African American Culture through Oral Tradition
African American folktales have origins rooted in West African literary and cultural forms of expression. When Africans were taken from their homeland and brought to America as slaves, they also brought with them their individual cultures, languages and customs. However, their white slaveholders suppressed this part of their heritage in them. Thus they had to find other ways of expression, mainly story telling and songs. It is incredible to see how African slaves could ever smile and laugh under the horrible and cruel circumstances, which were imposed on them by the brutal slaveholders.
The whole body of folktales and spirituals arose from the experiences which slaves had on their plantations mingled with the memories and customs that they brought with them from Africa. They would tell stories using different methods such as acting, gesturing and singing. By these means they were able to elevate storytelling into an art.
Most slave owners forbade their slaves from speaking their own language, and forced them to speak English. They were also forbidden from learning to read or write. In this manner slaveholders believed that they were keeping their slaves in ignorance so that they could neither rebel nor escape. They were greatly mistaken for many slaves would make use of their songs and stories to educate their people, and enlighten their minds and free their souls. For example the slave spirituals which they sang were a means with which they could communicate feelings of discontent and of homelessness and exile. However, not all their songs were of disparity and loss. They also sang songs expressing love, joy, and hope. Other than making use of lyrics as a form of expressi...
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The author was born in Washington D.C. on May 1, 1901. Later, he received a bachelor’s degree from Williams College where he studied traditional literature and explored music like Jazz and the Blues; then had gotten his masters at Harvard. The author is a professor of African American English at Harvard University. The author’s writing
In fact, it is clear to the reader that Huggins makes a concerted effort to bring light to both ethnicities’ perspectives. Huggins even argues that their culture is one and the same, “such a seamless web that it is impossible to calibrate the Negro within it or to ravel him from it” (Huggins, 309). Huggins argument is really brought to life through his use of historical evidence found in influential poetry from the time period. When analyzing why African Americans were having an identity crisis he looked to a common place that African American looked to. Africa was a common identifier among the black community for obvious reasons and was where Authors and Artists looked for inspiration. African American artists adopted the simple black silhouette and angular art found in original African pieces. Authors looked to Africa in their poetry. In The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes, the names of rivers in Africa such as the Euphrates, the Congo and the Nile were all used and then the scene switches to the Mississippi river found in America showing that blacks have “seen”, or experienced both. Huggins looks deeply into Countee Cullen’s Heritage discussing “what is Africa to me?” a common identifier that united black artistry in the Harlem Renaissance, “Africa? A book one thumbs listlessly, till slumber comes” (Countee). The black community craved to be a separate society from white Americans so they were forced to go back to the past to find their heritage, before America and white oppression. Huggins finds an amazing variety of evidence within literature of this time period, exposing the raw feelings and emotion behind this intellectual movement. The connections he makes within these pieces of poetry are accurate and strong, supporting his initial thesis
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The main components of the human cardiovascular system include the heart and blood vessels. The heart beats in order to pump blood to the vessels which are responsible for circulating it to cell tissue throughout the body. During the homeostasis process, the circulatory system provides oxygen and nutrients to the cell while removing waste products from the tissue fluid such as carbon dioxide within the lungs. This process is required for cell function.
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The cardiovascular system is made up of the heart, blood vessels and the blood and its main functions include the transportation of blood around the body, protection from invading microorganisms and to prevent blood loss through haemostasis. (Widamaier, et al 2011:5)
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The respiratory system is made up of the organs and tissues in your body that help you breathe. The goal of breathing is to deliver oxygen to the body and take away carbon dioxide, a waste product that can be deadly if allowed to accumulate. The cells of the human body require a constant stream of oxygen to stay alive. The body needs oxygen to provide energy and growth to body cells. The respiratory system resides in the upper abdomen and chest area where the oxygen comes in through the nose, through inhalation, and is processed by the lungs. After air leaves the head it travels down through the trachea. It divides into two branches, the left and right bronchus, that enters into the lungs. There it goes into a thin membrane lining the walls of the lungs called the alveoli. “As a result, oxygen diffuses across microthin membranes into the blood from the alveoli and carbon dioxide diffuses into the alveoli from the blood” (Petechuk, 2004, pg. 20). So when you inhale, oxygen goes into the blood, and when you exhale carbon dioxide comes out of the blood.
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A simple definition for the circulatory system would be that it is the main transportation and cooling system for the body. Red Blood Cells have an important job in this system in that they carry all sorts of packages that are needed by all the cells in the body. Red blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients to the cells, which is needed in order for cells to survive. Besides red blood cells there are also White Blood Cells moving in the circulatory system. White Blood Cells can be considered as the paramedics, police and street cleaners of the circulatory system. Anytime we have a cold, a cut, or an infection the white blood cells go to work. From research I also came to find out that white blood cells also help cuts or wounds to heal quicker. Something I did not know was that puss which appears during an infection are actually white blood cells that are attacking the infection.
During internal respiration, energy, known as ATP, is also released. This is used in many reactions within the cells. Energy needed by the body is stored in food and the process of tissue respiration releases this energy. The oxygen oxidises glucose and produces energy. This is known as aerobic respiration. The equation for the oxidation of glucose is;