Background Information

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I. BACKROUND INFORMATION

Jill Stacey Moreland(born Itabari Njeri) was born in Brooklyn, New York. She started off as being a singer/actress; but she found a calling in journalism. She obtained her B.S. from Boston University, and then later on she received her M.S. form Columbia University. She worked as a writer for numerous projects, and then was the author of three books. She wrote “Family Portraits and Personal Escapades,” “The Challenge of Diversity”, and “Reflections of a New World Black.” Currently Jill Stacey does public speaking at Universities about memoir, multiculturalism, and ethnic conflict.

II. GENERAL SUMMARY

The story, “When Morpheus Held Him,” was about a girl who had a drunk for a father. When the girl was three her parents separated, she did not see her father again until her parents reunited when she was seven. When her father came back into her life, she said that she could not stand her father. Her father ended up teaching younger students around an age where he thought was most influential. When the girl’s mother went away for a couple of weeks, the daughter wanted to stay with her aunt pearl so she would not have to stay with her father. The father said no unless aunt pearl asked her if she wanted to stay with her. Of course aunt pearl did not ask her but she went anyway. When her father found out what happened, he beat her bad enough to leave welts and bruises for months. The only time that the daughter and the father bonded was when the father would play some music on his old piano and she would come and sing for him. When the mother came back the fights continued. After the fights were over, the father would fall asleep due to his drunken rage. The only time the daughter felt safe around her father was when he was asleep.

III. RELATIONSHIP TO TODAYS SOCIETY

In today’s society, there are a lot of kids that didn’t grow up with their father due to their parents fighting all the time. A lot of the times the father is a drunk and gets violent towards his partner or his children. I think that I can relate a little to this story because I was in a similar situation with my father. When I was little my parents would separate often. I could not understand why they would separate when I was little.

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