King, M. L., Jr. (1963). Letter from Birmingham Jail. The Atlantic Monthly, 212 (2), 77-78. Retrieved from http://www.uscrossier.org/pullias/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/king.pdf…
Malcolm X, Detroit Red, Satan, and El Hajji Malik El-Shabazz. Although, Malcolm was the main character throughout the autobiography. These were the various names used by the prominent African-American civil rights activist, Malcolm X, during the various stages throughout his life. Malcolm Little, officially known as Malcolm X, was the son Louise Helen Little and Earl Little and was born on May 19, 1925. He was the fourth out of seven children and also had the brightest skin complexion out of all the children so as a child that led him to believe that he was treated better by his father, and evaded many of the beatings suffered by his siblings daily. Despite his bright skin complexion, Malcolm still encountered…
Caged, by Alaska Jones, brings Jenna, a fiery, redheaded club singer together with hit man, Malcolm Cage, as he rescues her from attackers outside Club Velvet, her L.A. club. Jenna wakes in a strange room, in a strange bed with barely any memory of what has happened to her. Stumbling to the door, she jerks it open and what does she find, a naked man. What has she gotten herself into?…
Walk the Line, a 2005 film written by James Mangold, is a biography of Johnny Cash's life, from his days as a young boy to his days as a country music star (IMDb). Johnny Cash had always had a love for music, even as a child, but he never expanded on it, until he needed a way to support his family, which he felt he could do by becoming a musician. He had a dream to become a musician all his life, and by having a little push, he auditioned with his band and was able to make a record. Unfortunately, Johnny's "perfect" life was short lived, when he got tied up into dangerous substances, drugs and alcohol, and these things caused him to lose all that he held dear to him. By Johnny Cash making these horrible decisions, although wrong, they made…
In "Letter from Birmingham Jail" Martin Luther King strives to justify the need for nonviolent direct action in order to end all forms of segregation and helping the civil rights movement. He wrote there are unjust laws and just laws. He believes segregation laws were unjust because it damages the personality and makes African American lives below the standards given to them by the Constitution. He believes just laws to be laws that are for everybody and it positively affects the group. He wrote this in response to his fellow clergyman's assertion that breaking the law is not how to achieve equality. King countered that one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. King writes this letter to persuade his clergymen to remain strong and keep fighting to end racism and prejudice.…
The novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson shows a story of a man with mixed blood of white and coloured. Throughout the story, the man is conflicted with his heritage, sometimes accepting his coloured heritage and at other times rejecting his coloured heritage and passing himself off as a white man. The main character travels all around the United States and Europe while observing how whites and coloureds behave separately and with each other. The nameless man goes through tough times and prosperous times his whole life and comes out with quite a few revelations.…
The author or producer of this documentary film was smart in setting the scene for the viewer. He showed scenes of the area and described the sounds of the train, gravel, and attempted to give the viewer a snapshot of the attitude of the inhabitants of Northern Alabama. This takes you from the comfy surroundings of your home, the accessibility to transportation to the hardships of the 1930’s and the dismal state of life for blacks, especially poor blacks.…
In The Confessions of Nat Turner, Thomas R. Gray attempted to provide the public with a better understanding of “the origin and progress of this dreadful conspiracy, and the motives which influences its diabolical actors” (Gray, 3). Gray hoped to replace "a thousand idle, exaggerated and mischievous reports" with a single, authoritative account of the event. To do so, he had to establish that the confession was voluntary, that the transcript was accurate, and that Turner was telling the truth. As for the sincerity and truthfulness of the prisoner, Gray said he cross-examined Turner and found his statement corroborated by the confessions of other prisoners and other circumstances. While he claims that these confessions were recorded “with little or no variation”, Gray’s verbose introduction addressed to the public was intended to frame Turner and as a psychotic villain that was rightfully punished for his unlawful acts against society. In an effort to make Turner appear more sinister, Gray described Turner as being “a gloomy fanatic revolving in the recesses of his own dark, bewildered, and overwrought mind, schemes of indiscriminate massacre to the whites” (Gray, 3). Though he may not have been as vicious as Gray portrayed him to be, the description was meant to “to bring its object into a field of vision, to make that object ‘speak’ for itself convincingly and to give it form, character, and tone” (Browne, 319). This horrific image of Turner was intended to shape the minds of the public in such a way that their minds would be made up before even reaching turners actual confessions. Browne points out that “by assuring the reader of the text's veracity… and by designating the monstrous motives that drove him to such deeds, Gray prefigures not only the narrative to follow but establishes the readers' preferred stance toward it”, which given the events is a negative one (Browne, 319).…
In his letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. employs many rhetorical techniques in order to persuade his audience to understand his ideologies. MLK uses diction and pathos, as well as allusions to solidify his arguments throughout the letter.…
Each story has a protagonist, the main character, the one that seems to have the attention focused on them. Then there's usually an antagonist, the opposite of the protagonist, the so- called "bad apple" in the family. It seems to be that way with the modern family we see today. "Sonny's Blues" is mainly of an older brother who only wants to see the best for his youngest brother, Sonny. Coming from a middle-class family, things that happen to Sonny aren't what the brother though would come about.…
In Michael Jackson’s song, “Smooth Criminal,” he talks about Annie getting murdered in her own bedroom as he is a witness to the scene. As you may know, he is one of the greatest song artist and dancer ever known, so he makes the song more meaningful than just the words in the song. Throughout the whole song the phrase “Annie are you ok?” is repeated a lot showing that she is hurt and not responding. The murderer left evidence of blood, but they will never know who did it. The overall theme or message in this song is doing important things while you can before you lose them.…
“St. Louis Blues” is in the style of city blues. It had a rather slow tempo and more sophisticated lyrics than country blues. The instrumentation (a solo cornet, piano and single artist) was somewhat avant-garde for the time. There was a narrow range to the melody. The melody was simple and refined. The scale type was the blues scale, which fuses a major and minor scale together. The motives were not even one measure long but repeated every verse. The melody was more diatonic and had less motives with larger intervals. Harmony was not present in the song and all harmonic rules were followed. The rhythms were simple, with no layered effects. However, in the cornet solos, the player (Louis Armstrong) would play improvised riffs in reaction to what the artist (Bessie Smith) was singing in the line preceding his solo, providing an interesting texture to the song.…
During the 40’s and 50’s Bluegrass music was a big influence in society. It combined traditional folk ballads, gospel songs, and string band music to create a style characterized by instrumental intelligence, and high-pitched vocals. Its history, instruments, and influences are what make Bluegrass one of the most distinctive American forms of music. Bluegrass music is the old time Country music, which has been influenced by Scottish-Irish, British, the blues, Negro spirituals, and gospel music as well. It had its start on the rural south and came about in the 1940’s after World War II. It was a mixture of hillbilly, folk and various types of Country that were popular with the farm families and blue-collar workers. Country music’s origin dates back to the early 1920s. It infuses archaic ballads and folk music created by White Americans as well as forms of African-American music.…
According to the great philosopher Aristotle, “Hubris is the great sin of unrestrained will and the tragic fall in…character”. As with any great hero, the flaw of hubris is a weakness which causes them much struggle and conflict and frequently leads to their downfall. In the novel Black Boy by Richard Wright, the main character Richard is a young black boy growing up in the South who lives in hunger, poverty, and fear. One of his biggest faults is his excessive pride; it is the source of many of his issues with others. Richard’s massive pride leads to dilemmas at his school, at his work, and in his relationships.…
Freedom, the sole purpose that many people come to america. Freedom and the “American dream” is a desire for many, and sadly almost 14.5% of americans live below or right on the line of poverty, and that unfortunately proves that the american dream is not reachable for all. In a memoir written by Richard Wright, Black Boy (American Hunger) gruesomely discusses the harsh events a young child goes through while living in a household of poverty and is plagued by many unfortunate situations.The idea of freedom versus confinement is shown through diction in a constant wave through different events and challenges that the main character goes through.…
