Katie Makanya Summary
Stephanie Firescu
9/29/13
Corrado
Response Paper 1 (Nineteenth century)
Katie Makanya and Florence Nightingale both contrast the modern phenomenon of urban life with traditional life in the countryside. In Katie Makanya, Margaret McCord portrays the black South African life that Katie lives and how she has to adapt to the European culture during the years of colonization. Around the time of Katie Makanya’s childhood, South Africa was beginning to change rapidly due to the discovery of diamonds, which kept bringing Europeans into their territory causing their cultures and race to blend together.
Katie is born and raised in a strong Christian native family but surprisingly she becomes very interested in what European culture is really like. Both Katie and her sister Charlotte receive the opportunity to travel to England and perform with the Jubilee Chorus where they sing before the Queen of England. Once in England, Katie’s expectations of the West weren’t what she had imagined it to be. The Queen was nowhere near dressed, as her father had described her; in a purple robe and a jeweled crown. While the Jubilee chorus were getting ready for their performance, a lady came up to Katie and offered to help her get ready. She pulled down the neck of Katie’s dress in an effort to make her stylish. Katie stepped back and gave a remark, “At home it is only the heathen women who expose their breasts.” (McCord pg 36) As Katie experiences their ways she began to reject certain aspects of their culture because she felt more comfortable in her own. She did not like the way they dressed and how they covered their natural odor with too many washings and perfumes. McCord portrays that Katie is not accustomed to and strongly dislikes the lifestyle of the English people. The English people are depicted as being more urbanized and sophisticated than the South Africans. Katie is still holding on to her strong Christian traditions she grew up with while the English are
9/29/13
Corrado
Response Paper 1 (Nineteenth century)
Katie Makanya and Florence Nightingale both contrast the modern phenomenon of urban life with traditional life in the countryside. In Katie Makanya, Margaret McCord portrays the black South African life that Katie lives and how she has to adapt to the European culture during the years of colonization. Around the time of Katie Makanya’s childhood, South Africa was beginning to change rapidly due to the discovery of diamonds, which kept bringing Europeans into their territory causing their cultures and race to blend together.
Katie is born and raised in a strong Christian native family but surprisingly she becomes very interested in what European culture is really like. Both Katie and her sister Charlotte receive the opportunity to travel to England and perform with the Jubilee Chorus where they sing before the Queen of England. Once in England, Katie’s expectations of the West weren’t what she had imagined it to be. The Queen was nowhere near dressed, as her father had described her; in a purple robe and a jeweled crown. While the Jubilee chorus were getting ready for their performance, a lady came up to Katie and offered to help her get ready. She pulled down the neck of Katie’s dress in an effort to make her stylish. Katie stepped back and gave a remark, “At home it is only the heathen women who expose their breasts.” (McCord pg 36) As Katie experiences their ways she began to reject certain aspects of their culture because she felt more comfortable in her own. She did not like the way they dressed and how they covered their natural odor with too many washings and perfumes. McCord portrays that Katie is not accustomed to and strongly dislikes the lifestyle of the English people. The English people are depicted as being more urbanized and sophisticated than the South Africans. Katie is still holding on to her strong Christian traditions she grew up with while the English are