Evan Gardner

Dialectical Journal

Mrs. Reisinger

9/27/11

The Atlanta Exposition Address

Note Taking Para. Note Making

One-third of the population of the South is of a Negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our population and reach the highest success.

1 Washington opens his speech with a simple factual statement. It draws attention to his entire race an and puts into perspective how large their population really is. He then adds importance to his race as, "no enterprise can disregard this element and reach the highest success." This brings the realization that they are a necessity has impact on the Southern economy.

I but convey to you, Mr. President and Directors, the sentiment of the masses of my race when I say that in no way have the value and manhood of the American Negro been more fittingly and generously recognized than by the managers of this magnificent Exposition at every stage of its progress.

1 "I but convey to you" - deliberate conjunction that slows down the pace of reading and emphasizes both the subject and his actions separately. He appeals to credibility when he addresses the President and his directors. " sentiment" - he is speaking for his entire races, their attitudes and feelings, which are good - "fittingly and generously" -"magnificent Exposition at every stage of progress" - First mention of Exposition and it was magnificent, a positive connotation- They benefited from it, growth.

Ignorant and Inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the state legislature was more sought than real estate or industrial skill.

2 "Juxtaposed" - One would think that they would want to be at the "top," and that a position in Congress or state legislature would be a high ranked office. However this marked them as, "ignorant and inexperienced," and the bottom laborers of the industrial era are actually the top. This stressed importance on the development of trade and laboring skills.

A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel - To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations - "Cast down your bucket where you are," making friends in every manly way of the people of all races whom we are surrounded.

3 Sudden shift to an "extended metaphor" This ship lost at sea is actually the portion of his audience that are resisting industrial change. He calls for accommodation as, "Cast down your bucket where you are," to open themselves up to what their land has to offer and to make friendly relations with their neighbors.

Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. - bear in mind every other sins the South may be called to bear, when it comes to business, pure and simple - in the South that Negro is given a man's chance -

4 "Asyndeton" expresses the individual choices and their importance in expanding a Negros skills and self-confidence. - He appeals to hope in all of the other challenges they may face, he forces them to remember that they were given a "man's" (free) chance.

From slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our own hands - prosper in proportion as we dignify and glorify common labor - prosper in proportion draw the line between the superficial and the substantial.

4 The beginning warns not to overlook the idea of manual labor as regression, but this idea of "community growth" will - (repetition of prosper in proportion) elevate common labor making it more of a common occupation. This will help distinguish between the "superficial wealth" (lack of depth / skill) and the substantial, the use.

No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom we must begin

4 This brings up the idea of self- confidence in work. That there is "dignity" in all work and that they must start from the bottom. Can be referred to the "value of manhood" (Para 1) based on the idea of valuing their free opportunities.

To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue, where I permitted I would say, "cast down your bucket where you are"

5 He addresses a new audience, "white Americans" and says where permissible he would say, (parallel structure of) "cast down your bucket where you are." This idea of spreading and learning from your surrounding people is echoed throughout the entire speech.

Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labour wars, tilled your fields and cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities and brought forth treasures of the earth, and made it possible for this magnificent representation of the progress of the South

5 Shift back to the negro audience. He commends their actions as admirable, the workers who have dealt with hardships of others and made it possible for this representation in the South. - "cumulative sentence" modifiers express the importance behind their actions.

Starts with "As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defence of yours, - Interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one.

5 Longest periodic sentence I have ever seen in my life. It must be a fragment. However, it shows parallel structure in that all of these individual ideas express loyalty towards white people. His effect here is shown in ultimately making the point that through these ties the interests of both races will become one.

The laws of changeless justice bind Oppressor with oppressed;And close as sin and suffering joined We march to fate abreast.

6 "Biblical reference" Meaning that without change, continuing there sin(white men) and suffering (Negro) the fate of both the oppressor(white) and the oppressed (negro) is the same and that unless they lift themselves up through the force of labor it will remain the same.

Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load upward, or they will pull against you the load downward.

7 He is calling for the negro people to accept change and become a part of this force "pulling upwards," instead of resisting the white man (change) and becoming a part of the dead weight they are trying to life through labor. (literal connection through the structure of lifting and labor)

We shall constitute one-third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one-third its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one-third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic.

7 He establishes through the repetition (parallelism) of "one-third that there is no other choice but to accommodate for their large population through education and labor for the betterment of their "community" - not the individual.

No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized.

9 This appeals to emotion and logic of the audience prompting the realization of the importance of their race. He states that if they didn't have anything to contribute they would be excluded, and not bothered.

I pledge that in your effort to work out the great and intricate problem which God has laid at the doors of the South, you shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race; only let this be constantly in mind, that, while from representations in these buildings of the product of field, of forest, of mine, of factory, letters, and art, much good will come, yet far above and beyond material benefits will be that higher good, that, let us pray God, will come, in a blotting out of sectional differences and racial animosities and suspicions, in a determination to administer absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes to the mandates of law. This, then, coupled with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth.

10 First he appeals to emotions and credibility as he, "pledges" to give them the help of his sympathetic race in their intricate problems with God.

Cumulative Sentence that builds up each individual contribution of the Negros. Then he passes that saying "beyond" the materials, "let us pray to god.(divinity)

"Imagery" emphasizing the "divine" changeGod will come and "blot out" imperfections and leave them with obedience, prosperity and bring the divine "new heaven and a new earth" to the South.