Garcia 1

YesicaGarcia
WRIT2
Wilson
14October2015
WP1:AnalyzingGenre
Therehavebeenperiodsintheworldwhereonegroupofpeoplehavebeenmarginalized
andoppressed.AuthorsandpoetslikeLangstonHughesandElieWieselhavebeenvictimsto
humancrueltythathavecausedthempain,yettheyhavechosentotransmittheirfeelings
throughtheirworks.Thepoem,TheNegroMotherwrittenbyHughesandthememoir,Night
byElieWieselportraythesufferingandresiliencetheyfeltastheyconfrontedinjustices.Both
literaryworksbelongtoadifferentgenre,poetryandnarratives,thathavedifferentconventions
thathelpmakeaconnectionwiththeaudiencethroughtheirwritings.
Poetrycontrastsfromthenarrativegenrebecauseofitsconcisestructure.Thestructureis
composedoflinesandstanzasthatvaryinlength.InTheNegroMother,thelinescontain
sentencesthatarebrokendownindifferentlines,likeIamtheonewholaboredasaslave,/
BeatenandmistreatedfortheworkthatI/gave/Childrensoldawayfromme,husbandsold,/
too(lines1418).Thissentenceisslicedinseverallines,whichhighlightsthewaycolored
peoplewereforcedtolaborandwereseparatedwithnofairtreatment.HughesplacedThree
hundredyearsofsuffering(20),intohispoemwithjustafewstanzas.Thisshowshowwords
canbearrangedtoshowthesamecrueltythatwasplacedonslavesforcheaplaboroverandover
againcreatingsameexperiences.

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Thepoemalsoincludesfigurativelanguageasawaytoaddimagerythatcreatea
connectionwiththeaudience.Forinstance,themotherstates,Sometimes,thevalleywasfilled
withtears,/ButIkepttrudgingonthroughthelonely/years(3033),thepoetusessymbolism
tocreatetheimagesofslavescryingofhurtanddesperation,yethadtoberesilientandkeep
goingthroughtheharshlaborinorderforonedaytoreachfreedom.Imagerycanalsobeusedas
awaytoinspire,likewiththeline,Makeofmypastaroadtothelight/Outofthedarkness,the
ignorance,thenight/Lifthighmybanneroutofthedust(4850).Thiscreatesempowermentfor
thereaderastheyseehowmuchsufferingtheirancestorswentthroughinordertofightfora
betterfuture.Thesewordscreateaconnectiontotheaudiencebecauseplacinganimagethat
resonateswithanindividualsexperiencesinlifecaninturngetthemtoagreewiththepoets
purposeandbesympathetictotheirwritings.Hughesthroughhiswritingtriestoexposedecades
ofsufferingfromtheoppressedtoshowhowpeoplehavetheabilitytokeepmovingforward
despitesetbacks.
Thepoemislyricalwhichmeansthatthereisatypeofmusicalqualitybroughtbythe
endrhymes.Inlineslike,ButIhadtokeepontillmyworkwasdone:/Ihadtokeepon!No
stoppingforme/Iwastheseedofthecomingfree(3436),thereareintenseemotionsthatare
feltbyHughesashetransmitsthemtowardtheaudiencebecausemaybeaconnectiontothe
audienceofworkingnonstopmaybringthemclosertounderstandingthecoloredwomans
plight.Thepoemiswrittenasasongthatcanbeinspiringtopeoplethatcanbeproudoftheir
historyofresilienceandfightforjustice.
Poemslikethisarepartofadiscoursecommunityofreadersthatuseempoweringpoetry
inordertogetotherstocommitandbecomesympathetictotheircause.Likeforexample,

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HugheswassomeonewhowasdeterminedtomaketheBlackcultureknownbyexpressingthe
difficultiesthecoloredpeoplehadastheywerebombardedwithdiscriminationandracism,yet
showinghowcoloredpeoplelookedforawaytoprogressandbreakdown[the]barsthatwere
imposedbysocietyasawaytokeepthemoppresstothisday.
Thenarrativegenreisprettybroadbecausebasicallyanywrittenstorycanbepartofthis
genre,yetthememoirhasdistinctfeaturesthatplaceitinacategoryofitsown.Inamemoir,the
authorrecountsachapterofhislifethathadagreatimpactintheirlife,whichinturnunlikean
autobiography,thememoirbecomesmoredetailedaboutthatepisode.InNight,thestartingpoint
forWieselisattheageoftwelveandleadsuptohisrelease.Hestartsbytalkingaboutlifein
SighetthatlittletowninTransylvaniawhereIspentmychildhood(Wiesel1).Hewritesthe
novelinfirstpersonpointofviewbecauseheisthemainprotagonistinthenovelandexpresses
theeventsasheviewedthem.Hehadahardlifeduringhisimprisonment,yetheshowedsupport
towardhisfatherandaprayerrosein[his]heart,tothatGodinwhom[he]nolongerbelieved
(Wiesel87)thathewouldbeabletoneverabandonhisfather.Therealityoflifeinthecamps
washard,somanyfamilytieswerebrokenbecauseoftheneedtosurvive.
Eventsintheauthorslifeshowhisthoughtsandreflections.Forexample,asheisinthe
camp,hestates,Ifeltrevoltriseupinme.WhyshouldIblesshisname?TheEternal,Lordof
theUniverse,theAllPowerfulandTerrible,wassilent(Wiesel31).Hequestionshisbeliefsas
hisfaithshakesbythesightofpeopledying.Thisisawaytoconnectwiththoseintheaudience
thathavegonethroughthesameslippingoffaithintheirlivesbecauseofthestressorinjustice
thattheyhavebeenconfrontedwith.HeintheendsthememoirwithFromthedepthsofthe
mirror,acorpsegazedbackatme.Thelookinhiseyesastheystaredintomine,hasneverleft

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me(Wiesel108),whereheseesbackatthehauntedmemoriesthathewillneverforget,andwill
neverletothersforgetthemeitherinordertostophistoryfromrepeatingitself.
Anotherconventionofamemoiristobeorganizedinchronologicalorderwitha
beginning,middle,andendofasection.Chronologicalorderisveryimportantbecausethestory
tellingofeventsinthelifeoftheauthorwillrunsmoothlyinadditiontomakingsurethereader
wontbecomeconfused.Authorshavetoprovidesometimeofbackgroundiftheystartinthe
middleoftheirlifeandalsoprovideintroductionstothecharacters.Memoirstendtodoprovide
theaudiencewithapieceofworkwheretheychangedorbegunanewlifewiththeburdensof
theunwantedmemoriestheymadeacrosstheway.
Nightispartofadiscoursecommunitywhoseaimistokeeptheteachingsofthe
happeningsduringtheHolocaustalive.Itisveryimportantforthememberstocommunicate
withothersthroughdocumentariesorbookstohelpthenewmembersacquiretheknowledge
neededtokeepthecommunitygoingaftersurvivorsdie.ThememberstalkabouttheHolocaust,
andregardthecampsbynameandalsoincludethemacabreexperimentsthatweremadewithin
theirparameters.Bycommunicatingtothereaderstheeffectsofgenocideandthesurvivors
storiestheworldgetstolearnmoreandthinkaboutwaystopreventanyothercalamityofthis
typefromhappeningagain.
Genresarewaystomakeastorywithapredeterminedformula.Eachhasitsown
conventionswhichhelpthereaderdistinguishfrom,forexample,thememoirfromthe
autobiography.Lyricalpoetryandmemoirsareunderneathtwogreatgenresthatcantransmit
emotionsfeltbytheauthorthroughthework'scontent.Bothauthorsdoanexcellentjobatusing
thefeaturesofeachgenretoexpresstheiremotioninsuchawaythattheaudiencefeelsa

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connectionandmaybeimpelledtoactadifferentwayorfeelempowered.Overall,thegenreslet
authorswritetheirstoriesinordertogetshowtheaudiencethateventhoughthereissufferingin
life,intheendthoseteachingshelptoriseaboveexpectations.
WorksCited
Hughes, Langston. The Negro Mother. www.poemhunter.com. 03 Jan. 2003. Web. 01 Oct.
2015. www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-negro-mother/
Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam Books, 1960. Print.