Sunday, February 23, 2020

Afro-Argentineans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Afro-Argentineans - Essay Example For those of African ancestry, in particular those in Argentina, it is important to find out just why their history and perhaps their very existence have been so whitewashed. These questions are just as important to a historian, or any person who is interested in the matter, and need to be answered. Argentina was not a plantation oriented country; therefore, the slave trade did not flourish as much as in other parts of Latin America. However, this does not mean that there were no slaves in Argentina in general and Buenos Aires in particular. Buenos Aires was, in fact, one of the major ports where the slave ships were docked (Molina). From these slave ships, a lot of slaves were smuggled into Buenos Aires, of course with the tacit consent of the authorities. Most of the African slaves that were obtained in Buenos Aires were either for household help purposes (cooks, handmaids etc.) or were artisans who were rented out by their masters to those in need of their services (Quintana). Moreover, the tasks that were considered to be below the dignity of the â€Å"white† population, such as cleaning the sewers, were also relegated to them (Quintana). Some estimates state that about one-fourth to one-third of the population of Buenos Aires, in the early nineteenth century, compri sed of Afro-Argentines (Gudmundson). However, by the late nineteenth century, in the 1887 census to be exact, they comprised of about 1.8% of the population (Reel 1), after which a new category was introduced in their stead, that of â€Å"trigueno† or â€Å"wheatish† (Mundra 1), which of course included such white Europeans as the Italians and Sicilians who were darker than the others. So the question that begs to be asked is: where did all these Afro-Argentines disappear? And if it is to be accepted that there is no longer any Afro-Argentine or black population in Buenos Aires, then how does one account for people who

Friday, February 7, 2020

Imagery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Imagery - Essay Example However, the poem states that in the end, all these vanish. In the second line, â€Å"her hardest hue to hold, â€Å"Frost sees nature to contain elements of femininity. This means nature is fertile, productive and it has a feminine force. Consequently, nature is entirely powerful because it is able to carry the hue of gold. Therefore, when a leaf blossoms, they are seen to contain a lot of chlorophyll that makes them heavy. Usually when a leaf turns gold, it becomes bulky than the original green color, hence substituting them. The poem still focuses on the youth as it explains converting metaphors into images of nature. â€Å"The early leaf† is a rebirth of the â€Å"first green.† This means, for a child to become an adult, they have to undergo certain passage rites. The leaf and the color represent the tribulations of life. From the young green leaves of the spring season, the whole tree grows controlling the various natural processes that the tree will encounter. In the line† So Eden sank to grief, â€Å"Frost attempts to establish a connection between the green and gold colors. He further uses the myth of Eden to show originality in nature. The gold and green can also be interpreted to symbolize the persistent attitude of nature. This means that as the night goes into rest (gold), the new day is born (green).Consequently, gold color flourishes during the night, whereas the green color blossoms during daytime (Frost, 1995). This is a fundamental concept of nature that is irreversibl e. The â€Å"early leaf† of the day contains forgiveness. This is explained in reference to the Garden of Eden when lack of knowledge is expressed, and the concept of life and death emerges. Forgiveness however, lasts for â€Å"an hour.† This is not surprising because as stated by the poem â€Å"nothing gold can stay.† William Carlos Williams captures the normal daily activities in