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

1250 total results

Overcoming Oppression in The Color Purple by Alice Walker (3988 words, 11 pages)

Overcoming Oppression in Alice Walkers The Color Purple Women have been fighting to have an equal amount of rights as men throughout history. We have been thought of as property as well as simply being thrown to the side without much consideration in discussion. We have had to fight tooth ... Read More

A Character Analysis of Walter From A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (551 words, 2 pages)

Character AnalysisRaisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry has characters Walter, Ruth, Mama, Beneatha, George, Asagai and the list goes on. Walter the lead man in this play is shown as a colored man who wants to change his life in being rich and wanting to be like the white ... Read More

The Conformity of Women to Society Through Janie’s Actions in the Novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1028 words, 3 pages)

In her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Hurston uses Janie's actions to suggest that in order for a woman to conform to early 1900's society she must first sacrifice her ambitions and lower her expectations for her own accomplishments. Throughout the novel, Janie marries Logan Killicks, Jody Starks ... Read More

Mother Figure Who Critiques the Actions of a Young Woman in How Far She Went by Mary Hood and Everyday Use by Alice Walker (654 words, 3 pages)

How Far She Went (Mary Hood, 1984) and Everyday Use (Alice Walker, 1973) are both well written short stories featuring a mother figure who critiques the actions of a young woman. However they differ in the manner that the reader is shown qualities of each character, with the former using ... Read More

The Motif of Poverty and Education in the Short Story The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara (615 words, 2 pages)

Toni Cade Bambaras short story The Lesson is a brief glimpse into the life of inner city children in the 1960s. Set in summertime New York City, the reader follows a group of Harlem kids on a trip to the affluent toy store F.A.O. Schwarz orchestrated by their proper speaking, ... Read More

The Life and Impact of Nelson Mandela in Africa (729 words, 4 pages)

Nelson MandelaMy essay is about Rolihlahla nelson Mandela was born on July 18th 1918 in Qunu, South Africa. As the youngest son of a respected African chief, Rolihlahla was offered the opportunity to go school. Here he was named Nelson by one of his teachers. Mandela eventually studied at both ... Read More

An Analysis of the Themes in Hagar’s Daughter, a Novel by Pauline Hopkins (714 words, 2 pages)

As Hopkins, Hagars Daughter is set in the Civil War ear there are many themes present in the story. Some of these themes include the difference in lifestyle between the North and the South, the obvious theme of slavery, and even the juxtaposition of social roles between men and women. ... Read More

Character Analysis David in Giovanni’s Room, a Novel by James Baldwin (940 words, 3 pages)

A fathers role in the formation of a damaged sense of masculinityThroughout Giovannis Room, Baldwin makes a series of references to Davids sense of fabricated manhood or masculinity impressed upon him by his father. In the first chapters, David alludes to the hollow jocularity between father and son. This hyperbolized ... Read More

A Comparative Review of The Flowers by Alice Walker and Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie (482 words, 2 pages)

For this assignment, I was to read two pieces The Flowers by Alice Walker, and Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie. Both poems were drastically different, and each has its merits, but I preferred to read The Flowers. I have always been a fan of symbolism and allegories, so choosing ... Read More

Sympathetic Characters in The Red Convertible by Love Medicine and Everyday Use by Alice Walker (361 words, 1 pages)

In The Red Convertible, I found that Lyman was the more sympathetic character. Throughout the story, we see him doing things for his brother and trying to make his brother come back to him. This is especially shown the author puts a lot of time into talking about Lyman fixing ... Read More

How It Feels to be Colored Me by Zora Hurston: A Story of an African American Woman Who Lived in the Times of Slavery (902 words, 3 pages)

My burden is my purpose. Without it, I wouldn't be. Solange nicole How it feels to be Colored Me by Zora Hurston takes the reader on a journey through the life of a African American when slavery had just become legalized. This story sends out a strong message of how ... Read More

The Narrator’s Drive and Motivation in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1012 words, 3 pages)

Invisible Man Essay In Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the narrator is faced with the decision of returning to the outside world or continuing to reside underground, leaving the reader unclear as to what his fate will be. However, when we examine all the factors that go into his decision, ... Read More

The Theme of Home in the Book Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde (1504 words, 5 pages)

Home as Utopia in the Biomythography of Audre LordeThe word utopia is borrowed from the Greek (not) and (place), meaning no place. However, because the prefix (good) is pronounced the same way as the Greek , the word takes on a double meaning as both a perfect yet unreal place. ... Read More

Courage and Bravery in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (943 words, 3 pages)

"When something bad happens to you, you have three choices. You caneither let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthenyou." Said by Unknown. The person who had said this meant that if somethingbad happened to someone, they can either let it always be there, ... Read More

A Comparison of the Kitchen-Dweller’s Testimony and First Red Dress, Two Works by Ladan Osman (836 words, 3 pages)

Ladan Osmans The Kitchen-Dwellers Testimony is a book of poetry that at first sounds boring, but as you read, you are able to see into the life of a black woman growing up in a town that isnt as developed as others. The book is written and developed well, acting ... Read More

An Analysis of the Theme in Life’s Tragedy by Paul Laurence Dunbar (840 words, 3 pages)

Lifes Tragedy by Paul Laurence Dunbar has truth written all over it, in my eyes. The poem goes on talking about the tragedy of life, of how we as humans can get close to perfection but not yet achieve it life in misery and odd joys. However, amidst all that, ... Read More

An Analysis of Alice Walker’s Beauty: When the Other Dances Is the Self (2849 words, 11 pages)

Knocked Off the PedestalThe Day at the County FairGoing into more detail about Walkers day at the county fair.Details about Walkers Easter speech.As a pretty little girl, shes placed on a high pedestal.The example of childhood actors.Walkers Brothers BB GunsClear and present sexism.Examples of sexism in the past.Sexism in the ... Read More

The Theme of Innocence Lost in Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, a Book by Z. Z. Packer (939 words, 3 pages)

In the book Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer, the major recurring theme of a loss of innocence is presented in several of the stories. It is most evident that the victim experiences a loss of innocence due to being in the lowest socio-economic class. Some of the effects of ... Read More

Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe: Tragedy as the Driving Force in the Development of Ezeulu’s Character (1903 words, 7 pages)

Analysis of Arrow of GodTragedyIn Arrow of God, tragedy is the driving force of the plot and the development of Ezeulus character. Contrary to the popular saying that which does not kill you makes you stronger, the successive and increasingly personal tragedies that befall Ezeulu fuel his descent from the ... Read More

The Tragedy of Equiano an African Slave Boy (685 words, 2 pages)

The Tragedy of Equiano In the history of the world, many horrors have occurred and many have yet to be remembered. The horror of the Holocaust, the tragedy of the Civil War yet none were quite like one of the most stomach turning occurrences remembered the Atlantic slave trade. The ... Read More

Self-Discovery in the Struggle of The Jack Bank by Glen Retief (1072 words, 3 pages)

The Jack BannkThe struggle of The Jack Bank is less one for self-discovery than it is a journey in spite of it. Glen Retief is writing from a world of racial, political, religious, and sexual oppression, a world that inspires discrimination through violence. As a gay man, Retief is unable ... Read More

The Three Marriages of Janie in the Novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (2634 words, 3 pages)

During the course of Zora Neale Hurstons novel Their Eyes Were Watching God the protagonist, Janie married three different men. Janies relationship with her spouses varies from man to man and her apparent feelings about each one differ as well. Through each of these marriages Hurston communicates, through Janie, an ... Read More

The Theme of Innocence in the Flowers,a Story by Alice Walker (708 words, 3 pages)

Use of Theme in The FlowersAlice Walkers The Flowers discusses the theme of innocence, and more specifically how innocence is sustained and lost. We see this immediately, as Walker begins the story with the words "It seemed." These words are revealed as the key to reading the first half of ... Read More

An Examination of the Importance of Setting in the Book The Jack Bank: A Memoir of a South African Childhood by Glen Retief (1098 words, 3 pages)

The Significance of Setting in the Jack BankThere comes a time in every life when parental protection begins to fade, when the children have to leave the nest and the real world comes crashing in. For Glen Retief, this awakening comes in his titular essay, the Jack Bank, when he ... Read More

The Struggles of Adulthood in Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, the Bike by Gary Soto and Marigolds by Eugenia Collier (926 words, 3 pages)

Struggle on the Road to AdulthoodThere are many obstacles that are encountered while in the process of growing up, but most of these obstacles may appear during adolescence. In the three writings Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, The Bike by Gary Soto, and Marigolds by Eugenia Collier, there are protagonists who ... Read More

An Analysis of Literary Elements in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (1284 words, 4 pages)

1. How do the settings of the novel affect Janie and how do they reinforce the themes of the novel?The novel takes place, for the most part, in Western and Southern Florida in the early 1900s. Obviously, the time period in which the novel takes places greatly affects Janies life ... Read More

A Review of the Style, Theme and Significance of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a Book by Maya Angelou (1306 words, 4 pages)

1. What is the significance of the title? How does it connect to the themes of the novel?The title I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is taken from a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar called Sympathy. The poem tells of a bird who throws itself against its cage again ... Read More

The Life of Janie in the Novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1307 words, 4 pages)

Zora Neale Hurstons novel Their Eyes Were Watching God depicts the life of Janie, a Southern black girl who is enamored with the idea of love. As Janie explores the dynamics of love through her three marriages, she grows to understand her personal needs in a relationship, ultimately developing a ... Read More

A Critique of Back of the Throat, a Play Written by Yussef El Guindi (1689 words, 5 pages)

Next Act Theatres Back of the Throat provided a compelling look at human rights, complications in criminal justice, and what it really means to be an American. The play centers on Khaled, an Arab-American writer in whose apartment the action takes place. Shortly after unspecified terrorist attacks on the United ... Read More

The Double Consciousness of Grandison in The Passing of Grandison by Charles Chesnutt (743 words, 4 pages)

The Double Consciousness of GrandisonFrom a young age, one is self-aware. That is, one is aware of the separation of oneself from ones environment as a unique individual. One forms an identity with this awareness at its foundation. However, as the mind develops, one also becomes aware that others often ... Read More

African American Literature Essay Examples