Audre Lorde Project

Words Against Inequity The poem, “A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde is a both a confessional and identity poem. She is not only addressing her internal battle and self-suffering, but also discussing the societal inequities African American women were suffering in the United States. The poem’s diction, on the surface, produces a tranquil tone to the poem. This facet of tranquility in the poem is used to express how her battle against inequity will not be fought with violence or hatred, and how she

“The Girl with Bangs” is a short story, written by Zadie Smith, that uses many literary element to collectively convey a general theme to the reader. This interesting story uses stereotypes, irony, and foreshadowing to express the theme of obsession. Zadie Smith was born Sadie Smith, but changed her name because that is what felt right. Zadie was born on October 27, 1975 to a Jamaican mother and an English father. Zadie is a popular author and is known for speaking out of the norm. She writes about

1. Discuss any common themes you notice in Audre Lorde’s poetry (“Coal,” “The Woman Thing,” and “Harriet”). In Lorde’s poem “Coal” there is a theme of celebration, celebration of being black, and the power to resist. She relates being black to the coal of the earth and the diamond being the oppressors showing how blacks are viewed. Lorde in this poem suggest that woman who are marginalized by society such as blacks need to use poetry as a weapon to resist and protest against these labels. She

"Q.U.E.E.N." is a song by Janelle Monae, a American recording artist, that features singer Erykah Badu and goes deeper into her concept of the perception of self by having each song line stylized in the form of question and response and having her expressing her thoughts on subjects that range from sexuality to religion. It was inspired by private discussions between her and Erykah Badu and meant to dance and talk later and also focuses on empowering the oppressed since the Q.U.E.E.N stands for Queer

Audre Lorde’s pome “Coal”, written in 1962, is a first-person reflective poem, spoken through the voice of the author—Lorde. Lorde’s words provide excellent imagery, including a series of metaphors that relate the object of coal to Lorde and her personal life and place within society. What is coal? Coal is a type of black rock from inside of the earth. Coal has the potential to create energy and diamonds within it, but without taking action on the coal, it is merely a piece of harmless piece of

The poet Audre Lorde uses figurative language to convey her emotions to make the poem more powerful. She also uses situations that the reader can relate to making the poem more meaningful to the reader. The poet Audre Lorde uses figurative language to convey her emotions to make the poem more meaningful. She uses this technique in her poem “Who Said It Was Simple.” In this poem it indirectly talks about the struggle that woman and also African Americans had, do to their lack of rights,in the poem

growth in population among the unfavorable people (Solinger, 2005). In fact, little changed for white and middle-class women who had for many years been able to receive abortions by skilled doctors willing to perform the procedure in private. Audre Lorde, author of “Age, Race, Class, and Sex,” points out that Black women “are the primary targets of abortion and sterilization abuse.” (p. 69) The result has been another method of control of the lower strata by the top and the social victory for women

I read the poems, “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde and “In the Waiting Room” by Elizabeth Bishop. “Hanging Fire” was written in 1997 and “In the Waiting Room” was written in 1979. After reading each of them carefully, I noticed that the poems contained similarities as well as differences. "Hanging Fire" features a fourteen year old girl who discusses her thoughts and concerns directly with the audience. She talks about various things as she moves from one topic to another randomly. For instance, the

Anahita, was a fourteen-year-old young girl from Iraq. Her brother was killed by terrorist group, and she was left with her parents and a younger brother. Anahita’s family could not even afford to buy food, and loved in old, destroyed ownerless house. One day, Anahita was forced to marry a forty- six-year-old man named Naseefa by her parents. She denied to marry the him, but, she did not have a choice. Anahita’s family sold her to forty- six old man to marry him. Naseefa was already married to four

I find most intriguing: lesbians in relation to race. Being a Black lesbian helps shape many individuals into who they are. The black lesbian experience most certainty helped shape Audre Lorde, and developed her into the women that she came to be. In order to clearly analyze how the black lesbian experience shaped Lorde, I am going to be focusing