Not all individuals are treated fairly in life. Individuals will always be faced with challenging obstacles throughout their life, yet dedication and passion for their dreams is what keeps them going and inspiring them for more. Although “Mother To Son” by Langston Hughes applies a formal tone while “Who Burns For The Perfection of Paper” by Martin Espada provides a reflective tone, they both imply that life itself is difficult to handle. Despite the fact that both poems compare life and it’s obstacle, they both express their experience in different manners. In contrast towards Hughes's poem, Espada’s poem provides the reader with an expression of empathy as stating: “ Every open book was a pair of hands upturing and burning” (Espada) which
Life is not always easy, at some point, people struggle in their life. People who are in the lower class have to struggle for a job every day and people who are in upper class also have their own problems to deal with. These ideas are very clear in Mary Oliver’s “Singapore”, Philip Schultz’s “Greed” and Philip Levine “What Work Is”. In "Singapore" a woman is likely lower class because she works at the airport and her job is to clean the bathroom. In both “Greed” and “What Work Is”, the speakers make the same conclusion about the struggle in the lower class. “Greed” furthermore discusses how Hispanics get a job first before whites and blacks because they take lower wages. All three poems deal with class in term of the society. The shared idea
Adversity affects the lives of many individuals. Through facing adversity people tend to show their true selves. In the novel “Speak” by Laurie Halse-Anderson, the main character Melinda, faces a few different types of adversity. One form of adversity that she faces is that she was sexually assaulted. Another type of adversity that Melinda goes through in this novel is that she loses all her friends and starts to lose her family as well. Throughout my life, I have faced many different types of adversity, one major thing that I have dealt with in my life is depression. Those who face adversity in their life can choose if they want to face it or to ignore it, and the outcome will prove what they chose to do.
When individuals face obstacles in life, there is often two ways to respond to those hardships: some people choose to escape from the reality and live in an illusive world. Others choose to fight against the adversities and find a solution to solve the problems. These two ways may lead the individuals to a whole new perception. Those people who decide to escape may find themselves trapped into a worse or even disastrous situation and eventually lose all of their perceptions and hops to the world, and those who choose to fight against the obstacles may find themselves a good solution to the tragic world and turn their hopelessness into hopes. Margaret Laurence in her short story Horses of the Night discusses the idea of how individual’s responses
A human being is a complicated entity of a contradictory nature where creative and destructive, virtuous and vicious are interwoven. Each of us has gone through various kinds of struggle at least once in a lifetime ranging from everyday discrepancies to worldwide catastrophes. There are always different causes and reasons that trigger these struggles, however, there is common ground for them as well: people are different, even though it is a truism no one seems to able to realize this statement from beyond the bounds of one’s self and reach out to approach the Other.
Throughout life graduation, or the advancement to the next distinct level of growth, is sometimes acknowledged with the pomp and circumstance of the grand commencement ceremony, but many times the graduation is as whisper soft and natural as taking a breath. In the moving autobiographical essay, "The Graduation," Maya Angelou effectively applies three rhetorical strategies - an expressive voice, illustrative comparison and contrast, and flowing sentences bursting with vivid simile and delightful imagery - to examine the personal growth of humans caught in the adversity of racial discrimination.
... the fluid backdrop of Modernism, the authors John Steinbeck and F. Scott Fitzgerald stand out with their rigid message. Going against culture, they push onward and tell the stories of people relying on those above them to save them from their incomplete lives at the tormenting bottom of the social ladder. The two authors pioneered this concept in literature and set a standard for others to follow. Not only is their standard set for all of literature to follow, but also those that hear its message in turn must do their job to help those below them. People of the new Modern Age must now take the ideas of these authors into consideration and explore the brotherly love that flows through us all.
This poem has earned this title because the speaker is explaining the origins of her strength, and how she can push forward through tough times. This poem could emulate the diary of a black woman describing how she has to endure so much in life, and often time more than her peers. Not only does this black woman have to face racism and injustice due to the color of her skin, but she also has to deal with sexism and unfair treatment due to her gender. Some may see it impossible for someone to function while dealing with such a doubled head sword, but this black woman still manages to continue on her path in life despite it all. This diary entry represents the black woman’s strength.
During the process of growing up, we are taught to believe that life is relatively colorful and rich; however, if this view is right, how can we explain why literature illustrates the negative and painful feeling of life? Thus, sorrow is inescapable; as it increase one cannot hide it. From the moment we are born into the world, people suffer from different kinds of sorrow. Even though we believe there are so many happy things around us, these things are heartbreaking. The poems “Tips from My Father” by Carol Ann Davis, “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, and “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop convey the sorrow about growing up, about sorrowful pretending, and even about life itself.
The poems, “I, Too” by Langston Hughes and “Incident” by Countee Cullen employ visual imagery, tone, literary devices such as hyperboles, symbolism, and foreshadowing in different ways to illustrate the public life interaction between two different races, and the private life of an African American’s internal struggle of not being able to fight against the prejudice towards them. Both poets share racism as their piece of life, and although dealing with racism is the central tension engaged in the poems, Cullen suggests that experiences can affect your view on life and change your attitude. Hughes on the other hand, proposes that with an optimistic attitude you can change the outcome of your future, and that your attitude is independent from past experiences.
Few situations exist that can strip a person of their ability to influence their world as much as social desolation. In the words of Rudyard Kipling, “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too h...
How do you handle tough times? This essay will include two different ways to react to rough patches in life. Upton Sinclair, the author of The Jungle, demonstrates that when Jurgis Rudkus goes through the toughest time in his life, he breaks under all of the hardships. On the other hand, Cliff Hollingsworth- the author of Cinderella Man- portrays James Braddock, who literally fights through obstacles he encounters. James and Jurgis both cared about their family, but James keeps his morals much better than Jurgis; they have many differences and many similarities in their physical traits, family dynamics, and values.
The history of African American discrimination is a despicable part of the United States’ past. Inequality among Black Americans prompts these individuals to overcome the hardships. This endurance is valued by African Americans and people all around the world. However, the ability to strive and maintain positivity in a difficult or prejudiced situation proves to be tremendously challenging. When people give up in tough times, they deny their opportunity to succeed and grow stronger. This paper examines the techniques that manifest the struggles of racism and the importance of conquering obstacles in the following poems: Dream Deferred, I, Too and Mother to Son.
Both poems inspire their reader to look at their own life. In addition, they treat the reader to a full serving of historic literature that not only entertains, but also teaches valuable lesson in the form of morals and principles.
In the two poems “Facing it” and “The names” there is a great deal of similarities and differences that can be compared and contrasted between the two pieces of writing. Some of these comparisons being in the similar themes of each poem, the difference in situations that are being used, and the differences in how they go about explaining the aftermath and effects of so much death and/or tragedy.
Multiple accounts of discrimination and injustice are displayed in the poems of Bharati Mukherjee, Dwight Okita, and Judith Ortiz Cofer. This difference of opinion is caused by the different upbringings of all of the authors that has affected their social status in America. One example of this is expressed in Okita’s poem in which he speaks as his mother as a teenager during World War Two.