Langston Hughes’ “Ballad of the Landlord”: Analysis of Racial Injustice
Ballad of the Landlord (Langston Hughes)
1. Literal Comprehension
This poem is a ballad that depicts racial discrimination between white and Black people in America. The writer is a Black tenant living in the house of a cruel white landlord. The house is in poor condition, but the landlord demands expensive rent. The tenant complains about the leaking roof and broken steps. He wonders why the landlord does not fall while coming up. The landlord ignores the complaint. He forces the tenant to pay the
Read MoreMastering Adjectival Clauses: Types & Usage
Adjectival Clauses: Definition & Function
You are likely already familiar with adjectives, which modify nouns and pronouns by providing descriptions or additional information. Similarly, an adjectival clause (also known as an adjective clause or relative clause) is a dependent clause that functions like an adjective. It modifies a nominal element (a noun or pronoun) by providing further description or essential details.
Adjectival clauses clarify the writer’s intent and add depth to sentences.
Read MoreProperty Easements Explained: Rights and Responsibilities
Easement of Way
The owner of a farm nestled among others, and at the end of a public road, is entitled to require passage through neighboring estates, after providing corresponding compensation. This passage must be established in the least harmful way to the servient estate and where the distance from the dominant estate to the public road is shortest. The width of that passage will be sufficient.
Easement for Material Passage
If, to build or repair a building, materials must be transported across
Read MoreUnderstanding Narrative Discourse: Key Elements & Techniques
1. Narrative Discourse: Communicative Events
1. Narrative discourse: awareness of the communicative events If the major purpose of descriptive discourse is to paint with words (cf chapter 3), the chief object of narrative discourse is to narrate, that is, to tell a story; thus, ‘tellability’ becomes the main concern of narrative discourse. In this sense, it may be suitable to emphasize from the start, that narrative discourse does not talk about a story, but rather tells a story. Telling a story
Read MoreEssential Narrative Elements: Storytelling Techniques
Understanding Narrative Setting
Setting refers to the background of a narrative work. It encompasses both the way of life of the characters (their social, economic, and cultural background) and the physical location where the story unfolds.
- Spatial Setting: This refers to the physical location or environment where a literary text takes place. It includes elements such as time, place, and context, as well as the social, cultural, and historical aspects that define the environment.
- Atmospheric Setting:
Understanding the Narrative Genre and Its Forms
Defining the Narrative Genre
The narrative genre is characterized by telling real or fictitious stories (an event or series of events) that constitute a narrative distinct from the author’s personal feelings. Although it may be imaginary, literary history often draws inspiration from real-world models. This relationship between imagination and experience, between fantasy and life, gives special value to reading for the spiritual formation of the individual. Literature is responsible for bringing
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