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BLACK ICE: A VOICE FOR THE BLACK ABSTRACT: A lecturer in creative writing, Lorene Cary wrote Black Ice in 1991 to commemorate her adolescent years spent in Saint Paul’s school in New Hampshire. In this cheerful autobiography we hear the chirpy voice of a Black woman whose frolicsome nature and flair for life is the literary equivalent of playful sunshine on black ice. Her spirited reminiscence show how today Black American woman have sloughed off the sapping memories of the bygone years and can revel unpretentiously in the choices they make and the effort they put in to make life meaningful.
In her short story “Snakes,” Evans accurately depicts through three of the female roles how racism can affect a person's actions, values, and moods, in a way that can be taken seriously by the
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a visionary, yet petulant, dialogue with American letters. The result became African American literature that is prosperous; thereby developing a social insight to their personal experiences and history. Although men are predominantly recognized in history for being well educated and powerful, women have played a great part in shaping America to what it is today. Phillis Wheatley, and Maria W. Stewart, were true Christian African American women that have portrayed historical events though literature. Wheatley and Stewart hold similar ideals for African Americans, however, their personalities are profoundly different.
Cassie Logan, the central protagonist of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor, has, all her life, been shown confidence, love, and pride in herself, her history, and, most importantly , her family. During this year, though she is only nine years old, Cassie is shown the real world of cruel racism and supposed white superiority. Many people treat blacks as if they are inferior to whites, such as Miss Crocker, the Night Men, and Lillian Jean Simms. These people have specifically impacted dark-skinned Cassie; they have tried to degrade her, and destroy her pride and confidence. Throughout my essay I will be discussing how the characters listed above have tried to reduce Cassie’s worth--only because of her skin color-- and if they have succeeded or not.
Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno is a story about a boy named Brian and it takes the reader through one of the most confusing and stressful times in a person’s life, the teenage years. Brian is navigating his way through the punk scene while dealing with drama, conformity, love, friendship, and family. Gretchen’s car and Mike’s basement develop the theme of Brian trying to find his identity and place in the world by being places of introspection, places where important moments happened, and places that give him the freedom he wants. Despite Gretchen’s car being a piece of junk, it was a safe place for Brian to be introspective.
In Audre Lorde’s Zami: A New Spelling Of My Name, Audre, a Black Lesbian Poet, narrates her life story as unfair. This novel is under the unique genre that Lorde came up with called biomythography, which combines real life and myth. Moreover, Zami takes place in the 1950’s, which is still considered a critical time in America history for civil rights. In her quest for “fairness,” Audre often rebels against the status quo. This is due to the feeling she gets through the erotic, or what she describes as “sensation with feeling.”
Since the abolishment of slavery black women are no long being forced to alter their hair; however the underlying principle still remains as society indirectly forces black women to alter their hair in order to “fit in” as society says having straightened hair symbolizes femininity. Once again these standards exclude black women as their “kinky” hair does not fit into societal norms of feminine. Therefore they must alter their hair, may it be chemically or thermally, in order to come close to the dominant standard of beauty (Donald,year). In essence, among black women hair alteration is done because of outside pressures and as times process they began altering their hair as a means to feeling beautiful within themselves rather then self hatred.
Rachel Mathews E 260 March 13, 2018 Dr. Shaun Morgan Paper #1 “Bitter in the Mouth” by Monique Truong explores race, gender and sexuality, and never had a definite theme. It starts off with a young, seven-year-old North Carolina girl, with many layered secrets, who name was Linda Hammerick. She stated that she “fell in love with” (1) her great-uncle Baby Harper. She also talks about her parents, DeAnne and Thomas, and her best friend, Kelly. She states that she was her father’s tomboy and her mother’s baton twirler and that she went far away for college and law school, now living in New York.
This week, the readings point the spotlight at the some of the depressing hardships that the African-American population frequently experience. In “Naughty by Nature”, Ann Ferguson covers the different perceptions that society has of colored boys. David Knight’s work “Don’t tell young black males that they are endangered” seeks to explain the differents outcomes of African-American youth that arise when society constantly oppresses them. The last article by Carla O’Connor, “The Culture of Black Femininity and School Success”, focuses on the image of African-American woman that is created as a result of them attempting to preserve in a system that opposes them.
Here, Hurston conveys the idea of freedom and independence of African American women, a freedom which is often hindered by gender and race. At another point in the novel, Hurston states, "She felt the old thrill of touching the secret springs of life that made her feel the pull of unknown forces" (90, Chapter 10). This quote speaks to the idea of African American women having the power to control their own destiny, despite the restrictions imposed upon them by society and gender roles. Through these two quotes, Hurston provides a unique perspective on how gender and race can be used to limit people, but how individuals can still find freedom despite these restrictions and as long as they have faith in
Susan S. Lanser’s “Feminist Criticism, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper,’ and the politics of color in America” examines the impacts “The Yellow Wallpaper” had on feminist writing styles and critiques. Lanser writes that the story helps to analyze the reading trough “the lens of a female consciousness” and apply the knowledge gained from a female perspective onto other literature (418). The transition that the narrator displays from being dependent on John to becoming independent reflects the feminist movement and challenges the “male dominance” that currently takes precedence in society (418). The “patriarchal prisonhouse” that is society controls the narrator and oppresses women not only in “The Yellow Wallpaper” but in real life as well (419). The
The present novel deals with the oppression of African-American women, not only by white people but also by black males. The women in this novel fight against all discriminations for their own survival and for the survival of their black community The women characters of the novel like Celie,Nettie,Shug are found to break out their shackles and make their voice heard by all. The description of the universal oppression of black women, crosses all the limitations of race, class, gender and the melancholy of their life reaches out women in general. The novel vigorously reflects consciousness of women’s world.
She was influenced by the ideologies of women’s liberation movements and she speaks as a Black woman in a world that still undervalues the voice of the Black woman. Her novels especially lend themselves to feminist readings because of the ways in which they challenge the cultural norms of gender, slavery, race, and class. In addition to that, Morrison novels discuss the experiences of the oppressed black minorities in isolated communities. The dominant white culture disables the development of healthy African-American women self image and also she pictures the harsh conditions of black women, without separating them from the oppressed situation of the whole minority. In fact, slavery is an ancient and heinous institution which had adverse effects on the sufferers at both the physical as well as psychological levels.
Dee approaches culture by decontextualising it, while Maggie and Mama relate to it with a kind of ‘organic criticality’. The former stance is mere rhetoric and the later one is womanist. In one of her interviews, Alice Walker identifies three cycles of Black Woman she would explore in her woman’s writing: 1.
Mise-en-scene is the arrangement of everything that appears on the framing of the scene actors, costumes, lighting, decoration, props, makeup, facial expressions and body language and also the camera work. ‘Denial’ scene near the beginning of the film highlights black women’s questioning of themselves, their identity and how they are in pressure and forced to run away from negative labels placed upon them by the media. This essay is going to discuss the significance in the ‘Denial chapter, I am going to focus on where Beyoncé is under water, where she removes the black sweater that was covering her, where she swims and floats around in a beautiful bedroom. In my close analysis of the scene, I am going to show that in the film the technique mise-en-scene was used to show that the film Lemonade represents the character’s consciousness, thoughts and emotions. Mise-en-scene in the film of Beyoncé Lemonade includes the director’s creative control of the way in which we view the scene, which includes costumes, makeup, setting, lighting and the staging within the frame of the film.
