Harlem Globetrotters

It was rough being African American in a time like the 1940’s, especially in the United States. Langston Hughes, however, knew how to turn those hardships into poetry. Hughes was a strong believer of equality, and he expressed this in his poems. Because he grew up as an African American during the time of segregation in the United States and not only saw but experienced first hand the many acts of unkindness done to African Americans, Langston Hughes’s “I, Too” has a universal theme of racial…

Ernest J. Gaines is the author of the novel “A Lesson Before Dying.” The story highlights the tension in the lives of African-Americans during the 1940s. It demonstrates a world of racial segregation. The novel mainly talks about two men. One man's struggle to accept his unjust death with dignity. Another man struggles with his own identity and responsibility to his community. A Lesson Before Dying reveals the process of an oppressed black people's attempt to gain recognition of their human…

4. Gil Scott-Heron – “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” (1970) Gil Scott-Heron, born April 1, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. He was an American soul and jazz poet, musician and author, known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and the 1980s. He was raced in Tennessee by his mother, his father was from Jamaica, but he was not in his life. He was one of three African-American students to be a part of the first integrated class at his junior high school where he suffered racial…

F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American novelist known for his depiction of the Jazz Age. In his short story, “The Four Fists,” he wrote about a wealthy, arrogant, spoiled, young man named Samuel Meredith who have undergone significant changes as he learns valuable life lessons. Authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald accomplish character development through physical appearance, speech and actions, reaction of the character to other characters, and the character's inner thoughts and feelings. Moreover,…

“Sympathy” was written by Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African-American poet. Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872 in Dayton, Ohio to Joshua and Matilda Dunbar (Potw.org) Due to his financial situation, he was not able to attend college, but he published his first collection of poetry called Oak and Ivy in 1893 which included “Sympathy” (Poets.org). He has also published other collections such as Majors and Minors, Lyrics of a Lowley Life, Folks from Dixie, which are only some of his literary works…

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is considered to be one of the most important plays in American literature. Upon its debut in 1959, there was an enormous amount of controversy and influence surrounding the plot and subject matter. A Raisin in the Sun follows the Youngers, an African-American family composed of three generations in one home. The themes of the play include dreams, family, and the realities of life in America. Within the three generations of Youngers, there is significant…

Many are determined to accomplish their dreams, but the desire of wanting to achieve it clouds one's mind. During 1959, many African Americans desperately hoped to find their individual opportunity to achieve the American dream. In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shows the theme of people struggle to achieve their dreams while they deal with oppressive conflict that comes with it through hyperbole, dialogue, and metaphor. After Mama receives her ten thousand dollar paycheck,…

Comparative Essay- Still I Rise and Telephone Conversation Maya Angelou and Wole Soyinka’s poems have often been described as a powerful and serious agent to social change. Their themes are primarily concerned with the promotion of human rights and African politics. At the same time, poems as "Telephone Conversation" and “Still I Rise” reveal a lyrical understanding of the same theme balanced with humour and a deeply felt concern for the human condition. Maya Angelo published her poem in 1978…

Lyric poetry presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet as opposed to poetry that tells a story or presents a witty observation. Indeed, "We Wear the Mask" is a lyric poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar that explores how in the late nineteenth century, African Americans could not publicly reveal their true feelings about whites' maltreatment without the risk of dangerous retaliation. Through paradox, metaphor, and apostrophe, the speaker ponders how oppressed black Americans are forced to hide…

A La Juventud Filipina Jose Rizal wrote the poem a la juventud Filipina in 1879 when he was but a student in the University of Santo Tomas, and as the title suggests, was written for the Filipino youth. The first prize was conferred upon Rizal for this composition, at a competition held by the Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila. Rizal’s teenage years were the years when his nationalism and patriotism were being fostered more and more, according to Fr.…