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Casten MusakandaBrian BailieEnglish 208925 April 2020Assignment 2D.W Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation is a film that portrays a very strong but frightening message. The film is about two families: the Stoneman’s of the North and the Cameron’s of the South who were on two different sides during the Civil war and Reconstruction era. During this era the discourse communities believed that whites were superior. Griffith tries to argue his claim about race in America that whites are superior and blacks are inferior and frightening.The first scene that Griffith uses to prove his point is the one where Gus is following flora in the woods. The costume that Gus is wearing is a military clothing and looks old. The girl is wearing nice white clothing which looks very clean. The lighting used on Gus is dark which makes him look creepy and a threat. The lighting used on flora is light around her face which makes her look bright which shows she is a happy and gentle human being. As she is walking in the woods Gus is following her in a creepy way without her noticing which can come off weird to the audience. He crunches his back in a downward position and he moves at a smooth pace. He is moving like a predator by not making any sudden noises while following her and he is eye balling her like she is a full course meal. Once she realizes he has been following her she runs for her life and he chases her. The cross-cut editing technique shows what each person is doing at the same time. There is one scene where flora is running away from Gus, then the camera shows Gus chasing her and then another scene of flora's brother trying to find her. The use of this editing technique helps the scene be very suspenseful because it almost feels like something big is about to happen but the audience does not know what.This scene in itself tries to portray African American males are depicted as animals that are always trying to get with a white woman which gives blacks a negative stigma because in this time period intermix of races was looked down upon. The law and science discourse communities helped push the idea that blacks are inferior and that the Ku Klux Klan that killed Gus was not necessarily a bad thing. This would definitely cause white audience to see that group (KKK) and this idea as a positive movement which is what caused the historical time period to be even more a mess. The Strivings of the Negro people by W.E.B DU BOIS was an essay where he described how hard life is for African Americans in the American society. Blacks were not accepted as people in the society, they were looked at as another breed of some kind. Du Bois was not only a author and teacher but was also a political leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He believed that blacks did not feel like they belonged in American society.He talked about "Double-consciousness" in the beginning of his essay. Basically, saying white leaders believed American was white. That blacks were of African decent but necessarily American. This made blacks feel left out in society cause they were looked at as if they were not the same as whites. When talking about this concept, he stated: "This sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity". This gave blacks a feeling of not having an identity in the society and would judge themselves by whites standards which would then lead them to think to themselves that they are inferior.He gives a personal story where he was at school in England. The students were told to buy some nice visiting cards which they would exchange with one another at school. He tried to exchange with a girl but she refused it because of the color of his skin. That's when he realized that he was different from everyone else and was shut out from their world. He uses pathos in this example to further prove his point of blacks not able to have an identity.The point Dubois is trying to make is that the black experience is very emotional and is a battle. When you have a double conscious it feels like you are two different people in the world. You have to wake up and go through each day thinking to yourself that no matter how educated I am and the skills I possess I am still a problem. I am still not considered American. This can be a pathos appeal towards the audience when they look at it from his perspective which is very important.W.E.B wrote this essay to prove a point that which is that blacks’ goal is to be both black and American without being spit on or treated differently and without losing the chance of self-development. This is a powerful point that he makes and he does it through using rhetorical appeals such as ethos and pathos.I believe the film would be a persuasive genre. Most of the time movies have ideas and themes that the audience can agree with it in order for it to be persuasive. The movie would connect more with the people back then because discourse communities (whites) believed that blacks were inferior and dangerous which this film helped portrayed. Discourses like John Morgan and mis measure of man (science) taught people to read blacks in a negative way. In mis measure of man it talked about how blacks and whites have different skull structure and this could determine that blacks are not as smart as whites and are therefore inferior. Du Bois completely makes a counter argument where he says that blacks are just as smart as them and says that because of white’s negative perspective on his race it has made it difficult for blacks to find their place in America. He does this through using two rhetorical appeals which helps strengthen his argument. During and before his time white supremacy and scientific racism made it hard for Du Bois to get his point across in the end, that’s why the film was more effective.Work CitedGould, Stephen. “The Mismeasure of Man.” W.W. Norton & Company, 1980.Thomas, Brook. “Plessy V. Ferguson.” 1996.The Birth of a Nation ................
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