Descriptive Essay A Slave - 1430 Words

The moment I step onto the rickety train step, I feel that the world as I know it has crashed to an end. For half a second, I sway, having lost my balance. Hurry, Schalane! The train is about to start! calls the voice of my friend, Erik, from somewhere ahead. A wisp of his charcoal brown hair vanishes in the heaving throng. The two hundred people behind me shuffle, darkening scowls pasted on their faces. I should step back and let them ahead of me. That s what a caring person would do. But it seems that every joint freezes in this bizarre fright, my thoughts submerged in dread. A slave! snarls one long-nosed boy of my age, Isn t your presence supposed to be bad luck? It s bad luck for you, you superstitious fool. My†¦show more content†¦They each wear different expressions, casting auras of gloom, excitement, and thoughtfulness. A few iron bands glint throughout the crowd like dull beacons. So I am not the only slave on this train. I am not alone. The pained groaning of metal screeches in my ear, rattling me from this pensive state. The train door has closed. There is no turning back. Erik has tilted his chin away from the window, his bold gaze fixated upon the reflection of the rising sun. His younger sister still waves tirelessly with both hands. Attention, blows a susurrating voice through the air tunnels. According to last year s census, there should be one thousand eighty-nine on this train. That is, if none of you have died or otherwise perished within the last year. The overseers within each car will conduct a brief recount, for security purposes. The voice fades away, leaving nothing but metallic echoes. The two overseers of our car, wearing distinctive washed-out gray uniforms, saunter down the rows of seats, collecting names and head counts. They re efficient, I note, observing the determined gleam in their eyes. They have to be, Erik responds, They re on an intensely tight schedule. Names and ages, rasps the older overseer, reaching for a thin graphite pencil. Erik is the first to speak. My name is Erik Fluellen, and this is Schalane Warren. She s a slave of my family. We re both thirteen. The overseer nodsShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Amrhein, Lexie Sr Flavio s Home 935 Words   |  4 Pages(1996). The piece below is a description essay of one of his most touching photographs that he took in 1990 of a poor boy in Rio de Janeiro. Summary â€Å"I’ve never lost my fierce grudge against poverty. It is the most savage of all human afflictions, claiming victims who can’t mobilize their efforts against it, who often lack strength to digest what little food they scrounge up to survive† (1). In â€Å"Flavio’s Home,† the author gives his readers a descriptive visual of what life is like on the Rio deRead More Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass Essay1390 Words   |  6 PagesMartin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass When comparing two essays, there are many different aspects that the reader can look at to make judgments and opinions. In the two essays that I choose, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Letter from Birmingham Jail, and FREDERICK DOUGLASS From Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, there were many similarities, but also many differences. Some of them being, the context, style, structure and tone. Many times when readingsRead MoreThe American Author Review Assignment1391 Words   |  6 Pagesdehumanizing effects of slavery and the African Americans who were oppressed by their slave owners. He delves into the minds and everyday lives of men and women who are close to the time in history where they are being accepted as equal in society and accepting personal growth. Name at least two (2) other literary works (Novels, short stories, poems, or drama) by this author: 1. Mozart and Lead belly (short stories and essays) 2005 2. Bloodline (short stories) 1968 Write a brief a biographical sketchRead MoreDouglass s Narrative Of Slavery Essay1236 Words   |  5 PagesIn the Narrative, Douglass shows slave holding to be harmful to the slaves themselves, as well as to slave proprietors also. The degenerate and reckless force that slave proprietors appreciate over their slaves has an unfavorable impact on the slave proprietors own mental health. In the narrative, Douglass finishes his general delineation of servitude as unnatural for all included. Throughout the span of the Narrative, Douglass adds to a qualification between genuine Christianity and false ChristianityRead More Compare and contrast the ways In which Grace Nichols represents The1032 Words   |  5 Pagesways like I coming back is about getting revenge and sugar cane is about the suffering of slaves. The styles of the poems are different from each other. This essay will try to explore these poems similarities and differences. The two poems content is different but their subject is the same. The subject is about slavery but they are written in different ways. I coming back is about a slave woman who wants to take revenge on her master while she is living and, when she Is dead by theRead More ?An Interpretation of Paul Laurence Dunbar?s Poem Sympathy and We Wear the Mask?1194 Words   |  5 Pagescondition of African Americans in America was Paul Laurence Dunbar. Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the most prolific poets of his time. Paul Laurence Dunbar used vivid, descriptive and symbolic language to portray images in his poetry of the senseless prejudices and racism that African Americans faced in America. Throughout this essay I will discuss, describe and interpret Sympathy and We Wear the Mask. Both Sympathy and We Wear the Mask were written by Paul Laurence Dunbar. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;ToRead MoreAn Interpretation of Paul Laurence Dunbars Poem Sympathy and We Wear the Mask1228 Words   |  5 Pagescondition of African Americans in America was Paul Laurence Dunbar. Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the most prolific poets of his time. Paul Laurence Dunbar used vivid, descriptive and symbolic language to portray images in his poetry of the senseless prejudices and racism that African Americans faced in America. Throughout this essay I will discuss, describe and interpret Sympathy and We Wear the Mask. Both Sympathy and We Wear the Mask were written by Paul Laurence Dunbar. To begin with, the poemRead MoreThe Revolution Of Texas Revolution1550 Words   |  7 PagesEssay on Texas Revolution Texas Revolution, a rebellion in late 1835 and early 1836 by residents of Texas, then a part of northern Mexico, against the Mexican government and military. The rebellion led to the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas. The short-lived republic was annexed by the United States as a state in 1845. These events were among the causes of the Mexican War between the United States and Mexico, after which Mexico relinquished all claims to Texas and much of the present-dayRead MoreThe Devil of Tom Walker and Th775 Words   |  4 PagesIrving uses to show his love for America in his stories, he portrays some characters in the Devil and Tom Walker and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as greedy. Irving shows concern for America by placing stories in uniquely American moments. In this essay I will prove through passages and quotes from Irving#8217;s stories that he shows his love for America in his stories and portrays some characters as greedy in the two stories. The historical settings of these stories is made apparent by the useRead MoreNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Dialectical Journal1379 Words   |  6 Pagesbeyond plot to reflect on Douglass’s use of rhetoric to further his agenda. What is Douglass’s PURPOSE in the selected quote—what is his argument, his message, and how does his language help or hinder that purpose? Pretend the narrative is a giant essay with a group of specific arguments and then analyze it for its use of rhetoric. I am aware that the overall message is always going to be â€Å"slavery is wrong and should be abolished,† but what nuanced arguments does Douglass present within that same

Women and Desire the Unwillingness of Society to Permit...

Fulfillment of desire has always been a popular theme in novels, plays and short stories because it has been undeniable and problematic in women throughout history. Novels such as The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, as well as plays like A Streetcar Named Desire and Portrait of a Madonna, by Tennessee Williams, often show what society would ensure happened to these women if they were ever to follow through and try to fulfill their desires, be them sexual desires or otherwise. According to this novels and plays, women that strive to fulfill their desires eventually come to a tragic end because the society cannot permit a woman to liberate herself from the stigma of the repressed desire without also letting go of the social status that this†¦show more content†¦Stanley, Stellas husband, is the first character that sees through Blanches act and it is his function in the play to overthrow Blanches illusion. In this conversation between Stanley and Blanche: `I dont go in for that stuff. `What--stuff? `Compliments to women about their looks. I never met a woman that didnt know is she was good-looking or not without being told, and some of them give themselves credit for more that theyve got. I once went out with a doll who said to me -I am the glamorous type- I said -So what?- `And what did she say then? `She didnt say nothing. That shut her up like a clam (Williams 1992). Stanley makes it clear to Blanche that he can see through her. Her unwillingness to stand in direct light and her `fishing for compliments do not go unnoticed in his eyes and he asks Blanche directly about what happened to Belle Reve, her family home and an allusion to heaven, forcing Blanche to face her ruined past once more. Blanche, distraught, gives Stanley all the papers she has available about Belle Reeve while imputing her disgrace on the sexual desires of the generations before her: There are thousands of papers, stretching back over hundreds of years, affecting Belle Reve as, piece by piece, our improvident grandfathers and father and uncles and brothers exchanged the land for their epic fornications--to put it plainly.... The four-letter wordShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey 1710 Words   |  7 Pagesprovide him with a method to discover the true nature of those men and women in his household. His request to his son Telemachos to â€Å"let nobody hear that Odysseus is in the palace†¦[so he and Odysseus] alone will judge the faith of the woman, and†¦the serving men, to see whether any of them is true to [them] and full of humility†(XVI. 300-306), allows Odysseus the opportunity to gauge the situation and the faithfulness of these men and women before acting. His willingness to allow mercy to those who haveRead MoreFemminism Essay2433 Words   |  10 Pages Although most humans are born free, they can live life bound by the ba rriers and expectations of society. The novels The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and Sister Wife focus on female protagonists who break out of the moulds their societies place them in and form their own identities. In this essay, I will argue that these novels show how feminism has a positive impact on society and on the individuals who practise it. To do this, I will analyze how the cultures restricted females, howRead MoreAbortion: Risk of Medical Complications for the Mother Essay2760 Words   |  12 Pagesf there is one thing that everyone can agree on, it would have to be that no matter where you are in the world, there is always going to be disagreement. Today’s society is made up of such an abundant number of controversial issues. One of the most controversial issues being abortion- the act of intentionally termination a pregnancy resulting in the death of the fetus (Kreider, A. personal communication, March 24, 2011). Abortion is both constitutionally and mora lly wrong, and should be illegal inRead MoreAbortion Is Murder Essay2745 Words   |  11 Pages Today’s society is made up of such an abundant number of controversial issues. One of the most controversial issues being abortion- the act of intentionally termination a pregnancy resulting in the death of the fetus (Kreider, A. personal communication, March 24, 2011). Abortion is both constitutionally and morally wrong, and should be illegal in the United States in all but two cases: if the mother was raped (and pregnancy was as a result of the rape) or if the mother’s life would be put in endangermentRead MoreReport on Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development3758 Words   |  15 Pagesthe participation of States, citizens and the civil society to establish a foundation that will assure the world peace, prosperity and sustainability. Leaders in the summit will have several topics to their agenda to discuss. These topics include: Strengthening the political commitments t o sustainable development, reviewing the progress and difficulties associated with their implementation andresponses to the new emerging challenges of societies (Pickering Owen 1994). The UNCSD conferences agendasRead MoreHow Fa Has the Use of English Language Enriched or Disrupted Life and Culture in Mauritius15928 Words   |  64 Pageswhether there is or is not an afterlife. The events she describes are of course fictional and unknowable, but the multiple changes in pacing of the poem, as well as the changing nature of the carriage (stationary and in motion), indicates the poet’s unwillingness to make a decision one way or another. At several times in the poem, Dickenson changes the pace of the reading. Upon the death of the narrator, even though she could not stop for Death, the stanza features end-stops after each line – theRead MoreReligions and War Essay3499 Words   |  14 Pagesdirection of invasion in the beginning of the conquest. For the above three historical examples, amidst the setting or era when warfare and expansion of power by invasion was a norm, I would suggest that they can be explained as mere human beings’ desire to pursue wealth and power including and especially their influence in the land they considered sacred (Mecca and Jerusalem). They uphold the aspect of religion in the process, perhaps to gain more support or justification. One can in fact look atRead MoreMaking Sence of Homonegativity10662 Words   |  43 Pagescom/loi/uqrp20 Making Sense of Homonegativity: Heterosexual Men and Women s Understanding of Their Own Prejudice and Discrimination toward Gay Men Lisa Margaret Jewell Melanie Ann Morrison a a a University of Saskatchewan, Department of Psychology, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Published online: 28 Aug 2012. To cite this article: Lisa Margaret Jewell Melanie Ann Morrison (2012): Making Sense of Homonegativity: Heterosexual Men and Women s Understanding of Their Own Prejudice and DiscriminationRead MoreCritics of Novel 1984 by George Orwell14914 Words   |  60 Pageswith it literary traditions reaching back to the earliest of storytellers. Among the literary traditions that Orwell uses is the concept of utopia, which he distorts effectively for his own purposes. 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Taboo Free Essays

What is taboo? Taboo is human activity that is forbidden based on moral judgment. Anything that is not accepted by society or by your peers is considered taboo. This perfectly awful word has so many meanings ,yet no matter what race, religion, or culture your in it means forbidden or banned. We will write a custom essay sample on Taboo or any similar topic only for you Order Now No matter how hard you try not to be taboo you are. So is being taboo part of human nature, or is it how we try to stand out from everybody else and show individuality? Are you taboo, do you know someone who is taboo? There is no taboo that is universal, but some occur in the majority of societies. The dietary practices of some people are considered taboo, for instance some are vegetarians, kosher diets, cannibalism, or meat-eaters. Judaism prohibits the eating of bats, frogs, crocodiles, or snakes. Cow or beef is taboo to be eaten by vegetarian, Hindus, or Zoroastrians. Dog meat is taboo in the United States, they are considered part of the family. While in China dogs are bred for their meat, one example of this is the Chow Chow. Prince Philip of the United Kingdom once said â€Å"If it has four legs and is not a chair, has wings and is not an aero plane, or swims and is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it. † Once again everybody is taboo. I personally love to eat frog and beef. It is taboo in my eyes not to eat meat ,but that is because I am a meat-eater. The way people show or deal with their body function, such as burping, flatulence, defecating, and urinating are all forms of taboo. In the United States it is considered taboo to defecate or urinate in public. While in India, they teach to drink cow urine and eat cow feces. We all try to avoid doing things we think are taboo. People deal with things they think are different in different ways. Some turn their heads when they are faced with something or someone they find ugly or repulsive. The way people stare with added expressions when they see something different then what they consider normal, anything from a personal choice to birth defects. Even in relationships there is and will always be taboos. Sex outside of arriage, adultery, miscegenation, and incest are all forms of taboos in relationships. In the United States adultery and incest are very taboo, but in Wodaabe ,men of Niger steal each others wives even if they already have one. So adultery is taboo here over there it is accepted and condoned. Miscegenation was taboo in the United States until 1967 when they said it was unconstitutional. Taboo is in the politics of everyday living. For the United States fascism, communism, and a narchism are all taboo. While in China and Vietnam both accept and have a communism government. In early German the Nazism was taboo because of the fascism. Taboo was brought to the English language by Captain James Cook, and English explorer who visited Tonga. A famous American author Henry Miller said â€Å" whenever a taboo is broken, something good happens, something vitalizing. Taboos after all are only hangovers, the product of diseased minds, you might say, of fearsome people who hadn’t the courage to live and who under the guise of morality and religion have imposed these things upon us. So do not shun or avoid , accept everybody’s taboos because when they look at you they see all your taboos to them. Taboos are everywhere and in everything, because if there wasn’t then this would be a boring world to live. Could you imagine if everybody was doing the same thing, everything going the same direction ,no disorder, or no rebellion it would be very bland. In the end no one is perfe ct, and even if it might be considered taboo, whatever it is. The taboos we have or don’t have make us all unique and special. How to cite Taboo, Papers