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n between races but between genders as well. Two of my favorite stories so far have honed in on the under appreciation of women, Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men and Sweat by Zora Hurston. The first is a folk tale in which men and women were created as equals, however it would not stay that way for long. The gentleman in the story felt he should be better than the woman and be able to keep her in her place. However, the man’s plan to outrank the woman backfires on him. This story is a great example of the power struggle between the sexes. Sweat is very similar. It is also about an unappreciated, hard working woman. Once again a power struggle is displayed, this time by seeing who can make the other leave the house. And of course, the gentleman’s devious plan backfires on him, this time fatally. 

Injustice and resentment are themes that are often seen in African American writing as well. The white man’s treatment of the black man, having the black man plow the field, plant the crops, water and tend to the crops daily, and then not being able to enjoy the fruits of their labor is depicted in Anna Bontemps’s A Black Man Talks of Reaping as well as in Countee Cullen’s From the Dark Tower. Both of these stories describe the unfair practice of reaping the benefits and rewards of another’s hard work. The white man is the guilty party in these stories, always forcing the slaves to perform the intensive labor and then keeping the bountiful crop for themselves. Therefore the white man is also at the center of the resentment platform. 

In a quickly changing environment, after the civil war, the black identity became a hot topic. Zora Neale Hurston explored the discovery of her identity and self-pride in her essay, How it Feels to be Colored Me. Her story talks of her childhood and the death of her mother, after which she learns what it means to be colored. Alain Locke is another author who writes about the notions of what it means to be a black American in The New Negro. 

Faith was another common theme that frequently appeared in early African American literature. Phillis Wheatly’s poem On Being Brought from Africa speaks of how she was introduced to God. She talks about being grateful to have the opportunity to learn about God and Jesus. She points out the irony that the Christian faith preaches love and tolerance for all races yet, as a general rule of thumb, the white man does not practice what he preaches. An Ante-Bellum Sermon by Paul Laurence Dunbar was a beautifully written poem about the strength of having faith. He is able to quote biblical scripture and correlate the events of the enslaved Hebrews to the current situation him and his fellowship were in. Dunbar told his congregation that the Lord took care of Israel and He would take care of them too. With faith being one of the strongest weapons a person can possess, one can only imagine how uplifting and empowering that sermon was. 

Racism, identity, slavery, injustice, and faith; these words all seem to intertwine with each other. Although each word has its own distinct meaning, when reading the literature in the text it is easy to see how they all correlate with each other and go hand in hand. The racism that existed, with one group thinking they were better than another, that they had the right to own people like property, led to slavery. As Africans were rip本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。