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In the Kitchen: Constructing Identity


CodyB 2 / 1  
Mar 15, 2009   #1
This is my first draft of "In the Kitchen, by Henry Louis Gates Jr." it's quite messy but I hope it sums what I need it too... all criticism accepted. Rip me to shreds. Cheers.

Basically the paramaters of my essay are;
How is identity constructed?
How are elements of writing used to construct id?

In the Kitchen is a narrative into a specific era of the childhood of African American writer Henry Louis Gates Jr. Based in an era of social change and cultural shifts, specifically assimilation, the text subtly explores the standards of the time and what they meant for him as an adult.

The language of the text falls in between colloquial and formal, with some describing words used informally, such as "Moma" instead of Mother and "Daddy" instead of Father. However, the majority of the text is well punctuated and well structured and could not be deemed purely colloquial. The tone is very intimate, there is no spite nor is there any angst in Gates' words. The entire story is a nostalgic recollection of his adolescence. The meanings of the story are implemented with stealth and only after two or three readings can you begin to grasp what it truly represents.

As the title would explain, "In the Kitchen" is largely based around "the kitchen". However, in this instance the word kitchen has 2 meanings. As he begins his text, he describes the kitchen where his mother cut hair and where they kept their gas stove. However, as the text moves on, it is revealed that "the kitchen" is also a section of hair at the back of the head. When his mother would cut the hair of her customers[neighbours or friends], she would iron and straighten their hair in a Caucasian manner. The Kitchen, however, was unable to be manipulated in such a way due to its abundant curliness. As Gates described, the Kitchen was "Unassimilably African." His mother never tried to straighten the kitchen, opting to cut it off entirely. According to Gates, when the kitchen began to grow back, it was time for a new haircut.

"In the Kitchen" is almost completely related to hair. However, as you read between the lines, it isn't specifically hair that held the great importance, it's what hair represented. The want for good hair mirrors the pressures on the African American community to Assimilate in the 1950s, to leave their shamed culture behind and become a part of white society. In the text it is evident that most of this pressure is internal, coming from members within the African American community as a result of centuries of White American persecution.

Across Gates' entire sphere of influence, ranging from his parents, to his peers and even celebrities, one thing was for certain. Good hair was absolutely necessary. Be it in relation to social standing, appropriateness or fame. As a testament to the self identification of African American's at the time, Gates outlines the standard of hair in the community. At the time Good hair was "white hair", straight and wavy. Bad hair was the naturally kinky hair common to most African Americans. Here Gates constructs the identity of a people ashamed of their natural state, who in order bow down to their superiors, went to great lengths at changing their image to look Caucasian.

Gates also speaks of how African Americans, even after the Black Empowerment movement of the late 60s, and especially the older people, would still straighten their hair and despite their liberation, still had trouble departing from white standards. He relates how older men would still keep their stocking cap (used for putting well defined waves in the hair when mixed with grease) with their most prized possessions. When visiting his mother in the early 80s, he recalls her checking his daughters' hair for the "turn" of the kitchen. Even after many years of black empowerment, integration, cultural determination and relative freedom, many African Americans were still inflicted by the dogma of early 20th century black culture embedded in their psyche, perhaps even Gates himself.

He relates his own hair, how barbers said it was a "good grade" as a child and how he tried every brand of wax to straighten his hair and as he got older and moved into the late 1960s his self perception evolved. "From Murray's to Duke to Afro-Sheen: that was my progression in black consciousness." Both Murray's and Duke were substantially strong hair greases, aimed at making hair flat and wavy, but Afro-sheen was the exact opposite, rather than oppressing the kinkiness of African hair, embracing it to its greatest extent.

In the kitchen is about African American standards and perceptions in the midst of Assimilation in the 1950s and 60s. He explores, through the subject of hair, what it meant to be black in this time of change. He paints a vivid picture, through the intimacy of his childhood recollection and the subtlety of his language, of African American self perception. Hair could be seen as a metaphor for the African American identity at the time where certain standards where prevalent, where to be white was good and to be black was bad. Despite this, Gates' tone and language is largely objective, indicting neither black nor white people of any wrong doing, merely telling the story how he sees it.
EF_Kevin 8 / 13,321 129  
Mar 15, 2009   #2
I think you should expand the first paragraph to explain that thesis statement about exploring his own values. Make it four sentences long.

Paragraph 2, I think you should give a topic sentence that says something general about the effect he gets with his writing style. Then proceed with the paragraph as you have it.

Paragraph 3 is great! But what does this point about the title do to help explain your thesis? You should have a stateent in the first paragraph that you are explaining with all the rest of the paragraphs. That's what makes it the thesis statement. So, can you find a unifying theme? Find some truth that every paragraph of this supports... and write a sentence about it in the first paragraph.

Wow, your last paragraph would make a great intro paragraph!! If you make a new draft, I would like to see! Rather than telling ALL ABOUT the book, make a unique argument and stick with it through every paragraph. I see two good things to use as thesis statements:

Hair could be seen as a metaphor for the African American identity at the time where certain standards where prevalent, where to be white was good and to be black was bad.

or...

Based in an era of social change and cultural shifts, specifically assimilation, the text subtly explores the standards of the time and what they meant for him as an adult. (if this is to be your thesis, add another sentence after it to explain it in a more specific way.)


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