The use of metaphorical language in literature can often be confusing to some. After all, why not just come out and say what you really mean instead of hiding behind flowery words that often on a surface level mean something entirely different? In “What It's Like to Be a Black Girl (for Those of You Who Aren’t)” by Patricia Smith uses metaphorical language to show how she struggles, particularly with self-acceptance, specifically due to growing up as a black girl in America. The poem itself doesn’t use overly poetic language, but instead describes Smith’s experiences as black girl by using the word “it’s” and then going on to provide an example to showcase her struggles.
Throughout the poem, Smith expresses insecurity over her appearance due to not fitting in with society’s standards of beauty, were being white was considered a necessary criteria in order to be considered beautiful. She describes uncertainty that comes with puberty in the first sentence of the poem: “First of all, it’s being 9 years old and/ feeling like you’re not
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The sentence “It’s sweat/ and vaseline and bullets.” is succinct, but clearly expresses the idea; she sweats from moving around constantly, possibly running from bullets, and needs vaseline to help heal wounds. The sentence “It’s smelling blood in/ your breakfast, it’s learning to say fuck with/ grace but learning to fuck without it, it’s/ flame and fists and life according to motown.” also conveys this idea well; due to the violence that surrounds her life, the smell of blood does as well, permeating the air and reaching her breakfast; “flames and fists and life” also implies violence, while “according to motown” connects it back to the fact that this is poem is specifically meant to be about a black
It is very clear that the narrator is aggravated with the ignorance of some people as they assume she is supposed to sound different than she does because she is black. To emphasize her agitation throughout the poem, the narrator asks rhetorical questions such as; "Was I supposed to sound lazy, dropping syllables here, there, not finishing words but slurring the final letter so that each sentence joined the next, sliding past the listener? Were certain words off limits, too erudite, too scholarly for someone with a natural tan? And Does everyone in your family speak alike?"
In Kimberly Springer’s anthology, Skin Deep, Spirit Strong: The Black Female Body in American Culture, she has different articles in the book that are written by a variety of women. The articles in the book break down and discuss areas of history and time-periods that shaped the representation and current understanding of the black female body. Many ideals of how society preserves the black female body to be is based on historical context that the authors in Springers book further explain. The two articles that I am going to focus on are Gender, Race and Nation: The Comparative Anatomy of “Hottentot” Women in Europe 1815-17 and Mastering the Female Pelvis: Race and the Tools of Reproduction.
Laurence Hill’s novel, The Book of Negroes, uses first-person narrator to depict the whole life ofAminata Diallo, beginning with Bayo, a small village in West Africa, abducting from her family at eleven years old. She witnessed the death of her parents with her own eyes when she was stolen. She was then sent to America and began her slave life. She went through a lot: she lost her children and was informed that her husband was dead. At last she gained freedom again and became an abolitionist against the slave trade. This book uses slave narrative as its genre to present a powerful woman’s life.She was a slave, yes, but she was also an abolitionist. She always held hope in the heart, she resist her dehumanization.
The Author of this book (On our own terms: race, class, and gender in the lives of African American Women) Leith Mullings seeks to explore the modern and historical lives of African American women on the issues of race, class and gender. Mullings does this in a very analytical way using a collection of essays written and collected over a twenty five year period. The author’s systematic format best explains her point of view. The book explores issues such as family, work and health comparing and contrasting between white and black women as well as between men and women of both races.
It is impossible for anyone to survive a horrible event in their life without a relationship to have to keep them alive. The connection and emotional bond between the person suffering and the other is sometimes all they need to survive. On the other hand, not having anyone to believe in can make death appear easier than life allowing the person to give up instead of fighting for survival. In The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, Aminata Diallo survives her course through slavery by remembering her family and the friends that she makes. Aminata is taught by her mother, Sira to deliver babies in the villages of her homeland. This skill proves to be very valuable to Aminata as it helps her deliver her friends babies and create a source of income. Aminata’s father taught Aminata to write small words in the dirt when she was small. Throughout the rest of the novel, Aminata carries this love for learning new things to the places that she travels and it inspires her to accept the opportunities given to her to learn how to write, read maps, and perform accounting duties. Early in the novel Aminata meets Chekura and they establish a strong relationship. Eventually they get married but they are separated numerous times after. Aminata continuously remembers and holds onto her times with Chekura amidst all of her troubles. CHILDREN. The only reason why Aminata Diallo does not die during her journey into and out of slavery is because she believes strongly in her parents, husband and children; therefore proving that people survive hardships only when they have relationships in which to believe.
In her story Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs presents what life was like living as a female slave during the 19th century. Born into slavery, she exhibits, to people living in the North who thought slaves were treated fairly and well, how living as a slave, especially as a female slave during that time, was a heinous and horrible experience. Perhaps even harder than it was if one had been a male slave, as female slaves had to deal with issues, such as unwanted sexual attention, sexual victimization and for some the suffering of being separated from their children. Harriet Jacobs shows that despite all of the hardship that she struggled with, having a cause to fight for, that is trying to get your children a better life
The poem starts with the line, “This girlchild was born as usual,” which suggests that as soon as a girl is born, society already expects her to learn the role she will soon play in when she hits puberty (1). Thus, showing why we are given dolls as little girls to illustrate how we should act and appear according to society. After we learn all the roles we will soon take part in, “the magic of puberty,” hits and girls immediately begin applying the ideals to their own lives (5). As if this attempt to conform is not enough we have other people telling us we are not to perfect. “You have a great big nose and fat legs,” says a classmate to the girl (6). This type of pressure can slowly but surely destroy even the little confidence women do have in themselves.
One of the most destructive forces that is destroying young black people in America today is the common cultures wicked image of what an realistic black person is supposed to look like and how that person is supposed to act. African Americans have been struggling for equality since the birth of this land, and the war is very strong. Have you ever been in a situation where you were stereotyped against?
In the beginning, the “girlchild” being discussed is described as “healthy, tested intelligent,/ possessed strong arms and back,/ abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.” (lines 7-9) Yet throughout the poem, all that is pointed out is her fat nose and thick legs. As the poem progresses, she is told how to improve her flaws, through diet, exercise and acting dumb. By the end the girl commits suicide after exhausting her efforts to conform to society. The final lines show the people attending her funeral discussing how pretty she looks, emphasizing the idea that she finally achieved her “happy ending”. The poem as a whole demonstrates a type of satire called Juvenalian satire, which is a formal version in which the speaker (or writer) attacks the vices and error of society with contempt and indignation. Through Ms. Piercy’s use of description and words choice that implies contempt and sarcasm, the reader is able to identify how society’s standards for women’s looks greatly overshadow other talents and abilities they may have. It is demonstrated that if one is not skinny, and petite with perfect hair and a “turned up...nose” (line 21) then other traits such as intelligence, kindness, and strength are not worth
In Marge Piercy’s poem she states “ She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.” If a young lady possesses all of these things then why would she not feel that she was up to par? How could intelligence and capability not be enough for this girl who was obviously a well rounded individual? The idea of what her classmate thought about her appearance caused feelings of inferiority, because in our society everything truly seems to surround physical beauty. When you are beautiful you have more opportunities, you receive more attention, and it is suggested that you live a better life. Thi...
Being exploited from the lens and perspectives of a conservative author like Cornel West, you can conclude that his take on nihilism in Black America directly corresponds with his take on personal responsibility. While the idea of nihilism may make sense at the surface level, when analyzing its details with further convention, you being to understand the flaws within its basis This ideology blatantly doesn't take into account the many factors that put African Americans in the current situation and circumstances place are in now. Only looking at the situation at a glance and at its current status does not give you a holistic understanding of the actual oppositions and experiences faced by African Americans throughout their history here in America.
Helen’s physical appearance is a sight for sore eyes, her style of dressing in a fancy manner can really set her apart from the rest of the crowd, and because helen dresses and grooms herself so proper, she is seen as a lady with pride. She can also show off her delicate smooth skin, that almost seems flawless to a limit. Not only her skin is flawless but she has an award winning smile that can be as bright as diamonds. Helen came from a poor family who lives in the ghetto that seems to have a close relationship with everyone of their relatives, who would do anything to help out a member of the family. Madea is an example of the type of family member that will do anything in her power to help out a member of the family. Growing up in the projects gave helen a sense of the real world and how love and compassion is a valued asset of life. Helen was acknowledged with very little education, although she does seem to be able to uphold an elegant and legit conversation. Even with Helens great talking skills, she has not held a job for about eighteen long years; other than the occasional household wife position. Her past experience from her marriage stops her from moving on and trusting any men in a relationship, such as Orlando, how she mistreated him and doubted his humble personality when his heart was pure the whole way. The tone used from Helen throughout the whole movie was a tone of insecurity, with a hint of doubtfulness in everybodys caring personality towards her. The way she thinks of herself gives her very little confidence in the way she sees life, and because of that her tone automatically changes from a proud wife, to a woman who has been hurt multiple of times.
... she is indeed angered and fed up at the fact that there is a stereotype. The way in which she contradicts herself makes it hard for readers to understand the true meaning or point to her poem, the voice was angry and ready for change, yet the actions that the individual was participating in raised questions of whether or not he actually fit the stereotype.
The topic of this book is about a young girl growing up into slavery. In the book, the author does not disclose her name and makes up fictional names for the other characters. In her words, he does this to be “kind”. The main problem that the young girl addresses throughout the book and explains is there can be no good slave masters. The slave masters view the slaves, and a little more than an animal or object. This young girl/women throughout the book focus on slaves mental and spiritual focuses dealing with what they had to go through.
What exactly is an ideal lifestyle? The answer is different for every person because some people desire more and some desire less. In the short story “Black Girl” by Sembene Ousmane, the reader learns about Diouana’s determination to climb the social hierarchy ladder. As the protagonist, she indulgences in the thought of moving away from her hometown in Africa where she has been working as a maid for the last few years for a rich white family. Her vision of the perfect lifestyle is living in France, where she imagines herself making millions and bathing in fortune. Unfortunately, things don’t always appear as they seem. The story illustrates that when one thinks of their ideal lifestyle they mainly rely on their personal experience which often results in deception. The author effectively conveys this theme through his use of setting, symbolism and iconic foreshadowing.