In The Little Black Boy, William Blake confronts this issue of racial bias between white and black people through the voice of a young, black boy. ... From the opening stanza, the Little Black Boy calls for knowledge of God's purpose when creating people whose skin is black and it presents the struggles against religious perception here in the humanly world. ... " Because white is the symbol of purity and innocence, the boy's statement is immediately addresses the racial indifference and inserts the boy's desire to be white. The boy acknowledges that because he was born bla...

• Word Count: 876
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"Signs and Symbols" starts off with an elderly couple going to visit their son in a mental institution for his birthday. ... "Signs and Symbols" takes place within the United States where a boy suffers from "Referential Mania" which is a condition that makes one believe that objects around them are conspiring against oneself. ... Some other clues that point to the boy's death are playing cards, the wife wearing a black dress with no make-up, and the birthday present that the parents were bringing their son. ... In the United States, women typically wear bla...

• Word Count: 1066
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The specs are a symbol of man's ability to perceive and think, man's greed, and the boys" vision of civilization. Piggy is the most intelligent boy and has the clearest perception of the boys on the island. The fact that he wears glasses is a symbol of his intelligence. ... Piggy's glasses are a stereotypical symbol of intelligence, a useful tool that shows man's innovativeness for good or bad, and a symbol of blind prejudiced and cruelty that man can possess. ... At the end of this scene, the immense evil represented by this powerful symbol can once again be seen as S...

• Word Count: 970
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Louis grew up to be a generous boy who accepted others. ... Louis was a large boy at age 12. ... Louis was the only black boxer in the white world. ... Louis was the African Americans hope and symbol. ... Before the fight whites accepted Louis as the representative of America values fighting against a symbol of Nazi racism. ...

• Word Count: 942
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

This is where two black servants, Sam and Willie, work for the white family. ... He wanted the little boy to be proud of something, proud of himself. ... The kite triggered neurotic thoughts but exhilarated the despairing boy. ... When the conflict supernovas, Hally lashes out on his two black friends. ... As a young boy Hally had to be sent to escort his drunken father home. ...

• Word Count: 1145
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Lawrence introduces us to his childhood - as an important part of his life - using a piano as a symbol of this stage. ... The piano is more than a symbol of music enjoyment, it is a "guide", a moment when the poet and his mother gathered on Sundays for a precious moment. ... He pictures a small boy positioned beneath the piano, this is more than just a childhood memory. ... At this point he refers to "the great black piano appassionato", where a great intensity is reflected on the memory of the poet. ... I think this is attached to the nostalgia felt by the poet ("the singer") about the ...

• Word Count: 343
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

This is why Twain uses Jim, a black slave, as a symbol of society's racism and ignorance. ... The fact that a white boy apologized to an older, black slave, was ground- breaking and very controversial for this time period. The apology reflects Twain's feelings towards blacks himself. ... Jim is a symbol for the racist ideas and intolerance that plagued our nation for so long. Moreover, he is the symbol for the hope that someday, our country may someday be free of hatred and prejudice. ...

• Word Count: 477
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The gun was an external symbol that Wright used to symbolize Dave's struggle. ... The gun was just one of a few symbols that Wright could have used. ... The symbols have changed since Wright wrote literature. ... Like Dave, many young black men focus more on the external symbols than the internal symbols. ... Society was always teaching them that they would always be considered a boy no matter what they achieved. ...

• Word Count: 614
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Symbolism means the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. ... Immediately the reader understands that the word "black" is used to symbolize death. ... The speaker is a little boy that realizes how difficult his life is. ... The young boy tells that his father sold him at a young age. ... Irony was captured when the little boy cried "Weep!...

• Word Count: 803
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Boy was I wrong. ... The background of the portrait was a dark color, and the mother was wearing a long black dress and the detail on her dress were made by huge brush strokes that you would only be able to see if you get up close. The little boy was wearing a white shirt and black pants and the creases on his pants were also made by huge brush strokes by using the brushstrokes on the clothes of the mother and the son made the portrait look more realistic. ... And on the other side of the picture there is a dark red wall, I know that this might have some type of symbolism, but I can't ...

• Word Count: 880
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The story has many symbols throughout that relate to the moral in many different ways. ... The author uses the blonde white woman, a rug, constant lies by the white man, and other symbols to show the various hardships that the narrator must endure, in his quest to deliver his speech, and all are representative of the many hardships that blacks went through and go through now in a fight for equality. ... This is symbolic of the black race" fight for equality and how uneducated or inexperienced blacks are easily misled by white people. ... The rug is another important symbol in the story. ......

• Word Count: 1103
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Inside the black race dwells an unspoken division as well. Lighter-skinned blacks in this story act superior to darker-skinned blacks. ... The river discussed at the beginning of the story is a symbol of the human spirit. ... Another important symbol in the story is the black stallion. ... A third and less apparent symbol in this story is a flint used by a young boy named Ned. ...

• Word Count: 1101
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

"Stapford Brooke says that "No word can tell the imaginative greatness of the scene on the black and lovely moor and in Lear's black and lovely heart. " The storm scene reflects king's sufferings and the lessons he learns through these sufferings. ... "My wits begin to turnCome on, my boy. How dost, my boy? ... He pierces deep into the hidden blackness of mankind. ... It symbolizes disturbance in hell, in heaven, in earth, ˜in Lear's external and internal kingdom, and in human mind, it is a symbol of chaos (disorder). ...

• Word Count: 986
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Through the symbol of the conch, the importance of stability, order, and civilization are established. ... The symbol of order and civilization continued to lose its value as Jack mocked its importance. ... Another important symbol in Lord of The Flies is the symbol of the fire, which represented the boys?... But, as time progressed the boy's desire to return to civilization was replaced by the primal desire to seek, kill, and destroy, as seen when the boys chant, "Kill the beast! ... After a while, Ralph could no longer see the humanity within the boys.He gazed at the green and black mas...

• Word Count: 920
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The author, Eudora Welty, uses many, and most of them are nature symbols. ... Other symbols soon become evident to the reader. ... Snakes, of course, are one of the most widely used symbols for evil, deception, and danger. ... Phoenix's vision, that of a little boy who brings her "a little plate with a slice of marble cake on it,"" may very well be the image of her grandson (107). Next, she notices "big dead trees, like black men with one arm standing in the purple stalks of the withered cotton field- (107). ...

• Word Count: 727
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Shorts, shirts, and different garments they carried in their hands; but each boy wore a square black cap with a silver badge on it. Their bodies, from throat to ankle, were hidden by black cloaks which bore a long silver cross on the left breast and each neck was finished off with a hambone frill" (18). ... He had come to the conclusion that since he had cartain skills that he was best fit to lead the group, "I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I"m chapter chorister and head boy. ... Golding also uses the face paint used by Jack and his hunters as another symbol of ...

• Word Count: 921
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The economic conditions of the time made it hard for black men to earn respect. Dave's black tenant family works for a white landowner, Mr. ... Wright clearly develops the gun as a masculine, sexual symbol which will substitute for Dave's and his father's appropriated "manhood," which is a metaphor for economic security and self-sufficiency. ... He asks Joe, the white store manager, if he can borrow the Sears catalogue, the symbol of Hawkins's control over the commodities available to his tenants. ... The story ends with a kindly white man being cheated out of $50 and Dave,...

• Word Count: 973
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Words Hurts What would you do if you where a little boy who was taught about racism when you where a child and you had to pick the right thing to do or the wrong thing? ... Twain was just writing what was said and it would sound strange if he used black man or black person instead of nigger. ... This is a little boy that had to choose slavery or a friend. Huck decides to save black mans life over his own. ... Nigger is a symbol of hatred and in the year 2003 but back in the 1800's that is what you could call an African American. ...

• Word Count: 1050
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Golding uses the symbol of fire to stress Ralph's growing sense of leadership. ... After making the fire on the mountain, the boys watched "Smoke rising a flash of fire appeared at the root of one wisp, and then the smoke thickened Acres of black and yellow smoke rolled steadily toward the sea. ... The use of creative symbol, fire, illustrates the corrupt leadership on the island. ... He is willing to risk his life and the other boy's lives to get what he wants. ... Golding's duel use of fire as imagery and symbolism accurately reflects the slow decline of the boy's leader...

• Word Count: 1065
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Jack Dempsey "From the small boy to big man on campus." ... The defeated suffered broken ribs, two sickening black eyes, and partial hearing loss. ... But when he put those gloves on, stepped into the ring, and the bell sounded, he became a living symbol of America. A symbol of hope, courage, bravery, and success. A symbol of the Roaring 20's. ...

• Word Count: 970
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

For example, when Sohrab holds the kite spool, Amir sees Sohrab as "the chipped-nailed, calloused hands of a harelipped boy". ... By describing the impact of Sohrab's detachment as "sucked everything in like a black hole", the author portrays Amir's life in America as disrupted by his seemingly everlasting guilt that he is unable to let go. ... In the novel, the kite acts as a symbol of reconciliation between Amir and Sohrab, providing Amir with hope for redemption. ... " Winter, the season in which Amir witnessed his best friend getting sexually harassed, ...

• Word Count: 855
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Even today the egg is a symbol of life. ... Such as Baa Baa Black Sheep. Baa Baa, Black Sheep. ... Yes, marry, have I, Three bags full: One for my master, One for my dame, And one for the little boy That lives down the lane! ... The story behind this disturbing rhyme is the Black Plague. ...

• Word Count: 1097
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Symbols have more than one meaning than what appears to be the what is going on.. Symbols in this story are contradictory. ... This represented how everyone can look at him and tell that he is a black person and that is all they will see. The message read, "Keep This Nigger Boy Running" (324). This means that his whole life people would look at him as a black person. ...

• Word Count: 1010
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Instead of simply portraying slavery in black-and-white terms of racial tension, A Mercy shows slavery in different forms. ... Owning slaves during that period was considered a status symbol. ... The mother also commented on slavery, repeating the word "we" to emphasize the role of black women in society. By using "we" it shows the unity and bond of the black women and that they are all treated the same. ... When she comes to the blacksmith's house she sees her mother "leans at the door holding her little boy's hand, my shoes in her pocket" and then she...

• Word Count: 1190
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

I think O"Connor uses Joy-Hulga's heart trouble and wooden leg as a symbol. ... For example, she still thinks of black people as slave, so he goes and sits next to them on the bus. ... When the mother offered a little black boy a penny the mother of the boy took offence and shoved Julian's mother to the ground. ...

• Word Count: 1004
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School