To begin this assignment, we will attempt to analyze in detail Karen Press's poem, Glimpses of Women in Overalls. Following such analysis, I will explain how the poem raises comparable concerns to that of Mrs. Plum written by Es'kia Mphahlele. I selected this particular story due to the fact that I believe both works speak to similar themes, which is why I will explore the comparison below. In order to provide a detailed analysis of the poem Glimpses of Women in Overalls, it is essential to first establish the context in which it is written. Karen Press was born during the apartheid era in South Africa and so you could say she was very influenced by what she witnessed. To begin, we must first look at the title of the poem and note the use of the word “Women” – meaning more than one woman. Therefore, the choice of word expresses the observation of not just one, but many women throughout the poem. The first stanza of the poem entitled “living in” raises the question living in what? In the context of apartheid, responses such as fear or perhaps oppression come to mind. In accordance with the first stanza, in lines three and four, there is both a literal and figurative meaning of the following quote: “the taste of your own burnt tongue immediately becomes cold” (Chapmen, 2002: 446). The literal meaning is of a woman burning her tongue on hot food, but the figurative meaning is even more interesting since the burned tongue may refer to harsh words she wishes to express. As for any other meaning, the sentence may contain the word "cold" in the fourth line, it may mean remembering one's place and biting off the harsh words one wishes to express. "Fat clotting" can refer to a... middle of paper ...... ha the feeling that the future is unknown, but one's place in an apartheid system is very determined depending on one's breed. Mphahlele and The Press use the concept of apartheid to highlight various comparable concerns in their two prose texts. Above is an analysis and comparison of how they achieve this through a poem that aims to observe women who, in order to support themselves, are subjected to antagonism, and a short story that subtly questions white liberalism in the world of black women. Quoted • Chapman, Michael, ed. 2002. The new century of South African poetry. Johannesburg and Cape Town: AD Donker Publishers. • MacKenzie, Craig, ed. 1999. Transitions: half a century of South African news. Cape Town: Francolin Publishers. • http://southafrica.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=5378