A literary comparison of What It's Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith and Child of the Americas by Aurora Levins Morales The beauty of any work of Art is the hidden meaning in it, or to be more accurate the concept or the thought which is the driving force, the main inspiration for the artist. It is this thought that becomes the back bone of the work of Art, let it be anything from a Painting, Sculpture, Music, Food and Literature. And since Literature provides us in some manner the concept or the details of the main subject within its text form, therefore the interpretation and the recognition of the main theme becomes fairly obvious. For this paper, we would be considering two works of Literature, one is "What it's like to be a Black Girl" by Patricia Smith and the second one being the "Child of the Americas" by Aurora Levins Morales. Both of these poems take up the topic of racism and how it is to belong to an American society labeled as one race or the other. The paper would also see if and how the same subject of racism has been approached by the two poets in different manner and what their personal feelings are of the concerned subject. Born in 1955, Patricia Smith poetry is considered as "a testament to the power of words to change lives," (Blue Flower Arts, n.d.). She is a critically acclaimed author of six poetry volumes and latest work "Blood Dazzler" which documents the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina was a nalist for the 2008 National Book Award. Her
In the end, we analyzed how Luis J. Rodriguez used connotation, syntax, and imagery in his poem, “‘Race’ Politics.”Through his writing you were able to make the impression that the writing shows the experience that colored or non-white people suffered during
The book, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, is written as a letter to his son. Coates cuts into the experience of the father as advice too the son. He writes this letter to his son to educate and awaken his son to the logic of white supremacy and the obstacles he will face as a black man this world. However, Ta-Nehisi’s son isn’t the only audience. He exposes the readers too the effect of racism on Black America, from history until present day. The purpose of this essay is to conduct a rhetorical analysis on Ta-Nehisi Coates’, Between the World and Me regarding his usage of ethos, pathos and logos to unveil the ongoing effect of the system of racism that continues to cause major problems to our society.
In his essay, Complexion, Richard Rodríguez uses the rhetorical modes of description and symbolism. The description gives the work a story-like flow, while the symbolism makes the reader more able to experience the emotions and feelings present within the authors “complexion.” The utilization of the stylistic tools aids in conveying the true message of the author’s claim which is that he received mass racism out in the society. Since the essay is an account of his own experiences with racism, the description works well to take the reader to different periods of time and events in Rodriguez’s life.
Race relations have always been a very controversial topic in this country and still are. In the mid-1900s there were many writers who felt very strongly about how African Americans and white people interacted together. In this paper three individual excerpts by three different authors will be discussed. All three of these authors have different viewpoints because of how they see the world based on their individual life experiences.
In the United States early history, Native Americans, Africans and Europeans were marginalized by White People, and categorized as the minorities because they were seen as the inferior race. For nearly three centuries, the criteria for membership in these groups were similar, comprising a person's appearance, their social circle (how they lived), and their known non-White ancestry. History played a major part, as persons with known slave ancestors were assumed to be African (or, in later usage, black), regardless of whether they also had European ancestry. Most often these minorities face significant discrimination in various forms whether through voting, law policy, unequal pay, or even implicit racism, minorities of all kinds have been and still are being put down today. The book Between the World and Me is a letter to Ta-Nehisi Coates’s fifteen-year-old son, Samori. He weaves his personal, historical, and intellectual development into his ruminations on how to live in a black body in America. Not only does Coates give his personal experience in how he experience in first hand discrimination, racism, marginalization but he also gives vivid images on how he lived multiple worlds and how those experiences changed him. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Gloria Anzaldua exposes her feelings about social and cultural difficulties that Mexican immigrants face when being raised in the United States. She establishes comparisons among English, Spanish and their variations on how
The memoir “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, was first published in 1928, and recounts the situation of racial discrimination and prejudice at the time in the United States. The author was born into an all-black community, but was later sent to a boarding school in Jacksonville, where she experienced “race” for the first time. Hurston not only informs the reader how she managed to stay true to herself and her race, but also inspires the reader to abandon any form of racism in their life. Especially by including Humor, Imagery, and Metaphors, the author makes her message very clear: Everyone is equal.
Throughout history poetry has been written since earlier 2000 B.C. and it was not until the late sixteen centuries, that poetry for Chicanos, (Mexican-American), were getting written. During and after the Mexican-American War of 1848, is when the Mexican-American poetry became popular. However, the real popularity and the creative literature activity among Chicano authors was in the 1960 through the 70’s; l this era being called the Renaissance Era. Chicano's often shape their poetry and solidify their cultural and the struggles of their minority culture. In this paper I am going to compare and contrast two Mexican-American poets. Telling the reader about the different types of poetry each one used, along with ways that they expressed themselves.
Racial bias and discrimination have historically constricted African Americans from living free and prosperous lives. Especially, in America’s Progressive Era when “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” happened to be published. This groundbreaking essay, written by Zora Neale Hurston, provided African Americans with a unique approach to defying racial discrimination. Namely, Hurston’s unique defense from societal discrimination is in her steadfast optimism towards the limitations of being African American. Therefore, Hurston’s essay achieved more than bringing hope to African Americans it also provided a solution in this period of bitter adversity. This is what distinguishes Nora’s essay from other literary works because it focuses on modeling a beneficial mindset rather than listing the hardships that black people are subjected to. Zora Neale Hurston is an influential role model for African Americans, she argues that racial discrimination and unjust biases can be overcome by having pride and optimism in the progression of one’s race.
In The essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” is a descriptive essay in which Zora Neale Hurston discovers her real identity. At the beginning of the essay, the setting takes place in Eatonville, Florida describing moments when Zora greets her neighbors by singing and dancing without anybody judging her. Back then, she was free from feeling different among other races. However, a tragedy happened when she was thirteen, her mom passed away and she left home to attend school in Jacksonville where she experiences discrimination due to her color of skin. She was introduced to a different lifestyle where the color of her skin was an unfortunate thing. However, she felt this change effected the way she viewed her appearance, as well as inside her. Here she also experienced isolation that comes from being different compared to other races. Hurst realizes that it’s more than just being “colored”, but how race can separate people. Back in history, Jacksonville’s habitants were a mixture of blacks and whites. In Jacksonville, Hurst was just another “colored girl.” However, this essay motivated me to analyze, evaluate and synthesize these works and explore the concepts and themes that run through each of the readings. Most importantly, find out what made this essay so important in American literature. According to the description in the essay, I have notice that the author Hurston uses literary devices like metaphor and tone that I found interesting and deserving for the reader to enjoy this journey.
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,
Art is the theme of art, this means that the main reason artist design different types of art works is to bring about the visual satisfaction. One of the major reason as to why artist paint, draw or design their works is to have something to have look at. Therefore, before a viewer analyses a piece of art, he or she has to look at it as the first and foremost
Art in any form has a way of impacting our emotions and making us feel empathy for fictional characters. Whether it be a painting, a novel, or a movie; all art has a way of sticking with us. Many times, one will find themselves looking back on a particular passage to reflect on. One also may find that this particular passage sticks with them and ingrains into their memory. This is not just for books; however, another example may be a musical composition with an awe inspiring finale, or simply just a catchy song. All of these are examples of this phenomenon, and is one of the best parts of art. There is; however, a logic behind this phenomenon and why certain passages in a novel or other piece of literature stick in our minds.
Note: This essay intends to explain the differences in first and third person narratives, highlighting examples within the two stories “Let them call it Jazz” and “A sense of shame”, both of which deal with racism and its subcultures in a first and third person perspective, respectively. The arguments presented are limited to that of first and third person perspectives only.
In the short story about the “Country Lovers” and the Poem “What it’s like to be a Black Girl”, the actions of a racial background and ethical dilemmas are both represented and distinguished by the representation of a black female. Which is the main dynamic character seeded in both literary works. Both of these female static characters deal with to some suppressed amount of discrimination from society, because due to their race or as we could say the color of their skin; it is all about the dilemma of being a black female.
The most important trait in defining art is its beauty. As complex as the term “art” can be, the term “beauty” is nearly just as complicated. In order to understand art more clearly it is important to understand beauty. “We label an object beautiful because it promotes an internal harmony or ‘free play’ of our mental faculties; we call something ‘beautiful’ when it elicits this pleasure.” (Freeland 8). As defined above, beauty is not a direct message. It is something that subconsciously allows man to feel good and pleasurable. There is “an internal harmony” when we observe something beautiful that allows us to take away a deeper understanding of a work of art regardless of it being “nice looking” or “ugly”.