In this particular passage from The Dragon Can't Dance, Lovelace manages to provoke in his readers a sense of loss concerning one's roots and customs. The excerpt is extracted from a fictional novel, which deals with the slaves that came through the middle passage from Africa as chattels. Within this passage are manifestations of - the main character - Aldrick Prospects' frustration.

Throughout the passage Lovelace uses several literary devices to further enhance the piece. With the incorporation of repetition, imagery, characterization, and symbols, the perfect mood is created for an event like the Carnival Monday to take place.

The passage consists of two paragraphs: the first paragraph consists of twenty lines, seventeen of which compose one sentence; Lovelace uses this as a literary device to preserve the continuity of his descriptions and thought process. The mood is assembled with the images that are projected to the readers. Sacredness and the need to break loose of this restraining authority are the most controlling conditions under consideration in the first paragraph.

Aldrick Prospect is absorbed in this spiritual link with his ancestors, and he occupies the most significant costume- or so it seems. This is the way Aldrick Prospect perceives this carnival to be, and what he strongly believes is the aim or purpose of this carnival.

In continuation to this thought, Lovelace elaborates on the earlier mention of masqueraders. He characterizes the "Maskers" as "sacred and revered, the keepers of the poisons and the heads of secret societies," in lines 7 and 8. Lovelace then states the function of this Carnival starting from line 10 and continuing to the end of the paragraph.

In the introductory paragraph, Lovelace describes to his readers the beginning of the day, the sweeping of the grounds, the preparation for Carnival Monday. He describes to his readers' the importance that lies in the memory of this ritual, and exactly what this memory consists of. Lovelace also establishes the setting and a general characterization of his main character.

In line 3 we as readers understand from the "beating kerosene tins for drums.." portrayal that those people do not possess the ability to buy real drums, and therefore it is conveyed that they are poor and perhaps inferior to the rest of the society. This begins Lovelaces' characterization of those people as slaves. Subsequently, he manifests through description the importance of this event known as Carnival Monday. The fact that the yards are being swept and that there is heralding to the masqueraders' arrival gives the readers a sense of what importance this event holds to the people. Following this description, there is text that identifies this ritual as having great historical significance. This is substantiated in line 5 where the author tells us that "..that goes back centuries for its beginnings, back across the Middle Passage, back to Mali and to Guinea and Dahomey and Congo, back to Africa..."

The second paragraph consists of another twenty lines, but which are reasonably worded and seem to convey the narrators' observations regarding the situation. There is a distinct difference in both these paragraphs since one examines the past and the other progresses to the present. The overall effect of the piece lies in the reaction of the main character - Aldrick Prospect - that undergoes a change in the way he deems and perceives the significance of a particular ritual of his people.

The costume that Aldrick Prospect wears signifies sacredness, virtue, and reverence of his ancestral

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Approximate Word count = 1681
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)