Ad Meliora

 Lynn Nottage is known for making "the invisible person visible," and this is quite apparent in Sweat. Within the first few seconds of the play, we are introduced to characters that feel very real. They all display their own flaws, particularly how we find out Jason and Chris went to prison. We later get introduced to other characters like Cynthia, Tracie, and Jessie who are all unhappy with their jobs, among others who got laid off due to outsourcing. Most of these characters also belong to minority groups, with Chris, Brucie, and Cynthia being black, Oscar being of Hispanic origins, and Stan being disabled. Nottage shows how their circumstances make finding jobs and obtaining secure lifestyles is extremely difficult due to generational racism. Personally, I do think enabling visibility is extremely important. As a minority myself, it is very difficult to get voices like mine heard. It could even be compared with what is happening with Palestine and Israel today. Israel has ...

In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", Langston Hughes celebrates the legacy of the African people through his usage of refrains and metaphors. The repetition of both the refrains "I've known rivers" and "My soul has grown deep like the rivers" give the poem a more song-like and rhythmic read, not unlike chants and other music historically associated with African culture. Such repetition also builds emphasis to how long the African culture has existed on Earth (thousands of years) and puts it in parallel with rivers which have existed since the creation of Earth. In effect, the rivers are extended metaphors for the African culture. In the third stanza, usage of the words and phrases "lulled me to sleep" and "bosom" depict the rivers to be motherly and nurturing figures, much like how the speaker's culture would raise him as a child. Similarly, the rivers are compared to blood and veins, further highlighting the connection of the speak...