the baddest dog in Harlem

1.

The relationship between the locals and the police isn’t very good, but there are one of the “brothers” there are in the police. It sounds like the police is in the neighbourhood every day because there are some kind of crime inform of gangs. The locals joke with the police because they just are there to put anyone in prison because they live there.   

2.

The language is informal and relaxed when we here the locals talk, but when it is the police then is it very formal because they have this job they have.

3.

Page 19 line 28, because it’s the reason that the police is right on this place.

Page 21 line 25, its were the go to the room with dead dog.

Page 24 line18, it describes the situation when a man is shot in Harlem. 

Jonatan Stage

The baddest dog in Harlem (Ida R.)

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.

You get the feeling that the community is familiar with unexpected visits from the police. And you get the impression that these visits are a bit ordinary.

“Now, I wasn’t a fool, and I knew when the police come tearing like that they’re looking for somebody. I did like everybody else leaning on that rail did, said a quick prayer and put on my innocent face.”

It also seems like everyone knows what to answer when the police start asking them questions. I guess it shows us that there is relatively much crime in Harlem.

Also the police are not friendly like they would be with normal civil but very aggressive. The lady in the café do not want to leave with the police officer unless she has a black man by her side.

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 and it is told in present most of the time. 

There is also a big use of directly talk. The narrator uses a lot of descriptions and he asks himself questions during the actions. “Now, what did he say that out for?”

3.     Select three quotes from the text that you believe are central to the story in terms of plot and/or themes. Explain the quotes – what do they mean? Is there any hidden meaning to them?

“The cop looked over at us and didn’t say nothing. I bet if he had his way he would have us sitting out there in that police car.”

– The police do not trust or like the citizens in Harlem and the citizens knows that

“One thing about 145^th street. Half the guys on the block don’t have jobs and so there are always on the stoops or just standing around with nothing to do.”

-       There is a big unemployment in the community

“She snatched away from him and she said she wasn’t going anywhere with them unless she had a black man with her.”

- The citizens do not trust the white policemen.

Baddest dog in Harlem (Cecilie)

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.

- Judging from the way the main character acts when the police comes I would say that it is not the first time “I did just like everybody else leaning on that rail did, say a quick prayer and put on my innocent face”.

Although the text does not show direct hatred towards the police it seems as if they are quite annoyed by them. Their relationship is “passive-aggressive”.

The police is enemies of the community rather than protectors of 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.

- “Now that was a lame answer and everybody there, with the exception of Willie, knew it".

The language is very “young” and informal. It is spontaneous and probably resembles the way young people in Harlem talk (except the text features less slang). 

As informal as I may be it is still intelligent and easy to understand.

3. Select three quotes from the text that you believe are central to the story in terms of plot and/or themes. Explain the quotes – what do they mean? Is there any hidden meaning to them?

1.  “They had one cop who was a brother but he was trailing behind and looked like he was fixing to run any minute”: It’s interesting how he refers to a black cop as a brother. As if he feels like they are automatically related.

2. “I hadn’t seen anything, but then I wasn’t looking too hard. The thing I don’t want to be is a witness”: Even though he didn’t do anything wrong he will do anything to stay clear of the police and law enforcement. Either that or he didn’t want to see anyone get shot.

3. “The cop looked over at us a didn’t say nothing. I bet if he had his way he would have had us sitting out there in that police car”: Describes the racism towards the community/people of Harlem.

The Baddest Dog in Harlem (Caroline)

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.

- Very few people had jobs and were just hanging around in the streets. According to the text, the relationship between the community and the police is not very good, because that the police just came rushing in the streets and just began shooting without any reason.
The community is not safe with the white policemen, because it is mostly black people living in Harlem, but mostly white policemen. “Lets go, lady,” this cop said. Then he went to take Mary by the arm. She snatched it away from him and said she wasn’t going anywhere with them unless she had a black man with her. (p. 21, l. 25)

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.
- I think it is a young black guy who tells us the story, because he describes the 30-year-old Willie as an old person. Also when Mary wants a black man with her, the cop grabbed the storyteller’s arm, and wants him to go with them.
The story is written in present and in first-person narrator.

3. Select three quotes from the text that you believe are central to the story in terms of plot and/or themes. Explain the quotes – what do they mean? Is there any hidden meaning to them?

1. “Lets go, lady,” this cop said. Then he went to take Mary by the arm. She snatched it away from him and said she wasn’t going anywhere with them unless she had a black man with her. (p. 21, l. 25) – this explains that black people don’t trust in white people and don’t feel safe.

2. One thing about 145th Street. Half the guys on the block don’t have jobs and so they’re always on the stoops or just standing around with nothing to do. (p. 18, l. 14) – there are a lot of unemployed people in Harlem and just hanging around in the streets doing nothing. That’s why they find it very interesting when the police appear and something new is happening.

3. One of them got on the bullhorn and told all the kids to get off the street immediately. He must have meant that as a joke. The kids didn’t have anything to do and they weren’t going anyplace. (p. 18, l. 23) – furthermore the kids don’t have anything to do - they are not even studying or have an education.

The baddest dog in Harlem (Sophie)

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.

- The environment seems very close linked, where everybody knows everybody and where there are some usual habits. At the same time, the relationship between the community and the police seems very tense and untrustworthy. It’s not unusual that the police arrives, but everyone prays that it’s not them this time: “… I knew when the police come tearing like that they’re looking for somebody. I did just like everybody else leaning on the rail did, said a quick prayer and put on my innocent face” (p. 16-17, l. 30)

Although the police should be the people protecting the community, you feel a big lack of trust between the two parts: “The cop looked over at us and didn’t say nothing. I bet if he his way he would have us sitting out there in that police car”.

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 by one of the boys, who sits on the rail outside Big Joe’s place. The language is not very formal, but is written with a bit of slang. The narrator being from Harlem/from a ghetto characterizes the tone of voice, for example when he says “I don’t know anything and I don’t want to see no dead people” (p. 22, l. 1)

3. Select three quotes from the text that you believe are central to the story in terms of plot and/or themes. Explain the quotes – what do they mean? Is there any hidden meaning to them?

1. “I wanted them to say how bad they felt about it and what a shame it was the way life could slip away so easily in Harlem, in our community, on our street”

This shooting was not the first one in Harlem, and is definitely not going to be the last one. It is part of the everyday life and that’s the saddest part.

2. “That’s probably the baddest dog in Harlem”

The dog gets the blame, because it was definitely not the police fault. They’re trying to make an excuse for shooting the dog, and it shows how careless they are about the people in Harlem.

3. “He took my arm and looked into my face. I didn’t have to tell him there was more to it”

It seems like they both know this isn’t right. They both know that the community they live in is bad, and it shouldn’t be like this.

"The baddest dog in Harlem" analysis (Nanna Lindhardt)

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.

The environment, which is described in this short story, is primarily influenced by the lack of an education, the widely distributed poverty and the high crime rate. As mentioned in the short story the most exciting thing that could possibly happen in Harlem, is when the police arrives. “… when the cops arrive like this it breaks the day up nice. Unless it’s you they’re looking for, of course.” (p. 18, ll. 17-19).

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.

We have a black narrator who remains unknown through the entire novel, and we have his friends Wille, Pedro and Mr. Lynch. We also have Mary, who is the tenant of the apartment, which the police shot at. We get to know a little part of her personality, when we read about her reaction towards drapes: “You shot up my new drapes! I don’t work all day for you fools to be up here shooting up my drapes!” (p. 21, ll. 15-16). Many people would probably agree that this is a quite aggressive behaviour, though it is understandable given the situation. The poor characterization of the persons in the story is caused by the fact that the story does not focus on individual persons, but rather on a social problem, which is seen certain places in America. These certain places often contain very poor environments, where the crime rate is high and the majority is lacking an education.

3. Select three quotes from the text that you believe are central to the story in terms of plot and/or themes. Explain the quotes – what do they mean? Is there any hidden meaning to them?

1 1)  “There’s somebody up there!” a kid yelled. Now, what did he do that for? Everybody hit the ground, including me, and covered up the best they could. (p. 19, ll. 5-8).

When the boy yells everybody assumes, that it means danger. I find this interesting, because people in our society would presume it to be something more or less interesting, but not life threating.

2 2)  The kids didn’t have anything to do and they weren’t going anyplace. (p. 18, ll. 26-28).

In this quote I do not think the narrator means that the kids weren’t going anyplace in that exact moment, but in life in general due to their non-existing educations and the poverty in the community.

3 3)   I hadn’t seen anything, but then I wasn’t looking too hard. The thing I don’t want to be is a witness. (p. 19, ll. 9-10).

I think this quote says a lot about the community’s relationship towards the police in Harlem; that they do not trust the system and will do almost anything to avoid getting involved in an investigation.