Tiffany James- English 145

“ Giri listened silently. She knew that although the groom had to pay a bride-price in their community, still a girl was only a girl. She had heard so many times the old saying: ‘A daughter born, to husband or death, she’s already gone’ “(1151). The bitterness in this text is the reality that young girls like Giri endured and are still enduring today in many countries. The author uncovers the fate of young girls before their introduction to the world. They were nothing more than a means to an end. If parents had a girl, they did not dream big for her, nor did they inquire or try influence any dreams she may have had. The expectation of a daughter was that a decent bride-price would be paid for her and that she would be secured in a home. Parents believed she would be taken care of by her husband, however that does not legitimize giving your daughter over to an adult man when she is barely reaching puberty. Giri was only fourteen years old and her daughter was even younger. Young g...

 And A Child Shall Lead Them As children it is anything but difficult to notice everything that is different, on the grounds that as a child you are curious by nature. In the same matter, it is just as easy for them to overcome those differences because their innocence makes them blind and resilient. Likewise, with the story of Recitatif, we see two young girls who originate from two distinct races and two different worlds. We see that they are drawn by their commonalities instead of being isolated by their race. The author never reveals which child is of what race, forcing the reader to arrive to their own conclusion while challenging, perhaps, our own social constructs about race. In the beginning of the story, there are two young girls, from different races being introduced to one another, while being made aware that they will be sharing a room at the St. Bonny’s shelter. “It was one thing to be taken out of your own bed early in the morning -it was something else to be stuc...

Africa is a beautiful country, but there has been a dark perception hovering over the continent of Africa and it’s cultural. It is said that Africa is a dark country full of naked savages. It was once considered uncivilized and need of European so-called sophisticated life style. Equally important, they were considered a people with no history and no culture. Leopold Sedar Senghor wanted to rehabilitate the true history of Africa by embracing the beauty of its people and culture, which he so eloquently does in the poem Black Woman. In the first stanza the author addresses Africa as a “naked/black woman dressed in your color that is life, in your form that is beauty” (680). The author speaks of Africa being bare and unashamed of its race of people and culture. He speaks of the glory of a single day in his country. He sees and experiences beauty all around him in the land and juxtaposes the same feeling with the beauty of the African Woman. Perhaps he is speaking of the women ancest...

William Butler Yeats, was known as, one of the greatest English-language poets of the twentieth century. His masterful usage of imagery is seen throughout his poems. According to an article “What is Concrete Imagery in Poetry,” imagery in poetry is the ability to use descriptive words that allows the reader to form a visual picture in their minds (Edrington). In other words, it is where you, as the reader can experience the story along with the author. As we analyze the poem, "When You Are Old " we can see the author’s use of concrete imagery and he immediately demands our attention. One can assume he is speaking to his lover, actress Maud Gonne, who read about on page 520 of the introduction. As mentioned, he was in love with her, but she repeatedly refused his proposal to marriage. It is for this reason we understand why the author is predicting what appears to be Gonne’s pitiful fate. In the first stanza, with the author’s choice of words “old and gray” and “full of li...

In Defense of “Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman” “I cannot deny that I have also felt loneliness of being Okinawa as described in this story and that, in the past, I have struggled to hide my identity. However, I now realize the futility of this effort, for the constant fear of exposure leads only to the loss of dignity and to the weakening of one’s spirit.”  This text stood out to me because the author is defending her depiction of the Okinawa people in her memoir, her uncle’s character in particular. In her defense to the Okinawa Student Association, she concedes that she too was once like her uncle, ashamed of who she is and have surrendered this interminable journey of endeavoring to carry on with her life as a woman not of Okinawa decent. Be that as it may, she does not come out of hiding because she has learned to be proud of who she is. Furthermore, it isn’t on account she recognizes that growing up in poverty does not characterize your value, yet it is a part of ...

Simply Human  How could there be any justification of the ownership of a human being? I never understood how anyone could justify the inhumane treatment of another human being.   Growing up I would hear and read about such justification: It was God’s divine plan, Africans were naturally inferior to whites because they did not, rather than could not, possess European ingenuity. Somehow, a group of Europeans had convinced themselves and their race that Africans were unhuman, perceived as poor benighted creatures in need of saving.  Yet they were beaten, hung, raped, and enslaved. The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano demolishes, as if it was ever fact, their erroneous claims in a brilliant fashion.  Africans were ignorant to the European language, religion, manners, and customs but they were far from being an uncivilized race of people. They were not educated in the western culture, nor did they need to be for their way of life. In the same matter, Europeans had ...

"Coming to the End of Oneself" Although Faust is about a man who is dissatisfied with his mundane human experience, it also speaks about man’s ability to choose a moral path regardless of the errors one may make during their life. The opening setting resembles the biblical story of Job, where the angels present themselves before the Lord, when Mephistopheles, who represents the devil, is bored and disappointed with humans; he begins to mock their existence. Much the same as with the narrative of Job, God knowing the strength and capability of his creations, utilizes Faust as a representative for humanity to demonstrate to Mephistopheles that regardless of Faust’s weaknesses/shortcomings and dissatisfaction with the life he has been given, will choose the righteous path in the end, “If today his service shows confused, disordered, with my help he’ll see his way clearly forward. When the sapling greens, the gardener can feel certain flower and fruit shall follow in due seaso...

Love is a Lost Treasure The theme of sacrifice love appears to fill the entire ambience of the novel. However, underneath the surface is the truth love is a defeated foe when it comes to money. At first look, Master Li, is smitten by Du Tenth, for no other explanation than he has never encountered a woman, not to mention, she was beautiful and sexually experienced. One can see that Master Li, being unable to pass the civil service examine, is not so bright and foolishly falls in love with a prostitute. Luckily for Master Li, Du Tenth was an honorable woman despite her misfortune of being a made a courtesan at the age of thirteen, “Tenth, knowing how greedy and unjust her madam was, had long been meaning to go straight,” even the “the ancient’s said, “friendship based on profit grows cold when profit runs dry,” but this was not the case with Tenth. She had a genuine fondness for Master Li and knew that there were more valuable things in the world than money.   From these ...

Is that All You See Candide is a tale that allows you as a reader, while reading to observe and conclude on various concepts, such as, Optimism, human reasoning, orthodox religion, Deism (God created the world and then stands back, allowing nature to follow its own laws while never intervening), the need for war and disaster as a way of balance, and social class (wealthy/impoverished). However, as the story kept on unfolding, I saw how I had disregarded Voltaire’s depiction of the women in his story. They are put in burdened circumstances; portrayed as docile and submissive, not to mention they are sexualized throughout the story. This is normally how women are stereotyped in numerous plays, stories, and motion pictures. However, Voltaire uses this common characterization to expose the exploitation of women during the eighteenth century. Women had no genuine authority, as we see in Candide, regardless of their riches, nobility, or beauty.   Cunegonde is the young and be...

A Thin Line Between Reason and Wisdom At first glance you can analyze Tartuffee as a condemnation on religion, but I found it to be remarkably inverse. The contention is not with religion, but with hypocrisy and reason rooted in freethinking. In the tale of Tartuffe, Moliere accentuates the importance of heeding to wisdom. We see, Cleante, the brother in law of Orgon and the King are viewed as the voice of wisdom. While, the other characters, could be the voice of reason. Although wisdom and reason are similarly characterized, they are distinctive in meaning.  British philosopher Nicholas Maxwell has called wisdom "the capacity to realize what is of value in life for oneself and others. ” Moliere acquaints us with a man’s inability to sway from his own reasoning, only to end up encountering the ultimate betrayal before recognizing the true value of wisdom. Orgon was incapable of seeing the importance of family, after returning home from being absent for two days, he inqui...

"Oroonoko" Without the historical era of the story of Oroonoko, my underlying reaction to the author’s portrayal of the royal prince would be less than flattering. I do agree that Oroonoko itself is ambiguous, however, present or past, I can’t help contradicting the idea that it puts forth a capable defense against slavery (198 ). Despite what might be expected, the author’s dialect passes on an undercurrent of European reason. Being that the author portrays herself as a companion to Oroonoko and, recounting his story from a first-person narrative, one would accept that her own depiction of him would not be as cliché. Proposing that Oroonoko fate as a slave, out to have been overturned since he was not your run of the mill primitive African. He had the makings of an European prince: mind, body, and soul. His only disadvantage- the color of his skin. The author, so far, does not favor slavery but rather bolster the notion of white supremacy.   The author, in a simila...