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Claude Mckay Figurative Language

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Identity is like a pair of shoes , you can’t go anywhere without it. Your identity is the building blocks to how to how you are viewed. African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance struggled a lot with self image. They were always displayed as people who were lower than everyone else. But they didn’t want to be shown as that anymore, so they changed how they were viewed. The works of Langston Hughes and other authors during the Harlem Renaissance helped African Americans understand who they really are. These authors have shown that your identity is something you should be proud to represent. Writers during the time of the Harlem Renaissance used figurative language and self image to in order to create realization that identity makes up who …show more content…

At the start of poem Claude McKay writes “ If we must die, let it not be like hogs. Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot ” (Lines 1-2). The author uses a simile to compare a person's death to a hog. African Americans don’t want to be killed with knives , guns and violence. The death they have imagined is peaceful and unbothered so to be killed like an animal is harsh. The author uses a tone of differences to show how the hogs and humans don’t have a right to die the same way. They aren’t supposed to be killed by being hunted down or found unexpected. African Americans should be given the right to have a wonderful life just like White American. This connects to the Harlem Renaissances because many African Americans would die in such terrible ways. This person is trying to say we need to stop all these deaths. Dehumanizing people is a recurring problem which treats Africans Americans with disrespect. Second, towards the end of the poem the authors writes “ What though before us lies the open grave ? Like men, we’ll face the murderous cowardly pack, pressed to the wall dying but fighting back ” (Lines 12-14). The author uses sensory imagery to show how African Americans will fight back and push through the obstacles. Nothing will come in their way of breaking free from superior people.They need to grown up and fight back before it’s too late. The author uses a tone of domination in this portion of the poem. This is showing the people as rebellious. They want to have the same treatment as everyone else , and won’t settle for less. This connects to the Harlem Renaissance because many African Americans during this time were trying to be free from oppressive White Americans. They would also mock and dehumanize the Africans so this is one of their ways that shows them fighting back. Africans

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