Dunbar was definitely interesting. It definitely reminds me of the typical rap songs that we hear today. I think though that Johnson was a lot easier to read since Dunbar was choppy and was paid attention a lot to how he wants the words pronounced. Johnson just says what he wants to say.
So I don't know for sure but I'm assuming that Johnson is talking about white females having sex with their black slaves. Women and men used to have sexual relations with their slaves lots of times According to a history class I took last semester it was something that happened quite often. Some men got lucky when they slept with the white land owner because their son/daughter would get to live a nice slave-free life. I also think it's interesting and well... funny... that Johnson compares the woman to a vampire. which we all know sucks the life out of us humans. Guess he thinks these crazy women are going to suck their lives out which could happen.
That is also very sexist. Not all women are going to be ruthless and suck the life out of you men.. just FYI. I think my boyfriend would agree there. I would hope.. that since we live together.. he can stand me long enough that I don't suck the life out of him. Hahaha. Don't y'all think it sounds funny saying that we're ( us women) suck the life out of women.. WIERD!
You're definitely right, Dunbar's poem was very interesting but at the same time it was difficult to read. I'm pretty sure I received the right message the poem was reflecting on, and that's that African American slaves back in the day were mating with the their white owners. Even though the poem was difficult to read, it was indeed interesting due to how Dunbar used certain words and pronunciations throughout his text. Johnson's poems on the other hand, were easier to read. The Creation for instance, was interesting to read because Johnson discussed the creation of the universe, earth, animals, and much more. The poem was well written, and it was easy to understand what was being said. I don't necessarily believe in god but overall it was an interesting and well written poem.
ReplyDeleteI found a few similarities when comparing the Johnson and Dunbar stories. Although the language used is very different, both writers talk about religious aspects, with Johnson's creation stories and Dunbar recalling of Moses from the perspective of a slave. I defnitely didn't find it that hard to understand Dunbar's works though? I thought Dunbar's use of language in this selection is really powerful because it kind of helps the reader step into the slaves experience, where hearing a bible story retold even by word of mouth could maybe bring some hope. I honestly thought he was just warning his friends about crazy women
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