simile as a figre of speech that says one thing is ie another. n oth cases the writer is trying to eplain one thing y means of comparing it to another more familiar thing. ne eample of the metaphor that makes a comparison y saying one thing is another comes from . . hite s nce ore to the ake p. t took a cool nerve ecase if yo threw the switch a twentieth of a secon too soon yo wol catch the flywheel when it still ha spee enogh to go p past center an the oat wol leap ahea charging ll fashion at the ock par . . ote that this metaphor oes not say eplicitly that the oat is a ll rather it says that the oat wol e an hre bufshion rrtion Telling a stor or giving an accont of an event. arration is a part of many if ferent kins of writing. riters often tell an anecote or short narrative often tol to make a point as spport for an rent . ome esss are almost entirely narration t sally the events of the story lea to some kin of concsion . eorge rwell s hooting an lephant p. is largely narration an leas him to a very specific conclsion as can e seen when he writes of the story he tells t was a tiny incient in itself t it gave me a etter glimpse than ha ha efore of the real natre of imperialism the real motives for which espotic governments act par . . rrp series of sentences set of f y an initial inentation or a lank line that evelop a main iea. aragraphs often have topicsentences that state that main iea followe y sentences that of fer spport.

rprse rephrasing of a section of a work into one s own wors. paraphrase is if ferent from a sr in that it incles the etails of a work an so is of similar length to the original a paraphrase is similar to a smmary in that oth attempt to give some sense of another work withot sing its wors. iris sing another person s wors or ieas in one acknowlegment.

s own work withot

ointoie The angle from which a writer sees his or her sect. o matter how oective or impartial a writer claims to e he or she is always writing from a point of view inflence y age race gener an economic an social stats to name st a few factors. n the personal essay ow t eels to e olore e p. ora eale rston acknowleges writing from her own point of view. reritin riting that happens efore rafting. rewriting is an early stage in the writing process ring which writers rainstorm come p with topics an theses an egin to work on ways to evelop them. rocessnsis plaining how to o something how others o it or how certain things occr . ften process analysis spports another aim to make a point or to tell one s own stor for eample. hen reerick oglass tells the story of his early reaing in earning to ea an rite p. for eample he eplains how he manage to get poor white chilren to help him an how in oing so he learne things that wol help him arge for the aolition of slavery . ottion The inclsion of the wors of another in one s own work inicate y srroning otation marks. se to convey a sense of the person who wrote or spoke those wors to reproce a phrase or sentence or more that perfectly captres some meaning the writer wishes also to convey or to orrow some athority from an epert or eyewitness. loria nala s ow to Tame a il T onge p. emonstrates a nmer of ses of otation. eision The stage in the process of writing after a first rt is written when writers reeamine their work an try to improve it. This improvement consists of more

than eiting an proofreaing it also incles reevalating the strctre the spporting ei ence the tesis an even the topic. ll goo writers revise their work. etoric The effective se of langage also the sty of ef fective langage se. The term can also e se negatively as when it is sai that a particlar argment is really st sing rhetoric that is sing wors persasively perhaps y making emotional appeals withot actally making a soli rent . tor nrrtie . The term is se in a nmer of if ferent senses to inicate a narrative within a nonfiction piece to lael a news article in a newspaper or magaine or to name the genre of short fiction. any perhaps most effective essays tell some kin of story . te The way a writer writes. ny of the choices writers make while writing aot iction sentence length strctre rhythm an figres of speech that make their work son like them. The tone of a particlar work can e e in part to a writer s style. ames alwin is known for his istinctive style one aspect of which is the miing of formal sometimes ilical langage an an everyay conversational style as in this sentence from otes of a ative on p. ha ecline to elieve in that apocalypse which ha een central to my father s vision very well life seeme to e saying here is something that will certainly pass for an apocalypse ntil the real thing comes along par . . r conensation in one s own wors of a work. mmaries consist of the main points of the work spporting points eamples an other kins of spport are left ot. ntesis The se of otsie sorces to gather information an opinions in orer to evelop ieas amass evience an spport argments. ynthesis enales writers to o more than simply epress their opinion it enales them to enter the conversation aot their topic alreay eing hel in the wier worl. t also allows them to complicate their ieas to see more than one sie an to marshal information an logical argments in the service of their position. esis

The main iea in a piece of writing which the work is trying to arge or eplore. lso sometimes known as the ci a term that also has a more specific meaning relate to argmentation. The thesis can e eplicit as in essays that make an argment as in enry avi Thorea s ivil isoeience p. or implicit or even seconary as in some narrative essays as in eorge rwell s hooting an lephant p. . esisstteent sentence or grop of sentences sally appearing early in a piece of writing that annonce the thesis. The thesis statement often states plainly what the work as a whole is to e aot t it can take many forms as in the following from tephanie ricsson s The ays e ie p. in which she makes an assertion an follows with a estion e lie. e all o. e eaggerate we minimie we avoi confrontation we spare people s feelings we conveniently forget we keep secrets we stify lying to the ig gy instittions. ike most people inlge in small falsehoos an still think of myself as an honest person. re lie t it oesnt hrt anything. r oes it par. . one ttite towar sect reaers an even the writer an work itself also sometimes moo or atmosphere more generally . chieve throgh ste as well as content. n his inictment of ing eorge in The eclaration of nepenence p. Thomas ef ferson writes e has aicate overnment here y eclaring s ot of his rotection an waging ar against s. e has plnere or seas ravage or oasts rnt or towns an estroye the lives of or people pars. . is tone in this passage comes from his choice of wors the shape of his sentences an his imagery . opicsentence The sentence in which the writer states a prrp s main iea. The topic sentence often appears at or near the eginning of the paragraph. hen loria nala in ow to T ame a il T onge p. egins a paragraph hicanos after years of panishnglo coloniation have evelope significant if ferences in the panish we speak par . we shol sspect the rest of the paragraph will evelop that iea perhaps with eamples of these if ferences an we wol e right . rnsitions The connective tisse among sentences ieas an prrps . Transitions help reaers follow writers throgh their ieas an see the connections among

the parts of an rent or the relation etween scenes in a nrrtie . Throgh the se of transitional wors therefore nonetheess then phrases on the other hnd s resut in the se y effects sch as repetition or parallel sentence strctres an even whole paragraphs goo writers incle signposts to show reaers the irection the argment or story is going. ancy airs in n eing a ripple p. egins many of her paragraphs with transitions that help reaers follow the line of her thoght. ome eamples est egin to son like ollyanna however let me say that ont like having par . long with this fear that people are secretly accepting shoy goos comes a relentless pressre to please par . This gentleness is part of the reason that m not sorry to e a cripple par . .

cknowlegments aya ngelo hapter from

no hy the ed ird Sins

y aya ngelo copyright an renewe y aya ngelo. se y permission of anom ose an imprint an ivision of engin anom ose . ll rights reserve. loria nala ow to T

ame a il T

ronter he e Mesti

onge from

copyright

ordernds

y

loria nala. eprinte y permission of nt te ooks. www.antlte.com

.

arara aear scher

n ompassion from

y arara aear scher aear scher

copyright

he bit of ovin

y arara

. se y permission of anom ose an imprint

an ivision of engin anom ose . ll rights reserve. ames alwin otes of a ative on y ames alwin copyright

renewe y ames alwin. eprinte y

permission of eacon ress oston. illam

. ckley

y y illiam ckley

r . hy ont . ckley

e omplain from

r . copyright

r . eprinte y permission of The

anny ha The rning esire for ot hicken gst . se with permission.

Mies one

y illiam

.

allace iterary gency he iner

.

anra isneros nly aghter

. opyright y anra

isneros. irst plishe in ovemer . y permission of san erghol iterary ervices ew amy

ork an

. ll rights reserve.

li lare learct plaining the istance in li lare pp. . opyright

Exie nd ride

y

li lare. ll rights reserve.

eplishe y permission of the copyright holer an the plisher ke niversity ress.

www.kepress.e

.

Ta ehisi oates The aranoi tyle of merican olicing tnti

ecemer . opyright

o. as first plishe in istrite y T

The tlantic eia

he tnti Mine

rine ontent gency

ith rti ofer

ll rights reserve. . se with permission.

The yth of the atin

ame ara from

he

oman st et a irl

he tin e rose nd oetry

copyright

. eprinte with permission from The niversity of eorgia ress. oan iion n eeping a oteook from ethehe

copyright

Sou hin

renewe y oan iion.

eprinte y permission of arrar

tras an iro.

arara hrenreich erving in loria from ot ettin y in eri

o rds

i e nd ied n

y arara hrenreich copyright

y arara hrenreich. eprinte y permission of artners an enry olt an ompany ars ighner hree

.

n mpster iving from

rves ith ibeth

ers n the od nd n the Streets

ars ighner

copyright y

. eprinte y permission of t. artin

s ress. ll

rights reserve. tephanie ricsson The

ays

e ie opyright y

tephanie ricsson. riginally plishe y

he Utne eder

eprinte y the permission of nham iterary nc. as agent for the athor . en ann

rongfl irth

y ew

he ut

ovemer . opyright

ork eia . se with permission.

alcolm lawell mall hange hy the evoltion ill ot e Tweete

e

or Mine

. eprinte with the permission

of the athor . onathan ol hat s a rrito rimer . opyright y .. ahawa aile oing t lone

eey

ctoer

eekly. se with permission. utside

ay . opyright

y ahawa aile. eprinte y permission of gency

.

enine olmes hen ink allet lippers or

ies

ont o

ly . y The ew

he e

ork Times. ll rights

reserve. se ner license. angston ghes alvation from

he i Se

copyright

y angston ghes. opyright renewe y rna ontemps an eorge oston ass. eprinte y permission of ill an ang a ivision of arrar

tras an iro.

amaica incai ecerpt from The gly T e arrar

S

copyright y amaica incai. eprinte y permission of tras an iro.

tephen ing eaing to rft

orist from

rite from n ritin Meoir of the

y tephen ing copyright y tephen ing. eprinte

with the permission of criner

a ivision of imon chster

nc.

ll rights reserve. erlyn linkenorg r Mine

anishing ight

. eprinte with permission of the plisher

re ore The orth of ly from e

tion eorhi

plishe y rossing ress copyright

i e Sein of My y

re ore. se herewith y permission of the harlotte heey iterary gency

.

.

ancy airs n eing a ripple from

intext

y ancy airs

copyright y The riona oar of egents. eprinte y permission of the niversity of riona ress. atthew . . alay

The hosts in r achines

he e

orer . opyright on ast. se with permission. harati kheree T

wo

ays to elong in merica y harati

kheree. opyright y harati kheree. riginally lishe in

he e

or

ies

eprinte y permission of the

athor . Tommy range nian eas ecerpt s from

here here

ove

ommy range. se

y T ommy range copyright y T

y permission of lfre . nopf an imprint of the nopf oleay lishing rop a ivision of engin anom ose . ll rights reserve. ike ose

st

anna e

verage rom

ives on the

oundry he Strues nd hieveents of eri Underrered

s

y ike ose copyright y ike ose.

eprinte with the permission of The ree ress a ivision of imon chster

nc. ll rights reserve.

arol agan oes T

rth atter opyright y emocrits

roperties . riginally plishe in

Seti nuirer

with permission from emocrits roperties .

eprinte

aria ichela assi The ea

as ever le

eon

ly

. This essay was originally plishe in eon aeon.co . se with permission. avi earis ike ys from

ed

y avi earis

copyright y avi earis. eprinte with permission of ittle rown an ompany an on ongon ssociates nc. ll rights reserve. rent taples st

alk on y lack en an lic pace.

opyright . eprinte with permission from the athor loria teinem e ies an vertising

Ms againe

pp. . eprinte with permission of the athor my T an other T

.

onge opyright y my T

appeare in he hreeenny evie

an. irst

eprinte y permission of the

athor an the anra ikstra iterary gency alvin T rillin ast ays of the ickshaw tion eorhi

.

. first plishe in the

. opyright y alvin T

rillin. se

y permission of illiam orris neavor ntertainment . i

eiwei The efgee risis snt ot efgees. t

he urdin

erary . opyright arian ews eia

t . se with permission.

s ot s

. . hite nce ore to the ake. opyright y . . hite. eprinte y permission of artners. anya e

anagihara et T or

ies

ortoise ho ill tlive s ll

ay . opyright y The ew

he ork

Times. ll rights reserve. se ner license. ave irin ecerpt from Sorts ord Uside o n

e ver o oiti s s

urned the

. opyright y ave irin.

eprinte y permission of The ew ress.

www.thenewpress.com.

ne of thors an T

itles

eory of the ve he lato ngelo aya rdution nala loria o to e scher arara aear n ossion

id

onue

alwin ames otes of tive Son ckley illiam . r . hy ont e oin urnin esire for ot hi en he ha ha anny he urnin esire for ot hi en isneros anra ny uhter ivi isobedien e Thorea lare li er ut Exinin the istn e er ut Exinin the istn e lare oates T a ehisi he rnoid Stye of eri n oi in ofer ith rti he Myth of the tin on ust Met ir ed Mr e rtion of ndeenden e he ef ferson iion oan n eein oteboo oes ruth Mtter agan oglass reerick ernin to ed nd rite hrenreich arara Servin in orid ighner ars n uster ivin ricsson tephanie he ys e ie ourth of uy

he

ore

ann en ronfu irth hosts in ur M hines

he

alay

lawell alcolm S hne hy the evoution eeted oin t one aile ol onathan ht s urrito rier rdution ngelo aile ahawa oin t one olmes enine hen in et Siers ont o o t ees to e oored Me rston o to e id onue nala ghes angston Svtion rston ora eale o t ees to e oored Me ust nn e vere ie uys earis ndin eds range

ose

ef ferson Thomas he e rtion of ndeenden e ust on y Men nd ubi S e taples incai amaica he Uy ourist ing tephen edin to rite linkenorg erlyn ur nishin iht st ys of the i sh Trillin ernin to ed nd rite oglass ore re he ourth of uy o est ni he Twain airs ancy n ein rie alay atthew . . he hosts in ur M hines Modest roos wift Mother onue Tan kheree harati o ys to eon in eri

i ot e

Myth of the tin on ust Met ir ed Mr ofer otes of tive Son

he

alwin

n ein rie airs n e More to the e hite n ossion scher n uster ivin ighner n eein oteboo iion ny uhter isneros range T ommy ndin eds rwell eorge Shootin n Eehnt ur nishin iht linkenorg rnoid Stye of eri n oi in et ortoise ho i utive Us lato he eory of the ve ree irin rofessions for oen oolf

he

edin to rite ing efuee risis snt bout efuees t ose ike

ust

nn e

oates anagihara

s bout Us vere

agan arl oes ruth Mtter Svtion ghes assi aria ichela he Se s ever ue Se s ever ue he assi earis avi ie uys Servin in orid hrenreich Sex ies nd dvertisin teinem Shootin n Eehnt rwell

he

eiwei

Sn in eri hitman S hne hy the evoution taples rent teinem loria wift onathan

i ot e

eeted lawell

ust on y Men nd ubi S e Sex ies nd dvertisin Modest roos

Tan my Mother onue Thorea enry avi ivi isobedien e Trillin alvin st ys of the i sh Twain ark he o est ni o ys to eon in eri kheree Uy

ourist he

incai

ys e ie he ricsson eiwei i he efuee risis snt bout efuees t ht s urrito rier ol hen in et Siers ont o hite . . n e More to the e hitman alt Sn in eri hy ont e oin ckley oolf irginia rofessions for oen ronfu irth ann anagihara anya irin ave

ree

et

s bout Us

olmes

ortoise ho

i utive Us

Description The tet on the ack insie cover reas The ssays aya ngelo raation loria nala ow to T

ame a il T

onge

arara aear scher

n ompassion

ames alwin otes of a ative on illiam

. ckley . hy ont

e omplain

anny ha The rning esire for ot hicken anra isneros nly aghter li laire learct plaining the istance Ta ehisi oates The aranoi tyle of merican olicing ith rti ofer

The yth of the atin

oman st et a irl

ame ara oan iion n eeping a oteook reerick oglass earning to ea an

rite

arara hrenreich erving in loria ars ighner

n mpster iving

tephanie ricsson The

ays

e ie

en ann

rongfl irth

alcolm awell mall hange hy the evoltion ill ot e Tweete onathan ol hat s a rrito rimer ahawa aile oing t lone enine olmes hen ink allet lippers

ont o

angston ghes alvation ora eale rston ow t eels to e olore e Thomas ef ferson The eclaration of nepenence amaica incai The gly T

orist

tephen ing eaing to

rite

erlyn linkenorg r

anishing ight

re ore The orth of ly ancy airs n eing a ripple atthew . . alay harati kheree T

The hosts in r achines wo

ays to elong in merica

Tommy range nian eas eorge rwell hooting an lephant lato The llegory of the ave

ike ose open otes st arl agan oes T

anna e

verage close otes

rth atter

aria ichela assi The ea

as ever le

avi earis ike ys rent taples st

alk on y lack en an lic pace

loria einem e ies an vertisting onathan wift oest roposal my T an other T onge enry avi Thorea ivil isoeience alvin T rillin ast ays of the ickshaw ark T wain The owest nimal i

eiwei The efgee risis snt ot efgees. t

. . hite nce ore to the ake alt hitman lang in merica irginia anya

oolf rofessions for anagihara et T

ave irin re ame

omen

ortoise ho ill tlive s ll

s ot s.

Description The tet on the ack cover reas ortale af

forale an highly

teachale ssays is a iverse collection covering a roa range of topics time perios an themes. These careflly chosen essays provie interesting an thoght provoking reaing material for the entire semester. The fleile eitorial apparats allows for a variety of teaching approaches an new sentence gies help il acaemic writing skills. macmillanlearning.com open otes ssays is a comprehensive volme of provocative an timely essays that encorages stent iscssion interaction an lively eate. lose otes m ash liaeth eefe ateway ommnity ollege open otes ssays has een a staple for or level composition corse for over seven years. t allows instrctors to inivialie their corse while proviing appropriate an essential reaings for the first year college stent. lose otes m ash arah irk niversity of laska nchorage The tet on the ottom portion of the ack cover reas over image pernsanitfotoetty mages macmillanlearning.com n the ottom portion is the macmillan learning logo with the tet esie it reaing efor st.martin

s macmillanlearning