Life is Nothing but a Hazy Shade of Gray Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” is a short story about two girls, Twyla and Roberta, their relationship and various run ins throughout the course of their lives. Recitatif’s main underlying theme deals with racism. The theme is obviously present, Morrison makes it known that the two girls are of different races, but he intentionally does not define them by their color. This decision forces the reader to come up their own assumptions and ultimately strengthens the message of racism and the understanding of the point that Morrison is trying to make. Toni Morrison gives clues that leads the reader to formulate their own guesses about the girls’ ethnicities by saying that they are “like salt and pepper” (Morrison 140).
In this narrative the readers see that Charlie considers his culture and nationality much more superior to his wife’s but Christie values both the cultures equally because they represent the two individuals. Both of the readings content combined helps to understand how ones nationality strongly fits under their individuality. In Edith Eaton’s piece called “Its Wavering Image” she uses this short narrative to project her real life experience as a half Chinese and half British girl growing up in a Western society and her search to finding her true identity. In this story a young girl named Pan, a half white and half Chinese girl, whose mother had died and so she lived
Aunt Fay writes to her niece Alice in the hope of teaching her about Austen and her writing and what better way to do that than by direct reference to Austen’s most successful text, Pride and Prejudice? Weldon in turn helps the actual reader understand Pride and Prejudice by commenting on the characters’ behaviour and the plot by giving her personal opinion, as well as identifying typical language features and explaining why Austen is valued today. She expresses empathy for Mrs Bennet which encourages the reader to reconsider their own opinion Her use of first person language tells the reader that they are reading a biased opinion, but also helps the reader trust Weldon as she is speaking
Collins actually uses words in a way that makes the whole scene light-hearted, and not embarrassing. As it is well known that Dickinson intended to keep her poetry private. As I can recall, we know very little about the real Emily Dickinson other than that she was recluse who did not become famous for her works until after her lifetime. All we see of her is the thousands of stanzas she dressed herself with. I would say Collin’s is writing about stripping down Dickinson to her exposed self, without the poetry.
Oh, that British control, how coveted it. But Maria had followed me to London, reminding me of a prime fact of my life: you can leave the Island, master the English language, and travel as far las you can, but if you are a Latina, especially one like me who so obviously belongs to Rita Moreno's gene pool, the Island travels with you. 204 Many Voices, Many Lives Cofer/The Myth of the Latin Woman 205 This is sometimes a very good thing—it may win you that extra minute of someone's attention. But with some people, the same things can make you an island—not so much a tropical paradise as an Alcatraz, a place nobody wants to visit. As a Puerto Rican girl growing up in the United States and wanting like most children to "belong," I resented the stereotype that my Hispanic appearance called forth from many people I met.
The second poem ‘’Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’’ is about a mixed race girl who tells us about the gifts she receives from her aunts in Pakistan. She likes these vibrant gifts but feels weird wearing them because they are uncomfortable and she prefers wearing English clothes-‘denim’ and ’corduroy’. She tries to imagine what her homeland (Pakistan) is like for she traveled to England when she was just a few months old. She feels as if she doesn’t fit into both countries and thinks she’s all alone. The poem Half-Caste is about Jhon Agard who is mixed race.
English 1102 Bound by Beauty British poet, Ruth Fainlight, visited the Whitworth Museum in Manchester, England. An artifact there inspired her to write the poem “Flower Feet” in 1989. What she saw were silk shoes that had been worn by Chinese women. Although the shoes are beautiful and intricately detailed, the emphasis of Flower Feet is not actually the shoes, but was the women attached to the feet they housed. She wrote that “Real women’s feet wore these objects that look like toys or spectacle cases stitched from bands of coral, jade, and apricot silk embroidered with twined sprays of flowers” (636).
It implies that her connection with the quilts is personal and emotional. It means a lot to her because of the people they represent and not merely because of the concept that they were stitched by hand. In contrast, Dee believes that traditions are about African culture and wants nothing to do with her family’s heritage until it is in style. Dee is ashamed of her family’s heritage and what they represent. After she moved to the city and become an educated and sophisticated, young woman, she wrote to her mom that she would always visit, “but will never bring her friends” (Walker 3).
Juain C. Means 09/10/2010 Analyzing “The Century Quilt” Marilyn Waniek’s poem “The Century Quilt” displays an individualized type of inspiration by detailing the persona’s reading process. Although the speaker is neither the maker nor the owner of the quilt, she somehow comes to own a quilt that is symbolic of her past life. As the character reads her quilt, she puts together different parts of her own mixed racial heritage. Marilyn uses the poem to relay a message to those in search of a lost personal heritage. In the poem, the author reminds the reader that a patchwork quilt, like any other blanket, is merely meant to keep someone warm, but the Century Quilt comes to focus on other purposes, such as the consolation of something special in someone’s life.
Kingston’s story “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe” employs numerous fantasy elements in depicting her separation from the restrictiveness of China and further, her discovery of harmony between her ancient family’s culture and her new American one. Navigating through confusion and anger, Kingston is ultimately able to remove herself her Chinese bindings and find a sense of accord between her past and her future. Kingston’s rhetoric conveys her struggle with the complexities of her Chinese culture and her inability to come to a core truth. Furthermore, she gravitates toward American culture for its simplicity. Kingston is having difficulties sorting fact from fiction in her mother’s story about Moon Orchid’s encounter with her husband.