Analysis Of Seven Colored Girls By Ntozake Shange

Evidence suggests that Gilman based “The Yellow Wallpaper” off her own life. In 1884, Gilman happily married Charles Walter Stetson but soon became distant and depressed. Stetson was very overprotective and affectionate which caused her depression to severely worsen, and ultimately caused their marriage to end. As Carl N. Deglar states in his article, “Her illness became more severe, however, and ended in a total nervous collapse” (39-42). This is likely where Gilman got the theme of oppression when writing “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

During the time when Morrison wrote this story, racial discrimination was common and many people faced the consequences of it. This paper would try to highlight the issue of racism and how it affected people in their lives. ‘Recitatif’ the witty piece of literature by the Morrison is based on the two girls whose mother had abandoned them. They are from two different backgrounds as one is a white girl and the other is black. Toni Morrison deliberately hides the true identities of the girls so that she could keep her readers on their toes, constantly guessing the true backgrounds of Twyla and Roberta.

Based on this novel, the enforcement of racism will result in a lifetime of suffering. Rosaleen, the protagonist’s closest black friend, is negatively impacted by the experiences she encounters with three white nigger haters. As Rosaleen and Lily (main character of the novel) are entering the town of Sylvan, the three nigger haters begin judging Rosaleen due to her black appearances. Gradually, Rosaleen becomes more and more irritated with their insults.

The movie clearly exposes the many ways that the human dignity of African- American maids was ignored. They had suffered daily embarrassment but were able to claim their own way dignity. The film described about empowerment of individuals as well as about social justice for a group. It is a moving story depicting dehumanization in a racist culture but also the ability to move beyond the unjust structures of society and to declare the value of every human being.

White Lies by Natasha Trethewey is a poem about a girl that struggle to find her identity. Identifying our self in society sometimes can be difficult, but having multiple racial backgrounds can make it twice as difficult. Trethewey was born in 1966 to a white father and a black mother in Mississippi where at the time it was illegal the interracial marriage. Therefore, we can infer she is the girl she refers to in the poem. In the poem, the author talks about her childhood and how difficult was for her growing up being half white half black.

She deliberately repeats the same phrase in the beginning of each sentence to emphasize the violation of rights women face and make the idea prominent to the audience. She also emphasizes the “duties” that women are sometimes obligated to do within the family when she states that “families rely on mothers and wives for emotional support and care. Families rely on women for labor in the home. And increasingly, everywhere, families rely on women for income needed to raise healthy children and care for other relatives.” She is able to clarify how women are as equally, if not more important than men when it comes to the responsibilities and how their rights should be treated as

“I raise up my voice-not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” As stated by Malala Yousafza. Kate Chopin, an American feminist of the 20th century, takes a stand against feminism and uses her short story “The Story of an Hour” to call attention to the fact that women were oppressed in their marriages in the late 1800’s. Feminism refers to a broad range of ideas, approaches, and philosophies directed toward justifying equality for woman. It is a movement that seeks to achieve social rights for women in all key areas of life including marriages.

And by writing a book based on secret interviews, she tries to understand the lives and relationships between black maids and white housewives, during the Civil Rights Movement. Celia Foot is also an important character; she is the new “white trash” woman in town who is childless and rejected by the other women because of her immodesties. Indeed, both of these women have strived to overcome the stereotypes of their time by refusing to conform to the traditional gender role of women in

“Presents from my aunts in Pakistan”, depict the desperation of a young girl’, trying to reflect on her identity while being multi-cultural, with no fixed identity. Whereas, Maya Angelou “Still I Rise” addresses a whole race of African-americans being discriminated acting as an inspiring identity under the oppression of

Symbolism and authors style and its effect on the plot In literature, authors will often utilize symbolism in order to develop characters and plot. In The Bluest Eye, the author, Toni Morrison portrays an African American girl named Pecola, who is stricken with longing for a better life. As she muddles through her difficult childhood, her once innocent interpretation of race and beauty are deformed by the beauty standards that dominated the mid-20th century society. She believes that beauty is dependent upon love, and her self-image, in particular, her eyes, plays a big role in the novel. She consistently attributes her struggles and failures to her lack of blue eyes, and believes that by having blue eyes, her struggle will go away.

The United States is known as the place to achieve the American Dream and one of the attributes that make the U.S. distinctive is variety of races and ethnicities from people all across the country. According to Romesh Ratnesar in his essay “Beating the Wrap”; he believes that people of mixed-race ancestry should not identify themselves as belonging to one race or another, but as “multiracial.” On the other hand, I do not agree with this statement. I believe that how people choose to define their race is their personal decision. If they want to consider themselves multiracial, that is acceptable or if they want to consider themselves another race that is acceptable as well.

African American women make up eight percent of the United States population, the women in this minority group deal with negative and positive stereotypes on a daily basis. These stereotypes are apparent within mainstream media. With today’s children having more access to media. now more than ever, they are subjected to these stereotypes at a young age (Adams-Bass, Bentley-Edwards, & Stevenson, 2014, n.p.). When blacks have more Afrocentric features like thick lips, bigger noses, or a darker skin tone, they are more likely to have a negative stereotype towards them (Conrad, Dixon, & Zhang, 2009, n.p.).