Comparison Paper of Child of the Americas by Aurora Levin Morales and Whats It Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith
My Comparison Paper
Latosha Sweet
ENG125: Introduction to Literature
Sheila Gordon
03/07/2011
The literary works I will compare are “Child of the Americas” by Aurora Levin Morales and “What’s It like to be a Black Girl” by Patricia Smith. The works focus on the psyche of two women of African descent, plagued by the historical American public perceptions of their culture. These negative perceptions play an important part of the individual’s psyche due to prejudice. It has misconstrued and distorted the minds of these young African American girls. These poems show how two young girls from different American minority sub-cultures, view themselves in totally different perspectives. One of the young women wishes to identify with the culture and image of her African American ancestor’s slave owners; however the other wishes to embrace and celebrate her African Latino heritage.
The poem, “What’s it like to be a Black Girl”, is a look into the mind of a black girl in a society that is fueled with racism and discrimination, both of race and gender. This person is transitioning from a young black girl into young black women and trying to accept her changing body. She has been taught to be ashamed of who she is, what she looks like, and where she comes from. She wants her features to look like those who are accepted in society. “It’s being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished,” writes Smith, “like your edges are wild, like there’s something, everything, wrong.” (Smith, 4) What the poem is saying in this passage is this girl sees her body changing right in front of her eyes but she also sees herself as society sees her. She has been taught that what she looks like is wrong. When she say her edges are wild, she is talking about the changes her body is experiencing. The growth of her breasts and the area below that is starting to arouse her. She feels uncomfortable in her own skin. The society in which she lives is not willing to accept and embrace the
Latosha Sweet
ENG125: Introduction to Literature
Sheila Gordon
03/07/2011
The literary works I will compare are “Child of the Americas” by Aurora Levin Morales and “What’s It like to be a Black Girl” by Patricia Smith. The works focus on the psyche of two women of African descent, plagued by the historical American public perceptions of their culture. These negative perceptions play an important part of the individual’s psyche due to prejudice. It has misconstrued and distorted the minds of these young African American girls. These poems show how two young girls from different American minority sub-cultures, view themselves in totally different perspectives. One of the young women wishes to identify with the culture and image of her African American ancestor’s slave owners; however the other wishes to embrace and celebrate her African Latino heritage.
The poem, “What’s it like to be a Black Girl”, is a look into the mind of a black girl in a society that is fueled with racism and discrimination, both of race and gender. This person is transitioning from a young black girl into young black women and trying to accept her changing body. She has been taught to be ashamed of who she is, what she looks like, and where she comes from. She wants her features to look like those who are accepted in society. “It’s being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished,” writes Smith, “like your edges are wild, like there’s something, everything, wrong.” (Smith, 4) What the poem is saying in this passage is this girl sees her body changing right in front of her eyes but she also sees herself as society sees her. She has been taught that what she looks like is wrong. When she say her edges are wild, she is talking about the changes her body is experiencing. The growth of her breasts and the area below that is starting to arouse her. She feels uncomfortable in her own skin. The society in which she lives is not willing to accept and embrace the
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