Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Essay about Use of the Fences Metaphor in Describing...

Use of the Fences Metaphor in Describing Racial Injustice in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the Song Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and August Wilsons Fences In todays world it is difficult for young people to get a good handle on the past. This is especially the case when talking about the history of African-Americans in the United States and the consequences of racial injustice which they faced. Toni Morrison shares her thoughts on this topic in her novel The Bluest Eye through the use of the metaphor, the hem of life. This idea of marginalizing African-Americans was used well to describe the hardships of most African-Americans throughout history. A more effective metaphor was†¦show more content†¦Douglass expressed these emotions in his narrative and could be seen in particular when he was utterly astonished, since [he] came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness (367). With slavery came a fence of ignorance towards African-Americans. The contempt Douglass expresses clearly depicts the difference between the thought patterns of people in the south as compared to the somewhat naà ¯ve thinking of the north. Douglass makes it sound as if there is a line or fence that ran right across the country where the people on the side seemed to be uneducated about what was happening south of them. The spirituals which Douglass detested so much can also be looked at when using fences to describe the history of African-Americans. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is a spiritual that leaves its meaning up for interpretation, but still makes the point that slaves wanted to cross into a free society. The first way one may interpret this spiritual is by saying it is describing slaves being taken away via the underground railroad to safety. It is written, [t]ell all my friends Im coming too (371), so perhaps those who were singing want to join their friends in safety. The slaves are saying they want to break away from restraint and go to where they can be free. They would then be crossing over the fences of supreme oppression to a place were whereShow MoreRelatedParable Of Despair By Octavia Butler2151 Words   |  9 PagesThomas Sweeny-Wong Period 5 Parable of Despair The world is dying. There is too much injustice. We need to fix it. --Thomas Sweeny-Wong The future is tough to predict. Parable of the Sower is a very well-written science fiction novel by Octavia Butler. The setting is California in the year 2025. The world is not prosperous anymore and has turned into a poverty stricken place. There are countless homeless people, jobs are scarce, and there are very few communities of homes. The fewRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesnumbers on foreign-born peoples counted in national censuses. This, too, is an imperfect form of measurement because some censuses count foreign birth, while others only count foreign residents who have not become citizens and others merely note racial or ethnic distinctions. This measurement may also count people who did not move while international borders moved around them. The many nations that emerged from the breakup of the Soviet Union account for a good proportion of the increase fromRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesattribute the work in the manner specified by the author, namely by citing his name, the book title, and the relevant page numbers (but not in any way that suggests that the book Logical Reasoning or its author endorse you or your use of the work). (2) Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial purposes (for example, by inserting passages into a book that is sold to students). (3) No Derivative Works You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. An earlier version of the book was

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