Jackie Kay, born on November 9, 1961 in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a poet, novelist and writer of short stories. She is most noted for her novel Trumpet, which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1998. Her 2010 memoir, Red Dust Road, which won the 2011 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the 2011 PEN/Ackerley Prize is a funny but very touching tale that recounts Kay’s quest for her family. The book later reveals that she spends her whole life searching for something that is already right in front of her, family. Kay, an adopted biracial child of white communist parents in Glasgow is very eager to meet her biological father, Jonathan O., a Nigerian student, and her biological mother, Elizabeth Fraser, a Scottish nurse. (Birbalsingh)
Red Dust Road begins in a Nigerian hotel where Kay meets face to face with her biological father for the first time. Kay’s resistance to accept Christ as her savior, as well as her choice of being a lesbian, disappoints Jonathan O., a reformed Christian, and prompts him to pray for her for several hours. Following this scene Kay brings us back to a 1960s juvenescent Kay accompanied by her adoptive parents, Helen and John. Her mum (as she calls her adoptive mother) informs her of the miniscule details of Kay’s biological mother and father that she is cognizant of. The above-mentioned flashbacks are offered as shared reminisces intermixed with additional recollections extracted from various moments, mostly of Kay discovering and eventually uniting with the real people from her mum’s accounts.
Despite the fact that Kay shows compassion for her birth parents, it is more than obvious that she writes with immense cordiality, endearment and adoration fo...
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...ors used to shield these momentous occasions. In the first reading I have accompanied a young biracial woman, Jackie Kay, who sets forth on a twenty-year journey of finding her biological parents, not to mention the quest to find herself during this extensive but exhilarating process. Kay’s intricate narrative is enthralling from many different aspects, including creative, cultural, and sentimental. Her candid sincerity and openness along with comical play on words makes it a superb written account of an intimate expedition. I also accompanied a girl who grew up in Antigua, Jamaica Kincaid, on a poignant ride of the life and AIDS-related passing of her youngest sibling. During this voyage Kincaid too explores topics such as family, race, and migration. Reading both memoirs made me realize the importance of finding and showcasing your voice through your accounts.
It is an emotional and heart-rending chronicle about raising in the dirt-poor of the Alabama hills--and all about moving on with the life but never actually being capable to leave (Bragg, 1997, p. 183). The exceptional blessing for evocation and thoughtful insight and the dramatic voice for the account--notifying readers that author has gained a Pulitzer Award for this featured writing. It is a wrenching account of his own upbringing and family. The story moves around a war haunted, alcoholic person (Bragg's father) and a determined and loving mother who made hard efforts to safeguard her children from the harsh effects of poverty and ignorance, which has constricted her own living standard. In this account, author was talented enough to create for himself on the strength of his mother's support and strong conviction. He left house only to follow his dreams and pursue a respectable career in life, however he is strongly linked to his ancestry. In addition, the memoir shows the efforts of Bragg in which he has both compensated and took revenge from the cruelties of his early childhood. Author's approach towards his past seems quite ambivalent and
Gwendolyn Brooks was born on June 7, 1917 in Topeka, Kansas, to KeziahWims Brooks and David Anderson Brooks. Brooks’ family didn’t have much income. Her father David Brooks was a janitor. Keziah Brooks, Gwendolyn’s mother was a school teacher. Soon after Gwendolyn was born her family moved away from Kansas. The Brooks family relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where Brooks remained the rest of her life. Brooks, as a child, loved to read. She was encouraged by her family and friends to do so. She spent most of her childhood immersed in her writing. Gwendolyn became a published poet at an early age. At age 13, Brooks’ poem Eventide was published. Her poem appeared in “American Childhood.” Brooks’ poems were frequently published in the Chicago Defender. At age 16, Brooks had written over seventy poems (J.Williams 28).In Brooks’ early years of writing she spoke on a lot. She talked about racial discrimination and praised African American heroes. Also, Brooks satirized both blacks and whites (A.williams1). In 1993, Gwendolyn meet poet James Weldon Johnson and writer Langston Hughes. The two influenced Brooks’ writing tremendously. The influence lead her to write over seventy poems (Bloom 12).
In the memoir, The color of Water, the author James McBride's life is rawly laid out for the reader. It discusses his life and his search to understand his mother's identity. In understanding who she is, he believes that he will better be able to identify himself and who he is. His memoir involves stories from his mother's and his own point of view, that help the reader understand the hardships that both individuals encountered, and overall how similar their perspectives truly are. Throughout the book, James tells the reader about many different events that took place over the course of his life. There are a select few that truly influenced the path his life took, and the way he sees himself. These major events include James' step father passing
This piece of autobiographical works is one of the greatest pieces of literature and will continue to inspire young and old black Americans to this day be cause of her hard and racially tense background is what produced an eloquent piece of work that feels at times more fiction than non fiction
Hines, Ellen, and Hines, William, and Stanley, Harrold. The African American Odyssey. Fifth Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
I will begin with a comparison of the two books, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” and “Harriett Ann Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” with their title pages. Douglass’s title is announcing that his entire “life” as an “American Slave” will be examined. While, Jacobs’s title offers a contrast and proclaims that this will not be the story of her full life, but a selection of “incidents” that occurred at specific times in her life. Jacobs refers to herself in the title as a “slave girl,” and not an “American slave,”. It is the voice of a woman telling the story of having survived a horrifying childhood and identifies herself as a slave mother. Douglass’ and Jacobs’ works symbolize the pressure between
In 1965, Haley resolved to trace the genealogy of his mother’s family. He had grown up listening to his grandmother’s stories about “Kin-tay,” an African ancestor who was enslaved and shipped to America. Haley embarked on a safari to Juffure, a village in Gambia, to learn more. A local historian was able to tell Haley about his great-great-great-great-grandfather, Kunta Kinte, who was brought to America via slave-ship in 1767. Roots, Haley’s account of his family’s history, was published in 1976, after 12 years of research and creative reconstruction.
Frederick Douglass and Richard Wright wrote memoirs recounting their experiences with racism. Though their writing styles are completely different from one another, the subjects they discuss are similar. After reading each piece they have both made me empathize with their feelings, however different their lives are from mine. Their memoirs, My Bondage My Freedom and Black Boy, provide insightful images of the racist and cruel treatment these writers experienced. Despite all of their stylistic differences, after both excerpts I understand the passion they felt for the hatred they endured.
Ernest J. Gaines uses fiction in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman to write a history of the African American life from 1861 to 1961. Jane was a young African American slave involved in war. The violent history of slavery portrays so many aspects of American history. This novel takes place during the Civil Rights Movement. In“ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” themes such as slavery, discrimination, and the Civil rights progression are a few of the historical occurences that take place. This book practically covers her whole life story going from her childhood when she was still in slavery to when the war was going to her sons life to where she is now. Miss Jane Pittman is an outstanding epic graced with humor and founded in the lessons of overcoming misfourtunes either through battles or resilience. As a novel itself it is beautifully written in a lyrical prose with extravagant, revealing dialogue.
All individuals are not just flesh and bones; important in every person is a system of values and beliefs. The philosophies that constitute an author’s creations are frequently devised from major elements of his or her own life. Ernest James Gaines, the author of numerous remarkable books in today’s literature, is a great example of a writer that parallels his life with his work. Specifically, Gaines chooses to focus on his depiction of Southern society back then (and now) to express his beliefs. In addition, his viewpoint of his African American community and background also allows him to communicate deeply universal themes of faith, courage, and dignity with his words. Therefore, Ernest James Gaines is the author he is today due to his early childhood, his education and literary influences, and his writing career which have earned him outstanding awards and recognition.
In the stories written by John Updike and Jamaica Kincaid, both are completely different in terms of plot and the manner in which each were written, however through the elements of character and theme, the two can be closely associated to one another. By looking further into stories one will find that there is usually more than what meets the eye as illustrated in “Girl” and “A&P.”
In conclusion, Many Books have been written about many African American culture, it’s history and, It’s lifestyle. And although America has continued to feed into what we think is the truth few have really shown the hard work, and efforts as African Americans. Few authors have actually pinpointed the true meaning of the rich culture that we see today. Three particular authors helped give detailed insight about the African and The African American. African American themes of tribal belief, slavery, and The black family were displayed in the works of Chinua Achebe, Fredrick Douglass, and Ann Petry.
Gwendolyn Brooks once said “I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it, and experiencing the challenge”. For some, writing may not be enjoyable or easy, but for Brooks writing was her life. Gwendolyn Brooks not only won countless awards, but also influenced the lives of several African Americans.
Margaret Walker was born on July 7, 1915 in Birmingham, Alabama to Reverend Sigismund C. Walker and Marion Dozier Walker (Gates and McKay 1619). Her father, a scholarly Methodist minister, passed onto her his passion for literature. Her mother, a music teacher, gifted her with an innate sense of rhythm through music and storytelling. Her parents not only provided a supportive environment throughout her childhood but also emphasized the values of education, religion, and black culture. Much of Walker’s ability to realistically write about African American life can be traced back to her early exposure to her black heritage. Born in Alabama, she was deeply influenced by the Harlem Renaissance and received personal encouragement from Langston Hughes. During the Depression, she worked for the WPA Federal Writers Project and assists Richard Wright, becoming his close friend and later, biographer. In 1942, she was the first African American to win the Yale Younger Poets award for her poem For My People (Gates and McKay 1619). Her publishing career halted for...
Though life was incredibly tragic for the majority of colored women, there are a few who were fortunate enough to get an education, gain freedom, or be born a free black. Unfortunately, those people are the only African Americans who had the ability to record their lives through writing, for others were unable to do so because of their illiteracy. Susie King Taylor’s story is a perfect example of this. In her book, A Black Woman’s Civil War Memoirs, she narrates her life being born into slavery and eventually gaining freedom. She was born in 1848 on an island off the co...