Jessica Corona

12/07/15
English 1S/242
Professor Fernandez

Final

1. Vocabulary - The reason I believe that looking up unknown vocabulary words helped me
read James Baldwins text at the college level because my level of comprehension
increases when I know and understood the complete text.

Reading aloud - Reading the text aloud help me read James Baldwins text at the
college level because when I listen to myself read my ears pick up everything that Im
reading and help me better comprehend the text.

2. Once I started looking up vocabulary words my level of comprehension increase

drastically. I never knew that such a small change could help my reading
comprehensions this much. Now every time that I read I skim thru the text and highlight
the vocabulary words I dont understand and then at the end define them. After I defined
them I reread the text again and my level of comprehension goes from a 3 to a 5 in an
instant. For example in James Baldwins My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my nephew on
the Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation I looked up the word inferior and learned
that it means lower rank. All this time I thought inferior ment higher rank therefor when I
looked it up and realized what it really means I understood the context of the letter to a
different level.

I noticed that when I read in silent my mind tends to wander and I begin to lose focus.
After a few minutes I begin to pick up only half of the text just bits and pieces here and
there (selective reading), yet when I read aloud my ears capture what my brained
missed. When I first read James Baldwins My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my nephew on
the Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation I missed a lot of important information in
particular the last few paragraphs which are one of the most important ones. I originally
missed the main idea of the text which is to not be afraid and even though the country is
celebrating 100 years of freedom, freedom is yet to come.

3. In my opinion Baldwin selected a letter format to express his points to his nephew as a
metaphor to show that they are all living incarcerated without freedom. As a reader I felt
Baldwins pain and sorrow thru his letter, and as I read each and every line I picture what
it must have been to receive such an intellectual letter like this in which he expresses
how regardless of the chaos he encourages love. I believe that the point Baldwin was
making thru this letter was to make the reader feel incarcerated and in a world where
white were superior than the rest.
Part II

1. Why is it so challenging for people to accept social or political change in

society-especially when it comes to deeply entrenched norms or expectations?

The act of making or becoming different is called change. Change occurs frequently, so
often that sometimes we miss it. Society is so caught up with their own lives that when
something changes they dont even notice, yet what would happen if there were social or
political changes? If this happened people would stop what they are doing and object. The
bigger question is why is it challenging for people to accept social or political change and the
answer is this, White Americans are afraid of change or I should say terrified of change
especially when it consist of getting out of their comfort zone and going against what they
believe in. In My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my nephew on the Hundredth Anniversary of
Emancipation by James Baldwin states Many of them know better, but as you will discover,
people find it very difficult to act on what they know. To act is to be committed and to be
committed is to be in danger. In this case the danger in the minds and hearts of most white
Americans is the lost of their identity. In this passage Baldwin explains how white Americans
are afraid because they will lose their own identity. I agree with Baldwin and not just with White
Americans, but with all Americans we are all afraid to voice our thoughts because it can place
us in danger. For example at this current time we have republican Donald Trump running for
president and in my opinion he is one of the least qualified candidate, yet there are several
people voting for him and encouraging him instead of putting a stop to him. The reason is
because Americans are afraid of what the government will do if we all were to voice our
opinions. Americans are terrified of going again such a racist powerful guy, dont want to
believe that together as a country we can be set free from people like Trump if we all move
towards making social and political change.

2. What is the problem of celebrating freedom at the time when civil rights are being
threatened and/or ignored?

Society doesn't realize how the government continues to control us. Although the 1st
amendment guarantees us freedom I cant help but wonder if I really am entitled to freedom. In
school Im learning through the banking education a term used by Paulo Freire to describe and
critique the traditional education system. The name refers to the metaphor of students as full
containers which educators must remove knowledge from. This reinforces a lack of critical
thinking and knowledge ownership in students, which in turn reinforces oppression. In my
opinion this education process doesnt show how students have freedom. In My Dungeon
Shook: Letter to my nephew on the Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation by James Baldwin
states You know that the country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred
years too early. We cannot free until they are free. In his passage Baldwin is talking about how
the African Americans cant really be free until the White Americans are free. I completely agree
with Badwin I believe that society as a whole will never be free because the government will
always control us. They control what we eat by having a fast food restaurant in every corner we
drive by they control what we spend with all their commercials and advertisements they display.
A perfect example of how the government controls us is back Friday. It began as a tradition on
Fridays, but slowly started moving and moving until it ended on Thanksgiving day which is a full
day before, Thursday. There are numerous advertisements for this national holiday in which
people lose time with their family and sometimes end up hurt. Instead of the government using
all of their time and money to educate Americans they spend it on advertisements to make them
more money. With that said I believe that the problem of celebrating freedom at the time of a
civil war is an insult and a slap in the face which shows us Americans that we never had
freedom because we are and always will be controlled by the government.