Genre
Memoir, novel, biography
Setting and Context
The events in the story took place in Western Baltimore, the USA
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narration
Tone and Mood
In story prevails philosophic tone, sometimes violent and even high spiritual
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist of the story is Ta-Nehisi, and the antagonist is his society, bad boys who influenced him negatively
Major Conflict
The major conflict stands in contradiction between Ta-Nehisi’s desire to move forward and reach better and social and historical obstacles around him
Climax
The climax happens when the boy enters college
Foreshadowing
The time period, depicted in the story, foreshadows serious inner struggle of a person with different obstacles in his life way
Understatement
The importance of social environment in the process of self developing is understated in the story
Allusions
The story alludes to history period of 1980’s, the era of hip hop and street bands
Imagery
See the imagery section
Paradox
The paradox of the story is that struggle, which is considered as something hard and exhausting can also be something beautiful as well
Parallelism
The story has parallels with cultural contrasts, social stereotypes, and life choices
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The author uses metonymy and synecdoche to highlight the unique character of the utterance: “dull taint of colonial power”, “stew of language”
Personification
The author uses personification dramatizing the effect of the utterance: “Van Halen hair waving in the wind”.
