Southern Summer Night Figurative Language
Southern Summer Nights
1. What is the subject of this text? What is it about? What sections of the text in particular helped you come to this conclusion? And, what is the theme of the text? What central message is the writer trying to convey?
The subject of this text appears to be a young boy by the name of Richard Wright who tells his life story commencing from his “four-year-old-days” (3) until his early adulthood. The opening sentence in chapter 1 stated that the opening sequence took place during “one winter [... in the] four-year-old days of [his] life” where he found himself “standing before a fireplace” (3). By reading further along, descriptions of Richard’s home and family can convey the theme of past experiences. The usage of past …show more content…
tense terms and participles, an example being,” I crossed restlessly [...,] I did not obey [..., and] I was dreaming” (3), further support the belief that the author will present their past life experiences in the form of a crafty autobiography.
2. What is the writer’s purpose? Why do you think he or she wrote this text? Was it to explain? To inform? To persuade? To motivate? To amuse? Is there more than one purpose? Does the purpose shift at all throughout the text?
Blackboy was published in 1945, approximately 6 years after his first publication Uncle Tom’s Children in 1938.
2 years later followed by his second fictional piece, The Man Who Was Almost a Man, which was followed a year later by Native Son. Richard Wright also published works of nonfiction, which include 12 Million Black Voices, printed in 1941 by New York: Viking, as well as essays and poetry. Blackboy was “designed to illuminate how obscene was [the] denial of access to full participation in the democratic process by law, custom, and the practice of race”. It was a way for Americans, and for the readers, to see Richard’s response “to the call of the most sacred American principles regarding human rights” (XV). His autobiography stirred success that followed Uncle Tom’s Children and the financial stability from Native Son. The purpose was to inform his readers of his life as a child and how it felt like to be a black male in “an oppressive society” (XV) and it’s consistency remains the same throughout the …show more content…
book.
3. What is the tone of the text? What specific words or phrases contribute to that tone? Does the tone shift at all throughout the text? (In other words, is the tone of the early chapters different from the tone of later chapters? Why? How so?)
By using sophisticated vocabulary during his young boyhood such as,” He could not punish me now without risking his authority. I was happy because I had at last found a way to throw my criticism of him into his face. I had made him feel that, if he whipped me for killing the kitten, I would never give serious weight to his words again. I had made him know that I felt he was cruel and I had done it without his punishing me,” (12). The author presents an erudite tone which remains indistinguishable throughout the rest of the story. A morose tone was often laced in his words when he spoke of the “grim, hostile stranger” that he saw “standing at [his] bedside, staring at [him] gauntly” (14) during his boyhood. As Richard begins to grow, the tone becomes indignant as he becomes aware of “the relations between whites and blacks” (23) and how African-Americans are treated. His sincerity is intertwined throughout the story as he speaks pessimistic and yet reflectively lyrical about major moments in his life; some of those being when his father left their family, how the hunger often visited like an unwanted guest, how he was illustrated as a heretic--a lost soul--to his deeply religious family members and he witnessed the injustice that a young African-American male faced in the south.
4. Are important terms repeated throughout the text? Why? What is their effect?
Hunger is an important term, in my scholarly opinion, that is often repeated throughout the author’s life story via text and subtext. The hunger represented both a literal and figurative perception by the author. After Richard’s father left their family, Richard came to the realization “that his absence would mean that there would be no food” (15) and that the “normal hunger [which once] made [him] beg constantly for bread [would now twist his] empty guts until they ached” (14-15). Richard often became familiar with the physical awareness of hunger as he repeatedly witnessed first-hand what the deprivation of food caused. But, physical hunger was not the only starvation he experienced. Soon after recognizing a hidden enchantment for reading, Richard’s hunger became figurative as well. Succeeding the possession of a library card, Richard obtained a “hunger for books [that...] would not die” (249). The personification of Richard’s both physical and mental hunger caused the reader to distinguish just how important Richard’s need to end his hunger was. This explained how he read dozens of books, soaking in their stories, tasting their foreign tongues with his mind as he questioned the aspects of everyday life around him.
5. Are there any particularly vivid images that stand out? What effect do these images have on the writer’s purpose and on the reader’s understanding of that purpose?
Personally, I believe that the most vivid image that stood out to me was during his boyhood, in the early chapters of his life.
My mind was a blank canvas that was painted to see “a piece of rope, made [into] a noose, slipped [around a] kitten’s neck, [as it is was] pulled [...] over a nail, [jerking] the animal clear of the ground” (11). Paintings of the poor creature gasping and “[clawing] the air frantically” (11) multiplied in my head as Richard stated “that kitten [couldn’t] even breathe” (11) implying that he ended an innocent’s kitten’s life to threaten his father’s authority. Seeing how Richard was younger than 6 at this point, being the cause of an animal’s life by means of showing criticism towards his father, stood out to me as an early sign of defying authority as well as mental instability. Research conducted in the 1970’s concluded that “childhood cruelty to animals [was] the first warning sign of later delinquency, violence, and criminal behavior” even though he committed such an act as a form of imitation (psychologytoday.com). To put it in simple and concise words, this act set off a red flag in my head. Down the line, Richard got into an argument with his aunt. Refusing to get beaten for something he did not do, Richard “grabbed [...] a knife and held it ready for her” (108). Defending himself not only from his aunt, but his Uncle Tom as well, Richard found himself with “a razor in each hand” (159). The images of him grasping onto knives and razors,
baring them at his family members like sharpened fangs, made me think that although young, he was very well capable of hurting them. Just as before when he felt the “long heavy stick [.given to him by his mother,...] crack against a boy’s skull” (18) without remorse. I am unaware if the author’s purpose was to inform via subtext that he is very capable of violence or not but, as the reader my understanding came to be: starting from a young age, the author displayed early signs of future violence which would later be exhibited throughout the progression of age. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-equation/201104/children-who-are-cruel-animals-when-worry
6. How does the writer use sensory details? What effect do these details have on the writer’s purpose and on the reader’s understanding of that purpose?
The author uses sensory details to engage the readers to further imagine the scenario in more vivid aspects. Adding sensory details to events such as the when his aunt “lashed [him] across [his] bare legs until welts rose” (106) contribute details to the readers which they can then use to get a sense of what it felt like. By stating that his legs were lashed until welts rose, readers can come to the conclusion that the author went through a significant amount of physical pain. The welts raising mean that the skin was lashed with great force. By adding specifications to events such as the brawls that arose in the roundhouse such as how their “battles were real and bloody” as they used “rocks, cinders, coal, sticks, pieces of iron, and broken bottles” (83)-- as well as the occasional deadly weapon-- can aid the reader in creating a “movie” scene inside their heads. The addition of sensory details can help the author further provide details to their audience.
7. Are devices used to enhance meaning? Which devices (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, parallel structure, repetition, allusion, rhyme, etc.) does the writer use? When does he or she use them? Why? How does the writer’s use of devices serve his or her purpose?
There are many devices used throughout the book, the most visible ones were repetition and personification. The constant repetition of Richard’s hunger is laced in many chapters and at times is the center of focus. In one sense, when Richard ached with hunger he explained that he would find it “staring at [him] gauntly” (14). Of course, hunger cannot do such a thing but the personified version can and because Richard depicted the hunger as a “grim, hostile, stranger” (14), the reader can then come to the conclusion that the hunger was so strong and forceful that it eventually manifested itself into the size of a person. What was once a small feeling now grew into the now cause of Richard’s aching “empty guts” (15).
8. Does the writer use devices of humor? Dark humor? Puns? Irony? Sarcasm? Understatement? Anecdote? Is the effect pleasure? Ridicule? Comic relief?
Personally, I have a very dark sense of humor so the chapter in which Richard’s Grandma was cleaning him and he commented saying,”When you get through, kiss back there,” (41)-- referring to his rectum-- provided me with humor. My sister, who in curiosity of my breathless chuckles, read the same page but only gave a simple shrug of unamusement. She commented saying,”It’s more rude than funny,” and left. I found great pleasure in Richard’s sarcastic remarks and unintentional rudeness. When his grandmother jumped ecstatically because she misunderstood Richard when he stated,”[...] if I ever saw an angel like Jacob did, then I’d believe” (117). The misunderstanding, personally, brought comic relief to me as the reader but every individual is different. I found devices of humor, dark humor, irony, and so on that I accepted as comic relief but, someone else might not think of them being such things.
1. What is the subject of this text? What is it about? What sections of the text in particular helped you come to this conclusion? And, what is the theme of the text? What central message is the writer trying to convey?
The subject of this text appears to be a young boy by the name of Richard Wright who tells his life story commencing from his “four-year-old-days” (3) until his early adulthood. The opening sentence in chapter 1 stated that the opening sequence took place during “one winter [... in the] four-year-old days of [his] life” where he found himself “standing before a fireplace” (3). By reading further along, descriptions of Richard’s home and family can convey the theme of past experiences. The usage of past …show more content…
tense terms and participles, an example being,” I crossed restlessly [...,] I did not obey [..., and] I was dreaming” (3), further support the belief that the author will present their past life experiences in the form of a crafty autobiography.
2. What is the writer’s purpose? Why do you think he or she wrote this text? Was it to explain? To inform? To persuade? To motivate? To amuse? Is there more than one purpose? Does the purpose shift at all throughout the text?
Blackboy was published in 1945, approximately 6 years after his first publication Uncle Tom’s Children in 1938.
2 years later followed by his second fictional piece, The Man Who Was Almost a Man, which was followed a year later by Native Son. Richard Wright also published works of nonfiction, which include 12 Million Black Voices, printed in 1941 by New York: Viking, as well as essays and poetry. Blackboy was “designed to illuminate how obscene was [the] denial of access to full participation in the democratic process by law, custom, and the practice of race”. It was a way for Americans, and for the readers, to see Richard’s response “to the call of the most sacred American principles regarding human rights” (XV). His autobiography stirred success that followed Uncle Tom’s Children and the financial stability from Native Son. The purpose was to inform his readers of his life as a child and how it felt like to be a black male in “an oppressive society” (XV) and it’s consistency remains the same throughout the …show more content…
book.
3. What is the tone of the text? What specific words or phrases contribute to that tone? Does the tone shift at all throughout the text? (In other words, is the tone of the early chapters different from the tone of later chapters? Why? How so?)
By using sophisticated vocabulary during his young boyhood such as,” He could not punish me now without risking his authority. I was happy because I had at last found a way to throw my criticism of him into his face. I had made him feel that, if he whipped me for killing the kitten, I would never give serious weight to his words again. I had made him know that I felt he was cruel and I had done it without his punishing me,” (12). The author presents an erudite tone which remains indistinguishable throughout the rest of the story. A morose tone was often laced in his words when he spoke of the “grim, hostile stranger” that he saw “standing at [his] bedside, staring at [him] gauntly” (14) during his boyhood. As Richard begins to grow, the tone becomes indignant as he becomes aware of “the relations between whites and blacks” (23) and how African-Americans are treated. His sincerity is intertwined throughout the story as he speaks pessimistic and yet reflectively lyrical about major moments in his life; some of those being when his father left their family, how the hunger often visited like an unwanted guest, how he was illustrated as a heretic--a lost soul--to his deeply religious family members and he witnessed the injustice that a young African-American male faced in the south.
4. Are important terms repeated throughout the text? Why? What is their effect?
Hunger is an important term, in my scholarly opinion, that is often repeated throughout the author’s life story via text and subtext. The hunger represented both a literal and figurative perception by the author. After Richard’s father left their family, Richard came to the realization “that his absence would mean that there would be no food” (15) and that the “normal hunger [which once] made [him] beg constantly for bread [would now twist his] empty guts until they ached” (14-15). Richard often became familiar with the physical awareness of hunger as he repeatedly witnessed first-hand what the deprivation of food caused. But, physical hunger was not the only starvation he experienced. Soon after recognizing a hidden enchantment for reading, Richard’s hunger became figurative as well. Succeeding the possession of a library card, Richard obtained a “hunger for books [that...] would not die” (249). The personification of Richard’s both physical and mental hunger caused the reader to distinguish just how important Richard’s need to end his hunger was. This explained how he read dozens of books, soaking in their stories, tasting their foreign tongues with his mind as he questioned the aspects of everyday life around him.
5. Are there any particularly vivid images that stand out? What effect do these images have on the writer’s purpose and on the reader’s understanding of that purpose?
Personally, I believe that the most vivid image that stood out to me was during his boyhood, in the early chapters of his life.
My mind was a blank canvas that was painted to see “a piece of rope, made [into] a noose, slipped [around a] kitten’s neck, [as it is was] pulled [...] over a nail, [jerking] the animal clear of the ground” (11). Paintings of the poor creature gasping and “[clawing] the air frantically” (11) multiplied in my head as Richard stated “that kitten [couldn’t] even breathe” (11) implying that he ended an innocent’s kitten’s life to threaten his father’s authority. Seeing how Richard was younger than 6 at this point, being the cause of an animal’s life by means of showing criticism towards his father, stood out to me as an early sign of defying authority as well as mental instability. Research conducted in the 1970’s concluded that “childhood cruelty to animals [was] the first warning sign of later delinquency, violence, and criminal behavior” even though he committed such an act as a form of imitation (psychologytoday.com). To put it in simple and concise words, this act set off a red flag in my head. Down the line, Richard got into an argument with his aunt. Refusing to get beaten for something he did not do, Richard “grabbed [...] a knife and held it ready for her” (108). Defending himself not only from his aunt, but his Uncle Tom as well, Richard found himself with “a razor in each hand” (159). The images of him grasping onto knives and razors,
baring them at his family members like sharpened fangs, made me think that although young, he was very well capable of hurting them. Just as before when he felt the “long heavy stick [.given to him by his mother,...] crack against a boy’s skull” (18) without remorse. I am unaware if the author’s purpose was to inform via subtext that he is very capable of violence or not but, as the reader my understanding came to be: starting from a young age, the author displayed early signs of future violence which would later be exhibited throughout the progression of age. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-equation/201104/children-who-are-cruel-animals-when-worry
6. How does the writer use sensory details? What effect do these details have on the writer’s purpose and on the reader’s understanding of that purpose?
The author uses sensory details to engage the readers to further imagine the scenario in more vivid aspects. Adding sensory details to events such as the when his aunt “lashed [him] across [his] bare legs until welts rose” (106) contribute details to the readers which they can then use to get a sense of what it felt like. By stating that his legs were lashed until welts rose, readers can come to the conclusion that the author went through a significant amount of physical pain. The welts raising mean that the skin was lashed with great force. By adding specifications to events such as the brawls that arose in the roundhouse such as how their “battles were real and bloody” as they used “rocks, cinders, coal, sticks, pieces of iron, and broken bottles” (83)-- as well as the occasional deadly weapon-- can aid the reader in creating a “movie” scene inside their heads. The addition of sensory details can help the author further provide details to their audience.
7. Are devices used to enhance meaning? Which devices (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, parallel structure, repetition, allusion, rhyme, etc.) does the writer use? When does he or she use them? Why? How does the writer’s use of devices serve his or her purpose?
There are many devices used throughout the book, the most visible ones were repetition and personification. The constant repetition of Richard’s hunger is laced in many chapters and at times is the center of focus. In one sense, when Richard ached with hunger he explained that he would find it “staring at [him] gauntly” (14). Of course, hunger cannot do such a thing but the personified version can and because Richard depicted the hunger as a “grim, hostile, stranger” (14), the reader can then come to the conclusion that the hunger was so strong and forceful that it eventually manifested itself into the size of a person. What was once a small feeling now grew into the now cause of Richard’s aching “empty guts” (15).
8. Does the writer use devices of humor? Dark humor? Puns? Irony? Sarcasm? Understatement? Anecdote? Is the effect pleasure? Ridicule? Comic relief?
Personally, I have a very dark sense of humor so the chapter in which Richard’s Grandma was cleaning him and he commented saying,”When you get through, kiss back there,” (41)-- referring to his rectum-- provided me with humor. My sister, who in curiosity of my breathless chuckles, read the same page but only gave a simple shrug of unamusement. She commented saying,”It’s more rude than funny,” and left. I found great pleasure in Richard’s sarcastic remarks and unintentional rudeness. When his grandmother jumped ecstatically because she misunderstood Richard when he stated,”[...] if I ever saw an angel like Jacob did, then I’d believe” (117). The misunderstanding, personally, brought comic relief to me as the reader but every individual is different. I found devices of humor, dark humor, irony, and so on that I accepted as comic relief but, someone else might not think of them being such things.