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Analysis of Literary Language, :pen: = Poetry :world_map: = Non-Fiction …
Analysis of Literary Language
Race
Anything dealing with race. Not specifically issues, but race is important in these works.
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"Harlem Hopscotch" by Maya Angelou
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Covers the struggles of black people in Harlem, especially compared to the privileged.
She takes readers through the daily lives of black people, and gives suggestions on how they could break free from the rules through a game of hopscotch.
“Harlem Hopscotch” highlights systematic issues in not only Harlem, but a large part of the American identity. The places where the people who aren’t as well-endowed money wise or privilege wise are put into this ever-lasting game of hopscotch, where if they try to leave the game or stop being participating, they are stigmatized and are given lower places in society.
"If We Must Die" by Claude McKay
:pen:
This poem was in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet, written as a call to fight anti-black racism.
It can be applied to any oppressed group, calling them to not go down fighting, but it is more so connected to severe racism against black people in 1919.
From start to end of the sonnet, McKay is igniting the fire within the readers, reminding them that they're human, and that they should come together and fight back against the common foe.
Culture
Any work where culture is a prevalent part of the rhetoric
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Richard Blanco, Excerpt from
The Prince of Los Cocuyos
, “The First Real San Giving Day”
:world_map:
This is Blanco's memoir, which further delves into the themes of American versus Cuban tradition, and acceptance of these differences.
Blanco just refused to accept that having a mixed identity could exist, while his grandmother accepted that she couldn’t be one or the other, so she chose her own path to fit into America.
He doesn’t fit into his peers, not understanding their culture, but he doesn’t fit into his family completely either, as he is constantly trying to appear American instead of Cuban. His family didn’t feel alienated though, because they never wanted to fit into American culture in the first place.
"América" by Richard Blanco
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This poem follows some of Blanco's earlier experiences in America as an immigrant from Cuba. Traditional American practices are seen as new to him in the poem, and the event of Thanksgiving was completely foreign.
Blanco shows how the older generations of his family (his parents, aunt, and uncle), weren’t settling in or weren’t willing to adapt to American traditions as well as he was. But his adaptation came at the cost of sacrificing parts of his Cuban identity, while his family held on strongly to theirs.
"Magical Dinners" by Chang-Rae Lee
:world_map:
In Magical Dinners, Chang-Rae Lee recalls one of his Thanksgiving dinners that he and his parents had when he was younger.
They faced anxieties trying to assimilate to American culture, and especially during Thanksgiving, where Lee's mother had to explore a whole new culture's food, there was some apprehension.
"When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine" by Jhumpa Lahiri
:ghost:
This story follows a young Indian-American girl who goes through the experience of bonding with Mr. Pirzada, a man who is in America because the Pakistani government sent him there to study plants. A bond is created between them because he gives her candy every time he visits. Eventually Mr. Pirzada goes back to Pakistan, and the narrator is sad he wouldn't be coming back, and throws away the candy when she knows he's okay.
The culture in this story shows in the ways that they dine.
Food
Even though both families are far away from their countries, they still eat and dine like they would were they back in India and East Pakistan.
The sharing of food between both parties is also noted by the narrator to be the same, even if the label of nationality is different.
Uses of Anger by Audre Lorde
:world_map:
Lorde talks about how to wield anger as a weapon to bring strength to women of color, specifically black women, in response to racism.
She’s trying to transform the anger that she feels from her own experiences with racist attitudes, the racism that others go through, what white women’s reactions to racism are into something that is productive in taking down society’s systematic racism and reconstructing it to be more inclusive.
She also delves into some of the inequality enforced by stereotypes of black women by white women, giving an example of how they focus on Black women who fit into these ‘good’ and kind of infantilized versions of black women, while showing little to no regard for Black women who don’t fit into the “helpless” category.
"Recitatif" by Toni Morrison
:ghost:
This story follows two girls, Twyla and Roberta, from their time in an orphanage together to their adult lives. Morrison questions the reliability of memory, and shows two character's growths.
Race is significant in this story because Morrison never explicitly states which race each girl is. She leaves them up for interpretation to make the readers as themselves the question: why does it matter what race they are?
Inequality is also significant in this because the time this story was set in showed a lot of racism. The maid for example, who got abuse from others, was a black woman.
Inequality
Topics where inequality might be present based upon identity
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"Aubade with Burning City" by Ocean Vuong
:pen:
A dystopian reading showcasing some of the chaos seen in South Vietnam during wartime.
He writes in three perspectives; one of a pair of lovers, one following the chaos on the streets, and the song "White Christmas" that plays in the background.
Inequality is significant in this because "White Christmas" was a song to warn people that there is an evacuation. All the western civilians knew what was going on and were in panic, while the Vietnamese people don't know what the song is about.
The inequality comes from the fact that one group was suppressed because they weren't privy to information due to their race.
"Persimmons" by Li-Young Lee
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"Persimmons" is a poem that tells the story of a young Chinese boy and his relationship with language, knowledge, and experience which Lee showcases through the use of the persimmon.
The Caucasian teacher of his class brings persimmons to share with the class, and is shows to have chosen and proceeds to interact with the incorrectly because she doesn't know what they were.
This is significant because just before, she scolds the narrator on mixing up persimmons and precision.
This also shows how inequality can be produced based upon differing experience.
"On Being a Refugee, an American - and a Human Being" by Viet Thanh Nguyen, published in
The Refugees
:world_map:
This story is about Nguyen's experience coming to America for the first time as a refugee, fleeing from the Vietnam war. He talks about what it means to be a refugee in American society. He also calls for America to care for their refugees better, since they are the ones creating them in the first place.
Through his words, Nguyen shares discrimination refugees face in American society, and how immigration status affects social statuses and rights. They are expected to be grateful, even if they are blamed for a lot of the country's economic and social misfortune.
He states that "The economic interests of the unwanted and the fearful middle class are aligned-but so many can't see that because of how much they fear the different, the refugee, the immigrant. In its most naked form, it is racism" (217) is one reason why discrimination is rampant when dealing with refugees.
Oppression
Oppression in this work is from how refugees are treated in America. From being stopped from participating in democracy to social rights they don't have.
Oppression
Any work that showcases a form of oppression happening, whether it be ideas, race, etc.
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"A Map of Lost Things: On Family, Grief, and the Meaning of Home" by Jamila Osman
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In this, Osman talks about the experiences in life that have been erased by Western colonialism, how some parts of history have been suppressed because the Anglicized names become popular, and the names given to them by the people there before completely erased from history books.
Oppression comes out in the violent way that the history, memories, and experiences were erased because of colonialism.
War
Any story where there is a literal war/battle happening.
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Womanhood
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Anything where being a woman is important. Not specifically issues, but it is important in these.
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On Virtue by Phillis Wheatley
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Virtue can be seen as virginity and chasity, where the narrator is questioning her own virtue before realizing that if he keeps her faith, her virtue will stick with her.
With more context of the writer's background, this poem can be understood as one showing the inequalities in the world pertaining to race and gender. Wheatley wrote this when she was an enslaved woman.
This poem expresses a narrator's desire to achieve virtue, and how it is impossible for some people to achieve, while being more achievable for others.
La Prieta by Gloria E. Anzaldúa
:world_map:
In this non-fiction story, Anzaldúa explores her identity and growth throughout her childhood to adulthood as a woman of color, and an LGBTQA+ person.
Throughout her life, Anzaldúa faced various situations where she faced difficulty for being a woman. From her youth, her puberty came early, so periods and growing breasts were something that she was made to combat instead of embrace.
Inequality was shown in the ways her mother and brothers would call her jota (queer) (227) for having LGBT friends, and later she saw people, usually white, on the streets yelling slurs at gay people.
Race
Her Mexican and Indigenous roots impacted how she was perceived by the people around her. She faced colorism from when she was born from her family, and then later experienced it in educational settings and other settings.
"The Master’s
Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House" by Audre Lorde
:world_map:
In this, Lorde talks about her experience and a black, lesbian, feminist, and her place in the world. She tells the audience how it is not her job to educate the people who embrace the patriarchy, and that people cannot stop fight the patriarchy with their own tools. They have to embrace difference and learn how to survive together, not try to force each other into roles better suited for society.
She especially calls out white women, saying that the patriarchy has created a role for women, and instead of fighting it, they are adapting to it. This creates problems when trying to accept other identities even if they do act like because they are feminists it means they are doing good.
"Speaking in Tongues" by Gloria E. Anzaldúa
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In this letter-style story, Anzaldúa calls for women, especially lesbian women of color, to write the way they want.
One of Anzaldúa's main points is that these women need to be able to redefine their writing as their own. To "throw away away abstraction, and the academic learning, the rules, the map and compass" (171). Express themselves in any way that they want, regardless of who is listening or reading. To defy their oppressors and talk with their true selves.
"The Husband Stitch" by Carmen Maria Machado
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"The Husband Stitch" relates to women have agency over their own body. It starts with an unnamed narrator being described in sensual manners, and then her lover pointing out a green ribbon around her neck. It quickly becomes apparent that the ribbon is very important to the plot of the story, as it is a symbol for the narrator’s agency as a woman.
The title itself, “A Husband Stitch” relates to the general theme of the story and foreshadows to what would happen to the narrator later on in the story. A husband stitch refers to the medical malpractice where a doctor stitching up a woman’s torn or cut vagina, making it tighter and more pleasurable during penetrative sex…but for the man. The woman gets nothing out of this exchange except for disfigured nether regions and aches and pains that they should not have had in the first place if it wasn’t for their husbands making the decision to get that extra stitch.
Personal Belief
Anything dealing with how the work displays where personal beliefs are prevalent.
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Spirits/other worldly beings
Metaphorical/literal spirits and ghosts.
"Testament" by Lucille Clifton
:pen:
This poem deals with spiritually and truth, as do a lot of other works by Clifton
Testament goes over a meeting with an otherworldly being/a literal spirit, with that being a "light" that Lucille Clifton saw in a room. This reminded her of her humanity and her connection to the Earth.
Religion
The name of the poem being "Testament" was also significant, as it also show's Clifton's connection to religion, as a testament is Christian practice.
"Black Eyed Woman" by Viet Thanh Nguyen
:ghost:
This story deals with literal and metaphorical ghosts, ones left behind from the casualties of the Vietnam war, that affect the narrator's daily life.
The narrator's brother comes back to their house as a calm and understanding ghost, but the stories that the narrator and her mother tell can also be seen as ghosts. Her mom says “Writers. At least you won’t just be making things up like you usually do” (21), which shows how some stories are real and some aren’t, it just happens that the one the narrator is finally writing about actual ghosts is real even if others don’t believe her.
"Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer
:world_map:
In this, Kimmerer talks about the relationship between the earth and the people living on it, especially from an indigenous point of view.
There are deep connections between science, spirit, and story that weave into healing what we did to planet earth, and Kimmerer giving her essay through botany adds more depth to the understanding of what she is saying.
Throughout her story, there was many sacrifices being made by animals, such as the island on the turtles back and the life of a muskrat given to create dirt. She brought seeds from the Tree of Life, scattering plants and fruit and vegetables, turning the world from brown to green (4). “Our stories say that of all the plants, wiingaashk, or sweetgrass, was the very first to grow on the earth, it’s fragrance a sweet memory of Skywoman’s hand” (5).
This support’s the spirituality and story part of her argument on environmentalism, especially when Kimmerer goes on to explain how to take care of sweetgrass correctly.
If sweetgrass as hair is a metaphor for earth, and the braid a metaphor on what the work we have to put into the earth, the kinder and more tender we are to the sweetgrass, the more pleasant the plait would be to braid and look at in the end.
Religion
Works where religion is seen to be in the work.
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"The Poet X" by Elizabeth Acevedo
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This novel deals with a young girl, Xiomara, as she deals with relationships with people in her school, her family (especially her mother), and religion.
Xiomara was considered a troubled and difficult child by her parents, and her mom was usually the one who she had arguments with over her body, religion, hobbies and relationships.
Inequality comes from the different ways Xiomara and her brother were treated.
Religion
As her mother often used religion as a reason to punish Xiomara, Xiomara developed skepticism in Christianity. She started asking more and more questions about how it functions, and often found herself going against her and her mother's versions of Christianity, doing things that would be sinful.
Womanhood
Xiomara goes through puberty early, where she becomes really tall, with her body taking a shape that is sexualized by most around her. She was a target from people on the street, her own family, and people at school. She had to develop thick skin.
Inequality
Twin and Xiomara were shown to be treated differently by their parents due to their gender. While Xiomara was primarily made to do housework and general chores, Xavier wasn't expected to, and if he helped it was because he wanted to. Xiomara on the other hand, would get punished if she didn't do what she was told.
:pen: = Poetry
:world_map: = Non-Fiction
:ghost: = Fiction
Solid line = main connection
Dotted line = sub connection
