African American Literature Essays Examples For College & High School Students in PDF

1250 total results

An analysis of Brian’s encounter with the Spirit of God in Growing Up on the Prairie by W.O. Mitchell (444 words, 1 pages)

Growing up on the prairie As we travel through our lives we come to road blocks and other turmoil's. In W.O. Mitchell's novel Who has seen the wind, we learn about some of the struggles Brian (the main character) encounters as he grows up in Saskatchewan during the Depression. The ... Read More

A Paper on Individualism in the Book Their Eyes Were Watching God (1396 words, 2 pages)

Their Eyes Were Watching God In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie battles to find Individualism within herself. Janie, all her life, had been pushed around and told what to do and how to live her life. She searched and searched high and low to find a peace that makes ... Read More

Self-Discovery in A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines (653 words, 1 pages)

Grants unwillingness to cope with the repression of his black community by considering running away leads him away from being the man that they want him to be. When Grant returns years later after leaving to gain an education, he had become a secular, educated man, now distanced from his ... Read More

An Analysis of Religion in the Gods Grandeur and Leda and the Swan (1559 words, 2 pages)

The Grandeur of a Swan A comparative essay of the role of Religion in "God's Grandeur And "Leda and the Swan" Relationships between humans and the Divine have been the subject of many authors writings, in fact the very first text ever published was the Bible the most comprehensive link ... Read More

An Analysis of A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines (856 words, 3 pages)

No one plans to change the course of their life, yet somehow habitualactions morph into stepping stones towards evolving one's morals. InErnest J. Gaines novel, A Lesson Before Dying, an educatedAfrican-American school teacher in Louisiana is constantly faced withracial injustice and inequality as it looms throughout the entire south.The teacher ... Read More

A Personal Reflection on Having Faith in God (1322 words, 4 pages)

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, Faith is taking the first step, even when you dont see the whole staircase, and I believe that is probably the best definition of faith. However, to me, faith is much more than that. I know that having faith is having knowledge that what ... Read More

An Analysis of Cassie in Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry (904 words, 2 pages)

You get your little black self back over there and wait some more, he said... We been waiting on you for near an hour, I hissed, While you round here waiting on everybody else. And it aint fair. You got no right- (Taylor p. 111) In the beginning of the ... Read More

Reading to Praise God (516 words, 1 pages)

Reading is an activity that many of us normally do. We use reading for numerous purposes such as be entertainment, educational, and to be aware what is happening. Although many of us only read when something catch our attention or is topic that we are interest in regardless of the ... Read More

Analysis of I Thought My Father Was God (182 words, 1 pages)

In the introduction to his book of true stories, I though My father was god, Paul Auster describes how he was able to collect these accounts of real and sometimes raw experience. In October 1999, Auster in collaboration with National Public Radio, began the National story Project, during an interview ... Read More

A Demonstration of the Road to Delusion in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (779 words, 3 pages)

The Road to DelusionIn the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Mrs. Turner feels honored in Janies presence due to Janies white folkish appearance (Hurston 138). Through the extended metaphor of Mrs. Turners racist ideology as a god, it is revealed that Mrs. Turners racist paradigm ... Read More

Triumph in the Face of Adversity in The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1054 words, 5 pages)

Alice Walker, most famous for her novel The Color Purple, is the first African- American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction (Alice (Malsenior) Walker). As well as writing bestselling books, Walker is a staunch defender of human rights, racial equality, and respecting all forms of life. Her written ... Read More

The Character of Celie in the Novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker (680 words, 2 pages)

In the color purple by Alice walker, the main character Celie doesnt take the time to notice all the beautiful things around her. This is because she has been subjected to a horrible life. She has been abused and raped by her Pa, who takes away her children after theyre ... Read More

A Thought of Learning in A Lesson Before Dying, a Novel by Ernest J. Gaines (1286 words, 4 pages)

Change is a part of life, everyone has to undergo it. From infant, to child, to teen, to adult and from these stages we become more mature as time goes on. Some never do learn important lessons, and most never get the chance as in order to mature, one needs ... Read More

A Comparison of the Characters in Everyday Use by Alice Walker and Two Kinds by Amy Tan (1186 words, 4 pages)

Even with all the differences and similarities the characters in both stories share, they still strive to do the best for one another, and even though they may not understand each other, they begin to understand themselves. The most important relationship in life is the one a child and their ... Read More

The Struggle for Fulfillment in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (1550 words, 5 pages)

The Struggle for Fulfillment Bildungsroman in Their Eyes Were Watching GodAlthough the Harlem Renaissance was a golden era for black culture, the Great Depression that soon followed did not have the same flourish. Racial tensions had followed after the cultural openness of the Harlem Renaissance, and as a result, the ... Read More

A Touch of Feminism in the Works of Maya Angelou (1033 words, 4 pages)

Feminism in Maya Angelous PoetryFeminism has always been an important subject to bring light to. Author Maya Angelou was an important woman when it came to showing hardships among women. She addresses issues such as sexism, feminism, and racism. However, feminism is important to discuss because the acceptance and equality ... Read More

A Comparison of the Similarities and Differences Between the Two Characters in Narcissus and Goldmund and Their Eyes Were Watching God (2356 words, 7 pages)

In these two novels, Narcissus and Goldmund and Their Eyes Were Watching God, the two authors, Herman Hesse and Zora Neale Hurston respectively, both create characters that are lost in this world with no identity. Although these two novels are set in very different times and places the characters experience ... Read More

A Review of Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self, a Bibliography by Alice Walker (773 words, 3 pages)

I never thought that I would have such a connection to one of the excerpts I read titled Beauty When the Other Dancer is the Self written by Alice Walker. This inspiring bibliography was about a once normal girl who had an unfortunate accident take place in which she was ... Read More

The Concept of the Negro-Art Hokum by Goerge Schuyler and the Perspective of Langston Hughes in The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain (610 words, 2 pages)

George Schuyler was a conservative, social commentator most active during the mid 1900s. In 1926, he published a piece called The Negro-Art Hokum objecting to the perceived black difference in art and literature that the Harlem and Negro Renaissance exemplified. Langston Hughes responded to this piece with his piece The ... Read More

The Struggle for Pride and Dignity in A Raisin in the Sun, a Novel by Lorraine Hansberry (1077 words, 4 pages)

Pride Despite PrejudicePride is a powerful force in A Raisin in the Sun (1959), where the Younger family, living in 1950's Chicago, has their dreams clash with the reality of their situation. Pride propels characters into conflict, and they emerge different from when they went in. They struggle to maintain ... Read More

An Analysis of Dutchman, a One-Act Play by Amiri Baraka (1040 words, 4 pages)

Dutchman is a one-act drama that was written by the poet Amiri Baraka and which premiered in 1964. The play, set in a New York subway train, is a two character confrontation that starts off playfully, but rather builds up into suspense and symbolic resonance. One of the characters Clay ... Read More

The Themes of Beauty and Happiness in The Bluest Eye, a Novel by Toni Morrison (1939 words, 5 pages)

The Bluest EyesIn Toni Morisons The Bluest Eye a young girl faces all of the challenges in the world as we follow her sorrowful yet oddly hopeful life. She is a broken soul just curious enough to wonder what love feels like, a dreamer in a hard reality. There is ... Read More

The Struggles of the Racial Minority Groups in A Raisin in the Sun, a Novel by Lorraine Hansberry (2058 words, 8 pages)

A Raisin in the SunDuring the 1950s, America has seen many racial difficulties which potentially lead to broader issues. A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, clearly demonstrates some of the struggles faced by racial minority groups. Furthermore, the play explores the individual issues of Mama, Ruth, Walter, ... Read More

The Role of Tea Cake in Janie’s Life in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (446 words, 2 pages)

Their Eyes Were Watching GodIn Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character, Janie, undergoes multiple bad relationships. Tea Cake, her third, and presumably last husband, treats her how she wants to be treated and provides her with a relationship she values. Tea Cake releases her from the feeling of ... Read More

An Analysis of The Brotherhood in the Invisible Man, a Novel by Ralph Ellison (2804 words, 10 pages)

Intersectionality of the BrotherhoodOn the surface, the Brotherhood in Invisible Man is a place where the unnamed narrator has a sense of security and unity with people of his own race as they all want equality in a white world. He is paid a large sum and is able to ... Read More

The Practice of the Traditional African Fetishism or Voodoun in The Conjure Woman, a Book by Charles Chestnutt (1556 words, 5 pages)

The Conjure Woman by Charles Chestnutt is a frame narrative, retelling a story within a story and incorporating valuable information about the traditional African fetishism practiced by the slaves against their slave masters. Fetishism or Voodoun provides a source of empowerment and gives the slaves, as a result, a feeling ... Read More

The Enslaved Mother in Beloved, a Novel by Toni Morrison (2842 words, 10 pages)

When Beloved comes back to haunt Sethe for murdering her, Beloved becomes the incarnated memory of Sethes guilt. Moreover, she Beloved is nothing but guilt(Ashraf Rushdy 578).Freed by Law, Enslaved by the Past A slave who gains her freedom from prison finds herself in a situation that holds her prisoner ... Read More

The Concept of Naturalism in Cane, a Novel by Jean Toomer (706 words, 4 pages)

Naturalism in Cane by Jean ToomerNaturalismdescribes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principle of objectivity and detachment with regard to the study of human beings (Campbell). Charles Darwin, renowned biologist postulates hisnatural selectiontheory in his work, "The Origin of the Species". In the animal kingdom, the strongest ... Read More

The Imagery of Creation Myths in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (1168 words, 4 pages)

Their Eyes Were Watching GodTheir Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale is filled with beautiful imagery used to prove a point. Hurston, who has a unique writing style which is defined by strong cultural messages and the integration of myths, attempts to redefine traditional values. The main character, Janie, ... Read More

The Idea of the Lack of Art and Creativity Among Black Women in In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens, an Essay by Alice Walker (568 words, 3 pages)

The apparent lack of art and creativity among black women is something that even black women thought that was true. In the early twenties, they were not only abused in every way a human can be, but they also believed that at some point they deserved that kind of punishment. ... Read More

African American Literature Essay Examples