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The Fourth Of July Summary

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Hunger, Katie SR “The Fourth of July” Background Audre Lorde was a New York born, self described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” A lot of her work addressed issues with racism, sexism, and homophobia. Not only did Lorde write a lot of poetry, but from a young age she replied to people by quoting poetry that she had memorized. Lorde’s nickname is “Gamba Adisa” which means “Warrior: she who makes her meaning clear.” She took the name in an African naming ceremony. Summary “I always hated the Fourth of July, even before I came to realize the travesty such a celebration was for Black people in this country” (10). In her piece, “The Fourth of July,” author Audre Lorde and her family took a trip to visit the nation’s capital over the Fourth of July holiday. The Lorde family traveled from their home to Washington, D.C. by train. Lorde wanted to eat food from the dining car, but her mother said it was too expensive when in reality Blacks were not allowed to eat in dining cars on a south bound train in …show more content…

This was one of the most thoughtfully constructed pieces we have read. Obviously, I can not relate to race issues, but Lorde’s writing style is so personal it makes it easy to read and imagine being in her shoes. Her point of view was refreshing. Craft This was the first piece of Lorde’s writing that I have read. She used several rhetorical devices throughout “The Fourth of July,” but imagery was the most prevalent. Lorde emphasized colors such as the “violently yellow” cupcakes and the “white mottled marble counter” (p. 139). Also, the repetition of the word white in paragraph 20 caused me to stop and pay attention to exactly what she was saying. A lot of this appealed to the reader’s pathos. The details made Lorde’s narrative seem more real and more reliable which supports her

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He questions his audience of the significance of Independence Day to slaves, and he answers it in an extremely contrasting way: “your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; … your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery,” that the celebration is “a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.” Douglass dismisses the national pride, characterizing it as a mere expression of people’s ignorance. The antithesis, with “greatness” being “vanity,” “sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless,” and “shouts of liberty and equality” being “hollow mockery,” provokes shock and anger from the audience, who have just been part of it and are now degraded as “savages.” However, Douglass was not trying to be inflammatory but provocative, witnessing the pathetic enthusiasm in the anniversary, that people feel exuberant about themselves while ignoring the saddening

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