Heritage By Linda Hogan Summary

Her final act towards the Misfit was not out of charity, but in attempt to save herself. Set in the South in the 1950s, the grandmother dutily satisfied the stereotypes that blossomed within her generation. She speaks of the older days, when children were more respectful, and good men were easier to find. However, she never expresses what defines a good man, which suggests her unsteady moral foundation. The grandmother also explicitly articulates the racism that was unfortunately common in the South, ironically prevalent in the religious and upper middle class circles like the ones she belonged to.

They show that skin color isn’t what is important and that they should be recognized for what they do instead of how they look. This road to their achievement might not have been smooth, but all that matters is that they succeeded in the end. Through imagery, the author of the poem, Sara Holbrook, portrays a deep meaning about how an individual can cope with tribulations. She writes about new opportunities and the risks that come with taking them. It starts off by saying, “Safely standing on the bank of what-I-know, Unfamiliar water passing in a rush.”

The poem “Miscegenation” generally introduces a new concept of self-identification and identity, this is because in the past the matters of race were only evident in Americans-Africans, but it is a contentious issue. The poem explains the challenges she went through being a person of mixed race in her developmental years, therefore; lead her to experience a lot of discrimination. In the poem, Trethewey believes that the existing American laws were referencing the feelings of being different. It did cause her to doubt whether she is white, black or an individual of mixed race. During the 1960’s society did not approve of interracial marriages and considered it a sin.

The speaker in this poem uses diction, specifically colors, to create a warm tone that is associated with aspects of her childhood in order to shape the image of her identity. Phrases like “the yellow brown of Mama’s cheeks,” “burnt umber pride,” and “ochre gentleness” employ unconventional adjectives

Although a poet rooted in the folk tradition of the African American South, Finney’s work relies upon the spiritual and aesthetic influence of West African tradition, the womanist wisdom of her maternal grandmother, Beulah Lenorah Davenport, and her family’s political commitment to equality and social justice (Beaulieu 333). She mingles the personal with the public in order to share the experience with her readers and therefore truly express their feelings. “I think that my putting myself in my poetry is me saying to my readers and my listeners “I’m willing to stand here and be as vulnerable as perhaps I am making others and situations vulnerable in my work. I have to be willing to do that” (Finney, “Interview with: Nikky Finney.”).

The speaker’s grandmother is originally presented in a way that causes the ending to be a surprise, saying, “Her apron flapping in a breeze, her hair mussed, and said, ‘Let me help you’” (21-22). The imagery of the apron blowing in the wind characterizes her as calm, and when she offers to help her grandson, she seems to be caring and helpful. Once she punches the speaker, this description of her changes entirely from one of serenity and care to a sarcastic description with much more meaning than before. The fact that the grandmother handles her grandson’s behavior in this witty, decisive way raises the possibility that this behavior is very common and she has grown accustomed to handling it in a way that she deems to be effective; however, it is clearly an ineffective method, evidenced by the continued behavior that causes her to punish the speaker in this manner in the first place.

The quilt’s variety of colours conveys a link between the narrator’s multicultural family as well background. This idea is conveyed in lines fifteen through seventeen, “Six Van Dyke brown squares.. Mama’s cheeks.” Additionally, the colours of the quilt also play a role in being symbolism of the narrator’s family characteristics and love, such as in lines thirty-nine through forty, “of my father’s burnt umber pride, my mother’s ochre gentleness.” This concept is further presented in lines twenty-five and twenty-six, “Among her yellow sisters, their grandfather’s white family.”

People say you should be proud of where you come from or who you come from. And that everything you do will reflect on your family. But what if you do something to offend your family. Suddenly you’re a disgrace and an embarrassment to the family. Aunt Alexandria believes that your family background proves your status in society.

The author establishes her ethical appeal, by providing the reader with a vivid image of how her childhood was growing up colored. She let the readers see through her eyes by providing common grounds, with people of color. Growing up in an exclusively colored town, and only seen whites occasionally, gives the author no reason to see herself as colored,

Poetry Analysis Once the poem “History Lesson” was written numerous poetry foundations celebrated it for many reasons. “History Lesson” not only makes an impact on literature today it has also impacted people also. This poem inspires people and moves them to the point to where they can find a personal connection to the poem itself and to the writer. Not only does it hold emotional value for those who were victimized and those whose family were victimized by the laws of segregation, but the poem is also celebrated for its complexity. The poem uses many techniques to appeal to the reader.

The way that they are represented in the novel provides an insight into modern day native American culture unparalleled by any history book. The way women, children, men, religious figures, and senior citizens are represented in the book allow readers to see the way native Americans interact with others. These interactions allow us to see how native

The first section deals with hard headed African American women. Using prominent historical figures like Rosa Parks and Condoleezza Rice to help push the narrative along. The first poem in the section was “Red Velvet” in which she narrates the struggle of one one seamstress that became an important figurehead of a movement. She goes from there to poems about victims of hurricane Katrina in “Left” and finishing off the section with some choice words about George W. Bush in “Plunder” and one of the people under his command in the “Condoleezza Suite”. all the poems in this section

The daughters statement was clearly just her opinion on her mother passing not with any back up evidence which would of gave the mother a more solid thought on just her passing. So the speaker doesn’t seem so enthusiastic about the way her family judges her value, her worth, or her performance. The mother seems in distress which is also just like a student being graded in school and they don’t meet the standards that are set for them by others. The irony here is that rather than parents mark their children, it is the children and father who is marking her, which is the commonly thought to be the most important figure in the household and family.

In Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel, Ceremony, she uses descriptive imagery to explain Tayo’s struggles with a lack of Guidance. Growing up, Tayo was raised by his auntie, and he continues to stay and rely on her after his return from the second World War. Auntie took him in when he was young in order to hide the shame of his mother. She was ridiculed for having a child with a man who was not included in their Laguna Pueblo tribe, and to make matters worse, he was white. Neither having his father nor his mother in the picture, he finds a similar sense of family growing up alongside his aunt, uncle Josiah, and cousin Rocky.

This grandmother is proven to be unsympathetic with the use of manipulation, sneakiness, dishonesty, and unconcerned with her family’s well-being. Throughout the beginning of the short story, the grandmother begins to show manipulation and sneakiness. She wants everything to be her way and to achieve that,