Garcia 1

YesicaGarcia
WRIT2
Wilson
07December2015
WP1:AnalyzingGenre
Therehavebeenperiodsintheworldwhereonegroupofpeoplehavebeenmarginalized
andoppressed.AuthorsandpoetslikeLangstonHughesandElieWieselhavebeenvictimsto
humancrueltythathavecausedthempain,yettheyhavechosentotransmittheirfeelings
throughtheirworks.Thepoem,TheNegroMotherwrittenbyHughesandthememoir,Night
byElieWieselportraythesufferingandresiliencetheyfeltastheyconfrontedinjustices.Poetry
effectivelyconveysthesufferingofinjusticesbecauseitexpressesemotions,whilememoir
conveyssuchsufferingthroughstoryandthestructure.
Poetrycontrastsfromthenarrativegenrebecauseofitsconcisestructure.Thestructureis
composedoflinesandstanzasthatvaryinlength.InTheNegroMother,thelinescontain
sentencesthatarebrokendownintodifferentlines,likeIamtheonewholaboredasaslave,/
BeatenandmistreatedfortheworkthatIgave/Childrensoldawayfromme,husbandsold,
too(lines1418).Ineachline,theauthorgaveanexampleofhersuffering,whichwhenreading
linebylineitmakesthereaderfeelheremotionsandreflectonthatpointinhistory.Thisishow
thepoemisremembered:bythecontentandpowerfullinesthathaveamusicaleffect,whichis
createdbyusingrhyme.Byhavingthislyricaleffect,theauthoremphasizeswordsthathave
meaningandcreatesapatternwithinthepoem.

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Thepoemalsoincludesfigurativelanguageasawaytoaddimagerythatcreatea
connectionwiththeaudience.Forinstance,themotherstates,Sometimes,thevalleywasfilled
withtears,/ButIkepttrudgingonthroughthelonely/years(3033),thepoetusessymbolism
sothatwhenevertheaudienceseesthesymboltheywouldrelateitbacktothepoembythink
deeplyaboutthemeaningofthepoemandmakingconnections.Imagerycanalsobeusedasa
waytoinspire,likewiththeline,Makeofmypastaroadtothelight/Outofthedarkness,the
ignorance,thenight/Lifthighmybanneroutofthedust(4850).Thiscreatesempowermentfor
thereaderastheyseehowmuchsufferingtheirancestorswentthroughinordertofightfora
betterfuture.Thesewordscreateaconnectiontotheaudiencebecauseplacinganimagethat
resonateswithanindividualsexperiencesinlifecaninturngetthemtoagreewiththepoets
purposeandbesympathetictotheirwritings.Hughesthroughhiswritingtriestopresenta
subjectlikeslaverybecauseofhowemotionallychargeditis.Inadditiontowantingtobring
attentiontotheexperiencesofhisancestors.
Thenarrativegenreisprettybroadbecausebasicallyanywrittenstorycanbepartofthis
genre,yetthememoirhasdistinctfeaturesthatplaceitinacategoryofitsown.Inamemoir,the
authorrecountsachapterofhislifethathadagreatimpactintheirlife,whichinturnunlikean
autobiography,thememoirbecomesmoredetailedaboutthatepisode.InNight,theauthorstarts
bytalkingaboutlifeinSighetthatlittletowninTransylvania(Wiesel1).Byincluding
backgroundinformationandfollowingchronologicalordertheauthormakessurethereader
wontbecomeconfusedwhenaddressingadetailthatwasntinthescopeofthestory.Also,by
writinginfirstpersontheaudiencewillbeabletoknowdirectlyfromsomeonethatwaspresent
atthatpointintimeinsteadofgettingasecondaryaccountthatisnotaspowerful.

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Eventsintheauthorslifeshowhisthoughtsandreflections.Forexample,asheisinthe
camp,hestates,Ifeltrevoltriseupinme.WhyshouldIblesshisname?TheEternal,Lordof
theUniverse,theAllPowerfulandTerrible,wassilent(Wiesel31).Hequestionshisbeliefsas
hisfaithshakesbythesightofpeopledying.Thisisawaytoconnectwiththoseintheaudience
thathavegonethroughthesameslippingoffaithintheirlivesbecauseofthestressorinjustice
thattheyhavebeenconfrontedwith.HeendsthememoirwithFromthedepthsofthemirror,a
corpsegazedbackatme.Thelookinhiseyesastheystaredintomine,hasneverleftme
(Wiesel108),whichhelpstheauthordemonstratehowhefeltthroughsentencesthatmade
peoplethinkabouttheirownexperiencesandfeelbadforhim.Theauthorusesthiswritingasto
showothershisexperiencesandhowithasaffectedhim,inadditiontobeingatherapeutic
methodtocometotermswiththeterrorshewentthrough.
Nightispartofadiscoursecommunitywhoseaimistokeeptheteachingsofthe
happeningsduringtheHolocaustalive.Itisveryimportantforthememberstocommunicate
withothersthroughdocumentariesorbookstohelpthenewmembersacquiretheknowledge
neededtokeepthecommunitygoingaftersurvivorsdie.ThememberstalkabouttheHolocaust,
andregardthecampsbynameandalsoincludethemacabreexperimentsthatweremadewithin
theirparameters.Bycommunicatingtothereaderstheeffectsofgenocideandthesurvivors
storiestheworldgetstolearnmoreandthinkaboutwaystopreventanyothercalamityofthis
typefromhappeningagain.
Genresarewaystomakeastorywithapredeterminedformula.Eachhasitsown
conventionswhichhelpthereadermakeadistinction.Lyricalpoetryandmemoirsare
underneathtwogreatgenresthatcantransmitemotionsfeltbytheauthorthroughthework's

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content.Bothauthorsdoanexcellentjobatusingthefeaturesofeachgenretoexpresstheir
emotioninsuchawaythattheaudiencefeelsaconnection.Overall,thegenresletauthorswrite
theirstoriesinordertogetshowtheaudiencethateventhoughthereissufferinginlife,inthe
endthoseteachingshelptoriseaboveexpectations.
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.