The baddest dog in Harlem

1 Describe the environment in the short story with special focus on the relationship between the community and the police in Harlem. Use specific examples.

-       As implied by the title, “The baddest Dog in Harlem” takes place in Harlem. It seems as though the police is not an uncommon sight in their area. The main character appears to has quite a lot experience with the police, “Now, I wasn’t a fool and I knew when the police come tearing like that they’re looking for someone.”

-       The police, however, also appears to have experience with the main character’s neighbourhood. They instantly are suspicious, when they stumble upon the main character and his friends. The police pat Willie down for no apparent reason and they do not seem to believe Pedro, when he tells them that he and the others have been sitting on the bench for two hours. It is first when Willie confirms it the police believe it.

2 Comment on the language in the short story. How is it told and by whom? What characterizes the tone of voice and word usage of the narrator? Use specific examples.

-       The story is told from the main characters point of view, which means the story is a little biased since he/she only see the events from one perspective. On the other hand, the main character is a qualified source because he knows the neighbourhood and is able to tell about it with conviction.

-        The main character appears to be a teenager. He uses phrases like “a crazy dude.”

-       Contrary to the other character in the story, the main character uses a larger vocabulary. His friend Pedro speaks like this, “What they mean about some automatic weapon.” While the main character uses whole sentences like this, “You’re lucky,” I said, “If it’s some crazy fool he’s liable to be aiming at you and hit one of us. Least if he hits you first it’ll give us a chance to duck.”

                   Overall, the main character seems to neutral, most of the time, observant and curious

Emma