"Stranger in the Village" 2nd Reading Questions

Q1)

I have no clue how to even begin writing in that kind of style. Yes, they say that "Baldwin provides the skeleton, you supply the subject and the words to fit." But I don't even understand the style that he's writing. Maybe someone could give me an example or explain a little more what kind of "style" Baldwin is writing in.

Q2)

According to Wikipedia, "Frazier was a founding member of the D.C. Sociological Society, serving as President of DCSS in 1943-44. Frazier also served as President of the Eastern Sociological Society in 1944-45. In 1948, Frazier was the first black to serve as President of the American Sociological Society (later renamed Association). His Presidential Address "Race Contacts and the Social Structure," was presented at the organization's annual meeting in Chicago in December 1948. Frazier's position formed one half of the debate with Melville J. Herskovits on the nature of cultural contact in the Western Hemisphere, specifically with reference to Africans, Europeans, and their descendents."

This essay can creat insiders and outsiders, strangers & companions mainly becuase in the beginning of the essay, no one really knows who he is or what he's gone through by being a stranger in the village. As the essay continues, people start to relate and take his experiences and his thoughts and apply them to what's happened through out their lives. That's where it creats insiders and companions. Because as the essay comes to an end the insiders and companions feel what he felt at the time. However, there are people that feel like outsiders and strangers, because they don't have an open mind. Some people have such closed minds (mainly stemming from environment they grew in and the people they grew up around) that they don't see they are just the like character in the essay. Or maybe they've never felt like a stranger or an outsider, but think back in your life. Wasn't there at least one moment in time that you felt out of place, like you didn't belong? Didn't you ever start a new school or moved to a new state (or even contry)?

Q3)

I think that he talks mainly about men and not women because "...since white men represent in the black man's world so heavy a weight, white men have for black men a reality which is far from being reciprocal; and hence all black men have toward all white men an attitude which is designed, really, either to rob the white men of the jewel of this naivete, or else to make it cost him dear." This says a lot to me. This tells me it's all about testosterone and how the men are protecting their territory. To me, the reason he doesn't really mention women is because women aren't really about toughness. Men will fight it out, whereas women will talk it out. Women are more peaceful and this essay is a more agressive essay.

Q4)

The last part of the sentence in the question says, "...in effect, the black man, as a man, did not exist for Europe." I found a website (linked) that shows that black man were praised as a higher power. The website follows as a hyperlink:

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Classroom/9912/africanseurope.html

Q5)

I can't think of who a comparable figure would be to Baldwin.

Jen