Eng. 125 Introduction to Literature
Instructor: Ms. Tetterton
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1. ETHNICITY
Please use 12 point font as it states in the requirements for this project. [Melissa
Tetterton]
RACE OR ETHNICITY
Introduction
The literary works which I selected are “Country Lovers” and “What It’s Like to Be a
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Black Girl” because they share the same theme regarding race or ethnicity. Here, the “Country
Lovers” is a short story that describes love of a boy and a girl in the country. “What it’s like to be a Black Girl” is a poem that describes to us the background of race and the dilemma of the ethnicity. Both the poem and the short story either shows race or ethnicity which was represented and distinguished by a black female. The black female is the main character in both literary works used as a symbol for hate, difference, a negative connotation if you will. The female characters play an important role and they will be seen differently among society due to their racial background or their skin color. Both the short story and the poem is mainly about how woman at least the black female either was treated or how they saw themselves as opposed to white people in the time period they were written. Sometimes, the racial tension or discrimination and ethical problems are things we as a society will or have witnessed or experienced in today’s society whether it is at work, on television, during a game, or in the public. Racial discrimination involves treating someone unfavorably because he/she is of a different race or because of certain characteristics associated with race. Ethical problems include inequality due to a person’s race, class, or social status and association all of which involve race of some sort. It is considered as a subject that is very sensitive in nature and people have diverse opinions and although it is difficult to discuss the outcomes are filled normally with depression and anger. This paper will go in depth on both subjects and shed light on the works involved in making valid points in showing the lessons to be learned and the issues that are addressed in each. 2
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1. race or ethnicity.
You will want to be specific about how these two nouns are themes. [Melissa
Tetterton]
Short Story vs. Poem
The short story, “Country Lovers” and the poem “What It’s like to be a Black Girl” were using the same theme like or ethnicity. The short story “Country Lovers” was written by Nadine
Gordimer in the year 1975. This short story had happened on the South African farm. This short story was about the true love between Thebedi and Paulus. Thebedi was a young black farm woman and Paulus was a young white boy in South Africa. Paulus was the son of farm owner named Paulus Eysedyck. From the beginning we could be able to understand that the theme was about the interracial problems and relationships of that era. It was not acceptable to have any interracial relationships and although both parties knew this they still went on to have one in spite of what they both were taught.
This short story was mainly a story based on love. The main characters of the story were
Thebedi and Paulus. Both the characters knew each other well from childhood as well as the farm too. The black girl Thebedi‘s racial or ethnicity was the black ancestors and the ancestors of
Paulus were white. Growing up Thebedi and Paulus had spent a lot of time together. Here the important thing to be noticed is that Paulus was the son of the Thebedi’s farm owner. Thebedi’s father was the servant of Mr. Eysendyck’s farm. Paulus did not realize that he will never always be without Thebedi since she had grown as a farm girl and working as a servant for his father.
When Paulus was twelve or thirteen he wants to go to college for his higher studies and they will be separated. In this stage, the early adolescence had been reached by them. As Thebedi had grown up and
