Aldo's Tales from Uni English

The African-American vernacular tradition — the system of oral and literary expression developed by Black people in the United States and exemplified by their folk tales, religion, music (blues, jazz, spirituals) and unique dialect of English — is at the core of much of the literature we have read so far in this class. These elements of the vernacular tradition are frequently used both directly in our texts and alluded to, contributing to an interesting, authentic, and uniquely Black style of literature. In an era where slavery was still within living memory for many of its most prolific writers, this field gave Black people a kind of voice they never had before and allowed them to share and relate to each other's experiences and further their culture. But before the literacy rate of African-Americans skyrocketed following the Civil War, their vernacular tradition was mostly driven by oral expression, like folk tales, sermons, and especially music. Multiple influences combined to f...

Never in Lee Harvey Oswald's childhood, the story of which is told in Don DeLillo's Libra , does he have a father, or even father figure, who is around long enough to matter. His mother's first husband, Edward, walked out on her when she was pregnant with Lee's half-brother John Edward Pic; his biological father Robert died suddenly of a heart attack during her pregnancy with Lee; and her last husband, Edwin, cheated on her. (4-5) Furthermore, Lee rarely gets much recognition, respect, or validation. In the South, he is viciously harassed for his "Northern" speech, while in the North people mock his perceived Texas accent with a variety of colorful nicknames. Without engaged or supportive parents to help him with any of his trauma, he becomes isolated, sad, and even aggressive, and is sent to a youth home after he begins skipping school. Because of his constantly changing childhood and adolescence, Lee seems to feel lost an...

     Kindred is a book that may as well be a play for how much acting it contains. Butler uses all of the main characters to thoroughly explore this idea, along with its inherent fakeness as well as its failings in the context of the time-travel narrative she sets up. Rufus, for example, puts on a different, fake-strong persona as his father deteriorates and dies and he becomes the leader of the plantation, but it collapses whenever he's with Dana to reveal the scared and somewhat traumatized boy inside. Kevin is Dana's husband back in 1976, but is forced to become her "master" during their journey to the past, quickly accepting this role that seems incredibly cruel on paper, but is ultimately necessary to protect Dana. Yet when he's hidden by the branches of an oak tree behind the Weylin home, they have a conversation where Kevin thoroughly explains his disguise so their stories can match, letting it drop for a moment. Dana herself is very similar as well. She i...

     Ishmael Reed makes many comments on cultural appropriation all throughout Mumbo Jumbo , specifically on the theft, commercialization, or bastardization of Black culture at the hands of White people. Examples of this theme include the Mu'tafikah, a group of Robin Hood-esque thieves who have made it their goal to reclaim the artifacts of largely Black civilizations which currently rest in various "Centers of Art Detention" (15) across New York City; Hinckle Von Vampton's blackface Talking Android designed to destroy Jes Grew by presenting a massively oversimplified and offensive version of it to the world; and even Charlotte, a former member of the Mumbo Jumbo Kathedral who left to entertain rich White people on the stage with a bastardized, commercialized version of "the Work." Later in the story, PaPa LaBas and other members of the Kathedral crash the party where the Talking Android is being "revealed" with the intent to arrest von Vampton and...

     In E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime , the motif of "escape" appears in many places and in many ways throughout the story. In fact, one of the most central ideas the book repeatedly explores - the near-omnipresent optimism in the "American Dream" at the dawn of the 20th century - closely relates to this central motif. At the core of that belief was the thought that anyone could succeed, regardless of their social status or any other characteristics, hence, "escaping" from societal constraints. The stories of almost all characters in Ragtime relate to this motif of escape too, whether they do so literally (like Houdini,) figuratively, or through a mix of both. Several characters' lives also include elements of the American Dream as well, moving up from situations where it sometimes seemed like the odds were completely stacked against them to become extremely successful and wealthy people (except for J.P. Morgan, of course, who is so disgustingly rich th...