Hard Rock In Prison Analysis

Hard rock being rebellious led to the death of not only him, but his peers who supported him in silence. Hard Rock’s punishment helps visualize how it served as a warning to the other men to not be heroic, the prisoner’s just need to worry about themselves, rather than being brave and revolting like Hard Rock did. Knight’s use of imagery is a reminder of how brave African Americans who wanted equal rights were not necessarily

Close Reading In Chapter One of Our Spiritual Strivings, W.E.B Du Bois constructs a powerful argument about the history and experience of African Americans in America and how it has shaped their identity as people. He uses vivid imagery, historical context, personal anecdotes, and rhetorical questions to make his point that despite all the struggles endured by African-Americans throughout history they have still managed to find ways to stay connected with their spiritual selves through music and artistry. How this paragraph contributes to the writer's larger argument is the difference between white people and their storm and stress and black people “rocks are a little boat on the mad waters of the word sea.” I picked rocks our little boat to refer to black people because we have to take on many difficult obstacles to truly be free, but it is a distant goal.

In the poem, Johnson’s use of inclusive words like “we”, “our” and “us”, fused with anaphoras in each stanza, allow him to address black Americans in the north and south. Johnson uses phrases like “Let us”, “Let our”, and“We have come”, “Keep us”, and “Lest our” to unify black America and build community and culture shattered by American racism and prejudice. Without a strong foundation, how could black America improve from its “Bitter”, “Stony”, “dark”, “weary”, and “gloomy” past? Johnson’s inclusive word choice forces a shared experience among black Americans, making the issues at hand a national issue and not exclusively a southern one; hence Black Americans had to work together to reach “the white gleam” of “victory”. Johnson’s appeals to black America are further extended in his pleas for strengthening faith and progress for black Americans as well;

It is clear that the inmates are devastated about what has happened to their hero, Hard Rock. He was the only one that believed in standing up for his and the other inmates dignity and pride. The majority of the inmates believed that “He had been our Destroyer,

This album speaks to the freedom struggle that African Americans faced at that time. By using his music, Duke Ellington is able to narrate the struggles, triumphs, and emergence of individual identity in early African American culture.

Jimmy Santiago Baca’s Self Revelation Through Poetry A man with nothing to lose could be considered more dangerous than a man with everything to gain. The back and forth, up and down, side to side story of Jimmy Santiago Baca’s life shows that a man fighting for survival yearns more than a man fighting for simple possessions. Prison takes a toll on people differently, but those people have to accept the fact that jail is now their home for the time being. Some may continue along the beaten path, consuming themselves with regret, anger, or denial; but, some may seek a smoother path, digging deep and figuring out how to modify their lives for the better.

Audre Lorde’s poem “Coal” utilizes contrasting imagery and repetition to further express her shifting emotions and struggles with her identity as a result of oppression. The poem speaks volumes about the experiences of an African-American and Lesbian identifying individual during the late 1970s. The speaker's application of these devices inflicts a profound impact on the poem's overall message and meaning. In the beginning and end of the poem, Lorde shows how repetition and contrasting imagery aren’t mutually exclusive, but rather intertwined.

It may not be cause for concern if one is unfairly found guilty for a simple act, such as, stealing a cookie, but what if the act in question was more severe… more intense so to say. What if one were to be blamed for a crime as serious as murder? Worst, what if the reason for conviction was based primarily on the color of an individual’s skin and an untrustworthy testimony. In order to inform his listeners of such injustice towards African-Americans within in the United States, in particular, Rubin Carter, Bob Dylan skillfully employs the rhetorical strategies of imagery, pathos, and metaphor in his popular song “Hurricane”.

A song is only seen as lyrics that are put together with a beat to sound good and entertain others, but they also tell a story in a few minutes that make their listeners feel what it’s like to be discriminated, putting them into the shoes of African Americans in this time period. This then

There is such a bigger meaning to these poems on overcoming hardships in life that everyone has to go through. To not give up and to fight for what is

Analysis of Contemporary Poetry The poem Hard Rain, by Tony Hoagland was published in 2010. This is an example of contemporary poetry, meaning it was written within our lifetime. With this in mind, the whole poem centralizes on the concern of American contemporary culture. The author employs a declarative diction to assert his feelings toward American politics.

All of the suggestion in the song point to the need to respect others and give them dignity they deserve as fellow human beings. There are several examples of times when this can be applied. The first stanza states “the key is always under the mat”, meaning that there is always a place where the door is open, and where a person can go to feel safe. In these times there are many people who are homeless, we should help work toward producing a place where they can go and feel safe. In the next line it reads “go to church “cause your momma says to”.

By stressing that he is equal in society and it is something that people will start to realize is reinforced in the last stanza. The last stanza “I, too, am America,”(18) where the word ‘sing’ from the first stanza is changed to ‘am.’ This is a powerful way to close the poem, reinforces the greater notion that not only is he a voice in society, but he is the very essence that is part of

Wherever we may come from, we can do amazing things in this world. In this world, every human being can be anything they strive to be. Lupe Fiasco released the inspirational song, “The Show Goes On,” on October 26, 2010, as the first single from his third studio album Lasers. He uses motivational and inspirational phrases to motivate the audience to never give up even if they are going through the hardest parts of their lives. Fiasco uses his past to connect to the targeted audience, that being the less fortunate families and those who grew up in harsh conditions.

Smith goes on in the fourth stanza to say this is the story of minorities that save themselves standing next to the addicts, exiles, and children of slaves. It is the broken people that are the heroes of this story. A shift is noticeable beginning in the fourth stanza because the poem changes from what the poet wants the movie to be to what elements the movie is prohibited to have. Danez Smith claims he does not want a “hmong sexy hot dude” to save the day with “a funny yet strong, commanding black girl buddy-cop” then uses Will Smith and Sofia Vergara as an example. The preceding lines go on to say there will be grandmas taking out Raptors while sitting on her porch and for once a movie will not obsess over violence, race, and status, only normal people doing amazing