Literature AnalysisMost literary authors write stories on different genres like poems, stories and plays. These works are written using a variety of literary elements, for example setting, themes, conflicts and characters. The following essay discusses the element of racism as a theme in Margaret Laurence's short story "The Loons", Langston Hughes' poem, I Too, Sing America, and WEB Du Bois's book, "The Souls of Black Folk ". " is a short story written by Margaret Laurence along with other stories from the "A Bird in the House" sequence and published in 1970. The story centers on the narrator and main character Vanessa McLeod, a white girl and her early life. days in a fictional town known as Manawaka, Manitoba, Canada (Laurence, 2001) From Vanessa's perspective, the audience can see the alienation and racism faced by Piquette Tonerre, a young girl of mixed race origin. faced in society The story takes place just before the death of Vanessa's father and helps her open her eyes and see the suffering, cultural alienation and racial discrimination of the mixed-race people, a subgroup of the Aborigines. In the first part, Vanessa finds the Métis to be people who do not fit into society because of their unknown origin. Her grandmother describes the Métis as being a people “…neither of flesh nor of fowl. , nor good salted herring” (Laurence, 2001). This statement describes people who are French Métis and whose language is neither French nor Cree. These people do not belong to the Creoles who live in the mountains nor to the French. They are a people that society alienates and discriminates against because they are not part of it. Grandma McLeod wants nothing to do with Piquette. At one point, the McLe...... middle of paper ......r ideals. Fredrick insisted on “total assimilation through self-affirmation and nothing more.” Du Bois argued that the Negro could not progress unless he was educated, had the freedom to vote, economic autonomy, and legal superiority (Du Bois, 1996). This book highlights the problem of racism in America in the 20th and 21st centuries. Du Bois set the tone for other black writers and civil rights activists like Dr. Martin Luther King. It may not have been completely out of the book, but it was the best I could come up with and make everything work the way I wanted. that too. References Du Bois, WEB (1996). The souls of black people. New York: Penguin Books. Langston H. (1932). The Keeper of Dreams and other poems. New York: Knopf Publishers. Laurence, M (2001). “The Loons.” Literature: an introduction to writing. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001.