Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison follows the life of a young African-American who looks up to his grandfather although his grandfather describes himself as a "traitor to his people". The narrator’s idea that his grandfather expresses, and when he is called to give a speech to a group of upper-class white folks, he is persuaded to fight a group of kids of the same age. He is defeated in the fight, yet he goes on to make his speech in front of the crowd. His persistence to give his speech in front of people after he lost in a fight conveys Ellison's expression of appointing identity to his main character. From reading this story, I sensed a major theme of representing one’s self as an individual opposed to giving into what society wants you to do.
Hannah Dunn AP English Steffen November 8, 2010 “Battle Royal” Ralph Ellison's short story, “Battle Royal”, compares a young man's fight in a battle royal to the fight of the African Americans through time. The author uses his past experiences and own life situations to create a vivid plot and story. A biographical approach is used by Ellison to tell the story of a high school scholar invited to give a speech in front of many important people of the town. Instead he is trapped in a fight. The battle royal paints the picture of the African Americans' fight for their rights.
Malcolm X as an Activist During the 1960’s, there was one man who really stood out about expressing the hardships of being an African American. This man was Malcolm X. Ultimately, Malcolm X believed to the fullest extent, that African American’s could not reach their full potential in society because of white racism, and the historical events leading from slavery in the United States. However, due to the events that happened in his childhood, Malcolm X tries to reverse this feeling of victimization throughout his life and tries to become a positive activist for all African Americans. Throughout his life and up until the day he dies, Malcolm X tries to pursue this ultimate goal of seeing white racism in a positive light and making something good come out of the events that happened in his life.
That’s why I agree with the prosecuting argument of the American dream that Minorities, and women, were discriminated against. First off, minority men and women, like Book T. Washington, were oppressed daily by the majority. Slavery was once a very popular mindset of this country, however today we look upon it as cruelty. Book T. Washington was born into slavery and felt the white man oppressing him most of his life. He fought back and gave speeches against such oppression against him and his people.
One of the most important things to analyze is the speech objective. As a notable civil rights leader, King’s main objective was to motivate his followers, mainly civil rights activists. His objective was to motivate them to continue their strenuous civil rights work and motivate them to overcome the seemingly unchangeable conditions that they were dealing with. The primary message being delivered was that Blacks in America were not being treated fairly and that they were going to continue to push for justice until it was achieved. He gives examples, such as the fact that most Blacks in the Deep South were still not able to vote and that racial violence was still occurring throughout the Nation.
That day marked a note in the history books and is now taught today. Martin Luther king Jr took attention to the problem in our country during the Civil rights era. As he starts his speech, Dr.King seems optimistic about his speech during the first line.Then he speaks about the hardship which African Americans endured while America was beginning to become a stronger symbol of hope and freedom. He uses ethos, logos, and pathos throughout his speech "Ethos, or the ethical appeal, means to convince an audience of the author's credibility or character." Dr. King is a man who is over flowing with credibility.
The main character featured in Ralph Ellison’s short story Battle Royal serves as a satisfying example of an unintentional initiation process. Ellison’s story takes place in terminally racist southern America somewhere around the mid 20th century where we are presented with an freshly graduated anonymous black male who is our narrator. The author reveals to us in his story that this young black male is both naive and limited even after his cruel initiation into a world of racism. The youth in this story was recognized for his oral talent of delivering speeches. A honorary expectation was bestowed upon him in the form of a request to deliver a speech to an assembly comprised of the town’s “leading white citizens” (Meyer 209).
The novel is a story about self-realization through action. The old men gathered at the Marshall plantation spent their entire lives running from trouble. After years of social, political, and economic suppression in a racist world that many black people long to stand up for. Gaines uses the setting of the novel and symbolism of both the tractor and sugar cane as tools that rally the old men to stand up, and specifically through the characterization of Charlie Gaines, he successfully develops the theme of redefining black masculinity through courage. The setting of the segregated south plays a key role in the illustration of the racial tension between blacks and whites.
The overview of the earlier history is important to grasp because it lays the groundwork to understanding the history of the family. Their troubled history starts and can date back to slavery. The history provides an in dept background in to the everyday struggle of being an American male in the United States. The feeling of not being accepted, oppressed and mistreated is a cycle that seems to continue to repeat itself in the Bosket family as well a feeling that many African Americans can agree with day. Many theories can be applied to each individual in the Bosket family.
African Americans and Their Fight for Freedom By Jennifer E DeLaney HIS 204 Instructor Henderson September 25, 2011 Page 1: African Americans and Their Fight for Freedom African Americans have gone a long way and to great lengths to be accepted into society. They are merely people like you and I and have endured many hardships to be recognized and looked upon past their skin color. The following paper will describe some of these hardships when dealing with segregation, discrimination, and isolation and what they did to overcome it. African Americans went through a lot of segregation, but with much patience they fought for their right to be considered an equal. In 1896, the Court set forth its famous “separate but equal doctrine” which provided the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.