Essay on African-American American Nightmare in Song of Solomon

American Dream or African-American American Nightmare       The Declaration of Independence was written so Americans could achieve this dream, but the African slave was never intended to be a part of this American Dream. To the African-American, there were and still are many restrictions that go along with the American Dream.    In Toni Morrison's novel, Song of Solomon, Macon Dead craved for the American Dream. He was in denial and believed that he could be just as successful as the white man. Macon desired to own everything, including people. Macon tells Milkman the following:    Let me tell you right now the one important thing you'll ever need to know: Own things. And let things you own own things. Then you'll own yourself and other people too (Morrison 55).    Macon must have suffered from a memory loss because when his father acquired a house and land, he was blown five feet in the air. Was striving for the American Dream really worth dying for?    Striving for the American Dream ruined Macon's relationship with his family and his community. This is a perfect example of The Dream becoming the American Dream gone wrong or the American Nightmare. Macon lost his family while gaining property and "things."    Milkman's dream, on the other hand, was to become a man on his own terms not on his father's terms. He obtains his dream by finding his heritage and learning about his ancestors. Unfortunately, obtaining his dream ends in the ultimate dream, which is death.    Morrison's use of magic realism keeps the reader guessing what is real and what is imaginary. Milkman often had dreams or nightmares as a child:    He had had dreams as a child, dreams every child had of the w... ...ll African-Americans ever obtain the American Dream? They still hope for it or it would not be a recurring theme in black literature. By making white Americans aware of black history and black plight, maybe one day African-Americans will be considered "true equals" in white society.    Works Cited and Consulted Hughes, Langston. "Dream Deferred". Literature, Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama & the Essay. 4th Edition, Published by McGraw Hill, 1998. Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. 1776. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 4th ed. v.1,ed. Nina Baym et al (NY: Norton, 1994), 729. King, Jr., Martin Luther. "I Have a Dream." A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King Jr., Ed. J. M. Washington. Harper & Row, 1986. 217, 219. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: The Penguin Group, 1977.      

Haas and Flower Reading Response Essay

â€Å"If readers construct the meaning of texts, how does information transmission work?† Through constructing the meaning of texts, a reader can interpret and summarize chunks of writing into something that is already processed by the reader. Personally, I know that if I begin reading a piece of text that I have never researched or learned in the past, obviously I cannot make an information transmission. On the other hand, when I read a piece of material that I’ve learned in the past, it helps me to fully interpret and think critically on the topic. If a reader can complete a create a connection between past learning and the newer topic, the reader can construct a personal judgment or opinion. The reader’s thesis is then developed and the reader can fully absorb and accomplish what is a â€Å"good read.† â€Å"What kinds of knowledge did you bring to this article that helped you make sense of it?† The information I brought to the article was really a collection of teachings I received through high school. The knowledge to re-read text if I don’t fully comprehend the author’s point. Also the ability to stop and evaluate the text to figure out what Haas and Flower were trying to explain. I received fairly intensive English courses in high school, from which I was able to transmission my past lessons to the text Haas and Flower presented. Without trying to sound repetitive, I was able to pick apart phrases of the text that I simply didn’t understand, even by rereading, and use the context to help make snese of the wording Haas and Flower use.

Climate Change and Its Impact on Agriculture - 2055 Words

Climate Change and its Impact on Agriculture Climate change is an emerging issue of agricultural production and geographical location of India makes it vulnerable to climate change. For most people, the expression â€Å"climate change† means the alteration of the world’s climate that we humans are causing, through fossil fuel burning, clearing forests and other practices that increase the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. However, scientists often use the term for any change in the climate, whether arising naturally or from human causes. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate change is the change that can be attributed â€Å"directly or indirectly to human activity that†¦show more content†¦Some of the consequences of global warming may appear in the form of more frequent floods and drought, food shortage, non supporting weather conditions, newly born diseases, sea level rise, etc. The concentration of these GHGs is mounting in the atmosphere through number of ways like anthropogenic activities, deforestation etc. It is expected that up to 2100 this concentration would become 3 times as much as the pre-industrial time causing 3 to 100C hike in temperature. Impact of climate change on Agriculture: India is a large developing country with nearly 700 million rural populations directly depended on climate sensitive sectors like (agriculture, forests and fisheries) and natural resources (such as water, biodiversity, mangroves, coastal zones, grasslands) for their subsistence and livelihoods. The agricultural sector represents 35% of India’s Gross National Product (GNP) and as such plays a crucial role in the country’s development. Food grain production quadrupled during the post-independence era; but the impact of climate change on agriculture could result in problems with food security and may threatenShow MoreRelatedImpact of Climate Change on Agriculture1366 Words   |  6 PagesImpact of Climate Change on Agriculture Introduction Climate change is one of the biggest and urgent issues of the present world and overwhelming scientific consensus is concerned with climate change. 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