A Marvelous Journey of Return in The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpentier

They strengthen his overall thesis and main idea a lot because he explains everything. For example, when he was telling how Pretty Girl looked when his mom and brother finally got her, he explained “Her hips were bad, which was probably why she was discarded in the first place, and her teeth were worn down. Her eyes were clouded. But they fed her, and gave her water, and bathed her in burnt motor oil, the way my people have been curing the mange for generations.” I could imagine everything he said. For another example, I could visualize the scene where he said, “A month later I pulled into the driveway to see a beautiful white German shepherd standing watch at the front of the house.” I could imagine seeing the white German shepherd. The authors overall details painted a picture of how the dog looked at first compared to how the nurturement from the narrator’s mother and brother helped nourish the dog before he

Gomez magnifies the untold history of the African people throughout the book. The initial three chapters of this work are referred to as “Old World Dimensions” bring Africa’s independence, strength, and significance to the forefront. The remaining five chapters examines what he refers to as the “New World Realities”. In the beginning of the book he explains the grounds and power Africans possessed in the early Eastern (Mediterranean) world. Gomez stressed two key matters throughout the book. He makes prominent that the arrival of the Europeans in the fifteenth century and the transatlantic slave trade that followed, unfortunately resulting in African Diaspora, was but the tip of the iceberg of who the people and their story. Africa and its citizens did, in fact, have a strong history prior the European’s arrival. Gomez turns to acknowledge Africa(ns)

Along in with the author’s use of metaphors is the frequent use of imagery. In this reading, it is simple to envision the scenes as the different scenarios are explained and the audience can easily picture Staples in the places he is describing and also the people he comes across. Perhaps the most powerful and memorable imagery is provided in the author’s description of people’s different reactions and faces when they come into contact with him. Actions speak volumes and an immediate change of facial expression is possibly one of the

When society like Haiti interprets years of social oppression it becomes normal for some to believe that the hierarchical system should remain to systematically opposed the weak. That what happen when Duvalier regime took into power and reinforce the explortation of their own people. Marie Chauvet,” Love, Anger, Madness”, illustrates such a literary piece of work that not only capture the eyes of people but it also put her life in danger because she wrote about the tyranny racial social system and lack of freedom of expression and speech that women faced. There were several female writers at that time, but Chauvet work not only criticize the government, but it questions the elitist that said they fought for the middle and lower class people.

As a student preparing to go to college in the next two years, the way he talks about symbolism and how it can mean various different things, depending upon the reader, stuck with me and will be very useful

My conclusion about this book is that it was another experience, I experienced it in another way than I experience other books. At some points it was difficult for me to understand it but with the descriptions that the author give I could understand the story. The fact that this a book about the experiences of Tim O’ Brien it makes it very powerful and I liked it very much.

Before I started reading this book I expected nothing more than a dry book from the 40’s that would bore me to death. However I was surprised to find the book filled with symbolism and Camus’s existentialism that has changed the way I look at life. The enjoyment of this book largely relies on the type of person you are.It might : depress you,make you happy, make you want to think for a while, or make you angry. It all depends on what message you take away from it.It makes you think about what life truly is and how you should live it. Each chapter builds on Meursault's character and reveals his thoughts with interactions with other characters. This book emphasizes on what the characters don’t say allowing you to draw your own conclusions on

The historical novel Segu by Maryse Condé is set in the African country of Segu during a time of great cultural change. The African Slave Trade, the spread of Islam, and personal identity challenges were all tremendous and far-reaching issues facing Africa from the late 1700s to early 1800s. Condé uses the four brothers of the Traore family, Tiekoro, Malobali, Siga, and Naba, to demonstrate the impact that the issues of Islam, slave trade, and identity had on African people through the development of each character. The oldest of the sons, Tiekoro exemplifies the influence and spread of Islam through out Africa at the time.

In a freezing class, two brilliant minds unlocked the fiery passion that is their talent one an artist the other a writer. Bringing to light a history long forgotten creating abstract thoughts arbitrary to our own. Komi Olaf the artist and Okey Ndibe the writer not only enlightening the class but also the world with each brush stroke and each word. Every creation stemming from the hands of these masters tell of issues at the heart of Africa from colonialism to existential dilemmas. Thru spoken word, hip-hop, art, music, poems and literature issues close at heart to the artists and to Africa are portrayed. This paper will focus on the art exhibit by Komi Olaf and Foreign Gods inc by Okey Ndibe as spoken by them during their discussion in the class on October 13th. Where the talks focused on the key course objectives being stereotypes, post-colonialism, youth culture, and resistance.

aims his focal point at imagery to provide vivid and rich details. Literary devices play a crucial

"Bartleby the Scrivener," is one of the most complicated stories Melville has ever written, perhaps by any American writer of that period. It id a deep and symbolic work, its make you think of every little detail differently. It makes you realize that a little detail actually make a difference and give a meaning to the story analysis.

“Kingdom of this World” is a story of succession, freedom, imprisonment, and despair. It is the stories of the different slaves and owners of the Haitian revolution. Ti Noell, one of the main slaves talked about in this book, is shown going through a constant struggle throughout his entire life. It also tells the story of M. Lenormand de Mézy, a slave owner who relies on riches and sins to fuel his life. This book shows the revolution through actual stories from these people. It makes it easier to understand what the revolution was actually like. Throughout this paper I will tell how this book supports, and devalues the Haitian revolution.

This chapter in Africans and Their History by Joseph Harris presents some of the roots of the stereotypes and myths about Africa in the past and for the most part are still held today. Harris discusses how the “greats” of history, geography, and literature starting a path of devaluation of Africans that writers after their time followed. Harris also denounced the language that these “greats” used to describe and talk about Africans. He asserts that this language inherently painted Africans as inferior and subhuman.

“Segu is a garden where cunning grows. Segu is built on treachery. Speak of Segu outside Segu, but do not speak of Segu in Segu” (Conde 3). These are the symbolic opening words to the novel Segu by Maryse Conde. The kingdom of Segu in the eighteenth and nineteenth century represents the rise and fall of many kingdoms in the pre-colonial Africa. Therefore, Segu indirectly represents the enduring struggles, triumphs, and defeats of people who are of African decent in numerous countries around the world. There are three major historical concepts that are the focus of this book. One is the spread of the Islamic religion. Another is the slave trade, and the last is the new trade in the nineteenth

2. What is the significance of the title of Alejo Carpentier’s The Kingdom of This World?