Recitatif By Toni Morrison Analysis

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Earlier in the year I stated that I took the Africana Studies 200 course last year, thereby having a general background knowledge of that hardships encountered by many African Americans. As we approach the end of the Fall semester, I can confidently identify the Survey of African American Literature 260 course as my favorite General Education class. I never thought that I could feel so many emotions throughout the year by just coming to class and going over the material we read at home. In AFST 200 we learned about how the enslavement period was initiated, but ENG 260 provided further knowledge on the injustices still occurring to this day. Many of the stories and poems read gave insight on stereotypes and the “othering” ideology we fail to …show more content…

This is a story written in five acts where the main characters, Twyla and Roberta, are put into a shelter. This was done because Twyla’s mother danced and Roberta’s mother was described as sick (Morrison, 243). The aspect of this short story that struck me the most was that the reader is unable to distinguish which character is black or white. Twyla is seen describing Roberta as smelling funny by stating, “…they never washed their hair…” (Morrison, 243). This description would make a reader believe Roberta is black as there is a stereotype given to Afro-centric hairstyles. This is later contrasted by comment made like “Everything is so easy for them” (Morrison, 252). Twyla runs into a newly changed Roberta wearing nice shoes and a dress. What could have been initially seen as a black girl is now seen as a white girl. I see this stereotype due to the circumstances back during this period. If someone is described as “summery and rich,” I would believe them to be a white person due to their superiority (Morrison, 252). The word ‘othering’ is another description of this process. Many people marginalize other groups in a sense to make ourselves feel superior. This is something that enrages me to think about as we all tend to do this subconsciously. Why do we think like this? I know if we can eliminate these bad stereotypes we give each other than maybe everyone can come together as

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