Intro to Literature

Running Head: LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TWO TEXTS 1

Literary Analysis of two Texts Rough Draft

Brianna Williams

Ashford

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1. Literary

Your title page should contain

a shortened version of your

title in all capital letters and

the words "Running head:" in

the upper left corner. The

page number should appear

in the upper right corner. In

the center of the page, add

the title of the paper, your

name, course name and

number, instructor’s name,

and the date. For additional

information, please visit the

Ashford Writing Center,

located at

https://awc.ashford/edu.

Utilize ‘Writing Resources’,

within the main toolbar, to find

help in this area. [Angela di

Gualco]

LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TWO TEXTS 2

LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TWO TEXTS

Introduction

What is like to be a black child poem and the country lovers short story are two texts that

share a common conflict. They both address the issues of cultural beliefs that led to the suffering

of many and furthermore they address the issue of discrimination. The poem was written by

Patricia Smith and in the poem she addresses the pain that the African American children

underwent during the times of slavery. On the other hand the short story of the country lovers is

set in South Africa at the time of apartheid where the blacks were not allowed to mingle with the

whites yet a white boy fell in love with a black girl.

Thesis statement

Most people experience racial and ethnicity discrimination but they do not speak about it,

these kinds of discrimination still exist in the modern society and therefore, it is the

responsibility of everyone advocate for the end of such discrimination and uphold respect and

love for everyone despite their race, color or place of origin.

Conflict

The conflict of racial discrimination and slavery appear in both texts and both

protagonists suffer in the hands of the white people simply because they are black. In both texts,

the blacks are considered the lowest in the society and whatever happens to them is not the

concern of the authorities. For instance in the poem by Patricia Smith, the young black girl child

is raped and nothing is done about it. For the Country lover, Thebedi suffers as she labors for

Paulus father in the farm, she dies not get sufficient rest yet she is overworked with no pay

simply because she is of a different skin color.

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1. Introduction

do not use these headers on

the final paper [Angela di

Gualco]

2. What

poem and short story titles

should be surrounded by

quotes per APA style

[Angela di Gualco]

3. girl.

Your introduction should

provide a succinct, relevant,

and clear overview of the

information that will be

covered in your paper. the

intro should identify the

conflicts, the literary elements

you will discuss and state a

significant similarity or

difference found in your

analysis of these two works.

Your thesis, the final

sentence of the introduction,

should include the literary

elements that will be

discussed in the paper and

stat what you learned from

the compare/contrast. what

was a significant similarity or

difference that you can tie

everything in the paper

together with? [Angela di

Gualco]

4. The conflict of racial

discrimination and slavery

appear

which of the five types of

conflict is this? [Angela di

Gualco]

LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TWO TEXTS 3

The difference between the two texts is the setting in that the poem’s setting is in America

during the times of slavery while the short story by Nadine Gordimer written in 1975 is set in

South Africa during the times of apartheid in South Africa. Despite the fact that the black were

the majority, they were still considered the lowest in the society and they were the workers who

worked for the whites and the Indians. They did not enjoy their freedom or using the country’s

facilities simply because they are black.

Three literary techniques used in the texts

Literary techniques used in the texts are symbolism, idioms and flashback. Symbolism

and narration have also been used.

Literary Techniques in the poem

One of the literary techniques used in the poem is symbolism, ‘it’s dropping food

coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence.’ The dropping of

food color is the eyes to make them blue symbolizes the suffering the black child in going

through. There is use of idioms in the poem, ‘it’s growing tall and wearing a lot of white, it’s

smelling blood in your breakfast,’ the idiom ‘smell blood’ means that the girl senses that she is

going to be attacked while she takes breakfast. The other technique used in the poem is flash

back. The poem begins by the protagonist reflecting back on the events that happens when she

was nine years old, ‘First of all, it’s being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished’

(Patricia, 1991).

Literary techniques in the short story

Symbolism is used in the story of the country lovers. The suffering of Thebedi is a

representation of what other black people were going through and fact that she doesn’t find

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1. America during the times

of slavery

how do you know this poem is

set in the time when slavery

was legal? [Angela di

Gualco]

2. Despite the fact that the

black were the majority,

they were still considered

the lowest in the society

and they were the workers

who worked for the whites

and the Indians. They did

not enjoy their freedom or

using the country’s

facilities simply because

they are black.

are you talking about the time

of segregation in the US or

are you talking about

Apartheid in South Africa?

[Angela di Gualco]

3. Literary

this does not constitute a

paragraph. in academic

writing, you need a minimum

of three sentences in each

paragraph [Angela di

Gualco]

4. silence.’

need citation [Angela di

Gualco]

5. the idiom ‘smell blood’

means that the girl senses

that she is going to be

attacked while she takes

breakfast.

or does it mean, in

conjunction with growing

taller, that the girl is in

puberty? [Angela di Gualco]

6. breakfast,’

need citation and use double

quotes [Angela di Gualco]

7. finished’

how do these literary

elements relate to the

conflict? [Angela di Gualco]

8. (Patricia, 1991).

(Smith as cited in Clugston,

2014) include page or

paragraph and section

number for direct quotes

[Angela di Gualco]

9. The suffering of Thebedi

what particular suffering? use

direct quotes from the story

[Angela di Gualco]

LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TWO TEXTS 4

justice in the court system shows that the black’s quest for justice is not being fulfilled by the

country’s authority. Narration style has been used in the story to describe Paulus behavior. The

writer describes how he meets many girls and befriend them and despite that fact he still cares

for Thebedi and he expresses the love he has for her by buying her gifts. Flashback has also been

used in the story to show Paulus attitude when he was 15 years old, ‘When Paulus was 15 years

old he started to meet other girls from the school. He meets a girl at a wedding. They are sleeping

together in a bedroom in the house. But even though he meets new girls, he buys gifts for

Thebedi.’

Contrast and comparison

Racial background and ethnicities are things that have been evident in both texts and both

the main characters in the texts are black females. They both deal with a great deal of

discrimination because of their race and cultural background.

One of the difference is that from the short story, Paulus and Thebedi played together

when they were young, and they were good friends because the differences between them did not

matter then. As they grow, these differences start showing and they realize they are in a world

that forbids love between people of two different races and so this affects their relationship and

distances them. From the poem, the little girl has never been shown love, all she knows is cruelty

since she was young (Nadine, 1975).

Conclusion

Racial discrimination and ethnicity are things that hinder the development of a loving

community. From the short story, the act of discrimination causes the death of an innocent child

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[no notes on this page]

LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TWO TEXTS 5

and from the poem, the girl child is raped. These action causes more conflict between the

different races.

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[no notes on this page]

LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TWO TEXTS 6

References

Patricia, S., (1991). What It's Like To Be A Black Girl And Child Of The America's. Retrieved

from,

http://www.researchomatic.com/What-Its-Like-To-Be-A-Black-Girl-And-Child-Of-The-

Americas-109528.html on February, 11 2015.

Paige, W., (2014). What It's Like to Be a Black Girl (for Those of You Who Aren't) Poetry

Analysis. Retrieved from,

https://prezi.com/_t9xbihucuvh/what-its-like-to-be-a-black-girl-for-those-of-you-who-arent-

poetry-analysis/ on February 11, 2015.

Nadine, G., (1975). The country lovers. Retrieved from,

http://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/a-black-girl-by-patricia-smith-english-

literature-essay.php on February 11, 2015.

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1. Patricia,

this is in the text so just

include the textbook [Angela

di Gualco]

2. i didn't see citations in the

body of the paper for these

[Angela di Gualco]