Literary Reflection

The aim of the thesis is to analyze and discuss the African American women`s quest for voice, acceptance and fulfilment. The analysis will be based on three selected novels, namely, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Color Purple and Beloved. Since their authors - Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker all - experienced some difficulties in their life related to the subject matter of the thesis, their biographies will be sketched, too. The analysis focuses especially on three women who are the protagonists of the selected novels. Their personal and social problems will be juxtaposed within the context of the criticism selected for the purpose of this thesis.

It gives one a close glimpse at what exactly kept them going strong in this period of mistreatment, and just how they were so spiritually strong even at their weakest physically. It was said to be that African-Americans established this “invisible institution” through signals, passwords, and other things. It was here in Church where they mixed their African rhythms, sang, and praised God.

In a modern society, race is no longer the determining factor of one’s place in the social hierarchy. Instead, the wealth and fame a person possesses captivates the world’s attention. However, race is still a controversial topic in the United States. Thus racial tensions continue to exist in certain sections of the country. The literal and metaphoric foundation of this currently powerhouse of a nation is built on slavery, the backs of immigrants and people of color who received little to no recognition for their efforts and contributions. The barbarous treatment of African slaves, especially in the South with its large cotton plantations further embedded hatred and hostility between colored people and white people. It took over a decade and a Civil War between the North and the South before the slavery was abolished. However, slavery was merely replaced by Jim Crow laws and segregations that continued to divide the colored from the white. Finally, the Civil Rights movement urged citizens to evolve from racist views. Yet even still racism plays a big part in our culture and is still heavily discussed; our current political climate only fuels the discussion. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, both racism and colorism are touched on both a symbolical level as well as a literal one through the trials and tribulations of the protagonist, Janie. Despite not having a theme centered around racial issues in the novel, Hurston highlights them throughout the

In the year 1851 an African American woman by name of Sojourner Truth gave a powerful speech at the Woman’s convention in a small town of Akron, Ohio. This speech would be remembered for the originality and powerful message that it left on those listening. The speech touched on the trials and tribulations that Sojourner went through not only as a woman but a black women in that day’s society. She shared her personal experiences and used repetitive language to grab the attention of her audience, she also made references from the Bible to connect emotionally with her audience. The techniques she used were to invoke some power to overcome race and gender inequality.

Encouraged by Mrs. Claiborne and Toosweet, Anne pushed onwards with school and began to receive good grades, even beginning competitions with fellow classmates for the best average. Although the quality of schooling was horrific for black students in the south, Anne took pride in her grades and wage, deriving social standing at a young age in the community. Her competitive nature can be viewed as the first strategy she developed to combat the white supremacy that was dominant in the south. It was her labour, in school and in work that could bring distinguishment in a community where the right to dignity and status had been systematically destroyed by white supremacy. Anne displays this pride in her memoir following a long summer of farming with Raymond. While she enjoyed the work farming entailed, she concluded, “I knew if I got involved in farming, I’d be just like Mama and the rest of them, and that I would never have a change” (89). Anne’s distancing from her parents, and by extension the African community as a whole, shows her desire for change and as a rebellion of traditional ways. Another institution of society where the African community as a whole combated supremacy together was in its many churches and preachers. The unity of the community heralded by African American preachers was a vital tool developed by the

her. The beginning of the story is told from the white people 's perspectives as they see an old black woman come to their church and go inside. Inside the church, the point of view switches to the usher who tells the old black lady to leave. The point of view then switches back to the white women inside the church, who take it as a personal insult and feel the most threatened about the old black lady being at their church. They rouse their husbands to throw the old lady out. The perspective then changes to the old black lady. This constant changing of point of view is useful in that it portrays the fears, thoughts, and feelings of almost everyone in the story. Firsthand, the reader is able to know what the people are thinking and why. In

In the story, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, as well as The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, there are numerous similarities, although the overall circumstances were unique. Mary was a white, Early-American colonist taken hostage by Indians, while Equiano was an African taken by slave-traders in his own country. However, the commonalities between them far outweigh the differences, and the biggest commonality was their faith in God, although, sadly, Equiano’s journey didn’t begin with any such faith.

“I love the way Janie Crawford left her husbands,” begins one of Alice Walker’s poems, alluding to the heroine of Zora Neale Hurston’s iconic Their Eyes were Watching God. Following the perspective of a black female in the 1930s and more importantly, written by a black female in the 1930s, today, Hurston’s work is one of the most influential books from the post-Harlem Renaissance. What ultimately makes the narrative so compelling is that her characters resonate with culture and complexity. Through the complex, deeply intimate narrative, Hurston writes about what is personal to her, making her novel— and thus, her values— personal for her readers as well.

Alice Walker who wrote “The Welcome Table” had issues of race and gender that was the center of her literary work and her social activism. She participated in civil rights demonstrations. (Clugston 2010). This short story has a theme of life and death. It shows the plot of the story, the point of view and has symbolism used to show the death of the old woman and what the church members thought of her as a black woman. (Clugston, 2010, Section 7.1 and 7.2) Later in the story, she is walking up the road with Jesus, who came to get her and take her to The Welcome Table that she always

These three perceptions are distinctly different, but ultimately speak to the contextual nature of Black theology—rooting worship, adoration, and discipleship within the notion a (conscious) living G-d. The first perception explored is the image G-d adored through the lens of Sister Sweet and Mother Darling. At first glance, these women appear different in life style and theology—different churches, different abilities, and different approaches to discipleship. But upon further examination, one discovers the same paradigm at work. Both have lost children to AIDS. Both have committed themselves to a praxis centered theology to process their loss. Mother Darling is street missionary and Sister Sweet is a disabled woman confined to a wheel that feeds the birds and attends to the needs of the Little piece of Heaven Church. Both have found peace in their personalized work for the Lord. Their G-d is a “shelter in a time of storm.” The second perception is the image of G-d as seen through Deacon Zee. This G-d is one of salvation and complacence for Deacon Zee. The “White Jesus” he prayed to for his assistance in finding his copy of the Wall Street Journal—a nuanced symbol for prosperity. This G-d speaks to the corporate nature and element of

English is a hard language to learn, for there are numerous elements of effective usage and writing. Many people, including me, struggle in writing because of a lack of knowledge. Since middle school, English was not a strong suit of mine. I struggled with the simplest of tasks often taking a considerably longer time to complete a task than the other students. Unmotivated teachers and a lack of interest resulted in remedial writing skills. To put it simply, I had little confidence in my writing and I dreaded taking the class because of the writing involved. In spite of my fears, I took the course and I was able to perfect and challenge my mediocre writing skills.

The memoir of Old Elizabeth presents a rare and important slave narrative in which the stories of African American women intersect with the experiences of African American people in roles of religious leadership. Elizabeth broke many of societies conventions at the time by preaching and holding religious meeting despite being woman. Her religious work was met with backlash from the church and from many other people who did not accept the idea of a woman leading religious services, yet she continued to practice until her health would no longer allow for it. This is unusual as it spends most of the narrative on the time after she was free rather than focusing on the time that she was enslaved the way that many slave narratives do.

Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2010.

Writing has always been something I dread. It’s weird because I love talking and telling stories, but the moment I have to write it all down on paper, I become frantic. It’s almost as if a horse race just begun in my mind, with hundreds of horses, or words, running through my mind, unable to place them in chronological order. Because I struggle to form satisfying sentence structure, it takes me hours, sometimes even days, to write one paper. It’s not that I think I’m a “bad writer,” I just get discouraged easily. Needless to say, I don’t think highly of my writing skills. When I was little I loved to both read and write. I read just about any book I could get my hands on, and my journal was my go to for my daily adventures. Although it’s

What concepts, principles, or ideas that you have learned, do you think you will remember the most after you leave this class?