Nobody Knows My Name Literary Elements

Nobody Knows My Name Literary Elements

Genre

Collection of essays

Setting and Context

Written in the context of life experiences

Narrator and Point of View

First-person narrative

Tone and Mood

Sad, enlightening and sanguine

Protagonist and Antagonist

The central character in the book is James Baldwin.

Major Conflict

The major conflict is in 'The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American' in which American uniqueness is obscured by issues of ethnic dissection, which runs far deeper than measly chauvinism, bigotry and enriching attitudes.

Climax

The climax is in 'A Fly in the Buttermilk', where race is used as a political strategy pushing for the abolition of the slave trade to appeal to the blacks and the international community.

Foreshadowing

Baldwin’s visit to Southern America in ‘Nobody Knows My Name: A Letter from the South’ foreshadows his first-hand experience on the brutality of hardcore violence and racism.

Understatement

The hostility towards homosexual people in society is understated in the essay 'The Male Prison.'

Allusions

The essay ‘The Northern Protestant’ alludes to racism, sexual discrimination and religious intolerance.

Imagery

The images of Baldwin’s typewriting in the essay ‘ The Discovery of What it means to An American' depict a sense of sight to readers.

Paradox

The main paradox is in the essay ‘The Black Boy Looks at the White Boy’ in which Norman wants to be like a black person who is inferior and discriminated against.

Parallelism

N/A

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Façade in ‘Princess and Powers’ is used as a metonymy to cover up or disguise.

Personification

N/A

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

Update this section

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.

Cite this page