LITERATURE CLASS
The majority of these postings are from the internet.
Some of them are unedited while some of them are.I
just scoured the internet for material that I thought
would be of benefit to my students who are sitting the
English B CSEC exam. I apologise for not citing the
sites as references. Some of the material comes from
Clifford Narinesingh co - author of A Comprehensive
English Course , Books 1-3 and CXC English A.
Sunday, 12 February 2012
"Blackout" by Roger Mais
'Blackout' is a short story by Roger Mais. It is
set in Jamaica and is about racism and the
contrast of two different races, sexes and
cultures!
The story starts off explaining the blackout in
the city and the general atmosphere of
uncomfortable and tense over the city. At this
point the story builds an expectation of some
sort of conflict. An American women was waiting
at a bus stop. Suprisingly she was not bothered
by the darkness, and she was not nervous.
A black man slowly approaches her and asks for
a light for his cigarette. As she does not have
matches she offers her cigarette and as he
thanks her she flicks the cigarette away. She
does that because she is disgusted that a Black
man touched her cigarette and therefore she
doesn't want to smoke it anymore. After the
flicking, there's a moment of discomfort and she
asks him why he was still there. He replies with
an apology as a comment on her action. He
stays and keeps talking about her apparent
wealth and as he talks she becomes more
uncomfortable. The conversation between the
two then focuses on gender and race. At that
moment the reader can sense that actually the
woman is interested in the current situation and
she might actually be looking for an adventure,
but he tells her that she is not his type of
women which undermines her. During the
conversation the reader can also see that the
woman has some very racist thoughts.
After a while he sees the bus coming and points
at it. She gets on the bus and as it starts
moving, she urges herself to look back at him
and challenge her prejudices, but thinking of the
society and worrying about how unacceptable it
would seem she can't succeed and doesn't look
back while the man picks up the cigarette from
the gutter.
During this short story there is always this
feeling of menace and some kind of threat which
is created by the blackout and the odd
conversation between the two. This feeling is
created especially at the beggining, introduction
of the story when the blackout and the
loneliness were being described by Mais. He
used words and phrases such as; wave of panic,
bands of hooligans roaming the streets after
dark and assaulting unprotected women,
slinking black shadow, to reinforce his point.
Mrs. Dunkley at 20:04
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67 comments:
Anonymous 12 September 2012 at 18:35
This was a fantasic essay.
Reply
Anonymous 27 July 2013 at 17:15
excellent I now understand the story thanks alot
Reply
Replies
Anonymous 10 October 2017 at 17:26
yes it is indeed an excellent site
Anonymous 14 January 2019 at 03:33
Marvelous, this revolutionary site does posses
rather intriguing information
Unknown 9 January 2020 at 15:05
This is so nice I love this short story blackout its
real good we should introduce it to ohters
Unknown 13 January 2020 at 15:48
Thx
Unknown 24 March 2020 at 11:40
follow me on insta xxchelsy_.bz._xx
Naya 17 March 2021 at 13:15
What would suggest the woman is free from her
racist attitudes
Reply
Anonymous 15 September 2013 at 17:05
Excellent. What a fantastic essay. It made me
understand the story in a musch more simplier way...
Thanks alot
Reply
lyah 12 November 2013 at 11:14
thanks alot .i now have a better understanding on the
story
Reply
Unknown 3 January 2014 at 08:14
As i set out for my exams in 2015 i have started using
this site an it has been helping alot.. Thank you very
much, i can now have a better understanding of short
stories an also poems :)
Reply
Replies
Anonymous 23 November 2014 at 13:52
yep its always helping
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Anonymous 20 March 2014 at 19:04
This helped a lot! Thanks! :)
Reply
Unknown 1 May 2014 at 11:08
ok
Reply
Anonymous 12 May 2014 at 16:57
Awesome Essay keep it up
Reply
Mrs. Dunkley 2 November 2014 at 17:30
Thanks to all
Reply
Anonymous 22 November 2014 at 09:41
thank you a lot. Now i can understand the essay.
Reply
Anonymous 5 May 2015 at 09:09
Wasnt helpful at all!
Reply
Replies
Anonymous 17 May 2015 at 10:09
Dude that is disrespectful someone worked hard to
get such an essay and u just say not helpful
Unknown 29 July 2019 at 13:53
Well suck it up
Anonymous 17 September 2020 at 23:13
It his/her opinion if it did not help them and they
leave their thoughts like what everyone else is
doing then how is that disrespectful? I don't think
the person who wrote this would want someone to
be telling her it was of help if it really wasn't.
Honesty. Helps her to improve if she has to and at
least she's getting the truthful opinion. I won't even
remember my comment or see if someone replies
but I am posting it for whoever happens to see your
comment and have a biased judgement.
Anonymous 17 September 2020 at 23:14
Just saying take it into consideration before
accusing someone
Reply
Anonymous 5 January 2016 at 13:25
Was really helpful tnks
Reply
Anonymous 21 June 2016 at 06:24
very help full thanks for the help
Reply
Fantastic 8 October 2016 at 07:29
At the story looked so boring but later on you will find
out that it is interesting
Reply
Fantastic 8 October 2016 at 07:30
At the story looked so boring but later on you will find
out that it is interesting
Reply
Unknown 8 November 2016 at 17:35
All these comments saying that this is a good essay? Not
trying to be a party pooper but this is not an essay but
pretty much just a plot summary? A good plot
summary, but not an essay. An essay should include the
writers thoughts on the
Reply
Anonymous 16 November 2016 at 15:32
What are the consequences of the story
Reply
Baby for life 29 January 2017 at 08:32
I have 10 questions to ask about the story may I ask my
questions
Reply
Replies
Unknown 16 June 2019 at 19:00
no
Unknown 23 January 2020 at 02:07
lmao
Unknown 14 December 2020 at 06:33
lmao, 10 questions
Anonymous 16 January 2021 at 20:52
lol
Reply
Fantastic 16 June 2017 at 15:13
you copied this summary from another site i just read it
Reply
Replies
Fantastic 16 June 2017 at 15:14
that is true
Mrs. Dunkley 28 June 2017 at 10:26
Yes, this is so which is clearly stated on this blog
Reply
Fantastic 16 June 2017 at 15:14
i have seen this somewhere
Reply
Replies
Mrs. Dunkley 28 June 2017 at 10:27
Yes you may have...the info is from a variety of
sources 2hich was stated on this blog
Reply
Zoom 6 November 2017 at 16:41
Really helpful
Reply
Anonymous 15 December 2017 at 14:15
a good summary those who say it is bad is just an idiot
with no common sense
Reply
Anonymous 30 January 2018 at 13:48
Great help for my assignment
Reply
Unknown 16 February 2018 at 11:40
how was the black man treated in the short story?
p.s. good essay
Reply
Anonymous 10 May 2018 at 12:19
what are the themes
Reply
Unknown 17 September 2018 at 08:29
Why was the city in oarticular blackout
Reply
Unknown 13 November 2018 at 16:51
can some one please tell me the form of the poem? and
its tone,,needed for an assignment
Reply
Unknown 14 November 2018 at 18:31
what is the moral
Reply
Unknown 5 May 2019 at 10:50
This site is fantastic....thanks alot...this helped me
passed my English b exam...
Reply
Unknown 17 May 2019 at 16:20
This site is the best helped me pass my English b
assignment , thank you
Reply
Unknown 30 May 2019 at 18:15
Thanks alot i have a test tomorrow on literarure and
this help me alot. God bless you.
Reply
Unknown 16 June 2019 at 12:45
what are the literary devices in this story?
Reply
Anonymous 8 January 2020 at 13:35
This site is the best it helped me alot but what were
some of the conflicts in the story and how did the
setting of the story affected it ??
Reply
Replies
Unknown 23 January 2020 at 02:09
How does seeing in the woman's mind help with
the readers understanding of the story?
Reply
Unknown 12 January 2020 at 07:55
This comment has been removed by the author.
Reply
Unknown 6 February 2020 at 18:37
What is the cause of racism the main character
experienced
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Unknown 19 March 2020 at 15:51
Why caused the blackout
Reply
Anonymous 25 October 2020 at 08:41
what is the cultural setting
Reply
Anonymous 25 October 2020 at 08:43
what is the POV? and if third person which one limited
or omniscient?
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Anonymous 25 October 2020 at 15:46
What are the narrative techniques used??
Reply
JudeeBoyy 9 November 2020 at 09:38
why was the woman unafraid?
Reply
Unknown 18 November 2020 at 16:03
Thank you this was so helpful amazing site keep it
up
Reply
Unknown 3 February 2021 at 16:46
This was super helpful thanks to whoever did this
Reply
Anonymous 4 February 2021 at 12:00
Significance of the settings on the development of the
story
Reply
Anonymous 5 February 2021 at 09:24
how is contrast use to develop the story?
Reply
Riley 13 February 2021 at 08:25
What’s and alternative ending for this story ??
Reply
Riley 13 February 2021 at 08:25
What’s and alternative ending for this story ??
Reply
Replies
Anonymous 4 May 2021 at 18:48
the poet wakes up and initialized that it all was a
dream. In the year 1937, Mr. Mais conveys his
dream to the world yet seen ridiculed as a
psychopath to have dreams of war. His
determination to discover if WWII was gonna
occur sent him mad, walking on the streets with
papers in his left hand and a whisky bottle in the
right. The people had enough of his friskiness until
was taken to an asylum for assistance.2 years
passed, its the year 1939, in Arkham Asylum he
was. Mr. Mais awoken by gunshots, missiles,
tankers , planes , little did he know WWII was at
the other side of the wall. Realizing he wasn't mad
gave him so much joy he jumped and sang, his
realization becoming more focal than WWII. The
war lasted 6 years, its the year 1945, buildings
chopped, roads sunk, air acidic, lands morphed ,
Mr. Mais died during the war, but with no regrets.
----> PLEASE note this is not serious, i have all
respect to Mr. Mais and his amazing work. Thank
you for understanding <3
Reply
Unknown 10 June 2021 at 08:05
What effects does mais achieve by giving us access to
the womens consciousness but not the man's?
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