Critical Analyses

Analysis Brent Staples’ essay
Staples makes use of several sources to develop his argument. First, he uses anecdotal
sources. He narrates personal accounts and experiences that he relies on to ack his argument/ for
example, he states that having grow up in the 1950s and 60s, he read black-owned magazines
and newspapers that gave a lot of praises to racial defectors. He also narrates about the family
background and what it says about the American history. Secondly, he uses scientific sources to
further develop his argument. He mentions of a study conducted by DNAPrint Genomics that
showed that ancestral genes for some people could be traced in “far-flung” parts across the globe
(Staples). He states that some of his genetic material could be traced from sub-Saharan Africa.
He could only have gotten such information from scientific sources. He further ads that some
people who have always thought that they have 100 percent ancestry in Europe often get shocked
when they find that a substantial part of their ancestry can be traced in Africa. Staples gets all
this information from scientific sources. It helps him form a defense for his argument. He holds
that genetic screening helped reveal people’s real identities. Staples also uses historical sources
to trace back events and place them at their exact historical context. For example, he writes,
about magazines and newspapers written in the 1950s and 60s. he explains how some black
people would disguise as white to get access to certain areas and even be allowed to purchase

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houses in certain areas. The writers would often mock the whites for failing to detect such
defectors. The author tries to explain how race was a hindrance to certain social amenities and
ways people would try to cheat the system, and work their through to acquiring what was
socially reserved for white people. Staples uses the information from the different sources to
develop a very strong and coherent argument. He concludes that racial distinctions are scientific
concepts contrary to what anthropologists have popularly said about race being a social
construction. I disagree with this conclusion as research has proven otherwise. Scientists have
reached a consensus that race is not a biological construct but rather a social construct. Today,
scientists are preferring the use of the term ‘ancestry’ and not race (Chou). This term is more
preferred to describe human diversity. human variations are more connected to the geographical
origins. With enough information, a person’s DNA can be used to place them to their place of
ancestry. Ancestry, and not skin color helps understand the unfolding of a person’s history. This
explains why scientists are more likely to associate a high risk of sickle cell anemia with people
who are from a sub-Saharan descent, as opposed to blanketly saying black people. The
connection is in the geographical original and not in the color of the skin. Overall, the argument
is well presented and strong. However, one weakness of the argument is that he uses his family
background and other personal experiences. Such information cannot be verified. The reader can
only take his word as final and that makes the paper somehow subjective.

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Works Cited

Chou, Vivian. “How Science and Genetics Are Reshaping the Race Debate of the 21St Century –
Science in The News”. Science In the News, 2017,
https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/science-genetics-reshaping-race-debate-21st-
century/.

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Critical Analysis of the Poem Heritage

In the poem, Heritage, Linda Hogan uses the speaker’s tone to demonstrate her liking for
her family’s origan heritage. She step by step describes each member of her family and outlines
the role that each one of them plays in representing their heritage. She often varies her tone to
illustrate either pleasure or displeasure depending on what each member of the family makes her
feel. She has positive outlooks and feelings towards certain members of the family. For example,
it is evident that her feelings towards the mother are negative. At the beginning of the poem, she
says, “she left me the smell of baking bread to arm fine hairs in my nostrils, she left the large
white breasts that weigh down my body” (Hogan 18). She does not have anything positive about
her mother. She even complains abut the large breasts as they are heavy on her. She also points
to a possibility that she views her white heritage as a burden to her. Her hatred towards her
mother is evident. It becomes clearer when she alludes to the divide between the blacks and the
whites. She has ancestry in both and is inclined towards her black heritage side. She appears
upset with her white roots hence her attitude towards the mother. She is also outrightly positive
towards her black ancestry. She writes fondly abut the grandmother. She gives details of how she
took care of her father. She writes, “that sweet black liquid like the food she chewed up and spit
into my father’s mouth” (Hogan 19). She depicts her grandmother as a nurturer, and a women
who was keen on passing on her traditions and stories abut her heritage to her descendants. She
also states, “form my family, I have learned the secrets of never having a home” (Hogan 19). She
mentions family after explaining all the good things tat her grandmother did. She remembers her
grandmother with more fondness that even the father. She also remembers her father and the
brown eyes that she inherited from him. Her uncle sang old song. She however remarks that he
smelled like “our old houses” (Hogan 18). This does not sound good, it seems that the poet had

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ill feelings towards his uncle as well. she wants the reader to know that she survived, and her
heritage is the pillar of strength that keeps her going. By the end of the poem, it become apparent
that families have huge impact in a child’s life. it may be positive impact or negative. Argues
that heritage shapes a person’s identity (Liang 66). Agreeably, heritage helps shape and mold a
person. This explains why the poet describes about the secrets she learnt relating to her culture
with a lot of pride. This is because she understands that heritage helps define her to some extent.
The poet wants the readers to identify the role of heritage in a child’s life. she also remarks that it
is possible to have certain aspects of one’s heritage that are undesirable. For example, at the
onset of the poem, she seems afraid of taking on her mother’s “face lines” (Hogan 18). She does
not like them, but cannot choose wat to inherit and what to drop. Such is the irony of heritage.

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Works Cited

Hogan, Linda. Dark. Sweet.: New & Selected Poems. Coffee House Press, 2014.
Liang, Feng. “Parental perceptions toward and practices of heritage language maintenance:
focusing on the United States and Canada.” Online Submission 12.2 (2018): 65-86.

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Analysis of the poem Those winter Sundays
Those winter Sundays is a poem created by Robert Hayden in 1962. In the poem, a
grown-up man flashes back on his father’s sacrifices towards him without getting appreciation.
As a youngster, his father used to get up very early on Sundays during the cold season to light up
the fire, warm the house, and then wake up the child from sleep (Hayden). This act implies that
the room was already warm for the child to wake up; this shows the father was committed to
making life comfortable for his family. The child does not appreciate the fathers’ selfless actions
but only remembers them when he is grown. His father woke very early on Sunday mornings,
“rest days”, and got cold (Hayden). He had rough, aching hands, which implies that he was a
manual labourer, so he was worn out. He would light a fire to warm the house, but nobody
appreciated him for this. The father engaged in selfless acts. For example, he only woke up his
child when the room was warmed up, for he did not want him to suffer from coldness; the child
would get out of bed and dress slowly, fearing getting wrapped in constant tensions in the house
(Hayden). Although the father was selfless and devoted, the speaker detached himself from his
father, not knowing how it was isolating and challenging for the father to handle. The poem
teaches unseen sacrifices parents do extend towards their children. The father made many
sacrifices without expecting payment in return. The poem indicates that parenting is thankless
and selfless. The family is not close and warm despite the father’s devotion; the speaker
distanced himself from the father, showing that children don’t understand the parents’ struggles to
bring them up. The father wakes up on all rest days during winter, showing that he is a full-time
worker committed to seeing his family comfortable; chronic anger implies that parents are not
perfect in parenting. The poem teaches us to appreciate our parents’ efforts before it’s late.
Remarkably, the setting is in a nuclear family. Although the mother figure is absent, the child

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still experiences parental love. The speaker’s narrative lacks comfort. The speaker seems to
question the present, showing he has fears from past household experiences. This fear explains
the distant relationship between the father and the son. The speaker teaches us that parental love
and sacrifice does not equate to love; in a situation that involves foster parents, the love bond
may take long before its established and acknowledged. In the family, parental acts should be
more of kindness than a duty. Parental aggressiveness should be limited because it causes fear
which confuses the children with issues of love, regret and family relationships. There is a need
to appreciate our families and what our parents go through to make us happy. Both parents make
up a good family; that’s why the father is struggling to bring up the child alone. The speaker has
split three stanzas that have no consistent rhythm. It has iambic, trochaic and anapaestic lines
with no beats for guidance, which is intentional (Moore 57). The reflective tone tries to explain
all that he could not understand about the roles of his father. A clash and contrast with gentle
words, unusual syntax, and alliteration create a mixture of non-harmonious music representing
the confused atmosphere within this home.

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Works Cited

Moore, Harry. “Offices of Love”: A New Look at the Ending of Hayden’s Those Winter
Sundays.” The Explicator 69.2 (2011): 56-59.
Robert, Hayden. “Those Winter Sundays.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature 2
(1962).