Rita Wong Forage Poem

The poem mentions a flower, one that is “unsweetened by rain, untarnished by simpering, uncuckolded by men” (Maracle 156), pointing out to the reader that the flower is tenacious regardless of the situation that it is placed in. Maracle intentionally chooses a flower to represent the Chinese, as oftentimes a flower is symbolizes “strength and courageousness” (Koehn 1952) in chinese culture, revealing the respect that Maracle has for the Chinese. A discriminatory act upon the Chinese was the racial segregation into Chinatown during the time of the gold rush and the building of the railroad. Overtime, the segregation caused many Chinese to be silenced, fearing for their lives. Maracle chooses to dedicate the poem to Sky Lee and Jim Wong-Chu to show gratitude for the developments they have made towards encouraging the Chinese community to speak out against

Within her poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Phillis Wheatley takes a rather unique stance regarding the concept of slavery, a topic that was controversial during her time. Wheatley begins by stating that it was “mercy” that had brought her from her native “Pagan” land to the world of God and Salvation. With her embedded passion within the poem, a reader can easily infer that Phillis truly appreciates that she was able to learn the notions of Redemption and Heaven from her gruesome travels. This is a rather ironic situation a former slave could be in, for her physical pain would drastically outweigh her spiritual revelation. Later on, Wheatley proceeds to address the racial issue that was prevalent in America.

The dearth of believable portraits of Black Americans and the desire to rediscover the lost voices and tales left in Louisiana have a vital shaping influence on the form and subject matter of Gaines’s fiction. Thus Gaines becomes ‘the Bayou Griot’ and enlivens his novel with the history of local events and people. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is about struggle, fate and people. Jane is full of ‘that oldest human longing for self¬ revelation’ (Byerman 122). As a craftsman Gaines decided to let his eponymous character tell the story of her life in her own

After studying the map of Washington D.C, the best place to place the monument should be on the narrow strip of land off Independence Avenue SW, and a bit north-east of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. This is a perfect place for it because of many reasons. First, it resembles the importance of how being a minority proved difficult for him and his family. Also, the close proximity to the Potomac River can remind people of the famous time when Cesar dropped boxes of farm-picked grapes into the ocean as a boycott. Overall, with this location and the way the monument will be built, Cesar Chavez and his accomplishments will now be rightfully recognized in Washington

Professor at University of Florida, William Goldhurst in his analysis, A Parable of the Curse of Cain, implies that throughout the novella, Of Mice and Men, author, John Steinbeck illustrates the biblical conflicts between the brothers of Cain and Abel. He supports his claim by first mentioning how Cain is punished by God and becomes a indigent agricultural worker who had to work hard and grapples tremendously. This is like the characters in Steinbeck’s book because they are are paddock workers and are diligent. Then, how the personas in the book overlook loneliness, like how Crooks is segregated from the rest of the group because he is ebony and how Curley’s wife constantly wants someone to talk to her, which is like Cain when he was cursed

Sandra Steingraber is an ecologist and author who writes about the relationship between the environment and human health. Her written work titled “Despair Not” discussed how the murder of an abolitionist connects to the greatly relevant environmental crisis. No, the murder of one man did not ruin the environment, but the author uses this as a metaphor and connection between her personal experiences and current environmental and health issues. This method of persuasive writing has numerous advantages and disadvantages, therefore affecting its credibility. Two Crises, One Cause Steingraber writes that it is the time to face the environmental crisis in the spirit of Elijah Lovejoy.

Modernity has been mainly characterized by its imperialistic policies and colonizing endeavors, which while creating the current legal organization of the world have largely marginalized the many indigenous groups who originally occupied the conquered lands (Andrews and Walton 600). Although post-modern societies have seen an increase in the awareness of these matters, American-Canadian author Thomas King has dedicated his work to throwing light on issues still not tackled. In his short story “Borders”, King tells the adventure of a Blackfoot mother and her child, who try to cross the border to the U.S. but refuse to declare their nationality. It is through his masterful choice of narrator and the careful depiction of the mother’s struggle to maintain her Blackfoot identity that the author conveys the many difficulties First Nations face in their effort to keep their heritages alive. The narrator of the story is a twelve-year-old boy whose candid view of the events allows the reader to appreciate the struggle to maintain an individual identity in the face of a globalized world.

The most interesting idea expressed in the article about folklore in As I Lay Dying was how the conflict in the story is actually man vs. man instead of man vs. surroundings. The concept that Addie is the antagonist opposed to the disastrous trip the rest of the Bundrens take to bury is an argument as to why the story is folklore in its form. The one type of the five basic folk stories that As I Lay Dying can be classified as in relation to the above point is “those materials that treat the predicament of the mourning husband who cannot bear to part himself from his dead wife and thus carries her corpse along with him.” This action is performed both literally and metaphorically. While Anse is taking Addie’s body to be buried, he is also holding

In “The Plague,” Albert Camus explores the philosophy on the Absurd. He choses to express this theme through natural disaster, the bubonic plague, to represent the unpredictability absurd forces of nature that are hostile to men and how they react. The symbolic plague represents a multitude of ideas, but its purpose is to put humans to thought and action whereby they rise above themselves. Even though the plague is just an expression of men’s lack of power in the world, Camus esteems the wonderful nature of human effort to live and love and make meaning in spite of the Absurdity. Camus intends in “The Plague” to use literary techniques to enhance the Absurd ideas in life, to provide man a mental image of the Absurd, to demonstrate the human desire for meaning, and also to reveal the protagonists’ motivations to continue in life despite the Absurd.

My take on cultural sensitivity began even before I was born. Growing up in a world ravaged by foreign interventions and social tensions, my Korean grandfather was compelled to escape to more peaceful country, one less flooded with the looming sounds of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Russian Ground Army. Twelve hundred miles away, my grandmother struggled with poverty in Yangjiang, China, living off the wild grasses and berries that grew in the humid region. How these two individuals met in Hong Kong and immigrated to the United States is another story as remarkable as the tale of