...could become an art form. With just his mind and his mouth, he made audiences across everywhere laugh at his wild, comedic tall tales. Although meant to be entertaining and certainly tall, these stories were envisioned as a satirical response to the social inequities that he saw in his world. It was strange to see a Southerner talk about the injustices of war, gender, and, most notably, slavery. Some of Twain’s most notable works include Huckleberry Fin and Tom Sayer, but these stories are not the only things he has published. Short stories such as “Excerpts from Adam’s Diary”, “True Story”, etc., made Twain one of the most notable American writers. Within these famous stories also come Twain’s interpretation about the world around him. His writings become his reflections about his world, upon which Twain shares his experiences and his thoughts through fictional stories that sometimes weigh heavy on the heart, or just let us laugh our hearts out, although some stories were nonsensical such as “The story of Grandfather’s Old Ram” to the heart wrenching “True Story.” Twain was not only an author, but a great lecturer. With his “shows”, people from all over would come in and enjoy Twain storytelling/lecturing, all the while either knowing or not knowing Twain’s messages behind his stories. Twain, having been born during the Civil War times, had a lot of experience with war. Though, he did not participate in any battles, Twain still lived in an era, where brother fought brother...
Words: 2112 - Pages: 9
...in Beloved Thesis: Toni Morrison focuses on negative impact of slavery on the well-being of African American communities throughout her novel Beloved by depicting the damage done, its effects on individual characters, and the renewal of community. 1. The enforcement of slavery has destroyed black communities and families 1. Families throughout Beloved were split due to slavery 2. The community of 124 abandons its members 1. Characters are negatively impacted by the lack of community 1. The deeds and traits of Six-o compared to the rest of the men living at Sweet Home 2. Denver and Sethe’s lack of identity due to a lacking of maternal figures 1. Toni Morrison provides ways to repair a broken community 1. The significance of Beloved as a means to address the past 2. The individual efforts of characters compared to the successes of the community and the importance of Baby Suggs and the Clearing Conclusion African American Communities in Beloved Toni Morrison’s Beloved is a wonderfully written novel filled with themes and symbolisms. The novel is told with a linear moving plot that is constantly short stopped by the recurrence of character’s repressed memories. A very prominent theme in the story is of communal identity. Morrison emphasizes throughout the story the importance of community. Toni Morrison focuses on the negative impacts of slavery on the well-being of African American communities throughout her novel...
Words: 2111 - Pages: 9
...is a story of a brave and young West African Prince who was taken from the Ivory Coast and sold into slavery in the northern part of South America by British Colonizers. A Caucasian female, who grew up in a world where people who were not white were barely seen as human beings especially if they were of African descent, narrates the novel. Ooronoko’s tale begins with the readers being greeted by the anonymous English female narrator who is waiting on a trip back to Europe from the plantation on South Africa that Ooronoko was sent. Early on in the story it becomes clear narrator completely intends to give an exceptionally detailed and vivid description of what exactly is taking place during her stay in South America and the goings on in Ooronoko’s life both before and after he becomes a slave. What the writer notices during her stay in these two foreign lands are very much what you would expect of someone who is seeing people and places for the first time. Often times when people are amazed by something or in a place for a first time, their discussions about it are usually long and explicit. Her detailed descriptions are likely a result of her being amazed at these people and their behavior and much less likely to be her making an attempt to abolish all slavery and create a better relationship with the Native Americans. *Oroonoko: the Royal Slave is a novel that does not have enough evidence for someone to say the author was advocating for the abolition of slavery or even...
Words: 3521 - Pages: 15
...behind it, you can see that it is relating to the feeling of when people get jealous of other people’s lives. The greener grass symbolizes the other person’s better, richer life. August Wilson’s play Fences provides numerous opportunities for the reader to read between the lines and find the deeper meaning of the themes in the play. I am going to discuss how the themes of the fence and the “sins of the father” carry meaning and are related to the characters Rose, Cory, Lyons and Troy. In Incidents of the Life of a Slave Girl Linda Brent is born into slavery. As a slave, then a fugitive slave and a mother, she has many fears. Linda lives each day worrying about her safety and the safety of her family. Starting from a young child, Linda was a slave she dealt with the hardship that comes with having an owner, a mistress, and having to watch her kids go through the same things. As Harriet Jacobs describes in depth in this book, slavery is hard and horrible for both men and woman, but in most cases is a lot worse for woman. Men are beat and tortured but along when being beat and tortured, woman dealt with being sexually abused. When woman were sexually abused they sometimes end up pregnant by a white man and are forced to have that child. After the child is born, the slave mother is forced to watch their children in most cases be sold to plantations or to other owners. In this book this happens to...
Words: 1394 - Pages: 6
...introduction to short stories what is a short story? - focuses on one event and has a limited number of characters - depend on the following literary elements theme, setting, character,plot setting - the time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting a) place- where is the action of the story taking place? b) time- when is the story taking place? c) weather conditions- is it rainy, sunny, stormy,etc? d) social conditions- what is the daily life of the characters like? e) mood or atmosphere- what feeling is created at the beginning of the story? is it bright and happy or dark and scary? characters -there are two types of main characters that one present in a short story: theme -a theme is the central message or purpose of the short story -examples: a) believe in yourself b) people are afraid of change plot -plot is the literary element that describes the structure of a story 1. introduction 2. rising action 3. climax 4. falling action 5. conclusion introduction - the start of the story - the situation before the action stats rising action - where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed climax - the most intense moment - the highest point of interest -the reader wonders what will happen next- will the conflict be resolved or not? falling action - all of the action which follows the climax - the events and complications begin to resolve...
Words: 630 - Pages: 3
...period. They were known as a threat. During the hook’s childhood, black families send the girl children to schools and boys children to find the work. Black males are considered dumb until they come in their fifties, because since childhood they all are illiterate, always looking for a work. The origins of these stereotypes were racial segregation, discrimination, and oppression of black males. They were aware of these stereotypes could be life-threatening. She was thinking of organizing a Mass-based literacy programs, especially to those black men who are unemployed and don't get opportunity. The organization should educate them and preparing themselves to stand by their own and compete in real world. I am totally agree on her argument. In short we have to provide opportunity to prove themselves and let them be self-determined and create positive atmosphere around them where they can show their abilities. According to me, her positive attitude shows toward equality. She is providing a good example via this book. I truly inspired by her while reading a...
Words: 546 - Pages: 3
...Brooke Allen Professor Rita Wisdom English 1302.20055 17 October 2013 Broken Heart, “The Story of an Hour.” A beautiful, young, fair skinned woman died of heart disease. How could someone so young and potentially full of life have a heart disease that would kill? The question is though, what kind of heart disease did she die from, physical or emotional? Louise died from an emotional heart disease, in other words a broken heart. Some would say Mrs. Louise Mallard from “The Story of an Hour” was relieved when she heard her husband had been killed in a tragic accident and she died when she saw her husband clearly alive walk in the front door, her heart shattered at the realization she would no longer be free. Louise was relieved when she heard the new that her husband had died because she had always felt trapped. Back in this day and age, making marriage meant for some women a form of slavery. “When she hears the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard’s obliviousness to the beauty of life breaks down under the powerful impact of emotion.”(Jamil.pg215) Before this moment she didn’t even think there was a reason to live anymore. But now as she sits in the bathroom daydreaming out the window she can see all the possibilities. In an article by Jennifer Hicks called “An overview of “The Story an Hour”” it makes a very good point that “Mrs. Mallard is not “paralyzed” by the significance that she is alone.”(Hicks) Which also shows that she was not in shock like some readers...
Words: 816 - Pages: 4
...Monarrez University Of Phoenix ENG125 James Iddings February 24,2012 Overview Imagine a city of perfection, where excitement fills the streets and happiness is present within every household. In the short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guin, this is exactly what is described. LeGuin starts the story by introducing us to the utopian city of Omelas. However, the survival of Omelas’ happiness depends on the mistreatment of one forsaken child. Although all of the citizens know about the child, most choose to accept that “all the prosperity and beauty and delight would wither and be destroyed” if the child were treated fairly. Some, on the other hand, after seeing the child and the horrible conditions it lives in, decide to walk away from it all and leave Omelas forever. LeGuin’s fantasy utopia is much like the world we live in today. There are many who suffer at the expense of those who prosper every day. Symbolism People in the world today undergo an immense amount of suffering just for the happiness of others. One example that I can think of off the top of my head would be slavery. For over two hundred years, Africans were the property of others (usually wealthy White men). They were bought, sold and held against their will. In a sense, slavery reminds me a lot of the child that was locked away in Omelas. People knew about it but there was very little that they could do. Much like the child in Omelas, slaves had horrible living conditions. They lived...
Words: 764 - Pages: 4
...Feminism is a movement that advocates for Women’s rights in a society dominated primarily by men. Feminism arises from the inequality of gender and power; feminist activists focus on issues that mainly affect women such as, domestic violence, sexual harassment, discrimination, among others. Womanism goes by the hand of Feminism; Womanism advocates for rights of black women who face gender and racial oppression. In our class text book, Women Images and Realities: a Multicultural Anthology by Suzane Kelly, Gowri Parameswaran and Nancy Schniedewind, there are several articles, poem, songs and short stories that talk about and explain in detail both, feminism and womanism. “La Princesa”, “With No Immediate Cause”, and “Whose Body Is It, Anyway?” are three of the articles that I believe express well the concepts described above. B. 1st body paragraph: “La Princesa” by Latina Anonima is a short story in which the author talks about her experience of living in a violent home. Latina was a well-educated woman living under the oppression of a violent man who seemed to give her everything but love. “I opened package after package of clothes he had picked out for me. Meanwhile I lost count of his drinks. Later that evening, I soaked the sleeve of my new coat, stained with blood from the busted lip he had...
Words: 2145 - Pages: 9
...Rape During The Antebellum Period The first African slaves arrived in Virginia, North America in 1619. As the plantations of the antebellum south flourished, the African slave trade gained momentum. Between the 16 and 19th centuries, America had an estimated 12 million African slaves (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez ). Enslavement of the African Americans formally commenced in the 1630s and 1640s. By 1740, colonial America had a fully developed slavery system in place, granting slave owners an absolute and tyrannical life-and-death authority over their slaves or 'chattels' and their children (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez ). Stripped of any identity or rights, enslaved black men and women were considered legal non-persons, except in the event of a crime committed. Documents and research on the slave era in the antebellum south are awash with horror stories of the brutal and inhuman treatment of slaves, particularly women (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez). Considered 'properties' by their masters, enslaved black women endured physical and emotional abuse, torture, and sometimes even death. By the 1800s, slavery had percolated down mainly to the antebellum south. While a majority of enslaved men and women were designated as 'field servants' performing duties outside the house, a smaller percentage, particularly women were employed as domestics or 'house servants', mammies and surrogate mothers. In the absence of any security...
Words: 3238 - Pages: 13
...ELECTIVES: America’s Colonial Foundations (0.5) America’s Colonial Foundations provides an introduction to the major topics of the establishment of British North America, their political economic and social structures, religious and intellectual characteristics and the transition from distant citizens of Great Britain to a new American identity. It will examine changing relationships with Native Americans, development of racial slavery as a labor source, and European cultural influences on the various colonial regions. American Literature (0.5) Throughout the course of American Literature, students will be able to encounter and experience the full span of America’s rich literary history. The course begins with the literary contributions of America’s first settlers, and explores how their faith and difficult circumstances shaped their lives and the literature through which they captured these early moments of America. The course then moves through the Age of Faith, during which the core of American Literature was shaped by a strong and foundational faith, and then into the Age of Reason, during which the world of science and modern thinking started to shape the literature of the times. The study of literature then moves into the Romantic period, and then the Realist period, both of which shaped American Literature at its core and brought about significant changes to the style, structure, and purpose of literature. The introduction of Modern literature includes the literature of...
Words: 1428 - Pages: 6
...In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty the author brings you into her short story by utilizing such realistic storytelling and description that as your read, you are not just reading words, you are seeing the story unfold for you in your mind. It is as though you are watching a movie. The description of the old women on the path, the environment as she walks and the attitudes of the people she comes into contact with all blend together to make it not only a story but more like a lesson in history. Phoenix Jackson is “...an old Negro woman with her head tied in a red rag...” and “…wore an old dress reaching down to her shoe tops, and an equally long apron of bleached sugar sacks..”. As would be expected of this time in history, she was probably not far removed from slavery and thus was still living in poverty so her clothes were what she could come by or make herself from everyday items. To add even more realism of character, Welty describes her as “Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead…”. In your mind’s eye, you can picture this small little old woman facing a path faced with hardship and danger, but with no inkling of fear or worry by her in her journey she is facing. The hardship of an elderly women embarking on a long walk to town is daunting in itself, but Welty realistically describes other hardships secondary to her environment that causes us to have even more admiration...
Words: 590 - Pages: 3
...The Public Lynching of Daniel Handler In the New York Times’ online article written by Jacqueline Woodson, “The Pain of the Watermelon”, Woodson publicly hanged a so-called friend, Daniel Handler. Woodson starts the article by describing her childhood experience with watermelons, in addition to learning about what the watermelon meant to the history of African-American slavery. The climax of Woodson’s frustration is expressed when she describes an incident between her and Handler during the National Book Award. Immediately after giving her acceptance speech, Handler said “‘Jackie’s allergic to watermelon . . . Just let that sink in your mind’” (2). This was a critical moment to Woodson because her mission as a writer was to “change the face of literature and erase stereotypes. Forever” (2). In Handler’s defense, Woodson only mentions to her readers one conversation between her and Handler where she describes a dinner, “last summer, at his home in Cape Cod, he served watermelon soup and I let him know I was allergic to the fruit” (2). However, throughout the article, she gives a deeper insight as she describes her allergy as a “deep revulsion that came from the psychological...
Words: 1654 - Pages: 7
...Legend of Sleepy Hollow” alongside Tim Burton’s filmic adaption of the story, titled “Sleepy Hollow,” a number of fascinating similarities and differences emerge. Though elements of the characters and settings of Burton’s film borrow heavily from Irving’s text, the overall structuring of the film is significantly different, and representations of various elements are crucially re-imagined. Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow” was released on November 19, 1999, a few months before the new millennium. Set in 1799, Burton’s film modifies the 1790 date that Irving’s text is set in, showing an acute concern with living out anxieties surrounding millennial change in the ‘safe’ formats of film and of established folk legend. Irving’s tale, written in 1820, also works with antiquity, but in a different manner: it lives out colonial cultural anxieties of Irving’s present, as he seems to be concerned with constructing archetypes of folk and with placing folk culture in the new American literary landscape. Examining the two versions of the tale, then, provides a fascinating peek into the transformation of concerns and values in America from Irving’s nineteenth century landscape to Burton’s twentieth (on the verge of twenty-first) century. Burton makes several significant moves that modify the basics of Irving’s tale, frequently at the cost of the folk elements of Irving’s version. The frame narrative of Irving’s story—the tale, part of a series titled “The Sketch Book,” begins with the preface...
Words: 3176 - Pages: 13
...Essay: Portrayal of Mothers and Motherhood Motherhood is a big task for mothers to go through. When women become mothers, they go through a lot of changes such as women after become mothers become more responsible, physical changes, etc. Motherhood is a mechanical set of duty and feelings that starts from the pregnancy to the baby birth (Akujobi, 2011). Becoming mother is a great experience that is shaped by culture and social perspective. Mothers losses their freedom, independency as when they get attached to their baby. Mothers need to compromise on many things like for example sacrificing their sleep, their food, their body, their autonomy and many other things. Motherhood images differ from culture to culture, as they filter through our worlds. Mothers though have very huge responsibilities as to bring up their children, to make them learn the language and the culture where a child belongs to but they are portrayed as the criticized figure or nonexistent. Motherhood representations is everywhere, could be good or bad and it could be empowering or being slave. Motherhood has now become such controversial topic that in the twentieth century all the feminist are talking about being mothers, experiencing mother hood and the categories of motherhood. In America there are five categories of mothers (Leary, 2008). 1) Self-absorbed who prefers independency; feels that their children are burden on them and want to achieve their personal pleasures rather than keeping care of their...
Words: 2216 - Pages: 9
