Well-known American Author Toni Morrison

There are many influential poets that deserve to be heard. Maya Angelou was a poet, influential speaker, and a writer. Angelou was one of the most influential African-American women of all time. She published books, poems, and screenplays that were later filmed. Due to all these accomplishments, she was honored with a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, five Grammys, the National Medal of Art Award, and finally the Presidential Medal of Freedom (Pettinger). Angelou was most known for her poems. She wrote “Still I Rise,” “Phenomenal Woman” and “Caged Bird.” These are three of Angelou’s most outstanding poems. These poems were inspired by her life experiences, such as her experience with racism, inequality and sexism.

Published in 1987, Beloved is the most acclaimed work of Toni Morrison. The author was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for this novel. Besides, Beloved, in 1993 the writer won the Nobel Prize in Literature. She was the first African American woman to be honored with this award. Upon receiving the Nobel Prize, Morrison stated that she always insisted to be called a black woman writer and, more importantly, she admitted that as an African American woman, she experienced discrimination first hand. Besides, in her writing, she aims at fighting with “national amnesia” because she does not want to allow the memory of slavery to be forgotten (Iatsenko, 2014: 58). Beloved is the novel in which past and present often overlap. The characters retell stories from the past referring them to their current situation. The novel is written from many points of views and, that is why, the fragmentation of events presented is easily noticeable (Page, 1995: 134). Philip Page argues further that the novel’s power lies in its “patterns of circularity” as well as “overlapping consciousness” (Page, 1995). In juxtaposition with this argument, Susan Bowers states that “Beloved is a novel about collecting fragments and welding them into beautiful new wholes” (in Page, 1995: 134). This argument is supported by another researcher, Marianne Hirsch, who writes that the novel presents “a cyclical reunion between the mother and

Shapell, Elisa. “Toni Morrison: The Art of Fiction CXXXIV.” Paris Review 128. (Fall 1993). Print. 82-125.

For centuries, poetry has remained an effective method of expressing ones’ emotions and aesthetics without excessive criticism. Some distinguished individuals participated in this literary exercise and despite their motives, they acquired the profound ability to empathize with their audiences’ ambitions, fears, and misfortunes. During the lamentable times of racial and economic turmoil, a brilliant woman named Toni Morrison was introduced into this world and would later be a remarkable influence on literature. Proactively, she channeled her frustrations and fears of racial prejudice into her literary works, earning an admirable reputation for her bravery of discussing sensitive topics regarding racial prejudice and injustices. Likewise,

Toni Morrison is a black African-American novelist of the twentieth century. She is the first African-American winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. She describes a brief history of the African-Americans of the early times of the nineteenth century and shows us the darker aspects of humanity, the troublesome circumstances within which the slaves had been forced to live, and the destruction that was delivered to their lives by the Whites. Toni Morrison has tried to represent the past of slavery, which degraded African-Americans from individuals to that of the creature to be exchanged and traded like dairy cattle for which the slave master needed not to take permission from anybody, not even from the slave’s mother. Masters had fully

Toni Morrison is an author that is interested in showing the world the constant struggle of African-American men and women. Like Milkman, Morrison was born in 1931 during the height of racism in the United States. She has lived through the same events as Milkman and has experienced the pain and turmoil forced upon African Americans. Like Milkman, Morrison was also unaware of the racial tension in the country until she was a teenager. She graduated from high school with honors and attended Howard University as an English major. This explains Morrison’s interest in the theme of Flight in her works. She has been determined to be successful since she was a child, despite the racism and poverty she had experienced. Morrison is a strong, independent, successful, and talented woman. She focuses on the theme of feminism in her works to show both men and women of all races and ethnicities that women can be just as powerful as men. She has integrated pieces of her life into the novel, almost creating a mini- biography. Constant themes occurring in Toni Morrison’s Song Of Solomon are Marxism, Feminism, and flight.

Toni Morrison, the infamous novelist, took the stand as a concerned citizen of the United States when she wrote a public letter to presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama. At the time, the country was divided with contrasting opinions on George W. Bush, which seemed to block the focus of the candidates’ elections. Morrison mentioned this issue as one of her reasons for writing the endorsement, when she wrote, “One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this one one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril.” Morrison addressed her personal thoughts on the two presidential candidates, and gave reasoning as for why she chose Barack Obama rather than Hillary Clinton. Overall, Morrison created a very concerned tone regarding the United States and its political future, using phrases such as “multiple crisis facing us” and “peril” to describe the issues that faced the country. Furthermore, when describing Obama’s political future, the tone was much more optimistic and light. Morrison used phrases such as

Was raised in New York City and attended Radcliffe College. After her graduation, she decided

Toni Morrison was born “Chloe Ardelia Wofford” on February 18th, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. Chloe earned her nickname “Toni” in college and took Morrison as her married name. She was born in an predominantly African American town, to a poor family, which was like most of Lorain’s residents. Her parents always emphasized the importance of education. “The world back then didn’t expect much from a little black girl, but my father and mother certainly did.” In 1949 she attended college at the Howard University in Washington, DC, which was an historically black college. In 1953 Toni graduated from Howard University with her bachelor’s degree in English. Continuing her education at Cornell University, she earned her master’s degree in 1955. Morrison is an Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize winning American novelist but among those awards she also received many more such as the American book award and the F. Kennedy book award. She also had publications of major works such as Song of Solomon, Beloved, and Paradise to name a few.

Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago and grew up in Illinois, the only girl in a family of seven. Cisneros is noted for her collection of poems and books that concentrate on the Chicana experience in the United States. In her writing, Cisneros explores and transcends borders of location, ethnicity, gender and language. Cisneros writes in lyrical yet deceptively simple language, she makes the invisible visible by centering on the lives of Chicanas, their relationships with their families, their religion, their art, and their politics. Toni Morrison, born as Chloe Anthony Wofford in Ohio in 1931 changed her name because it was hard for people to pronounce it. She was the

When Bullock was 12, her family moved back to the Washington, D.C. area, where she attended Washington-Lee High School. Bullock had no problem fitting in, becoming involved in cheerleading and school theater productions until her graduation in 1982. Bullock then enrolled at East Carolina

In A Mercy, Toni Morrison carefully chooses names of her characters to provide insight into their lives and their personality. She further develops these characters through their interactions with each other. This can particularly be seen through the character development of Jacob, his wife, and two of his slaves. Each of the women on the plantation must overcome their differences to work together. As they give each other advice and help, we see their personalities shine through.

Before becoming an award winning writer Rachel Carson was the only child of three that attended college. Rachel went to the Pennsylvania College for Women which is now a days known as Chatham University. Originally she was majoring in English, but switched over to Biology. Even though she switched her major to biology, she still continued to contribute to the student newspaper. Her senior year Rachel was admitted to graduate at Johns Hopkins University, but financial problems forced her to finish schooling in Pennsylvania.

Born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue and richly detailed black characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved. Morrison has won nearly every book prize possible. She has also been awarded honorary degrees.

     Toni Morrison the first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, was born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. She was the second of four children to George and Ramah Wofford. Her parents moved to Ohio from the South to escape racism and to find better opportunities in the North.