Thursday, April 10, 2014
Shame Question # 6
6. Specific details can enhance the reader's understanding and appreciation of a subject. Gregory's description of Helene Tucker's manners or the plaid of his mackinaw, for example, makes his account vivid and interesting. Cite several other specific details he gives, and consider how the essay would be different without them.
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Without the specific description of Helene there was no need to feel ashamed.
ReplyDeleteWithout the specific description of the jacket there is no explanation of hatred.
One important specific series of details Gregory gave was how hungry he was. "Pregnant with poverty... dirt...cold...[and] hunger." This helps bring Gregory's plight to light, and shows just how desperate he was. Without these details, the essay wouldn't feel as personal, and so the audience would have a harder time connecting emotionally.
ReplyDelete"The pipes were frozen again, there was no water in the house, but i washed my socks and shirt every night. I'd get a pot and go over to Mister Ben's grocery store, and stick my pot down into his soda machine."'
ReplyDelete"Teachers were never interested in finding out that you couldn't concentrate because you were so hungry, because you hadn't had any breakfast."
Without these descriptions, the reader would not know just how little the character actually is.
Doc I gave to agree with you because without those words or phrase this story would lack emotion and make this paper more boring.
ReplyDeleteGregory talked about the "brown and orange, white-plaid mackinaw" that welfare gave him and how he was "pregnant with poverty". These would make the narrative different because these descriptions set up the tone of how bad his life was and how bad his life became once his teacher shamed him in front of the class.
ReplyDeleteThe description, "I'd rub my tennis sneakers on the back of my pants and wish my hair wasn't so nappy" This shows how much Gregory tried to impress Helene.
ReplyDelete"By evening the ice melted to water for washing". This would make the narrative different because these phase shows how poor Gregory is. How he struggles to wash his cloths everyday. To look clean and nice in front of Helen. He wanted to show her that his clean enough to have his clothes clean. And it sets a depressing and pity mood, which makes anyone feel bad for him.
ReplyDeleteHe describes his love for Helene so vividly so that the reader could understand his actions later in the plot. Without such details, the reader would not be able to understand why he would want to outbid her. Also, if he did not give the details of how poor he was, the reader wouldn't understand why he had such little money and that he had to work.
ReplyDeleteReply to Dalton
ReplyDelete--Great use of quotes! Love how you mention the big picture and capture the need for the scale of Greg's poverty. Good job.
"The teacher thought I was stupid. Couldn't spell, couldn't read, couldn't do arithmetic. Just stupid. Teachers were never interested in finding out that you couldn't concentrate because you were so hungry, because you hadn't had any breakfast."
ReplyDeleteI guess t would have gotten over Helene by summertime, but something happened in that classroom that made her face hang in front of me for the next 22 years.
ReplyDeletewithout detail this would be an emotionless story.
Bonnie, I think that the descriptive words about Helene explains for his actions later in the story as well
ReplyDelete-the best man in the world- your details are about his hunger at his home and school
ReplyDelete"Teachers were never interested in finding out that you couldn't concentrate because you were so hungry, because you hadn't had any breakfast."
ReplyDelete"I was shaking, scared to death. The teacher opened her book and started calling out names alphabetically."
Gregory is great at describing the event and showing his emotions. When he later speaks of his conversation with the teacher it is so hard not to sympathize with him. In all honesty my heart broke for him. I am very passionate about minority and impoverished children. So his description of the event really touches me and makes me feel hatred against the teacher.
Josh:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points! It is the little details that magnify the feelings that Gregory is feeling throughout the story. Without them, we wouldn't understand the setting or his feelings.
The teacher is fully described when it shows her perception of him with, "little black boy who squirmed in his idiot's seat and made noises and poked the kids around him." The reason behind this is so you see the abuse he received.
ReplyDeleteKai: Without the specific description of Helene there was no need to feel ashamed.
ReplyDeleteWithout the specific description of the jacket there is no explanation of hatred.
Once again, short, sweet, and to the point!
This is very true. These descriptions are vital to the point of Gregory's shame and how he chose to show said shame.
Without the description of Helene's mannerisms, for example, the story would lack the contrast of characteristics between her and Gregory. Readers would have a lack of understanding of why Gregory admired her. Without the description of Gregory's hunger, readers would not know just how extreme his situation was. Without the description of his shame, the reader would not understand how much this event affected him.
ReplyDeleteReply to Andrew
ReplyDeleteNot to mention that it wouldn't show why he did such extreme things to please her.
"I'd get a pot and go over to Mister Ben's grocery store, and stick my pot down into his soda machine."'
ReplyDelete"I was pregnant with poverty. Pregnant with dirt....."
Without the specific description the readers could not feel the emotion of being ashamed. The story would also not feel as personal.
Kai you need to elaborate more. Share your words with the world
ReplyDelete"light-complexioned little girl with pigtails"- this shows how the girl is white and a sweet looking girl
ReplyDelete"it was a woman's handkerchief"- this showed how Gregory couldn't afford a man's handkerchief but he wore this one for Helene
"rub my sneakers on the back of my pants and wish my hair wasn't so nappy": this showed how he wanted to be presentable to Helene, but is living conditions got in the way
"in a seat with a chalk circle drawn around it"- this showed the separation that Gregory had from the other students. He was set aside and looked down upon, especially by the teacher.
"the day before the negro payday"- this showed the time period that Gregory is living in and how even black people called themselves the n word, how sometimes they would look down upon themselves from the put-downs of others.
"her nostrils getting big and her lips getting thin and her eyes opening wide..."- this showed the anger from the teacher and how she was about to blow ans she did. Thus showing the anger building.
"asking for rotten peaches"- this shows how they were so poor that they would eat rotten fruit.
Gregory’s description of how special he must have been to have been chosen to wash the chalkboards and keep the school functioning show us how much he wanted to feel accepted and a part of something.
ReplyDeleteThe explanation of all he would go through to gives us some idea of how poor he was. “Pregnant people get strange tastes. I was pregnant with poverty. Pregnant with dirt and pregnant with smells that made people turn away, pregnant with cold and pregnant with shoes that were never bought for me…”
Jorge, those lines do show the shame he felt and the poverty that he lived in. Thus showing the conditions that he lived under and creating a sadness in the reader.
ReplyDeleteLogan: The teacher is fully described when it shows her perception of him with, "little black boy who squirmed in his idiot's seat and made noises and poked the kids around him." The reason behind this is so you see the abuse he received.
ReplyDeleteI think that is also played the role of showing how much the teacher looked down on him which led to the shame. Had we not had the descriptions of the teacher beforehand, we would have viewed her as a picture-perfect teacher and would not have truly understood the harshness of her comments on the last day.
Anna R: I agree that the words you chose were really important and they played an important role in the story. For they describe in details how bad he needed the necessary things that he lacked in life.
ReplyDeleteReply to Dr. Anna R.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you again on the fact that those details makes the story more emotional and make the reader more emotionally attached to the story. The details also helped the reader understand how much the narrator suffers.
Another specific description that Gregory gives is " I was pregnant with poverty. Pregnant with dirt and pregnant with smells that made people turn away... and pregnant with hunger. This gives a very specific account of how poor he was and how hungry he was. It also sow how much people would try to keep away from him. The essay would definitely be less interesting if there wasn't a vivid example of how the author Gregory felt during this time mainly he emphasized how hungry and starved he was.
ReplyDeleteEsmeralda,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the story would be less attention-grabbing if Gregory didn't describe how close to starvation he was. Sure, he could've said, "I was starving," but it wouldn't have really had an effect. By using the really vivid use of being "pregnant with [something]," he caught attention.
Reply to Josh
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because it without the specific details the story would not be personal and would probably boring.
Kai I strongly agree with you bestfriend
ReplyDelete"...light-complexioned little girl with pigtails" This quote describes the appearance of the girl, and without it, we would not know how the little girl looks. From this description we now know that the little girl is white.
ReplyDelete"...her nostrils getting big and her lips getting thin and her eyes opening wide..." This shows how angry the teacher was getting when Gregory stood up and raised his hand to give money. Without this quote, we would not know how serious the teacher was when she told Gregory that everyone knows he does not have a Daddy.
“Pregnant people get strange tastes. I was pregnant with poverty. Pregnant with dirt and pregnant with smells that made people turn away, pregnant with cold and pregnant with shoes that were never bought for me, pregnant with five other people in my bed and no Daddy in the next room, and pregnant with hunger." This shows how poor Gregory is, and how much Gregory and his family were suffering. Without this quote, we would not know how bad the circumstance was for Gregory, and how much his Daddy meant to him.
Replying to Anna Smith:
ReplyDeleteYour quotes were very well hand-picked. Many of the quotes expressed how much Gregory was suffering, and that greatly helped the audience understand the story more.