4. 6/11 (due 6/15)

4 (6/11) | Repetition
For Monday, read:
–Gladman, “Calamities,” excerpts (p. 193) / Race & Repetition
With a Difference
–Serpell, “Triptych: Texas Pool Party” (p. 199)

In the coming days, I want us to move on to thinking about the effects of different kinds of repetition in writing.  In essence, Essay 1 is an assignment built on repetition: you absorb the key events of a story and you repeat them
 with a difference.  In Renee Gladman’s work “Calamaties,” she explores the different effects of anaphora: a technique involving the use of the same phrase to begin subsequent sentences, paragraphs, etc.  Her anaphora—“I began the day
”—leads her to many different destinations: complicated musings on race, even more complicated interactions with family, and so on.  Ultimately, we begin to lose our sense of the literality of her anaphora—does it really matter what day it is that she is beginning?—and begin to relate to her repetitions more as launching ramps for thought than attempts to represent an actual day


Meanwhile, in Serpell’s “Triptych”—a re-telling of a 2015 moment in the ongoing saga of police brutality against POC in America wherein a white police officer tackled a black teenage girl in Texas— we again see anaphora in play toward the end of the first section: check out all the sentences repeatedly beginning with “we” or “joy” or other words.  A rhythm thereby builds up, among other effects of Serpell’s repetition.  But more broadly speaking, Serpell repeats the story of this Texas pool party that took a turn for the tragic; each of the text’s three parts tells this story from a different perspective—and in a different writing style that aligns with the perspective being represented.  Let this be an inspiration to those of you protesting and also those of you re-writing your Essay 1 stories from new perspectives
. Perspective and style are almost always linked together

  1. Post a reading response to one of the above readings. Below are the guidelines. For those of you wanting more of a prompt to chew on, try describing each of the three perspectives in Serpell’s text: who is writing—that is, what is the voice which tells—each of the three versions of the story here?  What do you notice about the style used to represent the perspective in each section?

REMEMBER: For each reading response, you will pick a quote from the assigned reading and introduce this quote with the proper context (author name and title).  You will then go on to discuss one question the quote raises for you about the reading and then try to answer that question; in your response, analyze the meaning of at least one specific word or phrase in the quotation.

  1. Write 2 paragraphs of anaphoric sentences. (See definition and example of anaphora above.) In your first paragraph, begin every sentence with the same phrase.  In your second paragraph, do the same thing, using a different phrase.  NOTE: It probably makes sense to try this using material from your Essay 1—however, this isn’t required.
  2. Read 2 more of your classmates’ essays and post your responses to those essays as comments. Feel free to read my responses to Starlyn and Victor for inspiration.

M

41 thoughts on “4. 6/11 (due 6/15)”

  1. 1. In “Triptych: Texas Pool Party” by Namwali Serpell, different styles of writing are visible. We can see that this was written three different styles. The first style is Summertime. In the summertime style, a first person point of view is visible. In the text it says, “Our bodies in and out of the pool, hanging on the edge, dangling over.” In the text the words “we” “own”, “joy”, and “not being beaten” are repeated which shows the point of view of the people who are witnessing the teenage girl get beaten. In the Perseus style, a first person point of view is also seen but of the cop who tackled the girl. In the text it says, “I have received eight hours of cultural training and have taken racial-profiling courses
I will watch the Youtube of this story and over, watch myself roll like a boulder over a girl(fifteen years old, fifteen years old), watch myself pinion her.” That quote itself proves the point of view from the cop. The third style is called what Was Said, where in the text it states, “What is wrong. You’re hurting her. Why you’re holding her down..Film it. I’m doing a job OK. I’m filming it..My back is hurting..Then stop fighting..Stop lay down.” This style shows what both the cop and the witnesses, including the girl who was tackled have said to each other. I notice that it is not put in a story form, but more as in a dialogue form. All three styles have different interpretations where it provides insight on the event a bit more to understand it.
    2. Every day, every month, every year, every decade, I will always live. Every hour, every second, every milisecond, I will smile. Every party, every event, I will cheer. Every lesson, every session, every lecture, I will learn. Every fruit, every meat, every vegetable, I will eat.

    My love your beauty is endless.
    My love your eyes shine bight like the sun
    My love your teeth is white like snow
    My love your smile brightens my day.
    My love your laugh is like a song to my ears.

    3. My feedback comments are under Emily Mendieta’s and Marcus Robinson’s essay #1.

  2. 1. Post a reading response to one of the above readings. Below are the guidelines. For those of you wanting more of a prompt to chew on, try describing each of the three perspectives in Serpell’s text: who is writing—that is, what is the voice which tells—each of the three versions of the story here? What do you notice about the style used to represent the perspective in each section?
    Triptych depicts the events of a Texas pool party in 2015 that ended up as an example of a tragic encounter between a police officer and one of those who attended the pool party. There are three different perspectives in the piece. The first is told from the point of view of one of the party attendees. The second is told from the point of view of the police officer. The third is the dialogue that occurred between those at the party and the police officers that arrived at he scene. The first perspective, from one of the party attendees, uses the type of language that is a part of the normal culture of those at this specific party. You can tell that the language is more relaxed. There are more vulgar phrases being used. The language expresses the joys of summertime, and the good times that were being had at the pool party. By the end of this section, the style transitioned into a more serious tone, which demonstrated the concept of anaphora in which the section included repetitions of things important to the story like, “Joy”, “Sparkles” and “Own”.
    The second section of Triptych is from the perspective of the police officer responding to the scene. He particularly discusses his background, and the sense of pride that he has in his training. He also expresses his fear when things got heated at the scene and he felt outnumbered. The language used in this second section is equally as dramatic as the first section, however, it is focused on the officer feeling attacked, not just physically, but personally. He feels a sense that his extensive training and background are under attack when things go awry.
    The third section is a little more unique. It took me a little bit to figure out what was happening here, but this section is the literal dialogue that was floating back and forth during the scene. Specifically, the writer says, “What is she doing? What the fuck is she doing? On your face. On the ground” (Serpell, 2015). It is a less biased, more factual depiction of the encounter. This quote, however, knowing that it is a more factual depiction of the events, leads the reader to question that was in the wrong in this event. Were the partygoers in the wrong? Were the police in the wrong? Were both parties in the wrong? In this specific quote, “what is he doing?” refers to one of the partygoers asking what the girl was doing wrong to warrant a response from the police. “On your face. On the ground” can be defined as the orders that the police were giving to try to maintain control over the situation.

    2. Write 2 paragraphs of anaphoric sentences. (See definition and example of anaphora above.) In your first paragraph, begin every sentence with the same phrase. In your second paragraph, do the same thing, using a different phrase. NOTE: It probably makes sense to try this using material from your Essay 1—however, this isn’t required.
    At the end of the day how much do our differences really matter? At the end of the day we each just want to live our lives. At the end of the day protestors want a better world. At the end of the day police want a better world. At the end of the day we all just want a decent existence. At the end of the day we all want to return to our families. At the end of the day we all want to feel heard. At the end of the day we all enjoy eating the same foods. At the end of the day we all breathe the same air. At the end of the day the same sun sets for all of us. At the end of the day maybe we are not very different at all.
    Maybe we have different backgrounds. Maybe we have different experiences. Maybe we have different values. Maybe we have different families. Maybe we have different feelings. Maybe we have different professions. Maybe we have different opinions. Maybe we enjoy different things. Maybe we have different priorities. But maybe we live on the same Earth. Maybe we share the same friends. Maybe we enjoy the same movies. Maybe we root for the same sports teams. Maybe we both love our families. Maybe we both love our cities. Maybe we both just want what is best.

    3) For the essays comments, please noted that I’ve commented Emmanuel Pichardo and Jamal Taylor essays.

  3. 3- You can find my comments on Soca and Brittany’s work

    2- I can’t go up the mountain anymore. I can’t go up because my legs fell like jelly. I can’t go up because I’ve already failed myself. I can’t go up even though I promised everyone I will go up. I can’t go up because I can’t take it anymore so I scream and shout I can’t go up

    2- I fell off my bed yet again for the second day in a row. I fell off my bed during my summer and I just fell off my bed again. I fell off my bed when I was seven but not again till I was twelve. Maybe I will always fall off my bed. I fell off my bed many times and even in beds that weren’t mine. I just fell off my beed again.

    3- After reading “Triptych” by Namwali Serpel on what happened in 2015, I learned that it was a real life story between a police officer and a 15 year old girl. To write this story the author broke it down and told it from three different sides. The first side is from someone who was attended the party, followed by the police officer then confrontation between the police and the people at the party. Firstly told was the side from someone who attended the party. I know because the person states “The heat rises up, sings against the skin. Clothes fall off, swimsuits blossoming from beneath, in colors as neon and elaborate as the sunset to come. We dance and we dance. All of this beauty, all of this rolling, dipping brown flesh, like desert dunes in the shadow or desert dunes in the sun.” The language he uses for this preceptive shows that someone is at a party. From the second side of the police officer the author starts by describing most of his accomplishments and where he came from later to find himself at a party using unnecessary force to retain a young girl. After he gets fired and thinks about this day. Because of all his Martin arts training and for an officer he felt like he can get away with doing that. Finally from the third perspective of confrontation between the police and the people at the party. It is anger from the people at the party because the police officer used unnecessary force in this situation. What I notice most about the style used to represent the perspective in each section is the attitude changes as well as the language. In the first perspective compared to the third it is way more joyful and hopeful, when words like “joy or “not being beaten” that’s shows how language is used to make that perspective come alive. From the third is all anger and misunderstandings due to the actions the police officer has done. In the second the author used dominance to portray the wrongdoings by the cop, also to show how much of a mistake he made as he watched him self on tv. Even the officer stated ” I am a master of several disciplines of martial arts,
    including combat and ground fighting. I have a strong working knowledge of human behavior, indicators
    of deception, criminal behavior, situational awareness, and experience in the use of all levels of force.” That style of writing tells the reader he is strong and would be the type to hurt a little girl in the name of the law!

    1. Thanks Marcus. Your anaphora–especially the second set of them–seem rather funny. If you revise this, can you reflect on the effects on the reader (you, when you re-read) that are produced by the repetition in these paragraphs?

      3. Nice work on describing the perspective of the middle section of Serpell’s “Triptych”; take another look at the first and third sections of this piece, though. In particular, I’m not quite clear on how you arrived at the analysis of the first narrative voice as that of “someone at the party”——can you explain more after you quote? Also, I would point out that throughout the passage there is the repetition of the pronoun “we” (rather than “I”); how might this factor into your analysis of the perspective in this section?

      Regarding the last section, think carefully about the title of this passage and its content. It appears to be all speech. Then take a look at the last lines of the middle section (“Perseus”); they give you a hint as to the perspective from which the final passage is written.

      Thanks again
      M

  4. 1. In the “Triptych” by Namwali Serpell, the author described the events of a Texas pool party in 2015 from different perspectives and using different styles. The first version of the story, which is called “Summertime” was written from the point of view of the person who attended the party. Example: “We step up, step off. We step, step. Girls relent in waves. This one backs it up on that one sleepy-eyed nigga, and her girls follow suit, their little dance circle expanding then breaking up like ripples in the water.Our bodies in and out of the pool, hanging on the edge, dangling over.”
    The second version, “Perseus”, was from the police officer’s perspective because the story begins with the words, “I am a former highway patrol trooper, a US Navy military police veteran, and a corporal. I have in-depth training in impact-weapon deployment and in expandable baton, firearms, electronic control devices, Positive Assertive Control Tactics–Dynamic Threat Response, handcuffing, joint locks, pressure-point compliance, and armed and unarmed self-defense.” This quote shows how the police officer describes himself.
    And last but not least “What Was Said” was written from both the people from the party and a police officer perspective. The story starts from the people who attend the party, “What is wrong. You’re hurting her. Why you holding her down for.” And we also can see the police officer point of view in that story, “Lay still and you will be fine. Stop. Lay down. Like I told you.”
    When you read all three different styles of the same event, you can gain a better understanding of the story because the author uses different interpretations. Those three stories are like a puzzle that helps you get the main picture.

    2.We should be thankful for what we have. We should value our families the most. We should share positivity. We should enjoy every moment of life. We should brighten the world with our smiles. We should take care of each other. We should stand up for each other. We should help each other. We should not be selfish. We should take risks in life. We should be better human beings.

    2.Small things can make us happy. Small things can make us cry. Small things can mean a lot. Small things can have a big value. Small things can become memorable. Small things can shape our personalities. Small things can impact us. Small things can play a big role in our lives. Small things can cause big problems. Small things can lead to big differences. Small things can change the world.

    3.I gave feedback to Indeevari and to Jamal.

    1. Galina, hay.
      On the whole, this seems to be on the right track. A couple suggestions for revisions:
      –In writing about Serpell’s work (and any literary text, really), please use the quotations to start/support your discussion, comments, questions, etc. You can include 1 sentence of background, but then please introduce the quotation and focus on that. While you’ve chosen interesting quotes, I’m not seeing the connections between the quotes you’ve chosen and your discussion of them. So see if you can analyze the language of each quotation AFTER you’ve introduced it.
      –Consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of Serpell’s text: what does this tell us about the perspective of the narrator? Is it just one person being represented here?
      –Nice anaphora!

  5. 1)In “Triptych: Texas Pool Party” by Namwali Serpell, it’s very clear that this story has a very unique way of describing what happened that day through different points of view. In the reading, I noticed that there are three different perspectives which are: summertime, Perseus, and ‘what was said’. In the summertime perspective, we notice that it’s informing us about the beginning of the summer, is setting up the story by giving us the theme and background of what’s happening. It’s the perspective of one of the teenagers at the party that day describing everything that leads up to the unlawful treatment of the teenage girl. The second perspective: ‘Perseus’ lets us see through the eyes of the abusive cop which seems to have a massive ego, in the following statement he made: “ I alone am your traffic light. By me are future, past, and present decided. Sure are my bullets, and all men call me healer” we can tell that even when the cop knows and feels that has all the power at the moment, he stills decides to do such an awful thing just because teenagers were being teenagers. In the last perspective: ‘what was said’ we see that it’s the interaction between everyone that’s witnessing what’s happening and the cop which is on top of the teenage girl at this point in the story. In the quote “You, get your asses out of here. Sir, we just came for a birthday party please.” is the interaction of a teenager trying to get the cop off the girl, begging him to stop which he doesn’t. The styles used to write all these points of view are to get a better understanding of the story and to send the message across to all the readers. In the Perseus reading the cop thinks “ A cul-de-sac, a labyrinth of small roads. Here summer arrives with sunlight, calm breeze, and bounty, children and their guardians feasting and festivaling, amusing themselves by the pool.” my question is if you know the town and the people why would you do that to the innocent black teenage girl? The only answer I can think of is that he’s racist and favors the white. I didn’t know what a “cul-de-sac” was but when I looked it up it’s just a dead-end with a bunch of houses around it.

    2) I remember that summer I traveled to my homeland, I remember the deep breath I took once I arrived, I remember how happy I felt to see my family, I remember how much fun I had every day, I remember going to the beautiful beaches and lakes, I remember trying to hold my cry back when it was time to come back, I remember arriving back in New York and already wishing I could go back.

    Every single day I wake up ready to go to bed again, Every single day I think about how life is going to be once quarantine ends, Every single day I wonder why can’t humans be more like dogs: genuine and pure, Every single day I lay down to watch Netflix because there’s nothing else to do, Every single day I wish I was in the Dominican Republic, Every single day I get hungry, Every single day I play games.

    3) I posted feedback under Kerving Sosa and Melanie Sabino. I forgot to say that I also posted my feedback under Victor Li and Randy Cabrera last week.

    1. Starlyn,
      Nice to read you. I really like the quote from “Perseus” and your questioning discussion of it. Can you take this further though? Connect your thought that if the cop knew the neighborhood and people he wouldn’t act this way to the language in the quotation more (including the “cul-de-sac”—what is the significance of his thinking of this neighborhodd as a “dead end”? go further here!)
      Another suggestion for revision:

      –Consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of Serpell’s text: what does this tell us about the perspective of the narrator? Is it just one person being represented here?

      –Nice anaphora!

  6. 1.) In Triptych: Texas Pool Party by Namwali Serpell it is a three part fictional perspectives on the true incident that occurred in 2015 McKinney, Texas. In this rendition the story of a police officer brutally and forcibly knees on a fifteen year old African- American girl at a pool party. In the beginning it seems like the story is being told by a narrator that is of younger generation. A narrator who most likely is African American. The next perspective is the perspective of the police officer. How he believes his actions are justified. The last perspective is the perspective I raised questions with. With this perspective it is a transcript of what was said in a recording of the events. “I have thirty seconds right now. I’m filming it. I’ll send it OK. And then he also hit me too though.” This was written for the transcript perspective of the story. Can a transcript be determine a style of writing? Why did the author write two perspectives based on a friends point of view, the police point of view and the point of view of the camera. I believe that the transcription of the video is a style of its own. The audience interprets what the author is trying to portray. The audience can interpret the transcript of this video.

    2a.) I want my money right now. I want my money to be counted neatly for me. I want my money to all be hundred dollar bills. I want my money today and no later. I want my money so I can buy my foreign car. I want my money so I can spend it all on everything I want.

    b.)Loving you makes me crazy. Loving you makes me sane. Loving you makes my world a better place. Loving you makes me wish I can get off this rollercoaster. Loving you makes me want to love.

    3.) Provided feedback for Indeevari and Kwame.

    1. Fabulous anaphora, Brittny–money and love, what more to life is there? No seriously, though, it is interesting to see the transformation that takes place over the course of your “loving” anaphora—from “loving you makes me crazy” to “loving you makes me want to love” (a rather different place than where you began). Something anaphoric repetition can do is to highlight such changes by having a frame for each sentence/rhetorical unit that remains the same.

      As for your analysis of Serpell, can you include another quotation or two from the first two sections of the piece. I think you’re right on with your observations on part 3, but parts 1-2 could use more evidence from the text. Also, can we pinpoint the narrator of part 1 a bit more—specifically with regard to whether this narrator is singular (one person) or plural (more than one person)?

      Thanks

  7. Post a reading response to one of the above readings. Below are the guidelines. For those of you wanting more of a prompt to chew on, try describing each of the three perspectives in Serpell’s text: who is writing—that is, what is the voice which tells—each of the three versions of the story here? What do you notice about the style used to represent the perspective in each section?

    REMEMBER: For each reading response, you will pick a quote from the assigned reading and introduce this quote with the proper context (author name and title). You will then go on to discuss one question the quote raises for you about the reading and then try to answer that question; in your response, analyze the meaning of at least one specific word or phrase in the quotation.

    Gladman, “Calamities,” excerpts (p. 193)
    “I said, ‘—’…Well, I was trying to say, ‘It’s okay to think,’ but maybe what they heard was ‘You don’t think’ or ‘You are not thinking.’”
    The main thing here is how words can be misinterpreted, but there’re multiple factors at play. Why would the class think she was telling them “You don’t think/you are not thinking”? Was it the tone she was using? Was it the way she said what she said? I think it would have been very helpful to actually know what it was that she said. But, I also understand it was omitted to get the reader to really think about what she could have said that was misinterpreted. Maybe it was done to allow the creative freedom of the reader to take over and fill in that blank. What we do find out, later on, is that what she said was read out of a book. Maybe, she read it the wrong way. There’s also the possibility that she didn’t do anything wrong and it was the classes fault. Maybe they weren’t paying attention when she began reading and heard something completely different. Maybe they have a specific view of their professor that influences what they hear. As we know there’s always two sides of a story and each version will sound totally different. The professor here speaks to the students like any other day, just going on with her lesson. She didn’t do anything wrong, say anything wrong, and isn’t at fault. But from the students’ eyes, they see a professor they may not like. What, in reality, is said normally they may hear in a derogative tone. Quickly taking offense regardless of the nature of the statement. Later in the story, the student says while smiling, “We might not like your questions.” It sounds like that student meant disrespect and was implying something else. To me, it seems more like they don’t like anything she says. It could be due to racism, and because they don’t like her as a person, they therefore also don’t like anything else she says including her questions.

    Write 2 paragraphs of anaphoric sentences. (See definition and example of anaphora above.) In your first paragraph, begin every sentence with the same phrase. In your second paragraph, do the same thing, using a different phrase. NOTE: It probably makes sense to try this using material from your Essay 1—however, this isn’t required.

    I thought about how all the Dominicans I knew in those days sent money home. I thought about how even our friend, Junot did too. I thought about how my brother and I have known him since we were 8 years old. I thought about how we were twelve years old at this point. I thought about how one day we were on our way over, and as we passed the window to his parents’ room, we saw a wad of cash in his mom’s hands. I thought about how it could have easily been $500! I thought about how I turned to my brother and asked him to imagine what we could buy with that money. I thought about how we spent the day there, at his house, and played Dungeons and Dragons while listening to music on the portable radio. I thought about how we asked Junot where his family was going on vacation this year, they always went on random trips to god knows where. I thought about how it turns out they were planning to go to Jersey for a couple of days next week! I thought about how on our way home, my brother told me that this was our chance to get that money. I thought about how we strike when they’re not home! So we did. I thought about how we looked everywhere for that money and we finally found it when we accidentally knocked over the lamp. I thought about how it was hidden in an envelope shoved into the bottom of the base. I thought about how we grabbed the envelope and ran! I thought about how on the way out, I told my brother to wait and I went and grabbed the D&D hardcover and the portable radio. I thought about how my brother looked at me as if asking why and I told him, so we can play on our own. I thought about how I thought I heard a noise like someone pulling up to the house and yelled at my brother to get out of here. I thought about how we ran all the way home without stopping!
    I remembered that Junot and his family had just gotten back and we were hanging out at the park when he started telling us about the robbery. I remembered that told him how the robbers are losers and were cursing them out until he said the front door was left open. I remembered that I looked at my brother, eyes wide open, oh shit! I remembered that we had forgotten to close the door!
    I remembered that there’s nothing we could have done, and it’s not like he was ever going to find out we did it. I remembered that Junot asked us if he can use our bathroom real quick so we went by our house since it was closer to the park. I remembered that on the way back he said he forgot something back home and would just meet us back at the park. I remembered that while my brother and I were walking, we talked about what we were gonna do with the $150 we each had in our pockets. I remembered that we didn’t want to spend all the money at once and split $300 50/50. I remembered that we decided we’d go to the arcade after we were done hanging with Junot, and that’s exactly what we did!
    I remembered that we got home late and pretty exhausted from the arcade, but we had such a blast we wanted to go again the next day. I remembered that when we checked under the mattress to get the rest of the money, we discovered we had been robbed. I remembered that it’s like those things were cursed to get stolen! I remembered that we couldn’t tell our parents because they’d ask us where we got them from.
    I remembered that since we didn’t have any money to play at the arcade again, we went to the park where we saw Junot and a bunch of our other friends. I remembered that we told them about the robbery and how our savings were stolen. Damn robbers.

    Read 2 more of your classmates’ essays and post your responses to those essays as comments. Feel free to read my responses to Starlyn and Victor for inspiration.

    I commented on Galina and Haziq’s Essays!

    1. Stephanie,
      Truly an amazing analysis of the Gladman passage; I love the questions you raise about the different possible ways Gladman’s speech to her students was heard (and why). Can you introduce this quote with 1-2 lines of context (explaining the big picture project of her text, its title, author, etc.). Just for practice.

      –Fabulous extended anaphora here; it seems you’re well on your way to writing two more anaphoric versions of “The Money” for Essay 1… 🙂

  8. 1. After reading Serpell’s “Triptych”  story about this encounter with a police and 15 year old girl I was able to understood every single point of the story and the events leading it to it. The author included in the story three different points of views: summertime, Perseus, and ‘what was said. These different points tells a different story of each own because on the “purseus” part about the officer, he describes himself as much of a guy the has too much ego and not self respect for other which in this case he had the 15 year old, “ I alone am your traffic light. By me are future, past, and present decided. Sure are my bullets, and all men call me healer” in this quote you could see his mind set off him being selfish and a very much pride he has. In the part “what was said” it was based on the people from the party and the other officer which it most of those people who were their witness the officer step on top of the girl when even other clarify the situation “You, get your asses out of here. Sir, we just came for a birthday party please.” In this quote it seem like he just didn’t even care to hear other people thought he just wanted to be sort of right by putting all his power into the 15 year old while everyone there was witnessing.

    2. I love going on weekends with my grandmother, I love that every time I’m there we take long walks to the beach, I love stay there, I love that we stay late at night playing bored games, I love that we have endless talks we never really notice the time, I love her cooking it makes me happy, I love her.

    Growing up is not about always having fun. Growing up is about being responsible. Growing up is about thinking of the future. Growing up is about moving out. Growing up is about making our own choices.
    Growing up is about helping out.
    3.

    1. Melanie,
      Sweet anaphora about your grandma–and great beginnings of an analysis of “Perseus” in Serpell’s text.
      Some thoughts for revision:
      –When re-reading and revising, watch out for missing words and verb forms (make sure you’re using the right form of each verb).
      ––In writing about Serpell’s work (and any literary text, really), please use the quotations to start/support more of your own discussion, comments, questions, etc. You can include 1 sentence of background, but then please introduce the quotation and focus on that. While you’ve chosen interesting quotes, I’m not seeing the connections between the quotes you’ve chosen and your discussion of them. So see if you can analyze the language of each quotation AFTER you’ve introduced it a bit more.
      –Consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of Serpell’s text: what does this tell us about the perspective of the narrator? Is it just one person being represented here?
      –Yes, part 3 is a “dialogue” of sorts, but what does this say about the POV from which this dialogue is being represented? Who is representing this dialogue?

  9. 1. In “Triptych: Texas Pool Party” by Namwali Serpell, there are three different types of writing styles used. The first style is summertime is written from the point of view of first person. “All of this beauty, all of this rolling. dripping brown flesh, like desert dunes in the shadow or desert dunes in the sun.” In this passage “desert dunes. we, own, and joy” are all repeated which shows the point of view of the people describing themselves. In the Perseus style, a first person point of view is also seen but of the cop who tackled the girl. In the text it says, I have received eight hours of cultural diversity training and have taken racial-profiling courses.” The quote shows the officer speaking in first person on his viewpoints and things he has done to educate himself. The third style “What was said” was written in more of a dialogue form when stating, “What is she doing. What is she doing. What the fuck is she doing. On your face. On the ground. I’m on the ground. Get off my hair. What the fuck is he doing. I literally have. I have freedom of speech. I have freedom of speech.” This style shows the dialogue between the witness and cop. All three styles have different interpretation which gives the reader a deeper insight behind the story from all points of views.
    2. My life is my purpose.
    My life is my goal.
    My life is my inspiration.
    My life is my journey.
    My life is mine.

    Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better.

    3. My feedback comments are under Crispin Thys and Emily Mendieta.

    1. Melanie,
      Good good with the anaphora, but more please! Take these thoughts further! Some other comments for revision:
      ––In writing about Serpell’s work (and any literary text, really), please use the quotations to start/support more of your own discussion, comments, questions, etc. You can include 1 sentence of background, but then please introduce the quotation and focus on that. While you’ve chosen interesting quotes, I’m not seeing the connections between the quotes you’ve chosen and your discussion of them. So see if you can analyze the language of each quotation AFTER you’ve introduced it a bit more.
      –Consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of Serpell’s text: what does this tell us about the perspective of the narrator? Is it just one person being represented here?
      –Yes, part 3 is a “dialogue” of sorts, but what does this say about the POV from which this dialogue is being represented? Who is representing this dialogue?

  10. Namwali Serpell’s Triptych: Texas Pool Party is a re-telling of a true story based on police brutality against a group of teenagers at a pool party. Serpell uses three perspectives to retell the story. She begins with the account of a friend of Tatyanna, the girl who threw the pool party at her complex. The friend goes on to discuss the environment they’re in. It’s summertime, it’s hot, the latest music is playing and all their friends are hanging out in the pool. The first encounter with authority was between a group of boys who were invited to the party but did not know how to enter, so instead they decided to hop a fence. A security guard confronts them and tells them to leave but they quickly explain that they were invited by a resident. The voice used here is an innocent teenager who is excited for the summer and wants to swim with their friends. Serpell uses descriptive language and style through the teenager’s account. “The chlorine air, the blue sky above, was almost shamed by the blue of the pool. There’s this scrawny dog running around, barking at us 
 Everybody rolls up looking real fine, fresh from the barbershop, flying from the beauty shop. Bright T-shirts, jeans dark and crisp, sneaks so white they squeak on your eyes” ( Triptych: Texas Pool Party). This falls into the account of the young teen as the descriptive language emphasizes that it is a child noticing everything.
    The next account Serpell uses is the police officer on the scene. Before the point of view switches, Tatyana and her friends get into an argument with her neighbors who are white, which eventually leads to an altercation between Tatyana and her neighbor. While they are fighting someone calls the police and then things get out of hand. The police officer’s account is hard to read as a person of color and today’s events make it even harder. The police officer on the scene responds aggressively despite Serpell stating “I have received eight hours of cultural diversity training and have taken racial-profiling courses” ( Triptych: Texas Pool Party) on his account. The way Serpell discusses the teens from the officer’s account highlights his racial discrimation upon the teens and how he felt the need to use force because he felt “threatened”. “One struts before me, blaring as if her lips are pressed to a horn. Flipping her hair and running her mouth…The monster rises up in her, her limbs become coils, her tongue bulges forth and forks” ( Triptych: Texas Pool Party). From Serpell’s retelling of the day, the police officer’s account ends with him on top of the small girl while she screams for help and her mother and the officer watching the video over and over again on his suspension. You can almost get a sense of sympathy from the officer’s account towards the end but where was this sympathy in the beginning of his account or in 2015. He handled the situation the way he did and there is no taking that back. Luckily this time there were no casualties.
    The final account used is the witnesses and Tatyanna’s friends. At this point almost everyone is recording what is going on and within a few hours it would be trending on social media. “What is wrong. You’re hurting her. Why are you holding her down for? Can you not. Why are you dragging her” ( Triptych: Texas Pool Party). Why? Why? Why? Serpell uses repetition in the final account because that is the exact question that needs to be asked, why? Serpell uses short sentences and speech and the final account is also the shortest. This can represent how fast everything was happening. How demanding the officers were. How quickly the possibility something even worse could occur. Serpell’s re-telling of this day was a great way to bring attention to not only the situation but racial injustice and police brutality. I have never heard of this situation in Texas and the way Serpell used multiple styles of writing allowed me to understand exactly what happened.

    “I will watch the YouTube of this story over and over, watch myself roll like a boulder
    over a girl (fifteen years old, fifteen years old), watch myself pinion her. I will hear her voice calling mother. And one day, as I sit there clicking refresh, I will realize, sudden as a bolt, that the condition of this story is an invisible eye. A white kid standing behind me, holding his phone up, tracking me, his little screen framing this fray.” (Triptych: Texas Pool Party).

    The quote raises questions for me because it comes from the police officers account. In this quote the officer watches the video over and over again and realizes the things did. But it raises questions for me because this is only from Serpells retelling. I wonder if officers involved in the many cases like this actually go through this feeling of regret. And if they do , do they regret it because they lost their job and faced humiliation or because they realize the pain they brought upon the black community.

    How do I make change? How do I make change in a world where racism has existed for thousands of years? How do I fix this? How do I teach my brothers and sisters the right things to do when approached by police? How do I explain to them why? How do I tell them why we aren’t equal? How do I tell them to remain calm when a gun is pointed in their face? How do I teach them about racism? How do I tell them our skin color makes us a threat? How do I do it?
    Why do I live in fear? Why do I tense up when I see police? Why do I have to protest for murders to get arrested? Why do I have to bury my 15 year old cousin? Why do I have to stop having fun because a white person feels threatened? Why can’t I just live in peace? Why am I scared? Why is this normal? Why can’t this change?

    1. Chelsea, thanks.
      A couple suggestions for revisions:
      –In writing about Serpell’s work (and any literary text, really), please start with a quotation and use the specific language (word choice, etc.) in the quotation to support your discussion, comments, questions, etc. You can include 1 sentence of background, but then please introduce the quotation and focus on that. While you’ve chosen interesting quotes, I’m not always seeing the connections between the quotes you’ve chosen and your discussion of them.
      –Consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of the text: what does this tell us about the perspective of the narrator? Is it just one person being represented here?
      –Really good discussion of the quote from part II, where you raise the question of Serpell’s perspective slipping back in.

      –-Great anaphora–you must be a poet. 🙂

  11. HW 4. 6/11 (Due 6/15) Indeevari K.

    In “Triptych: Texas Pool Party”, Namwali Serpell describes an event that occurred at a pool party in Texas in 2015. This is a story about a 15-year-old black girl, who was arrested by a white police officer. The story was written from three different perspectives. The first perspective was written from the perspective of one of the party attendees, who had witnessed the incident. The second part of the story was written from the police officer’s point of view and the third is called “What was said” it is a dry transcript of everything that was said out loud at the scene of the event.
    In the first style, “Summertime” author shares his experience so vividly that I can easily imagine being there. He is so detailed in his description that I can smell the flowers. I can smell the chlorine in the pool. I can also visualize the surroundings, including the blue sky, blue water. I can feel the breeze of fresh air. The girl’s friend alludes to his emotions and feelings at that party: “We dance, and we dance. All of this beauty, all of this rolling, dipping brown flesh, like desert dunes in the shadow or desert dunes in the sun”. The author makes it clear that they were all having a wonderful time. The author uses anaphora sentences in this story “Joy is not being beaten, joy is not being despised, joy is not seeing that look in their eye. Joy is saying those kicks are tight, that rope is dope. Joy is falling into a brown depth of skin the color of most people’s skin. Joy is laughing with the love of a thing that sparkles.” The children were there to have fun and to enjoy the swimming pool, and their pool party atmosphere changed dramatically in the blink of an eye when the authorities arrived at the scene.
    In the second style “Perseus” was written from the point of view of the police officer at the scene. By reading the article we learn how experienced and advanced in his career this officer was. We learn that he was also trained in martial arts. He expresses the feeling he had when he arrived at the scene. Along with his extended martial arts training, this police officer appears to also have a pretty big ego, and a poetic-like view of himself: “I am no thug; I am no pig. I am no unkempt hick or prick. I am Lord of the Law, a son of this great nation”. Can a person with such narcissistic character be capable of questioning himself and his own actions or misdeeds? In his own eyes, he is ‘The Lord of the Law’, so he feels above others. Such a person combined with martial arts skills, can turn out to be dangerous or even deadly, especially in a physical confrontation with more fragile individuals like children.
    The third point of view is called “what was said”. It is written as a sort of a dry transcript of the video recording. One of the kids asks the officer “Why you holding her down for. Can you not.”
    The person who was filming it, says “I am filming it. I have thirty seconds right now. I am filming it. I ‘ll send it OK”. The black girl who got arrested, says: “My back is hurting”. The police officer says: “Then stop fighting. Lay still and you will be fine. Lay down. Like I told you. By reading those verbal exchanges amongst the participants, I can re-construct and visualize the events in my head. It helps to imagine the actual mood of the moment and those children’s fear and solidarity.

    2) As far as I know, they emigrated from the Dominican Republic. As far as I know, their father was a forklift driver. As far as I know, their mother was a housewife. As far as I know, their family had five children. As far as I know, their family struggled to find a better life in America. As far as I know, their mother used to send money back to the Dominican Republic to support her elderly parents. As far as I know, one day their savings went missing. As far as I know, their savings were stolen by one of their close friends. As far as I know, they retrieved their stolen cash.

    No matter what, I must go to work. No matter what, I must go to school. No matter how busy I am, I must do my homework. No matter what, I must work hard to get a better grade in school. No matter what, I have to cook and clean around the house. No matter what, I should learn how to manage my time more efficiently. No matter what, I should learn how to appreciate life more often to really be happy. No matter what, at the end of the day I should go to bed with a smile on my face.

    3) Prompt 3- can be found under students Crispin Thy and Kerving Sosa.

    1. Indee, hey.
      Your overview of Serpell’s text (in your first paragraph) is excellent. But wait, you say that part 1 is written from the view of one of the party attendees and then in your second paragraph you suggest that it’s the author’s own perspective; however, Serpell herself wasn’t there. Also, in part 1, the narrator repeats the use of “we”: what does this suggest about the person or people being represented here? I’m not sure it’s just a single person.
      –Excellent work on deciphering the perspective in part 3–you are the first to point out that this is a transcript of a video/audio recording, bravo!
      –Fabulous anaphoric paragraphs.

  12. Serpell is describing in his article how Police Brutality and Racism have contributed to the problems that society faces today. Racism and Police Brutality are two completely different things. They are the evil acts that society is fighting against to put a halt on them so that equality will be imposed. The voice that Serpell is saying in each version tells a perspective that gives a lesson on things.
    In the version, The Summer Time, Serpell is showing how summer is spent by the Americans. African-Americans have an ideal summer-time by not having trouble with law-enforcement officers. They just want to enjoy the time for gatherings with family and friends. The style that is used is narrative writing because it is describing the typical life during the summer of the Americans. It is descriptive because Serpell is telling the story from the beginning, and the encounter with law-enforcement.
    “All of this beauty, all of this rolling, dipping brown flesh, like desert dunes in the shadow or desert dunes in the sun.”
    The second version Perseus, is describing the perspective of the police officer. In this version, the police officer who was a Navy Master-at-Arms Veterans, is telling how the people who have hatred on the police officers who are just doing their job. But this time, it appears that they are manipulating the law because they only listened to the complaint of allegedly racist old-white woman. The police officer has used excessive force on a teenager. The style that is used in expository writing, because it is exposing the reality of racism and how it affects the lives of African-American children.
    “On all sides suspects swarm to assail me, to wage against me an unequal war, to rob me of all I have won by honor, training, and just deserts. “
    In the third version, the police officer has abused his authority by usurping his power to use brutal force on the teenage girl of color. The police officer have not done the proper standard operational procedure when they are questioning alleged suspect. The style shown is descriptive because of how the police officers have a biased view on people of color without investigating the proper way. In this version, the police also stated that the people are violating the law, and resisting while being arrested. According to the Police Officer, he is just performing his duty to uphold the law.
    “What is wrong. You’re hurting her. Why you holding her down for? Can you not. Why are you dragging her? What is she doing? “
    We should be united in order to fight against racism, discrimination, and all evil acts. We should work together for the good of everyone. We must educate ourselves, and the younger generations about the value of respect, honor, and dignity. We should share resources to the people who are in need of specific resources so that our lives may excel. We must cherish every single time we got here on Earth, and live according to moral principles.
    Every day I learn many things. Every single thing, I take a lesson from because whether they are big or small, they are intended for us to learn. Every single soldier in the Army is expected to follow every single rule to the smallest details. Every time there is a formation, every single soldier should report in a proper uniform. Every time I report, there is always an inspection whether it is Physical Training or Formation. Every part of the uniform is being checked. Every Sergeant ensures we are following the uniform code for the day. Every detail is recorded, to which we must comply. Every male soldier should be groomed properly, and every female soldier should be grooming as well. Every detail is important to execute, and get things to be done.
    3. I commented on Emanuel Pichardo and Ryan Cabrera’s essays

    1. Thanks, Jesse.
      A couple suggestions for revisions:
      –In writing about Serpell’s work (and any literary text, really), please start with a quotation and use the specific language (word choice, etc.) in the quotation to support your discussion, comments, questions, etc. You can include 1 sentence of background, but then please introduce the quotation and focus on that. While you’ve chosen interesting quotes, I’m not seeing the connections between the quotes you’ve chosen and your discussion of them.
      –Please include 2 paragraphs of anaphora. Also, because “every” is often attached to another word to form a phrase, I would suggest revising your paragraph so that each sentence begins with the same phrase (“Every time I take a walk… Every time I get out of bed… etc.)
      Thanks.

  13. 1.In Serpell’s text, it starts off from the perspective of a teenager that is attending this pool party. From each of the pictures, you can visibly notice that from each narrative, they are having a conversation with each other. This teenager was just arriving to the apartment complex; his friend Tatyana’s, and describing all of his surroundings through the use of imagery. You know it’s him speaking because of his non formal tone, and subtitle under the third pictire when he says,”Speaking of water— y’all gonna swim?…This ain’t alcohol man, it’s just Coke.” Which introduces the next perspective of the police officer that is after these children. It is clear that it’s him because of the shift from one of the teenagers describing their experience and interaction with the cop, to it then moving onto the next paragraph starting with “I am a former highway patrol trooper…I reach the land where the dread beast has erupted.” Under each picture, the subtitles represent a different scenario, and what is going on in that instance. The last point of view is from another one of the teenagers that was part of the group. You know it’s him because he repeatedly asks the cop, “What is wrong…Why you holding her down for. Can you not. “ The style used here represented this teenagers’ feeling of distraught and stress due to the events that was going on, and witnessing his friend being put to the floor by this cop he was talking to.
    From the standpoint of the cop, he is painting a picture of everything that is occurring, when he says,” I can still feel the tendons of her neck rippling under the bone of me knee…My deeds will be sanctioned but I will be suspended.”(Serpell, Summertime) This rose the question of whether or not his values were present during that moment. He was aware of what was going on, but still kept going; yet knew what the consequences were. I think he was just trying to “do his job” in anyway he could since he had already acknowledged that he will be suspended at the end.
    2. They were surrounded by cops. They thought they were being kept safe, but in reality they weren’t. They thought they were being protected from the mob that was threatening them, but turns out they were the suspects. They thought they were being taken to the station to write a police statement, but they were being held in custody. They thought they would be leaving later that day, but they started being questioned. They thought they were being released, but instead were transferred to a different facility. Prison.

    She was excited to have her friends come over and celebrate her birthday. She was hoping to relieve some stress from finals week that had passed. She was looking forward to avoiding any conflict, but it was inevitable in the area she lived in. She was expecting for something to happen, but not for the cops to arrive. She was overhearing the conversation, and knew something was not right. She was being accused of having drugs; told by a neighbor of course. She was hopeful that they’d realize it was a mistake, but knew that was wrong when she felt the handcuffs on her wrist.

    3. Check Kwame and Starlyn essay feedback.

    1. Thanks, Randy.
      A couple suggestions for revision:
      –In section 1 of “Triptych”, the pronoun “we” is used repeatedly: what does this suggest about who the narrator’s voice is intended to represent? I’m not sure it’s just one person. Same with part 3: what is written here seems to be a mish-mosh of voices—some whispered, some loud–and we never get any description of a singular “I” and his-or-her thoughts/feelings. So again I’m not sure it’s just one person’s perspective being represented here.
      –Good anaphora. In your first paragraph, I’d stick with one subject-verb phrase (e.g., “They thought…” “They thought…” “They thought…”) to lend more force to your repetitions.

  14. 1)
    The first perspective introduced into Serpell’s text is that of the narrator, Serpell. This can be determined because of the relaxed tone and language by which the speaker is speaking. He/she is describing the pool party as a normal summer event as the speaker demonstrates the in’s-and-out’s of these gatherings. As alluded to the text, “Easy does it, do it easy. It’s summertime. The bell rings, school’s out. The weather’s fine. The summer’s a natural aphrodisiac. The guys are out hunting, the ladies are wearing less, checking out the fellas, deciding who’s next . The kids are flirting too: the boys messing around ”(“Triptych: Texas Pool Party”, Serpell). This quote is describing the atmosphere of the pool party. Clearly from this description, nothing violent was taking place. Everyone was gathering for a summertime get-together.
    The second perspective is coming from the black teenage girls. For example, “When we say dime or honey, we mean silver and gold, because summer is conspiring to make everything glint like a coin. Sunshine adorns our lip-glossed lips, our bare shoulders and brows. We shine. You can see tracks glisten in the thick of that weave, you can see sweat mingle with the Vaseline on those edges.”(“Triptych: Texas Pool Party”, Serpell). This quote portrays the perspective of the teenage girls at the pool party because you see by the phrases, “our lip-glossed lips, our bare shoulders and brows”. This quote is describing the feminine traits of the young women at the pool party.
    The next perspective is shown through the eyes of the two black male teens. For example, “Speaking of water –y’all gonna swim? Yeah, let’s go in. Where is Tatyana at? Where’s KC? Y’all seen Aryana? Oh, nah, who the hell is this dude? Mallcop security guard. What do you mean we can’t be here? Yes we can be here–we’re with Tatyana Rhodes. She lives here. In this apartment complex. We just wanna get inside the pool area. She invited us. You can’t just kick us out, man. Nah, that’s some bullshit. We live here…This ain’t alcohol, man, it’s just Coke. ”(“Triptych: Texas Pool Party”, Serpell). This shows how the black teens were rejected from getting into the pool party by a security guard, even though they were invited by the host Tatyana. The mall cop assumed they had alcohol even though it was just soda, so there was already tension between the authorities and the teens. All they wanted to do was get into an event they were invited to. They lived in that neighborhood
    The final perspective shown in this text is shown through the eyes of the Texas police officer who tackled one of the black girls in her bathing suit. For example, “The earth, against its will, has spawned a multiplicitous serpent, a terror to men, that sprawls thick and glistening across mountains and valleys and plains. It is one beast, a superpredator, but it is made up of a host of dangerous criminals. I–I and my fellow officers of the Law–we destroy the monster continually, with one thousand, one million bullets.”(“Triptych: Texas Pool Party”, Serpell). This perspective shows the violent and negative view that this police officer had against the black kids at the pool party. By using the words, “one beast, a superpredator”, the officer exposes his “us versus them” mentality, so he had no intention of handling the situation peacefully.
    Serpells style was very creative and abstract. The language used captivates each viewpoint and way of thinking. The most jaw-dropping perspective was that of the police officer because it sheds light on how many racially biased officers view black people as a beast needing to be slain.

    2)
    The more they kill us, the angrier we become. The more they miseducate our children, the deeper our wounds become. The more they exploit us, the more relevant we are to the world. The more they degrade our culture, the greater our pride becomes. The more they attempt to sell us out to our own people, the more visible our enemy is to the wrath of our vengeance. The more they divide us, the more we kill each other. The more they feed off our weaknesses, the harder it will be to find our strengths. But as we continue to hate each other, we will always hate ourselves.

    As a black man, I am the unicorn of society. As a black man, my fears come in such variety. As a black man, the pain of loss is uniform. As a black man, it’s unfortunate to expect my life to end violently. As a black man, you are a man to some and a boy to many. As a black man, the cops say if you plan to run, your life is less than a penny. As a black man, it’s always a struggle to keep my focus steady. As a black man, they say I’m a creature of stone with a heart that’s empty. As a black man, I’m haunted by shot up blocks, and a dad that left me. As a black man, I hope when I need some help, the cops are friendly.

    3) My feedback is posted and can be found underneath Victor Li’s and Pichardo

    1. Jamal,
      Very taken by your anaphoric poems–or are they raps? Not only are you repeating at the beginning of each phrase, but in your second verse, you’re repeating at the end as well (in your rhymes). I’m particularly stirred by the image of the “unicorn of society”–this is a bit of an enigmatic blend of metaphors pointing in multiple directions…

      As for your response to Serpell, your analysis and work with quotations is quite strong. Careful, though, with the first and final sections of this piece.
      –-Consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of Serpell’s text: what does this tell us about the perspective of the narrator? Is it just one person being represented here?
      –Consider the title of the last section (“What Was Said”): what might this tell us about the POV here?

  15. 1.
    In Namwali Serpell’s “Triptych: Texas Pool Party”, the same story is written in three different styles, each written in a different perspective. In the first version, it’s narration appears to be from the perspective of another teenager in the party. This is evident when the person says”Five-oh, five-oh! But not quite yet, so we are slow in our scatter before the sirens come. We linger. We are not ready to give up our joy,”(“Triptych: Texas Pool Party”, Serpell). Here, it is shown that the teenagers hear the police coming, and are about to leave. In the second version, the narrative is in the perspective of the cop who had used excessive force on the girl, describes it from his point of view.” Flipping her hair and running her mouth, she is the blatant embodiment of all that refuses me…behind. As she shrieks, I sink my grip deep into her shoulder”. Here, he describes what she does and how he retaliates. The last version is basically a transcript of what is said during the encounter.”not. Why are you dragging her.
    What is she doing. What is she doing. What the fuck is she doing. On your face. On the ground. I’m on the ground. Get off my hair. What the fuck is he doing”. These are the words of witnesses, the cop, and the victim, respectively.
    2.
    A. Near the end, I started having regrets. Near the end, I got stressed out. Near the end, I wanted to turn around and go back, Near the end I noticed there was a lot less people with me than when I began. Near the end, the path got a lot more narrow. Near the end, I knew I wanted to finish on top.
    B. As more leaves fell, the weather got colder. As more leaves fell, days got shorter. As more leaves fell,my choice of outerwear got thicker. As more leaves fell, the coffee I made was always warmer. As more leaves fell, waiting for my car to warm up took a lot longer.
    3. I left feedback on Emily’s and Marcus’s essay

    1. “As more leaves fell, my choice of outerwear got thicker” — nice, Haziq!

      Good work with Serpell’s text as well. A couple thoughts to consider when revising:
      –-So see if you can analyze the language of each quotation AFTER you’ve introduced it.
      –Consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of Serpell’s text: what does this tell us about the perspective of the narrator? Is it just one person being represented here?

  16. I choose to do a reading response to, “ Calamities” by Renne Gladman. The sentence that really caught my attention was, “How eventful it would be for the Eastern Europeans to begin calling themselves black, or even black Asian. How undermining of all that is the case were I to porcelain in my bios, “Renee Gladman is an Eastern- European African American”. This to me raised ethical questions, as someone who would never identify as a colonizer even to be provoking, and furthermore publicly. Even though I am of a mixed ancestry. I can answer this statement by stating that there truly is intersectionality when one chooses to identify. And people have the freedom to do so, even when it makes those around them uncomfortable or pensive. In addition, one must stand firm in their beliefs, even though we are treated as we are perceived to be which changes with the viewers demographics. You can not control how others perceive you or treat you, but you are in control of your agency, whether or not you react. I also agree that perspective and style are interlinked. As I’ve written before that we are all linked as no one lives in a vacuum. Even in today’s social climate and protests, if you are not necessarily “ on the front line”, you can actively/passively participate, such as donations to different groups, organizing an event,creating safe space for black people, decolonizing your beliefs especially with your family, etc. Also as a P.O.C.we can also protest by engaging in self care such as getting off social media, having a nice meal, taking a hot shower, etc. These are all acts of resistance. Fighting the power and fighting institutional racism will be tedious and daunting as it has to be systematically changed but it HAS to be done collectively and in sound mind. Unlearning systematic oppression and anti-blackness will have to be done by all.

    I chose to make an anaphora inspired by the piece ,“ Ain’t got no, I got life” by Nina Simone.

    I ain’t got no home
    Ain’t got no money,ain’t got no class
    Ain’t got no friends,ain’t got no relationships
    Ain’t got no stairs,ain’t got no stove
    Ain’t got no partner,ain’t got no sex
    Ain’t got no man

    Ain’t got no father,ain’t got no love
    Ain’t got no classroom,ain’t got a proper education
    Ain’t got no name,ain’t got no voice
    Ain’t got no ideology,ain’t got no religion
    Ain’t got no God.

    Hey, what have I got?
    Why am I alive,anyway?
    Yeah, what have I got
    Nobody can take away?

    Got my skin, got my body
    Got my daughter,got my will
    Got my sunshine,got my crops
    Got my shando,got my spirit
    I got my intuition,I got my skills
    Got my smil,got my breath
    Got my soul,got my honour
    Got my back,got my pride

    I got my shape,got my womanhood
    Got my hands,got my fingers
    Got my feet,got my toes
    Got my kidneys got my blood

    I’ve got life, I’ve got my freedom
    I’ve got life
    I’ve got the life
    And I’m going to keep it
    I’ve got the life

    The second piece I chose to do is inspired by, “Every breath you Take” by The Police.

    Every breath you take and every move you make, I’ll be missing you
    Every breath you take
    Every move you
    Every bond you break
    Every step you take
    I’ll be watching you

    Every time you say you love me, I’m not convinced
    Every moment, I’ll be waiting for the next
    Every word, I’m always open ears
    Every tear, I’m wiping and it’s instantly forgiven
    Every wave, feels like a tsunami but it’s just vibrations
    But makes me feel like a flood
    Every smell, is aromatic, dank and causes an olfactory sensation
    Every vision, I’m bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
    Every occasion, I’m wanting more, scheming ways to get with you
    Every instant, I’m left burning and yearning for more
    Every date, I circle on the calendar when those plans are made.
    Every excuse, makes me hard of hearing
    Every convenience, I’m finding ways to reach you with amenity
    Every circumstance, I’m finding accessibility, even if I have to make do
    Every plan, process, and reaction I’m itching for the next
    Every fluke, is a blessing in disguise when you’re a fool
    Every opportunity, is contingency without juncture
    Every incident, is a turning point where I’m making lefts
    Every possibility,
    Every split second,
    Every millisecond, nano second in a jiffy, and bat of an eyelash
    I’ll be missing you

    1. Aravis,
      This text you’ve made here has been touching to read on many levels. I’m moved by your anaphoric nod to Nina Simone–and the power that comes from being able to articulate what one doesn’t (yet) have and also the struggle to articulate what one does have.

      Also, your response to Gladman touches on one of the most provocative and powerful passages (to me, anyway) in her book. Not sure if you looked her up, but here is a bit more on Gladman:
      https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/people/renee-gladman

      Might you go a bit further with your response to her imaginary “undermining of all that is the case” in proposing herself to be “Eastern-European African-American”? Two points in particular:
      –Can you consider a bit more of the context of the piece (or “Calamity” as Gladman calls them) in your response to this passage. In specific, I’m interested in how her provocation relates to the acts of reading and imagining (which often comes from reading); she begins this passage discussing her experience of reading a novel written from the perspective of an Eastern-European. How might the acts of reading and imagining factor into her provocative proposal that she be read as Eastern-European African-American?

      –I notice you transition into a discussion of the current resistance (and resistance strategies) to racism and police brutality by way of a reference to “style.” While I”m very interested in this thought, I’m not yet clear on how you’re understanding the connection between “style” and this resistance. This seems important to unpack.

  17. Kwame Manuh
    Prompt #4
    Due 6/15/20

    In Namwali Serpell excerpt the Triptych: The Texas pool party. The writer narrates an incident that happened at a Texas pool party. The setting was a summertime where the party took place in a somewhat affluent neighbourhood. There was music and barbeque and all other things you find at a pool party. Serpell tells the story in a different perspective as it pertains to the narration of the story. First Serpell tells the perspective of the boys who were refused access to the party because they didn’t live in the neighbourhood.” She invited us . You can’t kick us out, man .Nah that’s some bullshit. We live here, we will live here.” This is a quote showing how Tatyana’s friends were not allowed easy access to the building because the security taught they didn’t live in the building. Secondly the excerpts in the perspective of Serpall , and lastly it directs the attention to the perspective of the formal US navy patrol officer who describes many ways to deescalate different types of situations. The style used to represent each perspective makes their case better for a good story to be told. For example the police said “ you could have been the guys that were doing right and now you’re here in trouble. You’re going to sit here until we get this figured out.” This is the perspective of the police officer he uses tone to make him feel that he was right in this case.

    2. As I began to read this excerpt it brought back memories of the video. As I began to watch the video I was thinking of the pain that the girl was going through. As I began to put myself in her shoes I realised that this could have happened to me. As I Began to understand what the officer was thinking I realised that he was too quick to judge.

    Neither the police nor the girl knew they were going to be in that situation. Neither the party goers nor the security knew that a fight was going to break out. Neither the party goers nor the police knew that a gun was going to be pulled on them. Neither the nor the party goers knew that the incident was being recorded by the police.

    3. I read Mendieta and sosa’s essay and I commented on them both.

  18. 1. The quote I picked is from Namwali Serpell, Triptych: Texas Pool Party, this quote is used to describe the joy in the party before a tragedy bespoke the people. “Five-oh, five-oh! But not quite yet, so we are slow in our scatter before the sirens come. We linger. We are not ready to give up our joy. Joy is not being beaten, joy is not being despised, joy is not seeing that look their eye. Joy is falling into a brown depth of skin the color of most people’s skin. Joy is laughing with a love of a thing that sparkles. We enjoy our loud laughter, we who are not being beaten. Not being beaten is the most perfect feeling. Not being beaten can be the secret goal of an entire life. So long as we are not being beaten, our animal laughter can be as rowdy as joy is rowdy. I love your chain. I love those kicks. It’s good to be here. We don’t owe you shit. We own this shit. We, once owned whose flesh once belonged: We. Are. Our. Own. Now. And it’s good to own good to own good to own.” A question posed from this quote is what is the meaning of “We own this shit. We, once owned whose flesh once belonged.” This phrase confused me at first but after further analysis I concluded that “this shit” could be America as African Americans built this country and “We, once owned whose flesh once belonged.” could imply towards Africa before colonization by the Europeans due to the reference of the owned flesh belonging somewhere so one can only imply an African American’s origin’s must be from Africa. Onto further analysis of the story, it is told in 3 perspectives, the resident Tatyana, the assaulting Officer and then the crowd of bystanders who saw her get assaulted. I think the style used to describe each perspective varies on the role that person had, the cop was described as self righteous in his own brute force tactics while the crowd was describing what they saw like a typical crowd would and calling out the cop in anaphoric phrases.

    2. Traffic stops are temporary detentions in the road due to a minor infraction violation or possible crime. Traffic stops are not public spectacles. Traffic stops are not public executions. Traffic stops should not end in a gunfight. Traffic stops need to be cordial, respectful and professional. Traffic stops are not exhibitions of power. Traffic stops are preventative measures. Traffic stops are warnings. Traffic stops are protective, they have to be.

    Prison is for criminals convicted of serious crime. Prison is not for drug misdemeanors. Prison is not for unpaid parking tickets. Prison should not be seen as a capitally lucrative business. Prison is not well equipped to convert criminals back into the fabric of society. Prison is the purpose for mass-incarceration. Prison population should be 59% minority.

    1. Miguel,
      Nice quotation and discussion! Your analysis of how the phrase “this shit” is working in the quotation is a very good start. Go further though. This is a LOOOONG quotation, so I’d suggest breaking it down into separate sentences and looking at each one individually. Pull out more words/phrases to analyze (like “this shit”), ask more questions about things in these sentences you notice or find confusing, etc.
      Also:
      –Consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of Serpell’s text: what does this tell us about the perspective of the narrator? Is it just one person being represented here?
      –Nice anaphora!

  19. 1.In “Triptych: Texas Pool Party” by Namwali Serpell, this narrative has a really fascinating way to describe from multiple angles what happened that day. I found in the reading that three different viewpoints exist: summertime, Perseus, and ‘what was said’. In the summertime perspective, start the tale by giving us the framework and history on what is going on. It is one of the young people who identified all that led to an illegal treatment for the young girl at the party that day. The second perspective ‘Perseus’, in the following remark he made, the protagonist often explains much of his successes from the second side as a police officer and where he comes from later on to catch himself with an excessive power at a party in order to protect a female. Thinks this day after he gets killed. He thought like he should get away with this because of all his Martin arts experience and being an officer and he let us see from the eyes of an aggressive officer who seems to have a huge sense of self :“ I alone am your traffic light. By me the future, past, and present are decided. Sure are my bullets, and all men call me healer” here we can how the officer project a sense of feeling like he is the judge, the one that knows what’s going to happen to teenagers life and also we can see that while a cop understands and acknowledges that he actually has all the leverage, but still i feel like the officer shouldn’t have use that forced that he used with teenagers. The third perspective is called What Was Said, where we see that It’s the conversation between anyone who knows what’s going on and the officer who’s at the top of the young girl at this stage in the plot. One quotation is where it states “What is wrong. You’re hurting her. Why you’re holding her down..Film it. I’m doing a job OK. I’m filming it..My back is hurting..Then stop fighting..Stop lay down.” The illustration demonstrates what both the officer and the witnesses, including the kid who was assaulted, say to each other.

    2.You are. The one I love with all my life. The one i’m thinking about every night. The one that helps me make things right. The one I dream of when I sleep at night. The one I think of when I hug my pillow tight. The one I’m not giving up without a fight.

    Because of your smile
    Because of the way you hold me
    Because of how you we feel we are together
    Because you’re selective
    Because you’re determined to make the most of yourself and your life
    Because you’ll understand
    Because you’ll always stand by me.

    3.have been posted.

    1. This is really getting good, Emanuel. I love the quotation that you’ve chosen from Serpell’s text, in which the cop claims to be a “stop light”——this is one of the funniest metaphors in the text I think. A couple thoughts for revision:
      –Consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of Serpell’s text: what does this tell us about the perspective of the narrator? Is it just one person being represented here?
      –You are right that part 3 of the text is a “conversation” of sorts, but what does this tell us about the perspective through which we listen to the conversation? Say more about the POV.
      –Watch out for typos–especially missing words–when you re-read and revise.
      –Your final anaphora consists of a series of dependent clauses that don’t resolve; would you like to resolve them? What I mean by this is something like: Because you’ll always stand by me, I’ll stand by you. << The last part of the sentence "resolves" the question raised by the dependent clause (Because…). It occurs to me that you could put the "Because" anaphora before the "The one" anaphora and the two parts would complement each other:

      Because you'll always stand by me
      You are
      The one I love with all my life.
      The one I'm thinking about every night

      Get it?

  20. Kerving Sosa HW 6/15/20

    1: “Triptych: Texas Pool Party” by Namwali Serpell it was written in different styles. The article first starts off with the summertime narrative which is case is a first person POV. “We dance and we dance. All of this beauty, all of this rolling, dipping brown flesh, like desert dunes in the shadow or desert dunes in the sun.” In this quote you can find this narrator is using words to describe him or her and their friends. Then things take a turn for the worst, “Not being beaten is the most perfect feeling. Not being beaten can become the secret goal of an entire life” it isn’t clear who is being beaten maybe they mean both metaphorically or actually physically beaten regardless of the context of these terms you can hear what black people have to fear in their daily lives and this brings sadness to peoples heart. Any decent hearted human being is tired of seeing this too. Recently the world has broken out into chaos because of the deaths of innocent black men and woman being treated less than human as if the slave trade wasn’t over 400 years ago, the essence of racism is still well alive, very sad. Second part of the story is told in POV of the police officer he says “I have received eight hours of cultural diversity training and taken courses on racial profiling courses.” Although this police officer has taken these courses doesn’t make him any more fit to be an officer of the law a police officer is supposed to be able to deescalate situations but claims to have fallen and then gets a hold of young Tatyana and holds her down as she calls for her mother. This cop was not at fault entirely but he did not handled the situation with the due diligence needed. Should we defund the police like a lot of people are saying to. Absolutely not the world would be chaotic but we do need to tear this corrupt system from the ground up and rebuild it make sure these cops truly do understand and take the necessary precautions for any situation involving anyone and to not wish harm upon other people.

    2: A million thoughts running through my mind. Did you ever love me? A million times you had me wondering. Were you ever really mine? A million dollars in my chase bank account. Why do I feel emptier than ever? A million is just another number and you just found another lover?

    Tired of this systematic racism built into the foundation of our country.
    Tired of the old people in charge of our country with no value for human lives.
    Tired of lying to myself and not constantly working on being my ideal self.
    Tired of it all, but if I don’t give it my all and work towards the change we need to see, how can I convince other people how to be.
    Tired is just another excuse, I will be tired my whole life why not be tired and great.

    1. Kerving,
      These are powerful anaphora you’ve made—especially the list of fatiguing things and thoughts. I’m particularly interested in your second to last sentence, where you introduce a “but” and then the thought begins to go elsewhere, beyond the fatigue–and then you close with a slightly altered version of the anaophoric frame (“tired is…” vs. “tired of…”); by shifting your wording here, you indicate a change of sorts in the message being developed by this poem-like piece you’ve written. (To be clear, a true anaphora involves strictly the same repeating phrase at the beginning of each sentence, line, or paragraph; but it’s totally fine to alter this repeating motif if you’re aware of the effects that changing it will produce.)

      In Part 1, this is great, critical work you’ve done on parts 1 and 2–your connection of part 2 to the current BLM protests is well indicated and appreciated. Can you be more specific in your analysis of the POV in part 1, though? The narrator uses “we” quite a lot, and so I’m thinking this may be first-person, but not first-person SINGULAR? What do you think? Also, please include your thoughts on the POV in part 3. Thanks.

  21. HW#4- Revised
    1. Post a reading response to one of the above readings. Below are the guidelines. For those of you wanting more of a prompt to chew on, try describing each of the three perspectives in Serpell’s text: who is writing—that is, what is the voice which tells—each of the three versions of the story here? What do you notice about the style used to represent the perspective in each section?

    In “Triptych”, the author stated an event that happened in a Texas Pool Party in 2015, describing an encounter between a police officer and someone at the party. The story was written from 3 different perspectives and styles. In the first version “Summertime”, the story was told from the narrator who was at the party. The narrator stated, “Our bodies in and out of the pool, hanging on the edge, dangling over. The chlorine air, the blue sky above almost shamed by the blue of the pool.” This style represent that everyone was having fun and enjoying their time at the party.

    In the second version “Perseus”, the story was told from a police officer perspective that arrived at the scene. The police officer stated, “I am a former highway patrol trooper, a US Navy military police veteran, and a corporal. I have in-depth training in impact-weapon deployment and in expandable baton, firearms, electronic control devices, Positive Assertive Control Tactics–Dynamic Threat Response, handcuffing, joint locks, pressure-point compliance, and armed and unarmed self-defense. I am a master of several disciplines of martial arts, including combat and ground fighting.” This style represent how police officers were trained and talking about their background.

    In the last version “What Was Said”, the story was told by the bystanders who was at the scene. They noticed the police officer was holding a woman down on the ground. The writer stated, “What is wrong. You’re hurting her. Why you holding her down for. Can you not. Why are you dragging her. What is she doing. What is she doing.” This style represent that police officers have the power and authority to use violence towards an unarmed female.

    2. Write 2 paragraphs of anaphoric sentences. (See definition and example of anaphora above.) In your first paragraph, begin every sentence with the same phrase. In your second paragraph, do the same thing, using a different phrase.

    Maybe I can go out and take a walk. Maybe I can watch anime. Maybe I can cook for myself. Maybe I can hang out with my friends. Maybe I can work out and stay healthy. Maybe I can go find a job and start working instead of staying home. Maybe I can travel when quarantine ends.

    When can I work again? When can I go back to college again? When can I visit the park again? When can I play in the park again? When can we go back to the normal life we have again? When can I travel again?

    3. Read 2 more of your classmates’ essays and post your responses to those essays as comments.

    I commented on Emily and Melanie essays. See below for comments.

    1. Thank you, Victor–I’m touched by the possibilities and questions in the anaphoric paragraphs you’ve built here.
      Might I urge you to consider the following ideas when revising this?
      –In writing about Serpell’s work (and any literary text, really), please use the quotations to start/support your discussion, comments, questions, etc. You can include 1 sentence of background, but then please introduce the quotation and focus on that. While you’ve chosen interesting quotes, I’m not seeing the connections between the quotes you’ve chosen and your discussion of them. So see if you can analyze the language of each quotation a bit more AFTER you’ve introduced it.

      –Good work on the POV in part 2, but consider the repetition of “we” in the first section of Serpell’s text: what does this tell us about the perspective of part 1’s narrator? Is it just one person being represented here? Similarly, consider all the voices being represented in part 3 without any signal phrases (he said, she said); what does this tell us about the perspective of this section?

  22. HW 6/15 Revision
    1.Serpell is informing the readers about how racism have linked to police brutality. When a 15-year-old girl was brutally arrested in Texas, in a pool party.
    a. Serpell is telling the same events that involves a tension between a white police officer and a person of color. In the first version Summertime, it tells the perspective of the Black Teenagers who are enjoying their summer as describe in the article “All of this beauty, all of this rolling, dipping brown flesh, like desert dunes in the shadow or desert dunes in the sun.” Which in this case, there were three types of perspectives that were used to write the article. In the point of view of the teenagers, they are just enjoying their summer which is part of their rights to live. But the Police Officer who responded to an alleged racist woman’s complaint about nuisance that the teenagers are causing
    b. In the Perseus, Serpell is showing the perspective of the white police officers who arrested the
    black teenager. In this perspective, the police officer is just doing his job on maintaining the peace according to the officer.He claimed that the teenagers have tried to attack him, and it is part of his duty to defend himself. “On all sides suspects swarm to assail me, to wage against me an unequal war, to rob me of all I have won by honor, training, and just deserts.” which he is also informing everyone that he is a well-trained police who was in the Master-At-Arms in the Navy’s Military Police. The Police Officer is also trained about the cultural diversity, in which on the side of the Officer, he performed his job with honor.
    c. In the What Was Said, Serpell is showing the argument between the Police Officer and the Civilian person. The argument is showing what have happened, and is showing both sides of the story. The police who was committing police brutality have done such thing because the assailant is allegedly provoking the police, and the police officer is allegedly doing his job. But according to the eyewitnesses, they claimed that the police officer have stereotype on the people of color. As it is said by the eyewitnesses, “What is wrong. You’re hurting her. Why you holding her down for? Can you not. Why are you dragging her? What is she doing? ” In which the people are telling the police officer to stop using excessive forces. Serpell is telling that it was pure Police Brutality that was conducted by the Police, with allegedly linked to racism.
    2. We should be united in order to fight against racism, discrimination, and all evil acts. We should work together for the good of everyone. We should educate ourselves, and the younger generations about the value of respect, honor, and dignity. We should share resources to the people who are in need of specific resources so that our lives may excel. We should cherish every single time we got here on Earth, and live according to moral principles.
    Every time I go to military training, we are expected to be at our best behavior. Every time we are meeting, I must be alert at all times. Every time there is an announcement, we must be recording all details to the smallest information. Every time I report, I must be in full uniform and must follow the law everywhere we go. Every time we report, all soldiers must know the the courtesy of the Army. Every time the Department of Defense has an event, all soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen must be present.

    3. I commented on Emanuel Pichardo and Ryan Cabrera’s essays

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