Just Walk on By by Brent Staples

Chapter 8: Just Walk On By 

Comprehension: 
1.Because she saw herself as a potential victim of what she thought he was, as well as a victim to the ignorant assumptions of what America thought African Americans were.
2. It was Staples realization that he had the power to change the atmosphere in the space around him.
3. Insomnia.
4. The obsession with the power to intimidate. Young, poor, and powerless men crave the control that can come with power.
5. Moved with care, stayed in the shadows, avoided nervous people, let people walk ahead of him, and whistled classical tunes.

Purpose and Audience: 
Thesis: "It was in the echo of that terrified woman's footfalls that I first began to know that unwieldy inheritance I'd come into-the ability to alter public space in ugly ways." (page 239)
2. He uses a combination of logic and emotion, and his strategy worked because it could hit you on different levels and gave the reader empathy of what Staples was experiencing.
3. He seems to assume that the audience has prejudice against African American people. He challenges that thinking with his side of the story and how it makes him feel to see people basically run away from him.
4. His intent is to hook the reader to want to know more, makes them wonder if he's dangerous, etc.

Style and Structure: 
1. Staples mentions Podhoretz to have more credibility and support. Podhoretz grew up in fear of black men, which enforces Staples' point that most Americans are prejudice. 
2. It was the best introduction, I don't see how it could've been better. 
3. Since there are twenty or more examples, all direct in what he's trying to say and making a solid point for him, there is enough support. Some examples that could be more convincing would be some studies, or statistics.
4. His order was perfect for presenting his argument, and even if the examples had been in a different order, the paper still would've been just as effective.
5. Assassin, bandit, bully, mobster, criminal, gangster, goon, gunman, hooligan, murderer, rioter, rowdy, troublemaker, delinquent, gorilla, hood, killer, punk, ruffian, gang member, hired killer, professional killer. They absolutely differ in connotation.

Journal Entry:
Nora Hixson: In my experience, there was a time when I was in the mountains with my family for Christmas break. I was injured at the time, so when my family went out to ski, I stayed in the lodge by myself. While sitting there, an older man came up to me while getting ready to ski himself, and began asking me personal questions, such as where my family was, why I wasn't skiing, and if he could see my injury (which I had told him was my knee.) He got uncomfortably close to me during his questions, but I do not know if that was just my paranoia. After reading Staples' essay, I do not think I would've reacted any differently.

Amin Halimovic: When I was traveling back from Bosnia, at the London airport my family and I were boarding the airplane. My family is Muslim and my brother had a moon and star pendent dangling from his neck. This trip we took was shortly after 9/11 happened. We were waiting in line to board the plane as we got closer and closer to enter the plane my brother was randomly pulled aside so that they could search his carry on. I feel they did this just because we are Muslim.

Sarah Holzmeister: For the last five years I have worked with violent
male offenders as being a female in a predominantly male environment there was differently stereotypes for what i could do and what i was capable of handling as a female.

Sarah Moore: I can't recall a particular experience in my life where I was blatantly afraid of a person or perceived them as dangerous, but there were certainly times when I was younger and walking the streets alone, when I'd prefer to cross the street not at the cross-walk where lone men walked. I've always had this sense of caution, unfortunately against people who may can appear more rough (?), but after reading Ben Staples' account, my perception has changed. I want to change how I view people, ordinary people walking on the streets. Most likely they're just that, ordinary people. 

Writing Workshop:
3. Staples observation is fairly accurate; we've all seen examples in our own lives that support this as well. The male upbringing comes to play when fathers teach their sons at a young age, for example when they begin grade school, to not let other children hit them, and if they do, to hit them back. What he means by the male romance statement: getting that rush from seeming more powerful by using intimidation.