If you think that interpreting any of the texts we have studied in light of this concept makes the thoughts and actions of any characters more understandable, write an essay which interprets the work or works in this light. Dealing with some or all of the questions I have just raised, discuss fences in American society in a way that you believe gets at the heart of the issue. Discuss the importance of the polarization of black and white in one or two of the texts we have studied. Some of the works we are reading reveal that language is a barrier at a cultural level. It can be a source of misunderstanding and conflict, as well as the scapegoat for prejudice and other abuses.
People use differences in lanuage to justify deeper fears and resentments.
In other words, language is power. Focus on one or two works and discuss the issue of language as power. As a context for your essay, you could concentrate on ONE incident you have heard about, witnessed, participated in, or been a victim of in which language has been used against a person, possibly yourself, in a way that humiliates, degrades, or causes a person to feel different. We often assume that children are innocent and, therefore, can escape the problems of prejudice in America. However, many of the works we have read lately have either had children for narrators or for main characters, and we seen that even children are not free from the plight of racial and ethnic hostility in our country.