Alice Walker Essays (Examples)

"(1991)
Anything e Love Can be Saved: A riter's Activism, (alker 1997) is a collection of 33 speeches, letters and previously published pieces with the consistent theme of the political merging into the personal in her life. Michael Anderson, reviewing this book and mentioning a piece that alker said "remains unwritten," states that "Ms. alker's admirers can rejoice that her silence did not extend to book length." Pettis remarks that the essays in this collection suggest the far boundaries of alker's activities. Marveling at her broad range of activism, she states "hat this volume communicates with equal success is that alker's intellectual and personal activism exceeds public demonstrations." Powells.com reviews her book thus: Alice alker writes about her life as an activist, in a book rich in the belief that the world is saveable, if only we will act," and that she was "speaking from her heart on a wide range…

..] I suffered and raged inside because of this." With her beauty destroyed, the now six-year-old Walker gave up hope that the world would still prove as open and bountiful as it had for her life up to that point, and her inner sense of worth and beauty crumbled away just as her exterior beauty was eroded away by the sudden entrance of the BB and the slow buildup of scar tissue. This created, of course, a literal change in perception that was mirrored by the author/narrators reduced perception of and engagement with the outside world. She keeps her head down in school and everywhere else, convinced that the world will reject her for her appearance just as she now rejects herself.
In a strange way, the external reality surrounding the author/narrator continues to mirror her perception of its appearance, and her outer beauty continues to match her inner beauty. A…

Alice alker's 1983 publication In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: omanist Prose addresses the role of creativity in women's lives. Creativity is the essence of womanhood, and therefore a symbol like that of the titular mother's garden. "Guided by my heritage of a love of beauty and respect for strength-in search of my mother's garden, I found my own."(alker 675). Imagery of gardens and life contrasts sharply with imagery of abuse and death, which alker acknowledges in Search of Our Mothers' Gardens. Both the suppression or repression of creativity, and the stimulation and expression of creativity, are critical components of women's lives.
Creativity is the means by which women of color have mitigated their oppression and subjugation. On page 357, alker states, "I went in search of the secret of what has fed that muzzled and often mutilated, but vibrant, creative spirit that the black woman has inherited, and that pops…

y simply concentrating on connecting with their African heritage many failed to understand that their parents and their ancestors who lived on the American continent in general created a culture of their own that entailed elements belonging both to the African continent and to the American one.
Most of the short story is about how Dee struggles to find her personal identity by turning to cultural values. While Dee is more concerned with displaying her cultural values and preserving them, Mama and Maggie actually live through their traditions directly. They do not need to pose in individuals obsessed with their background in order to actually understand it. Their ability to preserve thinking present in their ancestors compensates for their lack of knowledge and is more important than Dee's efforts to put across pretentious attitudes. It is not necessarily that these characters are unwilling to accept their African roots, as they…

Alice Walker
The Image of the Quilt: Alice Walker's the Color Purple and "Everyday Use"

What makes us who we are? A large part of our current lives are derived from the lives of those who came before us. Our family traditions and heritages are an important part of ourselves. In Alice Walker's The Color Purple and "Everyday Use," cloth, quilts, and the act of sewing are highlighted as a way to bring together the diversity of a family to provide for a strong structural foundation for preserving family traditions, allowing any family to survive and thrive despite any wide number of obstacles.

It is clear that Walker uses patchwork quilts and the act of sewing itself as an obvious motif in her work The Color Purple. Celie finds individual success through sewing. Based on her skills, she is allowed to become financially independent, which is a huge deal based on the…

Mamma has always given Dee anything she wanted, and allowed Maggie to step back into the shadows.
Maggie has the knowledge of a promised and very scant dowry. Mama has promised her the quilts that have been handed down in the family and those which they had themselves made. The promise was genuine and meaningful as quilts are important to a new bride as they can protect and keep one warm. Yet, Dee assumes that whatever she asks for will be granted, so she requests the quilts from Mama, who refuses her, request and reasserts her promise to Maggie. The whole argument is directed by the stoicism of the mother, the surrender of the Maggie and the brutish manner in which Dee assumes the right to have the quilts, as she is enlightened and Maggie is not, and she will give them their proper place, while Maggie will likely simply…

Alice alker that her works demonstrate a creation of modern American Mythology. So much so that her thematic works of modern mythology, riddled with the feminine, not the feminist, have been given a special name, womanism. (Colton and alker 33-44) In the sense that her characters tell enduring stories about universal problems of the human condition, especially the condition of those subjugated by the majority, e.g. women and African-Americans. Yet it can also be argued that alker's thematic representation of character and universal human conflict is also a retelling of classic mythological themes. In alker's short story, Her Sweet Jerome, she represents a retelling of the story of Media.
In a very clear and basic outline of the story one can see the correlation between the fable of Media and the story within Her Sweet Jerome. Medea also uses the promise of wealth and a sacrificial gift of the Golden…

Alice Walker writes about African-American movement. It has 4 sources.
Alice Walker is acknowledged as an undoubtedly important figure in African-American literature. Her work dealt with the issues of racism, sexism and mankind's ability to overcome all forms of oppression through active or passive struggle. She did this in the form of poetry, novels such as "The Color Purple," "The Third Life of Grange Copeland" and "Meridian" or essays like "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens." Her stories were often from the point-of-view of and portraying the situation of abused and oppressed Black women in America. That this gave a negative picture of Black males to some extent is true but as Walker said it best when defending objections to the cycle of black male violence depicted in [Taylor CA. 2001] "The Third Life of Grange Copeland" "I know many Brownfields, and it's a shame that I know so many.…

Nobody's Darling," Alice Walker dramatizes the conflict between the comfort of conformity and the courage it takes to be different. The speaker offers advice to the reader, in a didactic tone but one that confers wisdom. "Be nobody's darling, be an outcast," means standing up for truth and justice even if it means martyrdom (1,2). The speaker refers to the "thousands perished / for brave hurt words / they said," (23-25). It is preferable to walk alone, and even die, than it is to remain silent in the midst of injustice.
Using second person point-of-view throughout the poem, the speaker is invisible and anonymous. The reader is to take her at her word as a person in a position of authority, one who has presumably witnessed the benefits of being the "outcast." Part of her rhetorical strategy is to engender trust through the use of ethos, pathos, and logos: the…

African-American Literature -- Alice Walker
Women breaking the barriers in literature: Alice Walker, Pioneer of Womanism and astion of the African-American Culture (Literature)

African-American culture as American society characterizes it today contains significant elements that enrich the character of African-American society and communities. In the realm of arts, African-Americans have excelled, producing works of art that uniquely speaks for the African-American experience, but is universally crafted for people to appreciate and understand the history of one of the dominant societies in the United States at present. African-Americans excelled in the performing arts, music, visual arts, as well as literature, which has been developed with the emergence of Harlem Renaissance during the early 20th century. Alice Walker, following the great tradition of African-American literature, has been considered one of the women writers, particularly, African-American writers, who fought to 'break the barrier' that divides African-Americans from other races and women from men in a…

" She wasn't an "old collie turned out to die," but some people apparently had pity on her and saw her that way. That is a good metaphor, "old collie," and alker also explains that she was "the color of poor gray Georgia earth, beaten by king cotton and the extreme weather."
alker is just as effective using similes (82): Her elbows were "wrinkled and thick, the skin ashen but durable, like the bark of old pines." She word an old "mildewed black dress" with missing buttons, and when people saw her, some "saw the age, the dotage," and others saw in her "cooks, chauffeurs, maids, mistresses, children denied or smothered in the deferential way she held her cheek to the side..."

All these descriptions are stereotypes that people have of an old black woman, and alker packs this story with descriptions of those stereotypes. The reader has a whole lot of…

Flannery O'Connor's fiction, under the spell of the writer's occasional comments, has been unusually susceptible to interpretations based on Christian dogma. None of O'Connor's stories has been more energetically theologized than her most popular, "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." O'Connor flatly declared the story to be a parable of grace and redemption, and for the true believer there can be no further discussion. As James Mellard remarks, "O'Connor simply tells her readers -- either through narrative interventions or be extra-textual exhortations -- how they are to interpret her work" (625). And should not the writer know best what her story is about? A loaded question, to which the best answer may be DH Lawrence's advice: trust the art, but not the artist."
Paraphrase

Stephen Bandy states that while O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" has been interpreted as a profoundly Christian work, when it comes to judging…

The American Short Story Hearts of Gold
Henry L Golemba is of the opinion that the society’s perception of nobility could be somewhat skewed. According to the author, the unlikeliest of all – the unemployed cowboys, prostitutes, gold-seekers, as well as gamblers - have hearts of gold. As a matter of fact, Golemba is categorical that specific circumstances could prove the so called society’s outcasts nobler than some of those the society already deems noble. This is despite the fact that such persons are often times rejected by the society.
Most men in Roaring Camp (in The Luck of Roaring Camp by Bret Harte) could largely be perceived as reckless, tough, and ill-mannered. However, in reality, very few of them could fit this description. Despite their perceived incivility, these are persons who actually have a pleasant personality and intrinsic goodness. These are persons who, unexpectedly, possess hearts of gold.
We have a similar situation…

Preserving Family Traditions and Cultural Legacies: Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Individual Identity
In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use,” the conflict between a desire for personal fulfillment and the need to honor one’s tradition is dramatized in the conflict shown between two daughters, Maggie and Dee. Maggie has never had a desire to leave home and seems content to live with her mother. Mama is a woman who has grown up poor, tough, but also very deferential to white people, because of the profound societal injustices she has endured. “Who can even imagine me looking a strange white man in the eye? It seems to me I have talked to them always with one foot raised in flight, with my head fumed in whichever way is farthest from them” (Walker 1). In contrast, her other daughter Dee is brave, goes away to college, and seems to have a confidence her sister…

Alice alker
There are different expressions and types of culture, and culture can mean different things to various people who are a part of the same culture. This truth is demonstrated poignantly in Alice alker's short story entitled "Everyday Things." In this tale, there is a generation and culture clash between the worldly aspirations and ambitions of Dee, and the normal, everyday ambitions of her mother and her sister Maggie. At the heart of the issue explored within this story is what the proper usage of culture actually is. For some people, culture is something that is a reminder of the past and which is not readily interacted with everyday. For other people, culture is simply a way of life and how individuals and collectives go about pursuing their lives. A close examination of "Everyday Use" reveals that this tale examines a generation clash within a family related to culture,…

Gordimer and Walker
ace and gender have been shown to be major social issues throughout the world as demonstrated through short stories written by Nadine Gordimer, who writes from a South African perspective, and Alice Walker, who writes from an American perspective. Gordimer's "Country Lovers" (1975), takes a look at South African apartheid and allows the reader insight into the discrimination that was prevalent in society. Likewise, Walker's "The Welcome Table" (1970), takes a look at discrimination within American society. Gordimer and Walker's short stories analyze racial discrimination and the impacts that it has on the female protagonist in each story.

Nadine Gordimer was born in South Africa on November 20, 1923 and has lived there her entire life (Nadine Gordimer, 2005). Gordimer published her first work at 15 years old and since then, she has written numerous short story collections and novels. Although Gordimer contends that she is not a political…

hat is interesting about this statement is the fact that Celie used to see herself as a tree that fought back her negative emotions.
Shug is instrumental in Celie's mental growth. She becomes Celie's confidant but, more importantly, Shug helps her view God differently. For example, Celie's earlier impressions of God are that he is a man that behaves much like the other men she has encountered in her life. She writes that God is "just like all the other mens I know... Trifling, forgitful and lowdown" (199). It is through Shug that Celie begins to recognize God is inside her and "inside everybody else" (202) and he is not a "he or a she, but a it" (202). Furthermore, she helps her see that God "ain't something you can look at apart from anything else, including yourself. I believe God is everything" (202). Shug's ideas help Celie understand God…

Smith & Walke
Both Smith and Walke who wite about the plight of black people and the feelings of inevitability and acism can invoke in Black people and in thei lives. A significant diffeence between the poem and the shot stoy is the geneation and age of the individuals. Wheeas Walke's shot stoy is concened with the acism and pain expeienced by an eldely Afican-Ameican woman in the post-civil ights ea, Smith is concened with a young woman in the same ea. The eldely woman is in ual county and the young woman, as evidenced by Smith's efeence to 'Motown' is in an uban setting. The disconnect both women feel fom both thei bodies and fom thei suoundings is the unifying thead that binds these two seemingly dispaate stoies. I am inteested in exploing the theme of alienation fom one's suoundings and fom one's body that lie at the heat…

Welcome Table" (Walker) short story "Country Lovers" (Gordimer) intoduction literature class. The directions state developing a thesis a comparative paper, a comparision works deeper insight topic paper.
Racism has often been used as a principal theme in a series of writings, as writers intended to intensify this topic with the purpose of emphasizing the wrongness of this particular act. Alice Walker and Nadine Gordimer have both gotten actively engaged in discussing this subject in their works. "The Welcome Tab" and "Country Lovers" deal with attitudes that white people often employ as they interact with black people and they both focus on accurately depicting thinking expressed by dominant communities in the U.S. and, respectively, in South Africa, during the early 1900s. Even with this, while Walker goes at depicting an old African-American woman with the most probable purpose of inducing pity-related feelings into her readers, Gordimer goes further and uses a…

Black, White, Jewish
Black, White, and Jewish -- the Source of All Rebecca Walker's Angst?

Rebecca Walker's memoir Black, White, and Jewish, is subtitled "Autobiography of a Shifting Self." Walker states that is a woman who is most comfortable "in airports" because they are "limbo spaces -- blank, undemanding, neutral." (3) In contrast, because of her multi-racial and multi-ethnic identity, she is both never 'neutral' and also never quite 'of a color.' nly in airports to the rules of the world completely apply to her as well as to the rest of the world, Walker states -- and even then, this statement has an irony, given the recent events and controversies over airport racial profiling that occurred after the book's publication. The book does on to describe, with great poignancy, the author's perceived difficulty of living with a dual, often uncomfortable identity of whiteness and blackness, of Jewishness and 'gentileness.'

It should be…

Alice Walker & Ralph Ellison
Character Analysis of Dee in Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" and the Narrator in Ralph Ellison's "attle Royal"

Works of literature by black American writers have evoked feelings of hopelessness and suffering of their fellow black Americans by putting them into context with the social changes happening in the American society. Take as an example the short stories "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker and "attle Royal" by Ralph Ellison. oth stories depict racial discrimination in subtle, yet meaningful ways. In Walker's short story, discrimination is subtly expressed by through symbolic representations of the characters' demonstrated disregard or value put into their African heritage. In Ellison's work, years of racial prejudice and discrimination are depicted in a pseudo-battle where the harsh realities faced by black Americans are uncovered and laid bare for the Narrator to see and witness.

These manners of discussing racial prejudice and discrimination are effectively portrayed through…

Alice in Wonderland as Victorian Literature -- Being a child in Victorian England was difficult. They had to behave like the adults did, follow all rules, they had to be seen but not heard. Children, however, are naturally curious; unable to sit for long periods of time, and as part of normal cognitive development, consistently asking questions about the world. In fact, childhood is the period when a child acquires the knowledge needed to perform as an adult. It is the experiences of childhood that the personality of the adult is constructed. Alice's adventures, then, are really more of a set of curiosities that Carroll believed children share. Why is this, who is this, how does this work? and, her journey through Wonderland, somewhat symbolic of a type of "Garden of Eden," combines stark realities that would be necessary for her transition to adulthood.

For Victorians, control was part of not…

This full spectrum of relationships implies that fully-functioning and developed societies can form around these relationships, and that they are not dependent upon male relationships whatsoever. The strength of the females in the Color Purple culminates in such an organization of their community; and, we are led to believe, that this particular community possesses the capacity to satisfy the women's physical and spiritual needs far better than any male-dominated society could offer.
oolf does not make this same contention in "The New Dress." Although it could be argued, from her other works, that she might possibly agree with such an ultimate organization of female society, "The New Dress" seems to focus more upon the inadequacies of social communication in general, irrespective of gender. This is not to say that gender is not a concern in the story, merely that the overall organization of the society that Mabel finds herself in…

Heroine
If there is anything that we as a society love deeply…it's a hero. Both children and adults alike are drawn to heroes in both reality and fantasy. Children grow up being regaled by stories of the prince saving the princess and adults beam over happy endings in movies where the hero saves the day. Most people would describe the role as hero as someone, who defies the odds, is a champion for the people, and who physically or possibility even emotionally or spiritually rescues others. A hero may even possess unconventional ethics and approaches, but the constant is that a hero looks out for the greater good of others, particularly the minority whose voices have been silenced by the majority. This paper will provide a subjective definition of a "modern heroine" as well as present a discussion of an protagonist I deem a hero in Alice alker's novel "The…

Everyday Use
Alice alker's short story "Everyday Use" is about a mother who has two daughters, one who has remained at home and appreciates their family heirlooms because of their connection to the home and their family, and another daughter who has become interested in the Black Nationalist movement and who looks at the same articles and appreciates them more for their aesthetic appeal than their deeper meaning. Through this story, alker makes a larger statement about the Black Nationalist movement to which daughter Dee belongs. She claims to want to honor her African heritage by adopting a more ethnic sounding name and by holding on to items which have meaning to her history as a descendant of slaves. This is a peripheral connection to her heritage and has no true meaning. Dee desires of her family treasures in order to fit in with a group, not because she has any…

Alice Walker, and "The Child by Tiger," by Thomas Wolfe. Specifically, it will compare and contrast the theme of the story, the overall message each author is trying to convey. When a story confronts racism, but is unconsciously racist in its portrayal of minority characters, it contains "racism within racism," and does not give a balanced view of the minority characters. Both of these stories contain racism within racism, and defeat the purpose of writing "intelligently" about blacks.
ACISM WITHIN ACISM

In "The Child by Tiger" Wolfe portrays Dick Prosser as a typical black man of the time, working at menial jobs for low wages. Yet here is a man who served in the Army, obviously with some responsibility, who is reduced to chopping wood and cooking, and it is accepted, not only by the people in the story, but by the author as well. When he goes crazy, he is…

That being said, it is quite difficult to be honest with oneself, even thought as we stand in front of the mirror, naked and bare, Didion says we remain "blind to our fatal weaknesses." One might think that being too self-critical would damage the ego, but for Didion, it is completely the opposite -- by knowing out flaws, accepting some and working towards the goal of solving others, we become more actualized and powerful. Without this realization, "one eventually discovers the final turn of the screw: one runs away to find oneself, and finds no one at home."

Both Didion and Walker focus on self-respect, self-actualization, and in a very real way, a pseudo-Marxian approach to alienation from society. There are several points in common for the authors: one's own approach to self; seeking and finding self-respect; and taking an active role in our own place in the universe. Conversely, Didion…

Janie in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes ere atching God and Celie in Alice alker's the Color Purple
The main character and narrator of Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes ere atching God (1937), Janie, has much in common with the narrator and main character Celie within Alice alker's novel The Color Purple (1982). Each speaks authentically, in her own voice: the too-often ignored voice of an African-American female in a white male-dominated society. For both characters, however, authenticity of voice has come at great cost, and through the surmounting of numerous obstacles, the greatest of these being the fears and the lack of confidence within themselves. I will discuss several common characteristics of Celie and Janie within these two novels by female African-American authors.

As Henry Louis Gates, Jr. suggests, fear and hesitancy by African-Americans, male and female alike, to speak authentically, has deep roots: "For just over two hundred…

In conclusion, by the end of this short story, the mother (narrator) has a far greater understanding and appreciation of her daughters. She has become closer to Maggie and learned to see Dee for what she really is - a patronizing snob who is embarrassed about her roots. Dee ignores her heritage and creates a new environment for herself, including her name, because she is ashamed of her family home. She does not understand that one of the most significant things in life is family and the love and acceptance of that family. The story is written about two sisters, but it is really about the acceptance and love of a good family, and what Dee is losing because she cannot acknowledge that love.

eferences

Cowart, David. "Heritage and Deracination in Walker's 'Everyday Use'." Studies in Short Fiction 33.2 (1996): 171+.

Dieke, Ikenna, ed. Critical Essays on Alice Walker. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,…

In this light. Dee represents the most successful fulfillment of the material side of the American Dream (Whitsitt). On the other hand, she is unsuccessful at preserving what is most beautiful about her culture by no longer honoring it in any practical sense. In this, she represents the tragedy of loss in terms of meaning, culture, and heritage in blind pursuit of material gain and social success.
The Red Convertible" by Louise Erdrich

The story by Louise Erdrich similarly demonstrates a dichotomy between the past, the potential of the future, and the scars that cannot be healed as a result of trauma and tragedy. The American Dream and its destruction in this story is represented by two brothers and their initially healthy relationship (boosh). As young men, Henry and Lyman are happy-go-lucky and somewhat irresponsible. Their relationship is healthy and close, represented by a red convertible that they buy restore, and…

They tear her nose loose on one side. They blind her in one eye. She swole from head to foot. Her tongue the size of my arm, it stick out tween her teef like a piece of rubber. She can't talk. And she just about the color of an eggplant" (Walker, Part 2, pg. 87).
In this case, the color purple is used as a symbol of the oppression of the black woman. Because a black women hit a white man, Sofia was put in prison. After she got out, she was made to work as a maid for the mayor's wife for another 20 years. Black women were not allowed to defend themselves in any manner and had to take their beatings. Fear was the major tool used for the oppression of black women in the Old South. Their purple bruises were the outward symbol of their oppression.

Dreams Never…

Beauty's totality, therefore, is much more than qualities that one can see or perceive with the senses.
Yet perhaps the most enduring aspect of beauty and its true value to the world and beyond lies in its capacity to foster love. Quite simply, beauty is loved, and love, at the same time, is certainly beautiful. alker comes to this conclusion at the end of her essay, in which her low esteem for herself regarding her personal appearance due to her eye accident is instantaneously overcome by a single statement from her daughter. That statement in and of itself is not as important as the reaction it provoked within the author, who was able to come to terms with her own beauty and the love it inspired as a result, which the following quotation proves.

Crying and laughing I ran to the bathroom, while Rebecca mumbled and sang herself to sleep. Yes…

While America prides itself in declaring it is a free nation where people with different skin colours live in harmony and where democracy is victorious, providing people with the same rights and benefits, the sour truth is that the same America is strongly prejudiced against non-white people.
Not only are they feared or believed to be inferior, but the whites express their superiority through measures which have real deep impact upon the lives of the others. Such is the case of the characters in the novel written in 1982, such is the case with the author of the "lack men and public spaces" essay and such is the case with yesterday's adventure involving Harvard professor Gates.

The characters in "The color purple" communicate their pessimist views regarding the evolution of the Americans society in which the very development of black people is biased. The author suggests that while black people officially…

As a character, Celie's own experiences have not engaged her on the same levels that Shug's sexual experiences have. This is to say that Celie's life and collection of experiences have not been personally gratifying or freeing in the way that Shug suggest sexual experiences should or can be. To Shug, sex is more about the personal gratification and the freedom of bodily and emotional expression that comes with the act of making love (Selzer, 69). Since Celie's life has revolved around taking care of her children and making sure the men in her life are happy, she really hasn't had much time to develop her own personal sex life in a gratifying or selfish way.
It is important to make the distinction between acting selfishly as the men in Celie's life have and acting selfishly as Shug suggests Celie do. These are two separate things, and the act of…

African-Americans, as members of a group who were forcibly migrated to America are not immigrants, and Native Americans are the original inhabitants of this land. But Chinese-Americans such as Amy Tan, although she is a daughter of willing immigrants to America, also experience identity conflicts. In "Half and Half" Amy Tan explicitly identifies her protagonist Rose as feeling half American, half Chinese in a manner that often makes her feel adrift in the world. Part of this passivity, Tan suggests, is Rose's guilt and self-loathing from accidentally letting her brother drown when she was supposed to be watching him. In the midst of a bitter divorce, Rose eventually reconnects emotionally with her mother and resolves to fight for the house she loves. Asserting her right to a physical homeland in America becomes a source of pride for Rose -- her home becomes her homeland in America, and establishes her right…

women are confined in society as depicted in the stories by Steinback, Joyce and Oates.
Stories set in the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century often depict women as being confined to the norms of society even while they struggle to be free. Authors of literary works may they be short or long stories have often presented these women as being frustrated with the status imposed upon them and show the problems they face in a patriarchal society. In John Steinback's Chrysanthemums for instance, the female character Elisa Allen has been portrayed as "a strong, capable woman kept from personal, social, and sexual fulfillment by the prevailing conception of a woman's role in a world dominated by men" (Steinback, 306). Her appearance, manner and speech all suggest that she is a woman frustrated with the male dominated world. Her husband forever reminds Elisa that she…

A work of non-fiction does not have to be about a person, however. Non-fiction work can include theories of social studies, presented in interesting and new ways. Non-fiction is tremendously helpful in lesson planning because the prose elucidates issues in subjects like science and social studies.
Question 6: Although she is not remembered as a major figure in the Civil Rights Movement, Marian Anderson's life contributed to some of the reforms that African-American citizens demanded. Discuss how her voice "challenged" a nation.

Marian Anderson was an accomplished African-American singer. Anderson broke the color barrier in the arts, just as Jackie Robinson did in sports. Anderson's success challenged prevailing social norms, as she became a visible figure in America's most elite concert halls. Anderson began indirectly using her voice as a political tool, channeling her success into achieving broader civil rights goals.

Question 7: Describe how the city of Philadelphia, its residents and…

Hate
There are a number of poignant similarities between Mama in Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" and Delia in Zora Neale Hurston's short story "Sweat." Both women are matriarch figures, African-American, and live in rural surroundings. As such, they each have a healthy dose of what is referred to as common sense -- although to other cultures and outsiders they may talk and act like simple, ignorant country bumpkins. Perhaps it is this perception of the two that makes them so accommodating to the will of others. But the principle similarity between each of these women is that she has a threshold for her tolerance level, and once it is broached she acts in a way that is belied by her simple, rustic manners.

There are domestic issues plaguing each of the matriarchs in their respective tales, which substantially contribute to the point at which they refuse to tolerate the…

This fact and the preceding quotation proves that Maggie views heritage as an interactive process, unlike the viewpoint of her sister. The fact that Maggie's mother ultimately gives her the quilts alludes to the fact that she shares this belief as well.
The conclusion of this story in which Maggie's mother gives her the valued quilts appears to suggest that the author believes that the more interactive application of heritage, as opposed to the passive reverence of heritage as art, is more valid. Walker does not seem to pose the notion that these two views of heritage are incompatible with one another, however. Instead, she indicates that Dee is simply not able to understand the value in the form of heritage that her mother and sisters represent and practice. The following quotation which ends the story and precedes Dee's departure, alludes to this fact.

"You just don't understand," she said, as…

She is the daughter of Alice Walker, who wrote the Color Purple. She took her mother's maiden name at the age of 18. Rebecca graduated cum laude from Yale University in 1993, and moved on to co-found the Third Wave Foundation. She is considered to be one of the founding leaders of third-wave feminism. In addition to her contributing editorship for Ms. Magazine, Walker's work has also been published by Harper's, Essence, Glamour, Interview, Buddhadharma, Vibe, Child, and Mademoiselle magazines. Her relationship with her mother has been strained because of various public indictments the younger Walker made against her. Nevertheless, some believe that Rebecca might not have been as famous or powerful today without her ties to the illustrious Alice Walker.
Jennifer Baumgardner is a prominent voice for women and girls. She works as a writer, speaker and activist. During 1993-1997, she worked as the youngest editor at Ms. Magazine,…

acism
Time changes everything; reading these two pieces of work reminds the author of that fact and so much more. Both The Welcome Table, by Alice Walker, and the poem What it's Like to be a Black Girl, by Smith speak out of the dust of the past to those who now live in the future. It is interesting to note that though the subject matter of racist attitudes pervades each story, both writings provide a viewpoint that is unique; The Table deals with an old negro lady on the verge of death, while a Black Girl deals with the other end of the spectrum; a young black girl addressing puberty and adolescence and the troubles and trials facing a maturing young lady. While presenting two differing points-of-view, each offers a strikingly similar stance; that racism affects those who feel its insidious influence in a myriad of ways.

As one article states…

The fact that this figure remains a guess says something important about what orrison was up against in trying to find out the full story of the slave trade. uch of that story has been ignored, left behind, or simply lost.
Through her works she attempted to retell the stories of grief associated with slavery and terror, her characters living their lives with greater understanding of its value than almost any other set of characters in fiction today.

Within the genre of the autobiography there is a different tenor of thought the words and deeds are that of the author and the message is clearly self, devolvement. Angelou in the Heart of a Woman demonstrates the ideals of her time, as a civil rights organizer and protestor. She clearly spells out the strife that exists between whites, and blacks and the dangerous dance they are doing during what most would call…

African-American authors have been essential to elucidation of the race and gender issues that face Blacks living in America. In particular, Black female authors have confronted the woes of societal stereotypes and idiosyncrasies that reflect life in America for people of color. The intention of this discussion is to examine how women writers analyze the race, class, and gender discrimination that black women have often faced. e will examine the works The Color Purple by Alice alker and The Bluest Eye written by Toni Morrison.
Alice alker

First let's examine The Color Purple which was published in 1982 and subsequently became an academy award nominated screenplay. There are several aspects of the novel that explore race, class and gender. The novel is narrated by a character named Celie. The primary theme of this novel has to do with plight of Celie and explores the manner in which women are treated by the…

.....space below to complete this section. Include the number and first sentence of the prompt you chose from the list of prompts.)
Prompt 2: 'In some stories, characters come into conflict with the culture in which they live.'

For this literary assignment, I have chosen Prompt 2, which explains that the characters of some tales enter into discord with their surrounding culture. Usually, a character may feel estranged and different from the society on account of his/her ethnic/racial group, sex, or social class.

What interests you most about this prompt and why?

The above prompt interests me as it addresses the subject of heritage and culture. Modern-day individuals depict greater cultural sensitivity and awareness and are more mindful of the distinctions between themselves and others, compared to their forebears. Humanity has now permitted its cultural disparities and backgrounds to guide its social interactions with individuals belonging to other backgrounds. Some, however, reject their personal…

Thebedi suffers because of the same reason but her story reveals how broken a race becomes after years of repeated abuse. Thebedi lives in a culture thousands of miles away from the segregation realized in America but somehow, that mentality made its way across the ocean. The most amazing aspect of this story is the fact that it could have taken place on an American farm. The white man's ways belittled the black man even in his own land. Prejudice is no respecter of persons. hile we associate it with whites and blacks in America, across the globe people are killed and mistreated for all kinds of beliefs. One thing is clear: this state of mind comes from within the heart of man, not from without. Children play with each other without restraint and it is only when they begin to adopt the beliefs of their elders that they…

From children to adults, we see how their world is colored by preconceived notions. hen Roberta declares that she is "Mrs. Kenneth Norton," we realize she has "arrived." Twyla understands what it means to take on such a name and immediately assume that Roberta is wealthy. She is correct in her assumption when Roberta confesses that she has two servants. Roberta has no interest in what her husband does as all she knows about his work is that it involves "Computers and stuff. hat do I know?" (Morrison). hile they are reminiscing, Roberta says, "Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black-white. You know how everything was." (Morrison). This statement causes Twyla to admit that she did not know what Roberta was speaking about but it also demonstrates how children are instilled with preconceived notions. The girls were not aware of the reasons behind their behavior.…

.....characters come into conflict with the culture in which they live.
What interests you most about this prompt and why?

This prompt interests me because I like stories about conflict -- stories in which characters clash with their surroundings. It is very easy to connect with stories like this, as I often feel like separate from much of what goes on around me. Stories of culture are also very interesting because they are full of history and people, stories and humanity -- and I am very interested in the human experience, what it means to be human, what it is that makes us who we are, why we think certain things, how things change, how ideas clash, how cultures come into conflict with one another. There is a lot to explore with this prompt.

What text will you write about? Why?

"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker: I thought this story was very funny and…

Some artists, such as Aaron Douglas, captured the feeling of Africa in their work because they wanted to show their ancestry through art. Others, like Archibald J. Motley Jr., obtained their inspiration from the surroundings in which they lived in; where jazz was at the forefront and African-Americans were just trying to get by day-to-day like any other Anglo-American. Additionally, some Black American artists felt more comfortable in Europe than they did in America. These artists tended to paint landscapes of different European countries. Most of the latter, however, were ostracized for this because many black politicians felt they should represent more of their African culture in their work (Campbell 1994, Powell and Bailey).
Whatever the case, most African-American artists during this period of time had a similarity that tied them together. Black art was often very colorful and vivacious; having an almost rhythmic feel to it. This was appropriate…

Jordan has not been honored by naming any street or postal holidays. She was respected and recognized by her own milestones; as she designed modern Harlem with . Buckminster Fuller, had coffee with Malcolm X, received suggestive teachings from Toni Cade Bambara, acted with Angela Davis in a film, and authored an opera with John Adams and Peter Sellars. Irrespective of so much achievements there was no 'Day' named after June Jordan. She was the awarded author of about two dozen books, a great American poet known both for creativity and collections and was one of most critical activists and teachers who have not yet been recognized. This paper is a good testimony to know her better. (June Jordan- www.randomhouse.com)
Jordan is all-inclusive as a poet, essayist, reporter, dramatist, academician, cultural and political activist, however above all she is an inspirational teacher both in words and actions and is considered…

Sweat, by Zora Neal Hurston. Specifically, it will contain a biography of the writer and criticism of her work "Sweat," along with another story.
HUSTON'S "SWEAT" AND ANOTHE STOY

Hurston was born on January 7, 1891. She grew up in Eatonville, Florida, which was the first all-black town incorporated in the United States. "She received her early education at the Hungerford School, modeled after Tuskegee Institute, with its guiding principles of discipline and hard work; Hungerford's founders had studied with Tuskegee's founder Booker T. Washington" (Hill XVII). An avid reader, she soon learned to love myth and lore, and teachers and friends encouraged her love of books and reading. When she attended college, she majored in English, and began writing for several journals. She wrote "Sweat" in 1926. She also studied anthropology, and traveled to the South to research black folk tales and voodoo. She also wrote plays and journal articles…

Cultues in Conflict & Change
William Faulkne leaves us in suspense at the end of a tubulent sequence of events titled "Ban Buning." Who killed whom? We could speculate fom othe books pehaps but those wods ae outside this stoy. Given that stict constaint, we don't eally know. Saty watches De Spain and his hose vanish in the distance and heas thee shots, which he assumes kill his fathe at least, and pehaps olde bothe. This is the widest possible assumption but a fulle analysis would have to exploe othe possibilities. The esult fo Saty is the same: He uns away fom fathe, bothe and the women's cultue egadless who pulled which tigge(s) at the De Spain ban. Abne Snopes will appea hee as 'AS,' De Spain as 'DS' and 'Saty' as 'CSS' fo bevity, but also abstaction, because Faulkne ('WF') sets up abstactions, though symbolic equations that pemeate the entie…

However, on an emotional level, a woman who wanted a mild soap and was concerned about the aging effects of her current product might feel motivated to choose Palmolive.
TOPIC 2: Famous bios & thesis statements

A politician: Barak Obama changed what most pundits thought was possible for an African-American to accomplish in the modern political era: he was elected president. The combined crisis of the worldwide financial meltdown and the loss of confidence in American military power due to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan had an undeniable impact in the success of Obama's campaign. But his personal charisma combined with his savvy use of the Internet for fundraising and populist appeals also had a strong influence in propelling him to victory.

A movie star: George Clooney skyrocketed to fame playing a sexy doctor on the popular television soap opera ER. However, he used his fame to build a career beyond…

United States is a country that thrives on the achievements of various people groups. The achievements of African-Americans in the United States are particularly significant. African-Americans have contributed greatly to the world of literature, medicine, and business. The purpose of this discussion is to examine the role that African-Americans have played in the formulation of American culture.
lacks in America

Although the history of blacks in America has been steeped in bigotry, hatred, and segregation, the culture has managed to face these adversities with courage and triumph. African-American's have fought for equal rights since their arrival in this country. Initially, they were forced to fight for the right to be free men and to end slavery. Eventually, African-Americans also struggled for integration during the civil rights movement. There were several individuals that were instrumental in ensuring that African-Americans were free from slavery and that they gained their civil rights. These individuals…

Again, this conflict exists between two sisters, but in this story it is the sister that stays home that is treated as essentially unwelcome by her family, and the sister that returns home that is welcomed and praised despite the many issues that are apparent in her life. At its heart, however, this story is one of senseless bickering and the type of frustration that crops up during periods of familial unfairness. Neither sister makes a real effort to try and make the other happy, and the other family members are equally guilty of perpetuating a type of squabbling that has no real merit or purpose -- the arguments are over senseless things such as a beard being cut or not -- yet the rift that this creates in the family seems just as permanent as that which exists in Walker's short story. The narrator of Welty's tale is…

Banning Books in High School
Book Banning and Censorship

Social groups, including religious organizations, parents, and school administration among others, make decisions daily about what material will become a part of the regular school curriculum and what material will be excluded. Many decisions are made based on the educational value of text books and other learning material. However, many decisions are unfortunately made without educational potential in mind, but rather on the basis of what is considered to be profane or proper based on the opinions of certain people that feel they have the moral authority to make such decisions. American schools have always been built on the principle that children must be protected from that which is inappropriate for them to see, hear, or experience. "American schools have been pressured to restrict or deny students access to books or periodicals deemed objectionable by some individual or group on moral, political, religious,…

She remains an active advocate today, still changing people's lives through her commitment to making the world a better and more just place. Her high standards and her refusal to cave in to lobbyists and other self-interest groups has been an inspiration for other non-profit organizational leaders who have followed in her footsteps. She had no qualms about claiming former President Bill Clinton's 1996 welfare reform initiative would result in millions of black children starving, despite Hillary Clinton's active role with the Children's Defense Fund.
This exemplifies the true nature of her character and her sincere commitment to helping those in need. Thus one of the most important ways Marian continues to impact society is not only through her work as a social advocate, but through her status as modern day role model. ole model's are few and far between these days, but Marian Wright Edelman inspires young people every…

If feminism is about civil rights, human rights, children's rights and the search for peace, then it is clear that a substantial amount of the descriptive narrative in the Road is clearly anti-feminine. This has nothing to do with gender rights, and everything to do with the rights of all humans to live in dignity and be allowed "...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The nights, McCarthy writes on page 129, were "...blinding cold and casket black and the long reach of the morning had a terrible silence to it. Like a dawn before battle." The feminist world is not a cold world at all and children are sheltered from suffering; death is not supposed to come to young and middle aged people and mornings are not silent. Mornings are supposed to be filled with the joyful sound of songbirds and the happy shrieks of children, and there is…

Then they began dancing, wheeling from one quadrant of the sacred circle to the next, drawing everyone into the circle until all were within the center (ink 2000). A stick was planted in the earth that would flower as a sign of life and hope for the Sioux tribe (ink 2000).
Black Elk never doubted that his vision depicted the harmony and life that the Great Spirit wanted for all human beings on earth, yet due to the suffering the Sioux endured by the United States policies, he felt that the vision had failed, and even blamed himself (ink 2000). Toward the end of his life, Black Elk once said,

And now when I look about me upon my people in despair, feel like crying, and I wish and wish that my vision could have been given to a man more worthy. I wonder why it came to me, a pitiful…

black colleges/Tuskegee University
The psychological, economic, political importance of historically black colleges

In a workplace, the significance of scholarly and nourished atmosphere cannot be underrated in forming a stronger base for future success. (Historically Black Colleges - Letters to the Editor) Before the period of 1964, the 'Historically Black Colleges and Universities'- HBCU's, the postsecondary academic institutions were established and its educational purpose was to teach African-Americans. (The Importance of HBCUs) Historically, HBCUs came into being at a time when Black students were mainly barred from other institutions of higher education, and their purpose was to give these students with chances for scholarship and professional training. (Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Their Aspirations & Accomplishments) HBCU's have been a main basis in the growth of the African-American middle class. They offer a helpful social, cultural, and racial atmosphere for people of color who are looking for a college education.…

Virginia Woolf and Her Works as Mediums of Feminism
Virginia Woolf was among the rare writers who have put their talents and ideologies into writings, particularly as a patron of equality to women. Considered as one of the founders of feminism, there were quite a number of literary works that show Woolf's passion for promoting feminism. Some of this includes the following literary masterpieces.

To the Lighthouse

A Room on One's Own (1929)

Three Guineas (1938)

Women and Fiction (1929)

Professions for Women (1929)

Much of Woolf's literatures depicted her strict criticism on how the society put little importance to the female gender. Also, she showed in the context of her works how prominent the female gender can play important roles in the society, both socially and politically. Much of Woolf's works have in fact depicted political thoughts that have endeared the hearts and minds of many readers.

The information written in the following pages of this paper…