Literature Core (1080-01 S2022)
In “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks ,the speaker focuses on the “We” throughout the poem. When reading the poem, it’s mandatory that you paused before and after the “We”. This poem is for African American people and signifying for the people during the Civil Rights Movement.
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 Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson Spires, Riley and Brother Man, who are two young black men, get shot by the police after a violent altercation between them, knowing that neither of the two men were armed. This event in the text can easily be interpreted as police brutality toward black people.…
Within the short story, “First Day”, the experience of the characters demonstrates discontent created by racial profiling. As the mother and her daughter visit each school their respective interactions are juxtaposed with one an other in order to exemplify how some people make prejudices based on race. While this hate may seem subtle, the author…
In the text Heads of the colored people by Nafissa Thompson Spires, a formal textual element visible was when the journal was showing a picture of Riley with cornrows at a throwback party, as well as a mugshot of Brother Man explaining a crime he committed five years ago after their death. Riley’s mother and…
In the short story “Gorilla, my love”, the true importance of somebody’s name and the value it holds to their identity is exhibited by the text. In this story the main character is Hazel, a young girl who tells of her past. She shares about living with her family and some of her most common…
Identify a specific formal element and briefly explain: In the prose “Blackness”, written by Jamaica Kincaid, the author frequently mentions blackness. Blackness not only is the main idea of the prose, but it also has many different layers and meanings to it. The narrator has a complicated and conflicted relationship with blackness. From my understanding,…
“And Love Them?” is a short story was published in 2000 by Thomas Glave, a black author and activist from the Bronx. The story is an inner discussion with the thoughts from a white woman’s perspective. The story her thoughts tell is her perception of black people. She her thoughts has a constant battle with…
Backwacking, a Plea to the Senator is a text written in 1977 by Ralph Ellison. This narrative is about a citizen who wrote a letter to the Senator. In the letter, the white man is complaining about an abominable physical practice, according to him, among black people that he calls “backwacking”. During his piece, the…
White Rat is a short story written by Gayl Jones in 1977. The White Rat is told through a narrator who is known to many of his close friends as the “white rat”, and this is because of his very white skin color while being an African-America. The short story details the White Rat’s relationship…