The following AI-generated essay about the book Long Division, by Kiese Laymon, truly captured my feelings as I read. Although AI is capable of making little mistakes throughout the writing process, it still gets the main idea of my thoughts. The AI was able to take my informal thoughts and input them into a professional writing piece. Here is the collaboration of my personal thoughts and AI on the book Long Division.
AI-GENERATED ESSAY: In Kiese Laymon’s Long Division, satire and irony are used to point out the injustice that African Americans face. The main character, City, is a black teenage boy from Mississippi who has been invited to participate in a competition in a small town called Melahatchie. Through the use of satire and irony, the author highlights the unfairness of racism and the marginalization of African Americans in society.
First, the author uses satire to highlight the double standards that African Americans face. In the first chapter, LaVander calls City a “white homeless fat homosexual” because he lives in a nice house. This is satire because realistically, it would not be possible for someone to be homosexual because of the house they live in. Similarly, in chapter two, people who do not say “kindly pause” when they enter the restroom are considered homosexual. This is a comment on how African Americans are treated differently than white people. As Alexandria T. stated, “In the first chapter of Long Division by Kiese Laymon the use of satire can be found frequently. The character City is often referred to as a “White Homeless Fat Homosexual” because he lives in a nice house, the logic is that only white people live in fancy and nice houses. In chapter two people who use the restroom without saying “kindly pause” are considered homosexual. This is satire because realistically you wouldn’t be homosexual if you didn’t say “pause”.”
Second, the author uses irony to point out the racism and double standards that African Americans face. LaVander is an African American himself, yet he says that he does not want to live in a “ghetto”. He says that he wants to live in a fancy house with Malia Obama. As Alexandria T. stated, “It is ironic that LaVander is sharing this opinion about African Americans when he himself is African American.” Additionally, in a sentence battle, City is asked to spell the word “Niggardly” which is a comment on how African Americans are treated after they fairly win something. As Alexandria T. stated, “In the third and fourth chapters, the author uses satire through the words in the word competitions. Considering some words to be “Black words” and asking someone to spell “Niggardly” in a word competition is a comment on how Black people are treated after they fairly win something.”
Finally, the author uses exaggeration to show the marginalization of African Americans in society. City’s grandma warns him that he cannot act the same way around white people as he does back home as he can now while visiting in Melahatchie. As Alexandria T. stated, “City’s grandma warns City that he cannot act the same way around white people as he does back home as he can now while visiting in Melahatchie.” Additionally, having a wave brush is considered a cultural difference to the white people in the competition. As Alexandria T. stated, “This is a social commentary on how Black kids are treated in competition. Although this isn’t a racist word it’s strange that they would give the Black kid this word to use in a sentence.”
Through the use of satire, irony, and exaggeration, Kiese Laymon highlights the unfairness of racism and the marginalization of African Americans in society. It is still a mystery as to why City and LaVander are so competitive in their sentence battles and why City is so adamant about not wanting to be labeled as a “black kid”. As I continue to read Long Division, I am looking forward to learning more about City, LaVander, and the other characters in the book.
I like how you included the mistakes AI may make and what AI actually did to your writing instead of just putting it out there. I want to highlight where you talk about the description of double standards and the words used by my characters. I think that exaggerates how Kiese writes his story and how he wants the story to be betrayed.
Alexandria, I enjoyed reading your take on the book and I find it interesting to see different people’s takes on the reading. The quotes that were pulled from the book I feel were worth mentioning and they were definitely parts of the book that stood out. Not only did you include parts of the book that stood out but you also talked about the author’s writing style and brought everything together for an amazing book analysis.
Well done on your Long Division analysis! Your organization is sound, and I like how you use you comments to support your arguments. Your examination of the three themes is profound and gives each one sufficient thought. Your examination of City’s worship of Shalaya particularly caught my attention since it sheds light on the nuanced dynamics of their connection.
Your essay is a fantastic illustration of how AI may be a useful tool for writers, to sum up. Keep up the fantastic work and keep looking at ways to integrate AI into your writing process.
I really like how you talked about AI to get a well-formulated essay. I wish she were more elaborate with her feeling about youth voices. but I like how you spoke about AI and how it helped you.
I really like your take on the book, and I agree with everything you said. I think that the way Laymon talks about double standards is very creative. His use of satire and irony is also very prominent throughout the book and discusses real-world problems that are also still very prominent in society today.
I also really like the picture you generated
I like how you used ai to generate your observations it did very well explaining your thoughts in a way I can understand.