In this book Glory is overwhelmed with how her town is handling people who are different than they are. She realizes that her favorite local pool is closing down so colored people can’t swim with the whites. Glory becomes an activist herself and writes a letter to the newspaper lining which makes her preacher father proud. Therefore, the theme of this book is to treat everyone equally, such as when Glory’s friend Frankie from Ohio drinks out of the “colored fountain”. Also, when Glory’s sisters boyfriend that he was arrested for sitting with a “colored friend” at the white table.
Pauli Murray’s Proud Shoes tells the story of Murray’s family as they developed through segregation. After the death of her parents, Murray is taken to live with her grandparents, Robert and Cornelia Fitzgerald. Proud Shoes focuses on the life of Robert and Cornelia and how they experienced life differently due to their individual situations. This book discusses how race and gender played key roles in the life of Robert and Cornelia. Through this discussion, readers are able to understand a broader American life based on individual experiences and express topics on gender identity and gender difference.
The most hated plot in America is the underdog’s demise- the empathetic pain of scrutiny, and the failure we all miss to escape. The scrawny, glasses-wearing outsider is often the underdog, the hero we all cheer for. The one who makes all the refinements in a society that is stagnant to change. And his most successful storytelling, or retelling, is that in the setting of high school. He walks awkwardly down the hall with his shoulders slightly hunched inward and mouth slightly ajar.
In Hannah Greendale’s review about The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater, she argues about how the transgender community or those who identify as agender are being mistreated. She writes her review base off of a sociological lens. One of the main characters struggles with there sexuality while the other one is presented differently due to his race. Sasha is the name of one of the characters, and she identifies as neither male nor female. Sasha was born as a male named Luke, but as she grew up, she realized that she enjoyed wearing skirts instead of clothing that boys would typically wear.
Katherena Vermette’s novel The Break, is centered around a sexual assault. Through the perspective of eight narrators the story unfolds over the day leading up to the attack, memories triggered by the assault, and the recovery of all those involved. The novel’s two strongest themes are a juxtaposition of gender disparity and the strength and resilience of the women and girls involved. Gendered performance is common throughout the book, for both men and women, although the focus is on the female characters.
1920’s society offered a prominent way for blacks that look white to exploit its barrier and pass in society. Visible within Nella Larsen’s Passing, access to the regular world exists only for those who fit the criteria of white skin and white husband. Through internal conflict and characterization, the novella reveals deception slowly devours the deceitful. In Passing, Clare and Irene both deceive people. They both engage in deceit by having the ability to pass when they are not of the proper race to do so.
Little did Jackie know, that her Aunt Lois’s seeming easy and benign task of finding an acquaintance from her grandfather’s past, Curtis Martindale, which he bequeath a sizable amount of cash would be the catalyst of her political conscience. Early, she is challenged with the murder mystery that takes place in her grandfather’s store. Her odyssey of self-discovery, takes her to South Central, Crenshaw, Little Tokyo and Downtown Los Angeles where she learns their relevant historical significance. Our protagonist is confronted with the racial conflicts and prejudices that dictate how people reacted to one another in the past and present.
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.
In the novel “And Still We Rise: The Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City Students” written by Miles Corwin demonstrates how Inner City Los Angeles is not just full of gangbangers and drug dealers, but also full of success and diversity. Corwin, a reporter, spent a year at Crenshaw High School to document the lives of the students as they manage to fight the obstacles in Advanced Placement English, inside and outside of class. Toni Little, an AP English teachers, also struggles this year due to the fact of discrimination for being the only white teacher. Corwin also spent the year with another AP English teacher, Anita Moultrie, who is Little’s “nemesis.” After taking several beatings of discrimination from Moultrie, the school
Imagine this: you are living in a discriminatory world full of people who do not understand you, and choose to judge you by your differences instead of getting to know you. If you are even the slightest bit different. The slightest distance from ordinary, you are judged. You do not get to fight for them to know you, because as soon as they place stereotypes on you. They decide who you are supposed to be.
High school isn’t necessarily the best four years of everyone’s life. In a short time the audience was shown the complicated endeavors many teenagers either overcome or become wrapped up in. Although Brian is extremely successful in his academics he struggles deep beneath his skin with extensive pressure and societal acceptance. Brian Johnson is one example of someone who was almost defeated by the difficult
“Class” by Sherman Alexie is a story about a man, Edgar Joseph, on a journey to self-identification. While on this journey he experiences many different tribulations and encounters a multitude of women. The encounters with these women will reveal to the reader his selfless, barbaric, and lost personality. However, the experiences he had with women of his own descent provided a transformative experience that shows what he is looking for and what he truly values. Edgar’s selflessness can be seen through his mother.
Have you ever realized that a place you have treasured all your life is actually not as perfect as you imagined? That’s what happened to Jacqueline Woodson. As we grow up, our outlook on life changes and sometimes that can be very scary. In When A Southern Town Broke A Heart by Jacqueline Woodson, the author introduces growing up and experiencing change as a central idea in the story. When Woodson was a child, she wanted to think that segregation was a thing of the past.
Trumpet, written by Jackie Kay is a novel that examines some of the ideals that form a person’s identity. The most highlighted theme in the book is that of gender identity, but by identifying her protagonist, Joss Moody, as the son of a black father and white mother (the same as the author herself), issues of race are also relevant and are going to continue to be
In the coming of age story “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates uses symbolism, conflict, and the third person to foreshadow fifteen-year-old Connie’s unfortunate, yet untimely fate. While one may think that the conflict stems from Connie’s promiscuity, it is clear to see her promiscuity is only a result to a much bigger conflict, her mother’s constant nagging and disapproval, alongside the lack of attention from her father. the author paints a vivid picture of what happens when a fifteen-year-old girl such as Connie goes elsewhere to find to find the love, attention, and approval that she lacks at home. All which is vital for her growth and wellbeing as a person.
