The Goophered Grapevine By Charles Chesnutt English Literature Essay

The Goophered Grapevine by Charles Chesnutt was a story of greed and selfishness. A man by the name John had heard that the grapevine was used in that area but was destroyed by the civil war. on his way to take his wife to view the property he meets a black man name Julius eating grapes on a pine log. John asked Julius about the vineyard and Julius told him the story of the Goophered Grapevine. A plantation own by a white slave owner named Mars Dugal’ McAdoo who had once had a grapevine and grew a good amount of Scuppernongs grapes, but McAdoo had an issue because the black slaves would come and eat the grapes because they taste very good. Well he had to stop it form happning so he had an old woman named Aun’Peggy to conjure a goop or spell on anyone who ate the grapes. There were three occasions when there were slave who ate from the vine and died. A slave named Henry came along and at e from the vine, and when he found out that the Scuppernongs were goophered he was told to go to Aun’Peggy. Aun’Peggy gave him some medicine to keep the goopered off him untill spring but when the sap would rise to come see her once more. When the spring came Henry got a ham n went to visit Aun’Peggy, she told him to rub sap on his head when McAdoo prune the grapevine. Henry did what she said and lived for the whole summer but something happened. He started to grow hair and getting younger, but when the grapes were gathered the spell reversed. This happened every spring and fall. So when McAdoo found out he came up with an idea to accumulate money. He would sale Henry for 1500 dollars, but when Henry got old again he would offer to buy Henry back for 500. This would work for 5 years. Untill a man from the north tells McAdoo he had a way that the grapes grew faster. McAdoo use this idea, and when the grapes decided to grow again they turned yellow, and the sap from the grape vine died, along with Henry. McAdoo was so angry that he joined the civil war, because he wanted to kill a Yankee Northrern for killing his grapevines, but McAdoo died in the war. His wife moved and the vineyard went to ruins. McAdoo died greedy death.

The Story Of One Friday Morning Langston Hughes was a story of discirmination and racsim. A black girl by the name of Nancy Lee attended an, all white school, but fitted in real well. She played basketball and particpated in her school musical. it was her senior year, and graduation was coming shortly. Nancy Lee and her friends wanted to know who had won the Artist Club Scholarship. So one day the vice principal ask Nancy to stop by her office. The Vice Principal Miss O’shay told Nancy Lee that her picture had won the Artist Club scholarship. She explained not to tell any of her classmates but to make it a surprise. Nancy went home an got ready for the day that they will give her the award. She prepared a speech and got her dress ready waiting for that friday. She got ready that friday morning and, when she got to school she went to Miss O’shay’s office only to find out some bad news. She had told her that the committee did not want to give her the award because the committee felt it was against the rules for a black person to win the award. Nancy felt hurt and, she felt the pain from discrimination. That day she learned something and would not let a stupid art award get her down. She walked out of the office with her nose held high. People who discriminate others, in turn, are discriminating themselves. This story is a great example of seeing someone being discriminated against and puts the reader in his or her shoes to feel what it feels like to be discriminated.

The Gilded Six Bits was a story of betrayl and wealth. The Story of a negro couple broken apart. Just like in the Goopehered Grapevine money was a part of the story, paying a consequence in the end. The couple was Joe and Missy May. Joe comes home and tells Missy about a wealthy man name Otis Slemmons and how he owns an ice cream shop. The description that Joe gave Missy was not a good one,but the next day when Joe took her to see Otis, her thoughtsof him change. Well one day when Joe came home he caught his wife in bed with Otis. She cries claiming that her reason for sleeping with Otis was only to get more money for she and Joe, that Otis had promised her some of the money from his shop if only she would sleep with him. Joe was so confuse tryning to attack Otis. After that Missy May’s and Joe’s relationship has gone downhill. For awhile they do not talk and Joe does not come home with gifts n silver dollars anymore. untill one day he is really tired from work and, Missy gives him a massage, and they sleep together. The next morning Joe leaves and leaves the coin that Otis left behind. Missy sees it and now she has thrown her happiness away for nothing. Later on she finds out she is pregnant and does not know if the baby is Otis’s or Joe’s. Joes mother convices him that it is his and he takes care of it.

In conclusion the storys from these storys told lives of blacks and their imagination. These Storys gave lessons from their past or the present. These Storys and many more opened up chances for blacks to show their education, and to explain the lifestyle or past lifestyle blacks had at the time. These storys show the literay works from each author. It shows there themes and the ability to see a black author’s attributes as an writer