Rhetorical Analysis of Brent Staples' 'Just Walk on By'

1Staple, 263-268
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Name of the Professor
English Essay
Date: 9 September 2018
Rhetorical analysis on “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders his Power to
Alter Public Space”
Introduction
The study intends to give a rhetorical analysis of “Just Walk on By: A Black Man
Ponders his Power to Alter Public Space” by Brent Staples. The study will evaluate how the
author positioned his argument in his writing while making the essay a worth reading piece to the
readers. The author’s intention was to reveal the racial discrimination which can ruin a life of an
individual grossly. Staple nicely portrayed his personal experience as he experienced
discrimination because he was a black (Staples: 263-268). Hence, the paper will critically
analyze the essay to figure out whether the writer has achieved his intention or not.
Discussion

2Staple, 263-268
Staple in his essay explains the discriminative behavior of a white dominated society
where he works as journalist. The author experiences discrimination just because he was black
man. In order draw the readers’ attention from the very beginning, Staples begins the essay with
an anecdote. The anecdote is about the fear based on convention (Staples: 263-268). This way
Staples holds the grip of the readers’ attention at the immediate starting so that the readers
become further exited to learn about the reason behind the story of fear:
"I only needed to turn a corner into a dicey situation, or crowd some frightened, armed
person in a foyer somewhere, or make an errant move after being pulled over by a
policeman" (Staples: 263-268)
The line is a true example of polsyndeton which stresses on the effect of a living
individual represented by Staple’ own presence in the story:
" I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk,
thunk of the driver...hammering down the door locks” (Staples: 263-268).
The repeated use of the word ‘thunk’ suggests the author’s use of the device
onomatopoeia in order give a visual imagery of the incidents that take place in the narrative.
However, the entire essay was full of anecdotes that present the evidence of the author’s intent
that he or similar other persons can transform the tone of public space instantly.
In the essay Staple often gives the narrative of his personal experience while positioning
his message. In the whole course of the essay, Staple gradually makes the readers to feel
sympathy with his sufferings while reinforcing his point of view: