"Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes (Hughes and Arnold, p. 7-25.)
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"Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes (Hughes and Arnold, p. 7-25.)
A young black person wrote the English Theme at his twenties. From the script, the speaker is a college student who may not be the author considering the birthplace. The focus of the piece is on race and relationship, extending to the tasks and how one takes to accomplish it. The issue of race is seen where the speaker mentions that he is ‘colored’, and further says that he is the only one in their class, a thing he realizes as he walks home. The script further refers to the paper and the instructor as white, even as other races are mentioned too in the piece. There is a picture the speaker is trying to bring in as he describes where he attend school and by the fact that he is the only colored in the group. It can be deduced that it is difficult for the colored people to access elite schools in that area, bringing a sense of discrimination based on race.
It can be seen in the third stanza that the speaker tries to compare the similarities between the instructor and himself. He uses artistic style to attract the audience and readers, incorporating rhyming scheme and rhythm. The book represents the picture of America and brings in it the aspect of the African-Americans. It is evident that the piece is captured in pure language flowing in proper consciousness. The instructor gave an instruction for the students to write a piece that is ‘true’, coming from them. The speaker meditates upon himself whether it is that easy to write the piece that the instructor demand, adding that at his age it is hard to know what is true. Within the familiar places and things, the speaker enlists to like, and that he finds it hard liking what the white people like, being that he is black. Racism is further expressed in the thoughts of the speaker where he wonders if his views will meet the expectations of the white tutor.
The assertion of the writer comes in. Even though he is black, they are both Americans and his writing links him to the White instructor. According to the author, the American experience and dream can be achieved collectively through the efforts of every single person irrespective of age, color or whether free oppressed. The script can bring a wider thought and imagination of the speaker’s life, some of which are not drawn from the book, but through the statements of the person. For instance, the speaker does not give a vivid description of the school he attends, but from the mention, it can be figured out which school in New York the speaker attended. The speaker was born in North Carolina but relocated to New York to pursue education in an elite school in the thought urban center. The description brings a picture of migration to urban centers to advance, maybe in different aspects of life. The art presents unclear facts on the speaker’s experiences and multiple reasons can be deduced from different viewpoints. The speaker has to live to try and fit the society and in overall figure out self and get to identify himself with the notably complex country with the experience with the American White.
“Roman Fever” by Edith Wharton (Wharton and Robinson, p. 683-691)
The book written by Edith Wharton in 1934 is a straightforward short story that presents a picture of Rome at that time. The statements over the story run over another that can be perceived as an artistic style that the writer used (Beardwood, p. 64). In the story, two widows coincidentally meet in Rome who engage each other and discuss much about their life and daughters. Two women both happen to be recent widows and with young girls. The women in the story have probably met before, and they go further to share their stories some of which are intimate. In the society at that time, it was inappropriate and women commonly hesitated to share such stories. Politeness between the two women can be seen to break at one point when they cascade the past betrayal, a revelation that may rock their present life.
The story leads to the book points at the back, with a discussion on how a husband was cheating on a wife with another man appearing. Those two women, meet and they share a common situation that probably makes their past weaker than their present. However, not so, as the revelation comes in that, daughters of the two women share a common father. The writer tries to portray the truth in the eye of the audience by presenting the complicated history of the two women in a simple context. In a way, the author may have tried to depict the way in which women in that society used to speak with one another, even if there is tension between them. The writer attempts to present themes that must be unearthed by the reader even in the politeness and the simplicity of the story. Within the storyline, there is vengeance, sexual and the jealous side of the story, which can be picked from the writer intent.
The storyline runs in two, the past, and the present that the author has used to create the structure of her story (Beardwood, p. 9). On one end, the story is presented in a first person narrative while, on the other end, the past is narrated in the second voice. What every audience of the story would understand is that the two women probably met earlier and have a daughter each. The daughters have a common father, they are both recent widows and have both moved between America and Rome. In another way, the two are likely having shared past and present and each have a revelation of the past to throw back. Their story about their shared experience in the Rome arose from a conversation about their daughters. Rome in the past was filled with persecution and hidden sexual violence though at the time of the meeting between the women it was considered safe and romantic.
The city was at one time tragic with the ‘fever’ the writer was trying to bring out being fatal malaria strain that infected majority. Others died at the time when the two women were still young. The wickedness of one, Mrs. Slade is seen in an instance. It is revealed that she sent Mrs. Ansley, a false letter purported to be from the husband. The intention was that she could go out and contact malaria strain that was sweeping Rome. Life in Rome at that time was freer with nothing to fear about as the fever had already been contained, and it was no more, unlike the time of their mothers when they had to hide. The place where the women sat at overlooked most famous historical sites that in the past were scenes of all sorts of violence and destruction in Rome. When the story ends with a phrase Mrs. Ansley use ‘Name of the Father’, it portrays religious possession of the people and allusion of purity.
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston (Shea, 11-24)
‘Sweat’ is a short story written by Zora Neale with significant aspects brought about that audience can analyze. The story revolves on female empowerment, different perspectives married couples have, and on how a woman can overcome an abusive husband. The Race is evident in the book and gender comes in intertwined to it. The book representing the plight of female gender can be seen as a feminist fiction though not as one would interpret throughout the story. The woman Delia presented in the book is an active, hardworking woman who strives to build her own and keeps herself going and more powerful than anyone could imagine. The dialects used in the story gives the audience a feeling of the place. Conclusion can be made on the extent of education of the characters in the play. The dialect, speech, conduct, and gossip can make readers have a picture of the place where characters live and their culture.
The book was written in 1920’s and features a couple namely Delia and Sykes with their marital issues and life not so well ending. The woman takes task of working for whites and washing for them, a thing that does not go well with the husband. It brings about a difficult life and woman’s effort to toil. Even though the Sykes perceive Delia as a traitor, she labors so hard to earn a living and have decent life for herself and the family. Sykes goes even an extra mile to trample on the clothing his wife washes to show contempt, but the same duty the wife undertakes keep them going. It is symbolic that the man is not accommodative and understanding and, on the other hand, does not wish well for his wife. Being the husband and knowing the fear of his wife, other than protecting her, Sykes uses Delia’s fear of snakes to his advantage. The man expresses dominance over Delia by scaring her and even goes to an extent of leaving Delia with a snake in the house even though she asks him to kill it. The rattlesnake in the end bite Sykes and Delia cannot do anything. She watches him die.
At the beginning of the story, Delia sorts white clothes from dark ones. The theme of black and white cuts over the play having symbolism an audience can draw. Sykes thinks that the whites oppress the black, but he at the same time subjects the wife to some oppression without caring about her feelings. Sykes scolds at Delia simply because she has clothes belonging to white people in the house. At that time, Delia scolds at Sykes for scaring her with a whip as if it was a snake, and Sykes responds by kicking and stepping on the clean clothes as if to pick a fight with her. The man is taken back by the scolding of the wife and is cowed, not to strike Delia as he usually does. In the script, it is clear that Sykes continuously abuse Delia physically and the wife, on the other hand, does not back down and continues being rebellious.
Other than the physical abuse, Sykes is an infidel and goes to an extent of sleeping with another woman, whom he spends all his hard earned money on, buying gifts. A husband who should stay home at night with the wife spends out at night and gets back home at around dawn. Delia, on the other hand, ponders on her rocky marriage, keeps on with her duty working for the whites and her commitment, going to church, and maintaining her small house. She keeps patience with her husband even in the face of physical abuse, with a hope that eventually there will be a resolution. It can be realized that the physical injuries Delia received made her change her looks. Passing by some men sitting at the store, they acknowledge her beauty and recognize the shame the woman has often received when her man beats her to an extent of changing her good appearance. From the men’s talk, it is realized that they are not pleased by his action, a feeling that is reflected by the whole town and that a reader of the piece can borrow.
The husband suppress the wife, and generally as it is expected that a man would protect the wife in any way and provide for her, the case of Sykes is way different, leaving the reader to question how their marriage was constituted. Delia gets back to her place one time from her duty and finds Sykes telling Bertha that he would buy her anything she may want. Sykes is aware that Delia has seen them, and apparently, he is pleased that she saw them. It is quite ironical in this case since it is expected that a man who cheats on the wife would not go doing it openly, but Sykes expresses no shock that his wife ran into them. It is realized at a point that the couple fought over the issue on several occasions, and as it may be expected that two people living together should be friendly and talk to each other, the case was different for Delia and Sykes with the latter fuelling the scene.
As the story ends, it can be said that the thought of Delia at one instance was foreshadowed (Beardwood). In thinking that “whatever goes over the devil’s back, is got to come under his belly”, the thought comes to a reflection where Sykes brings a snake in the house that ultimately bites him for his death. Delia merely watches Sykes die, doing nothing to help him. The audience can see that this is an act of vengeance, but on the other hand, it can be ignorance from maybe Delia never knowing what to do to control the situation. After all, he brought it in, and ignored the plea for him to kill it but went ahead to keep it in the house. In the end, the rattlesnake runs loose and bites Sykes, a thing that can portray a symbolism of evil for evil. At last, he got it for himself. Maybe Delia will be peaceful and happy after that.