A moment that stood out to me in Rankine’s excerpt that moved me was when she described how Mariana Alves was “excused from officiating any more matches on the final day of the US Open” (Page 122). She made five bad calls in a quarterfinal match towards Serena Williams causing major backlash when Serena ultimately lost the match. This stood out to me because it made me wonder why Alves made such bad calls. Was it due to her bad knowledge as a chair umpire or a different racial motive? Regardless, I was surprised to learn that even though Williams considered quitting, she always decides to put these kinds of events “behind her as they happen” (Page 122). Such composure is admirable and a common characteristic I have noticed about Williams in this excerpt.
Rankine uses emotion (pathos) when addressing the incident of the 2009 US Open semifinal where a foot fault is called against Williams in a crucial moment. After stating, “What! Are you serious? She is serious; she has seen a foot fault” it is clear that Rankine feels anger and disbelief towards the situation causing the reader to have the same emotions as well. Also, Rankine uses exigence in the beginning of her excerpt where she discusses how Henessy Yougman’s video towards African Americans in the music industry undermines the black community and causes her to continue addressing the topic of discrimination towards them.
I communicated effectively towards my mother by proving to her that I am a hard worker through school. Before, she would see me as lazy since I struggled finding a job. I wanted to prove to her that my college life is difficult but I didn’t want to sound ungrateful for the opportunity I had. Instead of complaining about college, I spent most of my days on the computer completing my daily assignments and she has taken note of it. It wasn’t until she caught me sleeping on my computer where she realized that college is taking a toll on me. She is concerned but at the same time proud that I am working towards my goals towards business which is what I hoped she would recognize. Yes college is difficult but with the support of my mother my motivation to get my degree has increased tremendously.
Erick, this is a very interesting exploration of the prompt: your “silent communication” happened not in a moment but in months of steady diligence that you know your mother is seeing.