Rueben Land Chapter Summary

In this book, Jeffrey Ogbar talks about the beginning of rap, where it started, some of the artists of this genre and some of the controversial topics the artists rap about. He also talks about the usage of the N word as well as men calling women the B word. In the first chapter of the book, Ogbar contextualizes the debate by talking about the history of the minstrel figure in American popular culture, relying mainly on the work of W. T. Lhamon and Patricia Hill Collins. He talks about how the earliest manifestations of hip-hop music in the 1970s came from the Black Power movement and often included direct rejections of minstrel tropes for example in the artist KRS-One’s song “My Philosophy”. Before going on a chronological study of the internal debates that many rappers have over their relationships with the minstrel trope, Ogbar finds the source of the debate in early twentieth-century black writers’, mainly W.E.B Du Bois, interest in elevating many portrayals of African Americans in the arts, versus Harlem Renaissance writers’ rejection of the emphasis on

In Search of the Promised Land Coauthors John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger attempt to depict what slave life was like in their book In Search of the Promised Land. In this book, Franklin and Schweninger recall a slave family’s life based on research done to uncover the life of the Thomas-Rapier family. Sally Thomas, the mother, recalls her family’s adventures of traveling around the United States in search of a promised land that African Americans could be free from poverty and injustice. This book casts a quite different light on the view of slavery. While there is still the fear of being sold and separated from each other.

Right off the bat, the novel starts out with a miracle. It is the miracle of Reuben, who was born with lung issues. When confronted with his not breathing son, Jeremiah commands Reuben, “Reuben Land, in the

During Simon’s murder, the weather transforms into a hideous storm which represents the eruption of the boys’ morality as they descend into cruel behavior. “The clouds opened up and let down the rain like a waterfall”(153), “between the flashes of lightning was the air dark and terrible”(151), creating a dark and gloomy atmosphere, casting a shadow over their failed attempt in recreating

Under the Overpass is about two friends named Mike and Sam as they travel and live as homeless men for five months. They set out to experience life on the streets in six different cities. They only took sleeping bags purchased from a thrift store, the clothes on their backs, and their guitars. They panhandled to travel from city to city. Mike and Sam lived only off of the money they earned panhandling and from shelters and food kitchens. Mike and Sam sought to gain a better understanding of the homeless community that is present all around us while facing the elements, hunger, stress, loneliness, and danger of the streets. They’re goals were to survive, grow in to their faith, and spread the love of Christ to those they came in contact with as they traveled through six cities across America.

In the beginning of the novel, Reuben Land tells us his birth story. He informs the reader about the problems he faces with his lungs.

Throughout Peace Like a River, Jeremiah performs miracle after miracle. These miracles are as simple as fixing an unfixable saddle, providing an endless bowl of soup, and saving Reuben’s life twice. When first encountering these miracles I personally was left in a state of awe and wonder. Jeremiah’s faith was so strong his children and some readers compared him to prophets or even Jesus. When Jeremiah is in doubt or in need he turns directly to God and goes into deep prayer. Reuben looks up to his father in awe and as the narrator of the book he is one of the main or only witness to

Jeremiah had been working at Rueben and Swedes school as a janitor. After the two murders Superintendent Holgren began to treat Jeremiah differently, as he allowed his opinion to determine whether or not Jeremiah deserved the job. Holgren made work even more difficult and disagreed with everything that Jeremiah did. Jeremiah, being the calm person that he was, never retaliated with negative words. He allowed Holgren to mistreat him, even in front of the staff and students in the school. Holgren finally resorted to firing Jeremiah in front of everyone, but Jeremiah simply touched his face and walked away.

The conflict presented between Davy and the law depicts that people must take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Davy is Reuben's independent older brother. While only seventeen years old, he always gives the appearance of an adult fully capable of caring for himself. He has a mind of his own and does not want anybody telling him what to do. Davy's independence seems to follow his dad's advice, which is shown at the end of the first chapter when Jeremiah tells his children, “We and the world, my children will always be at war. Retreat is impossible. Arm yourselves” (Enger, p.4). Jeremiah advises his children that life is difficult, and

brings in another style, use of metaphors. The storm is a metaphor used to describe violent and

Brown, M. L. (2010). Jeremiah. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Jeremiah–Ezekiel (Revised Edition) (Vol. 7, p. 358). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

In the beginning of this novel, the author presents Jeremiah Land as a miracle worker and a Godly man. One night, as Reuben watches from the house, he sees his father walking on the truck. As he reaches the end, he actually walks on air, and Reuben, amazed by what he sees, exclaims, “[h]e went on pacing - God my witness - walking on air, praying relentlessly, a good yard of absolutely nothing between the soles of his boots and the thistles below.”(17) When Jeremiah was up in the air, Reuben was not astonished by the fact that his dad was floating but by the fact that Jeremiah called him instead of Davy his brother. It is as if Jeremiah’s kids sees this happen everyday. While a normal person would have freaked out that their own father was

Struggling at the thought of being able to rescue Sir Percy, Marguerite follows Chauvelin to Blanchard’s hut which is on a cliff above the shore, Resisting the hopeless temptation to run ahead to warn her Scarlet Pimpernel, she sees Sir Percy’s yacht, the DAY DREAM, ashore, waiting to take the Pimpernel and the rescued convicts to freedom in England. The sight of the DAY DREAM gives her strength to keep going. Unfortunately, she is discovered, bound, and gagged by Chauvelin and his gang. Chauvelin gives orders for her to be carried with them to the hut. Chauvelin threatens her that if she made any sound, his men will kill her brother, who is inside the hut with the Comte de Tournay and two others, waiting for Percy’s arrival. He promises that Armand will be safe if she does not make a peep. As he removes the gag from her mouth, Marguerite stays completely still and silent out of fear. Suddenly, she hears someone singing “God Save the King.” That is when Sir Percy arrives.

Cognitive imagery in the story is as common as the Tornado that the child is described to be. Tornado is a natural disaster that spins and goes fast as the wind create disastrous and catastrophic outcomes. “I swallow light when the warm of anger lashes me into a spin” (Dawes Pg 1)describing to be like a tornado when vexation comes upon her. Without a care in the world or processing thoughts before taking action the tornado child just lashes out in the slightest feel of anger. One of the major symbols of tornado child that Dawes used in this poem is the hair. The by the hair you can tell who is a tornado child. In the poem the line reads “You can tell us from afar, by the craziness of our hair couldn't tame it if we tried” (Dawes Pg 1) indicating that the hair symbolizes the mark of the “Tornado child “. As being a tornado child one wouldn't care about the upkeep of hair or any physical attributes. Behaviors in this poem examine that the tornado child was taught living eccentric from young. “Remembering the tweak of the of contractions that tightens to a walls when my mother

Clay’s predicament about his identity becomes more intricate, since his outburst at the end shows that he does not have an accurate understanding of his identity. It also brings to light his ineffectiveness to shape himself into this dual-identity, a inconsistency that will haunt him till his death by the hands of Lula.