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Influence of African Americans on literature
Significant African American literature
Influence of African Americans on literature
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In her poem "stop", Lucille Clifton calls attention to the AIDS epidemic occurring in Central and South Africa. The poem is dedicated to Nkosi Johnson, a child AIDS advocate that died at the age of 12 from the disease. Nkosi was one of the thousand African children that suffer from HIV-related health problems and Clifton is attempting to spread awareness for this crisis. Excluding the various "stops", the poem is written in the sonnet form of 8 lines in the first stanza and 6 lines in the second stanza. The sonnet form not only showcases Clifton's poetry skills, but also displays the poem's meaning in a precise and effective manner. But Clifton changes the traditional sonnet structure by beginning the poem through juxtapositional sentences that are separated by the word stop. This form …show more content…
is reflective of telegraph communication, in which the word stop was used to end sentences. Even though "stop" was written in the beginning of the Internet age, Clifton structured the poem as a telegram message to communicate with the larger majority of the world that can only access radios. Since telegrams were often only used in emergencies, the poem "stop" serves as an urgent plea to the rest of the world to save these sick children.
The sentences between the "stops" are paired by their opposite traits and actions. Through these sentence comparisons, Clifton demonstrates the need for the greater public to educate themselves on the AIDS epidemic to change their beliefs and act for those dying from AIDS. However, the telegram structure is lost in the second stanza where Clifton describes Nkosi's deathbed, "...in the green hills of hemingway...". Due to Clifton's literary expertise and knowledge of past authors, she cited a novel by Ernest Hemingway that depicted his trophy hunting vacation in Tanzania. This reference demonstrates how people in power, such as white males, are using the African country for their personal enjoyment instead of using their positions to aid in the humanitarian emergency happening around them. Clifton adds more meaning to the "green hills" by saying Nkosi has died multiple times. The subject of African-American discrimination is a frequent topic in Clifton's poems as she is a woman of color with ancestors transported from Dahomey into
slavery. Clifton expresses that people in power have exploited the African country and its people time and time again, and Nkosi is another African child who has been abandoned in his time of need. Perhaps that’s why Clifton writes in the telegram format, because the telegram was popular during Hemingway’s time and a message to the past could change the outcome of this future. Maybe a message to the people of the past could save Nkosi’s life and the thousands of people impacted by the AIDS epidemic. The very last word of the poem not only acts as a stop to the sentence and a stop to the poem, but also is a call to the world to stop the history of African expulsion and start helping the thousands of children dying of the same ailments that killed Nkosi Johnson.
Lauren Alleyne uses the rigid form of the sonnet to navigate through the healing process after being sexually assaulted. Ten years after that night, she writes the sonnet sequence Eighteen, which deviates from the typical sonnet form in the aspects of the speaker, subject, and format. Playing off of the standard sonnet form, Alleyne is able to recount the emotions of that night during the first sonnet in the sequence. The typical sonnet tends to objectify the female body or one’s lover; in this sequence, the sonnets address what happens when an individual acts on these objectifications and assaults Alleyne. Alleyne deviates from the standard subject and speaker of the typical sonnet form to begin the healing process; the process begins
Lucille Ball, a beloved Hollywood actress, overcame difficulties in childhood and adulthood, becoming a successful actress and studio head. She portrayed the relatable character “Lucy” in “I Love Lucy,” making her an American Icon.
Hips are used as a symbol to reveal the power of a women body’s. Hips are mighty, free, and seductive. Hips are used for childbearing, only a female power. Lucille Clifton’s, a supporter of African Americans and feminism, believes that women have the same power as men. Anything men can do women can do the same, even better. Lucille Clifton’s “Homage to My Hips” rebuts the division of labor mechanism instilled in our society that isn’t politically correct; thereby taking a powerful stance in her confident belief that woman can do the same as men.
Gale. Weeks, Lewis E., Jr. "Hemingway Hills: Symbolism in 'Hills like White'" Elephants. Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77.
“Roman Fever” and “Hills Like White Elephants” are two stories that on surface seem very different from one another, but through careful analysis the two are quite similar. Their similarities are mainly evident through the significant use of the dialogues in the both stories. “Roman Fever” has a third person omniscient narrator which the author allows to know the inner private thoughts of both characters, Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley. In contrast, “Hills Like White Elephants” is composed in a third person limited narrative where very little is known about the thoughts of both Jig and the American. At first Ernest Hemingway’s short story can clearly be viewed as the most ambiguous out of the two. With its simplistic style, written mostly in straightforward dialogue which leaves the readers to contemplate over the ultimate outcome of the story and forces them to ...
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills like White Elephants." Responding to Literature. Ed. Judith Stanford. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2006. 841-44. Print.
Ernest Hemingway was an intricate and dedicated writer who devoted a significant portion of his life to writing multiple genres of stories. Throughout his stories, the similarities in his style and technique are easily noted and identified. Two of the short stories he wrote contain themes and motifs that specifically explain the plotline. The first story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” sets its scene in the depths of a desolate area in Africa, where the main characters, Harry and his wife, decide to make their home. After living there for a few years, Harry ventures out and falls into a thorn bush, thus infecting his leg with gangrene. A few weeks later, he finds himself on the brink between life and death, unable to treat such a severe infection. Throughout the whole story, his life is flashing before his eyes as he recalls all of the major events that occurred in his past. By nightfall, Harry is acting unusual, and he begins to feel as if life is not worth living anymore. After he drifts off to sleep that evening, his wife goes to check on him and discovers that her husband has passed away (Hemingway 52-77). The second great work of Hemingway, “The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” is also set in a deserted section of Africa. Francis and his wife, Margot, are on a safari adventure along with their tour guide named Wilson. The way these three characters interact with each other creates tension and provides an adequate plot for the story. The trip begins with the couple intending on hunting big game. At first they track down a lion that continuously roars throughout the night, and later decide to chase after buffalos. To add to the complications of the trip, Margot has an intimate relationship with their tour guide. The story c...
In The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume II. Edited by Paul Lauter et al. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1991: 1208-1209. Hemingway, Ernest. A.
Gates Jr., Henry Louis, and Nellie Y. McKay. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company , Inc. , 2004. Print.
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006. 268-272.
Hemingway's Personal Life and its Influence on his Short Story "Hills Like White Elephants" "Hills like White Elephants" is not the normal story where you have a beginning, middle and end. Hemingway gave just enough information so that readers could draw their own conclusions. The entire story encompasses a conversation between two lovers and leaves the reader with more questions than answers. Ernest Hemingway was a brilliant writer. People that study Hemingway's works try to gain insight and draw natural conclusions about Hemingway and his life.
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” Literature Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. DiYanni, Robert. 2nd ed. New York. Mc Grew Hill. 2008. 400-03. Print.
The Green Hills of Africa is Hemingway’s second non-fiction work, set in 1933, following the author and his second wife, Pauline, on a big-game safari in Africa. It was first serialized and then published in 1935. The first run was of 10,500 copies selling at $2.75 a piece. While many smaller critics passed their typical glossy review of Hemingway, those at the height of literary criticism bombarded it. Particularly with respect to what Hemingway claimed the novel was. In the foreword of the novel, Ernest Hemingway writes, “The writer has attempted to write an absolutely true book to see whether the shape of a country and the pattern of a month’s action can, if truly presented, compete with a work of the imagination.”1 Fittingly the critical response to Hemingway’s second non-fiction work examined the novel in that respect, as well as in its achievement as a free-standing novel.
Ernest Hemingway is an incredible writer, known for what he leaves out of stories not for what he tells. His main emphasis in Hills Like White Elephants seems to be symbolism. Symbolism is the art or practice of using symbols, especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations (merriam-webster.com). He uses this technique to emphasize the importance of ideas, once again suggesting that he leaves out the important details of the story by symbolizing their meaning.
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 113-117. Print.