Notes of a Native Son Rhetorical Analysis



Notes of a Native Son Rhetorical Analysis

Within the borders of the United States’ limited, yet expansive history, there have been many cases of social injustice on a number of occasions. The relocation and encampment of Native Americans and the oppression of the early movements for women’s suffrage are two of many occurrences. Around the middle of the 20th century, a movement for equality and civil liberties for African Americans was kindled from the embers of its predecessors. James Baldwin, a black man living in this time, recalls an experience from within the heart of said movement in his essay, Notes of a Native Son. Baldwin conveys a sense of immediacy throughout his passage by making his writing approachable and establishing an enormous amount of ethos.

Baldwin’s essay, which reminisces upon one fond memory that he acquired through an incident at a New Jersey diner, was very easy to read and comprehend. While Baldwin could have easily chosen to simplify his memory into layman’s terms, he was able to give enough description to draw the reader into his story. In one passage, he writes that, “And, with that sound, my frozen blood abruptly thawed…and I was frightened”. This sentence gives the reader a vivid image in their head of what had to have been taking place at that time, yet at the same time, it was not overly wordy and complex. Baldwin describes his experiences with a great amount of detail, but not quite enough to confuse the reader with unimportant tidbits of information.

Notes of a Native Son becomes even more approachable as Baldwin includes many personal phrases, notably the word I. His inclusion of I gives the sense that he is telling a story as if it were there to experience it first hand. Baldwin tells the story from his own perspective, as if he might’ve actually been there. This personal connection gives the essay an extremely close-knit feeling, similar to a story told by friends around a campfire. Even though the topic of the writing may not be quite so friendly, Baldwin’s writing style brings the reader in close and makes it approachable, which adds to the urgency he is trying to convey.

If a writer intends to invite a potential reader into their story, said writer must attempt to establish any sort of credibility with the reader in order for them to become involved. Baldwin creates a mess of ethos throughout his essay by including many small anecdotes. While the essay itself is one large anecdote, the numerous small anecdotes give the reader the idea that this incident could have happened to Baldwin only days beforehand. For instance, the inclusion of something along the lines of Baldwin remembering the name of the movie they had seen, and even the mention of the irony of that title in hindsight, is a miniscule detail that gives the impression that this event is still fresh in his mind.

Baldwin conveys the urgency of his experience through the use of terse diction, notably during the action of the writing, which in turn creates credibility. In that situation, anybody would be thinking in brief, direct thoughts. To further represent his quick thinking, Baldwin utilized many choppy sentences in comparison to what he had used while there was no intensity. He uses phrases such as, “I kicked him and got loose and ran into the streets. My friend whispered, ‘Run!’, and I ran”. Baldwin spoke straight to the point with those sentences, which gave them an urgent feeling.

With an adequate amount of description, the use of many personal phrases, an abundance of anecdotes, and terse phrasing, Baldwin does a decent job at creating urgency with his writing. It is quite safe to assume that anybody in a situation remotely similar to what Baldwin experienced would go about telling it in an exciting, fast-paced manner, as he did. His situation, which was rather urgent for him, was described to a proficient degree with the help of the urgency that he attempted to forge.

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