Society’s Child - My Autobiography

Society’s Child - My Autobiography

The characterization of the American society was in the 1960s about racial discrimination and segregation between black and white people. With the essay the American young folksinger wrote, which was published in 2009 (Society’s Child - My Autobiography), she tries to show how the American society was in the 1960s with her perspective. She has also written a song, which also tells about the conflicts about the racial discrimination and segregation between black and white people.

The narrator in this autobiographical story is Janis Ian and her first song was released when she was around fifteen years old. Janis Ian’s thoughts and actions shows through the essay shows how her personality is. The first record she wrote was when she lived in East Orange, New Jersey. You can read this in page 2 ll. 78-80. “I´d written the song a year before, when we were still living in East Orange, New Jersey.” Janis Ian describes the community and her experiences about how it was to live in a not so mixed neighbourhood which you can read in page 2 ll. 80-83 “It was very mixed neighbourhood – well actually it wasn´t that mixed. It was almost all Negro: I was one of seven white girls in my whole school”. Seven white girls in a school tells that the community she lives in is completely overrepresented by black people. She also tells that white and black didn’t date each other which you can read in page 2 ll 84-86. “My black friends’ parents didn’t want them dating whites”. This shows the black peoples discrimination of the white people because of their skin-color. In the text she tells that the relationship between white and black in East orange, New Jersey was the thing that inspired to write songs and comment on how the society was in 1960s (page 2 ll. 84-92). The audience at her concert started to jell at her when she started to sing because they didn’t like the lyrics of her song. Janis was aware about that the opposition didn’t like her song but she denied to change the lyrics of the song before the realease, and this indicates that she is a strong woman who doesn’t change her political stance because other people doesn’t like it. (Page 4, ll. 200-212.)

The style of the essay is very personal throughout the text which are marked with Janis Ian as the first-person narrator. The text covers personal experiences from her childhood, occurrences which also happened in her past which also marks that it is an autobiography.

It is difficult for the reader to find out whether the autobiography is fact or fiction because she was an adult when she wrote the text, but her aspects and experiences was from her childhood and she has maybe new aspects on the experiences she had back then. Janis Ian’s’ text is marked with a distinct use of appeals. Pathos is very dominant because she appeals to the reader’s feelings and conscience. She looks for the reader’s sympathy to herself, for example the occurrence to at the concert. “And now, look where it had gotten me. Here I was, standing in the bathroom, blowing my reddened nose and arguing with a promoter over whether my show should be canceled. So much for sticking to your principles” (P. 4, ll. 225-230). This quotation leads the reader in to Janis Ian’s thoughts when the society and the audience at the concert presses her not to sing her song, and makes the reader feel with her, and this also an example of that the text is very personal because she dare to tell the reader about her vulnerable side. She decides to continue the concert and value her fans, which shows us that Janis Ian is a strong and stubborn woman. “Hadn’t my parents raised me to be a hero? I couldn´t stand the thought that I might be a coward – I just couldn´t stand it” (P. 4-5, ll. 264-278).  

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