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

1250 total results

The Life and Literary Works of Maya Angelou (1574 words, 4 pages)

Mathisen 1Dan MathisenMrs. YoungEnglish III18 October 1999Maya AngelouMaya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was born under the name Marguerite Johnson, but her brother Baily renamed her Maya. Her parents, Baily and Vivian Baxter Johnson, got divorced when she was very young. Maya grew ... Read More

An Analysis of Alice Walker’s Short Story “Roseliliy” (741 words, 2 pages)

Beck 1In the short story, Roselily, by Alice Walker, the main character is torn between the imprisonment of marriage and the insecurity of single hood. Getting married is supposed to be one of the most joyful and beautiful experiences in a persons life. However, for Roselily it seems like she ... Read More

Character Analysis of Twyla and Roberta in Toni Morrison’s Essay Recitatif (1123 words, 2 pages)

Mark SommersFeldman112799RecitatifToni Morrisons essay, Recitatif is about two girls, Twyla and Roberta, who grow up in an orphanage because their mothers could not properly care for them. The underlying theme in Recitatif deals with racism. An interesting twist is the mystery of the girls race. Leaving clues, but never stating ... Read More

An Analysis of the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (596 words, 1 pages)

Ralph EllisonThe Invisible ManRalph Ellison manages to develop a strong philosophy through characterization in the Invisible Man. Ellison portrays the lonely narrators quest in struggling to search for his identity and an understanding of his times. The well development of the character lays out the foundation on the philosophy of ... Read More

A Struggle of a Black Family in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (2002 words, 3 pages)

Andrew FarrarJanuary 24, 2000Rising Above it or Getting Left BehindIn Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon many of the characters have very strange and unique names. Song of Solomon is a very unique story about the struggles of a black family in the early 1900's. Many of the names of characters ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of the Critical Perspective: Richard Wright’s Native Son (2590 words, 10 pages)

A Critical Perspective Richard Wright's Native SonRichard Wright marked the beginning of a new era in black fiction. He was one ofthe first American writers of his time to confront his readers with the effects of racism.Wright had a way of telling his reader about his own life through his ... Read More

The Overview of Their Eyes Were Watching God, an Epic Tale of a Hero (993 words, 2 pages)

Unlike The Odyssey or any other epic tales, Their Eyes Were Watching God has a different perspective of what a hero is. In this novel, Hurston writes a story about an African-American woman named Janie Crawford whose quest is to find her identity and desire as a human being to ... Read More

The Childhood, Education and Achievements of Richard Wright (1215 words, 2 pages)

The Childhood, Education and Achievements of Richard WrightRichard Wright was the son of an illiterate sharecropper. He was brought up in a dysfunctional home where he suffered poverty and abandonment. He became an essential figure in the development of African American literature, and has been called one of the most ... Read More

An Analysis of Views in Life in a Rock, A River, A Tree by Maya Angelou (1003 words, 2 pages)

There are many different views on how people should live our lives. All of these different philosophies come from many different places. They come from religions, people's cultures, and their morals that they have been taught. People live by these rules they were brought into from the day they are ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (2165 words, 3 pages)

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is a novel which embodies the universal theme of self-discovery, of the search to figure out who one truly is in life which we all are embarked upon. Throughout the text, the narrator is constantly wondering about who he really is, and evaluating the ... Read More

Lorraine Hansberry’s Career in Literature (1505 words, 3 pages)

Lorraine Hansberry rejected the limitations of her race and gender and through her written works, became a social activist and expanded the role of a black woman in America. Lorraine Hansberry wrote many works that allowed her to explain her views. She also explored these ideas through playwrights. Lorraine Hansberry ... Read More

The Beginning Career of Langston Hughes (1295 words, 2 pages)

Langston Hughes is considered by many readers to be the most significant black poet of the twentieth century. He is described as ...the beloved author of poems steeped in the richness of African American culture, poems that exude Hughess affection for black Americans across all divisions of region, class, and ... Read More

The Father and Son Relationship in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (843 words, 2 pages)

The book called Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, deals with many real life issues, most of which are illustrated by the relationships between different family members. One archetypal relationship that Morrison includes in her book is the fatherson relationship. Although it is obvious that Morrison does talk about this ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of the Lesson by Cadi Bambara (809 words, 2 pages)

By Terry KeithThe LessonThe lessons we learn in life are not always enjoyable however, most are necessary. In the story The Lesson by Cadi Bambara, a group of children discover the reality of the economic injustice(s) set upon them and their society. Through the authors use of characterization, dialogue, and ... Read More

A Review of I Know Why The Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou (1342 words, 3 pages)

When I started reading I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, I thought that it was a little boring at first but I thought that it was about a young African-American girl who tells her troubles in life as she grows up. I changed my mind about my thoughts on ... Read More

The Theme of Generation Gap and family Relationship in Alice Walker’s Everyday Use (959 words, 2 pages)

Through contrasting family members and views in Everyday Use, Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to the traditions of our own people and culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of ones heritage and culture she illustrates ... Read More

Analysis of the character Walter in “Raisin in the Sun” (958 words, 2 pages)

Analysis of the Character Walter in A Raisin in the SunEveryone in America wants to achieve some sort of financial success in his or her life. Sometimes living in a capitalistic society entices many to become too materialistic. Greed is the characteristic that many Americans then attain. This is all ... Read More

An Analysis of the Stance on Individualism in Self-Reliance by Ralph Emerson (483 words, 1 pages)

Ralph Emerson wrote many journals and essays dealing with the subject of transcendentalism. One of his most famous works is the essay Self-Reliance. In Self-Reliance, Emerson hit on the idea that the individual should be completely reliant on God, and that every person has been put into their certain life ... Read More

The Theme of a Mother’s Love Portrayed in Two Novels by Alice Walker and Tillie Olsen (568 words, 1 pages)

Suffering Produces Perseverance Perseverance, Character and Character, HopeEveryday Use by Alice Walker and I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen both personified a mother with great love and compassion for their children. Although each mother was separated by cultural and social differences the mothers in these stories shared a similar ... Read More

Reports on books by Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Richard Wright (1734 words, 7 pages)

Final Book Report IIIToni Morrisons, The Bluest Eye, Alice Walkers , The Color Purple , and Richard Wrights autobiography , Black Boy , all represent prejudicy . The precedingnovels show the characters were typical victims, not understading the division of poweramongst races. The Bluest Eye , a heart breaking story ... Read More

A Biography of Ralph Waldo Ellison (1567 words, 2 pages)

Flying Home a Living Story.Ralph Waldo Ellison is perhaps one of the most influential African-American writers of the twentieth century. Ellison is best known for writing about such topics as self-awareness, identity, and the racial repression of African-Americans in the United States. His masterpiece, Invisible Man, chronicles the story of ... Read More

An Analysis of Blindness in the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1316 words, 2 pages)

Blindness is a very interesting and important theme to Ellisons Invisible Man. Oftentimes throughout the novel the Narrator is blinded and is unable to see the events, which are happening to him. The Narrator is a black man who thinks of himself as invisible to the rest of the world. ... Read More

Character Analysis: Toni Morrison’s Sula (1594 words, 3 pages)

A Strong Woman is OutcastMelody CarterWomen in 20th Cen. Lit.Prof. Fiona PatonPaper 2- Nov 10, 2000In the novel Sula, by Toni Morrison we follow the life of Sula Peace through out her childhood in the twenties until her death in 1941. The novel surrounds the black community in Medallion, specifically ... Read More

An Analysis of the Janeie in the Novel There Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1256 words, 5 pages)

Circular FulfillmentT.S. Elliot writes what we call a beginning is often the end And to make an endis to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. In order to begin selfrealization a person must first conquer a hindrance in their path. This idea is used toportray the ... Read More

An Overview of the Short Story Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison (873 words, 2 pages)

Ben Riley7-24-00Thoughts on Battle RoyalRalph Ellisons short story, Battle Royal, takes place in any small town in the south. The main focus of this story is the reoccurring incidences of racial inequality. This is a story of several generations of an Afro-American family that dream about improving their lives in ... Read More

The Beauty of the Nineteenth Century by Dunbar (853 words, 2 pages)

During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the black population was enslaved and tortured by whites. African Americans were treated as animals, denied the right to life, forced to work endlessly, and suffer abuse from their masters. White Americans forced the blacks to become slaves due to the fact that ... Read More

An Analysis of the Character of Vivian Baxter in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1193 words, 2 pages)

In Maya Angelou's autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya's beautiful, vivacious biological mother, Vivian Baxter, emerges as an important character in her daughter's life. Vivian endures as a black woman in a white man's world by displaying strength, honesty, and toughness, which lead to self- preservation. Vivian ... Read More

An Analysis of Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (459 words, 1 pages)

Alan Paton, in his novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, shows how the horrors of South African apartheid effected two individual families, one black and one white. Throughout the course of the novel, these two families overcome the chains of apartheid and learn that love and forgiveness cross racial lines. In ... Read More

The Power of Words in the Book, Black Boy by Richard Wright (725 words, 1 pages)

Black BoyA word is just characters (letters) put together to make a meaning, statement, or idea. In the South, whites wanted power over the blacks, and the only form it came in was a word. By the first amendment the whites had power to use words, as did the journalist ... Read More

The Societal Oppression of Richard and Growing up as a Negro in the South (1410 words, 2 pages)

Growing up as a Negro in the South in the early 1900s is not that easy, for some people tend to suffer different forms of oppression. In this case, it happens in the autobiography called Black Boy written by Richard Wright. The novel is set in the early part of ... Read More

African American Literature Essay Examples