Black In America Aftermath

The CNN excerpt, “Black in America” opened my eyes a little bit more about being black in modern day America. Some of the statistics that I saw were very surprising, and I was even more surprised that CNN showed all of this on TV. For some reason, I thought some ideas in the excerpt would have been censored, but they didn’t. I mean, 60% of black males don’t have a father figure? I really don’t know how I could live a life that wouldn’t have my dad in it, let alone a father-like figure.
The film made some good points too on how and why some of these statistics may be. I’m also glad that they interviewed black men and women about these, because it was more powerful hearing their response than a white man’s response. Some of the interviews were very powerful, like when they interviewed the guy who was in prison put still wanted to learn. Black males have a hard enough time finding a job as it is, but adding a criminal record could really hold him back and prevent him from getting a job.
I was really surprised how painstakingly hard it is being black in America. I always knew that it wasn’t always daises and bunt cake, but I thought we’ve gotten past the whole, “being black means you are up to no good” thing. Now, that’s not saying that we have also made some dramatic positive changes. Almost quadrupling the graduation rate of black males is very impressive, but there are still many other controversies we need to work with.
In a way, this seems like a “black power” thing. Its not like looking back at history and remembering how hard African American’s worked to get where they are today, and what kind of struggles they had to get through. It’s more like what happened in the past is important, but we also need to focus on today the future. For me, I kind of had a hard time relating to the people’s stories in the excerpt, but I was also willing to keep my ears open to new ways of thinking. It was a new experience of just kind of being drop kicked into this reality that yes, racism is still active, and you are white. It was kind of hard to watch, but I was able to accept the reality of it and think more about it after I watched it.
Mainly what I learned from this excerpt was that we have made some great changes to allow black Americans to be free. Compared to a few decades ago, we have made some dramatic changes in how we view them, but that doesn’t mean that we still have some problems. I learned that racism will always be around, and there will always be an uphill struggle to fight and get rid of it, but it will probably never happen. Its been a very long road for black Americans, and although we are well down the road, we still have a lot of ground to cover.

Epistolary Style

First of all, I have never read a novel in this style before, and I feel like I'm reading some sort of paper, where I only get the gist of something, but have to read the next "letter" to realize what they say. I feel like I'm reading the newspaper, and I only get a bit of what they are trying to explain. Like the author keeps us guessing what is happening. It sort of reminds me of Boomhaur on King of the Hill, Schnitzel on Chowder, or even Chewbacca on Star Wars, where you don't really know what they are saying, but you have a guess. Often times I find myself rewinding and trying to figure out what they say, and this is what we do a lot with this book. I keep looking back to see if there is anything small that would give me a laugh or explain a lot with the book. It is a style that definitely utilizes reading between the lines. This style is one that I think the author also does very well. I'm no expert at epistolary, but from what I can guess, this seems like the best it gets. Even in epistolary style you can still give out what happens by just right out telling it to you. The author of The Last Days of Summer definitely did a very good job making sure he kept things "secret" and kept you reading until you either have to pry yourself from the book, or you have to finish it. The book really wouldn't be as capturing as it would be if it wasn't written in this style, and I can see myself not enjoying it as much. The best way I can explain it would be like playing a 1st person video game, completing it, and then replaying it again in 3rd person. It just feels a little odd, especially if one particular style fit the game perfectly. It is going to be weird reading other books from now on, because I just got used to the style Steve Kluger uses. Most other books now won't seem to have quite that much of a "glow" to them.
Steve Kluger also does a good job of not just using the same types of letters between characters, but notes, newspaper articles, ticket stubs, and more. This variety is pretty key to have when writing in the epistolary style, because eventually it would get old. He definitely utilizes this style and pushes it to the limits. I absolutely liked it when he even used Joey's report cards to in a way explain Joey's character, and I enjoyed reading the teacher's comments as the guardian’s comments. It seems a lot more flowing than just saying, "Joey is a smart boy but has a sort of twisted sense of humor."
Overall, I think that this style is better than the traditional 1st or 3rd person, but it doesn't fit every book. "Moby Dick" or "The Wizard of Oz" just wouldn't fit in this style, like how the fourth Indiana Jones movie doesn't fit the trilogy at all. This story just somehow blends really well with the story, and does an excellent job creating a flow one letter to the next. I am eager to hear how the story ends, and I really hope to find more books that are written like this.