In the poem Heritage by Linda Hogan, Hogan uses the tone of the speaker to demonstrate the shame and hatred she has toward her family, but also her desire to learn about her family’s original heritage. The speaker describes each family member and how they represent their heritage. When describing each member, the speaker’s tone changes based on how she feels about them. The reader can identify the tone by Hogan’s word choices and the positive and negative outlooks on each member of the family.
In 1773, there were slaves all over colonial America working in plantations, and cleaning their masters houses. It wasn’t common for a slave to be writing poetry with their owners consent. Phyllis Wheatley’s success as the first African American published poet was what inspired generations to tell her story. It was her intellectual mind and point of view that made her different from others, both black and white. Phyllis’s story broke the barrier for all African American writers, and proved that no matter the gender or race, all human beings are capable of having an intelligent state of mind.
Julia de Burgos’ poem, Ay, Ay, Ay of the Kinky- Haired Negress frames her poem by adopting an individual persona “I” which allows her to speak with legitimacy on the self. However, some might argue that she also universalized the poem to include the black exploited slaves to create identity for everyone. The poem not only redefines the role of a black woman but it also redefines the foreign and obscure issues in identity. Ay, ay, ay, that am kinky-haired and pure black kinks in my hair, Kafir in my lips; and my flat nose Mozambiques.
Yet, Louise Erdrich’s poem, “Advice to Myself”, she talks about feminism and how women need to make their way in the world, she tends to focus a lot on multiculturalism including conflicting religious beliefs. Most of her poems and books are mainly about supernatural happenings with odd events. She is important because from her novels more readers have begun to appreciate that contemporary Native Americans have important stories to tell that go beyond retelling their ancestors’ rich creation myths and legends. Her life accomplished experiences and culture beliefs within her writing. After all, she is a poet and novelist of Chippewa and German descent, Erdrich has become one of the most important authors writing Native American fiction in the late twentieth century.
When most people think of the word “home,” they imagine a safe environment where they feel as though they belong as they truly are. This conceptualized environment includes friends, family, traditions, and memories. No matter where someone goes—as long as they are with what that they find peace and happiness in—they will be content. However, not everyone can find this sense of security and belonging so easily. Joy Jordan-Lake’s novel, Blue Hole Back Home, displays the rough transition of Farsanna Moulavi and her family from an unprivileged life in Sri Lanka to the unwelcoming, xenophobic realm of the Southern United States.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, born on September 24, 1825, was a leading African American poet, author, teacher and political activist. Although she was born to “free” parents in Baltimore, Maryland, she still experienced her share of hardships. She lost her mother at the tender age of three, was raised by her aunt and uncle, and fully employed by thirteen. Though all odds seemed against her, she triumphed over her obstacles, publishing her first book of poetry at the of age twenty and her first novel at the age of sixty-seven. Outside of writing books, she was a civil rights leader and a public speaker in the Anti-Slavery Society.
Dreams are a common thing in society that hold and bond people together. Hope is in many aspects of our life as well, and fuel many of the wishes Americans possess. From Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's famous “I Have a Dream” speech, to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun play, we find that accomplishing these dreams and goals is something that takes courage or passion. Throughout these two pieces of literature, equality, racism, dreams, and hope are common themes. We can find that real human beings and simple characters share the desire of freedom, and strive for better opportunities in life.
III – LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – 50’s / 60’s O God, refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand.
Do you know your limits? Each poem, short story and piece of nonfiction in Unit 4 Facing Limits supports that knowing your limits and facing them and also being able to voice your experiences are important. The author used figurative language in each of their stories which made it interesting and very inspiring. The characters share the characteristics of being an inspiration and speaking out. They all faced their limits and voiced their experience of overcoming them.
Audre Lorde’s poem “Coal” utilizes contrasting imagery and repetition to further express her shifting emotions and struggles with her identity as a result of oppression. The poem speaks volumes about the experiences of an African-American and Lesbian identifying individual during the late 1970s. The speaker's application of these devices inflicts a profound impact on the poem's overall message and meaning. In the beginning and end of the poem, Lorde shows how repetition and contrasting imagery aren’t mutually exclusive, but rather intertwined.
In the short story “Your Mouth is Lovely” by Nancy Richler and the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck it is easy to generate the similarities such as authority and communication as factors that influence the main characters' relationship. Although the similarities, there are some differences between the relationships. In both pieces, there is a sense of communication from an authority figure of some sort which makes the relationship controlling. In “Of Mice and Men”, George is shown to be in charge due to Lennie listening to everything he says.
Odysseus is one of the most influential Greek champions during the Trojan War. Along with Nestor and Idomeneus he is one of the most trusted counsellors and advisors. He always champions the Achaean cause, especially when the king is in question, as in one instance when Thersites speaks against him. When Agamemnon, to test the morale of the Achaeans, announces his intentions to depart Troy, Odysseus restores order to the Greek camp.[21] Later on, after many of the heroes leave the battlefield due to injuries (including Odysseus and Agamemnon), Odysseus once again persuades Agamemnon not to withdraw. Along with two other envoys, he is chosen in the failed embassy to try to persuade Achilles to return to combat.[22]
Katherine Mansfield, born in New Zealand and attended Queen’s College at the age of nineteen, in her short story, “Miss Brill”, published in 1922, writes about a middle-aged women who experiences a dramatic moment at a park she frequently visits that defines her realty. The author supports her four main themes of: loneliness, youth, reality and delusion by describing moments of judgement, curiosity, imaginative, and optimistic from the protagonist, Miss Brill. Mansfield’s purpose is to illustrate the revelation to Miss Brill, destruction of her universal illusion, and to bring forth the “cupboard” symbol of her loneliness and shame into reality. She establishes a calm and formal tone for her audience, the readers of “Miss Brill”.
Sarah Kay is an American educator, reader and a spoken poet, who was born to a Taoist mother and a Brooklynese father. She is also the founder and co-director of Project VOICE, a project whose aim is to entertain, educate, and inspire its audience. Thus, these three aims are important aspects of Kay’s poems and their effect on her audience. Throughout her poems, she tackles social issues widely present in today’s world, and her poem “The Type” is no different. Kay is the speaker of, “The Type” and throughout the poem, she is taking to individuals who identify themselves to be a woman.
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.