Audre Lorde Analysis

     Gwendolyn Brooks is the female poet who has been most responsive to changes in the black community, particularly in the community’s vision of itself. The first African American to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize; she was considered one of America’s most distinguished poets well before the age of fifty. Known for her technical artistry, she has succeeded in forms as disparate as Italian terza rima and the blues. She has been praised for her wisdom and insight into the African Experience in America. Her works reflect both the paradises and the hells of the black people of the world. Her writing is objective, but her characters speak for themselves. Although the

There was a change in mindset where these newer artists wrote about their blackness and instances occurring in black communities simply because it was a defining part of who they were, especially as women were given a voice in the movement and were able to incorporate a new viewpoint despite the evident hyper masculinity. Yes, they were artists, but they were black artists. Two poems that specifically exemplify this are “Poem about My Rights” and “Poem about Police Violence” by June Jordan. These poems are able to depict black

In “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens”, Alice Walker looks to educate us on the hardships that almost all black women face when trying to express themselves through things such as art. She delves into many sociological and psychological concepts that have affected black women throughout human history. These concepts and ideologies created a realm for mass exclusion, discrimination, and oppression of many African American women, including Alice Walker’s Mother, who Alice utilizes as one of her particular examples. The writing thematically aims to show how these concepts of sexism, racism, and even classism have contributed to black women’s lack of individuality, optimism, and fulfillment for generations. The author does a tremendous job of defending and expanding upon her arguments. She has a credible background, being a black woman that produces the art of literature herself. As well as being raised by one, Walker’s first-hand experience warrants high regard. Therefore, her use of abstract and introspective language is presented clearly and convincingly. Also, her use of evidence and support from sources like Jean Toomer, Virginia Woolf, and Phillis Wheatley, all produce more validity for her stance through poems, quotes, and even experiences. All these individuals have their own accounts pertaining to the oppression of black women and their individuality. Successfully arguing that the artistry plights of black women described in “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens” are

Zora Neale Hurston is a trailblazer. Back then people ridiculed her, but she felt the pride and dignity within herself. She was seen as an African-American grandmother in many images of black women writers (Showalter 221). Her talent for African-American literature excited the new readers who were constantly reading her literary works (“Hurston,” Feminist). Occasionally, both black and white supporters reviewed her books (McKay). She demonstrates a larger pattern of white American culture to be substantially inspiring in her interest with politics (“Hurston,” Authors). The works of Hurston would affect on her literary work that is shared through others. Understanding Zora Neale Hurston’s typical themes and concerns in her body of literary

When I think of a poet, images of scowling, mustached men whose 19th century wardrobe could use an update spring to mind—a somber Edgar Allen Poe type whose ink strokes inquire of unrequited love interests and dreary days alone in the snow. I certainly do not imagine modern, multi-ethnic women who live in the same state as me. However, as soon as I read Natasha Trethewey’s poetry, I immediately admired the way her words so effortlessly danced on the page, my mind’s eye watching the elegant choreography with each syllable read. Moreover, when I learned of her tragic history, and the strength and resilience she possessed to carry on, I could not help but to respect the way she turned pain into beautiful art. The right words carry great power

There are some images and events that stick with a person forever and can change their entire outlook on life. Sometimes these events are experienced indirectly, through the media, but that does not mean that it impacts the person any less. Audre Lorde is one of those people who is indirectly affected by a tragedy that she witnesses through the eyes of the media and her society. For Audre Lorde, the brutal murder of a young African American boy sticks with her and inspires her to write an emotional poem entitled “Afterimages.” The image of the boy, Emmett till, is forever engraved in Audre Lorde’s brain (Lorde 48). Her poem clearly expresses how distraught she is, not only with what happens to Emmett Till, but also with the views of society as a whole. The theme for Audre Lorde’s “Afterimages” is traumatic events can reflect the attitudes of members of a society and can also significantly impact the lives of young people.

The early 1900s was a very challenging time for Negroes especially young women who developed issues in regards to their identities. Their concerns stemmed from their skin colors. Either they were fair skinned due mixed heritage or just dark skinned. Young African American women experienced issues with racial identity which caused them to be in a constant struggle that prohibits them from loving themselves and the skin they are in. The purpose of this paper is to examine those issues in the context of selected creative literature. I will be discussing the various aspects of them and to aid in my analysis, I will be utilizing the works of Nella Larsen from The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Jessie Bennett Redmond Fauset,

The two essays “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston and “The Fourth of July” by Audre Lorde, both have a similar, constant theme, women speaking back to racism. Black Americans face disadvantages everyday due to their skin color. In the 1800s-1900s, it was even worse for women. These ladies had to deal with both stereotypes of being black and a woman. A majority of white people around the time saw them as nothing but a waste of space. There was a constant struggle to be accepted.

In the beginning of the memoir, Lorde is young and doesn’t see the impact of race on her own life. Her mother knows there is a difference but doesn’t explain to Audre that other people would look at them as if they weren’t family. In their household race is never brought up leaving Audre to learn how to deal with the situation by herself. One of the subtle foreshadows to her future problems is on page 41. Audre is walking with her mother and asks for a red coat. “’How many times have I told you to not call me Mommy on the streets?’ The light changed, and we hurried forward” (Lorde 41). The phrase “the light changed” shows both the street light changing to let them cross,

In her essay “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference”, Audre Lorde details multiple groups of people and their actions and attitudes. She focuses on and criticizes different demographics’ actions and how they impede the achievement of equality for people like herself. She portrays the disenfranchisement and underappreciation she receives multilaterally because of her race, social class, sexual orientation, age, gender. Lorde’s prevailing goal of the essay is to demonstrate that the marginalized should not nullify, ignore, suppress, or attack the expression of differences between themselves. Rather, she asserts that they should recognize and celebrate those differences to unite across demographic boundaries so they may together

In the article "The Fourth of July" Audre Lorde conveys to us her experiences in childhood when she faced the racism and discrimination in a trip Washington, DC, and how she angr from. Lorde started the article with explain to us the reason why the family have that summer trip as a presents for her and her sister for there graduated. And how they used a train at night to transportation because it's less price. It's was the first trip to Washington for the family and the mother of Lorde’s family prepare many different kind of food as soon as they set in their seats they started to eat a until a long time. Then Lorde started tell us about the first discrimination that she known about it how her mother prepare the food for them and tell them that the food at dining car food experience but the truth was that black people were not allowed into railroad dining cars and her mother skip the situation because she can't do anything.

Just like Audre Lorde, in her passage “Fourth of July”, I have experienced a bad family vacation; except my vacation was not bad because of the racial profiling, but because of my family members narcissistic ways. I love my family; however, because we are related they think they can have an advantage of doing certain things. My vacation to California was by far the worst family vacation. It was the summer I graduated from high school, and because I was going off to college I had wanted to spend time touring California with my family. Although I did get a chance to meet all of my relatives who live there, I was unable to do anything I had planned to do because some people were being self-centered. When we got there we spend a night at my Uncles

The poem, “A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde is a both a confessional and identity poem. She is not only addressing her internal battle and self-suffering, but also discussing the societal inequities African American women were suffering in the United States. The poem’s diction, on the surface, produces a tranquil tone to the poem. This facet of tranquility in the poem is used to express how her battle against inequity will not be fought with violence or hatred, and how she is not blaming any specific party or institution for her personal suffering. She instead plans to use the power and beauty of words to communicate the flaws of the image of women, fight against injustice and racism, and alleviate her internal despair. “A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde is an anthem for African American women and uses vivid imagery, ancestral references, and a call to action to connect to the reader and enact a fight against the underrepresentation of African American women.

“They killed my son in cold blood,” lamented Eloise Armstead. Her husband, Add Armstead, was traveling to work with a companion on Saturday evening in the early 1970s. Thomas Shea and Walter Scott, responding to a call about a cabby that was robbed earlier that day, used this opportunity to rid the world of the wicked and gain a victory for the righteous. Walking along New York Blvd. in South Jamaica, Queens, Shea and his partner pulled alongside the two. Armstead says, as he recalls the incident, “We were walking, not saying anything to each other, and this car pulls up, and this white fella opens the door with a gun.” To him and his companion it looked like they were going to be robbed, so they ran. As the gunshots

Gwendolyn Brooks was a black poet from Kansas who wrote in the early twentieth century. She was the first black woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize. Her writings deal mostly with the black experience growing up in inner Chicago. This is the case with one of her more famous works, Maud Martha. Maud Martha is a story that illustrates the many issues that a young black girl faces while growing up in a ‘white, male driven’ society. One aspect of Martha that is strongly emphasized on the book is her low self-image and lack of self-esteem. Martha feels that she is inferior for several reasons, but it is mainly the social pressures that she faces and her own blackness that contribute to these feelings of inferiority. It is