Theme Paper for Genres of African American Literature
Intro. To African American Lit. 202-05
Professor McCollin
October 19, 2012
Theme Essay The introduction to African American literature course can be broken up into time periods and styles of writing. Four very popular styles of writings include the folklore and traditions, slave narrative, rural, and urban living genres that bring about different depictions of African American life. In this paper, these four genres will be analyze with themes and dramatizations to further emphasize the point and realness of each excerpt.
In the folklore and traditions section of the text used in this course, Stagolee, on page 74 stood out amongst the rest. In this excerpt, Stagolee, the main character, comes off as nonchalant, hard, and rigid. His actions and gangster-like persona causes him to earn the reputation of a “bad man”. Through discussion, it was learned that his “bad man” type of behavior struck fear, envy, and/or idolization within the people he encountered. This bad behavior which often times lead to violence can be looked at as theme for this particular piece of literature. Below is a fictional account of Stagolee’s bad man lifestyle.
May Lyons testimony on the passing of her brother Billy Lyons by Stagolee:
“That damn Stagolee. Always walkin’ in the juke late with an attitude. As if the world dun paid him no attention. He sit in that same spot, o’er there in that corner, just watchn’ with that grimace on his face. I often thought about askin him why he was so mean. But I aint ready to die. That damn Stagolee has a temper and a trigger finger as quick as a project roach. I seen him walkin’ down Peach Ave and hit a man in the face with the butt of his revolver. All cause he starred to long. I guess that’s what you get when you mess with the damn Stagolee. He was a baaaaad man. And not in a good way. He even made my older brother scared. He wont say it, but every night Billy says “May Lyons, don’t you be tryin to be the voice of reason for that man, he got
Professor McCollin
October 19, 2012
Theme Essay The introduction to African American literature course can be broken up into time periods and styles of writing. Four very popular styles of writings include the folklore and traditions, slave narrative, rural, and urban living genres that bring about different depictions of African American life. In this paper, these four genres will be analyze with themes and dramatizations to further emphasize the point and realness of each excerpt.
In the folklore and traditions section of the text used in this course, Stagolee, on page 74 stood out amongst the rest. In this excerpt, Stagolee, the main character, comes off as nonchalant, hard, and rigid. His actions and gangster-like persona causes him to earn the reputation of a “bad man”. Through discussion, it was learned that his “bad man” type of behavior struck fear, envy, and/or idolization within the people he encountered. This bad behavior which often times lead to violence can be looked at as theme for this particular piece of literature. Below is a fictional account of Stagolee’s bad man lifestyle.
May Lyons testimony on the passing of her brother Billy Lyons by Stagolee:
“That damn Stagolee. Always walkin’ in the juke late with an attitude. As if the world dun paid him no attention. He sit in that same spot, o’er there in that corner, just watchn’ with that grimace on his face. I often thought about askin him why he was so mean. But I aint ready to die. That damn Stagolee has a temper and a trigger finger as quick as a project roach. I seen him walkin’ down Peach Ave and hit a man in the face with the butt of his revolver. All cause he starred to long. I guess that’s what you get when you mess with the damn Stagolee. He was a baaaaad man. And not in a good way. He even made my older brother scared. He wont say it, but every night Billy says “May Lyons, don’t you be tryin to be the voice of reason for that man, he got