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Analysis Of The Goophered Grapevine By Chestnutt

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Analysis Of The Goophered Grapevine By Chestnutt
At face value, The Goophered Grapevine seems to be a comical story about an old man who wants to keep Northerners away from his homestead. However, if you delve into the background of Charles Waddell Chestnutt, you learn that all his stories are tied to Southern African American culture. More specifically, Chestnutt’s works are “conjure” stories, and The Goophered Grapevine is a perfect example of a conjure story because of its deep ties to Southern African American culture. Chestnutt begins his work by using local color and goes straight to his roots in North Carolina. He also adds to this local color by using the mannerisms, dialects, and attitudes of the people in that region. For example, Uncle Julius’ speech is very broken up, “W’en dey

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