Nana‘s reading responses, Week 6

1. What shocked me the most was that Serena Williams is an excellent tennis player. The referee made five wrong calls and she lost the match. Because everyone in the audience knows Serena Williams didn’t make mistake. But in spite of that, Let’s just say she is unlucky to have a racially and sexist referee, even if everyone thinks it’s unfair. “The serves and returns Alves called out were landing, stun-ningly unreturned by Capriati, inside the lines, no discerning eyesight needed. Commentators, spectators, television viewers, line judges, everyone could see the balls were good, everyone, apparently, except Alves. ”  Apparently she’s black and and a black woman, Serena Williams wagged her finger feebly, as if what tennis required was not perfect technique, but a suitable skin color and gender.“Serena, in her denim skirt, black sneaker boots, and dark mascara, began wagging her finger and saying “no, no, no,” as if by negating the moment she could propel us back into a legible world. ”

2. Rankine applied patho to move or persuade the audience, “Serena, in her denim skirt, black sneaker boots, and dark mascara, began wagging her finger and saying ‘no, no, no,’ as if by negating the moment she could propel us back into a legible world. ” Rankine describes how Serena Williams was dressed, giving the reader the impression that she was very excited about the match and that she had dressed up for it. But there’s a stark contrast to shaking the fingers and say “no, no, no”, denial and feeling like it’s all unreal, in trying to bring everyone back to reality. It’s a phrase that captures Serena Williams’ sense of loss and powerlessness. So that’s a good example of Patho. Rankine also applies lenses I recognize from Blankenship, Graves, and Eickmyer’s list that involved Gender studies  and Critical race theory. “What does a victorious or defeated black woman’s body in a historically white space look like?” It’s a critique of entrenched white supremacy and male chauvinism. This simple line illustrate the idea of debasement of the female image and the idealization of the male image, also racial bias in critical texts.

3. We can rhetoric thing in many ways, without using words. One of my jobs was to help take care of children who were born with disabilities. I went to pick up the kid from art class, but at the same time I saw another kid with swollen eyes, about six years old, looking for his mother on the street. I went up to him and asked him what was wrong, how I could help him. But he just took a look at me and turned his head down, so I crouched down to calm him down and asked him again. But then I saw the hearing aid on his ear, and I suddenly realized that this little kid couldn’t hear me. Then I began to gesture, I first touched my hair, because I think mothers should have long hair. Then I pointed to the other parents who were picking up their children. He seemed to understand what I was trying to say, and he nodded. I immediately called the teacher of the art class. I was worried that it was not safe for children to be on the side of the road. The teacher saw me and hurriedly said: “Tommy is here, finally found him, his mother has been looking for him for a while. “I pointed inside the building, and the child understood and smiled at me. For the first time, I felt that the world could communicate without words. It’s subtle for being able to understand by touching your hair and pointing to objects was very effective, even more effective than using words.