Heritage” by Countee Cullen What is Africa to me C.docx

“Heritage” by Countee Cullen
What is Africa to me:
Copper sun or scarlet sea,
Jungle star or jungle track,
Strong bronzed men, or regal black
Women from whose loins I sprang
When the birds of Eden sang?
One three centuries removed
From the scenes his fathers loved,
Spicy grove, cinnamon tree,
What is Africa to me?
So I lie, who all day long
Want no sound except the song
Sung by wild barbaric birds
Goading massive jungle herds,

Juggernauts of flesh that pass
Trampling tall defiant grass
Where young forest lovers lie,
Plighting troth beneath the sky.
So I lie, who always hear,
Though I cram against my ear
Both my thumbs, and keep them there,
Great drums throbbing through the air.
So I lie, whose fount of pride,
Dear distress, and joy allied,
Is my somber flesh and skin,
With the dark blood dammed within
Like great pulsing tides of wine
That, I fear, must burst the fine
Channels of the chafing net
Where they surge and foam and fret.
Africa? A book one thumbs

Listlessly, till slumber comes.
Unremembered are her bats
Circling through the night, her cats
Crouching in the river reeds,
Stalking gentle flesh that feeds
By the river brink; no more
Does the bugle-throated roar
Cry that monarch claws have leapt
From the scabbards where they slept.
Silver snakes that once a year
Doff the lovely coats you wear,
Seek no covert in your fear
Lest a mortal eye should see;
What's your nakedness to me?
Here no leprous flowers rear
Fierce corollas in the air;
Here no bodies sleek and wet,
Dripping mingled rain and sweat,

Tread the savage measures of
Jungle boys and girls in love.
What is last year's snow to me,
Last year's anything? The tree
Budding yearly must forget
How its past arose or set
Bough and blossom, flower, fruit,
Even what shy bird with mute
Wonder at her travail there,
Meekly labored in its hair.
One three centuries removed
From the scenes his fathers loved,
Spicy grove, cinnamon tree,
What is Africa to me?
So I lie, who find no peace
Night or day, no slight release

From the unremittent beat
Made by cruel padded feet
Walking through my body's street.
Up and down they go, and back,
Treading out a jungle track.
So I lie, who never quite
Safely sleep from rain at night--
I can never rest at all
When the rain begins to fall;
Like a soul gone mad with pain
I must match its weird refrain;
Ever must I twist and squirm,
Writhing like a baited worm,
While its primal measures drip
Through my body, crying, "Strip!
Doff this new exuberance.
Come and dance the Lover's Dance!"
In an old remembered way

Rain works on me night and day.
Quaint, outlandish heathen gods
Black men fashion out of rods,
Clay, and brittle bits of stone,
In a likeness like their own,
My conversion came high-priced;
I belong to Jesus Christ,
Preacher of humility;
Heathen gods are naught to me.
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
So I make an idle boast;
Jesus of the twice-turned cheek,
Lamb of God, although I speak
With my mouth thus, in my heart
Do I play a double part.
Ever at Thy glowing altar

Must my heart grow sick and falter,
Wishing He I served were black,
Thinking then it would not lack
Precedent of pain to guide it,
Let who would or might deride it;
Surely then this flesh would know
Yours had borne a kindred woe.
Lord, I fashion dark gods, too,
Daring even to give You
Dark despairing features where,
Crowned with dark rebellious hair,
Patience wavers just so much as
Mortal grief compels, while touches
Quick and hot, of anger, rise
To smitten cheek and weary eyes.
Lord, forgive me if my need
Sometimes shapes a human creed.

All day long and all night through,
One thing only must I do:
Quench my pride and cool my blood,
Lest I perish in the flood.
Lest a hidden ember set
Timber that I thought was wet
Burning like the dryest flax,
Melting like the merest wax,
Lest the grave restore its dead.
Not yet has my heart or head
In the least way realized
They and I are civilized.
Paper #2-------Applying a theoretical construct: Interpreting a
text for Social Order
Social order can be described as a series of systems that
maintains an imbalance of power among

social groups so as to benefit the class given privilege, or in
some cases it is argued to benefit the
whole society. There are a number of belief systems, traditions,
and cultural practices that are part of
the constant process of reinforcing a particular culture’s social
order.
For example, a society that is based on the social superiority of
GROUP A over GROUP B may keep
this social order in place by developing religious, biological,
social, intellectual, economic, historical
or other various rationale for this power structure. In most cases
a combination of these rationale are
used. In many of these cases, GROUP A will argue that even
though their position of superiority over
GROUP B might seem unfair, it is actually “for their own
good.”
Having briefly explained the concept of social order, now you
must look to see this concept at work in
a text. For this assignment, you will write a paper in which you
interpret a text to analyze what
ideas it is conveying about a particular social order. You will
need to thoroughly probe how this
text portrays the social order being portrayed within the story.

In doing this, here are some questions to
consider:
within this story?
better alternative?
of a particular social order?
on
individuals? What are those effects?
can change the existing social
order?
remove themselves from the
existing social order? How?
In developing your analysis, it is key to point to specific textual
evidence to back up your points. It is
important to recognize that not every text will simply be
promoting the current prevailing social order,
but it may be advocating a completely different view. In looking
at social order, issues of race, gender,
sexuality, and economic class may be prominent. However,
these are not the only categories that may

influence the construction of a particular social order.
The concept that a text is promoting a particular social order
does not require that the writer thought of
this as a goal of their text. In fact, the writer may not even have
considered this concept, but the way
their characters are portrayed, the dialogue, and the happenings
of their plot may ultimately send these
idea.
For this assignment, you may use any of the following kinds of
texts to analyze: Short story, novel,
play, poem, film, song lyrics, music video, or television show.
This paper must be typed, double spaced, font= times new
roman 12 or arial 10, with 1 inch margins.
Include a cover page with the paper title, your name, and the
course information.
-This paper will be at least 3 complete pages in length. Do not
exceed 6 pages. This page count does
not include the cover page or Works Cited Page.
-This assignment does not require you to use research sources
(beyond your primary text). However,

you may do so if you choose, but don’t let the analysis from
other sources be the primary analysis
within your paper. In other words, your interpretation should
dominate this paper.
-You must use proper MLA format, including in-text citations
where necessary & a Works Cited Page.
Even if you analyze a visual text (such as film or TV show), a
Works Cited entry will be necessary.

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