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

1250 total results

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 Transformation of Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (873 words, 3 pages)

Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, emphasizes the despair ordinary people must endure before they achieve self-knowledge, highlighting how Janies zeal overcomes all of her initial misfortunes allowing for her to evolve into a character with a deeper understanding in regards ... Read More

The Value and Purpose of Cultural Heirlooms in Everyday Use, a Short Story by Alice Walker (907 words, 3 pages)

The Theme of Cultural Conflict in Alice Walkers Everyday Use Every individual has a culture and every culture has a history. Cultural heritage is the expression of how the history of a culture relates to the present. Everyday Use by Alice Walker presents a conflict between a post-slavery African American ... Read More

The Struggles of the African People Under British Imperialism in The Fate of the Ndebele, Ndansi Kumalo, His Story (616 words, 2 pages)

British ImperialismModern History Sourcebook Rudyard Kipling, The White Mans Burden, 1899 is a poem which tells us of the perception of the White Man of his uncivilized counterparts, his imperialist motives, love of control and exploitation of tribal peoples, and the burdens which the natives were forced to bear. Subjection ... Read More

The Constant Struggle of the African American Family in a White Man’s World in A Raisin in the Sun, a Play by Lorraine Hansberry (614 words, 2 pages)

Play ReviewA Raisin in the Sun, first produced in 1959, tells the story of the Younger family and their attempts to improve their family situation while maintaining their dignity. When the play opens, Mama, the sixty-year-old mother of the family, is waiting for a 10,000 insurance check from the death ... Read More

The Haunting of the Schoolhouse in Po’ Sandy, a Book by Charles W. Chesnutt (715 words, 3 pages)

Why Does Sandys Spirit Continue to Haunt the School-house? In Po Sandy, written by Charles W Chesnutt, a married couple is told a tale from a former slave named Julius. This story is set in the post American slavery era in North Carolina a time when romanticism was found in ... Read More

The Relations of Race and Religion in The Fire Next Time, a Book by James Baldwin (1919 words, 7 pages)

James Baldwins Race and ReligionIn James Baldwins The Fire Next Time, his essay Down at the CrossLetter from a Region of my Mind deals with the relations of race and religion distinguishing between Baldwins experience with the Christian church as a youth and the Islamic ideals in Harlem. His theological ... Read More

The Issue of Entitlement in Everyday Use, a Novel by Alice Walker (493 words, 2 pages)

Throughout history the question of entitlement has constantly been at the forefront of wars and battles. When people feel that they are entitled to a particular item, many people will exert much effort and time into attaining that particular item over other items even when they are not the best ... Read More

Innocence is Fickle in The Flowers, a Short Story by Alice Walker (721 words, 3 pages)

Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Good night cow jumping over the moon. This is a quote from Margaret Browns short story Goodnight Moon, where she paints a beautiful picture of a young boy saying goodnight to all the inanimate friends which he sees from his bed. To many of us, this ... Read More

The Little Rock 9 in Warriors Don’t Cry, a Memoir by Melba Pattillo Beals (1260 words, 4 pages)

The Little Rock 9 is a constant subject discussed in many classrooms through the world. This group of brave children faced the feats of segregation and braved the new frontier of integration. Melba Beals provides the reader with a moving recollection of the ordeals faced by herself and fellow African-American ... Read More

The Impact of Guilt in Sonny’s Blues, a Short Story by James Baldwin (758 words, 3 pages)

The Older Brother BluesIn the story Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin the narrator explains the hardships that mainly his brother had to face, but also the rest of his family faced when he was a child. He displays this by telling a continuous stream of stories indirectly reflecting the racism ... Read More

The Themes of Individual Freedoms in Society and the Failure of the Government in The Norwegian Rat, a Short Story by Naguib Mahfouz (2995 words, 9 pages)

Naguib Mahfouz, a pioneering Arabic author, expresses his frustration with government through themes of individual freedoms in society and the ineffectiveness of government within his short story, The Norwegian Rat. Born on December 11, 1911, Naguib Mahfouz was the youngest of seven in a middle-class family, raised by a strict ... Read More

A Mother’s Important Decisions in Everyday Use, a Short Story by Alice Walker (803 words, 3 pages)

The story, Everyday Use by Alice Walker is about a mother who is evaluating the choices of her two daughters. The oldest daughter is named Dee and she just came back from home college. The younger daughter is named Maggie. When Dee comes home from college her personality and beliefs ... Read More

Feminism and the Emotional Journey of Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (1332 words, 4 pages)

One of the most important works of twentieth century American literature, Zora Neale Hurstons beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. (Hurston, cover). The main protagonist of the novel is Janie, a spunky biracial female who ... Read More

The Need for Power and Recognition of Joe in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (2357 words, 6 pages)

Chapter Five Joe and his SuperiorityIn chapter five of of Zora Neale Hurstons their eyes were watching god, Hurston focuses primarily on Joes need for power and recognition. The chapter begins with Joe and Janie arriving in Eatonville and Joe quickly asserts himself as superior to the people of the ... Read More

The Love and Relationship Dynamic in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (1584 words, 4 pages)

Plot Summary of their eyes were watching godIn their eyes were watching god, Zora Neale Hearst begins her novel with Janie Mae Crawford returning to Eatonville, Florida. The townspeople immediately gossip about Janie, as many of them do throughout the book. Specifically, they resentfully speculate that her third husband Tea ... Read More

A Review of the Gilded Six-Bits, a Short Story by Zora Neale Hurston (643 words, 2 pages)

The Gilded Six-Bits is short story written by Zora Neale Hurston in 1933. Hurston was a leading prose writer of there Harlem Renaissance. This story is about love, forgiveness, and betrayal. Two characters are living together a happy life, but another character comes in their life and creates problems for ... Read More

The Social Commentary and Story of Sylvia in The Lesson, a Short Story by Toni Cade Bambara (862 words, 3 pages)

"The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara"The Lesson" written by Toni Cade Bambara is not only a story about a poor girl who feels out of place in an expensive place but also a social commentary. It is a story about anAfrican-American girl struggling with her awareness of class inequality. The ... Read More

The Idea of Black Feminism in A Raisin in the Sun, a Play by Lorraine Hansberry (1938 words, 7 pages)

1 Black feminism in A Raisin in The Sun Sojourner Truth, a prominent women's rights activist, once stated inher speech "Ain't I a woman?" at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio, onMay 29, 1851"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages andlifted over ditches, and ... Read More

Comparing the Similarities and Differences Between Maggie and Dee in Everyday Use, a Short Story by Alice Walker (809 words, 3 pages)

The story Everyday Use written by Alice Walker, a famous African American author, is a story where the whole meaning of the story is completely dependent on how different these two sisters are. Often time children raised together in the same household, then logic may dictate that these children will ... Read More

Loneliness and Poverty in The Bean Eaters, a Poem by Gwendolyn Brooks (992 words, 4 pages)

The poem that I have chosen is by Gwendolyn Brooks titled The bean eaters. This poem highlights the loneliness and poverty of an old couple. They have been forgotten by pretty much everyone. They have been forgotten by their kids who have grown up and moved out. They have been ... Read More

Victims of Oppression in The Third Life of Grange Copeland, a Novel by Alice Walker (1361 words, 4 pages)

Analytical EssayIn Alice Walkers novel The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Walkers characters give readers insight into how she feels about oppression and how it is manifested in family and community relations. Walkers characters Brownfield and Mem show how she feels about family dynamics and their contributions to oppression. Combinations ... Read More

The Idea of Freedom in Death in the Eulogies of Phillis Wheatley (1017 words, 3 pages)

Freedom in Death Wheatleys EulogiesFor a slave to write about slavery might be expected, but in using imagery of the slave trade as an overarching metaphor across her poems on death, Phillis Wheatley sets herself apart. Metaphor places both her journey to America and humanitys transition to the afterlife in ... Read More

The Issue of Genre and Realism in Martigati, a Book by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o (353 words, 2 pages)

Matigari and the ambivalent interpretation of realismIn discussions of Ngugi Wa Thiongos Martigati critics have debate the issue of genre. In his article The Work of Art in Exile Simon Gikandi argues that Ngugi fails to apply realism on his novel. Gikandi states that Ngugi unconsciously is attracted to the ... Read More

A Short Review of Nervous Conditions, a Novel by Tsitsi Dangarembga (502 words, 2 pages)

Dangarembga's novel "Nervous Conditions" subscribes to the common tropes of the "coming of age" story in her book that takes place in Rhodesia. This book also challenges the ideas of the normality of patriarchal tendencies. Simon Hay and Elizabeth Jackson both cover these tendencies both in today's society and in ... Read More

Janie’s Fight for Love in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (2708 words, 8 pages)

Love is Worth Fighting ForLove is something that everyone wants to achieve at some point in their life. In the fictional novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, love is exactly what Janie, the main character, wants. This book is set in the early 1900s and ... Read More

Gender Expectations of Tambu, Nyasha, and Miaguru in Nervous Conditions, a Novel by Tsitsi Dangarembga (989 words, 5 pages)

Gender Expectations of WomenThe gender expectations of the Shona culture represented in Nervous Conditions create gender inequalities for Tambu, Nyasha and Miaguru. Shona women are expected to be servants and accommodate the men. These expectations signify the limited opportunities and choices that Shona women have. In contrast to the Shona ... Read More

The Road to Happiness in a Raisin in the Sun, a Novel by Lorraine Hansberry (2006 words, 7 pages)

The Pursuit Of Happiness in A Raisin in the SunThroughout Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun, we see the positive and negative effects of chasing the American Dream. Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters and she portrays the daily struggles of a 1950 ... Read More

The Power of Will in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (820 words, 4 pages)

Their Eyes Were Watching GodThe Undying Power of WillThe traditional human existence encounters immense and miniscule transformations in predominant viewpoints directly affecting subsequent proceedings as individuals embark upon an expedition of lucid self-expression to explore personal identity. Literary pieces produced during times of revolution to gain equality and flourishing cultural ... Read More

Celia’s Trials and Worship in God as a Parable in The Color Purple, a Novel by Alice Walker (477 words, 2 pages)

The Color Purple as a ParableAlice Walkers The Color Purple can be defined as a parable in the sense that it is a story about the protagonist going through spiritual lessons and growing as a person. At the start of the novel, Celie, the protagonist, goes through many struggles. She ... Read More

African American Literature Essay Examples