Literature Core (1080-01 S2022)
The short story “The First Day,” written by Edward P. Jones, demonstrates the struggles of black education and disconnect within the school system. The process of the mother and daughter on their way to the first day of school magnifies the inequality of the school system. By closely reading and following their journey one is…
In Edward P Jones’, “A Butterfly on F street”, it shows the geography of where the story took place. The geography is used to show a difference between cultures and financial situations of white families and families of color. This story is emphasizing that when it comes to wealth and privileges there is a difference…
In her short story White Rat, Gayl Jones “curses” White Rat with a black club-footed baby after he decides to leave his black family and visit the white bar. By cursing him after he visits the white bar, Jones portrays how Rat essentially goes back on his ‘vow’ of being black and examines the idea…
In the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks the use of cutting sentences in half allows for the juxtaposition of the subject “We” and the action. This creates emphasis not only on the “We” but also what follows it. Brooks does this by using visual representation, repetition of the word “We”, and using couplets.…
In Gayl Jones’ “White Rat”, the author displays short anecdotes through the main character White Rat to show the effect of having white skin on a black person’s identity. White Rat’s comments on his past are said in more lighthearted sense, but it is clear in his stories, jokes, and his adamant arguing to others…
In “Shift”, Nalo Hopkinson uses a change of perspective by splitting the narration for two characters to explore how two related people, siblings, can have different identities and perception of how they fit in their individual “blackness”. As Caliban choses to flee his black culture- to conform to the standards of white women, Ariel chooses…
Edward P Jones’, “A Butterfly on F Street” uses geographical barriers to highlight cultural, specifically financial differences between families of color. Following the death of Mildred’s, the protagonist, ex-husband, she runs into his mistress in the heart of Washington D.C. The story follows their awkward interaction while mentioning the key differences in both of their…
In a scene from Thomas Glave’s And Love Them, the narrator grows fearful of a black man walking down the same street as her at night, assuming that he will attack her. When she sees him hail a cab, her fears are briefly relieved but replaced with anger when he does not reciprocate her smile.…
In Nalo Hopkinson’s “Shift”, the audience sees the perspectives of Caliban and Ariel and how, even though related, have very different views of the world. Caliban seems to have abandoned his mothers and sisters native ways and now finds safety and comfort in shifting his personality to the likes of the people he is around.…
In “And Love Them?”, author Thomas Glave illustrates how the white woman’s inner thoughts perceive people of color in two different ways. She often judges people of color and experiences hateful thoughts towards them during innocent interactions, and she later attempts to justify those demeaning thoughts. The author demonstrates the complex and contradictory relationship between…