The town of Two Mills is segregated and the characters from both the East and West End of the town deal with this societal issue throughout the book. ... The other characters in the story provide a way to show Maniac's evolution in the story and provide meaningful experiences for him to learn from. ... The characters are interesting and the style has a fun tone and there is humor in the writing, so children are likely to enjoy reading this book. ... This book does appeal to children as it introduces complex themes through an action-packed plot. ... I enjoyed reading both Maniac Magee and...

• Word Count: 1229
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

She introduced techniques of characterization, theme development, and dialogue and introduces the Maya character to bring out aspects of her story from the perspective of a child. Fiction stories tap into emotions and have deep impact on people; the stories create empathy for their characters and readers identify with their struggles and frustrations. The book is powerful and captivating, with richly realized and complex characters; Angelou brings out racial prejudice in America in 1930 and 1940s and the book help understand the plight of African Americans. ... Angelou went from being a victi...

• Word Count: 649
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Slavery and the American Experience More than any other history of race relations in America, the struggle between white and black Americans is by the far the most complex and long standing. ... Closely related to the Mammy was the character of the Sambo. ... He paved the way for the Jim Crow character first introduced by T.D. ... The Coon was a comical character that seemed to be able to do no right. ... Previously most of the characters of the Coon and Jim Crow were played by white men in black face in addition the up and coming black entertainers found that as the characters had been...

• Word Count: 1938
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Those people that make generalizations might tell us that a piece of fiction must have one or more characters with whom the reader can relate to. ... In this story, the way the characters are portrayed, to some extent, tends to relate to the existing characters in the reality in which I live in. ... Julian is a character in the story that is being demonstrated in such a way. ... However, Julian and his mother have a very complex relationship. ... It is one that the characters must accept, difficult as those revelations are for them to face. ...

• Word Count: 1330
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The narrator is a major character who is lost and is in search of his identity. ... Unable to question or to seek his own answers to complex issues and lacking a sense of identity, the narrator does not have a clear sense of who he is nor how he fits into society, nor does he ask the right questions to find the right answers. ... The development of the character lays out the foundation on the philosophy of finding and understanding himself confronted with a huge obstacle in his path; racism....

• Word Count: 769
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Cultural identity is in itself a complex phenomenon, subject to the many changes, which take place in any particular society. ... The main character, Clare Savage, struggles with her identity throughout the book. ... In Cliff's novel Abeng, the main character Clare suffers this phenomenon. ... Powell's character. ...

• Word Count: 1717
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Roediger's, "The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class," Roediger reveals a complex connection between nineteenth century white race identity and the development of the American working class. ... Thus, blackness in America became both objects of playful nostalgia, as portrayed with the characters in minstrel shows, and a sort of social and economic representation of the white past. ...

• Word Count: 1029
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

While the Victorian concept of "true womanhood" defined white women as possessing unquestionable moral character, African American women were defined as immoral and sinful. ... Throughout the 20th century, the cross section of both creators and audiences of popular images have changed and the business of commercial imagery itself has become a more sophisticated craft to the extent that contemporary stereotypes of African-American women can be broader and more complex (although no more real) than their 19th century counterparts. ...

• Word Count: 1267
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The United States of America draws its strength from its complex ethnic and cultural diversity. ... All he had to do was to commit him-self to the political ideology centered on the abstract ideals of liberty, equality, and republicanism, thus the Universalist ideological character of American nationality meant that it was open to anyone who willed to become an American....

• Word Count: 1077
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate