Unit 5 discussion art and hummanities - Research Paper Example

Discussion art and humanities of the Discussion art and humanities Part one This piece makes mesympathize with Hanneh Hayyeh. Her life was so hard but despite that, she wanted to make something out of herself, something that could make her proud. She believed that her life could become better. She seems like a woman who held herself in high esteem because she refused to take charity from Mrs. Preston which could have provided an easier option (Yezierska, 1997).I dislike Hanneh Hayyeh’s husband because it seems like he had resigned to fate.

He did not even want to dream of changing his pathetic lifestyle and he seems to have accepted that there was no hope for his kind. Instead of keeping the hopelessness to himself, he would even discourage the wife who at least had some fire (Yezierska, 1997).A writer can add a universal appeal to their piece of literature and create a strong link to their audience by emphasizing on issues Langston HughesPart twoHughes Langston: Let America be America againHughes’ BiographyJames Hughes Langston was born in 1902, in Missouri.

He was raised by his grandmother following the divorce of his parents. At thirteen, he later moved to Illinois to join his mother who lived her husband. It was hear that James began his writing career as a poet. James Hughes after graduating from the University of Colombia, spent a couple of years participating in odd jobs such as launderer, busboy and seaman. His many works of poetry, plays, short stories and novels majorly revolved around the black life in America. He later succumbed to prostate cancer and hitherto, is remembered for his huge input on the works of literature.

That affects people all over the world. There are some basic needs and desires that apply to the whole world and most people are bound to relate to a story that dwells on such.The poem was not so difficult to understand since I could relate to it after reading Hugh Langston’s biography. This shed a light on what he stood for and his style of writing. I perceived the poem as a cry for justice. The poet vented out the inequalities that existed in America, and personified most oppressed groups and the hopes and desires that lie within them.

He does not end on a gloomy note since he offers hope that maybe someday this people will have equal opportunities when America becomes what it ought to be.The idea behind the poem is to show that to depict America as having the ideal of equality would be hypocritical. This is because most opportunities are taken up by the elite without regard to the lower classes of the community. In some instances, these opportunities are not even meant for them, they just grab them.Ted Kooser: A Happy BirthdayKooser’s Biography Ted Kooser who was born in 1939 in Ames, Iowa received his first Bachelor degree in Arts from Iowa State and later earned his master’s degree in the same field from the University of Nebraska.

He has authored and co-authored more than ten collections of poetry and books both fiction and non-fiction. Kooser’s works of poetry is impressive focusing on life full of both melancholy and happiness. He writes from real life experience, providing a universal meaning of his works. Ted being one of the nation’s poet laureate travels around the country, providing lectures on poetry to the librarians, students, pupils and many other groups interested on the works of poetry.The poem was difficult to understand because it was ambiguous and could be interpreted in very many different ways.

One could choose to take it simply or delve deeper. I interpreted the poem to mean that the persona in this poem was resigned and tired and just wanted to let things be. It seems like life had been seeped out of him but he just wanted to stay in that state for a while.The idea of the poem beyond the description is to make the reader feel the effects of resignation and fatigue. Reading Ted Kooser’s biography helped me understand that he considers ambiguity in poetry as an intrigue. Furthermore, he interprets light to mean life in most of his works.

Question 1 What does this story tell us about the Lower East Side in New York that we could relate to today? The Lower East Side in New York, just like at present is associated with strong economic gap that separate the poor and the rich. This gap based on the story comes with social injustices in this society. It shows how the rich are arrogant, unappreciative, non-observant and greedy while the poor are depicted as meek powerless, voiceless but hardworking. For instance, Hanney the tenant to Rosenblatt is having a rough time with her landlord.

Having improved and made her kitchen attractive, she received a negative feedback from the Landlord. On the contrary her Landlord being un-appreciative, responds on Hanney’s achievement by increasing the rent (Yezierska, 1997). At the present world, this is still evident, where the rich still considered the poor as non-achievers, voiceless, meek with no right at all, as nothing good can come out of them, therefore deserve no appreciation but a punishment. The story from the Lower East Side in New York also tells us that even though some people are economically powerless in our society, they too have hopes for a better future and that their economic status is temporary.

This can be seen where Hanney who is economically powerless had hopes in her only son Abby who is a soldier in the US army, and that all her troubles and miseries will be settled once the son shall come from the army on a visitation. Based on the story, we also learn that the rich people in our society likes riding on the poor’s back to perpetuate their wealth. For example, in the story, Rosenblatt who is the landlord to Hanney, unnecessarily increases the rent for the Hanney, compelling the poor Hanney to work hard and save extra-coin for the inflated rent (Yezierska, 1997).

Question 2 People in the 1920’s were one paycheck away from homelessness and today many people are one paycheck from homelessness. - What attributes in the charters do people find appealing and help them to relate to the story? - Examples?Based on the story, the tenants continue to pay rent even if the rent continuously and unnecessarily goes high. This is because large numbers of the tenants are fringed economically,  thus cannot afford to own their homes. For instance, from the story, Hanney is considered a poor tenant and when her rent is increased, she still obliges to pay because she has no choice but to pay (Yezierska, 1997).

Majority of people also still participate in subordinate roles to their masters and from this, they earn meager salaries which cannot allow them to own their homes. References Yezierska, A. (1997). Hungry hearts. New York: Penguin Books.Yezierska, A. (1920). The Lost “Beautifulness” & Soap And Water: Hungry Hearts