Between the World and Me Analysis

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Read the text and thoughtfully answer the questions in a different font color.

1. Ta-Nehisi Coates begins with a scene where the police stop him in his car.
How does he build suspense in this opening paragraph? Specifically, how does he blend
what is happening to him externally and what is going through his mind? What makes
this strategy effective?
a. Ta-Nehisi Coates builds suspense by talking about every option for how it can
turn out and how he could be harmed or shot at any time.
b. When he gets pulled over, he states “I sat there in terror,” but while he is frozen
in his seat his brain is running 100 miles a second. He’s wondering if he is the
next victim of the PG County police, and accepts he does not have a say in what
happens.
c. The reason this strategy is so effective is because he is talking about an
experience he had which adds a personal factor. But while the personal factor
gives the reader's sympathy for him, he talks about all the terrors the police
have done showing the ruined system that was not only pulling him over but
killing many black people.
2. What is the rhetorical situation of this letter? Consider the broader context of a father
writing to his teenage son, but then also consider that this letter is not a traditional
letter: it is a book-length work that Coates wrote with the intention of publishing, and it
is therefore a public document. To what extent are these aspects of the context at odds
with each other?
a. The reason for this rhetorical situation is to have a very important issue to be
addressed but with a sensitive side. In this book, he scripted it so that you as the
reader are reading it like his son. You are getting told this information that is
factual, creating a nonfiction work, but as a letter to show the personal aspect of
the statements. People can look at facts and not fully understand that a statistic
is a person’s life. The aspect of the person’s life fits into the statistics giving the
entire issue a more human aspect of it.
3. In paragraph 5, Coates comments on the concept of “‘police reform’” -- which he places
in quotes. What is his assessment of its value? To what extent might such an appraisal
alienate his readers? Why might he be willing to take that chance?
a. With the quotations around the words police reform, Coates is stating that what
is happening isn’t actually police reform, but is that of minimum intent to
actually reform. His assessment can be stated in this quote, “understate the task
and allow the citizens of this country to pretend that there is real distance
between their own attitudes and those of the ones appointed to protect tl1em.”
 The boldness of this statement is proving his point that the viewers and readers
of this article/book are comfortable with the pain that people are feeling at the
hands of the police. He takes the chance because there is an important
statement that needs to be said, and if there is a way for him to say it in such a
personal view of itl, then this is a smart way to take it.
4. What effect does Coates’s use of figurative language have on the emotional appeal of
his argument ? Consider at least four examples. For instance, “The earthquake cannot
be subpoenaed. The typhoon will not bend under indictment” (para. 9)
a. The use of figurative language shows that these statements have emotional
weight bearing to them. He talks about the “dream” which is a perfect world for
his family and him. He also uses a lot of similes and metaphors to relate his story
in multiple ways to the viewers. Later he says that there is a philosophy of the
disembodied and that each body part has it’s own lack of control, and in total
the people cannot have any control. There is a lot of tie-ins to nature and life
surrounding there showing that these attacks that happened are almost a force
of nature trying to survive.
5. Note how Coates addresses the passage of time throughout this excerpt, indicating
multiple shifts with phrases such as “Shortly before you were born” (para. 1), “Days
late” (para. 4), “At this moment” (para. 5), “Weeks wore on” (para. 7), and “In those
days” (para. 21). What is the effect of continually shifting between present, immediate
past, and distant past? How do these structural shifts serve Coates’s purpose?
a. The effect of shifting is showing the ongoing issues with police brutality. This is
not a thing of the far past, the recent past, or starting just now. These issues
have been going on for a long time and will continue to happen. The structural
shifts are also explaining to his son the timeline of these events in relation to his
life to show that they are happening during his life.
6. Some critics have argued that although Between the World and Me is a direct address to
his son, Coates is actually crafting his message for a wider (mostly white) audience, as
his position would likely be familiar to his family and to other African Americans. Based
on this excerpt, who do you think is the audience for Between the World and Me?
Consider how Coates establishes his ethos, and support your response with specific
reference to the text.
a. The audience that Coates is addressing is for his son. These examples and
stories being told are for his son to learn about the past history of police
brutality. He addresses his son in the text multiple times. While the message can
and should be also addressed b y white people, the true story is told for his son
to keep safe in this terrible police state he is growing up for. White people
should learn from this and realize the privilege they have but that is not the true
reason for his written letter.
 7. Although Coates is developing a strong and logical argument, he primarily structures it
as a narrative, or story. Why do you think this rhetorical strategy is or is not effective?
a. This strategy makes this story seem more personal and which makes for a more
effective argument. The need for the way the story to be told as a narrative, is
more instrumental than having it be presented as an essay. The logical
argument is proven through the statements of Coates without sounding too
emotionless. What is being told is not an emotionless story and if it was told as
so the gravity of the situation would not be reached to the reader.
8. One reviewer described Coates’s style as “a departure from the rhetoric of the civil
rights movement, or at least the civil rights movement that has been sanitized and
commercialized for mass consumption. Because of these departures, Coates’s hope
feels stark and brutal.” Do you agree or disagree with this characterization of his
rhetoric? Explain with specific reference to the text.
a. I agree with the characterization of Coates’ rhetoric style. The way he states his
point of view gives the stark truth without any sugar-coating and gives the
readers almost a shock. For example he states, “ .."safety" was a higher value
than justice, perhaps the highest value.” This statement is bold and gets the
point across without pedaling around the statement. These stories he tells as
examples show that there is no reason for him to not be truthful in how bad the
system is, and it gives the reader a need to learn more about the issue because it
strikes the heart of others.

From The Language of Composition 3rd Edition (pages 995-997)