Charles Chesnutt The Conjure Woman

Alice Malsenior Walker, an African American born into poverty, came into this world on February 9, 1944 in Eatonon, Georgia. She was the youngest child of eight children born to Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah Walkers. Both of her parents were sharecroppers as well as expert story tellers. Things were not easy for the Walkers and Alice often witnessed her mother’s frustration of having the burden to take care of eight children with little means. Even though children of share croppers were usually made to work the fields, Alice’s mother made sure that her kids received an education. Alice was brilliant at writing poetry.

African slaves in the courtyard of her father's mansion raised Sierva Maria, a white girl with the roots of a high-status society position. Completely different cultures were inculcated to her. She worshiped African gods, spoke Yoruban and African languages and though radically different to his parents. With a bell in her wrist, Sierva Maria used to remind the hate and fright that Bernarda had for her. She was so distant to where her virtual real home was that she even put herself a new name: Maria Mandinga, giving meaning to the darkness of soul found sometime in Sierva Maria.

Julius Caesar, a Roman general, dictator, and leader, is considered to be one of history 's most influential and powerful rulers to this day, in which his rise to power, conquest of Europe, and controversial downfall all remain to be told during modern days. The play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, portrays the events leading up to Julius Caesar’s assassination, and how those who conspired against him banded together and plotted Caesar’s demise. Many of those conspirators assassinated Caesar due to his quick rise to absolute power, his “acts” of disrespect against the senate such as his failing to stand to receive the title of becoming a “god,” and pure jealousy and anger towards Caesar’s success and rule over the Roman empire. Caesar, an ambitious man, was able to conquer many lands and peoples for Rome through successful military campaigns in which he became one Rome’s best generals due to the amount of successful battles he had won and the amount of blood he had shed for Rome’s expansion. However, Caesar’s trait of ambitiousness would prove to be a double edged sword.

Superstition is considered a myth to most people, but for the ancient Romans, this was a historical belief. For the Romans, believing in superstition was a very ordinary thing. To them superstition explained the supernatural and strengthened their relationships with the gods (The Roman Empire). In the play Julius Caesar, the author William Shakespeare uses superstition repeatedly to affect the plot as well as the characters. Superstition in the play is used to foreshadow Caesar’s death, impact Brutus’ actions in the battlefield and to emphasize the Roman’s connection to superstition and fate.

Mists of Avalon is a twist on the Arthurian tales as told by the four women

Myths are one of the most important elements included in the history of not only African-American lives but also the lives of each and every one of us. Myths are inevitable human resources at times when no other idea justifies our being. As Barthes posits, for it is human history which converts reality into speech, and it alone rules the life and the death of mythical language. Ancient or not, mythology can only have an historical foundation, for myth is a type of speech chosen by history: it cannot possibly evolve from the 'nature ' of things. This study looks into the significance of "Myths" and their determining roles as semiological systems in August Wilson 's dramatic twentieth century cycle plays; Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and The Piano Lesson. In these plays, myths take the forms of individuals, rituals and even ancestral objects. It can be observed that each one of these elements performs the most important role in conveying the significance of the African-American psyche and delicately portrays the eminent influence of ancestral backgrounds in shaping the lives of each character. The works of scholars such as Roland Barthes, Henry Gates, as well as many more, have been employed to better grasp this matter.

Charles Waddell Chesnutt is an African American writer who writes many novels and short stories about African American superstitions and folklore of the south in “The Conjure Woman”. “The Conjure Woman” is a collection of folk tales that explore complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War. Chesnutt writes these stories in vernacular forms to represent the oral act of storytelling and express Chesnutt’s black identity and cultural heritage of African American people. Chesnutt's folktales are narrated either to teach the readers lessons or to represent how African American people are treated by whites as second class citizens. The following essay concentrates on superstitions and folklore in Chesnutt’s stories, and how Chesnutt uses African American folklore

Counter-storytelling is an examination of racism and its impact on people of color and indigenous people. Racism is defined as a system of advantage based on race-a system that involves cultural messages and institutional policies or practices, as well as the beliefs and actions of individuals (221).

This play teaches many significant subjects that have a positive influence in people’s lives. The play “Julius Caesar” is appropriate for today’s audience because it demonstrates how every person has a flaw no matter how other people present them to be. Our production has been working non stop every single day to bring

Mr. Mdeouze influenced Jose to write that incredible story. He told him enough stories to open up his imagination and produce a beautiful paper. Mr. M taught Jose the power of language. For extra credit for this class, I listened to an interesting lecture about African Storytelling. This is what Mr. M reminded me of. Traditional storytelling is usually told by adults and spoken to children about life, rewards, and consequences. The fables are usually metaphorical stories that have to do with lessons children will learn in their daily lives. While Jose listened to Mr. M’s

The introductory line of Harriet Jacob’s preface to Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, “Reader, be assured this narrative is no fiction”, is short yet serving (Jacobs 224). Although brief in its nature, this statement manages to encompass two major aspects that characterize African-American literature: audience and truth. In all writing, understanding the target audience and how to arrange an argument or essay to appeal to that specific crowd is paramount. However, it is especially important for African-American authors, who typically need to expose injustices or call for social change in their works. In particular, two African-American authors who understood their audience and how to manipulate that understanding were Charles W. Chesnutt and Marcus Garvey. Although they were born only twenty-nine years apart, Chesnutt and Garvey technically wrote for different time periods. While Chesnutt’s work is associated with “Literature of the Reconstruction”, Garvey was grouped with authors and activists from the Harlem Renaissance (Gates and Smith 580 ). The separation of their literary epochs drove Chesnutt and Garvey to write for contradistinctive audiences that demanded unique written techniques and rhetorical strategies, but that both asked for utmost honesty.

Colleen McElroy uses her poetry to describe her culture and heritage in a very historical manner. McElroy’s poetry is very different from Hughes and Clifton in the sense that she uses so many references to her ancestors culture back in Africa. “My memory floats down a long narrow hall, A calabash of history. Grandpa stood high in Watusi shadows Where effigies of my ancestors are captured in Beatle tunes, And crowns never touch Bantu heads. My past is a slender dancer reflected briefly Like a leopard in fingers of fire. The future Dahomey is a house of 16 doors, the totem of Burundi counts 17 warriors-- In reverse generations. While I cling to one stray Seminole. My thoughts grow thin in the urge to travel beyond Grandma’s tale. Of why cat fur id for kitten britches; Past the wrought iron rail of first stairs In baby white shoes, To Ashanti mysteries and rituals.” The use of African language and the names of tribes paint a geographical image that readers can begin to follow. Heritage is more than following the lineage of a people, the land in which they live is equally as involved. This ethnic and topographical following of these people gives her Clifton’s poetry the breath

Folktales have the power to take us back to the beginnings of peoples’ lives, from their hopes to their defeats. African American folktales originated from people, most of who were long ago were brought to America from Africa to this country against their will. This group of enslaved people was torn from their individual cultures when they were forced to their past, families and their languages and customs behind him with their native land. The black people coming to America entered as slaves, and they were suppressed by white slave holders. They were not permitted to speak their own native tongues. The slave owners enforced that they speak American English but it was forbidden for them to read or write. They were forced to do hard labor

The first character we will discuss is Emily Shelby who is the wife of Arthur Shelby who is a Kentucky Plantation owner and the owner of Uncle Tom. Mrs. Shelby is a kind, loving, and Christian woman who is strongly opposed to slavery and takes it upon herself to treat them with most respect. Mrs. Shelby from a spiritual standpoint cares about her slaves relationship with God and teaches his word to them. Mr. Shelby and Mrs. Shelby treat the slaves with kindness but differ significantly in regards to slavery. Unlike other women of this time period, Mrs. Shelby stands by her views and morals regardless if her

On Wednesday 10th September 2014, I witnessed the Oratory Foundation’s presentation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The production was held at Naparima bowl at San Fernando. It began promptly at 9:30 am. This tale closely follows the rise to province and the ultimate demise of Roman icon and revolutionary politician Julius Caesar. The themes shown in this story are love, honour, betrayal, patriotism, selfishness and selflessness. This enticing tale also has its fair share of action such as murder, suicide, vengeance and conspiracy.