5 Page African American Lit. Paper

For Malcom X by Margaret Walker 

A Song in the Front Yard by Gwendolyn Brooks

Activities: Walker had to have known Malcom for his legendary work. He was an idol and she wrote the poem to honor him. I don’t think she would have had any actual activity to do because he was known before he died by most and she knew of him. Her ideas before he died carried on after he died but while writing the poem her idea is that he was a hero standing up for his people.

Activities: Brooks would have either lived the life of the girl in the text and if not she would have probably met someone who was living the life of a wealthy girl. She writes detail on how it was living the life of the girl and the new ideas formed are based on the wealthy could not mix in with the lower class.

Invention:

Beliefs- Blacks are violated but are innocent. There won’t be another person like Malcom to fight for rights.

Ideas- They are struggling with constant cries. They are the ‘dreamers’ and ‘believers’ of Malcom X. Malcom X was influential.

My belief: They praised Malcom X because he stood up for a community formed of thousands of violated individuals. If it wasn’t for Malcom X, history would have happened differently.

Invention:

Beliefs: People are not satisfied with what they have and want to experience/try life differently.

Ideas- A lot of irony of wealth. Status dictates social relationships.

My belief: The girl wanted to see how life is like in the ‘backyard.’ It wasn’t enough for her to live as a wealthy person in ‘the front yard.’ There was more exciting things happening in the back, she thought. I feel she has the right to see the life on the other side, but when she is older because the text suggests that she is a young girl.

Public Eye: Martin Luther King was a civil rights leader and was fighting for the same goal as Malcom X; however, in just a little different way. He used no psychical methods during his time; whereas Malcom X did.