Write with Me; Learn with Me - Assignment 1

Ok, I'm pretty sure I mentioned before that I'm taking some writing courses. I also think I mentioned that I'm going to include a "Learn with Me" portion here on my blog. And if I didn't....that's what I'm going to do. Here is one of the first assignments we had to do in my writing class through my local college. This was an in-class assignment of an essay we had to read. So here is the essay I wrote about that essay. I'd really like some feedback from my friends, followers, and odd-ball strangers wandering into my blog. Criticisms, pointers, likes, would be greatly appreciated. Now onto the essay...

“Shame” by Dick Gregory
Found In the Depths of the Soul

“Shame” by political activist, comedian, and writer, Dick Gregory, plunges its reader into the deepest, most forgotten recesses of the human soul. Shadows, previously unrealized and non-existent, creep into the life of a young black boy, his own life, early in childhood and taint his existence for years to follow. In “Shame”, Dick Gregory is able to beautifully relate to every individual on a personal level how shame affects every person at some point in their lives through vivid story introduction, a momentum building narrative rich in detail, and real details that resound with the reader now matter how they grew up or what walks of life they come from.
Gregory beautifully begins his essay by setting up the premise of the piece, immediately immersing the reader in the first-person and making them relate to the character in the story, himself. The first lesson, the moral and point of the essay, is immediately brought to the front but is done so in such a way through exact details of his life before he realized what shame was that you are left wonder “What happened that was so important that this little boy’s whole life would be changed so drastically?”
A small step back, an introspective approach, ties the reader and the writer/Richard together when he clearly points out the similarities between himself and every person by offering a common denominator. He then follows it beautifully with what would have happened had normally events occurred. This draws a connection between the reader and writer again because maybe, for the reader at least, things went the way things should have gone. The correlation, however, allows the reader to consider, “Well, what if…?”
Of course, some readers, such as this one, would not know what is was like growing up black during the in the late 1930’ and early 1940’s, and Gregory seamlessly ties in examples of life for him growing up with his narration as he propels the story along. Quick, simple dialogue, tied together with narration and his thought process at that age, opens up more to the reader as they continue, shining light on the story and the moral given in both the topic and the introduction. The dialogue further goes to show how shame occurred in his life, where the actual emotion stemmed from. But what is probably most stunning is how he sums his entire essay to date into five beautiful lines delivered within seconds of each other: ‘ “We all know you don’t have a Daddy.” ‘, ‘Helene Tucker turned around, her eyes full of tears. She felt sorry for me.’ and then, ‘I walked out of school that day, and for a long time I didn’t go back very often. There was shame there.’
Gregory goes one step further in driving home the message to his story by furthering out the details of what life was like before he experienced shame for the first time and how those same details of life became the epitome of that shame from then on. And he draws the reader back around after giving more detail about his life following the shame with reiterating the same dialogue that became the source of his shame for many years to come by stating simply, ‘Yeah, the whole world heard the teacher that day, we all know you don’t have a Daddy.’
“Shame” is beautiful written. Short and poignant, it touches deep into the depths of the human soul no matter their race, life station, or experiences because it points out that on some level we all have shared this same experience with Dick Gregory.

So, lemme know what you think. This was an outstanding essay, by the way, and I highly recommend you Google it if you get a chance. Mr. Gregory is an exceptional writer.

[CR - Still "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown; I'm further into this now and really enjoying it! Also CR "Silent night" by Mary Higgins Clark - Just started this book and not sure how I feel about it yet, but I love a good mystery most of the time, and she's reported to be one of the best. TBRN: Think I have Mercedes Lackey's "Burning Brightly" (Something new I'll add on here is the reviews I'm doing for other authors, so here goes.) BIR (Books I'm Reviewing): "Watchdog" by S.R. Roberts, and "Love at 1,000 Feet" by Kellie Martins - These reviews will be posted on my website, www.bbwalter.com , to read if the author wishes them posted.]

Thanks all for now, folks!
B.B. Walter