Sonia Sanchez's Poetry Essay

Nichols uses humour as the main deconstructive strategy to be an efficient tool for subverting the myths that have oppressed black women. The woman’s body acquires relevance, as the poems focus on a black immigrant woman within a context of white supremacy. Nichols creates persona who she uses to represent the black female body and she constitutes a challenge to black women’s objectification in the Western (British) society, in which she is exiled. The writer occasionally speaks in the first person, has no name, so the third-person poetic voice refers to her as ‘the fat black woman’. The fat black woman refuses to be a victim and, therefore, rejects all the traps laid by racist and sexist society by means of stereotypes that aim at constricting her into limiting roles. It is her that

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

The poems ‘Still I Rise’ and ‘Unknown Girl’ both explore the way women are expected to behave in specific societies. ‘Still I Rise’ focuses on Maya Angelou’s refusal to accept racism and to allow “them”, white oppressors, to push her down. ‘Unknown Girl’ focuses on Moniza Alvi’s want to be accepted in a society where she belongs, but can’t call her own.

Maya Angelou’s poetry occupies a very special position in her development as a writer (Chow 1). As a child, Angelou went through five years of complete silence after she was raped at the age of seven years old, by a man named, Mr. Freeman. As a result of telling about her traumatic experience, her uncle’s literally kicked the man that raped her to death. Beings she spoke of her traumatic experience and the result of the man dying, she then imagined that her voice had the potential to kill. Thanks to her teacher, Bertha Flowers, at school Angelou started writing poetry as a means of expression of her life events through her poetry (Chow 1). Poetry thus played an essential part in the recovery of her voice, which in

In the beginning, there were mothers. Like goddesses they create life, nurturing their offspring into adulthood and beyond. Through wisdom, culture, and tradition they educate their young on the wonders of life, gracing us with the opportunity to follow in their footsteps to become mothers ourselves. Through the study of Chicana feminism, it becomes apparent how motherhood is a recurring theme throughout much Chicana feminist art and literature, often discussing how these women fostered growth in multiple facets of their being through their general life experience. Perhaps, this is due to the role of a mother weaving the lives of their children, nursing them, guiding them, and creating a life that implements their own values and beliefs. They have the opportunity to create a mirror image or even an entirely new and improved version of themselves. Whether the maternal figure is a hero or villain, traditional or nontraditional, tangible or fictitious, these characters play a vital role in shaping the Chicana feminism we see today.

Are Roberto 's aspirations based on fact? Can he convert his status from undocumented worker to legal resident? How might you go about finding out whether this is possible?

Perhaps the reason that Maya’s poetry has had such a lasting impact on Americans is because of her poems such as ‘Caged Birds’ and ‘Still I Rise’ that demonstrate the issues that African – Americans faced, which she has done through the power of her words. She also challenges the readers with the theme of oppression that is carried out through her pomes as she felt very strongly about it by being surrounded by it her entire life. Maya Angelou has left an everlasting mark by influencing the society through her poems by inspiring others to persist towards their goals and dreams with strength and pride. Overall, Maya Angelou’s work can be attributed to the fact that her personal and cultural experiences of power have not been forgotten by overcoming adversity and oppression, which is clearly reflected in her inspiration body of work seen

When the Wheatley Family bought one of their many slaves, Phillis Wheatley, in 1761, the colonies in America had begun the fight for freedom from the English, while also taking away freedom from thousands of Africans brought over as slaves. Nearly three hundred years later, in 2002, June Jordan’s speech, “The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry in America” was published in her book published post-mortem. June Jordan was an advocate of human-rights and a well published black author, which made her popular among black poets and peers. Through a single symbol, the first Black poet, Phillis Wheatley, Jordan establishes how Black poetry and the Black community have persevered.

In this research paper I will focus on Sor Juana’s ability to challenge the patriarchal rule in Colonial Mexico through her the patterns language, and the publishing of her work in order to find out how her writing empowered more women writers. In order to answer my question, I will focus on male authority and will work to analyze how patterns, rhetoric, and overall publication of Sor Juana’s work challenge the power dynamic..The question I want answer is how Sor Juana’s work was able to alter cultural attitudes that did not permit women to pursue education and intellectual exploration. My argument is that through her critical language and the act of producing her poems Sor Juana is able to challenge the oppressive society run by males therefore creating a change in the gender norms of her time. This is based off of research of the history of patriarchy in Colonial Mexico, critical analyses of Sor Juana’s writing, understanding of the impact of her writing, and articles suggesting that Sor Juana was influential in altering culture in Mexico. Particularly, I found it interesting that articles explored her language focusing on the gender role she discusses. In this essay I will explore the restrictive cultural norms that pushed Sor Juana to enter the convent as a way to continue writing and publish her work and then proceed to analyze how her writing reflects her

The role of strong female roles in literature is both frightening to some and enlightening to others. Although times have changed, Sandra Cisneros’ stories about Mexican-American women provide a cultural division within itself that reflects in a recent time. The cultural themes in Cisneros’s stories highlight the struggle of women who identify with Mexican-American heritage and the struggle in terms of living up to Mexican culture – as a separate ethnic body. The women in Sandra Cisneros’ stories are struggling with living up to identities assigned to them, while trying to create their own as women without an ethnic landscape. In Sandra Cisneros’ stories “Woman Hollering Creek: and “Never Marry a Mexican” the role of female identities that

Gwendolyn Brooks is a famous, African American poetess who is famous for making a social commentary upon the urban society in which she lives. Clearly seen in three of her more popular poems, “the mother”, “a song in the front yard”, and “What shall I give my children? Who are poor?”, Brooks uses the struggles of impoverished motherhood to comment on the stymied lives of adult black women. This is obviously evident in her use of the tone of hopelessness, which transcends all three poems in differing forms that stem from regret in “the mother”, worry and overprotectiveness in “a song in the front yard” and frustration of lacking the necessities for children in “What shall I give my children? Who are poor”

Walker’s work are known for their portrayal of the African-American woman’s life. She depicts brightly the sexism, racism and poverty that make that life often a struggle. But she also describes as part of that life that strengthens of family, community, self-worth, and spirituality (Jone Johnson Lewis, 2007). The story opens in the narrative point of view, and its language is trendy, witty and colorful. Colorful language, specialized diction, and Mama’s unique phrases and observation five “Everyday Use” a sense of realism. Giving voice to a member of a group that had typically been silenced. Walker gives Mama the power to narrate and control and use language to convey her story and thoughts in her own way (sparknote.com). The style of this

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.

Sonia Sanchez, a poet who contributed to the movement by defining what black identity was during this time period. And by celebrating black culture in the forms of poetic forms by using the everyday lives of African American women and men. This was fairly known in works such as homecoming and TCB. Referencing back to Nikki Giovanni, in the short poem For Saundra, which observed the features of a personal experience by incorporating larger social and societal concerns. Such as privilege vs. prejudice, Giovanni does this by addressing the things around her and writing about things that she enjoys to write about. And Giovanni tries to express this in this poem by saying in that in lines 1-5: “i wanted to write, a poem, that rhymes but revolution doesn’t lend itself to be be-bopping” (880). Giovanni wanted to describe this as for why she doesn’t write on pleasant subjects as nature but also dismisses this era’s injustices such as lack of opportunities within the African American

Rita Dove, traversing historical, epic, tragic and lyrical poetry, blurs the lines of the concrete cultural constructions of gender, sexuality, and ethnicity in her poems “Capriccio”, “The House Slave” and “Persephone, Falling” to demonstrate the political involutions of both race and gender. By utilizing extensive diction, striking symbolism, puissant imagery, classical allusions, and visceral metaphors, she is able to show how although she distills the experiences of oppressed groups, she conveys her thoughts on the failures of mother-daughter relationships, the plight for racial equality, and her deep vexation at the acknowledgement of race.