...Jimmy Tang Margrave English 100 Discussion Questions for Notes of a Native Son 1) How do you interpret the title? It suggests that it’s probably letters from a son to his dad. 2) Why does Baldwin divide the essay into three sections? What is the purpose of each? It outlines Baldwin’s journey in becoming a writer. The first part focuses on the black person as an artist and on his or her image within the cultural view. The second group of the of essays is on the social political aspects of society at the time. The last section has four essays about the feelings and attitudes of Americans in Paris in the 1940’s and 1950’s. 3) How does Baldwin make the parallel stories about his father’s life and death and about racism in the United States intersect? Find specific passages and analyze them carefully. Baldwin says, “I imagine that one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once the hate is gone, that they will be forced to deal with pain.” This is about his hate towards his father and also how people hate others with racism. 4) What parallels exist between Baldwin's bitterness and his father's bitterness? Baldwin's hatred for his father and for white people? Baldwin was affected by his father’s hate which eventually grew on him too. He held it in and it worsened as time went on. This gave him a hateful personality, and was projected on white people. 5) How did the death of...
Words: 366 - Pages: 2
...Making the Connection Can the actions of the father effect your family? In the stories Notes of a Native Son, Killings, Under the Influence, and All Over but the Shoutin the father makes all of the difference in the lives of the people around him. Whether the father is a drunk, never there or just a horrible parent, it effects the children’s lives in all types of ways. The father figure in a family can either make or break a family in the stories Notes of a Native Son, Killings, Under the Influence, and All Over but the Shoutin. In the story Notes of a Native Son the father figure was in a sense, nonexistent in the family. This was because the son of the father was a second generation free slave so the son earned everything he earned and the father almost taught him nothing. Some fathers are there in their children’s lives but do not have an impact and just let the kids be which can either be a good or bad thing for the children. The son admired his father in his looks and how he took care of himself, but never admired how unappreciative his dad was of his skin color even though he was a handsome man. In the story Killings the father played a different role in wanting vengeance for his son’s death. There was nothing wrong with their family and the kids had everything going for them as they completed college...
Words: 628 - Pages: 3
...History in Native Son Richard Wright’s novel, Native Son, is a more than one man’s story--it is a piece of American history we can see in this tale of an African American young man in the ghetto of Chicago. Wright makes several statements about the African-American experience through characters and situations. By using realistic details, Wright successfully shows us what life might have been like for blacks in America, specifically in the city of Chicago, during the 1930s. Maybe one of the most prominent factors affecting the American life in Native Son is the Depression. The Depression, or the aftermath of it, is simply seen as a way of life in the ghetto that Bigger and his family and friends live. It is obvious in how Bigger and his family lived. An example of this can be seen in the apartment that Bigger and his mother, sister, and brother share with the huge black rat. According to James Davidson, editor of Nation of Nations, Millions stayed alive by foraging like animals. “In Chicago, people stood at local dumps, waiting for the next garbage truck. When one pulled away from the pile, read a 1932 report, crowd of 35 started digging with sticks, some with their hands, grabbing bit of food and vegetables.” (Davidson, et al. 949) The image of struggling to survive is evident throughout the entire novel. As a result of the Depression, the government offered public assistance commonly referred to as “relief” to those in need. Native Son also shows the existence of...
Words: 927 - Pages: 4
...Police Brutality Police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. Unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings, and rough treatment have all contributing to the ever-present problem. The abuse we see from police officers today is similar to when ending segregation was a national issue. The mistreatment then caused riots to be seen in the news. Police abusing their power has again taken their toll on communities. Recently, just as it did in the past. But today luckily, we have stopped the violence and moved to peaceful protests and marches As Baldwin says in Notes of a Native Son, “It was better not to judge the man who had gone down under an impossible burden. It was better to remember: Thou knowest this man's fall, but thou knowest not his wrassling” (1335). I take this to mean you can't judge people because they crack under a wight, but that you need to understand them and see why they acted the way they did. On August 1, 1943 a World War II veteran , Robert Bandy, was shot in the arm when coming to the aid of a black woman named Margie Polite. The white police officer , James Collins, had gotten called to the incident because Polite had been unruly and loud at a hotel and yelling at staff (“Harlem Riots of 1943”). When Collins tried to arrest Polite, Bandy appeared to defend her. After a brief argument, Bandy struck Collins with his own nightstick and Collins shot Bandy in the shoulder.Rumor spread that Bandy had been...
Words: 966 - Pages: 4
...One of the most notable points to note in Alexie Sherman’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is its portrayal of life among the Native Americans. The book, in the form of interconnected short stories details mostly the experiences of ‘Thomas builds the fire’ and Victor Joseph. The experiences of the two notable characters has been based on the people they relate with such as their family members and the people they interact with at the Spokane reservation. The book has presented Native Americans in different ways that at times come out negatively and in stereotypical fashion. The experiences of Native Americans in Sherman’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven can be seen mostly through what Victor goes through as he struggles...
Words: 1300 - Pages: 6
...Wright, Richard (4 Sept. 1908-28 Nov. 1960), author, was born Richard Nathaniel Wright on Rucker's Plantation, between Roxie and Natchez, Mississippi, the son of Nathaniel Wright, an illiterate sharecropper, and Ella Wilson, a schoolteacher. When Wright was five, his father left the family and his mother was forced to take domestic jobs away from the house. Wright and his brother spent a period at an orphanage. Around 1920 Ella Wright became a paralytic, and the family moved from Natchez to Jackson, then to Elaine, Arkansas, and back to Jackson to live with Wright's maternal grandparents, who were restrictive Seventh-day Adventists. Wright moved from school to school, graduating from the ninth grade at the Smith Robertson Junior High School in Jackson as the class valedictorian in June 1925. Wright had published his first short story, "The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre," in three parts in the Southern Register in 1924, but no copies survive. His staunchly religious and illiterate grandmother, Margaret Bolden Wilson, kept books out of the house and thought fiction was the work of the devil. Wright kept any aspirations he had to be a writer to himself after his first experience with publication. After grade school Wright attended Lanier High School but dropped out after a few weeks to work; he took a series of odd jobs to save enough money to leave for Memphis, which he did at age seventeen. While in Memphis he worked as a dishwasher and delivery boy and for an optical company....
Words: 907 - Pages: 4
...Nichole Oliver Professor Scott ENG-ENF 3/III April 23, 2016 We Should Abolish Columbus Day Only two federal holidays in the United States bear the name of two specific men, ironically one of them fought racism -- Martin Luther King Jr., and the other was a genocidal racist – Chistopher Columbus. Opposition to Columbus Day (observed on the second Monday of October) has intensified in recent decades, while the former passes each year with relatively little controversy. The issue of if we should still celebrate Columbus Day is widely discussed. The topic remains important because it concerns fundamental moral and economic questions related to the origin of how Christopher Columbus got his recognition. In my essay I will touch on the ongoing debate of if we should erase Columbus Day as one of our federal holidays. As our young minds are still developing and processing information of our history, which hopefully holds an importance to the American citizens of this great nation, there is a poem taught to children about our history. How does the saying go? Ah, yes! In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue… We are taught that Columbus is viewed a valiant adventurer that opened up the worlds eyes by discovering the Americas; on the contrary, he is perceived a symbol of slavery and genocide. His trip to America is often claimed as a voyage of bravery in his attempts to discover new lands and did however lead to the permanent colonization, settlement, political...
Words: 1389 - Pages: 6
...world. Sherman Joseph Alexie, notes this idea in an interview with Mr.Moyers when being prompted about developing great work. For in his words, “truly great work comes from an artist who is in a manic and or depressed state of being” (Sherman Alexie). This is where Alexie sees himself creating his best works because a surge of emotions rises up and write themselves out in his clinically diagnosed manic depression. Through his works, he “challenges and explodes” the common ideology of Native...
Words: 840 - Pages: 4
...mixed-race Robert Wright his heir, and often told him he had particularly light skin for his race. As Robert grew up, he was largely regarded in the same way a well-off white man would have been, which is probably why so many white citizens ignored his illegal marriage and supported his divorce. There are several factors that influenced his “whiteness”; not only was he the son of a white man, but the remarks made by those who knew him imply that...
Words: 696 - Pages: 3
...English 311.01 (13471): The History of African-American Writing Fall 2015 Tuesday, Thursday 11:00-12:15 JR 244 Professor Nate Millsnathaniel.mills@csun.eduOffice hours: Tuesdays 1:00-3:30 and by appointmentSierra Tower 718 | Course Description / Objectives Through a historical survey of the work of major African-American writers from slavery to the present, this course will examine the defining features of African-American expression. The course is organized around a foundational question: what makes African-American literature African-American? Is it just a set of texts that happen to have been written by authors who identified as black in their respective historical moments? Are there distinct formal and thematic paradigms that unify these texts into a coherent literary tradition? What relation do black texts bear to other black texts, as well as to the Western canon? Are African-American texts necessarily “political,” by definition protesting the social and political marginalization of black people in America? Do African-American texts represent the particular experiences of African Americans, or do they (also?) address universal problems and experiences? The cultural, literary-formal, and political distinctiveness of African-American writing will thus be the guiding theme of this course’s rigorous, fast-moving survey. Additionally, students in 311 will acquire knowledge of the following: * The ways African-American...
Words: 4012 - Pages: 17
...authors, in which Wright composed his first novel, Uncle Tom’s Children. During this time, Wright joined the Communist party, which was often carried out into his writings. By 1939, Wright had moved to New York City and kept ties with the party for only a few more years. He married in 1941, and had left the communist party by 1944. During World War II, Wright lectured around New York. With the end of the War, Wright moved to France in 1947 where he continued to write his novels, which often contained themes of racism, poverty, and political matters. His books were often partly based on his life and what he had observed in his lifetime. Wright was the first African American author to be featured in the “Book of the Month Club” for his novel Native Son. In 1995, all of Wright’s books were reissued in 1995 in their original context after being censored by publishers for the explicit nature of his novels (which contained themes of sexual, Communist, and racial content). However, Wright was unable to see the reissued books, for Wright was laid to rest in 1960. 2....
Words: 4394 - Pages: 18
...The Hansberry vs. Lee case took place in the year of 1940. When Hansberry and his family moved into a white neighborhood. While they were living in that neighborhood the house owners gathered together to sign the racial restrictive covenant. A racial restrictive covenant is a contract for house owners agreeing that black people cannot purchase or lease lands from home owners. Hansberry was notified through a note saying that he and his family has to leave their house because of the covenant. Hansberry brought the note to the court saying that he will sue them for what they are doing to him and his family. After hearing his complaint the court explained to him that it was okay for them to do that because of the covenant. Hearing this, Hansberry...
Words: 263 - Pages: 2
...Minority Groups in the Revolution: Women, Blacks and Native American Cherdae O. Kirkland History 121 02A Instr. Shuman April 19, 2011 Introduction The American Revolution began in 1775. It was a war fought between Great Britain and thirteen British colonies. It was also called the American Revolutionary War, United States War of Independence. The conflict between the British troops and the colonist began in Lexington and Concord Massachusetts when the Patriots (colonists who rebelled against British control) fired at British Soldiers in April 1775. Tensions were mounting from the Patriots or colonists, who were an angry about having to pay British taxes with little or no parliament representation. The Patriots wanted their independence from British rule and the opportunity to form the own government system. Although the war was originally a civil war between the British and the thirteen colonies, it quickly turned into an international conflict. This war lasted for eight years. “The turmoil of the revolution disrupted traditional class and social relationships and helped transform the lives of people who had long been relegated to the social periphery---African Americans, women and Indians.” Role of Women in the American Revolutionary War During the American Revolution, women played an active role in the British and American armies. Many of these women were wives and daughters of the soldiers. A lot of the women made small contributions to the war, but those...
Words: 2305 - Pages: 10
...Paper 1 Outline and Notes The Selling of Joseph Thesis: During the age of Samuel Sewall, a time where both slavery and religion were prevalent aspects of an everyday society, Sewall outlined within a three page pamphlet titled “The Selling of Joseph”, the great differences between Sewall’s views, opinions, and even contradictions of natural rights as well as slavery, where he uses scripture and his own developed worldview pertaining to racism, and the general population’s. I. Sewall’s devotion to his religion and to the Bible is what backs his opinions and his view of slavery a. public positions address specific concerns about the rights of Native Americans and of African-Americans brought as slaves to the colonies b. “The Selling of Joseph” addresses his position on some of the inhumanities of his “fellow sons of Adam” c. His somewhat literal interpretation of the Bible is what leads him to his opinion about slaves d. What sets Sewall apart from other anti-slave sympathizers is his public opinion II. His views of natural rights can be contrasted to those of the early explorer Christopher Columbus e. Both exaggerated as most did during this time f. Sewall may have exaggerated in asserting that slave resistance had caused “many” to begin thinking about the value of maintaining the institution III. Sewall was a living contradiction in his beliefs g. He wrote the first anti-slavery piece of literary but was he himself...
Words: 373 - Pages: 2
...the Perseid dynastyof Danaans there, was the first of the heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths of the Twelve Olympians. Perseus was the Greek hero who killed the Gorgon Medusa, and claimed Andromeda, having rescued her from a sea monster sent by Poseidon in retribution for QueenCassiopeia declaring that her daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than the Nereids. Contents [hide] * 1 Etymology * 2 Origin at Argos * 3 Overcoming the Gorgon * 4 Marriage to Andromeda * 5 The oracle fulfilled * 6 King of Mycenae * 7 Descendants of Perseus * 8 Perseus on Pegasus * 9 Modern uses of the theme and pop culture * 10 Argive genealogy in Greek mythology * 11 Notes * 12 References * 13 External links | ------------------------------------------------- [edit]Etymology Because of the obscurity of the name Perseus and the legendary character of its bearer, most etymologists pass it by, on the presumption that...
Words: 2863 - Pages: 12
