The poem “Telephone Conversation” written by Wole Sayinka. He is an African poet but he lived in America. He is the first person in Africa and the diasporas to be honored with a Nobel prize in literature (1986). In his poem, “Telephone Conversation” the main theme is how human beings are bent to focus and based on individual differences which seldom give us a chance to look into our psyche and determine where and how far we have stayed within us. Also, it explains how a normal communication is affected as we focus too seriously upon our recognizable differences. This poem is about a landlady and an African man’s conversation on the telephone. Also, the poet talks about two people’s talk on the phone and explain more how the African man is looking for a house and the landlady has proposed a considerable price for the same. Therefore, In “telephone conversation” the poet explained about discrimination and how people ignore other people about a simple theme. Black people can have also a good skill, talent, ability. So someone is black or white it is not important for us.
Soyinka’s telephone conversation delimitate a conversation between a white lady and an
African man. Which man tried to ranting a house from that landlady. When the man talked about house ranting with the landlady that time the lady talked about skin color. She tried to know about his skin color and told him “Are you light or very dark”? Because her decision was not to
rent her house any African. When the women
This paper examines the perspective of Langston Hughes and how his style of writing is. It looks at how several interrelated themes run through the poetry of Langston Hughes, all of which have to do with being black in America and surviving in spite of immense difficulties. Langston Hughes is one of the most influential writers because his style of work not only captured the situation of African Americans; it also grabbed the attention of other races with the use of literary elements and other stylistic qualities. Langston Hughes became well known for his way of interpreting music into his work of writing, which readers love and enjoy today.
Through his poem “Theme for English B”, Langston Hughes expresses his will to exterminate discrimination by proving that despite different skin colors, Americans all share similarities and learn from each other. Langston wrote the poem in 1900, when black Americans were not considered Americans. He talks about a black student being assigned to write a paper about himself. The audience is thus the student’s professor – the representation of the white Americans. Since the professor said: “let that page come out of you---Then, it will be true.”, the student began wondering “if it’s that simple”. He then describes himself to explain why it isn’t simple: he is “twenty-two”, “the only colored in class”, and lives in the poor community Harlem.
husband?s reference to colors. This happened right after the wife asked if he would marry
In conclusion, the poem was used as a key to unlock some of the thoughts the negro had concerning Africa. The negro in this poem was a representative of all negroes during this time; their thoughts and the their feelings toward Africa. Cullen’s usage of the literary devices allow for an effective expression of the meaning of this poem. Poems are intensified language of experience, so the devices assured the connection of the reader to the poem and the experience. This applies to many issues in society today because as beautiful as our country is there are still dark clouds that cover the very essence of what the states once stood
At the Roseland theatre, she requested a ticket for the main floor, but she got handed a ticket for the balcony because the main floor was reserved for whites. When the ticket taker stood up to her for having a ticket that was for upstairs and she would have to move. However, Desmond thought that this was a mistake, she asked to exchange the ticket for and upstairs one, but the cashier refused and said “I’m sorry, I’m not permitted to sell downstairs tickets to you people”. Viola then realized that the cashier was referring to her skin color, she decided to take a seat on the main floor.
Langston Hughes is an extremely successful and well known black writer who emerged from the Harlem Renaissance (“Langston Hughes” 792). He is recognized for his poetry and like many other writers from the Harlem Renaissance, lived most of his life outside of Harlem (“Langston Hughes” 792). His personal experiences and opinions inspire his writing intricately. Unlike other writers of his time, Hughes expresses his discontent with black oppression and focuses on the hardships of his people. Hughes’ heartfelt concern for his people’s struggle evokes the reader’s emotion. His appreciation for black music and culture is evident in his work as well. Langston Hughes is a complex poet whose profound works provide insight into all aspects of black
In sixth grade, my English teacher practiced racial mimicry. She is a white woman who had
All three of the poems discussed in this essay relate to the struggles suffered by African Americans in the late 18th century to the early 19th century in many different ways. They had to live under harsh
The short story “Speech Sounds” is a science fiction story written by Octavia Butler. This essay portrays a central theme that really opened my eyes as well as many others. This theme is to never take your ability to communicate for granted. Communication is a huge part of our culture and civilization. I never truly realized how important communication really was until reading this story. Without it, we cannot express our feelings in a correct manner. Not being able to connect with other individuals results in it being very hard to cooperate with others, causing chaos amongst society. In a short amount of time, the world would turn on each other causing mass amounts of violence. Likewise, this is similar to the story “Speech Sounds.” There are many takeaways one can have after reading this story.
human beings, our choices, perception and characters are greatly influenced by a range of different
Race plays a big part in this poem. He speaks on Harlem and its culture and this environment but also about mutual interest with people
Dear Duy, I’m writing this to tell you more about racism and discrimination in which you told me you are interested. The racism has been happening as a big issue in human history. The reason I choose these two poems to show you how racism has been happening in America, and the victim being discriminated against are African American. That two poems are “I, too” by Langston Hughes and “The Negro’s friend” by Claude McKay. By analyzing these two poems and along with a speech on Ted talk by Bryan Stevenson, I hope to make it more clear and understandable for you to think about racism and discrimination in America from long time ago in history and still to now.
My suspicions were confirmed as she went on to say “It’s always dumb stuff like people getting mad over the n-word or people making fun of how black people look but it are not that bad anymore.” At this point, I felt my ears start to grow red, a warning sign of the frustration at the injustice of it all building up inside of me. I took a deep breath and my friend, who is rather adept at telling when my anger is escalating, said hurriedly with the determination to end my tirade before it started, “It doesn’t matter anyway, okay? It didn’t happen to you or to me so don’t trip about it. And anyways, it’s not like I’m racist or anything. I don’t see color when I look at people.” Her attempt to extinguish my defense only added more fuel to my fire.
Jennifer Arroyo Have you ever wonder how life was in the Harlem Renaissances? The Harlem Renaissance was a movement in which Blacks asserted themselves by embracing. Their racial identity and appreciating their African heritage instead of mimicking white mainstream culture in art, literature and music. In the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” it lets us know early in the poem that is told from the perspective of a member of the black community. In the poem “I, Too” is states how african americans were faced discrimination in nearly every aspect of their lives.
In Langston Hughes “The Negro speaks of Rivers”, the speaker sets a tone while makes a connect between himself and the earth he lived on. Rivers have