The discourse communities of law and science shaped the multi-literacies, thinking, and imaginations of audiences watching Birth of a Nation. At this time, the discourse community believed that African Americans created division. They also believed that slave labor was necessary to keep America running. This discourse community shaped the multi-literacies, because people would talk in a way that showed their disdain for African Americans and their thoughts of how the white race was superior. When they were watching Birth of Nation, they got sucked in and believed that film really portrayed what was happening in their world. It continued to enforce their beliefs that Africans Americans were not smart and that they were aggressive. Also they believed that anything should be done to stop them. including the KKK.

Griffith wants a viewer to feel sympathetic towards the woman and her family, and the South, in this scene. The decor around the woman and her family is nature in the midst of a battle. This portrays the South as helpless. The typage includes a mother and three children. The mother is wearing a polka dot dress, the dresses of her children include soft colors and flowers. This portrays the South as sweet and innocent. The parell editing is a scene of a mother comforting her children, then it cuts to a war scene with shooting in death. Again, this is used to show that the South is innocent and undeserving of all the violence from war. The iris around the mother and the children is blue. This is a calm color, meaning that the family is the calm admist the chaos. The iris arounf the war is red, meaning violence and chaos. This shows that this little family is doing their best to remain calm in the middle of a war.

The one video is about a man who will not allow this mulatto(mixed) woman to touch him, she cries and drops to the floor. Then she tells the other man that the man hurt her. The iris is around the southern gentleman in the beginning as he is working, this is used to focus in on him and show that he is important. The decor around the man includes bookshelves, rugs and lamps at the time. This shows that he is intelligent and rich. The decor around the mulatto woman is the fancy house, she is wearing an apron and she picks up the man’s hat; this shows that she is a servant. The woman is wearing somewhat gypsy like clothes and the men are in business suits. The typage of the woman is a shorter mulatto woman with dark hair, they used this woman because she is mixed. The typage of a the southern gentleman is one young and one old man and they are both nicely dressed.

The other video is about a mulatto man who a souther says should be their equal, because he looks white. He then calls the senator, and he says that this man should be a symbol to his people of what to to achieve. This man is the mulatto leader of the blacks, there is an iris around him when he bows, to focus in on how he is respectful of whites. The type of man they used is mixed, but looks very white. He is nice looking and wears a nice suit. The decor in the scene includes bookshelves and rugs to show how rich the master of the house is. The mulatto women is this scene is wearing a fancy dress instead of her other clothes. Griffith wants a viewer to feel that biracial Americans are the top tier of their race. And, that all African Americans should look up to the mixed people of their race, he wants viewers to feel happy that the black race could be elimimated their intermixing.

The Birth of a Nation(Wikipedia). This entry talks about how the silent film was made in 1915, and about the book and play it is based off of( The Clansmen). The way this entry was written makes the film seem to be very important and historical. It says, “The Birth of a Nation is a landmark of film history”. This entry goes into great detail, lifting this movie onto a pedestal. It was the first 12-reel film made and it also was the longest at that time(three hours). The movie is about the Assasination of Lincoln and the relationship betwen two opposing families in the Civil Wra era and the Reconstruction era. The entry says that this movie was the most complex movie at the time. It also was the first movie to have a orchestra for the movie soundtrack. However, it then talks about the negatives of this movie. This movie has been called the most controversial movie ever made in the United States. Lincoln was portyayed very positivley. African Americans were portrayed as not intelligent and sexually agressive with white women. And the KKK was portrayed as heros. There were many black protests against this movie, and the NAACP tried to ban it. This movie is seen as an inspiration for the rebirth of the KKK months later. The Library of Congress has preserved this film and put it on the National Film Registry. This movie shows the state of the United States in the early 1900’s.

My reaction to this film is that the film is trying to make it seem that life was better before African Americans came to America. The old film and the music is used to idealize what life was like before. The discourse community of this film thought their audience were people who agreed with them. They narrate through music and videos in order to get their point across. The warrant that this film portrays is that life was picture perfect before African Americans came. Their evidence for this is that disunion dramatically rised when African Americans came.

The purpose of this essay is to provide a voice for African Americans. He wants to show how African Americans have to strive, because they are not given the same opportunities. Du Bois wants people to see that even though they are free from slavery, that they are not really free. The context of the writer when he wrote the essay is important. He wrote this in 1897. In 1897, he worked at the University of Atlanta(all black school). He wrote his first book a year before he published this essay. His first book was, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade(1896). This essay was put into his book, The Souls of Black Folk in 1903. A year before Du Bois’s essay was published, there was a court case.  Plessy v. Ferguson established separate but equal. Even though, Du Bois did not exactly talk about this, his essay can be seen as a response to the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision. The decision of separate but equal relates to what Du Bois talks about when he says that they are free but not really living in freedom. He later was apart of the NAACP(1909) which helped reverse the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision.

The claim/thesis is that African Americans are not given enough opportunities. The issue of the essay is that African Americans have to strive to reach a place of success, because they are not given the same opportunities. The gap is that he thinks that his readers(white Americans) do not understand how much African Americans have to strive to reach what they want. He also thinks that they think that no slavery equals freedom. However, they are not really free because they do not have the same opportunities. The reason that African Americans are not given the same opportunities is because of racial biased. The evidence for this is that White Americans suppressed their votes and stuffed the ballot boxes. Dubois’ warrant is that he believes people should be free to achieve their dreams and they should be given the opportunity to achieve those dreams.

Du Bois used pathos in his essay. He appealed to emotion through storytelling and expressing the idea that all African Americans want is to really be free and have opportunities. He used logos when he talks about the history of African Americans. His evidence is in first-person, which is called anecdotal evidence. He talks briefly about how the war and Ku Klux Klan affected them. And, how they were hopeful when the fifteenth amendment was passed. However, he then talks about how their votes were suppressed and how ballot boxes were stuffed. He uses logos and pathos, because he wants to talk about the emotions tied to his experience. At this time there were very few African Americans that published their feelings, thoughts and experience. He had to rely on his own experience.

• Warrant- unspoken values the writer thinks that he shares with his readers
• Argument style- evidence, reason, format genre comes from the discourse community
• Knowledge- created from discourse and multiliteracies for members to use.

The Strivings of the Negro People

• Issue- African Americans have to strive to reach a place of success, because they are not given the same opportunities.
• Gap-He thinks that readers do not understand how much African Americans have to strive to reach what they want. He also thinks that they think that no slavery equals freedom. However, they are not really free because they do not have the same opportunities.
• Readers- White Americans and Readers of Atlanta monthly
• Claim- African Americans are not given enough opportunities.
• Reason- They are not given the same opportunities, because of racial biased.
• Evidence- They suppress their votes and stuff ballot boxes. He also gives his personal experience.
• Warrant- He believes people should be free to achieve their dreams and they should be given the opportunity to achieve those dreams.

I like the discussion covenant, it makes sense to me. Asking questions and being prepared is important. It is very important to be able to work with others as well. And I like the attendance policy.

• Morgan
• Claim–He believed that whites were superior to the African race.
• Reasons– He did not want blacks to get the right to vote.
• Evidence– He believes that blacks will use their vote to show their resentment towards white southern people. He gives an example of Haiti and Jamaica, and that they drove out white people.
• Warrant– He believe that the African race was not as civilized as the white race
• Counterargument–Whites are not superior to any other race. All races deserve equal rights.
• Rebuttal– He would say that the flaw in that argument is that everyone else believes that Africans are inferior, so it is true.

Rhetorical Appeals Du Bois

Du Bois used pathos in his essay. He appealed to emotion through storytelling and expressing the idea that all African Americans want is to really be free and have opportunities.

He used logos when he talks about the history of African Americans. His evidence is in first-person, which is called anecdotal evidence. He talks briefly about how the war and Ku Klux Klan affected them. And, how they were hopeful when the fifteenth amendment was passed. However, he then talks about how their votes were suppressed and how ballot boxes were stuffed.

He uses logos and pathos, because he wants to talk about the emotions tied to his experience. At this time there were very few African Americans that published their feelings, thoughts and experience. He had to rely on his own experience.

The purpose of this essay is to provide a voice for African Americans. He wants to how African Americans have to strive, because they are not given the same opportunities. He wants people to see that even though they are free from slavery, that they are not really free.

The context of the writer when he wrote the essay is important. He wrote this in 1897. In 1897, he worked at the University of Atlanta(all black school). He wrote his first book a year before he published this essay. His first book was, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade(1896). This essay was put into his book, The Souls of Black Folk in 1903. A year before Du Bois’s essay was published, there was a court case.  Plessy v. Ferguson established separate but equal. Even though, Du Bois did not exactly talk about this, his essay can be seen as a response to the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision. The decision of separate but equal relates to what Du Bois talks about when he says that they are free but not really living in freedom. He later was apart of the NAACP(1909) which helped reverse the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision.

Du Bois talks about how people do not directly say to him, “How does it feel to be a problem?”. But that is what white people mean when they talk to him. He talks about when he was younger how a girl refused his card, and he realized it was because he was different. He realized that the world of opportunities was only for white people, and that he would have to fight to gain his place in the world. He talks about how the history of African Americans is strife. And, how they wish for the opportunity of self-development without be looked down upon. He talks about how even though they are free from slavery, they are not really living in freedom. He talks about their desire for freedom during the war, and the Ku Klux Klan era. And, then finally there was hope of liberty with the fifteenth amendment and they finally got the right to vote. However, their votes were suppressed and ballot boxes were stuffed. And then there was a second decade of their freedom. The African American’s spiritual striving is for freedom. This essay really helps the reader understand the African American’s point of view. This essay is story like and is full of pathos. The reader can really feel the emotion and the desire for freedom. Du Bois wanted people to really understand how African American’s felt, he did this through storytelling and talking about their history. The issue is that African Americans are still looking for true freedom. The audience is white Americans, he wants them to know African Americans’ perspective and desires. The audience can also be fellow African Americans, because this essay gave a voice to what they were feeling.

The Race Question

The writer believes that their audience is their discourse community. The writer thinks that their audience agrees with their warrant(belief).

Morgan thinks that the gap is that his audience does not understand the race issue. The issue is voting rights and citizenship. His audience are white southern people and Dixiecrats.

• Claim–He believed that whites were superior to the African race.
• Reasons– He did not want blacks to get the right to vote.
• Evidence– He believes that blacks will use their vote to show their resentment towards white southern people. He gives an example of Haiti and Jamaica, and that they drove out white people.
• Warrant– He believe that the African race was not as civilized as the white race
• Counterargument–Whites are not superior to any other race. All races deserve equal rights.
• Rebuttal– He would say that the flaw in that argument is that everyone else believes that Africans are inferior, so it is true.

PVF The Race Question

Abolitionists thought that there needed to be more amendments after ratification of the 13th amendment. The 14th and 15th amendment gave more rights to African Americans. Some said that the purpose of the amendments was to protect African Americans from White aggression. There is a racial prejudice that fuels the exclusion of African Americans. The main point in the race question is that if African Americans could be absorbed into the race, then there would be peace. However, he talks about how this can not be done. He thinks that the separation of races under different governments would help.

TMM 82-92

Agassiz wanted race separation. Morton was revered scientist and data collector for collecting human skulls. He thought that races could be ranked based on the brain’s physical traits and size. Morton was leader among Polygenists in America. Morton looked through Egyptian drawings and saw that blacks were shown as servants. He therefore concluded that this is their biological role. Morton published three major books on the size of human skulls. The author believes that Morton work was flaws and that he used convenient data to support his claim