After reading Audre Lorde’s speech, what are some features of the narrative, using Laura Westengard’s slideshow that we were assigned? Please post at least 2 EXAMPLES here.
Please ALSO post here: what are some ways that you want to get your reader’s attention for your education narrative? Following the features that we read about, what are some narrative features that you plan to use and why?
Please post BEFORE OUR CLASS ON TUESDAY, 26th.
After reading Audre Lorde’s speech, some features of the narrative would be significance and detailed because of the way the author describes her surroundings and how she gives us an understanding of her anger towards America’s racist motives as well as her frustration towards her parents’ response to racism. For example in the text it states “My mother and
father believed that they could best protect their children from
the realities of race in America and the fact of American racism
by never giving them names, much less discussing their nature.” Audre Lorde’s parents’ way of sheltering their daughter was by not acknowledging the problem and acting blind to the issue. This frustrated her because she didn’t like how they avoided the problem rather than trying to teach her about the history. Audre Lorde expresses her disappointment in her lacking the knowledge of her own history. In the text it states “​​I viewed Julys through an agonizing corolla of dazzling whiteness and I always hated the Fourth of July, even before I came to
realize the travesty such a celebration was for black people in this
Country.” The author uses imagery and relates it back to her life and how she never knew how the Fourth Of July was not a holiday to celebrate when it comes to people of color. Audre Lorde seems very new to the topic of discrimination because her family decided to hold it back for her. Audre seems very shocked and angered by all the new information she has found out. These are the features of this narrative.
Some features used in Audre Lorde’s speech using Laura Westengard’s slideshow are describing feelings and thoughts from young Audre Lorde and what she goes through during that time. By doing this she makes it easier to understand the message of the story by using certain experiences that shaped her understanding of the world. Another feature used is a dramatic arc where Audre Lorde where they are told in a store they can’t eat here and Audre Lorde expresses her anger by asking questions of “But we hadn’t done anything” “This wasn’t right or fair!” being the only one of her entire family to speak out for once as her parents and sister just take this discrimination and keep quite.
Some ways I could get the readers attention in my narrative is by there being some sort of dramatic arc in my story, some features that I plan on using is using certain experiences from the past and comparing it to the present so the reader could understand more clearly my message of the story.
In Audre Lorde narrative she uses vivid pictures and places to paint an image for the audience. An example is her depiction of the train when she was on her way to Washington D.C. Lorde made sure to include details that allowed for the excitement that she had to be brought out for the readers as she goes forth on a new experience. Another example is when she was in the restaurant at the end of her narrative she made sure that the audience were able to pick up on the change in emotions and tone when the waiter said the family was not allowed to eat at the restaurant through the interaction she presented to the audience .
I would like to grab the readers attention through my narrative by keeping my audience entertained. When reading a book or writing one in this case you want those who are reading it to want to read it an not just do it because they have to. I would like to be able to create an enjoyable experience for those who are reading and not just an informative one.
In Audre Lorde’s she used dialogue and vivid descriptions of places and people to show her experience and show how she was treated and how she felt during this whole D.C trip. As stated in the text when she first heard about the trip to Washington D.C as a celebration gift for her and her sister she was pretty ecstatic about it. But in the next example you can see how her reaction to the Washington trip took a 180 and completely changed.
A way I’d like to grab my readers attention is by building up the dramatic arc and basically do what the phrase “expect the unexpected” means, by doing this it will make the readers curious and want to keep reading, a very strong rising action and climax, this is usually what hooks me and surely others to a story.
I forgot to complete the bad example sentence it was meant to be,”But in the next example you can see her reaction to the Washington trip take a 180 and completely change, this is because of the racism she faced, she felt as though the Washington trip which was meant to be a present wasn’t a present after all.”
The audience is given a clear sense of the setting in Audre Lorde’s tale by means of vivid images. She used the train she took to get to Washington, D.C., for instance, to describe it. Lorde made sure to give readers a sense of her exhilaration as she embarks on a new experience by using details that allowed for this. Through my tale, I hope to capture the reader’s interest by entertaining my audience. A very strong rising action and climax is typically what hooks me and probably others to a story.
When I read the text, I was given a clear description of the setting and what she saw during her trip to Washington D.C. She explained the description of the racism she and her family endured. She explained her emotions and how she was mad her and her family experiencing the racism that was happening at the time.
What I plan to use for my education narrative is to use imagery and describe what the setting is and make the reader feel like they are in the story. And that goes to my second plan which is to use point of view and make the reader feel as if they are in the story like I said earlier. I feel like they will understand more if it is in their point of view.
After reading Audre Lorde’s speech I noticed she used imagery and the use of setting to tell her story of the trio to Washington. She uses imagery by describing all the things she had seen in Washington D.C. that were white, which adds to the main theme of the speech. She uses setting by stating that Washington D.C. is supposed to represent freedom and America during the Fourth of July and to show how the courtesy of freedom does not extend to her and her family during these times.
Some ways I can get my readers attention for my education narrative is using vivid details by telling the reader how I benefitted from the chosen text and how I can use it in my own writing to later help me.
When I read Audre Lorde’s text, I was given an image in my head on how to view her story. She gave vivid descriptions such detailing and naming , with that she was able to paint the picture of how she was taking a graduation trip to Washington D.C. This further added onto with the massive amount of detail about how her parents were facing racism and how her emotions would make her feel such as rage. Its perfectly put together to show how much her and her family had to endure during these times.
For my education narrative, I would like to use imagery and very impactful details to make the story cinematic and more life like. It would keep the attention of the reader/audience so that they are hooked onto it. With the amount of detail in this narrative it would also give some sort of realism which could sound personal giving the reader something to relate back to.
As i was reading the text by Audre Lorde she used dialogue and vivid discriptions of what was around her and the people around her. She explained the racism that her and her family went through and she explained her emotions on how that made her feel.
The first example for the Laura Lorde’s slideshow is that the story should be enjoyable to the audience it needs to grab there attention and make them very interested in reading story instead of getting bored of it. The second example is that the story should include details that’s why Laura Lorde included details to make it more specific.
The ways that I want to draw my reader’s attention for my education narrative is by making it something that could relate to the reader with there own personal experiences and to make it more enjoyable to them because as an author you want people to look at your work and see what you can do and what you need to improve on.