James Baldwins Narration and Analysis in Notes of a Native Son Essay

Experiences There is a very thin line between love and hate in James Baldwin’s essay â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† Throughout this essay James Baldwin continually makes references to life and death, blacks and whites, and love and hate. He uses his small experiences to explain a much larger, more complicated picture of life. From the first paragraph of the essay to the last paragraph, Baldwin continually makes connections on his point of view on life; beginning with the day his father died, to the time that his father was buried. James Baldwin is an outstanding author, who creatively displays his ability to weave narration and analysis throughout his essays. The binaries between life and death play a huge role in Baldwin’s â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† The day that James Baldwin’s father died, his mother had borne her last child. Although the day his father died was extremely upsetting, a new child coming into the world is exciting. This brings hope to the reader that eventually through all the trials and tribulations Baldwin goes through, that eventually he might find a state of peace. Baldwin’s father’s funeral happens to fall on Baldwin’s nineteenth birthday, which brings up another way Baldwin is able to show how life and death affect this essay. Instead of trying to deal with his father’s death with his family, Baldwin decides to celebrate his birthday with a bottle of whiskey and a girl that he knew. Baldwin is unsure of what to do now that his father is gone. He says, â€Å"I imagine I decided it, since, as the funeral hour approached, it became clearer and clearer to me that I would not know what to do with myself when it was over† (Baldwin 77). Baldwin figures that if he gets drunk enoug... ...ne to them and they would not tolerate it. So instead of cowering to the white girl’s â€Å"white power† they stood up for themselves; and showed this girl that she was not better than them just because of her skin color. It is these girls that help to diminish the â€Å"separate but equal† facilities. James Baldwin is an incredible essayist. He skillfully intertwines his own experiences growing up, into a more universal theory. Using binaries, Baldwin explains the hatred between whites and blacks and his desire for a change. His point of view on life is slightly different from the beginning of the essay to the last. However, he creatively shows these changes through narration and analysis. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York, New York, Library of America, 1998. 70-84.

The Soundtrack of Your Life

Music is a key factor in my life, now and has been for as long as I remember. Music is one thing that can control my mood and emotions unlike any other. The sounds and melodies of the composition have the potential to sway my moods from a dark gloomy state all the way to a joyous and soothing harmonic atmosphere. Music allows me to control how and what I want to be, or represent. Music is almost like picking out a favorite outfit. When one picks out an outfit to wear they most likely pick an outfit that expresses them and how they are feeling at that direct moment. They have the ability to change shoes, accessories, or their hairstyle to make it appealing to their particular desires, just as one has the will to change a song on their ipod, or flip the channel on a local radio station. Recently, my life has been undergoing many changes. I am now starting to apply myself in a way that allows me to develop my potential and show forth the results as an outcome of the pursuance of fulfilling my aspirations. More than ever now I am starting to realize that â€Å"you get out of life what you put in†. Life is dependent only on â€Å"what you bring to the table†. If one tends to put in minimal effort then one should not expect to experience a great aftermath. I have chosen three songs that apply to my life right now in the stance that I am currently in. Its ironic that all of these songs are from different genres, songwriters, and generations but, they somehow tie into my life perfectly. The main theme of the â€Å"soundtrack of my life† is â€Å"overcoming obstacles and changing that are essential to the growth and the perseverance of an individual†. Natasha Bedingfield’s song â€Å"Unwritten† has made quite an impact on me. When I first heard the song all I could really say is â€Å"wow†. This song made me feel empowered in a sense and I felt inspired to go out, make a difference and do something great. She explains how the world is offered to you and that it’s up to you to decide not only your fate but your destiny and how your life will end up. She states â€Å"I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined, I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned†. By reading these lyrics and interpreting them more as a poem I realized the true and pure essence of this lyrical stanza. I believe the message of this is to convey that although we’re taught certain things as simple as proper etiquette and how to act, that doesn’t define us. It’s almost as if the writer is referring to herself as anonymous, as if she doesn’t really know herself but, in the process is trying to reveal and create herself transforming from a nonentity into a being with an individual personality, demeanor, and identity whether she knows where she’ll end up or not. This line can apply hugely to my life. I am 17 now and as a child we were all conditioned and taught to behave in a certain manner. Now that I am older I feel as if I can speak for myself and in a sense â€Å"reincarnate or change† myself into what I want to be instead of what my parents have taught me. I think that being a child one doesn’t always really know who they are other than what they are told that they are. I still don’t know exactly who and what I am but, being in this position I feel as if I can create a new identity with myself without having to know exactly where and how I will end up. This songs main message was not only that â€Å"you are who you say you are to be† but also that â€Å"perseverance is a choice that we all have to take advantage of to prosper on our own terms. Miley Cyrus’ song â€Å"The Climb† is a basic analogy of my life as a whole. She states that through life anything worth having is going to take some struggle and hard work if its something that one truly wants to be successful at or accomplish. Though, her lines in her song are very simple they are simple enough in nature to strike with a hard meaning. Miley states â€Å"the struggles I'm facing, the chance I'm taking, sometimes might knock me down, but no, I'm not breaking. † These effortless lines may seem juvenile but are very mature and take a leading stance in my life. I am transitioning from the mind of a child into an adult. I might not necessarily make the right decisions all the times or the best moves but, I never give up on my ending goal, which is to be just a more wholesome and better person. I realize that â€Å"there's always gonna be another mountain, I'm always gonna wanna make it move, always gonna be an uphill battle, sometimes I'm gonna have to lose, ain't about how fast I get there, ain't about what's waiting on the other side, it's the climb. Miley Cyrus has never stated my life in general in a better way. This song can be considered the epitome of how I live and the thesis for this paper alone. Finally, I would like to introduce the classic song off of the movie â€Å"Space Jam† that has respectively impacted my life. This song simply is real and to me defies the essential steps in creating growth in myself. This song teaches that one must be able to see and visualize themselves in an instance in order to â€Å"touch the sky† or in other words overcome an obstacle that would once never be thought of or made possible. This song is none other than the 1996 billboard topping hit of â€Å"I Believe I can Fly† by R. Kelly. Kelly sings confidently â€Å"see I was on the verge of breaking down, sometimes silence can seem so loud, there are miracles in life I must achieve, but first I know it starts inside of me, oh, if I can see it, then I can be it. † Through my conquest of life I have had times where faith has been broken and when all seems to fail my life has just spiraled out of control. This song is like a â€Å"pick me up, and booster† to reassure that in the end all will be well if you just let go and believe wholeheartedly that things will work out for you. This also means that staying positive is key to a change that you are wanting to see in yourself but, essentially you have to be proactive and press on to change and develop yourself into the idol that you have created in you mind for yourself. In the end the soundtracks of my life are austerely defined as â€Å"overcoming obstacles and changing essentially to the growth and the perseverance of an individual†. If anything I think that I am drawn to these songs because of the messages that they bring. It’s not the catchy beats, the talented artist, the flashy music videos, or the encoded messages that draw my attention forth but rather what the song has to offer to me in such a plain way. In considering things as far as the music that I listen to I am very eclectic. If the track can provide me with insight, motivation, or reality of life then I most likely will be listening to it. It’s not so much of what we are listening to but, more so why we are listening and engaging in an artistic piece of music.

Marx and Durkheim’s View on the Benefits and Dangers of...

Introduction Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) were sociologists who both existed throughout similar time periods of the 19th and early 20th centuries, resulting in both Marx, and Durkheim to be concerned about similar effects and impacts among society (Appelrouth and Edles: 20, 77). Marx’s main focus was on class distinctions among the bourgeoisie and proletariat, forces and relations of production, capital, surplus value, alienation, labour theory of value, exploitation and class consciousness (Appelrouth and Edles: 20). Whereas Durkheim’s main focus was on social facts, social solidarity – mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity, anomie, collective conscience, ritual, symbol, and collective representations†¦show more content†¦Another concept that brought about inequality among the bourgeoisie and proletariat is the labour theory of value. As stated in the textbook Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory, â€Å"One of the basic truths of capitalism is that it takes money to make money, and the more money a business owner has at his or her disposal, the more ability the business owner has to generate profit-making schemes† (Appelrouth and Edles: 25). In this case, the bourgeoisies are at a benefit as they own the means of production, while the proletariat are at a disadvantage as they don’t have capital to make money. Marx’s ‘general formula for capital’ explains the class and power relations that predominate in modern capitalist society through the formula M-C-M. Marx describes this law of value to be beneficial to the bourgeoisies as they increase profits and capital. Bourgeoisies are able to do this because they have the money (M) to buy capital, which converts their money into commonality (C), which they then use to produce other commodities that are sold for money (M). Bourgeoisies predominate the proletariats through power relations as the formula is inversed for the w orking class, C-M-C. The working class sells their labour through commodity (C), which then is exchanged for money (M) and used to buy commodities (C) necessary for survival. The C-M-CShow MoreRelatedThe Paradox of Capitalism2320 Words   |  10 PagesCapitalism is an engine of economic growth that drives innovation faster than any sports car imaginable. Driving into oblivion can be thrilling, but it always has risks. The paradox of capitalism is subjective. For the working class, capitalism is a derogatory term symbolizing the exploitation of the poor by the strong and powerful. For the ruling class, it symbolizes a system where opportunities abound for those who are devoted, innovative, and work hard. Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim, prominentRead MoreKarl Marx s Theory Of Alienation Essay1553 Words   |  7 Pagescontrolled by the Bourgeoisie. Emile Durkheim’s theory of anomie was developed during a great capitalist growth, the industrialization revolution. The mass popul ation could not keep up with the constant change leading to the breakdown of social bonds between individuals and communities. This break of social bonds creates anomie for the individual or society which leads to fatalistic suicide, especially when a person is rule governed. These concepts provided by Marx and Durkheim have mutual relationshipsRead MoreCRM 1301 Midterm uOttawa Carolyn Gordon Essay10218 Words   |  41 Pagesorganization who takes the responsibility to persuade the society at what is more important in terms of laws. Folk devils: groups that vise to be a threat to society. Modern Day ‘Witch Hunts A ‘witch hunt’ occurs any time a group of people persecutes another group unfairly, usually blaming that group for larger problems Modern day drug users/drug laws a ‘witch hunt’: Opium Act of 1908 (stricter drug laws) Emily Murphy’s The Black Candle-This book created a moral panic in society. Video Notes:Read MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesand provides an advanced introduction to the heterogeneous study of organizations, including chapters on phenomenology, critical theory and psychoanalysis. Like all good textbooks, the book is accessible, well researched and readers are encouraged to view chapters as a starting point for getting to grips with the field of organization theory. Dr Martin Brigham, Lancaster University, UK McAuley et al. provide a highly readable account of ideas, perspectives and practices of organization. By thoroughlyRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagestruth of how religions grow and sustain themselves, but Edmonds realizes that models that have been used to explain other religious phenomenon dont always apply comfortably to the peculiar developments of Rastafarianism. For instance, very few modern religions have assumed such a signiï ¬ cant place in the mainstream of popular culture through the use of music. Marley is not seen as a religious ï ¬ gure; rather he is seen as a rock star, a pop hero, an icon. And yet his faith is at the core of his