Thursday, 12 June 2014

What are three themes is the story "Thank you Ma'am"?


 
Three themes present in "Thank You, Ma'am" are Forgiveness and Empathy, the Power of Love and Trust, and Christian Charity.
  • Forgiveness and Empathy :When Roger first snatches the purse of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, she wrestles him and drags him to her furnished room at the rear of a house. Once insides Mrs. Jones asks the boy his name and tells him to wash his face in the sink?
"You gonna take me to jail?".... 
"Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere," said the woman. "Here I am trying to get home to cook me a bite to eat and you snatch my pocketbook! Maybe, you ain’t been to your supper either, late as it be. Have you?" Perceiving that Roger is neglected and hungry, Mrs. Jones forgives him and with her motherly nature --"You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong"--she forgives Roger and cooks him a meal.  She also tells Roger that she, too, has done wrong, and offers him empathy, "Everybody's got something in common."
  • The Power of Love and Trust: While she prepares the meal, Mrs. Jones leaves her purse on the other side of the screen where she cooks. Roger worries that she may not trust him, so he moves where he hopes she can see him. "And he did not want to be mistrusted now." And, as Mrs. Jones talks with Roger, she does not ask him anything about himself which could be embarrassing.
  • Christian Charity: Despite Roger's attempted robbery, Mrs. Jones understands his poverty and want. So, she gives him ten dollars for the purchase of some blue suede shoes with the admonition to not steal again. Leading him down the hall, she says, "Good night! Behave yourself, boy!" Stunned by her charity and kindness, Roger cannot even utter a thank you, so stunned is he by her charity.
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Explain the title Thank You, Ma'am.


    
Roger, the young boy who tries to steal a purse from the wrong woman in this Langston Hughes short story, feels shame and regret after he is forced to return to her home. While there, the large woman, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, treats the boy with respect and gives him a hot meal. She does not question him about the purse again, but only asks if he wanted the money because he was hungry. No, the boy tells her; he only wants to buy some blue suede shoes. She tells him that she, too, has done things for which she is ashamed. Mrs. Jones gives him $10 to buy the shoes, and shows him the way to the door. As he leaves, he wishes that he could think of something else to say, but he only tells her "Thank you, ma'am." Because the woman, who obviously has little money herself and has to cook a simple meal on a hot plate, is so kind to the boy, and treats him with dignity, she earns his trust and his respect--quite a change from how the two first met. It seems an appropriate title.

Key facts of “Thank You Ma’am” by James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967)




The Harlem Renaissance:
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke. The Movement also included the new African-American cultural expressions across the urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest United States affected by the Great Migration (African American), of which Harlem was the largest. Though it was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, in addition, many francophone black writers from African and Caribbean colonies who lived in Paris were also influenced by the Harlem Renaissance.
Harlem became an African-American neighborhood in the early 1900s. In 1910, a large block along 135th Street and Fifth Avenue was bought by various African-American realtors and a church group. Many more African–Americans arrived during the First World War.
Characterizing the Harlem Renaissance was an overt racial pride that came to be represented in the idea of the New Negro, who through intellect and production of literature, art, and music could challenge the pervading racism and stereotypes to promote progressive or socialist politics, and racial and social integration. The creation of art and literature would serve to "uplift" the race.
Jazz poetry:
Jazz poetry is poetry that "demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or the feel of improvisation".[1] During the 1920s, several poets began to eschew the conventions of rhythm and style; among these were Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and E. Cummings. The significance of the simultaneous evolution of poetry and jazz during the 1920s was apparent to many poets of the era, resulting in the merging of the two art forms into jazz poetry. Jazz poetry has long been something of an "outsider" art form that exists somewhere outside the mainstream, having been conceived in the 1920s by African-Americans, maintained in the 1950s by counterculture poets like those of the Beat generation, and adapted in modern times into hip-hop music and live poetry events known as poetry slams.
Publication: The story was published in 1958 and is not in the public domain. Although some sources cite 1933 as the date of publication.
Characters: The story features two characters; Roger and Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.
Theme: Langston Hughes' "Thank You, M'am" contains three main themes: love and trust, forgiveness, and dignity.

Key facts on “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” by William Wordsworth




  • Date of composition:  September 3, 1802 ( July 31, 1802 in another opinion)
  • Year of publication:  1807 in “Poems in Two volumes”
  • Westminster Bridge:  It is a bridge in England crossing the river Thames near Westminster Abbey and leading to the road to Dover.
  • Occasion of composition: While going to Calais, France to pay a visit to Annette Vallon, (a French woman whom Wordsworth met in 1791 in France fell in love  and in 1802 Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, visited Annette and Caroline in Calais. The purpose of the visit was to pave the way for his forthcoming marriage to Mary Hutchinson) on his way from London to Dover, Wordsworth looked at    the city of London from Westminster Bridge. It was early morning (31st July 1802) and he was moved by the beauty of the city. He stopped his horse carriage on the bridge and wrote the poem.
  • Poet’s companion: Dorothy, the poet’s sister.
  • Type of the poem: It is a Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet having 14 lines divided into Octave (first eight lines) and Sestet (last six lines). The Octave follows the rhyme scheme abba-abba while the sestet keeps to cdcdcd.
  • Use of Personification: The city of London wears a new garment. The river Thames is gliding on his own free will. The houses of London are fast asleep.
  • This city:  The city of London.
  • Garment:  The beauty of the morning covers the city just as a dress covers the body.
  • Domes : The dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral(built c.604 A.D. and it was designed by the architect Christopher Wren in1708)
  • Towers: Tower of London,situated at the North bank of the Thames,built up towards the end of 1066
  • The river: The Thames, a river of Southern England flowing from the Costworlds in Gloucestershire through London to the North Sea.
  • Steep:  to submerge or cover; to radiate; to immerse.
  • Bare ...clothed : The city of London has been described as both ‘bare’ and ‘clothed’. This is a case of paradox.
  • Dear God ! : The poet addresses God out of joy and wonder. It is an exclamation.
  • Mighty heart : Huge heart [Here, the city has been compared to a giant with a huge heart. When the city is full of commercial activity, it assumes an ugly shape like that of a giant. It is an example of a metaphor.
  • The city now doth like a garment wear: The city of London here is imagined as a fair lady. The poet imagines that the city wears a garment. It is a grand example of simile.
  • The very houses seem asleep:  Here, houses are personified as ‘asleep’. The houses are asleep for the members are sleeping. So the houses are calm and tranquill.
  • The river glideth at his own sweet will:  Here, the river Thames is personified, for as if he is in charge of his own movement.
  • In his first splendor:  Here, the sun is personified. The sun is shining in its full radiance.
  • Never did the sun more beautifully steep : It is an example of metaphor to emphasise how attractive the sunlight is. He wants to show how everything in the city is immersed in sunlight. As a result, the city of London is glowing in its radiating beauty.
  • Earth has not anything to show more fair: It is an example of hyperbole. Here we find Wordsworth exault in ecstasy.
·          N.B: London during the workday was rude and dirty. A walk across a bridge or through streets and alleyways confronted the pedestrian with smoke, dust, grimy urchins, clacking carts, ringing hammers, barking dogs, jostling shoppers, smelly fish, rotting fruit. But at dawn on a cloudless morning, when London was still asleep and the fires of factories had yet to be stoked, the city joined with nature to present the early riser a tableau of glistening waters, majestic towers, unpeopled boats on the River Thames--bobbing and swaying--and the glory of empty, silent streets. The message here is that even an ugly, quacking duckling can become a lovely, soundless swan.

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