American Literature Gender Stereotyping

Questions: 1. What is the conflict? 2. Who is the protagonist? 3. From whose perspective is the story being told? 4. Whose story is not being told? 5. What elements or episodes are being included and what are being excluded? 6. What causal relationships are being established through the way the story is being told? 7. What is the larger frame narrative? 8. What is the expected resolution? 9. Can the story be told in another way to change the emphasis of the conflict? Answer: 1. On 9th August 2014, 18-year-old African American teenager Michael Brown was shot by a police officer on the streets in Ferguson, Missouri. The victim was with another man, Dorian Johnson. The conflict is between the police department and the citizens of Ferguson, Missouri. The police claim that the victim and his friend had a scuffle with the policeman as they were asked to get into the police car which led to the policeman in question also sustaining injuries on his face and Michael Brown getting fatally shot. The victim's friend, on the other hand, has said that the policeman shot Michael Brown, who was cooperating and was unarmed. 2. The protagonists are the police department and the deceased Michael Brown. The situation is such that the citizens of Ferguson, Missouri especially the African American community is rioting against the police department as this shooting is being considered to be a racist crime against colored citizen by a white police officer (Fox News, 2014). 3. The story is being represented from both the police's and the victim's perspectives. However, in Article 1, the tone of the literature is inclined towards the perspective of the victim. Whereas, the Article 2 reflects on how racial unrest has arose as a result of the said event of shooting of an Afro-America man by a white police officer. Bothe the Articles explain the effects of the incidents which detail out reactions of governments, local authorities, other peripheral organizations, citizens, and the police department and the media. (Huffington Post India, 2016). 4. In both the Articles, the story is being told from the victims perspective largely. In all this, the police officer in question is identified. Thus, the readers have yet to read about the happenings of the fateful night from the police officer so that the other side of the story can also come to the forefront. The story from the mouth of police officer shall get some clarity about the event. When a crime is reported, the public sympathy is always with the victim and his or her supporters. Therefore, with the crucial element of the story not being reported, the readers will continue to feel more sympathetic towards the victim. 5. The elements that are being included are the statements from the police department, from the witness who is also the victim's friend, and reactions of the local authority, state government, and the US government. In both the Articles, the media is trying to narrate the part of story known to them. After-effects of the incident are being written about which include the public outcry, reactions of peripheral organizations and also certain acts of vigilante justice. What has largely been excluded is the side of the story of the police officer in question; the perspectives that have been put so far are all from the victims standpoint. There is nothing that has been included on behalf of the police officer who allegedly murdered an unarmed African American teenager. In fact, in is very important to identify the police officer in question and then know his part of the story. 6. The causal relationship being established through the reporting of this incident and the aftermath is that of prejudice in the minds of the readers against the police department of Ferguson Missouri since only one side of the story is being highlighted by the media. It is very easy to paint this incident as a hate-crime towards the African-American community by a White-American. This also plays on the emotions riled up from the previous cases of similar nature in the USA. However, the after effect of the incident which is racial unrest is highlighted in the Article 2 whereas Article 1 talks about the opinion of the President of the United States and other local authorities concerning the said matter. 7. The larger frame narrative in the two articles that have been provided with is the increasing trend of crimes committed by the police department against the African-American community in the United States of America. Since this story has all the elements of other similar stories of crimes against the African-American community by a predominantly white police department, it fits well into the larger narrative. It is also supported by key causal effects such as public rioting, outrage, local and state authority interventions, vigilante justice which are all typical after effects of most racial crimes occurring in the country. 8. Given the reporting of the incident and the subsequent conflict between the citizens of Ferguson and the police department, the expected resolution would be that the police officer in question being convicted and punished for racial bias and committing a crime against an unarmed African American individual. The approach of the media in reporting the situation has led to the public inclining towards Michael Brown and his supporters. As a result, the popular expectation from further proceedings of this case would be that officer who killed Michael Brown is punished for his crime unless he has a valid justification for his actions. 9. The story could have been reported with an approach that is more neutral giving the perspectives of both, the victim and his friend who is a key witness and the police officer who is said to have committed the crime. As stated in both Articles, the reports have focused on the victim and the larger umbrella organizations or groups to build the story. Had the reporting being done more neutrally, it would have left the decision to the reader rather than creating a bias in the readers mind from the very beginning. References Fox News. (2014).Police clash with Michael Brown shooting protesters in Ferguson, two reporters briefly detained | Fox News. [online] Available at: https://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/14/police-clash-with-michael-brown-shooting-protesters-in-ferguson-two-reporters.html [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Huffington Post India. (2016).Tear Gas, SWAT Teams, And A Night Of Terror In Ferguson. [online] Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/ferguson-protests-police-response_n_5677741 [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016].