Thursday, April 30, 2015

Wilson's Legacy


August Wilson left a legacy because of how influential he was. There were not many African-American playwrights before him. He set the bar high for other African-American playwrights. Wilson was very pro-African-American. “His best work describes a world that a few theater audiences had seen, and it punches holes in common wisdom about race.” (Shteir). Within his cycle of plays, he showed a different way to look at black Americans. Wilson wrote a cycle of plays that could all stand by themselves, but also go together. This showed how dedicated and hardworking he was. August Wilson proved that anyone can accomplish their goals. Wilson also left a legacy because of the impact he had on others. According to NPR Radio Show, a segment about August Wilson’s life, Wilson worked with many famous African-Americans. For some, he gave them their jump starts to fame. These actors portrayed Wilson’s message through their acting, which is why not everyone could have roles in his plays. Wilson’s legacy is carried on through his works and plays.

His legacy revels a larger message about how race, power, and language intersect in the United States because he himself was African-American. This showed that anyone could do it and proved many people wrong. “People can quickly make rapid judgments about class and speech based on racial identities.” (Bailey). According to NPR Radio Show, Wilson dropped out of high school in 9th grade because he did not want to prove that he wrote a paper. This truly showed his character. Because he was uneducated, many people would assume that he could not create these playwrights. August Wilson proved that race power, and language is not about what one is, but rather what one counts as in a particular time and place.

3 comments:

  1. I really liked how you said "August Wilson proved that race, power, and language is not about what one is, but rather what one counts as in a particular time and place" because August really did prove this throughout his times.

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  2. You did really well with bringing the argument full circle by including the Benjamin Bailey article about how race is just an identity used to discriminate and classify people, when all it should really be is an "identity". You also started off with how Wilson started his legacy by starting from when he became a student of culture and left his High School schooling to become something greater.

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  3. You did really good on explaining how much his impact was important even now. I also liked how you gave an example of his background story in the 9th grade

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