The 1988 Coretta Scott King Author Award belongs to the Mildred D. Taylor book The Friendship. Set in Mississippi during the 1930s, this tells of another one of Stacey, Cassie, Christopher John, and Little Man’s adventure. In The Friendship, Cassie and her brother’s learn how the maintaining the status quo was more important than protecting friendships. The Friendship earned the Coretta Scott King Award as a result of the lucid imagery used by Mildred D. Taylor. The details of the store, of which the majority of the story takes place, allows the reader to place his or herself into the story. In addition, the mention of actions such as lip biting conveys the nervousness and uneasiness felt by the characters during tense moments. Taylor’s ability
to bring readers into the text is what makes this work deserving of the Coretta Scott King Award. I have read The Friendship several times since I first got it as a child, and each time I read it, I cringe. It is not because I do not like the text; instead, it is because of the emotions I get while reading it. I feel every emotion that the children feel, so, when they are in scary situations, I become frightened. However, these sentiments that I receive are what make that book enjoyable for me. The Friendship would be a great book for middle school children. Yet, it would not be ideal to teach this book as a standalone text. If an English were to use The Friendship, he or she should use it after reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, another work by Mildred D. Taylor. By doing this, students will have a better understanding of the plot of The Friendship, than if they were to read it without an additional text.
To begin with, according to Lucius Annaeus Seneca, “One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood”. Even this quote explains that true friendship is when an individual stands for another individual. In the novel Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck examine the idea of friendship between two migrant ranch worker even when there was difficulties. Through the character of Slim and George, author Steinbeck illustrates friendship and reveals that friendships stand up for each other even when is difficult time.
“Death is the only pure, beautiful conclusion of a great passion” (David Herbert Lawrence). Coretta Scott King was an inspiring person to women of all ages and races. However her death had an impact on everyone, she was seen as an idol, more importantly as a leader. Malcom X’s daughter Attallah Shabazz who is also Mrs. King’s most pride supporter addresses her remarks in her eulogy and engages the people at the funeral service for Mrs. King on the sorrowful day of February 7th, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. With hundreds of people, (mainly women) watching on TV or listening in the stands during this depressing time reflect and honor on the achievements and positive attitude she had on the community for others. Attallah Shabazz hoped that this event
Friendship is an unbreakable bond between two people and contains loyalty and love. In the story Chains, Isabel finds herself in grand friendships that play throughout the story. She showed how devoted she was towards Lady Lockton, Curzon, and Ruth by being there for them during tough times. In the end, friendship is the light through the darkness, powerful and important.
Prentice Hall Anthology of African American Literature. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. 163-67. Print.
Gates, Henry Louis, and Nellie Y. McKay. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. Print.
Martin Luther King, Jr. defines “civil disobedience” as a way to show others what to do when a law is unjust and unreasonable. As King stated in the letter from Birmingham, “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” When Negros were being treated unfairly, Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped in to show people how to peacefully protest and not be violent. The dictionary definition of civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest (Webster Dictionary). That is what Martin Luther King, Jr. did when nothing was changing in the town after the law for public school to be non-segregated. In Antigone, Creon created an edict that states that nobody could bury Polynices’s body because he was a traitor to Thebes and his family. Under Martin Luther King’s definition of an unjust and a just law, Creon’s edict is unjust and degrades Polynices’ right to be buried because of lack of information and favoritism of one brother.
Coretta Scott King was born on April 27, 1927 in Heiberger, Alabama. Heiberger was a small segregated town. Coretta’s parents were Obadiah and Bernice Scott. She has an older sister named Edythe and a younger brother, Obie. Coretta was named after her grandmother Cora Scott. Her family was hard working and devoted Christians. Coretta had a strong temper, feared no one and stood up for herself.
People do not acknowledge the struggles that African Americans had to endure for them to be treated equally, the way a true American is supposed to be treated. One of the ways they were not treated equally was by not being able to participate in sports with whites. From the beginning of our nation, colored people were highly disrespected and treated as if they were some type of animals, which have no say in what happens to them. They were not given any opportunities and were treated harshly because their skin color was different. Whites were able to practically do anything they wanted, unlike blacks, who were racially discriminated or beaten for no apparent reason. African Americans were among the worst treated races in the US; however, this did not stop them from fighting for the rights that so many had died for. It seemed as if black people would never be treated respectfully, but just like in comic books, there is always a hero that will fight for his people. This hero soon came to the scene and he was fierce enough to change the lives of many people. Most importantly, he broke the color barrier and created a path that would allow others to follow. However, something that was inevitable was the threats and racial remarks they had to face.
Gates, Henry Louis Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company
James, Johson Weldon. Comp. Henry Louis. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 832. Print.
The values of friendship are engraved deep into the book and Robert Newton has used voice to shows these virtues. Runner shows the values of friendship through Charlie’s interaction with Alice Cornwall, Norman Heath and Cecil Redmond, each of them providing a value of friendship which benefits both parties. Runner is most definitely a book which demonstrates the values of
“If you can’t fly, then run,if you can’t run ,then walk , if you can’t walk , then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward”Martin Luther King Jr. What this quote means is never give up always move forward and always try your best because if you don’t you’ll always wonder what was out there for you.This quote was one out of many quotes Martin Luther King wrote. Dr. King motivated people with his quotes,he was a leader.A man who wouldn’t stop fighting for his rights until he got what he deserved, Martin Luther King Jr, wanted something that thousands of other people were too scared to stand up for themselves.He was an inspiration, he brought people together,and reached his goal of being treated equally.
It is rather difficult to speak of love in an original sense today. If someone were to ask an individual to define love, a common response would be, “love cannot be explained, it cannot be defined”. This answer would be acceptable if love was equally felt for and between all people. But anyone would have to agree to the fact that there are different degrees and levels of love. Someone would not love his or her family members the same way they would his or her spouse. Love varies between different levels of action and feeling, and a definition of each level must be discovered in order to understand its varying power. Martin Luther King Jr. felt the need to address this particular issue when discussing the principles behind the non-violent student movement for civil rights. King felt that a working idea of love was the keystone to the philosophy of a non-violent protest. Turning to the Greek language and idea of love, King was able to define three particular levels, eros, philia, and agape. His goal was to take one of these three levels and use it as the definitive quality of the non-violent movement.
In her eulogy for Coretta Scott King, Maya Angelou uses figurative language and repetition to compel the audience to follow King’s example of peaceful yet strong advocacy of human rights.
For additional help in understanding his reasoning and thought processes, The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr., edited by Clayborne Carson, can give one a sense of exactly why King had such a strong religious background. In fact, the first words of the writing state “Of course I was religious. I grew up in the church. My father was a preacher, my grandfather was a preacher, my great-grandfather was a preacher, my only brother is a preacher, my daddy’s brother is a preacher. So of course I didn’t have much choice” (Carson 1). Furthermore, this work is special because it combines hundreds of King’s writings in order to make a first person narrative of his life. The book skips no part of his life and includes his thoughts and feelings