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African American literature essay
Significanse african american literature
African American literature essay
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Malcolm London wrote this poem, “Grand Slam”, to communicate the fact that it is difficult leave poverty once you’re born into an impoverished neighborhood. London creates an extended metaphor throughout the poem to communicate in that it is difficult to leave an impoverished neighborhood. In the 15th and 4th stanzas, London writes, “bases loaded / with her offspring / who have never made it to the majors ... most of us have stopped short / of coming home / safe.”, and, “2nd base / a boarded up building”. Therefore, London uses the metaphor to compare his neighborhood to a baseball game by comparing a boarded up building in his neighborhood to second base in a baseball game. Furthermore, London expands on the extended metaphor by writing that
Both poems include comparisons in the form of similes and metaphors to emphasize the significance of little moments that contrast the daze of average life. In “Golden Retrievals”, the speaker relates the dog’s bark to a resounding noise that brings his owner back to the present: “a Zen master’s bronzy gong, calls you here, / entirely, now: bow-wow…” (Doty 16-17).With a similar use of figurative language, the speaker of “Or Death and December” describes the wind in December as, “... a deuce-and-a-half, a six-by, a semi, / huge with a cold load of growls” before contradicting the unfavorable weather with a positive new experience with his puppy later in the poem (Garrett 11-12). Both utilize these figurative comparisons to provide more in-depth descriptions of the subject of the poem and connect them to their common theme. The comparison of the dog’s bark to a “bronzy gong” in “Golden Retrievals” creates a meditative tone that then relates a calm and relaxed feeling to the present moment “here” and “entirely, now” emphasizing how remaining simply in the moment can bring forth positivity in daily life.
He could imagine his deception of this town “nestled in a paper landscape,” (Collins 534). This image of the speaker shows the first sign of his delusional ideas of the people in his town. Collins create a connection between the speaker’s teacher teaching life and retired life in lines five and six of the poem. These connections are “ chalk dust flurrying down in winter, nights dark as a blackboard,” which compares images that the readers can picture.
Whereas Douglass dangerously strived to attain knowledge and education, the characters in We Real Cool (18) don’t want to be educated nor enlightened and even boast about their ignorance. In merely 24 lines, We Real Cool describes the fateful lives of seven pool players. While others might say that the language of the poem gives off a celebratory attitude, I think its tone rings of insecurity, arrogance and even defiance, particularly with the repeated usage of the word “we.” The first line of the poem, “We real cool” shows the level of education of the boys, which presumably isn’t very much, followed by “We left school” which implies the boys dropped out of school and don’t even value education.
The setting of the baseball field in “Sign for my Father who Stressed the Bunt” is revealing of important and major themes throughout the poem. By using words such as “rough” and “hand-cut” he establishes the setting of a rural baseball field where the majority of this poem takes place. Although time passes and the son gets older, the father still is trying and failing to teach his son to appreciate the bunt in the timeless “hand cut” baseball field. The son never seems to understand the father and his endless antics about the basics of bunting. The son comments, “I admired your style, but not enough to
Charles Baxter’s book “There’s Something I Want You to Do” is composed of ten chapter, each focussing on one of the seven deadly sins and their vices. The chapter that stood out the most to me (and what this essay will focus on) was the first chapter, titled Bravery. Besides the fact it’s main character is a doctor which is what I’m going to school for, the emotions described in this chapter were very genuine. But, before getting into the specific contents of the chapter, the idea behind the seven deadly sins must first be understood.
We Real Cool Teenage dropouts has been one of the most problematic conflicts in the United States. This unreasonable act has disastrous effects. In the poem “We Real Cool”, Gwendolyn Brooks utilizes repetition to emphasize the consequences of discontinuing school.
Text: The Swimmer, John Cheever Selected passage: Beginning to “friends would line the banks of the Lucinda River” (pgs 1-2 in pdf) Thesis: In the opening paragraphs of “The Swimmer”, John Cheever introduces the ideals of booming suburban life in post-war America; the American Dream, affluence and wealth, and youth and vitality. Told through a third-person narrator, the passage foreshadows the plight of Neddy Merrill by using repetition and vivid language to symbolize suburban monotony and enhance his delusion, references to Greek mythology to illustrate his downfall, and setting an artificially positive tone that leaves the reader even more acutely aware of the growing ominous air and devastated by the tragic end. Elements to focus on:
The AVID program has had a positive impact in my academics, and in my life by helping me focus, enrich, and solidify my goals. I can say with full confidence that AVID has become an integral part of my High School year that equipped me with the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in college. As an immigrant who came to the United States five years ago and English being my third language, the AVID program challenged me to think critically and strive to learn more. Personality wise, there are major changes that I observed once I joined the program.
However, in a domain where crime runs wild, and segregation between groups is the norm, it ends up being harder to remain an individual when society considers one to be characterized as a group. A major turning point for the young protagonist occurs when he flees to a church in Windrixville after his friend Johnny—the youngest of the Greasers—kills a soc in self-defense. During the fleeing journey Ponyboy and Johnny come across a time of enlightenment as they wait for the arrival of Dally, a fellow Greaser who gave them the coordinates of the church. Through this time of awareness and realization, Ponyboy mentions Robert Frosts’ poem: “natures first green is gold//her hardest hue to hold//her early leaf’s a flower;//but only so an hour.//Then leaf subsides to leaf.//So Eden sank to grief,//So dawn goes down to day.//Nothing gold can stay.”
Some like it hot is a 1956 comedy film, directed by Billy Wilder. This film had revolved around two men, named Joe and Jack, who were played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. These men were witnesses of a mass murder that had been committed by a mob. They did not want to end up like those other men, so they had dressed up as women and skipped town by joining an all-women’s band. Since they were disguising themselves as women, they began to endure a ton of events that eventually got them discovered by the mob.
The poem “One Boy Told Me” by Naomi Shihab Nye, was told by her son when he was two and three years of age. His comments, thoughts, and remarks were jotted down verbatim by Naomi and pieced together to create the one of a kind free verse poem. Nye assembled the phrases into individual stanza’s where they coherently flow to one another to illustrate the mind of a toddler. Wide ranges of emotions and personalities invoke the inner child and their curiosity. Overall, her son’s interpretations of his surroundings and understandings are represented in how the idioms expressed set the stage for intrusiveness, humor, and poetic devices to contribute to the overall meaning.
1. Why do the "folk stare" and become "indignant"? It is clear that this poem takes place in a time of prevalent racism and bigotry. Two boys of white and black walk hand in hand down the street, which is extremely peculiar to many people of the town.
Throughout the entire novel, the author’s use of literary devices is very clear. These literary devices, specifically similes and personification, help the reader get a better idea of the exact sounds and feelings which will allow them to know what it feels like to be there in that moment. “ I stood there, trying to think of a comeback, when suddenly, I heard a whooshing sound, like the sound you get when you open a vacuum-sealed can of peanuts. Then the brown water that had puddled up all over the field began to move. It began to run toward the back portables, like someone pulled the plug out of a giant bathtub.
Her style of writing captures the real experiences of African Americans during those times, being oppressed, discriminated against, and treated as second-class citizens. Brooks appears to be one of the fine writers able to generate a vivid picture in the reader’s mind, without the need of actual images… just by using suggestive verbs in her poems. Her voice is very passionate, expressing love, anger and pride all at once. Although I enjoyed reading “the mother,” I want to talk about “We Real Cool” because I feel it is a perfect example of using verbs to create a powerful piece. “We Real Cool” is a short poem, musical and rhythmic, constructed of four stanzas, with each stanza containing two simple sentences.
