Helena Maria Viramonte’s, Under the Feet of Jesus explores many aspects of rural life in the late 1960’s. The novel captures the conflicts between cultures, society, wants, and love. Viramonte’s navigates throughout the life of a family that is dependent on rural work that only receives two dollars a day for all of their hard work in the fields, while under the blistering sun. The protagonist Estrella, a girl close to crossing into womanhood. Her life has been depended on rural work, and she has learned what life is from her mother.
By comparing Mary to Haskins, it becomes clear that Mary had different reactions to receiving threat letters from fans is frightening, whereas Haskin’s doesn’t want to do anything about it. Evidence that demonstrates Mary’s reaction is when Mary says “this is not some interesting coach lesson, don this is about people’s lives , you can’t gamble with peoples live. This reveals Mary wants to do something before it gets worse. However, Haskins responds by ‘you don’t understand. I promised those boys we’re on our way to winning the conference’s if we do make it to the tournaments, we can’t stop now.
He denounces the unproportioned use of force against the blacks “if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls;” that attracts the audience into the situation while creating a sense of urgency and emotions. King, by the same token, continues to clarify that “if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes.” in order to persuade the clergymen to encounter the undeniable fact at the point of time when Negroes are defined as flaws in human being. King appeals to the pathos of his readers and the clergy men to adopt some sense of concern with his argument. He ends this section with “I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith.
Through his use of anaphora in this paragraph, King emphasizes a need for social change after illustrating the brutality suffered by the black population in America. Moreover, the use of pathos helps the white clergymen relate to the black American’s desire for freedom by connecting similar drives for independence. King understands that both white and black people hold independence dearly, and both believe “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom” (King 7.)
In addition, Martin Luther King Jr, appeals to the emotion of guilt when he begins to describe instances of hardships that African Americans face. Providing an example of questions posed by African American families, “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?” (King 6), introduces the audience to a deeper connection and reveals the pain that African Americans encounter while being surrounded by a white society. By presenting the pain through family instances and children, King is able to evoke a feeling of guilt and sorrow in the clergymen because of his child’s innocent confusion and
Furthermore, this comparison conveys a disappointed and shocked tone that makes the US citizens aware of this humiliating fact and urges them to take action to change it. Later in the paragraph, King uses several anecdotes, such as “see[ing] vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim.” He provides these anecdotes to illustrate the specific horror that segregation has thrust upon the African American community. Moreover, these anecdotes evoke a melancholy and somewhat irate tone that announces to the clergymen the absolute necessity for these horrors and injustices to come to an end and that it has gone too far. Additionally, King appeals to the sympathetic emotions of the audience, the clergymen and the US population in general, by describing the “tears welling up in [a child’s] eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and [seeing] ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and [seeing] her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people” and by admitting that they “are forever fighting
It reaches out to every person, even the most racist of whites, and asks them to truly feel, if only for a second, what black people feel almost constantly. In doing this, King utilizes perhaps one of the strongest emotions we can experience: sympathy for others. King is almost irrefutably one of the greatest speakers of the century, if not all of history, and it is this particular section of his writing that helps illustrate
Top of Form Growing up as a Mexican catholic I never did understand why I was always told to pray for a certain peace of art. I would see others do it which made me believe that it was the normal thing to do, along with seeing the same art piece around my whole house, but time is what lead me to understand that praying to that certain art piece was not what everyone did but what most Catholics did. I understood that the Virgin de Guadalupe (Virgin Mary) was a certain peace of art that most Mexican people believed in, what my people believed in. Because this art piece represents my people I choose to analysis the Virgin Mary which is hanging in the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. I certainly believe this piece of art is
King reminded them of “the time when early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed” (10), back when they were “a thermostat that transformed the mores of society” (10). This allusion parallels the early Christians’ struggles against persecution with the American black communities’ hardships in protecting their own civil rights. Additionally, King condemns how white moderate Christians infantilize the critical conditions black Americans are forced to live under—especially the Christians who worship holy martyrs. Although his criticisms may be harsh, King made such comparisons in order to connect young black to the early Christians he described. King’s true purpose for his harsh comparison against the American Christian communities is to emphasize hope.
To bring forth a new argument- one that white Christian clergymen would listen to. King decides to use his daughter- children being the key to get into heaven with their undying trust and faith- to garner pity for the African- American struggle. He uses an anecdote from when he had to tell his daughter she couldn’t go to the new amusement park and he sees the “tears welling up in her eyes” because the amusement park is “closed to colored people”. Instead of writing about the violent African- American struggle, King decides to focus on the psychological aspect of being black and how it affects children, so that they grow up with “ominous clouds of inferiority” brewing in their mind, developing an “unconscious bitterness towards white people”, diminishing their trust and faithfulness towards God. Mr. King also appeals to emotions through the repetition of words or phrases in various sentences.
King describes the severity of the brutality African Americans face to expose the clergymen to the harsh reality. He wants the clergymen to understand the depth of the hatred the community faces regularly. “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity;…” King draws a parallel between “mothers and fathers” and “sisters and brothers” to bring out the physical relations one has in order to show that the violence is so close to home for each African American. King mentions the “vicious mobs” lynching people at will to portray how disgusting it is that such gruesome acts have become normalized. He also employs repetition of inhumane treatment African Americans receive, stating policemen “curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill” to show that cruelty against black Americans is so common, even police can be found doing such vulgar acts.
Her word choice displays her opinions on various subjects through religious filters, and gives readers an insight to her perspectives. Wheatley’s religious experience also prompts her to include messages of God’s mercy throughout her poetry. She expresses that sinners can be saved, no matter what race. If the lost – black or not – can be saved and converted, is change possible on Earth? Can the way we view races be changed as
He is composed, collective, and calm when writing his letter to the clergymen, and effectively used stirring diction and syntax to enlighten his audience on his mission towards racial justice that God Himself approves of. His letter is a testimonial to a black person’s life in America, where “we [black americans] creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter” (para 13). His letter was history in the making with every stroke of the pen. It truly showed that the pen is mightier than the the
The readers of this piece can sense the anger expressed her about the views of the black community and that first line shows that this piece will continue to be as hard hitting as the beginning lines. Another powerful line in the same piece would be a line that talks about being a black woman is not a misfortune on her behalf and is calling out the people who view the black community as
If this is read from line to line, one will discover that Wheatley is being sincere, making light of her life and situation saying that it was God’s mercy that saved and delivered her. Instantaneously this gains the audience member’s attention, because this is what they believe as well, it is a personal message. She is saying that she has been redeemed, bringing her to a level with her audience, or with white men and they cannot refute this because, it would go against their own beliefs. Wheatley’s action of using Christ, in her writing is such a strong emotional pull on the hearts of all readers of the time period, which they cannot deny her words, other than being nothing but the truth. She identifies her issue of black people being treated as less, because the color of their skin.
