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

1250 total results

An Analysis of the Characters-Mr. Wiggins and Jefferson from “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines (874 words, 1 pages)

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines takes place in the South, during the time of the Civil War as blacks started to gain there freedom. A black man by the name of Jefferson happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was convicted of ... Read More

An Analysis of the Character Named Mr. Grant Wiggins in “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest Gaines (976 words, 1 pages)

In "A Lesson Before Dying", Mr. Grant Wiggins' life crises were the center of the story. Although he was supposed to make Jefferson into a man, he himself became more of one consequently. Not to say that Jefferson was not in any way transformed from the "hog" he was into ... Read More

Understanding Human Joys and Sorrows in If You Should Go by Countee Cullen (525 words, 1 pages)

In the poem If You Should Go, Countee Cullen emphasizes on the understanding of human joys and sorrows. The importance of joy is shown using different examples of joy such as love and dream. Both stanzas include a persons feeling or reactions towards joy during the happy moments as well ... Read More

The Symbolism of Family in Alice Walker’s Story Everyday Use (1114 words, 2 pages)

Everyday UseAfrican textiles and quilting developed in Africa will over 1,000 years ago. When the Africans came over to the United States for the slave trade, many African traditions combined with American traditions. Their combined ideas were passed down from generation to generation, thus preserving many African textiles traditions(Torrey, 517). ... Read More

A Review of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” (948 words, 2 pages)

Alice Walker-Everyday UseThis short story first articulates the metaphor of quilting to represent the creative legacy that African Americans have inherited from their maternal ancestors. The central theme of the story concerns the way in which an individual understands his present life in relation to the traditions of his people ... Read More

The Background Story of Alice Walker’s Life (804 words, 2 pages)

Whats Your Background?Alice Walkers life as an African-American novelist and poet has led to many award winning short-stories and books. She was raised in the southern state of Georgia and her parents were sharecroppers. This taught her that being an African-American can have its rough times. After being shot by ... Read More

A Critical Analysis of Alice Walker’s Literary Works (848 words, 2 pages)

Alice Walker There are many different types of authors in the world of literature, authors of horror, romance, suspense, and the type that Alice Walker writes. Alice Walker writes through her feelings and the morals she has grown with, she writes about the black womans struggle for spiritual wholeness and ... Read More

The Use of Symbolism and Metaphoric Imagery in the Writings of Diana Wagman and Alice Walker (1204 words, 3 pages)

Diana Wagman and Alice Walker utilize symbols and metaphoric imagery throughout their writing in order to aid in the development of the themes. In Skin Deep, Wagmanimplements such imagery to display how the main character, Martha, struggles not only with herself in an attempt to find meaning in her own ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of Everyday Use by Alice Walker (981 words, 1 pages)

There are many people out there that think they know everything, but rarely do they know that they are lost and trapped by their myopias. Everyday Use by Alice Walker is a story that delves into this subject. Dee is the elder daughter and the only one in the family ... Read More

A Theme Analysis of Francis Harper’s “Bury Me in a Free Land” (654 words, 2 pages)

Fully explicate one of Francis Harpers poems. Include explanations of the Themes she attempts to convey.Bury Me in a Free Land Francis HarperThe ultimate theme of this poem was stated in the title. Francis Harper wanted to see slavery go away before her death. The haunting lines of text she ... Read More

Affirmative Action Has More Negative Effects on African-Americans (862 words, 2 pages)

Throughout Boston, conflicting issues have ragged causeing great toils in the school systems. Recently, during the nineties places of employment along with schoolsAffirmative Actionshave been hammered by the Affirmative action laws. These laws, stating their must be a set number of minorities (depending on population) to help minorities gain retribution ... Read More

An Analysis Into Janie’s Development to a Woman in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (916 words, 2 pages)

People grow and develop at different rates. The factors that heavily influence a person's development seem like heredity and environment. Genetics can play a key role in what kind of person one becomes. Environment seems like the factor that most often and influentially affects a person's development. The people one ... Read More

An Analysis of the Struggles of a Family in Making their Lives and Future Better in “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry (907 words, 2 pages)

Tamara Orekhova Eng 201- 811Prof. Z. YablokovaMay 4,2000Out-of-class paper 4Research paperMany people are born into poverty along with a society of ridicule and discrimination, in which people must encounter in order to overcome these struggles and accomplish their goals. In Lorraine Hansberrys work A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger ... Read More

An Analysis of Different Life Crisis Faced by People in “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines (968 words, 3 pages)

In "A Lesson Before Dying", Mr. Grant Wiggins' life crises were the center of the story. Although he was supposed to make Jefferson into a man, he himself became more of one consequently. Not to say that Jefferson was not in any way transformed from the"hog" he was into an ... Read More

An Analysis of Symbolism in Master Harold… and the Boys by Athol Fugard (1137 words, 5 pages)

Symbolism in "'Master Harold' . . and the Boys"Ainsley Donovan125055English 110.6Section 23April 25, 1997Athol Fugard's "'Master Harold' . . . and the Boys" is aboutHally, a white young man, and the damage done by apartheid and alcoholism.The play takes place on the southeast cost of South Africa, 1950, inHally's parents' ... Read More

An Explication of Social Issues in Dudley Randall’s the Melting Pot (488 words, 1 pages)

Explication of Dudley Randalls The Melting PotAn explication is an interpretation of a written work. They differ from person to person in that we all dont interpret things alike. It seems to me that we learned in high school about literature and such was a waste of memorizing and testing ... Read More

The Description of the Life-long Struggle of Celie in Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” (491 words, 1 pages)

Alice Walkers The Color Purple presents the life-long struggle of Celie, a black Georgia woman, who yearns to obtain confidence and self-esteem. During the early stages of the novel, references to wagons are made, signifying the old days, whereas towards the end of the work automobiles surface. Though Walker never ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of Racism in the Color Purple by Alice Walker: Oppressing Women and African American (1422 words, 2 pages)

There is one primordial reason why we do not doubt Europeans have taken the lead in history, in all epochs before and after 1492, and it has little to do with evidence. It is a basic belief which we inherit from prior ages of thought and scarcely realize that we ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of Women Overcoming Domestic Violence in Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston (566 words, 1 pages)

Women Overcoming Domestic ViolenceZora Neale Hurstons Sweat is a short story about the struggles and hardships in the life of an African American woman living in the south. The short story talked about the treatment of women in these times. Many women of present times can identify with the hardships ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (2019 words, 4 pages)

Throughout the centuries many authors have attempted to capture the individuals quest for self-authenticity. In the novel Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison depicts the many aspects of self-actualization, as well as the tormenting road that leads to the shaping of an individual. Through beautiful language, with immense reality, she is ... Read More

Parent-Kid Relationship in October Sky by Joe Johnston and Everyday Use by Alice Walker (1770 words, 3 pages)

PARENTS AND KIDS RELATIONSHIPS"October Sky" by Joe Johnston and "Every Day Use" by Alice Walker's stories deal with parents and kids relationships. John Hickam and a middle-aged woman are parents who find themselves choosing between both of their kids. Dee and Jim are the strongest kids of the family who've ... Read More

Rebellion and Independence in Black Boy by Richard Wright (1383 words, 6 pages)

One main point of the United States Constitution was missing from theJim Crow South equality. The Constitution clearly states that "allmen are created equal," but in the Jim Crow era blacks werecontinuously persecuted for something that would be acceptable intoday's society. In the early 20th century the South was a ... Read More

An Analysis of the Recovery of the American-African Male – Female Relationship (1339 words, 2 pages)

The Walls Have Been SteepRecovery of the American-African MaleFemale RelationshipMaya Angelous extraordinary ability to express so clearly the historic and contemporary pain, love, and culture of American-Africans is unparalleled in poetic literature. Her brilliant use of imagery is one of the many facets of her writing that has propelled her ... Read More

A Look at the Social Transformation Illustrated in Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” (544 words, 1 pages)

In the short story "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara the story is an instrument for social transformation. The story represents an instrument of Social transformation because the characters standings in society in the short story is very poor and Miss Moore teaches guides them to acquire greater things in ... Read More

An Analysis of the Harsh World a Black Boy Has to Face While Growing Up in “The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin (982 words, 2 pages)

James Baldwin's book The fire Next Time opens up an entirely new world to most readers. It opens the reader to the harsh world of a black boy growing into a man in the poor city slums and all of the issues that a black man has to face. This ... Read More

A Story of Deprivation in the Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara (2131 words, 8 pages)

THE LOVELY LESSONJames EveillardAssignment 2 Short Story AnalysisENC-1102, Sect. 2026Instructor Chris ReissBCC South Campus18 February 1999THE LOVELY LESSON A social activist, writer, teacher, and graduate from Queens College, Toni Cade, who later changed legally to Toni Cade Bambara, is one of the representatives of the Afro- American writers and black ... Read More

An Analysis of the Setting and the Theme of “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin (1198 words, 5 pages)

INTRODUCTION Sonnys Blues starts off by not informing the reader much about the characters which will be presented in the story. However, the author does have an interesting way of beginning the story ,for after reading the first two opening lines I read it in the paper, in the subway, ... Read More

The Symbol of the Quills in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” (500 words, 1 pages)

Quilts and Art in "Everyday Use"With her story, "Everyday Use," Alice Walker is saying that art should be a living, breathing part of the culture it arose from, rather than a frozen timepiece to be observed from a distance. To make this point, she uses the quilts in her story ... Read More

An Analysis of the Physical and Emotional Horrors in Toni Morrison’s Novel “Beloved” (532 words, 2 pages)

In Toni Morrisons novel, Beloved, the main character Sethe, is a former slave who chooses to kill her baby girl rather than allowing her to be exposed to the physically, and emotionally damaging horrors of a life spent in slavery. There is no other way to say it she murdered ... Read More

A Character Analysis of Sethe, The Protagonist of the Novel Beloved by Toni Morrison (1617 words, 6 pages)

Beloved. Who or what is Beloved? Many people think that Beloved is the Devil or a savior. Others just take her at face value as Sethe's dead child come back to haunt her. I believe that all of these ideas come close to her identity, but they are still not ... Read More

African American Literature Essay Examples