Do you sometimes feel expected to be someone else? Well, don’t. Everyone is an individual person and we should all be proud of our differences. The three texts “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, “Melting Pot” by Anna Quindlen, and “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes all explain in different ways how being yourself is essential to success. “Two Kinds” is about a mother who wants her daughter to succeed in life and how their relationship changes through the various events in the story. “Melting Pot” is an essay about the diverse residents of Anna Quindlen’s neighborhood and how they interact with each other. “Theme for English B” is a poem that discusses everyone’s similarities and differences. The theme “be yourself” is strongly represented in the …show more content…
In one part of the story the narrator’s mother kept pushing her daughter to practice doing all kinds of things because she wanted her to succeed in life but the daughter doesn’t know that her mother has good intentions. In the text is says “In all of my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect. My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach. I would never feel the need to sulk for anything” (Tan). This is a good example of the theme because the narrator is saying that she thought she would one day become a prodigy instead of being herself because no one is perfect. In another part of the story the narrator was getting frustrated that she wasn’t living up to her mother’s expectations and was starting to give up. The text says, “Before going to bed that night, I looked in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when I saw only my face staring back- and that it would always be this ordinary face- I began to cry” (Tan). This piece of evidence also demonstrates the theme because the narrator is believing less and less in herself since she wasn’t becoming famous or amazingly talented. She thinks that she’ll never be able …show more content…
The poem is about an assignment from his English B class where he has to write a page about himself that is “true”- but he isn’t sure what is true for himself and people in general. In the poem it says “Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. I like to work, read, learn, and understand life. I like a pipe for a Christmas present, or records-Bessie, bop, or Bach. I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races” (Hughes). The author is saying that inside everyone is similar despite their exterior differences and that being yourself is a good thing. In the poem the author is describing himself as kind of the definition of most people- all of us do and like similar things despite not being the exact same
One example of the theme occurs when the author first introduces the story. “But the summer I was 9 years old, the town I had always loved morphed into a beautifully heartbreaking and complicated place.” (pg. 1). The author is saying that the year she turned nine, she found out something about her town that broke her heart and changed the way she saw it. This quote is important because it supports the theme. It shows that now she is older she has learned something about her town that made her wiser than when she was younger. She is now more informed because the new information changed her and caused her to begin to mature.
One theme is two-way relationships that both pull parents and children together whilst pulling them apart. This is illustrated when the mother describes an “old rope, Tightening about my life”. This represents a submerged rope (representing the invisible forces of attraction between the mother and daughter) attached to a boat in a harbour (representing the mother and daughter). It may seem like the boat and harbour are free, but when they try to go their own ways, the rope tightens and pulls them back together. This is not the only theme that reveals the complexities of the parent-child relationship. Another theme is how parents can be torn when their children grow up. The mother seems to be happy that her child is growing up and becoming independent but also seems to resist it. This can be seen from the description of traffic lights. The cars “taking turn” could represent the mother and daughter going on their own paths. The traffic lights alternate between letting and not letting cars through. The lights mirror the sporadic emotions of the mother. It is like they can’t decide to let the girl go on her own independent way in
Minority writers like W.EB. DuBois, Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Sherman Alexie, have endeavored to vocalize the unheard voices of their people through literature. Their poems, short stories and novels echo sentiments of inequalities, prejudices, and the struggles of living as a minority in America. They also courageously share their perspectives on how the conflicts between their respective native cultures and the majority shape their lives and the world around them. These authors through their stories provide deeper insights on the concept of diversity. Authors from differing minority backgrounds have shown the variety of lenses in which diversity can be viewed and understood. Their writings show the evolution of diversity through time. Although
During the 1900s, many African Americans experienced the effects of racial segregation but they still had hope, their oppression did not stop their belief for future change. In “I, Too, Sing, America”, Langston Hughes has makes it clear that he envisions change. In the beginning of the poem, he speaks of being treated differently than others in his home, making it hard to live equally. Hughes writes, “I am the darker brother, they send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes” (Line). He chooses to discuss this issue because his darker shade of skin in comparison to the other residents in his home, makes it possible for him to eat separately so that he will not be seen by the guests; this depicts segregation in his home due to race. Because of the racial conflicts that Hughes experiences, he hopes that there is some form of change in the future, where he can sit equally with others. He goes on to write, “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes, nobody’ll dare say to me, eat in the kitchen “(Line). Hughes...
Through the use of personification, Langston Hughes shows that learning is important is this story, the professor just teaches but langston is also teaching the professor that different races are equally important and that we are all the same. People in this time period were rude to black people back then then and they treated them like they were different, but Langston is trying to teach his professor that everyone is the same and know one deserves to be treated badly just from the color of their skin.”You are white--yet a part of me,as I am part of you. That's American”.This quote is langston saying that we are all the same and we are all american and nothing else is different. As a conclusion hughes was making a good point in the fact of
On that viscerally vibrant Friday morning, in that urbanized oasis, a group of primarily Black and Hispanic students united at El Cerrito High School to discuss their parents and peers very real struggle to achieve the American dream. The stories of racism, oppression, gentrification, and deportation filled the classroom with the voices of varied languages and vernaculars, a majority of which felt caught between cultures and pulled away at the seams by opposing orientations. These fourteen and fifteen year olds spoke of parents requiring them to speak the language of a place they’ve never been, of teachers demanding a “Standard English” they’ve never been taught, of friends questioning their “Americaness” because they didn’t know the difference between Disneyland and Disney World. This youthful minority-majority population is faced with cultural double identity; a term that reflects the cognitive dissonance an individual feels when their identity is fragmented along cultural, racial, linguistic or ethnic lines. This conflict of self is not isolated in this classroom in San Francisco’s East Bay area. It brims over into every classroom within California, where “no race or ethnic group constitutes a majority of the state’s population” (Johnson). It must be said then, that the culturally and linguistically diverse California classrooms must integrate texts that examine the psychological state of double identity. Turning to Luis Valdez’ play “Zoot Suit”, Chester Himes’s protest novel If He Hollers Let Him Go, and Al Young’s prose poem “Coastal Nights and Inland Afternoons”, we encounter literature and characters with double identities that assist in navigating marginalized adolescents with their own struggles in understanding their mu...
This poem is often compared to Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing because of the similarities of the two poems. In this poem, Hughes argues that the African American race is equal to whites. Hughes even declares that one day the African American race will be equal to whites. Hughes proclaims, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed-I, too, am America.” Hughes was very bold and daring when he wrote these lines in this poem. He is implying that the white people will regret what they have done to blacks. That they will be ashamed of how they treated them. Undoubtedly, this poem expresses Hughes cultural identity.
In the short story, "An Hour With Abuelo", the tale tells us of boy reluctantly visiting his grandfather, Abuelo. The story's theme is that things that you expect may not turn out the way you think. She conveys the theme at the end of the story when the main character learns the theme of the story.
“He who loses individuality, loses all” (Good Reads, 2012). This quote said by Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most recognized leaders of the 19th century, can easily be used to acknowledge the importance of a society possessing unique individualistic traits and characteristics as individuality is the fuel needed to run a society. In a world, where even a mere speck of individuality is not present, that society is likely to shatter into utter destruction. Moreover, individuals should possess the ability to embrace their own uniqueness through which they will have the ability to understand distinctive phrases such as that said by William Channing, “no one should part with their individuality and become that of another”. The concept of individuality being vital to society is explored within Caitlin Tom’s essay Individuality vs. Fitting in, the American novel Little Women by Louisa Alcott, and the romantic yet empowering dramatic film Jane Eyre. The concept presented in these three works portrays how it the essence of individuality is a fundamental component for society as it aids with the recognition of societal barriers, allows the ability to empower change, and permits appreciation of the invoked change.
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
...Moreover, the antithesis in “fine big house” and “shack” reflects the unbridgeable gulf between the two races. At the same time, it heightens the issue of segregation and racial discrimination which the African-Americans are suffering from. Meanwhile, words like “wonder”, “neither”, and “nor” show Hughes’ bitter sense of estrangement since he is unable to determine to which race he belongs. Thus, the poem is also a reminder by Hughes to his people of the tragic consequences of this social system on the mulatto offspring who have no place in either race. In this poem, Hughes dramatizes the inherent tensions of a mulatto who resents his mixed origins and ascribes his failure in life to it. Though blaming his parents at the beginning for his dilemma, Hughes ends by forgiving them and pitying himself for his dislocation and disenfranchisement from the American society.
Equality is an ever-present theme throughout Hughes’ poetry. In “Theme for English B,” Hughes presents us with musical and effective language, an intense social statement, and a very important sense of equality, shocking us into reality.
Shown through the following words is another example of theme. It states, “I thought about the last time I talked with Roxanne in the halls of Meadows, with me leaving, thinking that there was something different about her, not just in the way she talked to me, but in the total lack of energy behind her voice. Should I have known she would try to kill herself?” (page 220) Crash’s friend Roxanne, dealing with depression as her own battle, tries to cover it up at school. A similar event happens on page 228, when it says, “Felicia told me that when she was Roxanne’s age, someone she trusted betrayed her, and when she had nowhere to turn, she tried to do it too, tried to kill herself, just like Roxanne.” Crash’s stepmom helps Crash understand Roxanne’s situation by telling her own story. This surprises Crash because Felicia seems to live the perfect life to most people. Lastly, Crash thinks about his friend Burn when it states, “I wondered how
“Pay no mind to what other people say; whatever makes an individual happy is what he or she should do.” This quote comes from my grandmother, who tries her best to teach me about an individual’s personal identity. An individual’s identity represents who he or she truly is; it is something that allows a specific person to stand out from the crowd. During an individual’s life, he or she will come across many obstacles that will shape her or his being and will further shape her or him into someone with particular traits, or an identity. During my life, I grew up with six older siblings who each had voices and opinions quite different than mine. Although I felt different from everyone else, there was always one person who I related to, my grandmother. All throughout the years of growing up and going through changes, I always seemed to be filled with encouraging words of wisdom from my grandmother, and, most importantly, she was very accepting of the paths I had chosen to follow despite the fact that they were different from my family’s paths. Throughout the book The Norton Mix, which is an anthology of different texts, many aspects of identity are explored. The selection that I believe relates to me the most in this book is “Professions for Women” by Virginia Woolf, a 1931 speech about Woolf's work as a writer. Another text that I believe presents many characters with different identity aspects is the novel Hairstyles of the Damned, by Joe Meno; the novel is about a teenage boy searching for his identity. After analyzing both texts and listening attentively to my grandmother’s advice, I have concluded that everyone needs to understand that no two identities are alike, and individuals should follow their dreams no matter what...
One example of the theme is Emily Brent who is taxed with the memory of Beatrice Taylor and how she caused her death. Throughout the story until her death she reflects and remembers Beatrice Taylor’s death and multiple times she sees or think she hears Beatrice behind or near her. This begins when they are accused of murder and everyone is reflecting or admitting to there murder