Please answer the following in fully explained responses:
- What is Graham's thesis?
- Are Graham's observations and experiences enough to substantiate his thesis? Explain.
- How does the personal background information Graham gives in paragraphs 2 and 12 affect your perception of the essay and about the author himself?
- What is Graham's purpose in writing the essay?
- Graham asks rhetorical questions throughout his essay-- identify one of them and then explain his intention in asking them (i.e.- the effect or consideration it's meant to cause for the reader).
- How does the use of first person affect your perception of the essay? Is it an effective choice?
- Do you see this matter as being relevant today? Please provide an example and illustration to substantiate your opinion. (Note: this may be in regard to any group of people, not necessarily Blacks.)
1. What is Graham's thesis?
ReplyDeleteGraham’s thesis is that despite mandated integration, groups will still segregate themselves. They will divide based on common interests or backgrounds. In Graham’s middle school not only was there a “black table” but there was also an Italian table, a Jewish girls table, a Jewish boys table, a heavy metal and pothead table, and a middle-class Irish kids table. While integration demands that minority and white students attend the same schools and go to the same classes, it does little to penetrate the segregationist tendencies that teenagers and young adults have.
1. Lawrence Otis Graham's story "The Black Table Is Still There" relates his experiences as a junior high school student, in which he chose not to sit at the all-black table. Fourteen years later, in which he finds the all-black table still there along with other segregated tables. I believe his thesis is that, you should be yourself and follow what you believe instead of social hypes and choosing to do what everyone else is doing.
ReplyDelete1. Graham’s thesis in his essay is that people and students of different groups segregate themselves. His thesis does not just back up the “black table” he also lists other groups who segregated themselves. The Jewish girls, Jewish Boys, Italians, and the Irish along with some others also segregated themselves in the lunch room. After four-teen years the “all-black table” in the cafeteria of his predominately white suburban junior high school still remains. Also he claims that he at one time was a part of the issue of the “black table” in his high school and he was shocked at the fact that it still remains years later.
ReplyDelete1)What is Graham's thesis?
ReplyDeleteWell Graham's thesis was that even though people dont mean to segrigate they tend to do it just to be with their own kind and have similar interest. It also helps them make communicating easier for them. On top of that they dont seperate on race most of the time anymore, they usually seperate into common interest. For example in the article it says that there was a pothead table jewish table and others just like it. So in short we seperate ourselves depending on the common interest.
2. I feel as though Graham’s observations and experiences are enough to substantiate his thesis because he experienced it firsthand. He was a part of the “black table” situation at one point, as well as the other segregated groups when he was in school. His experiences of when he returned to the school for a visit are also enough to substantiate his thesis because he witnessed the “black table” still there. He has personal observations and experiences both from when he attended school and from his visit back to the school years later.
ReplyDelete2. Graham’s experiences through his years as a high school student and later realizing what at that time he couldn’t understand why the black table was there, support his thesis. He explains, “Why was it there? Why did the black kids separate themselves?” After a few sentences he speaks in first person claiming that at the time of his decision was irrational, at the age of 12 he did not want to lose his white friends. He claimed that he would of wished his actions where a heroic one, made in order to express my solidarity which the theories of integration that my community was espousing.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Graham's thesis? Grahams thesis was that the students did not separate themselves by race, they didnt it according to their interest. he mentions that their was a pot and metal table. On this table their could be all type of raes smoking pot not just white and black. It helping communication among the student much easier. basically he is saying that dont students dont separate themselves by race instead by common interest.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Graham's thesis? Graham's thesis was after years of change among race, and class. People still septrate themselves into their own groups.In Graham's junior high school the lunch room tables were divide into groups. There was a black table, Jewish boys and girls table, a rock and roll smokeing pot table, and a Italian and Irish kids table. All of the student at the school put themselves in their own groups, and stay with their group. No one was brave enough to change and just sit with their real friends. Graham's thesis was why do students still seprate themselves from one another. Why can people just mix it up, and come together. Stop putting labels on people.
ReplyDeletePlease do a self-check to make sure you're answering the questions that are being asked, and not just supplying related commentary on the essay.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete2)Are Graham's observations and experiences enough to substantiate his thesis? Explain.
ReplyDeleteWell as far as i read and understand, yes he does have enough info to support his thesis. I say this because he was in the the middle of the whole black table, white table, jewish table thing. He sat with the black at the black table and experienced it first hand on how it felt to him and everyone around him. Especially when he came back to find it there is also enough to support his thesis because wen he came back of course he see's the black table still standing. And all the blacks sitting there.
3. I think paragraph 2 shows a brief preview of what many things he had to endure, but at the time neglecting his self respect to others. It shows that while growing up, many things would affect a person even now or would feel insulted, but it goes to show how much influence society has on civilians. What intrigues me is paragraph 12. He said that at the age of ten he went to a private country club pool and white parents grab and snatch their kids in terror out the water. It clearly tells me that maybe his parents had a huge influence on Graham’s life; maybe they raised him believing it was ok what white people did, and if it wasn’t for that I clearly think the doors he had open by sticking to whites made him the person he is now. If it was not a heroic action it definitely was a progress action, the hands of times are to be review so that mistakes would not be repeated.
ReplyDeleteI still have trouble on recognizing a thesis. So I'm not entirely sure on what his thesis is but I think it’s about how people who are in groups will still separate or segregate themselves from others who are different from them. He does not state that the black table was the only segregated table he did mention other tables but because only black people sat there it was given a name because they were the most different. For example when he states that “ , there were at least two tables of athletes, an Italian table, a Jewish girls’ table, a Jewish boys’ table (where I usually sat), a table of kids who were into heavy metal music and smoking pot, a table of middle-class Irish kids.” People like to sit with people of their own kind.
ReplyDelete1. Graham’s thesis is about segregate and self segregate that people knowingly or unknowingly do every day. About the people who segregate themselves be they of different races or religion. The Jewish girls, Jewish Boys, Italians, and the Irish for example segregated themselves in the lunch room. The fact that segregates stills happens today only willfully. That even after four-teen years the “all-black table” in the cafeteria of his predominately white suburban junior high school still remains
ReplyDelete4. The background information that Graham gives in the two different paragraphs is that he is a well educated black man. He has experienced segregation as well as integration. He explains how he was one of the few first black men to enter clubs, colleges, and summer camps, as well as the “black table.” He gave information about how some whites viewed his decision not to sit at the black table. Also he was still taunted for being black in an all white community, even though he chose not to segregate himself. This helped me understand his standing in this situation and where his views on the matter were coming from.
ReplyDelete3)How does the personal background information Graham gives in paragraphs 2 and 12 affect your perception of the essay and about the author himself?
ReplyDeleteWell it interesting to find out this info about his life because almost his whole life, it seems, he dealt with racial action like described in paragraph 12 when he went to the country club pool. the whites would pull there kids away from him just because of his skin color. At the time he was probably surprised or angry, but its these kind of actions that helped him become the indivual he is now. Because of his endevour in the past it makes me think that hes a strong willed person and intellegent as well. Hes been through enough to know what he is talking about.
4. Graham’s purpose for this jaw dropping essay is to open the eyes of the readers, to not be ashamed of your color, ethnicity, raise, or whatever it is; be you and yourself only. Be proud of whom you are and no matter what society does, the influence you should take is your own perspective.
ReplyDelete2.Yes, Graham’s observations and experiences are enough to substantiate his thesis. Graham experienced this junior high school so he is able to compare the lunch tables from then and now. He gave examples and he also stated that he didn’t sit at the “black table” and why, claiming that he didn’t want to risk losing his white friends.
ReplyDelete1.I think Graham’s thesis in this story is that no matter what people will always come together because of similar likes or dislikes. Groups will always form based on what makes them get along.
ReplyDelete2.Yes, because he observes how in the cafeteria is where the kids separate themselves, how they group themselves not only on color but on interests and things they have in common.
3.It shows how he stands his ground and refuses to sit at an all black table segregating himself when there’s simply no need to do that as the other’s did. It made me see that things that happened back then still happen in society. History tends to repeat itself and this is one of things that will always be seen regardless whether it be with White Black or Asian’s.
4. I think Graham’s purpose for writing this is to show how people seem to think and show some things will never change. Maybe he wants to show people that he held his ground and sat where ever he desired and is trying to inspire others to follow his actions and do the same.
5.In paragraph 13, he states that he started to blame the black kids in the back of his mind for how he was beginning to think. At the end of the statement he says, “What was I thinking?”
I think this is a rhetorical question because he already knows but he wants to see if the readers will agree with him. If they’ll think he’s gone mad to believe it’s their faults for sitting together. His end statement what was I thinking shows that he knows it’s not their faults, so why would he be driven to believe so.
6.I don’t think it affects me anymore or less, I still see the message the same.
7.This indeed still happens today. People seem to group themselves always whether it’s favorite colors, sports, music or hobbies. You will still always see amongst one large group smaller groups within it that stick together because they find things that bring them together.
2. Graham’s observations and experiences are enough to substantiate his thesis because he experienced it. He was a part of the “black table” situation at one point, even if he didn’t sit at the table. He also witnessed other groups segregated when he was in school. His experience of when he returned to the school for a visit is also enough to substantiate his thesis because he witnessed the “black table” still there. He has personally observed and experienced both when he attended school and from his visit back to the school years later.
ReplyDelete1.) Grahm’s Thesis Statement is found in paragraph 17 he says that the separated tables in the lunch rooms are much louder than what society is trying to percieve through intergration.
ReplyDelete4. I feel as though Graham’s purpose for writing this essay is to inform people who might not understand segregation. He is trying to give examples of segregation first hand. He wants to inform people who haven’t experienced segregation why people do it to themselves. He also might possibly be trying to change the perception that people have about those who segregate themselves by letting people know that every race does it whether they notice it or not. I feel as though he also wants to show people that even over a numerous amount of years, some things, like segregation do not change.
ReplyDelete4)What is Graham's purpose in writing the essay?
ReplyDeleteGraham's purpose in writing the essay was to inform us of society and how it can a person to be bad or in Graham's case change them to be good. Also he's trying to let us know the loss of communication between the people that segregation brings. We as people should seperate ourselves in groups just to better make communications because it tends to seperate everone as a group and it just go against each other like we did in the past.
2 Yes Graham's experiences and observations are enough to substantiate his thesis, because Graham was right there in personal experiences and observations.He saw how everybody in the school were seprateing themselves from others. He was part of the black table. He never sit with his best friends at lunch time. He experience the septrateing of group and class for three years, and not much as change when he went back fourteen years later's.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Graham's purpose in writing the essay?Graham's purpose in writing the essay is to inform his readers that its important being your own person instead of following the crowd. Also he wants his readers to understand that segregation is wrong and his Jr. High school has made little progress against it.
ReplyDeleteGraham’s thesis is that students of different groups segregate themselves without even knowing. They base their groups on the same background and the same interest. At Graham’s middle school different backgrounds had their own tables. There was an all black table, Italian table, and even a heavy mental table but even being an African America Graham still decided not to sit with the all black table. Even after fourteen years Graham was shocked to realize that an all black table still exist.
ReplyDelete5. One of Graham’s rhetorical questions that he asks in his essay was “…Why did the black kids segregate themselves?” I feel as though his intention in asking this question and the many other rhetorical questions was to broaden the thoughts of his reader as he continued on with his personal experiences about the “black table.” He himself and many others might have been asking these same questions that he presents in his essay back when he was in junior high school.
ReplyDelete2. Are Graham's observations and experiences enough to substantiate his thesis? Explain.
ReplyDeleteGraham’s experiences and observations are enough to substantiate his thesis, but only in the realm of his own junior high school. Without further research and evidence, his thesis is only applicable to his own life. I think the essay and it’s thesis serve more as an internal realization than as a definitive explanation for nationwide self-segregation.
6. When Graham uses the first person in his essay it makes the essay more personal. Knowing that he once experienced this situation himself for a number of years makes it more believable. I would rather it be first person than an author who is giving examples of something that they heard from someone else, or an author who is writing about someone else’s personal experience. In my own personal opinion it is a very effective choice for this essay.
ReplyDelete1. What is Graham's thesis?
ReplyDeleteGraham thesis might be people are segregated and self segregate themselves with knowing and some time without knowing. As it mention in the author text it’s the vivid dark color of the all black tables that attract and draw the scrutiny and wrath of other people. While the athletes, Italian, Jewish, pots and heavy metal are self segregated, but no one acknowledge it, it might might be the norm in other view.
2.) I believe that Grahms experience is enough evidence to back up his thesis statemnet because today it is still relevant to the most diverse schools. When I was in high school I noticed that there were different table that were associated with a certain group of people.
ReplyDelete7. Yes, this matter is relevant today. The high school that I attended had a very similar issue and in my personal opinion was a little bit more absurd. We had two cafeterias and before I entered as a freshman, family members and older friends, even my parents who attended the same high school told me about the “black cafeteria” and the “white cafeteria.” It wasn’t something that the school officials did, but it was the students who segregated themselves. Everyone knew which cafeteria was which. From freshman year until graduation the cafeterias were segregated like this by the students. A family member of mine who is now a freshman told me that this school year they changed the way lunch periods were set up and they divided you by grade into the two different cafeterias so students can no longer segregate themselves in that way.
ReplyDeleteAre Graham's observations and experiences enough to substantiate his thesis? Explain. Yes because after fourteen years out of high school he comesback to see the table still there. Every issue in the story dealt with segreagation. As a black man he can notice these segregations much easier than a caucasian person can. He difintely supported his thesis well.
ReplyDelete1. One of the questions that I really found profound and I can relate it to my life is , “ why did the black kids separate themselves?” I ask that same question so many time when I went to Lincoln High School, where 90% of the school is black. I believe peace can be made with everyone, no hate, no discrimination, no judging in others belief, I’m an over achiever. I remember I try to make peace between Spanish and Blacks, in Jersey City I know everyone from the projects all the way to the other end to Union City. Till today, I can’t answer that question, but I do believe Graham answers his, but it all falls back to segregating each other, and if not intended history is repeating itself and just not seen by the public eye.
ReplyDelete5)Graham asks rhetorical questions throughout his essay-- identify one of them and then explain his intention in asking them (i.e.- the effect or consideration it's meant to cause for the reader).
ReplyDeleteWell one of his rhetorical questions he asked was "why did black kids segregate themselves?" At first i thought they just rather save all the fuss and just get segrigated from the white just because they would want them segrigated. As i thought this it also made me think that maybe they wanted to be better then the whites. I was thinking of all these conclusion but later made sence it wasnt a question that was meant to have an answer but more to show how we think as a group
3. The background information that Graham gives in the two different paragraphs is that he is a well educated black man and that when he was younger he was different. He has experienced segregation as well as integration. He explains how he was one of the few first black men to enter clubs, colleges, and summer camps. He even tells how even after white community treated him bad he still blamed the black kids for being the barrier to integration. Also He gave information about how some whites viewed his decision not to sit at the black table. This helped me understand his standing in this situation and where his views on the matter were coming from.
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