I can’t dare to do free blog, so I am going to do reading response for the readings due last Wednesday. The clear theme of the readings due Wednesday was racial discrimination of African Americans back in 20th century. The readings we had for Wednesday however, did not only have a theme of racial discrimination but also had a clear difference in writing styles. The first reading, Story in Harlem Slang by Zora Neal Hurtson, was a story full of slang as the title says. Although I could understand what is basically going on in the reading, I could not really understand anything behind the plot of the story. I am not so sure if there was any, but that is how much I didn’t understand the reading because of slang. However, I was very surprised that a woman wrote this story. When I was first reading it like 15 days ago, I didn’t pay attention to the author’s name and didn’t realize that a woman wrote this. I was surprised that a woman can write something like this in man’s point of view so well.
The second reading, The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin had a clear difference in writing style. First, there wasn’t any slang within the reading, the writing was very formal (Well, it was a story from a book that was published) and the writing structure was very well organized too. As I was reading the story, I realized how bitter but accepting Baldwin was about his status in the U.S.. I also noticed how intelligent and convincing he is from his speeches. As a Baruch student who has taken a communication class, his speech was flawless. His speech was logical, was persuasive, and had a personal experience. If there was a person that was not persuaded by his speech, then I believe that person is not thinking logically. His speech skills is something that I have wanted all my life. If I ever remember his name after this class finishes, I will probably try to watch his speech again just to finish the speech we watched in class.
-Jason Cho
