Zora Neale Hurston and Her Contributions Essay Example for Free

Zora Neale Hurston and Her Contributions Essay As stated earlier, among the many prominent African American writers that proliferated during the Harlem Renaissance is Zora Neale Hurtson. Her autobiography tells us that it was her mother that urges her to â€Å"jump at de sun, we might not land on the sun but at least we could get off the ground†. On one hand, her father would brainwash her that it won’t do any good for a Negro to have a high spirit for the whites can’t just stand it. Her father even anticipated that Zora’s going to get hanged before she grows old. Her father maybe depicted as passive participant in the Black’s struggle for social liberation. However, it is claimed that he was just inculcating the idea of Southern Survival in his children (Hemenway 14). As a child, she lived a comfortable life at least when her mother was still alive. Her childhood was a relatively peaceful, calm, and wealthy life in a non-racist black community of Eatonville. It was the first all-black American community that was self-governed. It is a community where traditional black American culture survived and flourished. See more: Mark Twains humorous satire in running for governor essay It was said that Eatonville did not prepare Hurtson of the racist America and it was only when she transferred to Jacksonville that she realized there was a thing called racism (Witcover 27). Upon the death of her mother she was sent to Florida to go to school with a brother and a sister, Jacksonville is the very place that she learned that she was â€Å"colored. † When she was no longer supported by her father, she resorted in accepting different jobs such as a maid for the whites and a receptionist among others. Moreover, she worked as a waitress and attended school at Morgan Academy. Later on, she attended Howard Prep to prepare herself for the best university for the blacks in the United States. She continued to read voraciously during these times of her life. Finally, she published her first story in the literary magazine of the school entitled â€Å"John Redding Goes to Sea†. She was discovered by Charles Spurgeon Johnson to write in the Opportunity Magazine. She agreed and submitted her short stories namely â€Å"Drenched in Light†, â€Å"Spunk†, and a play entitled â€Å"Color Struck†. Johnson saw the potential and power in her works that he invited her to go to come to New York and â€Å"make a name for herself (Campbell 2-3). † Opportunity was a major voice in the Harlem Renaissance and her contributions were highly sought by the publishers (Witcover 16). Upon arriving in New York, the Harlem Renaissance is its full swing. in Harlem, there were a number of promising writers, painters, sculptors, musicians, and politicians that are engaged in activities that aimed for the liberation of African Americans against the white supremacy. These activities have been considered as â€Å"unrivaled† in the history of the United States. Among these writers are Hurston, Hughes, Cullen, Mckay. While they are not the first Black American writers that made its way to American literature, they were the first ones â€Å"to be conscious of themselves as black writers who believed that the bridge between the white and the black races depended upon the arts†. Because of their great pride in their black heritage, they established traditions that were followed by other prominent subsequent African American writers in the United States such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and James Baldwin (Campbell 3). Her writings are obviously chronicles of the black life, most specifically the lives of the working and the lower-class people in the rural South in the United States. Her works stand along the vast and rich documentary sources of the black experiences from labor to culture. However, what’s unique with Hurtson’s literary contributions is that unlike her detractor’s way of portraying the blacks which view them vis-a-vis the whites, Hurtson’s style involves the portrayal of the blacks â€Å"in their own terms. † While oppression against the black is palpable during that era and is one of the favorite themes written by most African American writers, Hurtson chose to do away from oppression. She chose to represent and portray what and the blacks are doing and not what is done to them by their oppressors and tormentors. Her style zoomed in to the very nature of black life and examined them as black people that are capable of asserting their identities. Furthermore, her style allowed her to dissect every bit and parcel of the inner world of the African American life which aimed for one and only important thing: self-determination among the blacks (Plant 43). Hurtson depicted the beauty of the black culture by incorporating the experiences of the black people that were considered the underbelly of the black life. She manipulated the white patronage of Harlem Renaissance to her advantage. She is being criticized by her male contemporaries as being primitive in her portrayal of the American life for she has adhered to the stereotypes of black people that the Whites propagated. However, Hurtson also highlighted her criticism towards these perceived conception of the Whites towards the Blacks for she believed that they are incapable of becoming a custodian of the black culture. Moreover, apart from being a place of racial discrimination, Hurtson regarded the South as a place of â€Å"cultural creativity, family, and religion, where everyday life was lived with integrity in the midst of struggle against racial oppression (Patterson 10). † She believes in the experiences of the Southern Blacks as a rich subject in the arts and literature. Each Negro has the right to self-identity despite racist ideologies. This can be done by exploring the complex culture of Southern black towns, and discuss the every day life of black workers, black wives, and black children. Her emphasis on the experiences of the Southern blacks makes her portrayal of the African-American life even more real (Patterson 12-13). Eatonville is the most important geographic landmark in most of her short stories and novels. It was the town where she grew up and her father serving as a mayor. As a child, she grew up hearing stories in the porch of Joe Clarke’s, both the porch and the stories are retold by Hurtson in her fiction (Campbell 15). When it comes to the characters of her short stories and novels, they â€Å"are not only heroic, often fighting great odds, but they also demonstrate growth. [†¦] Hurtson’s protagonists are always in a state of becoming. They became capable of looking inside themselves in order to discover thei place in the world around them. Often they struggle against what they should become (Campbell 14). † For instance, â€Å"Sweat† is a story of a typical Negro life in Eatonville as many of her stories setting. It chronicles the experiences of Delia and her marriage to her husband Sykes. Their married life has always been in a downhill. At the onset, Delia has always been tortured and abused by Sykes. Secondly, Sykes has been seeing other women and has been maintaining a concubine. While it was Delia who sweated and earned for their survival, Sykes was still very ungrateful. He even plotted to kill her and get rid of her so he can live in her house with her concubine. In the end, he failed and Delia was able to take avenged against his abuses and tortures. On a deeper level, it romanticizes the theme of male domination over women and the feminine power that transcends all kinds of struggles. It highlights the strength of a woman through Delia’s ability to support herself and her husband despite his infidelity and brutality against her. This is just a mundane story of the Negros in a black community. It doesn’t in any way talk about oppression done by the whites. It just talks about two characters that are authentic in themselves that can stand as an embodiment of a typical Negro life. This is Hurtson’s way of asserting the African-American identity beyond any comparison and approximation of the superiority of the Whites. This is Hurtson’s way inculcating self-determination among the African-Americans who for a long time thought of themselves as subordinate to the Whites and the Europeans. By celebrating their experiences as unique, the blacks were able to believe in the beauty of their heritage and to find joy in their identities. Apart from being a black writer that is obviously aware of the African American’s sensibilities regarding black oppression and subordination, she is also an anthropologist. As Hemenway noted, Anthropology is an advantage for Zora for her to understand her deeper cultural roots. Her experiences of African American life plus her great understanding of the nature of their traditions and practices made her portrayal of the black experiences more poignant and authentic. In a particular instance, she understood the â€Å"richness and mutilayered meanings of the oral tradition† and â€Å"the creativity and imagination of black language and story telling (Campbell 4). † As a student of Franz Boa, Hurtson learned to appreciate and see the cultural wealth and legacy of her community more fully. By her skill, knowledge, and understanding of the nuances of African American, she strived to prove that the native Black Americans experiences and arts has both genius and authenticity that is traceable to the Africans and not the Westerns. Her fieldworks armed her with all the needed knowledge to prove to the Whites and the elitist Black Americans that their deeply-rooted culture is beyond to what the Whites has imposed on the Blacks (Plant 41). Her writings are best known as folklorism. In this style of writing, one exhibits the peculiarities of their cultures and traditions (Grinker 390). In her stories, Hurtson incorporates myths, legends, customs, practices and allegories that are uniquely and authentically African-Americans regardless of the Western’s criticism of their practices as backward. It is Hurston’s way of asserting Black’s way of life in its purest form. Apart from being a brilliant writer and chronicler of the Black’s experiences, Hurtson’s writings are also concern with the struggle of women in their search for emancipation against the issues of gender and race. She acknowledged the violence that is present among the lives of African American women but at the same time she criticizes the male domination that caused this violence. This was a â€Å"bold position† during those times where only a few writers like Hurtson can do among many other African – American writers (Patterson 8). She obstructed the perceived notion of women as oppressed and helpless as commonly portrayed in American Literature. She is known for her depiction of nonstereotypical black women such as rendering them as strong and courageous. As seen in the abovementioned example, Delia was the victor from the beginning up to the end. While she is being tortured and beaten up by her husband, she survived. While she is being emotionally battered by her husband, she endured. While she is being threatened to death by her husband, she avenged herself. Another example would be Janie in Their Eyes Are Watching God is one of the earliest American women â€Å"to develop cultural and personal identity (Champion 166). † However, this feminist stance of Hurtson was not immediately recognized during the period. Her intellectual ideologies have been given little attention at the time for the reason that there was still a palpable exclusion of Black women’s thoughts in the intellectual discourse of that era (Plant 2). She has been criticized by Richard Wright as having no interest in serious fiction. He said that Hurtson just continued to propagate the tradition that was forced upon the Negroes in her stories and novels which makes the Whites laugh. Wright wrote about blacks that resist the supremacy of the Whites but then Hurtson is the opposite. She wrote about the nakedness of the Blacks in such a beautiful manner and in such a colourful manner. The Black people’s nakedness, according to her, is not something that should be suppressed and forgotten. She believes that it should be accepted as part of the frontier spirit that defines each African American in a black community (Patterson 33-34). Her â€Å"ultimate moral stance is not only to absolve whites, past and present, of any wrong doing, but also to claim some value in the experience of enslavement†. She emphasized the fact that despite â€Å"the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery†, the Blacks still maintain a materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously strong and hopeful condition. Her writings do not dwell in the cruelties of the past and the cruelties of slavery and enslavement among the Blacks, she focused in the present, and celebrated the character that the Blacks developed and adopt in the course of the oppression. She wrote on how their lives have become after the enslavement and how they have maintained their culture in tact and unique among any other nation. She created some distance in the past that made a room in the understanding of the present. Too much contemplation in the past is a hindrance to the Black’s Present endeavours. The idea is to â€Å"settle for from now on (Plant 41). † Hurtson was able to â€Å"resist and subvert cultural hegemony because of a powerful worldview†. This is traceable to her individualistic worldview Washington’s theory of self-help, industry, and personal responsibility; her anthropological study under Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict among many others. All these contribute to an unwavering philosophy of individualism that help her survive the palpable racism bombarded towards the Blacks. These are also the contributing factors that developed her strength and will to resist negative controlling images and overcome Anglo-American hegemony. Her individualistic stance enabled her to engender an autonomous self that is necessary in the negotiation of hostilities in the community that she lived in along with all other African-Americans in the United States (Plant 4) Her philosophy of individualism is deeply rooted from the African-American folk ethos as a â€Å"fundamental site of resistance. † She understood the importance of the African American culture’s role in the emancipation of the African American people as an individual and as a community. She emphasized the idea of cultural survival as an important ingredient liberation and cultural appreciation as an important process in decolonization among the African Americans. She believed that the answer towards liberation lies in the African American culture and traditions themselves. To reclaim the Black life is to resist the Anglo-American domination and this can only be done by romanticizing the importance self-definition and self-emancipation among the Blacks (Plant 4).

William Wordsworth Walking: Art, Work, Leisure, and a Curious Form of Consumption :: William Wordswroth Walking Essays

William Wordsworth Walking: Art, Work, Leisure, and a Curious Form of Consumption William Wordsworth spent a good portion of his life on foot, walking. Consider a sequence of Dorothy's journal entries: Monday the 14th, "Wm & Mary walked to Ambleside in the morning to buy mousetraps" (about 5 miles round trip); Tuesday the 15th, "Wm & I walked to Rydale for letters" (about 3 miles round trip); Wednesday the 16th, "After dinner Wm & I walked twice up to the Swan & back again" (3 miles), met Miss Simpson and walked with her to the Oliffs and then back to her house (another 3 miles); Thursday the 17th, "we had a delightful walk" (a couple of miles); Friday the 18th, "Mary & Wm walked round the two lakes" (about 6 miles); Saturday the 19th, "We walked by Brathay to Ambleside" (6 miles). Now such distances are not remarkable in fine weather, but these were walks from the 14th to the 19th of December 1801, and Dorothy's notes include "A very keen frost, extremely slippery," and "Snow in the night & still snowing," and "the evening cloudy and promising snow" (GJ 48-49). Undeterred by bad weather, Wordsworth (and Dorothy) gave walking a central position in their daily lives, even to the extent that not walking becomes a remarkable event. Dorothy records that on September 13, 1800, "William writing his preface did not walk" (GJ 22). And of course in better weather there were shorter and longer walking tours such as Dorothy's record of September 3, 1800, in which Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Jonathan Wordsworth left "after breakfast" to walk "upon Helvellyn" and returned home at 10 at night, having covered probably 15 to 20 miles (GJ 20-21)--a long, but not unusually long for them, walk. In short, Wordsworth habitually spent at least several hours a day walking, and it was not at all uncommon for him to spend entire days on foot. The central role of walking in Wordsworth's life suggests a number of interesting questions, but I will focus here only on those related to the theme of this conference, work and leisure. Obviously, much of Wordsworth's walking could be classed as leisure-time activity. There was probably no compelling reason for Wordsworth and Dorothy to walk twice to the Black Swan or for Wordsworth and Mary to circumambulate the lakes.

Nobility and Beowulf Essay

Epics have been written and told orally for hundreds of years. A typical epic usually contains challenges, journeys, adventures and most importantly, a hero. An epic hero has several characteristics that make him unique. First of all, he or she usually comes from a noble family, which means, a noble birth. Also, they tend to have superhuman strength and accomplish beyond human deeds. A must in all Epic stories is that this hero must go on a quest in search of something. This quest, also known as a journey, holds several challenges and unexpected turns that the hero must overcome. Beowulf, an epic hero, is a fantastic example and fits the standards perfectly of an epic hero. He is noble, brave, and has superhuman strength, not only in his body but also in his heart. This strength is one that makes him thing of himself as immortal and invincible. What Beowulf lacks despite of this is a sense of self-knowledge, something learned about oneself through experiences, but he gains this characteristic through his epic quest in which he will realize that in fact, he is not immortal. Beowulf does not simply gain self-knowledge; in fact there are a series of events which lead up to his inner realization. Grendel is a powerful monster who terrorizes the Danes. He is feared of immensely by all of the people and nobody who has the courage to withstand him survives the attempt. â€Å"He was spawned in that slime, conceived by a pair of these monsters born of Cain, punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death. † (Line 19-23)Grendel is such a bad figure that he is known to be the reincarnation of the devil. When terrorizing all of the people at Herot, Hrothgar calls for Prince Beowulf’s assistance, knowing that he is powerful and brave. Beowulf sleeps at Herot and during the night confronts Grendel in a bloody and intense battle. Beowulf manages to kill Grendel and is therefore recognized and worshiped by all of the Danes. This is one of the first contributors to Beowulf’s belief of immortality in himself and a clear example to him that death in fact is possible. After having slayed Grendel, Beowulf is encountered in another situation in which he must, once again fight for Hrothgar. Hrothgar informs Beowulf that Grendel’s Mom hast taken and killed his best and only friend. He in turn asks Beowulf for help once again and Beowulf gladly accepts the task. â€Å"Grendel’s Mom is hidden in a terrible home, in a place you have not seen. Seek it if you dare! Save us once more, and again twisted gold, heaped up ancient treasure, will reward you. † (Line 444-449) He begins his journey to Grendel’s Mom’s lair, a deep dark lake in the mountains to which nobody ever wants to go. When he gets there, Beowulf is attacked by several creatures other than Grendel’s Mom herself, but manages to kill them all and finally encounter himself in a battle with fearless Grendel’s Mom. After the long battle, Beowulf manages to kill this creature and again feels overly triumphant and immortal, but is yet another example of mortality shown clear to Beowulf, because everything, even the most dark and feared creatures can die. Fifty years later, Beowulf finds himself being king of the Geats and being greatly loved by everyone in his realm. One day, Beowulf is informed that a dragon is terrorizing his people and is killing them, a fire breathing dragon. â€Å"I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old now, But I will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me. † (Line 607-610). Despite his old age, Beowulf, still courageous, wants to fight and slay the dragon which terrorizes his people. Once he gets there and the battle begins, he realizes that it is not the same as before, that he is in fact weaker and now vulnerable. He struggles greatly, his sword breaks, and the dragon melts his shield and armor with his fiery breath, but now his army helps him and together they slay the dragon. Unfortunately, Beowulf is greatly wounded and for the first time, realizes he is going to die and that he is in fact, mortal. When he dies, Beowulf asks for a statue of him to be built, he is in this way seeking eternal immortality. His self-realization mainly comes across to him when he is dying in the arms of his people after his harsh fight with the dragon. He was a strong hearted and strong-minded warrior, because it was not until the last moment that he learns about his own vulnerabilities, he lives thinking he is invincible, until fate plays a trick on his belief.

The Effects Of Gun Control On Our Society Essay - 1671 Words

For my family gun control is a picky topic. Especially for myself who is pro-gun and my father who is anti-gun to a slight degree. I believe that if you want to own a weapon or firearm of any type, as long as it is within the law, go for it. Whereas my father believes that you should only need to own a pistol, no semi-automatic rifles of shotguns. That is to say, he feels that rifles are not applicable in our daily life, and that we don’t need them. I do own a good number of knives, and I will carry one on me from time to time, for the purpose of self-defense. Which seems to be a common factor with most gun buyers. With this in mind we should examine other countries with lower crime rates to see if there is a method to reduce the effect of gun violence in our society, the current gun application process, as well as look into the past to see if we can learn anything at all from others mistakes. Today especially in Massachusetts gun control is the toughest of all of the states. So much that if you wanted to carry in any state some licenses will get you access to multiple states, but Massachusetts is its own entity. A gun license in Massachusetts is only valid in Massachusetts. Getting multiple licenses complicates carrying in other states, and that is not the main effort to control firearms. According to Nation Master The crime level in the United States is 55.84, and the United Kingdom is at 48. Which is not surprising as it is insanely difficult to obtain firearms in theShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of The Weapons Effect On Gun Control934 Words   |  4 PagesHow does aggression relate to gun ownership/use? Does aggression actually have an effect on gun control? There have been many studies done that says it does. But, the question is, does everyone with a gun have to take it out with their aggression. Not everyone does take it out but there is a great amount of people that actually do. 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