The Political, Feminist, and Religious view of Frances E.W. Harper, Phllis Wheatley, and Alice Dunbar-Nelson
Phillis Wheatley, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, and Francis E. W. Harper were all groundbreaking and poignant authors whose works have remained influential throughout time. Feminism, politics, and religion are three aspects evident in their personal lives an d literature.
Wheatley was considered a feminist icon because she was the first published African American female poet. However, her writing did not deal with feminist issues, rather, they focussed on religious and political themes. Unlike Wheatley, Harper's femi nist views are incorporated into her work. She uses religion as a method to express her political and social views. Dunbar-Nelson, a writer of all genres, brought together her personal beliefs and activism into many pieces of her work. Political and fe minist issues were important aspects of her personal life, which served as important themes throughout her literature. Religion, while not as prevalent, also presented itself, most specifically through her poetry.
PHILLIS WHEATLEY
BIOGRAPHY
Phillis Wheatley is the first published African American writer. She was born in 1753 in West Africa. She was kidnapped from Africa and sold as a slave when she was around seven or eight years old. She was purchased by a wealthy family that taught h er how to read and write. Wheatley showed great intelligence in her writing style.
Wheatley's book, The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley was first published in London. Five years after her return from London her owners; Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley died. In 1778 Wheatley married John Peters and they had three children that all died ve ry young.
In 1779 Wheatley advertised a...
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... They're flogging my sons on the farm; But I know that Omnipotence watches, That God has a far-flung arm (Hull 93).
From this one passage we can see Alice Dunbar-Nelson combine issues of gender, race, and religion. Three issues which had a major affect on her life and her writing.
Bibliography
Foster, Frances Smith (1993). Written By Herself: Literary Production by African American Women, 1796-1892. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indian University Press.
Hull, Gloria T. (1988). The Works of Alice Dunbar-Nelson. New York: Oxford Printing Press.
Robinson, William H. (1982). Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley. Boston: GK, Hall and Company.
Robinson, William H. (1975). Phillis Wheatly in the Black America Beginnings. Detroit: Boadsiod.
Shields, John C. (Eds.). (1988). The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
James, Edward, Janet James, and Paul Boyer. Notable American Women, 1607-1950. Volume III: P-Z. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971. Print.
Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1750, and was captured when she was 7. John Wheatley purchased Phillis for his wife, Susanna; together they taught Phillis how to read and write, and as early as 12, Phillis was writing poetry and her first poem had been published. Wheatley’s poems implicitly advocated for racial equality, while condemning slavery. Her work received some negative feedback from political figureheads, such as Thomas Jefferson. White America classified a human as having the ability to read, write, and reason; therefore, leaving no room for the uneducated Africans, seeing Africans as nonhuman. Jefferson claimed Wheatley’s work was not literature because the moment he admitted Wheatley’s work was indeed literature, he would have had to admit she was a human being. The way Phillis Wheatley handled the adversity she faced is admirable. Wheatley definitely impacted American history, and “owes her place in history to advocates of inequality” (Young 1999
Readers unfamiliar with Phillis Wheatley may wonder of her background and who she was in particular to be able to gain rights to be mentioned in early American literature. Wheatley was born in 1753 and was captured by Africans, and sold to an American family known as the Wheatley’s. She quickly became a member of the Wheatley family, living in the home, and being tutored on reading and writing.
Mason, Jr., Julian D. The Poems of Phillis Wheatley. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
The poetry of Phillis Wheatley is crafted in such a manner that she is able to create a specific aim for each poem, and achieve that aim by manipulating her position as the speaker. As a slave, she was cautious to cross any lines with her proclamations, but was able to get her point across by humbling her own position. In religious or elegiac matters, however, she seemed to consider herself to be an authority. Two of her poems, the panegyric “To MAECENAS” and the elegy “On the Death of a young Lady of Five Years of Age,” display Wheatley’s general consistency in form, but also her intelligence, versatility, and ability to adapt her position in order to achieve her goals.
This paper examines the drastic differences in literary themes and styles of Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston, two African--American writers from the early 1900's. The portrayals of African-American women by each author are contrasted based on specific examples from their two most prominent novels, Native Son by Wright, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston. With the intent to explain this divergence, the autobiographies of both authors (Black Boy and Dust Tracks on a Road) are also analyzed. Particular examples from the lives of each author are cited to demonstrate the contrasting lifestyles and experiences that created these disparities, drawing parallels between the authors’ lives and creative endeavors. It becomes apparent that Wright's traumatic experiences involving females and Hurston's identity as a strong, independent and successful Black artist contributed significantly to the ways in which they chose to depict African-American women and what goals they adhered to in reaching and touching a specific audience with the messages contained in their writing.
It is extremely essential to mention that Wheatley was the first African American woman to have her work published. Her works were in their own right prototypes for all literature that touched on race during her era. By analyzing Phillis Wheatley’s intellectual capacity, we can begin to see that even after having been sold into slavery, she was only as limited as her imagination or faith would have her to be.
A foster parent, as defined by the Health reference series second edition, is an individual who is licensed to provide a home for an orphaned, abused, neglected, delinquent or disabled child (Matthews, 2004). A permanent placement is one that is intended, but not guaranteed, to last forever (Barth & Berry 1988). Foster care is not for delinquents but somewhere for children go when their parents can no longer care for them. A form of foster care has always been around in early Christian churches where “worthy widows” would board children in need and were paid by church collections. Foster care started in 1562 during the time of the English poor laws, which stated the poor children were allowed to be placed in legal services until they reached of aged (nfpaonline.org). In the 1970’s, foster care increased in popularity but foster parents were seen as unfit to adopt children permanently (Barth and Berry, 1988). In 1980 the Adoption Assistance of Child Welfare Act (public law 96-272) made it clear that the most desirable permanent placement for children is with their own family. The law...
Wheatley was the first African American woman living in America to publish a book of poems at the age of 19, Wheatley was brought from Africa to
Leonard, K. D. (2009). African American women poets and the power of the word. The Cambridge Companion to African American Women's Literature, 168-187.
Social services focus on sending kids away from abusive homes and jumping from one group home or institution to another instead of focusing on building families back up and solving the actual issue. A child can legally become uprooted from their home due to multiple things. The primary guardian has a drug problem, the living quarters obtain eviction, too many children in one group home, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect of any kid, incarceration, abandonment, truancy, death of primary guardian, voluntarily placed, the child continues to commit juvenile offenses or a runaway. Almost the majority of the latter listed can prevail placement in foster care. Instead of wasting another life in the failing system of foster care, child welfare can create programs to promote children’s rights.
According to the International Foster Care Organization “Foster care is a way of providing a family life for children who cannot live with their own parents.”(2004) Foster care is supposed to provide temporary care while parents get help dealing with problems, or to help children or young people through a difficult period in their lives. Children will return home once their parents are able to provide a safe enviorment for them. However if parent are unable to resolve the issues that cause their child in foster care their children may stay in long-term foster care, some may be adopted, and others will move on to live independently. (IFCO, 2004) Foster care has been a problem for many years and although there have been many attempts to improve it; it there still seems to be negatively impacting
Do you know that Artemis was the mistress of wild animals and that she hunted them in her chariot drawn by four golden horned deer? Artemis was one of the most violent goddesses from Olympus. According to Greek mythology whenever Artemis was mad at someone for disrespecting her she would transform the person into an animal. She would also send an animal to kill anybody who disturbed, insulted or disobeyed her. Artemis was recognized for hunting with a silver bow and an endless supply of poisonous arrows. Artemis was born to be a huntress, which is why she will remain as an athletic and intelligent goddess throughout ancient history!
Foster care is supervised care for delinquent or neglected children usually in an institution or substitute home. There are many people involved upon placing a neglected child in the foster care system. The children are assigned a social worker who is responsible for a child to have a place to sleep every night. Although the government has this system set up to help children, there are a bountiful amount of flaws in the system, affecting the children in a negative way or circumstance. Due to “ageing out” adolescents are leaving their foster homes and are not able to become fully independent due to their lack of child development , emotional necessities , and lack of stability.
The foster care program has become such a huge thing worldwide. It can help to provide children homes and families which they would not be able to find otherwise. Foster care programs also offer temporary food, domestic care for children from birth to age eighteen. While programs laws and rules are different from state to state, typically foster care is used by children 's welfare services when a child is identified as having been orphaned, abandoned, abused, or neglected. At the same time though it has a negative impact. The foster care system hurts the structure of the family unit which has existed for centuries. Foster Care has become better and better as time goes on. Before, there would be people who scam the system and it was hard to