...Araby All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: "O love! O love!" many times." (92) Most human beings have experienced their first love or crush in many profound ways. In James Joyce's Araby, a young preteen boy in the dreary neighborhood of Dublin in the late nineteenth century narrates his ongoing infatuation for his best friend's sister and the mystique of Araby; the exotic bazaar. With the boy's great expectations and a quest for love comes the revelation of disenchantment and a loss of innocence. The many symbols of Araby paint a rich picture of meaning. "North Richmond Street being blind", is a real street that is a dead end which symbolizes the boys hopelessness as to be going no where.(91) Being blind also foreshadows being blinded by the light. The light vs. dark symbolism is prevalent throughout the boy's quest. “The street light from the kitchen windows had filled the areas”.(91) The dark, blind street also represents as a symbol for Ireland. So here the light becomes a symbol for the country’s future. The boys neighborhood is dark and "brown" drawing attention to the plainness and dreariness of Dublin. (91)He also uses brown to describe the figure of his crush. The "bicycle pump", rusting in the backyard is the decay of Roman Catholicism.(91) The dead priest's home lingers a restraint on the boy. The priest is a symbol of Roman...
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...“Dark Girls” is a documentary produced by Bill Duke, and Channsin Berry in 2011 in the U.S, and remote countries such as Ghana, Senegal, and South Africa (Duke& Berry, 2011). Duke got the idea for “Dark girls” when an incident occurred with one of his friend’s 10-year old daughter. “In the incident, the 10-year old young girl was in tears because a classmate didn’t care for her chocolate skin tone, and the worst of all, she was called a monkey” (Carter, 2011). After that particular incident, the project for “Dark girls” began. In the documentary, Duke& Berry wanted to explore the deep biased attitudes of skin color, predominantly dark skinned women that are within, and outside of the American culture. Furthermore, they hoped to deliver messages...
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...Black Parasol (1) It was midnight and I was a fool holding this useless broken umbrella. As I walked through the grass, I could see the trees swaying and I heard the wind whistle. (2) Here I was in this place. The place I never want to see. No matter how eerie it might look I still need to go. (3) No, I have to go whatever happens. (4) As I looked around, I finally saw what I’ve been looking for. I knelt beside it and no matter how hard I tried to forget, the memories came back like a wave crashing from the sea. (5) It was raining hard that night, at the same exact day as today, May 9, that I saw Rence, my friend and rival on that unfortunate road. (6) She was holding this same black umbrella that I was holding but it was not broken then. (7) As I watched her walk, I remembered the only thing that I wanted in my life. The one thing she took away from me. (8) I jogged towards her and called out, “ Rence, where have you been?” (9) She looked around for my voice until she found me. She waved and greeted me, “Sam! Hey, it’s nice to see you again.” (10) “Rence, Charlie has been looking and waiting for you for over an hour now.” I uttered to her feeling anxious. (11) “ Really? I must have forgotten that we were supposed to meet here somewhere. Where is he?” she replied to me looking perplexed (12) “ He is across the road to the nearest coffee shop waiting for you,” I said to her. (13) “ Thank you, Sam. I’ll be expecting you at...
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...novel, Wuthering Heights, is a proverbial soap opera stew, filled with love, lies, and deceit intertwining two families that reside only four miles apart across the moors in ever-seemingly dreary northern England. The two main characters, Catherine and Heathcliff are born to be together, but destined to be apart. Although truly happy and hopelessly in love with Catherine during the bright times in his life, Heathcliff couldn’t withstand the cruel, evil grip of jealousy and revenge that consumed him, eventually dragging all of those individuals associated with him, as well as his own being, to a dark demise. Wuthering Heights is unlike any other story that I’ve come across, and it is difficult to put a specific category label on it. Thrilling, tragic, damp, and dark, filled with villains and heroines, Bronte never clarifies who said villain or heroin is, seemingly purposefully changing the proverbial mind with each turn of the page. From the moment young adopted Heathcliff becomes friends with Catherine, it’s apparent that he is sincerely happy as he and Catherine’s love grows with each innocent tryst among the moors, ever growing from friendship into love. Catherine gives us a glimpse of that love and adoration when she states, “My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath…He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being” (Bronte, 1847, p. 64). The beginning of Heathcliff’s...
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...is excessively proud of his color/race, this is evident as when Iago throws dirt on Desdemona’s name Othello clearly enhances his belief that “she had eyes, and chose me”(Shakespeare, 3.3.192). He is confident and secure in his love and believes it overpowers the color of his skin as well as proud of his race. As Iago finally gets under Othello’s skin we begin to see the violent and color-aware Othello that had not appeared before. The dark side of Othello has supplanted the fair Othello as he replies to Iago’s trickery with “Her name…begrimed and black as my own face.”(3.3.389-91). One can see that Othello recognizes himself as an air to darkness and that he is of an evil nature. As before he took pride in his skin color, however, now he is referring to his skin as an example...
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... “Poetry is an Island” The three selected poems are Dark August, A city’s death by fire and Midsummer, Tobago by Derek Walcott. Dark August portrays the dark period in human life and talks about learning to appreciate and love the dark days. Human cannot avoid to experience the sadness and pain in life. There are many things which cannot be fixed in our life like the rain, even it stopped raining for sure it will comes again. Besides, he expresses his feelings by saying that no matter how unpleasant the life is, we must not lose hope and always face it positively. Another intented meaning of this poem can be said that even the island are being colonized by the British and the natives are suffered in the dark days but they should not lose hope and live they life as birght as possible. Derek Walcott uses this poem to describe human condition at the same time examines the postcolonial issues. A City’s Death by Fire is a lyrical poem which full with feelings of loss, sadness and disenchantment that come with the destruction of the city. The intensity of the loss is captured in the personification in the title of the poem “A City’s death by Fire”. In this poem, the city was said to be death but not the living organisms said to be death. The metaphor captures the existence of the town just like an organisms which having a life. Its heritage which...
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...understand the author’s referent.” "allusion". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/16658/allusion>. Dark Lady Sonnets 127-154 127 In the old age black was not counted fair, | Or if it were it bore not beauty's name: | But now is black beauty's successive heir, | And beauty slandered with a bastard shame, | For since each hand hath put on nature's power, | Fairing the foul with art's false borrowed face, | Sweet beauty hath no name no holy bower, | But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace. | Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black, | Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem, | At such who not born fair no beauty lack, | Slandering creation with a false esteem, | Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe, | That every tongue says beauty should look so. | 128 How oft when thou, my music, music play'st, | Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds | With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway'st | The wiry concord that mine ear confounds, | Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap, | To kiss the tender inward of thy hand, | Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap, | At the wood's boldness by thee blushing stand. | To be so tickled they would change their state | And situation with those dancing chips, | O'er whom thy fingers walk with...
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...Light Over Dark: The Choice Romeo and Juliet Didn’t Make The purpose of the light/dark motif in Romeo and Juliet is to show how Romeo and Juliet are unable to tell light from dark, or good from bad. I think everyone has the potential to distinguish what choices lead to “light” and what choices keep them in the “dark”. So Romeo and Juliet had that potential but I don’t think they wanted to know about that, since nothing else mattered to them but them. In this play, Romeo and Juliet do never make a clear choice of light over dark because they almost do not want to deal that decision in the middle of their romantic journey. They could have brought their situation which was becoming more of a mess each day, into the light by talking openly about it. However that would’ve ended the feud between the families that would have to be dealt with in some way and I’m sure Romeo and Juliet would not have lost their lives doing that. By ignoring their responsibilities and ignoring the darkness that was rising on them quickly both Romeo and Juliet allow tragedy to take them both. In the first scene, Romeo is depressed because his love for Rosaline is a one-way love. His parents are worried because Romeo spends all his time in the dark. Even when it is light, he shrouds himself in darkness to reflect his dreary mood: Away from the light steals home my heavy son / And private in his chamber pens himself / Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out / And makes himself an artificial night (I...
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...“Letter from a region of my mind" and Richard Rodriguez with his “Complexion” are outstanding writers who made an attempt and managed to reveal the true essense of the racial issues of the society. As both of them belong to racial minorities, these two works were written under the influence of experience not only discrimination but a desperate struggle to be equal and have the same life opportunities. Both of these works describe how it was hard back in the times to be “dark” and what was life converted into under the condition of having dark skin. These two works show the deep pain suffered by both of the authors and by the nations they represent. Each and every day of both James Baldwin and Richard Rodriguez was a battle in order to prove that need to be treated as being equal to white people and not just labor force. James Baldwin touches the religious aspects of the life of minorities and Richard Rodriguez speaks about how hard was to live with the fact that one’s skin was dark. James Baldwin in the book “The fire next time” wrote an outstanding essay called “Down at the cross - Letter from a region of my mind" which shows the reader the deep psychological and religious pressure that was experienced by all the black people, he opens the eyes to the fact that the principle of equality simply did not exist. One remarkable traits of “Down at the cross” is that Baldwin analyzes the religious aspect and importance of Christianity for black people. He starts this analysis from himself...
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... Light-Skin Women v Dark-Skin Women In today world some people will only hired women who is light-skinned. Why? They want someone who is pretty and can bring more people to the company. The company thinks women who is light-skinned are pretty. A light-skinned woman have nice long hair, make-up is flawless, nails is well kept, clothes are the latest business suits. The woman might not have all of the qualifications but she will learn the ropes of the business. So they hired her and to top if off her salary is the highest and comes with a nice package. In back in the bosses mind he hopes that she can catch on quick, but he will show her off to all his business partners. Now will a dark-skinned woman, who have all the qualifications they will not hired her, because the company does not see her pretty enough. They see a dark-skinned woman as greasy, nappy hair, and ghetto, and that’s to get to the point. This beautiful lady that the company will not hired, will have been a great asset to the company. The lady would have given 110% of her time, and even had ideas on how to make the company grow, she wouldn’t be concern about when is pay day and how long is her lunch so she could go the nail shop. Some women have a hard time dating, because some men will not date a woman who is dark-skinned. I think some men just want a pretty girl on his arm. They don’t even care about her just show her a good time. Some of these women might have low self...
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...expresses her love for her hair, the history that comes with it and why there is absolutely nothing wrong with her hair. In my essay I aim to prove how this poem positively represents me and my hair. There are three lines from the poem that represent me positively, the first one is "My mother tells me to fix my hair". This line is the very first line in the poem, it is said again...
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...line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 is a surprising simile: 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun'. We might normally expect poets, especially those of Shakespeare's time, to praise the women they love by telling us that their eyes do shine like the sun. But a writer of Shakespeare's calibre is not going to follow the herd and make exaggerated comparisons; here he is describing reality. Over the next few lines Shakespeare continues to describe his mistress in terms of the senses of sight, smell, sound and touch, but there is no flattery here. Colours are focused on first: 'Coral is far more red than her lips' red' tells us that lips are not naturally a bright red colour. Pale skin would have been sought after, but Shakespeare's mistress had dun-coloured breasts, dun being quite a dark colour. It seems that she did not have soft, sleek hair, as in line four it is compared to wire. Shakespeare relates that he has seen beautiful two-toned or 'damasked' roses, but that there is no rosiness in his mistress' cheeks. The poet is quite forthright in telling us that his mistress has bad breath; in fact it 'reeks', and there is no hint of perfume. Line nine gives the first compliment: 'I love to hear her speak', but Shakespeare admits in the following line that he would actually prefer music to her voice. In line eleven Shakespeare implies that the way his mistress moves could not be compared to a goddess, and he goes on to say 'My mistress when she walks treads upon the ground', creating...
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...Dear God, Will You Ever Give Me the Man of My Prayers? On April 23, 2007, I wrote the following in my beloved journal: Dear God, I want a Christian home. I want to raise a Christian family. One that goes to church on Sundays, is involved with the church, and prays together at night. I want a husband. I want a spiritual leader. [pic] Lord, will this ever be true for me? I want that man who prays for me, and I pray for him. I want a man that prays with me. I want a man that takes everyone to church on Sundays. Who’s involved with the kids at church. Who smiles because he’s drunk in love with YOU! Who relies on You. [pic] Lord, will this ever be true for me? I want a man who is unconditional in his ways (love, gifts, kindness, helping hand). Who doesn’t expect things in return – EVER. Who accepts the world as it is and doesn’t let it affect his walk with You. I want a man who wants to change the world. Lord, will this ever be true for me? [pic] I want a man that knows You!!! I want a man that will accept Your blessings even the small ones. A man that makes me feel like he can make a mountain out of a mole hill even if there is no dirt or rock to make one with. I want a man that is positive and understanding. A man that makes me push to be a better person. A man excited about life and looks forward to life after death. A man that has a spot in heaven and will help me in my spiritual journey. Because that’s what life is … a journey of...
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...caused some furor at the time. New York Times in its prodigious generosity consoled its readers by alluding to the fact that after all Tagore was of Aryan Stock. It was first published in 1913 as a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali (a language of India) Poems. Evidence does indicate that the poet W.B. Yeats had a hand in editing and publishing it! GITANJALI 1 Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life. This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new. At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable. Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill. 2 When thou commandest me to sing it seems that my heart would break with pride; and I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes. All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony---and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea. I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence. I touch by the edge of the far-spreading wing of my song thy feet which I could never aspire to reach. Drunk with the joy of singing I forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord. Page 1 3...
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...and a few straggling bushes, under one of which I found the late tenant's rusty bicycle-pump. He had been a very charitable priest; in his will he had left all his money to institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister. When the short days of winter came, dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners. When we met in the street the houses had grown sombre. The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns. The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shouts echoed in the silent street. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses, where we ran the gauntlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits, to the dark odorous stables where a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness. When we returned to the street, light from the kitchen windows had...
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