Essays and Research Papers on African-American Literature

A 6 page essay that contrasts and compares "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and the fifth book in Maya Angelou's serial autobiography "God's Children Need Traveling Shoes." The writer argues that in both books the authors demonstrate that visit in Africa profoundly affected their philosophical outlook. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

This four page paper presents a discussion on the book The Interpreters by Syinka. It explains who the interpreters are and what they stand for. Bibliography lists one source.

This 7 page paper argues that in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, the protagonist's character includes aspects that deny him the status of hero, but allow him the stature associated with martyrdom. In both Ellison's Invisible Man and Faulkner's Light In August, the social limitations (and brutalities) of race form the basis for the protagonist's journey to an acceptance ...

This 5 page paper considers Gloria Naylor's work mama Day which has be liken by some to a modern day Tempest, and examines the work and opinions of the work to see if we can really class this book as a modern great. The bibliography cites 5 sources.

A 5 page paper. Sula is the story of two girls who grow up in a poor community but it is more than that. It is a story about independence, alienation and community. In this essay, the writer emphasizes the effects of Shadrack and Sula on the community. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 5 page paper discussing the violation of family ties as an anti-slavery argument. The very nature of the system of slavery was such that families rarely were able to stay together. Most slave owners viewed their slaves as "stock," to be bred in pairs that held promise of producing healthy, strong workers. Linda Brent was ...

7 pages in length. Poet and writer Maya Angelou is as simple as she is complex. The lucid and uncomplicated images she creates with her seemingly elementary style are anything but; in fact, the complexity that resides within her characteristically unmistakable prose, which demonstrate a purity and precision like no other, is known ...

A 5 page paper which examines the character of the narrator, also the author, Maya Angelou. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

8 pages in length. The writer discusses the motivational factors behind two of Angelou's best known works. Bibliography lists 12 sources.

5 pages in length. A perfect society would reflect an attitude of equality -- rather than one of segregation -- toward the myriad ethnicities that exist in today's world; however, as much as humanity has moved away from racism, there have been just as many issues that have stalled its enlightenment. Anne Moody's "Coming ...

This 5 page paper compares and contrasts the views of White and Black culture as presented in Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn and The Souls Of Black Folk by W. E. B. Dubois. Bibliography lists 12 sources.

10 pages in length. Toomer's poetry is often seen as quiet and pastoral, dealing with tranquil aspects of existence. There is however, another side of his work: dealing with racial conflict between human beings. The exact manner in which Toomer reveals this conflict with respect to the northern section, one can infer that ...

This 5 page report discusses two short stories by African American women. Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” both tell stories of Black women’s reality and the ways in which they deal with the world. Both also have an “understory” of the changes faced by African Americans in 20th century America. Bibliography lists 4 sources. ...

5 pages in length. While many of us wish for the good life and want better things, not all of us are ready to admit what it takes to get there. Changing our future and shaping our life are part of everybody's hopes and desires. The dawning comes when we realize that it takes knowledge, learning, ambition and ...

This 6 page report discusses the Symbolism in Zora Neal Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937). Hurston’s remarkable sense of imagery and symbolism that she purposefully uses supports the overall theme of the book and adds to the unique points-of-view it represents. In fact, it is her use of symbols that serves to best represent the multiplicity ...

10 pages in length. Deciphering Caribbean attributes within the literary world is not always a simple observation; rather, such depiction requires an inherent knowledge that can only be found in those who place both their hearts and souls into the work. Two authors in particular stand out in this field as successfully portraying ...

5 pages in length. Much of Toni Morrison's novel "Beloved" seems to be about one's memory or repression of a traumatic past. While Baby Suggs urges Sethe to "lay down your sword and shield. Don't study war no more," Sethe finds herself so mired in the past that "her brain wasn't interested ...

7 pages in length. The writer discusses symbolism in one of Flannery O'Connor's most famous works. Bibliography lists 7 sources.

A 5 page paper discussing Janie (Their Eyes Were Watching God) and Dr. Miller (The Marrow of Tradition), both disadvantaged by the political systems under which they live. They are not allowed the same opportunities as their white counterparts. In Janie's case, she is not even allowed to be an emotionally free and independent person until ...

An 11 page research paper that examines how Arna Bontemps' novel Black Thunder differs from the historical account of the 1800 Richmond slave revolt, and why. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A 7 page paper discussing this 1969 Elder play. "Ceremonies In Dark Old Men" has become a classic portrayal of the black family in theatre while providing a glimpse of hope in the face of deteriorating social conditions. The ceremonies of the men are those activities they pursue that can provide them with reason to avoid training ...

5 pages in length. Relating Nadine Gordimer's Town And Country Lovers to Chinua Achebe's The Vengeful Creditor is to address the notion of oppression. Gordimer, a South African novelist and short-story writer who received Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991, delves deep into the thematic sense of exile, loneliness and strong political opposition towards ...

A 5 page research paper that examines Adrienne Kennedy's highly symbolic play, "Funnyhouse of a Negro." The writer argues that the point of this play is not so much to convey a coherent narrative as to convey the feeling, the context of the protagonist's life. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 9 page report discusses Alice Walker’s short story “The Abortion” in her collection titled “You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down.” In it, Walker creates a story and situation in which she pulls a reader into a state of understanding and empathy with the primary character. The reader may not like the attitudes or the actions of ...

A 5 page paper discussing general themes, diction, sentence structure and other related devices in Walker's work. Walker employs all the resources available to her. Her characters' actions are not always logical, but problem solutions generally are. She keeps the evidence of her "tools" in the background, not making them so obvious that they detract from ...