Comparing Survival In School Days Of An Indian Girl, And Tracks

She was darker than her siblings. Her brother and her sister were able to pass as whites to escape to a better life. Always, however, endured the misery of slavery. Always uses Kujichagulia ( self determination) to get out of slavery. She continued to strive to make a living.

Zitkala-Sa’s autobiography informs her readers of the damaging and traumatizing effects of assimilation by utilizing her life experiences as a narrative, demonstrating how living under an oppressive and dominant culture was an internal struggle between society's expectations and her own cultural identity. Sa’s experience is especially unique considering her mixed heritage as well.

She believes that because we are forced into this land, we are doomed to have a life which not happy. She also explains to her family in the play that all their problems will be solved if they go back to their country of origin and find out who they are there.

Langston Hughes is one the most renowned and respected authors of twentieth century America not simply one of the most respected African-American authors, though he is certainly this as well, but one of the most respected authors of the period overall. A large part of the respect and admiration that the man and his work have garnered is due to the richness an complexity of Hughes' writing, both his poetry and his prose and even his non-fictions. In almost all of his texts, Hughes manages at once to develop and explore the many intricacies and interactions of the human condition and specifically of the experience growing up and living as a black individual in a white-dominated and explicitly anti-Black society while at the same time, while at the same time rendering his human characters and their emotions in a simple, straightforward, and immensely accessible fashion. Reading the complexity behind the surface simplicity of his works is at once enjoyable and edifying.

Once Zitkala-Sa begins her transformation at the missionary, she notices the whitewashing of many Indian girls, “a line of girls who were marching into the dining room. These girls wore sleeved aprons and shingled hair” (p. 1134). This shows the atmosphere of the school. The description of the girls, was the first instance when Zitkala-Sa experienced culture shock. Zitkala-Sa has never seen something so inappropriate, “I looked at the girls, who seemed not to care that they were even more immodestly dressed than I, in their tightly fitting clothes” (p.1135). This also proves that the missionary was ignorant to understand that it takes time to adjust the children into a culture that they are not familiar with. White missionary used unhuman techniques in order to force an entire civilization into a more ideal one. The significance of the “Shingled hair” plays a huge part in “The Impressions of an Indian Childhood” because it indicates bravery, and honor within Zitkala-Sa’s tribe. When Zitkala-Sa is forced into getting her hair cut, was the final indication of loss of identity. The removal of her

Freedoms taken away from her in the hope for education and opportunities. Is it worth it? Is it worth it to give up freedoms, maybe a little bit of ourselves? Do we endure these difficulties now to then better ourselves in the future? I’m sure that’s something Zitkala-Sa thought about. She wanted to be educated like the “paleface” Maybe she thought to be like the “paleface” was to be American. For Zitkala-Sa the ending is a bitter-sweet moment. “There were two prizes given, that night, and one of them was mine! The little taste of victory did not satisfy a hunger in my heart. In my mind I saw my mother far away on the Western plains, and she was holding a charge against me.”

Racism had tainted her life from the very beginning. During her childhood she attended a one-room school for blacks only. She was only allowed to attend school for a short time due to the ailing health of

     When her father passed away she had nobody to tell her what to do and how to act. This was very devastating and she had a hard time dealing with change. So much so that she wouldn't let the police take the body of her father out of the house for three days after his death. The only thing that was constant in her house was the slave

Langston Hughes has solidified his place as one of the greatest writers in American Literature to this day. This achievement is due to his thought provoking use of certain styles and techniques to portray his main themes and ideas. Many of Langston Hughes’ themes originated from his personal feelings and experiences. Hughes thus centers his themes around the ups and downs of African Americans living in America during his time. Langston Hughes contrasts the American Dream and northern migration with the reality of prejudice against Negroes. Langston Hughes helps readers better understand these themes by employing many styles ranging from the use color to describe his views to writing in his own, experimental way. Besides Hughes’ several unique styles, he also employs multiple techniques in his works.

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

Langston Hughes clearly connects with a wide range of audiences through the simplicity that surrounds his poetry. The beauty of this manner in which he wrote his poetry, is that it grasp people by illustrating his narratives of the common lifestyles experienced by the current American generation. His art form expresses certain questionable ideologies of life and exposes to the audience what it takes to fully comprehend what being an American truly means. Each individual poem describes and illustrates the strength and hardships the African American community was experiencing. Through his literature art form of poetry, Hughes was able to convey the common assertions of

When reading The School Days of an Indian Girl by Zitkala-sa, it shows us a view of ethnic identity. By telling us how a little girl is in a home, away from her mother, while learning how to adapt to the new culture she’s in. In Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, it shows us a different view of a man in another form of an ethnic identity. It shows us that the man is seen as a different person then who he really is, instead of a black man who isn’t seen as what he actually is. In Why I am A Pagan by Zitkala-sa, it used cultural identity by focusing on how the world lost the connection it was given thousands of years ago. How the world is not as one with nature as it should be. It’s as if the world is a person itself, who

on the atmosphere in which she was living. The scholarship being taken away from her,

Author :Langston Hughes,He had difficulties as a young African American in the early 1900’s,then he began writing poetry to cope with this.He felt it was important to write about his African American experience.This story is one of his many stories about city life for African Americans.

The first piece of poetry is “Theme for English B” written by Langston Hughes. When given this poetry in class it didn’t really sink it but the more I read it, the more I understood. It’s about understanding and learning from differences between races. He writes, “As I learn from you, I guess you learn from me,” Being the only colored person in a class full of whites, he was singled out. Even though the instructor and him were different in their skin tones, their mindsets are the same. They are the same. I wrote a revision of the poem; I wrote in my own life story. I started off just filling in the blanks, but the more I understood what the poem meant, I wrote in more of my story and the things that affect me. When I finished and compared the two, there were many differences. I realized my hardships are nothing compared to his and other colored people. We as Americans, as humans tend to put ourselves first. I see things happen and automatically think it’s awful, but it’s not. I’ve never been singled out, made fun of, mocked, beaten up, questioned, or even killed because of the color of my skin. Reading both Langston Hughes and my revision of his “Theme for English B,” I can’t help but reassess my problems. I didn’t and will never endure the things he as well as many African Americans have to endure.