Rhetorical Analysis of Shame by Dick Gregory

In his narrative essay “Shame,” civil rights activist Dick Gregory exposes the inequality and shame of the poor. Gregory's purpose is to demonstrate the lack of sufficient action and compassion given to those in need. Gregory achieves this through his use of juxtaposition, varied sentence and paragraph structure, and illustrative diction.

Gregory showcases his purpose by using strong juxtaposition to establish a sharp contrast between the kind nature associated with school and harsh realities. In paragraph 7, Gregory recalls the Community Chest, a seemingly innocent practice in which fathers would donate money to the needy. This perpetuates the value of expressing compassion and empathy toward those in need. However, Gregory disillusions the reader by juxtaposing it with the harsh realities of poverty. Gregory remembers telling his teacher that his father would donate as well, but the teacher rejects his proposal, saying, "We are collecting this money for you and your kind” and "We know you don't have a Daddy." (Paragraph 20 & 22, respectively).Gregory’s purpose of depicting a lack of compassion to those in need is demonstrated when he contrasts charity and harsh bitterness shown to him as a young child.

Gregory pairs short, abrupt sentences with paragraphs that possess an anecdotal structure to convey his purpose. In paragraph 5, Gregory uses simple, pointed sentences such as, "The teacher thought I was stupid… Just stupid." The purpose of these sentences is to highlight their overall meaning, the self-hatred and shame that poverty causes. Conversely, Gregory uses paragraphs with longer, meaningful sentences, such as in paragraph 2, when he ruminates, "Everybody's got a Helene Tucker, a symbol of everything you want." These longer, more meaningful sentences provide a deeper understanding for the reader. These help the reader better understand the author's purpose and establish an image in the audience's mind of the lack of sufficient action and compassion given to those in need. Gregory's sentence and paragraph structure are only a component of what truly convey his purpose.

Gregory's choice of illustrative diction helps to establish his purpose by creating a vivid image in the reader's mind of the struggles faced by him and other impoverished youth. Gregory uses words with negative connotations such as "nappy", "stupid", "poverty", and "dirt" to reveal the lack of help and empathy faced by poor youth. One of the most significant examples of Gregory's word choice is in the title, "Shame". Shame has a negative connotation and since it is the first thing that the audience reads, it begins to establish the shameful tone. Gregory's careful use of diction adds to the development of his purpose because it helps the reader understand his belief that the help given to the poor is often lacking in substance and emotion.

Throughout life, people tend to look back on and revisit past experiences. After growing and becoming wiser, people learn from their past and often tend to share their experiences. Reminiscing and sharing acquired knowledge through past experience is part of our instincts. It can be seen from animals telling each other about what which areas are dangerous, to early humans sharing farming techniques. In this case, Dick Gregory reminisces about his past and shares about his experience with lack of sufficient action and compassion given to those in need. He writes with the purpose of spreading his knowledge and to bring awareness to this issue. His work poses the question, what can we do to help those in need and how do we stop shame felt by impoverished individuals?