Langston Hughes Essay -- essays research papers fc

Langston Hughes Throughout many of Langston Hughes' poetry, there seems to be a very strong theme of racism. Poems such as "Ballad of the Landlord", "I, Too", and "Dinner Guest: Me" are some good examples of that theme. The "Ballad of the Landlord" addresses the issue of prejudice in the sense of race as well as class. The lines "My roof has sprung a leak. / Don't you 'member I told you about it/ Way last week?" (Hughes 2/4) show the reader that the speaker, the tenant, is of a much lower class than his landlord. It also shows that the landlord could care less of what condition his building is in as long as the money is still coming in. "Well, that's Ten Bucks more'n I'll pay you / Till you fix this house up new." (Hughes 11/12) shows that the speaker may be cleverer than originally thought because he is hitting the landlord right where it hurts: his wallet. At this point it seems that the speaker may actually win and get his home fixed up, until he threatens the landlord in fifth stanza. That’s when it all turns around. The landlord uses that threat to get the speaker, who we now find out, is black, thrown in jail. Richard K. Barksdale wrote "in 1940, ['Ballad of the Landlord'] was a rather innocuous rendering of an imaginary dialogue between a disgruntled tenant and a tight-fisted landlord." He then goes on to comment about the literature having once again pitted the haves against the have-nots. According to him, the landlord / tenant confrontation was "just another i...

Is Hamlet primarily a tragedy of revenge Essay

Within â€Å"Hamlet† by William Shakespeare there are numerous events of revenge. Starting with Claudius’s envy of King Hamlet and ending with the murder of the king. Hamlet tries to avenge his father’s death by murdering Claudius but mistakenly kills Polonius. Claudius tells the news to Laertes right after the death of his father. Claudius hopes that Laertes will take matter into his own hands and slaughter Hamlet. Claudius needs Laertes to go after Hamlet before he has the opportunity to successfully assassinate Claudius. The families suffer from constant thoughts of vengeance which ultimately leads to their demise. Claudius’ envy eventually gets the better of him and compels him to butcher his brother, Lord Hamlet. Claudius finds himself in the shadow of his brother. The ghost, Lord Hamlet, explains his murder in detail to his son. The Ghost’s point of his speech to Hamlet is for Hamlet to avenge his death; â€Å"If thou didst ever thy dear father love . . . / Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder† (http://www. shakespeare-navigators. com/hamlet/One5. html) after the talk with his father, Hamlet is determined to kill Claudius. As in the Ten Commandments, the third of Ten Commandments says â€Å"Honour your father and Mother. † Lord Hamlet tells his son to kill Claudius, and from that point it becomes Hamlet’s life mission. He would die just to complete this goal. Hamlet had to kill Claudius when he was doing something immoral. Hamlet believes if Claudius is performing something pleasant, he will go to heaven instead of going to hell where Hamlet demands him to finish off. Hamlet’s want of slaying King Claudius inaugurates payback. Hamlet takes his chance to kill Claudius but mistakenly murders Polonius instead. There was a chance for Hamlet to kill Claudius but Hamlet found him praying. If you were praying and are killed while doing so you will go to heaven as you are doing something holy. To this day they would do a baptism or confession right before someone dies to release them from all of their sins. This process is called the anointment of the sick. Hamlet waits for another chance to kill Claudius when he is doing something unmerited, to make sure he goes to hell instead of going to heaven. With vengeance on Hamlet’s mind, he talks to Gertrude but hears someone behind the curtains. He saw this man hiding listening to their conversion, he strikes at the man, after stabbing the man he sees it is Polonius, not Claudius. This misfortune creates more drama for Hamlet but creates an unintended opening for Claudius to save himself from Hamlet. Claudius runs off to inform Laertes that his father was slain by Hamlet. When Claudius finds out Hamlet murdered Polonius, he ran to find safety as he knows that should have been him talking to Gertrude, not Polonius. While rushing over to notify Laertes of the situation, he thinks it’s only a matter of time before Hamlet exterminates him. The only person that can help him with this problem is Laertes as he now has a reason to kill him rather than just killing him for fun. Laertes is outraged and wants to avenge his father’s death by killing Hamlet. Laertes devised a plan to snuff Hamlet by â€Å"Which Laertes can kill Hamlet in front of an audience, and it will appear to be an accident; no one will know it is murder. Laertes shares his own plan to dip his sword in a poison so lethal that a minor scratch will cause instant death. † (http://www. cliffsnotes. com/study_guide/literature/hamlet/summary-analysis/act-iv/scene-7. tml) Claudius has a back-up plan† Claudius intends to present Hamlet, if Hamlet scores the first â€Å"hit,† with a poisoned goblet of wine. This way, Hamlet will be killed even if he wins the match. † (http://utminers. utep. edu/ajkline/hamlet. htm#Act IV, Scene vii:) just in case a mistake happens when Laertes is battling Hamlet. When Laertes and Hamlet finally meet and Laertes challenges Hamlet to a duel, with no hesitation Hamlet agrees. Before the fight Hamlet’s mind is all over the place but kept remembering â€Å"King hold his purpose, I will win for him if I can; if not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits. (Book Act 5 scene 2 Lines 168-170) It gave Hamlet the motivation he needed for the battle versus Laertes. When the fight ended there were many deaths as no one lived from Hamlet stabbing Claudius to death. The eradication of King Claudius, Hamlet finally avenged Lord Hamlet’s death. Claudius’ death means Hamlet would assume the throne as he’s next in line to be king. While in battle though he was wounded by Laertes and is going to die as there isn’t medical treatment that could have healed him in time. Hamlet finishes himself off by drinking some poison to put an end to his pain and suffering.

Gender Studies The Issue of Gay Marriage - 735 Words

In Favor of Gay Marriage The concept of gay or same sex marriage is controversial. There are a number of countries where homosexual couples are allowed to marry with their relationship gaining the same recognition as heterosexual couples; countries who allow gay marriage include Sweden, Spain, Canada, Iceland and Argentina. In the US nine states, plus Washington DC provide for gay marriages (FTM, 2012). It would appear that there is a gradual movement towards acceptance of gay marriage, but with only a minatory of people living in areas where gay marriage is accepted there is still a great deal of resistance, with a restatement of arguments against gay marriage, but when examining those arguments many are flawed and reflect fears rather than fact. To look at how and why gay marriage should be allowed, the first consideration may be the reasons why many people are opposed. The most common arguments against gay marriage are based on religious and social beliefs, with the critics saying that gay marriage, and gay relationships are against nature. The underlying idea is that natural sexual relationships will result in children. From a religious perspective, marriage was a way of tying together men and women for the creation of a family and the survival of mankind. From a social perspective the creation of the family unit based on a male and female union creation a solid foundation on which the species could grow. But, are these arguments founded in fact? The first and basicShow MoreRelatedThe Issue Of Sex Controversy1343 Words   |  6 Pagesdifferent styles. Someone who is gay is a man who is attracted to other men. Lesbians are women attracted to other women. Someone who is straight is anyone attracted to the opposite sex. Seeing a gay or lesbian couple is becoming as normal as seeing a straight couple. 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