Art is a means of regulating human spiritual life and an important window of the human spiritual world. Nowadays, the whole society is talking about social responsibility, but the focus tends to focus on enterprises and entrepreneurs. In fact, as human soul seekers, artists should shoulder their due social responsibility. James Baldwin, who was a great novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and cultural critic, in his article “The Creative Process,” had shown people the importance of the artist and the social responsibility artists should have. The article “The Creative Process” shows the value of artists’ existence and the social responsibility they need and their importance to society. It is mentioned in the article that artists not only need to conquer the material world but also need to conquer their inner world to lead people to the right path and let people know what is right. Baldwin expresses that the artist’s responsibility to society comes from the artist’s responsibility to himself. Only when he is responsible to himself can he lead others. 

The overall tone of the author’s article is firm, and he believes that artists should have social responsibilities. As the article shows “But the conquest of the physical world is not man’s only duty. He is also enjoined to conquer the great wilderness of himself.” This quote fully expresses the author’s view of the artist, he believes that the responsibility of the artist comes from conquering his inner spirit. The author interprets the value of artists using metaphors. In paragraph six he states,” It goes without saying, I believe, that if we understood ourselves better, we would damage ourselves less. But the barrier between oneself and one’s knowledge of oneself is high indeed. There are so many things one would rather not know.” This shows that it is difficult for people to fully understand themselves, and people sometimes try to hide or refuse to face up to their shortcomings.

The author shows the social responsibility that an artist should have. The article says “A society must assume that it is stable, but the artist must know, and he must let us know, that there is nothing stable under heaven.” This quote shows that the artist understands all the unstable factors behind the social stability factors. The artist needs to understand each hidden answer, and he needs to know the core of the answer, to lead people in the right way, and let people see social problems differently. Artists need to accept the ugly truth in society and tell it to people. The author shows the value of the artist in society through the description of the artist. The artist is lonely, and this feeling of loneliness no one can understand.

After describing the social responsibility of artists, the article says “there are a great many other things that we must not become…The human effort is to bring these two realities into a relationship resembling reconciliation.” This sentence expresses the author’s purpose, he believes that only in this way can people understand and respect each other. At the end of the article, the author regards the relationship between the artist and the country as the conclusion, which makes the whole article more readable and makes people fully understand the responsibility and value of artists in the country. “The human beings whom we respect the most…because somewhere in our hearts we know that we cannot live without them.” It means that the artist is the most respected person, the artist is indispensable in the country, he plays an important role in society.

In general, this article is very readable. The target audience of the article is people and artists in society. The author’s stance is to help people understand the importance of artists in our life through the introduction of artists. Metaphor is the language for this article and the medium is a printed word. To draw people’s attention to the weak trends around them is the Exigence of this article, because they need help not only from the government, but also from everyone.

I strongly agree with the author’s point in the article that it is everyone’s responsibility to let everyone have the same dignity. There is so much inequality in our society that we experience it every day. When I first came to the United States, I began my studies in Manhattan. I remember riding the subway home from school once, and I sat next to a woman of a different color than I was. She looked at me first, then leaned aside. I don’t know if I touched her when I sat down. So I apologized to her. She doesn’t look very friendly.

 She spoke in a dialect I didn’t understand and walked quickly away from the seat next to me. She looked very angry and I was very scared and confused because my English was not very good and I didn’t know what was happening. The people around us just looked at us quietly. No one wanted to help me. I’ve also heard from my friends that they are discriminated against because they don’t speak English in public. These things had some effect on me. I always wonder why foreigners are discriminated against. Is it just a matter of culture or language? This is a tragedy for society because the silence of the majority only breeds a lot of arbitrary discrimination. Finally, I hope there can be more tolerance and understanding between people.

In the creative project, The author is a freshman in CCNY named Yanmei Hu. Her audience and purpose are The same as James Baldwin’s Creative Process, which is shown to people in society. They all hope that inequality in society will be reduced. The genre of Yanmei’s article is story and the language is similar and moral. Her tone is very different from Baldwin’s, and her tone is regretful. As a new immigrant, she was frightened by the inequalities in society. But Baldwin, as an artist, has seen many injustices and stood up for them. The constraint in this story is that non-people of color or non-immigrants may have difficulty understanding the author’s experiences and feelings. Both Yanmei and Baldwin’s mediums are Printed words and the exigence is that they are eager to change the face of society and respect between people. Yanmei’s story stands in the hope that through her own experience, people will see this kind of social inequality. She wants people to reach out to others in need, rather than remain silent.