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"Cora Unashamed" by Langston Hughes copy 01

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Consider what opinion Langston Hughes has about the following topics:

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  • Miscegnation (mixing of races particularly referring to marriage, living together, and sexual intercourse)
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  • Gender Roles & Motherhood
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  • Social Norms (Standards, Societal Pressure, & Expectations)
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  • Hardships & Injustices
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Make 3 comments on this short story that analyze the text and the author's overall message. Remember, the characters represent larger society, so focus on how Hughes feels about society instead of focusing solely on the characters themselves.

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Melton was one of those miserable in-between little places, not large enough to be a town, nor small enough to be a village -- that is, a village in the rural, charming sense of the world. Melton had no charm about it. It was merely a nondescript collection of houses and buildings in a region of farms -- one of those sad American places with sidewalks, but no paved streets; electric lights, but no sewage; a station, but no trains that stopped, save a jerky local, morning and evening. And it was 150 miles from any city at all -- even Sioux City.

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Feb 15
Wendy Davis Wendy Davis (Feb 15 2022 9:52AM) : Interesting setting descriptions - [Edited] more

What setting details do you notice? What interesting contrasts do you find in this paragraph? How do these setting details connect to our discussion of social class?

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Mar 13
Ally Justice Ally Justice (Mar 13 2024 10:14AM) : The town of Melton, located in Sioux City, is known as a small, miserable town and barely has enough things to sustain the people living there. This can connect with social class because it connects with how wealthy the society is.
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Mar 13
students Eva Huffman students Eva Huffman (Mar 13 2024 10:15AM) : Small rural town, not a lot to do, far from the city, everyone knows each other, and no one hardly ever leaves. Contrasts how its not large enough to be a town but not small enough to be a village. This connects to the lower class with not having much.
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Mar 13
Ellen Parker Ellen Parker (Mar 13 2024 10:29AM) : answer to the question from paragraph 7 more

I noticed that it seemed kind of like a boring town, but it was probably also a lot like other southern towns in that time. I found contrast because it lists a decent attribute of the town then follows up with something bad about it.It seems like a town of mostly middle class people, (which the middle class was growing around that time) and it also shows that the Jenkins were looked down upon because of their social class.

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Mar 13
Kaleb Marley Kaleb Marley (Mar 13 2024 10:32AM) : The setting is in a small little rural American town in probably the early 1900s with very little modern commodities. There is a contrast in that it states that Melton is miserable; however, Hughes describes it is in a charming sense of the world. more

I think this ties into the discussion of social class because it is depicting a small rural town which implies that the people who live in this town are of the lower to middle class since it is far from a city.

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Mar 13
Lily Brown Lily Brown (Mar 13 2024 10:38AM) : This paragraph gives us details about the social class and how Melton was not a desirable place to live. more

I notice how the town is so tiny and “miserable”. One contrast is “a station, but no trains that stopped”. This shows that this is a very unpopular place to go and be. This helps us see that the social class here was probably poor and a low place to live since it was a place of poverty and not many people.

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Mar 13
Faerie Nina Scott Faerie Nina Scott (Mar 13 2024 10:44AM) : The contrast and setting hints i noticed more
Melton is pictured as a sad, lonely place, shown through negative diction.Its rural image and removement from cities contrasts the idea of modern society and a small country village, foreshadowing the inequality between both gender and race. Because of the lack of sewage and paved roads, we can also guess that the population is probably of the lower of middle class.
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Mar 13
Annaleah McLain Annaleah McLain (Mar 13 2024 10:45AM) : The town of Melton more

This town was small and rural. It mostly consisted of farms and little to no fascinating aspects. This paragraph says, “a station, but no trains stopped.” This shows the contrast of the place to be not large enough to have trains go, but it is also not small enough to not have a station. This shows that most people are lower to middle class while few are upper class. It displays how society treats the people that are considered lower.

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Mar 13
Andrew Cline Andrew Cline (Mar 13 2024 10:46AM) : One setting detail I noticed was the monotony of the town. The town is contrasted with would be typical for a town to add to this aura of monotony. This remoteness and monotony makes me think of a old southern town which had many social classes then. more

During the story we got to see three of these social classes. The first being the rich white people, the second the immigrants, the third the African-Americans. These social classes determined everything about the lives of the characters in this story as Cora was seen as less than the others and the Greek immigrant was seen as not worthy for Jessie’s hand in marriage.

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Mar 13
Abigail Jernigan Abigail Jernigan (Mar 13 2024 10:49AM) : The town of Melton setting more

I notice setting details about the size of Melton, the geography, and the industrialization of Melton. This paragraph contrasts how the town has sidewalks but no paved streets, electric lights but no sewer, and a station but no trains stop there. These setting details can help us infer that most of the town is probably lower class. Like every area, Melton probably has some families that are higher class, but from the setting we can infer most of the town is a part of the lower class.

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Mar 13
kid Belle Mertz kid Belle Mertz (Mar 13 2024 10:50AM) : Melton was a miserable small town, a rural farming place probably in the South. Interesting contrasts were they had no paved streets but electric lights, which is odd. This connects to social class because a majority were white, so Cora had more suffering
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Cora Jenkins was one of the least of the citizens of Melton. She was what the people referred to when they wanted to be polite, as a Negress, and when they wanted to be rude, as a nigger -- sometimes adding the word "wench" for no good reason, for Cora was usually an inoffensive soul, except that she sometimes cussed.

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Mar 13
Kaleb Marley Kaleb Marley (Mar 13 2024 10:21AM) : Cora Jenkins is a timid soul not one to resort to conflict or confrontation, but she is often jeered at and mocked just because of her skin color. [Edited] more

I feel as if Hughes’s is trying to show how harshly and badly black people were treated at this time for no reason at all. Also, this shows how most black people handled it very responsibly by just carrying on with their day and not letting it affect them.

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Mar 13
students Eva Huffman students Eva Huffman (Mar 13 2024 10:56AM) : The language used against Cora shows how mistreated she is and how looked down upon she is due to her race.

She had been in Melton for forty years. Born there. Would die there probably. She worked for the Studevants, who treated her like a dog. She stood it. Had to stand it; or work for poorer white folks who would treat her worse; or go jobless. Cora was like a tree -- once rooted, she stood, in spite of storms and strife, wind, and rocks, in the earth.

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Mar 13
students Eva Huffman students Eva Huffman (Mar 13 2024 10:23AM) : Cora had was treated badly,but had to deal with it to be able to provide for herself.
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Mar 13
Annaleah McLain Annaleah McLain (Mar 13 2024 10:09AM) : A simile about Cora more

This literary device is used to show that no matter what Cora went through, she still stood strong.

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Mar 13
Abigail Jernigan Abigail Jernigan (Mar 13 2024 10:10AM) : Simile comparing Cora to a tree. more

In this sentence, the author uses a simile to compare Cora to a tree. She uses this to develop Cora’s character as someone who stands strong even when conflict comes toward her.

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Mar 13
Ally Justice Ally Justice (Mar 13 2024 10:19AM) : The simile used in this sentence shows Cora's character and how although she's been treated poorly, stood strong and didn't fight back.

She was the Studevants' maid of all work -- washing, ironing, cooking, scrubbing, taking care of kids, nursing old folks, making fires, carrying water.

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Cora, bake three cakes for Mary's birthday tomorrow night. You Cora, give Rover a bath in that tar soap I bought. Cora, take Ma some jello, and don't let her have even a taste of that raisin pie. She'll keep us up all night if you do. Cora, iron my stockings. Cora, come here... Cora, put... Cora... Cora... Cora! Cora!

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Mar 13
Andrew Cline Andrew Cline (Mar 13 2024 10:14AM) : The repetition of Cora is used here to show the annoyance and frustration Cora felt serving under this family. The author choose this effect intentionally to create a feeling of frustration.
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And Cora would answer, "Yes, m'am."

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Mar 13
Kaleb Marley Kaleb Marley (Mar 13 2024 10:24AM) : This shows Cora's willingness to serve her masters with full obedience and without hesitation no matter the task or how they treat her. [Edited] more

This also portrays Hughes’s societal views because I feel like he is trying to depict how white people generally think less of or take advantage of black people at this time.

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The Studevants thought they owned her, and they were perfectly right: they did. There was something about the teeth in the trap of economic circumstance that kept her in their power practically all her life -- in the Studevant kitchen, cooking; in the Studevant parlor, sweeping; in the Studevant backyard, hanging clothes.

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Mar 13
Ellen Parker Ellen Parker (Mar 13 2024 10:12AM) : Since Cora's family was the only African American family in town, she was expected to work for other people and was taken advantage of.

You want to know how that could be? How a trap could close so tightly? Here is the outline:

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Cora was the oldest of a family of eight children -- the Jenkins niggers. The only Negroes in Melton, thank God! Where they came from originally -- that is, the old folks -- God knows. The kids were born there. The old folks are still there now: Pa drives a junk wagon. The old woman ails around the house, ails and quarrels. Seven kids are gone. Only Cora remains. Cora simply couldn't go, with nobody else to help take care of Ma. And before that she couldn't go, with nobody to see her brothers and sisters through school (she the oldest, and Ma ailing). And before that -- well, somebody had to help Ma look after one baby behind another that kept on coming.

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Faerie Nina Scott Faerie Nina Scott (Mar 13 2024 10:51AM) : Cora is trapped, because of both societal norms and familial expectations. more
In this paragraph, we learn that Cora and her family are the only African Americans in Melton, making them a sort of spectacle. Cora spends her days working and caring for her mothers children, and, because she is the oldest,she is trapped forever in the racist place she grew up in. She watches her siblings leave, but cant leave herself; she cant leave her mother.
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As a child Cora had no playtime. She always had a little brother, or a little sister in her arms. Bad, crying, bratty babies, hungry and mean. In the eighth grade she quit school and went to work with the Studevants.

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Mar 13
Lily Brown Lily Brown (Mar 13 2024 10:10AM) : This Paragraph about Cora displays injustice in Cora's personal life with her family and how she had to take care of her siblings. This shows how she didn't have a common upbringing but had to give up her education to take care of other peoples tasks.
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Ally Justice Ally Justice (Mar 13 2024 10:27AM) : Cora had a tough childhood and has been in the role of a slave or servant her whole life. more

In paragraphs 15-16, Cora is explained to a rough childhood and how she had injustice in her life and childhood. She was the oldest of 8 kids and had to help take care of them all and work around the house. She even and to give her education and continue being trapped in the role of a servant and seen as a slave and having injustice.

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Mar 13
Ellen Parker Ellen Parker (Mar 13 2024 10:40AM) : This shows that because Cora was the oldest, she was responsible for taking care of her family along with her parents. In lower social classes this was often the case, and children had to quit school early so they could work for money.
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kid Belle Mertz kid Belle Mertz (Mar 13 2024 10:21AM) : This paragraph displays the harsh reality of those in lower classes with disadvantages. With parents of little help, Cora, being eldest, had to care for all of her siblings until they were all gone. She also had to stop her education to begin work early.
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students Eva Huffman students Eva Huffman (Mar 13 2024 10:27AM) : This sentence shows how in the lower class most younger kids have to help provide for their families even if it means dropping out of school and not getting a proper education.

After that, she ate better. Half day's work at first, helping Ma at home the rest of the time. Then full days, bringing home her pay to feed her father's children. The old man was rather a drunkard. What little money he made from closet-cleaning, ash-hauling, and junk-dealing he spent mostly on the stuff that makes you forget you have eight kids.

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He passed the evenings telling long, comical lies to the white riff-raff of the town, and drinking licker. When his horse died, Cora's money went for a new one to haul her Pa and his rickety wagon around. When the mortgage money came due, Cora's wages kept the man from taking the roof from over their heads. When Pa got in jail, Cora borrowed ten dollars from Mrs. Studevant and got him out.

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Ally Justice Ally Justice (Mar 13 2024 10:31AM) : Cora, even at a young age, has had to supply for her family, showing that her family was a part of the lower class and how Cora wasn't valued and didn't have much money because shes had to take care of everyone else's needs.
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Cora stinted, and Cora saved, and wore the Studevants' old clothes, and ate the Studevants' leftover food, and brought her pay home. Brothers and sisters grew up. The boys, lonesome, went away, as far as they could from Melton. One by one, the girls left too, mostly in disgrace. "Ruinin' ma name," Pa Jenkins said, "Ruinin' ma good name! They can't go out berryin' but what they come back in disgrace." There was something about the cream-and-tan Jenkins girls that attracted the white farm hands.

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Mar 13
Faerie Nina Scott Faerie Nina Scott (Mar 13 2024 11:03AM) : "there was smth abt the cream and tan Jenkins girls that attracted the white farm hands" more
Miscegenation was highly looked down upon in the rural town of Melton. When Cora’s sisters caught the attention of white farm boys, they were “disgraced” and blamed for ruining their ’family’s name". This also ties to injustice, how else could these girls find love? They were the only colored people, and yet the farm boys took a liking to them, they didn’t force themselves upon them. And yet even their own African American father accuses them of ruining his name, as if he isn’t known for excessive drinking.
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Even Cora, the humble, had a lover once. He came to town on a freight train (long ago now), and worked at the livery-stable. (That was before autos got to be so common.) Everybody said he was an I.W.W. Cora didn't care. He was the first man and the last she ever remembered wanting. She had never known a colored lover. There weren't any around. That was not her fault.

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This white boy, Joe, he always smelt like the horses. He was some kind of foreigner. Had an accent, and yellow hair, big hands, and grey eyes.

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Mar 13
students Eva Huffman students Eva Huffman (Mar 13 2024 10:30AM) : The imagery in this paragraph helps the reader fully picture Joe and see what Cora saw.
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It was summer. A few blocks beyond the Studevants' house, meadows and orchards and sweet fields stretched away to the far horizon. At night, stars in the velvet sky. Moon sometimes. Crickets and katydids and lightning bugs. The scent of grass. Cora waiting. That boy, Joe, a cigarette spark far off, whistling in the dark. Love didn't take long -- Cora with the scent of the Studevants' supper about her, and a cheap perfume. Joe, big and strong and careless as the horses he took care of, smelling like the stable.

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Ma would quarrel because Cora came home late, or because none of the kids had written for three or four weeks, or because Pa was drunk again. Thus the summer passed, a dream of big hands and grey eyes.

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Cora didn't go anywhere to have her child. Nor tried to hide it. When the baby grew big within her, she didn't feel that it was a disgrace. The Studevants told her to go home and stay there. Joe left town. Pa cussed. Ma cried. One April morning the kid was born. She had grey eyes, and Cora called her Josephine, after Joe.

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Mar 13
Ellen Parker Ellen Parker (Mar 13 2024 10:44AM) : This shows that it was looked down on to have kids with someone of a different social class (especially of a different color) in this time period. It makes Cora stand out a lot because she was unashamed of having the kid of a white man before marriage.
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Cora was humble and shameless before the fact of the child. There were no Negroes in Melton to gossip, and she didn't care what the white people said. They were in another world. Of course, she hadn't expected to marry Joe, or keep him. He was of that other world, too. But the child was hers -- a living bridge between two worlds. Let people talk.

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Mar 13
Lily Brown Lily Brown (Mar 13 2024 10:17AM) : In this Paragraph we see Cora getting pregnant with Joe and having her baby from Joe. This is showing us how Cora felt about relationships with people or different races and she was unashamed because having this baby was a way to unite two worlds.
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Mar 13
kid Belle Mertz kid Belle Mertz (Mar 13 2024 10:29AM) : This paragraph shows social class's effect on lives because of how Joe and Cora's relationship worked out. He was white and more privileged, therefore he could not actually be with her, so eventually he left.
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Mar 13
Andrew Cline Andrew Cline (Mar 13 2024 10:21AM) : Cora being unashamed of her actions would have been extremely rare at the time. Women who had kids outside of wedlock were considered to be ungodly. Not being affected by the judgement around her would take a lot of courage.
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Mar 13
Abigail Jernigan Abigail Jernigan (Mar 13 2024 10:25AM) : Metaphor comparing the child to a living bridge more

In this sentence the author compares Cora’s child to “a living bridge between two world”. This shows that the child has an opportunity to unite two opposing worlds. Since the child is both white and black, and comes from two very separate worlds, the child can be a bridge between these two different worlds.

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Cora went back to work at the Studevants' -- coming home at night to nurse her kid, and quarrel with Ma. About that time, Mrs. Art Studevant had a child, too, and Cora nursed it. The Studevants' little girl was named Jessie. As the two children began to walk and talk, Cora sometimes brought Josephine to play with Jessie -- until the Studevants objected, saying she could get her work done better if she left her child at home.

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"Yes, m'am," said Cora.

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But in a little while they didn't need to tell Cora to leave her child at home, for Josephine died of whooping-cough. One rosy afternoon, Cora saw the little body go down into the ground in a white casket that cost four weeks' wages.

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Since Ma was ailing, Pa, smelling of licker, stood with her at the grave. The two of them alone. Cora was not humble before the fact of death. As she turned away from the hole, tears came -- but at the same time a stream of curses so violent that they made the grave-tenders look up in startled horror.

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She cussed out God for taking away the life that she herself had given. She screamed, "My baby! God damn it! My baby! I bear her and you take her away!" She looked at the sky where the sun was setting and yelled in defiance. Pa was amazed and scared. He pulled her up on his rickety wagon and drove off, clattering down the road between green fields and sweet meadows that stretched away to the far horizon. All through the ugly town Cora wept and cursed, using all the bad words she had learned from Pa in his drunkenness.

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The next week she went back to the Studevants. She was gentle and humble in the face of death -- she loved their baby. In the afternoons on the back porch, she would pick little Jessie up and rock her to sleep, burying her dark face in the milky smell of the white child's hair.

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- - PART II - -

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The years passed. Pa and Ma Jenkins only dried up a little. Old Man Studevant died. The old lady had two strokes. Mrs. Art Studevant and her husband began to look their age, greying hair and sagging stomachs. The children were grown, or nearly so. Keneth took over the management of the hardware store that Grandpa had left. Jack went off to college. Mary was a teacher. Only Jessie remained a child - - her last year in high-school. Jessie, nineteen now, and rather slow in her studies, graduating at last. In the Fall she would go to Normal.

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Cora hated to think about her going away. In her heart she had adopted Jessie. In that big and careless household it was always Cora who stood like a calm and sheltering tree for Jessie to run to in her troubles. As a child, when Mrs. Art spanked her, as soon as she could, the tears still streaming, Jessie would find her way to the kitchen and Cora. At each school term's end, when Jessie had usually failed in some of her subjects (she quite often failed, being a dull child), it was Cora who saw the report-card first with the bad marks on it. Then Cora would devise some way of breaking the news gently to the old folks.

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Her mother was always a little ashamed of stupid Jessie, for Mrs. Art was the civic and social leader of Melton, president of the Woman's Club three years straight, and one of the pillars of her church. Mary, the elder, the teacher, would follow with dignity in her footsteps, but Jessie! That child! Spankings in her youth, and scoldings now, did nothing to Jessie's inner being. She remained a plump, dull, freckled girl, placid and strange. Everybody found fault with her but Cora.

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In the kitchen Jessie bloomed. She laughed. She talked. She was sometimes even witty. And she learned to cook wonderfully. With Cora, everything seemed so simple -- not hard and involved like algebra, or Latin grammar, or the civic problems of Mama's club, or the sermons at church. Nowhere in Melton, nor with anyone, did Jessie feel so comfortable as with Cora in the kitchen. She knew her mother looked down on her as a stupid girl. And with her father there was no bond. He was always too busy buying and selling to bother with the kids. And often he was off in the city. Old doddering Grandma made Jessie sleepy and sick. Cousin Nora (mother's cousin) was as stiff and prim as a minister's daughter. And Jessie's older brothers and sisters went their ways, seeing Jessie hardly at all, except at the big table at mealtimes.

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Mar 13
Kaleb Marley Kaleb Marley (Mar 13 2024 10:52AM) : relationships/societal repression more

This paragraph shows how people can flourish, bond, and form relationships together despite societal standards if given the chance. Also, Jessie’s character shows how someone may look like a failure to some, but in reality, all they need is confidence, someone who believes in them, and a chance to prove themselves. This plays perfectly into the idea that societal repression limits people in what they accomplish, not because they can’t do it but because other people have ingrained in their minds that they are unable to succeed.

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Like all the unpleasant things in the house, Jessie was left to Cora. And Cora was happy. To have a child to raise, a child the same age as her Josephine would have been, gave her a purpose in life, a warmth inside herself. It was Cora who nursed and mothered and petted and loved the dull little Jessie through the years. And now Jessie was a young woman, graduating (late) from high-school.

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But something had happened to Jessie. Cora knew it before Mrs. Art did. Jessie was not too stupid to have a boy-friend. She told Cora about it like a mother. She was afraid to tell Mrs. Art. Afraid! Afraid! Afraid!

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Mar 13
Annaleah McLain Annaleah McLain (Mar 13 2024 10:24AM) : Repetition of "Afraid!" more

The repetition of “Afraid!” shows the fear the daughter of Mrs. Art had to tell her about her boyfriend. She knew she could trust Cora despite the social expectations of how she should treat Cora.

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Mar 13
students Eva Huffman students Eva Huffman (Mar 13 2024 10:33AM) : The repetition of "Afraid!" in this paragraph shows that Jessie was really scared to tell her mother and shows her true emotions. [Edited]
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Cora said, "I'll tell her." So, humble and unashamed about life, one afternoon she marched into Mrs. Art's sun-porch and announced quite simply, "Jessie's going to have a baby."

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Cora smiled, but Mrs. Art stiffened like a bolt. Her mouth went dry. She rose like a soldier. Sat down. Rose again. Walked straight toward the door, turned around, and whispered, "What?"

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Mar 13
Ally Justice Ally Justice (Mar 13 2024 10:45AM) : The simile used to describe Mrs. Art shows the difference between Cora's and Mrs. Art's character. Cora is seen as kind person who is okay with mistakes. However, Mrs. Art is a stern woman who wants perfection and doesn't see potential in her daughter.
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"Yes, m'am, a baby. She told me. A little child. Its father is Willie Matsoulos, whose folks runs the ice-cream stand on Main. She told me. They want to get married, but Willie ain't here now. He don't know yet about the child."

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Cora would have gone on humbly and shamelessly talking about the little unborn had not Mrs. Art fallen into uncontrollable hysterics. Cousin Nora came running from the library, her glasses on a chain. Old Lady Studevant's wheel-chair rolled up, doddering and shaking with excitement. Jessie came, when called, red and sweating, but had to go out, for when her mother looked up from the couch and saw her she yelled louder than ever. There was a rush for camphor bottles and water and ice. Crying and praying followed all over the house. Scandalization! Oh, my Lord! Jessie was in trouble.

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Mar 13
Faerie Nina Scott Faerie Nina Scott (Mar 13 2024 11:10AM) : Jessie was in trouble. more
Society at this highly rejected the idea of having children out of wedlock, and we can see this by her mothers extreme reaction. Her mother could not bear the idea of shame entering their household, and so she killed her baby while it was still inside her. By doing this she equally killed her own daughter just to keep up her name. This is both injustice and a picture of just how important one’s family name was according to society. It also enters the realm of miscegenation, bc her mother would not allow Jessie to marry the father, bc he was a poor Greek; it would cause embarrassment.
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"She ain't in trouble neither," Cora insisted. "No trouble having a baby you want. I had one."

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Mar 13
Lily Brown Lily Brown (Mar 13 2024 10:33AM) : This shows us the social norms during this day about Jessie and how her family was so ashamed of her and that she was pregnant. They would've done anything to keep a good reputation for their family.
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"Shut up, Cora!"

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"Yes, m'am. . . . But I had one."

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"Hush, I tell you."

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"Yes, m'am."

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- - PART III - -

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Then it was that Cora began to be shut out. Jessie was confined to her room. That afternoon, when Miss Mary came home from school, the four white women got together behind closed doors in Mrs. Art's bedroom. For once Cora cooked supper in the kitchen without being bothered by an interfering voice. Mr. Studevant was away in Des Moines. Somehow Cora wished he was home. Big and gruff as he was, he had more sense than the women. He'd probably make a shot-gun wedding out of it. But left to Mrs. Art, Jessie would never marry the Greek boy at all. This Cora knew. No man had been found yet good enough for sister Mary to mate with. Mrs. Art had ambitions which didn't include the likes of Greek ice-cream makers' sons.

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Mar 13
Andrew Cline Andrew Cline (Mar 13 2024 10:32AM) : This idea that there was not one good enough for Jessie come the idea of marrying within a certain social class. As Jessie's family would have been very wealthy people, they would view the Greek ice-cream maker's son as a horrible choice for marriage.
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Jessie was crying when Cora brought her supper up. The black woman sat down on the bed and lifted the white girl's head in her dark hands. "Don't you mind, honey," Cora said. "Just sit tight, and when the boy comes back I'll tell him how things are. If he loves you he'll marry you. And there ain't no reason why you can't marry, neither -- you both white. Even if he is a foreigner, he's a right nice boy."

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"He loves me," Jessie said. "I know he does. He said so."

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But before the boy came back (or Mr. Studevant either) Mrs. Art and Jessie went to Kansas City. "For an Easter shopping trip," the weekly paper said.

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Then Spring came in full bloom, and the fields and orchards at the edge of Melton stretched green and beautiful to the far horizon. Cora remembered her own Spring, twenty years ago, and a great sympathy and pain welled up in her heart for Jessie, who was the same age that Josephine would have been, had she lived. Sitting on the kitchen porch shelling peas, Cora thought back over her own life -- years and years of working for the Studevants; years and years of going home to nobody but Ma and Pa; little Josephine dead; only Jessie to keep her heart warm. And she knew that Jessie was the dearest thing she had in the world. All the time the girl was gone now, she worried.

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After ten days, Mrs. Art and her daughter came back. But Jessie was thinner and paler than she'd ever been in her life. There was no light in her eyes at all. Mrs. Art looked a little scared as they got off the train.

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"She had an awful attack of indigestion in Kansas City," she told the neighbors and club women. "That's why I stayed away so long, waiting for her to be able to travel. Poor Jessie! She looks healthy, but she's never been a strong child. She's one of the worries of my life." Mrs. Art talked a lot, explained a lot, about how Jessie had eaten the wrong things in Kansas City.

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At home, Jessie went to bed. She wouldn't eat. When Cora brought her food up, she whispered, "The baby's gone."

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Cora's face went dark. She bit her lips to keep from cursing. She put her arms about Jessie's neck. The girl cried. Her food went untouched.

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A week passed. They tried to make Jessie eat then. But the food wouldn't stay on her stomach. Her eyes grew yellow, her tongue white, her heart acted crazy. They called in old Doctor Brown, but within a month (as quick as that) Jessie died.

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She never saw the Greek boy any more. Indeed, his father lost his license, "due to several complaints by the mothers of children, backed by the Woman's Club," that he was selling tainted ice-cream. Mrs. Art Studevant had started a campaign to rid the town of objectionable tradespeople and questionable characters. Greeks were bound to be one or the other. For a while they even closed up Pa Jenkins' favorite bootlegger. Mrs. Studevant thought this would please Cora, but Cora only said, "Pa's been drinkin' so long he just as well keep on." She refused further to remark on her employer's campaign of purity. In the midst of this clean-up Jessie died.

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On the day of the funeral, the house was stacked with flowers. (They held the funderal, not at the church, but at home, on account of old Grandma Studevant's infirmities.) All the family dressed in deep mourning. Mrs. Art was prostrate. As the house for the services approached, she revived, however, and ate an omelette, "to help me go through the afternoon."

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"And Cora," she said, "cook me a little piece of ham with it. I feel so weak."

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"Yes, m'am."

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The senior class from the high-school came in a body. The Woman's Club came with their badges. The Reverend Doctor McElroy had on his highest collar and longest coat. The choir sat behind the coffin, with a special soloist to sing "He Feedeth His Flocks Like a Shepherd." It was a beautiful spring afternoon, and a beautiful funeral.

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Except that Cora was there. Of course, her presence created no comment (she was the family servant), but it was what she did, and how she did it, that has remained the talk of Melton to this day -- for Cora was not humble in the face of death.

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When the Reverend Doctor McElroy had finished his eulogy, and the senior class had read their memorials, and the songs had been sung, and they were about to allow the relatives and friends to pass around for one last look at Jessie Studevant, Cora got up from her seat by the dining-room door. She said, "Honey, I want to say something." She spoke as if she were addressing Jessie. She approached the coffin and held out her brown hands over the girl's body. Her face moved in agitation. People sat stone-still and there was a long pause. Suddenly she screamed. "They killed you! And for nothin'... They killed your child... They took you away from here in the Springtime of your life, and now you'se gone, gone, gone!"

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Mar 13
Abigail Jernigan Abigail Jernigan (Mar 13 2024 10:41AM) : Irony and metaphor of Jessie dying in springtime more

In this sentence Cora is exposing the real reason Jessie died. She says “…they took you away from here in the springtime of your life…” this sentence is ironic because spring is suppose to be a season of life and fertility, but here it is the opposite of both. The “springtime of your life” could also be a metaphor of her life just beginning as she just finished high school.

Folks were paralyzed in their seats.

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Cora went on: "They preaches you a pretty sermon and they don't say nothin'. They sings you a song, and they don't say nothin'. But Cora's here, honey, and she's gone tell 'em what they done to you. She's gonna tell 'em why they took you to Kansas City."

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A loud scream rent the air. Mrs. Art fell back in her chair, stiff as a board. Cousin Nora and sister Mary sat like stones. The men of the family rushed forward to grab Cora. They stumbled over wreaths and garlands. Before they could reach her, Cora pointed her long fingers at the women in black and said, "They killed you, honey. They killed you and your child. I told 'em you loved it, but they didn't care. They killed it before it was... "

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A strong hand went around Cora's waist. Another grabbed her arm. The Studevant males half pulled, half pushed her through the aisles of folding chairs, through the crowded dining-room, out into the empty kitchen, through the screen door into the backyard. She struggled against them all the way, accusing their women. At the door she sobbed, great tears coming for the love of Jessie.

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Mar 13
Annaleah McLain Annaleah McLain (Mar 13 2024 10:37AM) : Cora's love for Jessie more

Throughout Cora’s years of working for the Studevants, she became very close with Jessie. Since Jessie was the same age as Cora’s daughter that passed, she felt as though they had a special relationship. Despite what Jessie had been told about African Americans, she still took time to speak with Cora. When Jessie died, Cora wept at the loss of someone she loved.

She sat down on a wash-bench in the backyard, crying. In the parlor she could hear the choir singing weakly. In a few moments she gathered herself together, and went back into the house. Slowly, she picked up her few belongings from the kitchen and pantry, her aprons and her umbrella, and went off down the alley, home to Ma. Cora never came back to work for the Studevants.

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Now she and Ma live from the little garden they raise, and from the junk Pa collects -- when they can take by main force a part of his meager earnings before he buys his licker.

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Anyhow, on the edge of Melton, the Jenkins niggers, Pa and Ma and Cora, somehow manage to get along.

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-- From The Ways of White Folks, originally published in 1933, Vintage Classics Edition, 1990.

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DMU Timestamp: May 06, 2020 21:48

General Document Comments 0
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Mar 6
Wendy Davis Wendy Davis (Mar 06 2024 12:28PM) : Social Class & Opportunity more

What does this text have to say about how social class impacts the opportunities and expectations for individuals living within that system?

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Mar 13
students Eva Huffman students Eva Huffman (Mar 13 2024 10:24AM) : Many people in the lower class have to do everything they can just to live and be able to provide even if that means having to work in poor conditions or be treated unfairly.
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Mar 13
Ellen Parker Ellen Parker (Mar 13 2024 10:34AM) : answer to the general document question more

It shows that because Cora was African American, she was expected to serve others. We can also see that they had less opportunities because her siblings all left Milton for their careers and marriages because there were more opportunities in other places.

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Mar 13
Lily Brown Lily Brown (Mar 13 2024 10:43AM) : This text gives us context to Cora's Character and upbringing. We see that shes never been able to do the things that are for her or her interest but she has constantly been serving others and making sacrifices for others. more

Cora did not have a play time which shows she has not had much time to have fun, but always needed to be doing something for someone else. Cora is nurturing because all her life she had to take care of her younger siblings and be almost like a mom to them. When COra quit school to work and make money for her family this shows that she did not have much expectations about her future and what she was interested in, but her while life was to be lived to take care of the needs that her family could not do and she lived to help her family stay alive.

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Mar 13
kid Belle Mertz kid Belle Mertz (Mar 13 2024 10:44AM) : Cora's story greatly shows how limited opportunities are in social classes. This is seen as she had to help bring up her siblings with no help, was forced to poor work becoming the main provider, and had to quit school early. Over all her options were bad
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Mar 13
Annaleah McLain Annaleah McLain (Mar 13 2024 10:49AM) : Social Class Impact more

This shows how people in the lower class have less opportunity to find jobs that are suitable. The people in the higher classes can find jobs or people to do jobs for them. Those in the lower class are expected to do exactly what the wealthier tell them to do.

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Mar 13
Andrew Cline Andrew Cline (Mar 13 2024 10:53AM) : One thing this text says about social class is that it is like a shackle to everyone. Cora was unable to marry the man she loved when she was younger because of this class and she was also forced to work for rich white people as a servant because of class more

. Jessie, who was on the other extreme of social class, also felt the bondage that was social class. She fell in love with a Greek immigrant who was not of her same social class. She was unable to marry him and was even forced to get rid of her child because of social class. This story offers little hope to those under the system of social class but greatly critics it.

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Mar 13
Abigail Jernigan Abigail Jernigan (Mar 13 2024 10:57AM) : Social Class impact in story more

This story shows that social class and the expectations that come within that social class is very influential on a person’s decisions. We see this demonstrated as the Studevantes are part of the upper class of Melton and instead of having their daughter welcome a healthy baby out of wedlock, they’d rather kill the baby and take the risk of killing their daughter too.This family has a reputation to uphold, being at the top of the social ladder. They made the decision to kill their grandchild and daughter because of the expectations of that system.

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Mar 13
Ally Justice Ally Justice (Mar 13 2024 10:57AM) : The text has much to say about social class. Because Cora was stuck and lived in the lower class, she had no option but to work, even if that meant making sacrifices like giving up her education and was treated poorly.
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Mar 13
Kaleb Marley Kaleb Marley (Mar 13 2024 11:04AM) : Social class more

This text definitely exemplifies the differences in social class. The people of the lower class, especially the Jenkins, were looked down upon and thought of merely as servants to aid the upper class. This definitely affected their thinking that Cora could never be more than a servant girl, and this possibly dampened Cora’s determination to try to succeed and make more out of her life.

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Mar 13
Faerie Nina Scott Faerie Nina Scott (Mar 13 2024 11:18AM) : social class and expectations in this short story. [Edited] more
Because Cora and her family were African American, they were essentially forced into poverty. They had very limited job opportunities and options, and had to live on whatever they could make cleaning, nursing, cooking, and junk selling. Cora’s situation was also influenced by socialistic norms; as the oldest she helped raise her mothers children, as well as stayed back while everyone else left, to take care of her aging parents. She lived everyday through injustice and hardships, making just enough to get by, because that is what she knew; that is what society made her do. Social class also effects the character Jessie, who Cora grows close with, when she becomes pregnant with a poor Greek boy’s child. Her mother wold never let her marry under their social class (as they are very wealthy) and,in trying to protect their name, kills her daughter.
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Mar 13
kid Belle Mertz kid Belle Mertz (Mar 13 2024 10:13AM) : This here says a lot about social class. Those in lower social classes really do not have much option of work. Any other occupation option can usually make one much worse off.
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