But what exactly would have made such a young African American man aspire to be as white as possible? ... While he could never change the fact that he was indeed African American, what he wanted basically was what all the other African Americans who trudged the land like him desired and that was a sense of belonging and respect in their person. ... Very often there is a lack of curiosity about the lives and feelings of the African Americans and their past. ... Zora Neale Hurston claims that this lack of interest and gap in the national literature and information is causing a strain on world af...

• Word Count: 1560
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Different books will talk in different voices, and books that have fallen into the African American genre speak "a distinctively African voice". This "voice" will do many things, not the least of which is "demonstrate that people of African descent possessed the requisite degrees of reason and whit to create literature, that they were, indeed, full and equal members of the community of rational, sentient beings". ... In addition to African American Literature testifying to the intellect of African Americans, Gates also asserts that the genre "at once testified against their captors and bore ...

• Word Count: 1334
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography

His great oratory skills left the largest impact on Civil War time period literature. ... Frederick Douglass played a major role in the redefinition of American literature in the Civil War time period. ... He wrote three significant autobiographies that helped define the way literature developed during the Civil War time period. ... All of Douglass's achievements combines with his great literature to redefine the writings of the time. ... He changed many people's lives, and helped to earn the respect of African American's, as well as whites today. ...

• Word Count: 1277
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Douglass, as a former slave, single-handedly redefined American Civil War literature, simply by redefining how antislavery writings were viewed. ... One must not overlook Frederick Douglass's oratory skills when looking at his literary career; however, it is Douglass's form which left the largest impact on Civil War time period literature. ... Douglass's Narrative was known as being a brief, descriptive, and easy to read piece of literature. ... Frederick Douglass played a major role in the redefinition of American literature in the Civil War time period. ... In the South, aboli...

• Word Count: 1987
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Many argue that "Beloved" is one of the greatest works of literature from the past 25 years, while others argue that it should be removed from the reading lists and replaced with a more valuable piece of literature such as Shakespeare, F. ... Her background could not have prompted her to write such a story, but the fact that she is an African American woman prompted her instead. ... In the forward of "Beloved," she explains that she is writing this book as an extremely angry African American woman. Throughout the entirety of the novel, her opinion of slavery and the way that the African Americ...

• Word Count: 1397
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Chesnutt was the first African American invited to write for this series and Frederick Douglass was the first African American biography included. Chesnutt and Douglass were men who played important roles in the history of African-Americans and the history of our country. ... The two books were the first works by an African American to be published by a major publishing house. ... He was a strong voice against the disfranchisement of African Americans, the showing of racist movies such as "The Birth of The Nation" and the publication of books denigrating African Americans. In 1928 ...

• Word Count: 913
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The preface of a piece of literature can sometimes be just as important as the story itself. ... Another example of his bias against slavery is in the way he describes the African race. ... Because of Garrison's intention in the preface, his work can be characterized as a type of protest literature. The purpose of protest literature is to influence the reader to join the cause of the author. Much like other protest literature, the preface is evoking the reader to help in the effort to end slavery. ...

• Word Count: 1690
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Frederick Douglass's Narrative acts as a protest literature against slavery. ... Unlike most African Americans, Frederick Douglass taught himself how to read and write along the way. ... As a free man Frederick Douglass was doing many things most African Americans were not able to do. ...

• Word Count: 726
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Malcolm X knew basic rules of literature, but became a reading buff after being arrested for burglary. ... He realized that he could arise from behind his prison bars as a fighter for African-Americans' rights and try to break down racial barriers. ... Frederick Douglass had practically no freedom whatsoever as an African-American in early nineteenth-century America. ... Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X were two African-American men from two different centuries. ... Frederick Douglass, the enslaved 19th-century African-American who appreciated the empowerment and rued the actual knowled...

• Word Count: 1007
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography

Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frederick Douglass both challenged their legitimacy of slavery through their literature. ... During the time of Stowe and Douglass literature, slavery was a big issue, which was taking over the south. ... In Uncle Tom's Cabin, Stowe depicted the life of an African American man named Tom. ... He talked about although his father was white; he still got treated as if he was fully African American. ...

• Word Count: 1590
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The fact that a white man was willing to sacrifice his own life for the rights of millions of African Americans motivated people within the movement to work harder than ever before. ... " John Brown was such a central topic in many works of literature during this time period because he represents to the abolitionist movement what the American Renaissance symbolized for these authors. ... In the same way that they sought to secure their rights from the British, John Brown sought to secure the rights of African Americans trapped in the institution of slavery. ...

• Word Count: 1279
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

On page 1888 of The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Douglass states, "The manhood of the slave is conceded. ... Though we may see these African Americans as "men" today, pro-slavery Americans did not see them as that then. ... Today, women have these rights, as do African Americans and other minorities. ...

• Word Count: 1268
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Many slaves were encouraged by members of the previous generation to explore various aspects of their African ancestry, culture, and education. ... Learning of their ancestry and adapting their culture to conform to their restricted life as a slave resulted in a revolutionized culture for African American slaves, which is clearly evident through Thomas Webber's work. ... Through countless generations, African culture was passed down and survived its journey to the present day, despite all odds. Even while they were enslaved, African Americans aspired to literacy. ... During the time whic...

• Word Count: 2340
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Prison Literature in America. ... The difference in numbers over two decades reveals the corrosive effect of our incarceration epidemic on the health of the African American community. ... In a country less than 13 percent blacks, one half of the prison population is African American. ... The funding of Higher Education and corrections and its impact on African American men makes perfectly clearly the society's investment priority's producer commensurate results. ... Mississippi made it a crime for African Americans to be unemployed or drunk, or to have run away, neglected chil...

• Word Count: 3043
• Approx Pages: 12