Essays and Research Papers on African-American Literature

A six page paper comparing the experiences with racism of both these black writers, one writing in the mid-nineteenth century and one in the mid-twentieth. The paper asserts that racism destroys the spirit, and it is takes tremendous determination and drive to break out of that cycle. No additional sources.

An eight page paper looking at Toni Morrison’s modern classic in terms of its motif of breasts. The paper argues that for Sethe, breasts -- both in their nursing and erogenous capacities -- reflect both enslavement and liberation. No additional sources.

A 7 page research paper that contrasts and compares the similarities and differences between turn-of-the-century African-American leaders Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois by examining their books Up From Slavery and The Souls of Black Folk. Both of these leaders felt that education would play a central role in obtaining equality between the races. ...

In 6 pages, the author gives an analysis of the book 'Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845).' This is the story of Frederick Douglass, a former slave. Through this narrative, the humanity of the slave, Douglass, is asserted. The narrative of Frederick Douglass tells of a chattel that ...

5 pages in length. The duality of Willa Cather's portrayal of women in My Antonia represents the inherent dichotomy that exists between conventionality and unconventionality. A longstanding debate has raged ever since the author penned her account of a woman torn between traditional gender representation and that which is not considered conventional. ...

A 5 page overview of the importance of the work of Frederick Douglass and the stature of the man. Relates that this work and the man, while extremely important in a historical sense, is not something on which we should base our current day attitudes regarding racism. Bibliography lists 2sources.

A 15 page analysis of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize winning book, Beloved, by Toni Morrison. Unlike traditional narrative techniques, there is no attempt in Beloved to deliver a chronological retelling of the protagonist's life as a slave. Rather Morrison uses the raw material of Sethe's life as the clay from which she sculpts the ...

A 3 page paper examining the challenges of growing up black in America, as reflected in the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks. Three of her poems are discussed: “We Real Cool,” “The Ballad of Chocolate Mabbie,” and “Children of the Poor.” No additional sources.

A 3.5 page analysis of Toni Morrison's novel, The Bluest Eye. In this novel, a little black girl, Pecola Breedlove, longs to have blue eyes because everyone she has ever met, and everything in her environment, either consciously or unconsciously, has consistently upheld an ideal of beauty in front of her, and that ideal is ...

An eight page paper analyzing the thematic importance of the theme of breastfeeding and motherhood in Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel. The paper argues that the freedom to nurse one’s children up to the normal age of weaning, and then use the maternal bond thus created to nurture one’s children to adulthood, is denied to women ...

A ten page paper looking intensively at Harriet Wilson’s “Our Nig” and Harriet Ann Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”. The paper shows that while both books emphasize some nineteenth-century female virtues -- particularly in regard to the protagonists’ maternal instincts -- and elicit considerable sympathy for their protagonists, they also express ...

A six page paper looking at the way Toni Morrison’s novel fulfills the requirements of a “quest” novel. The paper shows that through the protagonist’s rediscovery of his past, he is able to start on the path of becoming a black man in a white world. No additional sources.

A seven page paper analyzing the kind of world that produced the rebellious “Beat” poets of the 1950s and 60s, as well as the way their iconoclastic ideologies affected American attitudes in their own time and later on. The paper concludes that the Beats went a long way toward transforming our society from the smug, ...

A 5 page analysis of Richard Wright's autobiographical account of his youth, in which he recounts what it was like to grow up male and black in the South during the first half of the twentieth century. It is a story of rage, fear, and oppression. Although he lived in a culture that had a ...

A 3 page analysis of Angelou's autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which is a complex work that not only details the events of Angelou's girlhood, but also illustrates the sociological structures that were in place in the South at that time to keep African-Americans 'in their place,' which is to say ...

A six page paper discussing the different life choices made by the two brothers in James Baldwin’s classic story. The paper shows that both Sonny and the narrator have found their own mode of escaping the violence and harshness of the ghetto, different though those modes might be. No additional sources.

5 pages in length. Discusses at length the short story "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty. When we first meet Phoenix Jackson in "A Worn Path" we are immediately assailed with the knowledge that she is an ancient and extremely poor woman making her way through the pinewoods. With a red ...

An eight page paper looking at the issue of separation in Toni Morrison’s modern classic. The paper points out that there are really two separation issues in this story: the unreasonable separation of mothers and children under slavery, and the inability of Sethe, the protagonist, to separate her oldest daughter from herself. Bibliography lists five ...

A five page paper looking at Aphra Behn’s seventeenth-century novel in terms of the degree to which it portrays the issue of slavery realistically. Through quoting historical material on the slave trade in that era, the paper argues that not only is Behn’s work accurate, but it presents the romance of two black lovers much ...

A seven page paper looking at Maya Angelou’s autobiography in terms of its exploration of racism. The paper contends that what made Angelou’s pursuit of her exceptionally high potential so unconventional -- as well as so inspiring -- was the racism that seemed determined to keep her down. Bibliography lists eight sources.

A nine page paper looking at this important twentieth century novel in terms of the way Zora Neale Hurston created the complex characterization of her protagonist, Janie Crawford. The paper argues that Janie is less challenged by her role as an African-American as she is by her gender. Bibliography lists seven sources.

A five page paper looking at these two works by William Shakespeare and Toni Morrison respectively, dealing with their treatment of social issues such as racism, both in the Elizabethan era and today. The paper shows that what the two protagonists have in common is the degree to which they have internalized their society’s racist ...

A 5 page analysis of All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou, which is the fifth volume in her serial autobiography. This volume is an account of Angelou's experiences in Ghana in the early 1960s. This narrative relates how Angelou found a job teaching at the University of Ghana and began working ...

A nine page paper looking at Willa Cather's lesbianism as a reason for her nonconformist views. The paper asserts that due to the threat of being blackballed in the publishing industry, Cather was forced to hide her homosexuality, but her nonconformity shines through in her works. Bibliography lists seven sources.

5 pages. The main character, Merle, is a competent well-educated character with an inner strength. Her discussions include that of sexuality as well as the search for African and Caribbean roots. Her mission is to tell the people to learn from their past and from the mistakes of earlier colonies. This ...