In his book How To Slowly Kill yourself and Others in America, Kiese Laymon uses very specific, detailed allusions as a hidden tool to add to the experience of the reader and various aspects of his argument . All of Laymon 's essays in this book are packed full of Allusion, but they all have different effects. Throughout this book, Laymon uses Allusions to connect with the reader, add a dark side to his essays, remind the reader of past greats, provide second opinions, and build his credibility. Overall Laymon choses to uses these allusions in his work not only because they connect the reader to the story through the recognition of places, people and events, but they also because they each work on distinctive aspects of Laymon 's argument through the
…show more content…
These allusions also serve as references to famous rappers and specific descriptions of them in order to build the reliability of the author. This essay reads like a personalized, detailed history book of rap and how southern rappers have effected it. In order to both provide examples of these and other rappers, Laymon fills this essay with long strings of allusions to rappers and their songs and actions. He includes lists of rappers such as “Charlie Braxton, K.R.I.T., Kamikaze, Mychal Denzel Smith, Tito Lopez, Skip Coon, Pyinfamous, Banner,…”(72) or “Scarface, JT Money, Ice Cube, Bun B, MC Ren, and D.O.C.” (65) as a means to provide examples of the people he is describing, but he uses such lengthy allusions in order to show his vast intelligence in this subject. These long specific lists of examples that serve to build the reliability of the author. Because Laymon uses so many detailed examples in these allusions, he shows the reader his extensive knowledge on the subject he is describing and adds to the validity of his …show more content…
In order to depict the unusual slot that Bernie filled in the comedic world, Laymon uses very common relatable comedians so that even someone who has no knowledge of Bernie Mac could create a mental image of his life. Laymon says that although "Mac lacked the all-out freakish comic ability of Eddie Murphy"(117) and that "He came into our world via Def Comedy Jam, not as the heir apparent like Martin Lawrence, Joe Torry, or Jamie Foxx"(177), he still "Seamed happy to share the experience of suffering on the edge of the world with us"(117). Lymon 's use of allusions to familiar comedians in contrast will Bernie Mac both allows readers who are not familiar with him to form a very specific picture of him and it even allows those who were familiar with him to think of him in a different light and to delve deeper into his unique place in the world of black
These allusions also serve as references to famous rappers and specific descriptions of them in order to build the reliability of the author. This essay reads like a personalized, detailed history book of rap and how southern rappers have effected it. In order to both provide examples of these and other rappers, Laymon fills this essay with long strings of allusions to rappers and their songs and actions. He includes lists of rappers such as “Charlie Braxton, K.R.I.T., Kamikaze, Mychal Denzel Smith, Tito Lopez, Skip Coon, Pyinfamous, Banner,…”(72) or “Scarface, JT Money, Ice Cube, Bun B, MC Ren, and D.O.C.” (65) as a means to provide examples of the people he is describing, but he uses such lengthy allusions in order to show his vast intelligence in this subject. These long specific lists of examples that serve to build the reliability of the author. Because Laymon uses so many detailed examples in these allusions, he shows the reader his extensive knowledge on the subject he is describing and adds to the validity of his …show more content…
In order to depict the unusual slot that Bernie filled in the comedic world, Laymon uses very common relatable comedians so that even someone who has no knowledge of Bernie Mac could create a mental image of his life. Laymon says that although "Mac lacked the all-out freakish comic ability of Eddie Murphy"(117) and that "He came into our world via Def Comedy Jam, not as the heir apparent like Martin Lawrence, Joe Torry, or Jamie Foxx"(177), he still "Seamed happy to share the experience of suffering on the edge of the world with us"(117). Lymon 's use of allusions to familiar comedians in contrast will Bernie Mac both allows readers who are not familiar with him to form a very specific picture of him and it even allows those who were familiar with him to think of him in a different light and to delve deeper into his unique place in the world of black