...the minority race in America, and their fight to achieve freedom. The focus of this essay is to analyze poems by two different poets during the Harlem Renaissance period, describing the role played by each author in this period. The poems to be analyzed are If We Must Die by Claude McKay and Let America be America Again by Langston Hughes. These two poems pass different messages and show the different wishes of the two poets. McKay and Hughes each contributed to the Harlem Renaissance poetry in varying ways. Hughes was a well-known artist who wrote essays, short stories, poems, and children’s books. He used his poetry to celebrate the African American community and tried to capture the life of the African Americans in his work. His major focus is on dreams, and he gives suggestions of what happens when dreams are ignored and postponed. He, therefore, played a role in airing the dreams of the black Americans who lived in Harlem, and how these dreams were shattered (Bloom, 2004). His poetry is a way of showing that the black Americans had dreams, which if they did not come true would lead to social unrest. Some people consider his poetry as a warning of what might occur if the hopes and dreams of the black American for equity did not come to pass. On the other hand, McKay also contributed to the Harlem Renaissance by writing poems that showed the anger felt by the African Americans for not being treated equally as the white Americans. Just like Hughes...
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...Ali Alnasfan Mary Mullalond English 181 December 3, 2015 Literature Analysis: The Relation of the Works of African American Authors with Islam Introduction: The African American literature is full of enthralling stories, poems and riveting facts. The authors and poets have used various themes to express their depression, anger, plea and even hope. In this essay, various themes like racial discrimination, survival, honor and homeland will be discussed. Most of these themes that these authors have used in their work have a direct relation with the religion of Islam. All these themes have been discussed in Islam and the religion has provided answers to these problems. Following works will be discussed in the essay. 1. If we must die (poem) by Claude McKay 2. A Litany for Survival (poem) by Audre Lorde 3. I have a Dream (speech) by Martin Luther King Analysis # 1: If we must Die: Honor and honorable death is one such theme that is the main focus of the poem, “If we must die” by Claude Mackay. Claude McKay wants his people that are under threat from the white people and are being killed. He wants them to die nobly. Islam has given a huge distinction to the one who dies honorably i.e. in the way of Allah. This means if a person is doing something good, or is on his way to doing a going deed and dies, he dies a martyr. The Prophet [SAW] said: "Whoever fights to protect his wealth and is killed, he is a martyr. Whoever fights to protect himself, he is a martyr....
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...hunger games arena to fight for their lives .Also, in another novel, Anthem by Any Rand Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 lived in a dystopian society where love was forbidden where they lived. In the novels The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Anthem by Ayn Rand readers will see the main characters differences and similarities of how love bought them together. Have you ever heard the saying “love will make you do crazy things?” In both novels Katniss and Equality 7-2521 love made them do crazy things. “And you find yourself rooting for lovers who literally kill themselves to stay alive” Katniss and Peeta fought against twelve other districts just to stay alive. Katniss and Peeta were both from the same district, but was love enough to keep them both alive? Equality was born in a dystopian society everything was meant to be “perfect” so apart of their perfect life love wasn’t in it. Equality 7-2521 was a different boy. He was always smarter than the others but since everyone was the same he hid his advance knowledge that he had. “We wish to write this name. We wish to break but we dare not speak it above whisper.” For men is forbidden to take notice in woman.” This is the type of world characters from Anthem lived in. “I turn in to him. Put you somewhere you cannot get hurt. And when he kissed me people in the room actually sigh.” Katniss and Peeta love was expressed freely while equality and liberty freedom was revoked from having a lover or to even know what love even...
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...hunger games arena to fight for their lives .Also, in another novel, Anthem by Any Rand Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 lived in a dystopian society where love was forbidden where they lived. In the novels The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Anthem by Ayn Rand readers will see the main characters differences and similarities of how love bought them together. Have you ever heard the saying “love will make you do crazy things?” In both novels Katniss and Equality 7-2521 love made them do crazy things. “And you find yourself rooting for lovers who literally kill themselves to stay alive” Katniss and Peeta fought against twelve other districts just to stay alive. Katniss and Peeta were both from the same district, but was love enough to keep them both alive? Equality was born in a dystopian society everything was meant to be “perfect” so apart of their perfect life love wasn’t in it. Equality 7-2521 was a different boy. He was always smarter than the others but since everyone was the same he hid his advance knowledge that he had. “We wish to write this name. We wish to break but we dare not speak it above whisper.” For men is forbidden to take notice in woman.” This is the type of world characters from Anthem lived in. “I turn in to him. Put you somewhere you cannot get hurt. And when he kissed me people in the room actually sigh.” Katniss and Peeta love was expressed freely while equality and liberty freedom was revoked from having a lover or to even know what love even...
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...I was very much interested in the Civil Rights movement, but my mother never allowed me to speak my mind about such a sensitive topic. She always thought I was just a little kid who didn’t know what she was talking about." But a young, intelligent person understood the very aspect of the Civil Rights Movement and the motives behind it. As people graduated from American High School, they attention veered towards the Civil Rights Movement and they feel it. Some communities are a predominantly black community in an inner cit. Many people in these communities do not seem as interested or affected by the historical movement. But everyone knew to follow the rules of not conversing nor interacting with whites. One person describes one hot July day, there was a rally held in Downtown Miami along with many other cities. The really lasted all day but messages were being spread. “I felt a sense of glory because it was the first time I felt a true connection with every other person in the country who was trying to make a difference in this country. “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love,” A message from Martin Luther King, JR. that showed his passion to promote unity and non-violence during the Civil Rights Movement. During the times of the Civil Rights Movement, many African Americans were angry and had hatred towards white people because of the oppression they endured for years. As a result...
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...Benzadi’s idea, the novels Fahrenheit 451 and the novella Anthem, by authors Bradbury and Rand, display that to reach a high level of satisfaction, one must have a desire for knowledge, freedom to express individuality, and a desire to belong. Once these are accomplished, true happiness can be achieved. The hunger for the unknown of knowledge often creates satisfaction through. For example, in...
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...A Dream That Is Still Coming True After studying the Emancipation Proclamation and segregation is high school, I know a little bit about black suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement. However, Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “I Have a Dream” puts it into perspective just a little bit better. No one truly knows the severity of a situation until they hear it from a primary source. If I had to pick one quote to sum up what I learned, I would have to choose, “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.” Learning about segregation in my high school was very different from reading about it in this speech. I went to a mostly white high school with very few minorities. Of course we touched on the subject and discussed how it was awful but there was no one to put emotion into it. There was no one to make us see just how unfairly African Americans were treated. Being from a small, slightly Southern town, I think I was stripped of the opportunity to become more familiar with black culture. That being said, I do think King’s speech was effective, however, the effects still haven’t reached some people. King had amazing intentions with this speech. He wanted nothing more than freedom and equal rights for African Americans. I do believe this speech was straight from the heart and sincere in every way. Personally, I think he was right in every way making this speech and saying things that no one had dared to say in public. No African American had been able...
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...Christian St. Germaine Mr. Gomez American Literature 15 April 2015 The Great Racial Debate; and Differences of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. for Racial Equality America in the 1960s was marked by an era of unfortunate segregation, violence and unrest towards African Americans in the country. They faced often-brutal violence and a government that had forgotten them in regards to human rights. Blacks needed something to be done about the harm and inequality they were facing at the time. Fortunately, two men in particular rose to the occasion to fight for what they believed in. They focused on achieving the same goal of a better society for Blacks. However, they differed greatly in regards to how they sought to complete this goal. While Malcolm X often viewed the problem as a war and wanted to ensure that his people would have the means and the power to fight back against the harmful Whites. Martin Luther King Jr. believed it would be more beneficial to both parties if the violence ceased to exist. The struggle for racial equality caused Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. to seek separate and contradictory methods of achieving what they felt was right for African Americans. One main difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. was their distinctive childhoods. The two men were raised under dissimilar circumstances and environments. It can be supposed that the way they grew up directly relates to the views they had on the racial problems and the way...
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...A sculpture of Dr. King must be complex, detailed, and pay tribute to every aspect of his heroic life. Of the five sculptures considered by the university, they absolutely made the correct choice by choosing the one which most completely reflects what Dr. King exemplified and what he accomplished. The other sculptures are simply insufficient in expressing the importance of such a wonderful man. The sculpture of just Dr. King’s head and the one of him standing and speaking do not say enough about this true American icon. A closer look at these pieces will provide further evidence for the universities decision. Wendy Ross’ sculpture of Dr. King standing and speaking is actually quite similar to the top half of the one the university chose. Dr. King is captured standing up seemingly in the middle of one of his historical speeches. Dr. King’s posture, right foot forward with his right arm extended, illustrates his ability to command attention. Dr. King was a highly respected pastor with the profound ability to deliver life-changing speeches. His posture and stance highlight Dr. King the orator, a natural born motivator. Further supporting King as a great orator is the fact the he is depicted with his mouth open, clearly engaged in speech. This highlights King’s desire and fearlessness to speak out against persecution. From his “I have a dream” speech to his Man of the Year cover in TIME magazine, Dr. King was never afraid to speak up and demand equality of African Americans. Being...
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...events at Gettysburg, indeed to the Civil War itself, by speaking about the principles for which he believed the Union stood. Lincoln states that our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the intention that all men are created equal. Then on another note goes into stating that we are now in a great Civil War which is testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so devoted, can long tolerate. He wants to make notice that we are not on a great battle-field of that war, because we have come to dedicate a portion of that field as not for war but more for a final resting place; a resting place for those who gave their lives that the nation might live. Lincoln wants people to realize that our fathers have said that we are all men created in equal, which means we should be as a whole. In 1776, the United States was a new country with a different kind of political philosophy. It was known as “The Great Experiment” because it ventured into new ground and no one knew if such a government could survive. Lincoln testes the idea whether the united States were founded on liberty and equality could survive. What was at stake was not merely lives, or money, or government control, but the actual foundations upon which the United States was founded upon. Making note to his speech and his audience he wants it to be clear that the words were said were merely only words and not as important as what the soldiers gave in the...
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...Killers of the Dream, written in 1949 by Lillian Smith, is a book that states the historical, personal, psychological, political and economic reasons which led to the segregation of the South. The book starts off with the author remembering a childhood incident with her parents that made her wonder about the hypocrisy she has been raised by in the Southern way of life. The incident is that of her mother’s friends finding a white girl at the black part of town. They believed that the girl was kidnapped and ends up living at the Smith’s house for a few weeks. The author quickly becomes friends with this girl-Janie, until her mother tells Lillian that Janie is in fact a black girl and cannot live in their home anymore. Moreover, her mother informs Lillian that she is too young to understand why, and she should not ever ask about this subject again. Hence Lillian now had to explain to Janie that colored children should not live with white children. Both children are left wondering and confused. After recollecting memories from her own Southern childhood, Lillian Smith looks closely into the region’s image of childhood. She talks about the parents’ mentality towards their children and how they are raised. Those parents enforce their children into believing that sexual desires, and all the parts of their bodies that cause these sexual desires, are shameful and should be feared; including their fear for black people. Moreover, to stimulate these fears, the parents introduce the...
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...and the desecration of the Jewish population have been in existence for nearly five thousand years. In William Shakespeare's “The Merchant of Venice”, we find that one of the characters is the subject and expression of anti-Semitic attitude that is persistent in Elizabethan society. William Shakespeare's “The Merchant of Venice” contains many examples that insult Jewish heritage because they were the minority in London in Shakespearean time. Although many parts of the play could be interpreted as offensive in modern times, Elizabethan audiences found them comical. The majority of London's population at the time was anti-Semitic because there were very few Jews living there. Shakespeare's “The Merchant of Venice” supports anti-Semitism actions and thoughts and therefore proves that Shakespeare was an anti-Semite. Antonio and Shylock, two similar businessmen of Venice, are viewed differently and are treated oppositely because Shylock is not a Christian but a Jew. One example of this is the way Launcelot treats Shylock in Act 2. In act 2, Launcelot is debating with himself whether or not he should seek a new master. Launcelot's problem is that he works for Shylock, who is Jewish. Launcelot persuades himself that, "Certainly the Jew [Shylock] is the very devil incarnation." Eventually, Launcelot convinces himself that he would much rather run away than be ruled by a Jew. Launcelot presents this argument to his father: "I am a Jew if I serve the Jew any longer." Before Launcelot...
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...grocery clerks...to collect a bill." (From Apolcalypse Now) Trying to get banks to lend in this economic climate is impossible. It’s pushing a string Clichés are usually dead metaphors: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Love is blind. It takes two to tango. Misery loves company. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Too little, too late. Tip of the iceberg But clichés can be used as the basis for a witty jujitsu by taking the form and substituting other words: • • • • • Work is the curse of the drinking classes. You can bring a whore to culture (original: horticulture), but you can’t make her think. Bankruptcy is a fate worse than debt. One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing. The leisure of the theory class. Or as Heinrich suggests, by taking them literally when they are used by others: Opponent: The early bird catches the worm You: It can have it. Opponent: Let’s not pour the baby out with the bath water. You: No, let just pull the plug. Chiasmus: [kahy-az-muh s] A reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases, as in “He went to the country, to the town went she.” • • • • "Eat to live, not live to eat" - Attributed to Socrates "Live to fly, fly to live" - Iron Maiden's 1984 song Aces High "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961. "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Winston...
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...nation. Below is a list of the values you will be dealing with most at the K-7 level. Take a look at the Core Democratic Activities I have gathered for you. They will not only help you discover if your students truly understand the concepts but give them practice identifying and internalizing them. I have put together a neat activity that I use whenever I introduce the Core Democratic Values for the first time. Take a look at The Core Democratic Sketchbook Activity and see if it fits your needs. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness Mention the Declaration of Independence to most people and the first thing that usually pops into their minds are these seven words: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The Declaration tells us that we have these rights and it is the duty of our government to protect those rights. Life A good definition here would be that as Americans we have the right to live without the fear of injury or being killed by others. We believe everyone has the right to live. Seems simple enough but there are still too many countries around the world where this basic right is not the case. In the United States it is the primary responsibility of the government to protect the lives and safety of its citizens. As we talk to kids we can share the idea that in school and life we have rules to...
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...The Acceptance of Blacks in White America From America's birth with the signing of the Declaration of Independence there have been few movements that have affected as many people as the Civil Rights movement. In a world where blacks were always seen as inferior, any other notion or conception of blacks was highly untolerated. Since Abraham Lincoln had freed the slaves in 1886, there had been no discernable change in the state of racial affairs in America. Not until Brown v. Board of Education ruled that schools should be integrated was anything done for help the plights of blacks. Even after Brown, the South met the changes with fierce and violent resistance. When CORE started their freedom rides, the activists were brutally beaten time and again by Southern whites opposed to change in their way of life. For many whites these were welcome changes that finally address the issue of racism and civil rights for all, but for the large population in the South the government telling them what to do did not sit well at all. These feelings of unrest caused many reactions from whites and blacks alike, but for whites in America these changes would rest deeply for years to come. Blacks have struggled to gain acceptance since they first were encountered with the injustice and inequality that dwelled in our country. However, whites had so repeatedly cut them down that most blacks were so far beaten into submission that hope for a better life seemed gone. The South could not stand having...
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