SSRJ #1: Straight

Initial Personal Reaction:
  This story was graphic to me and it made me feel sad for Clarette and how tough her life was. At first I thought she hated her life but once I got to the end I read it over a few more times did I start to understand that she was tired of the same thing happening around her community. Also she was trying to keep the streets away from her kids because she didn't want to see them go down the road like all the young inmates at the prison she worked at were going. What struck out to me was that a Caucassion author was writing about an African American woman and she was really descriptive in their culture. Like how they go to shops and get their hair braided. Which goes to show it doesn't have to be a African American that can only relate to another African American. It just depends on where you were raised and the people you were always around. Straight grew up amongst African Americans and has an African American husband. I have cousins and friends who are like the men that Staright describes. They carry a certain image about themselves that comes off as being street smart and tough. This story made me think about them because some of them do get in trouble with the law and it was because they let their image get the best of them.

Literary Element/Thematic Analysis:
  Straight creates a sense of tone in "Mine" in the way she has Clarette, the narrator in the story, critically describe her job, the inmates at the jail she works at, and the people she interacts with everyday. She uses words of anger and disgust when she describes the tattoos of all the inmates and how they wear their clothes. She is constantly criticizing the culture of the younger generation. Like how her son's hair looks like Ice Cube, which is a rapper who is seen as a tough guy from the hood. Or comparing all the inmates to dogs because they have tattoos wrapped around their arms and necks like collars. Straight suggests that their is a pattern that keeps the young people in a "stay in trouble" mentality. Whereas Clarette wants to keep her kids out of the norm and get them to behave in a civilized or educated sort of way. Which is why she wants to see Ray Jr. learn how to play the piano instead of getting into fights at school. Straight uses tone to give Clarette a sound that is sort of calling out for help that the rough life of the streets does not reach her kids.

Questions/Comments:
  I had a hard time trying to find a signficance for the title of the story. To me it is called "Mines" because Clarette was describing everything that made up her own world. Anyone else have another interpretation of the title?

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