In his essay, "Cool Like Me," Donnell Alexander uses several different literary devices to prove his claim that African Americans embody all that "cool" entails, inherently. With many instances of descriptive language, narrative techniques, and structural devices, he compares the coolness of himself to the coolness of other blacks and also other cultures - mainly white America - in order to get the reader to redefine "cool" in order to apply it as a black attribute.
.
Donnell starts the essay with an immediate fishhook, "I"m cool like this:" (367) in order to firstly grab the reader's attention and secondly to make the initial point about just how cool he is. He then goes on with more structural devices early on in the writing using repetition. After the first sentence he starts all sentences with, "I" and then the next few sentences start with, "cooler" or "cool" (367). The effect of using "I" and "cool" so many times and right next to each other gives the reader a sense of the reader's tone, mainly an air of deserved superiority that may initially seem pompous of the author but provokes the reader into continuing the story in order to ascertain if these claims can be proven true. These statements also play a big part when he is fished, saying "Know this while understanding that in essence, I"m a humble guy." Because he put this sentence after all of these self-proclaiming "cool" comments, he is giving the reader something to think about with the irony. Does he really mean he's that much cooler? Or is he just saying this to reiterate the magnitude of his cool? Other repetition in this essay includes the time and time again use of, "making a dollar out of fifteen cents." (368) The repetition of this quote is important because it gives the reader a physical image of the " inclination to make something out of nothing- (368) in order to show that cool is not just the blind acceptance of the popular culture, but instead something the black community has learned to do thorough history.
It seemed to me that in the movie "Cool Hand Luke", the author was trying to send out a touch of sarcasm, mixed with emotion and religious beliefs. ... He always turned to God when he needed to, though it seemed like he knew he was talking to himself. ... It seemed like God's answer to him was to end hi pain and agony. ...
In the article "On Sale at Old Navy: Cool Clothes for Identical Zombies!" ... My brother is the best example of "being cool with what you wear". My brother has told me plenty of times that I need to buy better things/more expensive things if I wanted to fit in and be "cool". ... This statement reminds me of what I read in the article "Old Navy: Cool Clothes for Identical Zombies!"... I agree with that statement because material things are perishable and can go away at anytime, but real things like friendships are forever or will last a lot longer than a material good. ...
I don't like it any more than you men." ... Luke labors through two days of hell, ultimately falling into the hole and crying out, "Don't hit me any more boss! Oh God, don't hit me no more!" ... Luke, however, yells in disgust, "Stop feeding off me! ... These comments suggest that Luke does not want to be Christ-like. ...
(Cool Hand Luke). ... Cool Hand Luke. ... Luke said when he was broke, "Don't hit me anymore...Oh God, I pray to God you don't hit me anymore. ... Luke's legend lived on years after he had died just like Jesus' legend still is alive today. ... They followed Luke like people followed Jesus Christ and his teachings. ...
For instance, classic scenes like at the end of "Casablanca," which my grandfather would always make me watch with him, where Humphrey Bogart puts his arm around Claude Rains, made society accept the fact of guys hanging out with guys. ... Trent, a wannabe actor, who with his "slang-spouting"(Turan 2) personality like "you are so money" (meaning how cool somebody is or how good they look) and "beautiful baby" (describing women) seems to be the leader of the group. ... Overall, he is a cool modern day lounge lizard, who thinks a trip to Vegas and a quick one night stand is all his friend Mike...
Her name is _____ and she influenced me in many ways. One way she influenced me is directly, because she is always telling me to do my best in everything that I do no matter how hard it is. ... Another way my sister influences me is indirectly. ... I know it's going to take a lot of hard work, effort, and time, but I also would still like to have time to keep up with my hobbies like hunting and fishing. When I"m stressed out or angry I like to go fishing to relax and cool off. ...
As I would sit there in class I could hear my teacher's monotone rant, but I couldn't concentrate, it was too hot, also I could hear the drone from the broken air conditioner, and just couldn't wait to hear the bell that would release me on my break. This was what it came to, for the classes that didn't motivate me to learn, I became bored and listening to the teacher became an exercise in futility. ... Of the many examples this one sounded like the best option to encourage learning, "Students go beyond the textbook to study complex topics based on real-world issues, s...
In a way I have always been like that. ... When I was in grade school I always set myself away from the "cool kids." ... As I grew up into middle school, I tended to hang out with the cool kids in the Christian school that I transferred to. They weren't really cool; they were more like me. ... The kids in the family were a lot like me and did a lot of the things that I did. ...
