Shame Final - Google Docs PDF

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Summary In “Shame” by Dick Gregory, Richard narrates the time he was embarrassed by his teacher since she revealed in front of the class and his lover, Helena, that he did not have a “daddy”. Richard was a poor boy who always tried to impress Helena since she was his source of motivation. Helena encouraged Richard to attend school since she was one of smartest and the cleanest girl in the school. It was a Thursday morning during school when Richard learned his “Big Lesson.”The teacher started to call each student alphabetically to ask how much money their fathers were willing to contribute to the Community Chest. While the teacher was calling each student, Richard was preparing to give the money that he had earned by cleaning shoes and selling paper, however; the teacher never called him. Therefore, Richard decides to stand up and tell the class that his father gave him fifteen dollars.The teacher tried to keep Richard quiet, but he insisted. It was when the teacher humiliated him in front of the class by telling him that the money was for him and his “kind” and that he did not have a “daddy”. Richard explains that he was ashamed not because the class was sorry for him, but because Helena was “full of tears” when she heard what the teacher said about him.

Impressions When I read “Shame” I was very impressed on how a seven-year-old boy can learn a “big lesson” at an early age and experienced shame at school. School supposed to be a safe haven where we can discover who we are; however, the school was the place where Richard experienced for the first time shame. Also. I could not believe how a boy fell deeply in love with a little girl and was willing to do everything that he could to impress her. After I finished reading “shame”, I wondered if Helena knew about Richard’s deep love for her and how did Richard get her out of his “system”? What I like about “Shame” is that Richard was a determined boy, who always tried his best to win Helena’s love by trying to look clean and nice. On the other hand, I did not like that Richard was humiliated by his teacher by the fact of being black and not having a “daddy”. Also, I dislike how the society in which Richard lived overlooked him because he did not have a father.It can be assumed that Helene cried after knowing that Richard did not have a father since society teach us that a father is a strong foundation of who we are. To be honest, I wanted to cry too, but I remembered that not having a father does not define who we are. Richard proves this by stating that he “broke track records” in college and that he married. So it’s safe to say that Richard felt ashamed of being stereotyped as a bastard.

Author’s Purpose

Gregory’s goal is to help the audience understand that we cannot avoid shame. Gregory knows that shame is part of life; therefore, he wants his audience to get rid of their shame by explaining them that everyone experience shame even a seven year old boy. Gregory accomplished his goal by stating that Richard got Helene out of his “system” since Helene was a constant remainder of Richard’s shame. In other words, by forgetting about Helene, Richard overcame his shame.Furthermore, Gregory includes all Richard’s success in order to tell African Americans that their skin color, the reason that they were ashamed, does not define their future.

Audience In “Shame”, Dick Gregory writes directly to people who have experienced shame at some point in their life. Therefore, Gregory has a broad primary audience that can easily relate to Richard’s experience. This allows the audience to be more engaging in reading how Richard’ s attempt to impress Helene lead him to experience shame for the first time. Because of this, Gregory successfully teaches the audience that experiencing shame is part of life.In addition, Gregory’s audience is also African Americans since Gregory was an American civil rights activist who published “shame” to make clear to African Americans that they should not be ashamed of their skin color.By stating that Richard’s classmates were collecting money for him and his “kind”, the audience can assume that an African Americans are poor. For this reason, Richard was not only ashamed because he did not have a “daddy” but also because he was a black boy. Gregory explains that Richard’s teacher taught that he was “stupid” and “couldn't spell, read and do arithmetic” just because he was black.

effectiveness Dick Gregory, the author of “Shame” successfully teach the audience that shame is part of our lives by using rhetorical strategies. Gregory starts his essay by recounting the traumatic memory that he had to experience at school and continues his essay by chronological order with several evidences, which helps the audience relate to Richard’s traumatic experience during his childhood.Also, Gregory starts his essay by describing the unique qualities of Helene that help the readers understand why Richard was in love with Helene.Also, in paragraph six, Gregory describes Richard’s challenges in life that he had to face in school and home. To illustrate, Gregory repeats “ couldn’t ” multiple times to show the several stereotypes that the teacher put him. In the same paragraph, he uses repetition and metaphor by using “pregnant with poverty”.This shows Richard’ s traumatic situation since he literally states that he is filled with poverty. In other words, Richard is figuratively pregnant.By doing this, Gregory appeal the

audience’s emotions since living in poverty prevent many people from accomplishing their personal goals.The major points that stand out was in the moment when Richard’s teacher told him that his classmates were collecting money for him and his “kind”.This is a major scene because is when Richard felt ashamed of himself for the first time. Discussion Questions Evaluate if Richard’s love toward Helena was true love or was just an impression of her qualities? Imagine if Richard’s incident had never happened. Do you think Richard would have experienced shame at school? Why or why not? Do you think Helena knew all the sacrifice that Richard made just to impress her? Speculate Richard’s new motivation to succeed after being ashamed of himself in front of Helena?...