1. The American Dream
You have just been hit by Ishmael Reed, one of the most prolific black writers of the latter half of the 20th century. Part cultural detective, part bloodhound, part trickster, the Oakland resident's 30-year career has been a roller coaster ride of both accolades and literary antagonisms.
Twice nominated for the National Book Award, once a finalist for the Pulitzer, and branded a "genius" by the MacArthur Foundation, Reed's books have incited radicals to label him a conservative and conservatives to paint him as a radical. He has written fiction, nonfiction, poetry, plays, and even penned blues songs that he performs with a band. All the while, Reed has taught English at U.C. Berkeley for the past 20 years.
Now, the breadth and variety of Reed's career can be seen whole. The Reed Reader, published by Basic Books, is a collage of his written work over the last three decades.
Reed settles in his chair and sips on his coffee, staring at you with the same searing intensity that jumps off the back jacket of his books.
"I've done well in my writing career considering how the United States treats black male writers," says Reed. "Black writers are under literary colonialism. It is a racist, "good old boy' literary fraternity that encourages imitation and acquiescence to its attitudes. Their surrogates must adhere to the party line. Right now the party line holds that the behavior of black people is responsible for their plight. This is the "tough love' racket, which always scolds, but never rewards the group - black -- which it considers morally delinquent.".
The writer's outspokenness, which often ruffles feathers, may be part of the reason he has not always gotten the props he deserves. A quick draw, and an accurate marksman, Reed's acid tongue and fiery pen have wound their way around powerful individuals and institutions across the country.
"Will The Reed Reader be anything like The Cornel West Reader?" you ask.
These creation myths contain many of the same universal elements that are found in nearly all creation myths and they demonstrate for us the degree to which the Indians felt we truly are one with nature. ... The punishment of the Water Monster is a direct reference to the great flood that is found in many creation myths, including that of the Christian myths. ... Finally, these creation myths discuss the nature of human beings. ... All three of the Indian creation myths hold universal elements that are easily recognizable and comparable to other creation myths from other cultures. The Indian c...
Myths can be about anything and can be used to explain a variety of ideas. The myth of Prometheus is a rather important one in the Greek and Roman cultures. The main characters of this myth are Prometheus and Epimetheus. ... This myth was told for the sole purpose of explaining how man was created and was not told, like many other myths, to entertain. This myth does not try to point out a certain lesson, but it does show that if you commit a crime like stealing, there are consequences to be paid. ...
Facts of marriage are usually confused with myths. ... The second myth about marriage is, We Will Make Each Other Happy. ... The fourth myth is, My spouse is all I need. This myth is a popular one. ... We all carry myths into our marriages. ...
Resonant as a Myth? Is it valid to call Fowles" The Collector resonant of a myth? ... Often, myths strive to delineate the psychology, customs, or ideals of society or explain aspects of the natural world. They explain why the world is the way it is, and each myth conveys its own message. ... Interestingly, there is a Greek Myth that involves the capture and eternal torture of a beautiful and enchanting woman. ...
Those that believe in myth over science, are they wrong? ... The term myth has multiple meanings. ... The term myth should not be thought of as fictitious or primitive. The possibility for the myth to be real should always be considered. ... In the myth Hesiod anthropomorphizes the cosmos. ...
The quotation marks around beauty explain this myth. ... Naomi Wolff, the main thinker of beauty myth states that "the wishful notion that with enough time, money, effort, and will power, any woman can and should attempt to look like an extremely tall, young, slender-yet-bosomy, Nordic blonde model of a certain facial bone structure more or less summarizes the prevailing beauty myth." The beauty myth is brainwashing, a warped and destructive notion in a universe of such amazing diversity. ... (Beecroft 1999: 176) The beauty myth triggers many associations On-going cycle 1. ... The beauty...
Myths are about our common experience. ... Myths are a reflection of human nature; human nature is reflected in myth. ... Thus it stands to reason that myths reflect human nature and human nature is reflected in myth. Some myths, generally creation myths, relate to questions like those mentioned previously. ... Joseph Campbell wrote, "Read myths. ...
Some of the authors also used myth so they would not make their readers feel stupid or being talked down to. ... Below is a discussion of what I fell how each of these author's use myth and their purpose of using it. Carlyle uses myth (past) to help bring the past into the present. ... Tennyson's main use of myth is to illustrate how man lost their faith and the consequences of losing it. ... Tennyson uses myth to help project his own vision of how he saw his own civilization (i.e., hollowness he saw). ...
The Jicarilla Apache creation myth follows the basic ideals of an etiological myth. The myth entitled In The Beginning Nothing Was Here is typical of most cosmogonic myths and more specifically typical of Native American creation myth. ... This aspect of the myth coincides with typical Native American creation myth. ... The myth explains things that are uncommon in cosmogonic myths. ... This is the only existence in Jicarilla Apache myth where something is simply imagined like the way Brahma did in the myths of Hinduism. ...