Literary Criticism In Cardinal Richelieu

“‘Race Politics” by Luis J. Rodriguez was about him and his brother living in a place called Watts. They journey over the tracks, trying to get the “good food” for their family. They go to the store, and find themselves face to face with five teenagers who knock the food out of their hands, and beat up the main character’s older brother, causing him to vomit. The teenagers leave, with them on the floor. The purpose for writing this essay is to identify syntax, connotation, and imagery within this poem, and decide what makes it important to the overall poem. The overall impression that Luis conveys within his work is the feeling of separation.

American history is fraught with racism. Its evolution is depicted in literature through the ages, from journal entries of colonial slavery to novels about modern-day race relations. Countee Cullen was a black poet alive during the Harlem Renaissance whose poems “Tableau” and “Incident” portray racism as it was in the early 20th century. Through the use of figurative language and tone, Cullen develops in each poem themes about the effects of small actions.

The 60s, a period of hurt and violence. With violence all around, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. promoted nonviolent protests to guide America during a time of outrage. With sit ins, and his “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paved the way for success that our county needed. Along the way, he inspired millions of people including Cesar Chavez, a civil rights leader. With the help of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Chavez wrote a well articulated article explaining the importance of nonviolence. Cesar Chavez promotes nonviolence though appealing to pathos that leaves the audience with little doubt as to the proper course of action, decisive short syntax, and precise word choice that helps the reader

Chavez begins his rationalization reminding the audience of the vigorous efforts Dr.King displayed in his cause; comparing and contrasting violence against non violence. Chavez explicitly states violence leads to nothing more than “injuries and perhaps deaths on both sides” as non violence is “supportive and crucial.” His variation in diction deriving from descriptions of deaths and injuries as opposed to the righteous dignation convinces readers with what they would prefer. Similarly, his mentioning of violence as being harmful to “both sides” helps bring clarity to a point with lack of bias, and demonstrates how violence is damaging to all equally, regardless of his position on civil rights. He later moves on to once again explicitly stating distinct contrasts.

While being held in prison for the first time, Baca discovered the beauty of poetry; “my sense of teetering on a rotting plank over swamp water where famish alligators clapped their horny snouts for my blood. While I listened to the words of the poets, the alligators slumbers powerless in their lairs” (Baca). From the use of metaphor to create imagery, Baca showed the reader a scene of how the powerful dictions of the poets can relinquish dangers in his mind. Baca uses such imagery to help the reader better understand how this cruel environment can be transformed through the words of poets.

Utilizing diction, Chavez uses strong words to inform the reader about the importance of nonviolence resistance. Chavez uses words like inspired, yearn, justice, and tremendous to grab the reader’s attention and emphasize the importance of his argument. The examples that features these words are, “It is an example that inspired much of the philosophy…”, “The American people and people everywhere yearn for justice” and, “such a thing

Throughout the history of mankind, change has remained a constant. Men and women continually strive to improve their lives and enact changes that enable them to better their quality of life. Our world’s history is compromised of these efforts by man to enhance society, through political, economic, and social changes, which are further documented through the cultural outputs of a society. The poets Roger Bonair-Agard and Gloria Anzaldua encapsulate the calls for change in a society through their works “how do we spell freedom – the weusi alphabeti method” and “El sonavabitche”, respectively. Though the two poets wrote on vastly different subjects, both authors employed literature as a medium for their call for activism in society and expressed discontent with the dominance of western culture over minority groups. Through their utilization of formal elements including imagery, diction, and narrator, both poets call for action to change the mindset that the imposition that American society holds over other groups of people.

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.

Many poets have conversations with other authors within their literature. They do not talk directly, as if addressing each other face-to-face. Instead, they choose topics that relate and continue the conversation. This is what Nikki Giovanni’s “Nikki Rosa” and Terrence Hayes’ “Talk” does. These two poems exemplify the issue of racial misinterpretations using different literary devices to describe the issues that many black people, faced and continue to face today.

Amongst the judgmental stares of the audience that has bestowed an image of pathetic vulnerability upon the dancer, the poem’s speaker emerges to provide a portrait of the dancer that is much less lascivious, acknowledging that “Her voice was like the sound of blended flutes / Blown by black players upon a picnic day” (3-4). The sudden juxtaposition of a “picnic day” vis-a-vis a crowded night-club highlights the speakers attempt to remove the sexualized image of the dancer with the intent of identifying her noble power as a member of the black community. The elegance of the dancer, recognized by her soft voice, is affirmed by the speaker’s specific mention of “black players,” displaying black heritage as containing multi-faceted artistic potential. While the poem begins with a dehumanizing portrayal of the dancer, the speaker successfully reformulates the identity of the dancer into a component of a larger black tradition.

The poem, “Small Town with One Road,” by Gary Soto compares the life of the speaker from when he was a child to the life he has as an adult. The speaker of the poem is a Mexican who lives in a poor town where many of the people do manual labor to earn their income. At this point he is grown and has a daughter, but is in a town that reminds him of his childhood. Here, he describes the happy children in the neighborhood to the hard life he imagines he would have if he stayed in such a town in his adulthood. Soto uses imagery to further this comparison; he appeals to the senses to show the carefreeness of childhood, while also using images of hard work to show the plight of the adults in the town. Overall, Soto’s use of imagery is successful

The poem begins explaining to the reader the story of a Mexican American as he worked in an industrial factory at some point in his life. “In the factory I worked, in the fleck of rubber, under a press of an oven yellow with flame.” (Lines 1-3) Soto uses visual imagery to describe the color of

“Still I Rise”, written by African-American writer Maya Angelou, includes a character who rises “Up from a past that’s rooted in pain.” No matter what words are said against her, lies are told about her, threats are made towards her, or words are written against her, she takes the past and uses it to fuel her confidence. The way she writes creates a deep sense of pride and feeling, while giving the poem life and helping the audience realise that they, too can rise. The diction, literary devices, and theme help the speaker portray her feelings about the topic of oppression in her experience.

Cullen utilizes imagery throughout the poem, to illuminate the racism African Americans endured and impact racism carries. The speaker in the poem is an eight year old in Baltimore. In the first stanza, Cullen describes the child as “heart-filled, head-filled with glee.” This image portrays the speaker as innocent and joyful. Then the speaker notices a boy staring at him, the speaker believes there’s little difference between them, that the kid “was no whit bigger.” The speaker gets a rude awakening after the boy “poked out his tongue.” A seemingly playful meaningless gesture is met with the boy calling the speaker “N****r.” Cullen contrasts these two experiences because it depicts how racism comes out of nowhere and effects those you wouldn’t expect. The last stanza, the speaker “saw the whole Baltimore. The image of seeing is not just visual, but a metaphor for the loss of innocence where the speaker now is exposed to the hate. Cullen masterfully uses imagery so that readers understand the incredible impact that words have, especially when used for hate.

This is a poem that is mainly directed to the violence that was often experienced by children with an African-American ethnicity. The violence was mainly experienced on the streets where a majority of these children lived.