StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Response Paper on August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Visual Arts and Film Studies 26 Jan. 2012 Response paper on August Wilson’s play Gem of the Ocean This paper focuses on August Wilson’s play ‘Gem of the Ocean’. Through the analysis of August Wilson’s ‘Gem of the Ocean’, the focus is also given on the relevant African and American theatres…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.1% of users find it useful
Response Paper on August Wilsons Gem of the Ocean
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Response Paper on August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean"

Download file to see previous pages

‘Gem of the ocean’ is a play written by eminent American playwright August Wilson. The plot of the play is set in the year 1904 and the main characters are Aunt Tyler, Citizen Barlow, Solly two kings, Black Mary, Caesar Eli and Selig. Aunt Tyler is the central character of the play and is a former slave who is now a soul cleanser. Prompt I: African American History & Gem of the Ocean: The end of the nineteenth century saw a radical transformation and the blacks got more rights as compared to the previous decades.

African Americans experienced huge mental trauma especially during post slavery era and the US laws were less significant in reducing the effect on the African Americans. Even though there had been a number of US legislations, yet Slavery seemed to be an inborn part of the African American. There were no more options available to an African American other than being either forced into Slavery or becoming the servant of whites. The blacks completely resisted Slavery and treated it to be the most dreadful act that a person could face in his life.

Evidence Supporting Point: Citizen Barlow’s dialogue in the book in page number 59 which states that “making the people owe is worse than slavery and Solly’s dialogues of Ain’t ……………….ground” Citizen Barlow states that slavery is better than making the people owe to you but Solly emphasizes that Slavery is the most dreadful crime committed on a human. Evidence Supporting Point: The blacks had separate sleeping places and could not become an eminent part in the society and were treated differently.

Black Mary’s dialogue: “He probably goes down under the Brady Street Bridge to sleep. They got a whole bunch of people sleeping down there.” In page 10 in the book, there is a clear indication of how badly the Africans were treated. Black Mary refers to the African Americans, who are usually assigned separate sleeping places and in this play they usually sleep under the Brady Street Bridge. Prompt II: Aunt Ester: One of the most interesting things about the play is the characters. When I read it, the first thing that strikes me is the age of the main character Aunt Ester, who holds 285 years of experience with her.

I think that the author did this to talk effectively about the background of the African American when they were slaves of the white people. Aunt Esther used to be a troubled soul but her years of experiences turned her into a wise person. She holds on to the memories of the entire history of the Africans in America, “People say you crazy to remember. But I ain’t afraid to remember. I try to remember out loud. I keep my memories alive. I feed them. I got to feed them otherwise they’d eat me up.

I got memories go way back. I’m carrying them for a lot of folk” (Walseth par. 1). The age of Aunt Esther may be unreal for many readers but I feel that it is very effective to make others remember about the slavery days and how the Africans were treated in those days. It also illustrates the fact that they have come from a long line of abuse and hardships which continues till the 1904’s. Aunt Esther represents the old traditions while Black Mary, her successor represents the forward thinking African American.

She likes to do things her own way, “It’s been three years now.  I can’t do nothing to satisfy you.  I may as well lay down somewhere and forget about it…

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Tags
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Response Paper on August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1441524-response-paperon-august-wilsonyies-gem-of-the
(Response Paper on August Wilson'S Gem of the Ocean Essay)
https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1441524-response-paperon-august-wilsonyies-gem-of-the.
“Response Paper on August Wilson'S Gem of the Ocean Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1441524-response-paperon-august-wilsonyies-gem-of-the.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Response Paper on August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean

The Main Causes of World War I

This paper will look at these four as the major causes of World War I and their effects to the fighting nations.... CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I Date Causes of World War I The First World War is considered to have been more complicated than the Second World War since it was disorganized and many activities led to its uprising....
17 Pages (4250 words) Research Paper

Research Paper on Fences by August Wilson

This is the research paper on Fences by August Wilson.... 'Fences' by august Wilson is a prominent example of African-American drama.... hellip; As Robert Brustein writes, "august Wilson larger purpose depends on his conviction that Troy's potential was stunted by centuries of racist oppression.... The present paper discusses plot structure of the drama, outlining key elements allowing the reader to dove into the world of small fractions separated by fences....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Symbolism in August Wilsons Fences

It is interesting to note that august wilson's birth name was Frederick August Kittel, which was his father's name.... His father did not spend much time with the family and after he died, august changed his name to Wilson to honor his mother.... He was most noted for his portrayal of black American life....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

How Effective is Advertising in Social Networking

The paper thus evaluates the capabilities and impacts of such form of advertisement.... This empirical research "How Effective is Advertising in Social Networking" analyzes the content and design of online advertisements placed by industrial firms in the United Kingdom.... hellip; Because of its "core advantage in the capacity of fast, integrated, and interactive exchange of information" (Avlonitis and Karayanni 2000) and its versatility to reach customers in the global market at relatively low cost, Internet advertising has rapidly become a new popular communication medium in the market....
42 Pages (10500 words) Research Paper

Staphylococcus Aureus

The author of the following paper claims that a cause of the many skins, tissue, bone and even blood infections in humans, Staphylococcus aureus was first discovered by Sir Alexander Ogston in 1880 as he identified that it was the same organism that he saw that caused both acute and chronic abscesses.... aureus can cause, this paper will tackle about staphylococcal pneumonia, with a special focus on MRSA or the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, as it has been gathering attention from health care authorities all over the world....
10 Pages (2500 words) Research Paper

Integration through Jurisprudence - The Role of Courts

The paper "Integration through Jurisprudence - The Role of Courts" highlights that the issue of economic integration through jurisprudence is a fundamental issue with courts plays crucial role matching with that of legislators of giving clear and comprehensive explanations of the laws....
24 Pages (6000 words) Research Paper

The Brand Strategies which Toyota May Adopt to Improve Tarnished Brand Image

This paper deals with brand improvement strategies for Toyota Motor Corporation under such circumstances so that it is able to redeem itself and the primary aim of this paper is to offer a plausible set of recommendations based on findings of primary research and secondary research data analysis....
13 Pages (3250 words) Term Paper

August Wilsons the Piano Lesson

This paper "august wilson's The Piano Lesson" focuses on a powerful drama questioning how one could assume a sense of self by not accepting their past.... nbsp;  In wilson's own view, this play asks and answers a multitude of possibilities through which an individual may deny his own past so as to acquire a greater sense of being (Bryer and Hartig 25).... In addition, other critics have seen wilson's play as a pragmatic literary device to investigate one's legacy and to decide how it could be put to the best use (Shannon 146)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us