“If We Must Die” by Claude Mckay, We Must Fight!! Essay Example

â€Å"If We Must Die† by Claude Mckay, We Must Fight!! Essay Example â€Å"If We Must Die† by Claude Mckay, We Must Fight!! Essay â€Å"If We Must Die† by Claude Mckay, We Must Fight!! Essay Charles Bailey â€Å"If We Must Die† by Claude McKay, we must fight!! The poem â€Å"If We Must Die, by Claude McKay† is about a certain group of people who are hated and hunted by another group of others. I believe that the poet has made this poem to speak to his fellow African-Americans, who are being mistreated by the white slave owners. The speaker tells his people not to go easily, but rather fight as long as possible and don’t ever give up before they are killed. The poet believes that the worst things that these people can do is giving up and stop trying; he wants them to fight until the very end of their lives. Right from the beginning of the poem the speaker reiterates the title of the poem and the message that he is trying to convey. â€Å"If we must die, let it not be like hogs hunted and penned in an inglorious spot while round us bark the mad and hungry dogs† (1-3). This passage instills the thought in our minds that these people are being hunted and suppressed by others. The speaker knows that the end inevitable, but for himself and others he does not want them to give up. Being corned by hungry dogs should not put fear into their souls, but rather entice them to fight back even more. Following the lines from before, the speaker establishes the same message as before. He states that letting the hunters of these people kill them in vain is not an option; they were not put on this earth to die for nothing. â€Å"If we must die, O let us nobly die/ so that our precious blood may not be shed in vain† (5-7). The speaker states his opinion of the situation very clearly; he wants none of them to believe that they are dying for nothing. African-Americans at the time that this poem was made were dealing with horrible conditions from their white suppressers. The speaker is trying to convey to his fellow African-Americans that letting the white man dominate them completely is the worst thing that they can do, not just for themselves but also all of those who will come after them. He wants them to know that they are fighting for the greater cause of the whole African-American race. Next he states that monsters that do this horrible deed to them will have to honor them when dead. He believes that fighting back and not giving up will make them honor them, and not think that they were nothing. Then even the monsters that we defy shall be constrained to honor us though dead! O kinsmen! We must meet the common foe! † (7-9). The speaker strongly believes that fighting against their suppressers is the best thing to do; the suppressers will honor them indefinitely if they fight for their lives all the way to their end. The next part starts â€Å"Though far outnumbered let us show us brave/ and for their thousand blows deal one deathblow! Wh at though before us lies the open grave? †(10-12). The speaker emphasizes the impact that fighting back against these suppressers will have. He talks about them being outnumbered, most of the time that would spark something in someone to just stop and give up. The speaker states that even if they are outnumbered, that has nothing to do with giving in. He tells them to be brave and fight until the last breath they will breath in this world. Finally, he states that â€Å"Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack† (13). He wants them to remember that this is wrong what the white man is doing to them and that fighting back is the best thing that they can do. He says, â€Å"Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! † (14). That is the theme of the poem and ends the poem as he started it, â€Å"If We must die. † Claude McKay wrote â€Å"If We Must Die† to motivate blacks to fight back against the white man and not die for nothing. He believed in every human life on this planet, and thought that no one should be hunted and killed for doing no wrong. He knew that the racism would not stop for years to come, but he wanted to make an attempt to inspire African-Americans to not give up.

Anatomy, Evolution, and Homologous Structures

Anatomy, Evolution, and Homologous Structures If youve ever wondered why a human hand and a monkeys paw look similar, then you already know something about homologous structures. People who study anatomy define these structures as a body part of one species that closely resembles that of another. But you dont need to be a scientist to understand that recognizing homologous structures can be useful not just for comparison, but for classifying and organizing the many different kinds of animal life on the planet. Scientists say these similarities are evidence that life on earth shares a common ancient ancestor from which many or all other species have evolved over time. Evidence of this common ancestry can be seen in the structure and development of these homologous structures, even if their functions are different. Examples of Organisms The more closely organisms are related, the more similar the homologous structures are. Many mammals, for example, have similar limb structures. The flipper of a whale, the wing of a bat, and the leg of a cat are all very similar to the human arm, with a large upper arm bone (the humerus in humans) and a lower part made of two bones, a larger bone on one side (the radius in humans) and a smaller bone on the other side (the ulna). These species also have a collection of smaller bones in the wrist area (called carpal bones in humans) that lead into the fingers or phalanges. Even though the bone structure may be very similar, function varies widely. Homologous limbs can be used for flying, swimming, walking, or everything humans do with their arms. These functions evolved through natural selection over millions of years. Homology and Evolution When Swedish botanist  Carolus Linnaeus was formulating his system of taxonomy to name and categorize organisms in the 1700s, how the species looked was the determining factor of the group in which the species was placed. As time passed and technology advanced, homologous structures became more important in deciding the final placement on the phylogenetic tree of life. Linnaeuss taxonomy system places species into broad categories. The major categories from general to specific are kingdom,  phylum,  class,  order,  family,  genus, and  species. As technology evolved, allowing scientists to study life at the genetic level, these categories have been updated to include domain, the broadest category  in the taxonomic  hierarchy. Organisms are grouped primarily according to differences in ribosomal  RNA  structure. Scientific Advances These changes in technology have altered the way scientists categorize species. For example, whales were once classified as fish because they live in the water and have flippers. After it was discovered that those flippers contained homologous structures to human legs and arms, they were moved to a part of the tree more closely related to humans. Further genetic research has demonstrated that whales may be closely related to hippos. Bats were originally thought to be closely related to birds and insects. Everything with wings was put into the same branch of the phylogenetic tree. After more research and the discovery of homologous structures, it became apparent that not all wings are the same. Even though they have the same function- to make the organism able to get airborne- they are structurally very different. While the bat wing resembles the human arm in structure, the bird wing is very different, as is the insect wing. Scientists realized that bats are more closely related to humans than to birds or insects and moved them to a corresponding branch on the phylogenetic tree of life. While the evidence of homologous structures has long been known, it has just recently been widely accepted as evidence of evolution. Not until the latter half of the 20th century, when it became possible to analyze and compare DNA, could researchers reaffirm the evolutionary relatedness of species with homologous structures.