Rhetorical Response: Context

         From the book "Skin: Talking about Sex, Class and Literature", "Context" (1994) written by Dorthy Allison, explores her thoughts on how "context" can be perceived in different ways, especially the subject it is surrounding, it can have an effect on how others around you view you, or view someone else. The author develops her claim by providing her personal story/ flashback, as it happened, including her after thoughts, to strengthen her idea of context. The purpose of this text is to provide an insight on how context can influence someone's perspective about their background, culture, or etc. Dorothy's target audience is anyone who may have fallen victim to judging others based on their perspective of the context that they have been exposed to.

        As we have read through this narrative, we've become sensitive to the understanding of the importance of context. Being that we are surrounded by different people with different ethnicities and backgrounds every day, it makes us aware of what possible scares one may have, dealing with where they come from, and how they are perceived. I’m sure at some point in our lives we have all had the same feelings as Dorothy, not knowing whether we would be accepted or looked at differently in another environment. With better apprehension, we can allow ourselves to be more open to new relationships and friendships. We can also help someone else feel comfortable, knowing what type of conflicting thoughts they may have about being accepted.

       Allison wrote the story about about a woman who is fearful to bring her lover to meet her family. In the text , the woman came from a lower class family while growing up, where as he lover came from a well off family. She talks about how her lover says,"I thought I understood what you meant when you said "working class" but I just didn't have a context" ( page 134) meaning she had no idea what Dorothy was talking about. Allison goes on and further writes about how the circumstances of her family and how ashamed she might be of her family, she can't help but wonder what her lover would think of her past and how she took things into context. She exclaimed that her lover's experience to the beach was described as so clean it was intimidating (page 135). Overall, despite their differences their bond didn't change. Her lover just viewed her with a new insight of her based on the context.