Slave life was also faced with hardships of starvation and brutal and senseless beatings. ... Slaves faced tremendous difficulties, but even if they were free their life was tainted. The free black man was still living an oppressed life. ... Many were pushed to a point to take their own lives. ... Many men were disgraced because they were unable to supply a sufficient life for their family. ...

• Word Count: 1689
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

" The really great ones like Hughes confront their bleak realities without letting those realities dictate their lives with regards to things that they can control. Very often there is a lack of curiosity about the lives and feelings of the African Americans and their past. It usually has to take something really great for the Anglo-Saxons to show any form of interest in the lives of these people who share the same land. ... Two of the most popular narratives of that era were Douglass's "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave" and Harriet Jacob's "Incide...

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

In Maycomb, it is commonplace for people like Bob Ewell to have their lives revolve around the strong belief that racism is right and natural, and therefore feel completely justified in lying and endangering the lives of others over this issue. ... Bob Ewell believed in racism so strongly that he was eager to take the "rape" case to court and put Tom's life at stake to cover up the broken "code.... Many of the people who play smaller roles in Atticus and Tom's life each do their part to help. ... By bringing the children to church, despite the grave risks, she helps ke...

• Word Count: 1682
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In "Cavalry Crossing a Ford" Walt Whitman draws on many life experiences that provide both realism and conviction to the poem. ... Hughes did succeed however, and went on to write about the injustices that were a part of daily life for blacks, as well as life without his father. In "Cross" Langston Hughes presents an image of a mulatto and the implications that it had on their life. ... The life long witnessing of white supremacy leads Hughes to pen these two lines that not only show of how his parents lived their lives, but also the lives that he saw nearly every black person in America l...

• Word Count: 1893
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography

This novel focused on the life of a young man growing up in Harlem grappling with father issues and his religion. ... This is a story of how two African Americans brothers take their own path through life as they struggle to find meaning in their lives. ... He's trapped by his wrong decisions and cannot find a way to change his course in life when he's under the influence of heroin. ... He argues that the lives and futures of whites and African Americans are inextricably intertwined. ... Boyd focuses on the powerful role Harlem played in Baldwin's life and work. ...

• Word Count: 1511
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

Angelou's style of writing shows her honesty, feelings, and emotions about most of the experiences that she went through in her life, as well as the life of the people around her (Richard 84). ... During the years when she went mute, Angelou would memorize his poems while imagining how they would recited in real life. ... Angelou's writing theory is based on her life experiences, as well as that of other black Americans. ... With her work of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou was able to practice and express her literature and writing styles or theories, which involved discussi...

• Word Count: 1524
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

What pleasure is available for the black female audience member when viewing Imitation of Life? ... In Sirk's version of Imitation of Life (1959), the Mammy character is a woman named Annie. ... Her dress is more modern, sans a handkerchief, she has no trace of an accent, and she lives with Lora out of necessity, not obligation. ... She attempts to create a new life for herself passing as a white woman but only at the cost of losing her mother. ...

• Word Count: 1793
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography

The Life of Mary McLeod Bethune While looking through several books, trying to find a great educator for the African American community besides Charlotte Hawkins Brown. ... Most of Mary's siblings had to be forced to attend school, but Mary had made up her mind that education was the key to helping African Americans improve their lives. ... Sometimes, she would take Mary over to play with her employer's daughter, but one day something happened and it marked Mary's soul for the rest of her life. ... Due to the efforts of NCNW President Dorothy Height, Bethune's e...

• Word Count: 1677
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The whites didn't want to have any contact with their "inferior race" and they lived their lives without encountering with African Americans by setting up separate black and white facilities. ... If any blacks violated the laws, they risked their homes, their jobs, even their lives. ... The "separate but equal" doctrine was quickly extended to cover many areas of public life, such as restaurants, theaters, restrooms, and public schools. ...

• Word Count: 1719
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

In the book Black Elk Speaks, being the life story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux as told through John G. ... Indians believed that there would be a better life for them after they die, because many of them did not see a way out, but people were still fighting for their lives. ... The most important aspect of the book shows how young Indians aggressively try to overcome all of the harsh reality and attain the one point that would substantially change their lives. The book shows how spirituality and unity among the people of the specific Indian tribe, Oglala, gave them strength for trying to...

• Word Count: 1273
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the book Black Elk Speaks, being the life story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux as told through John G. ... Indians believed that there would be a better life for them after they die, because many of them did not see a way out, but people were still fighting for their lives. ... The most important aspect of the book shows how young Indians aggressively try to overcome all of the harsh reality and attain the one point that would substantially change their lives. The book shows how spirituality and unity among the people of the specific Indian tribe, Oglala, gave them strength for trying to...

• Word Count: 1265
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The two girls are quite similar characters, but on the other hand, they live completely different lives. Squeaky lives in Harlem, a very urban area of NewYork, where she experiences a tough life, while Hazel lives in the rural south, a place of racial discrimination. ... They fight to achieve respect, which is particulary vital to Squeaky, for she lives in quite a brutal area. ... Furthermore, they learned to demand respect from other people, and for that reason, they needed an attitude to get through life. ... Nonetheless, if you take a closer look, and take a step towards to them, you will n...

• Word Count: 2209
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

Professor Harris English 110 Section 5 23 November 2003 Finding Strength From Within Life is filled with choices. ... The result will define who they are and ultimately has the ability to change their lives and the way they live them. ... Steffen is faced with a moral decision that will ultimately affect the rest of life. ... The outcomes both Santiago and Steffen choose have the power to shape their lives. Similarly they were both faced with a tough decision having to make a choice that does not pertain to anything they are capable of controlling in their lives. ...

• Word Count: 1731
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The three major changes in Malcolm X's life that will be examined in this essay are his life in Boston, his life in prison, and his pilgrimage. ... Malcolm is still just a teenager when he moves to Boston where his sister Ella lives. ... "Shorty" Jarvis could be said to be a surrogate father, introducing Malcolm to the world he lives in. ... The reader can see the gritty, almost surreal, nightlife that Malcolm lives in, "Neon lights, nightclubs, poolhalls,[cq] bars, the cars they drove! ... But being saved from his life in New York doesn't help him out of his old life ...

• Word Count: 1903
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Native Son Chicago in the 1930's was split into two opposing views of life: the raw, tough life in the Black Belt of Chicago's south side ghetto and the awe astounding world of the distant white realm. ... He believes it is not possible in his home and in the environment he lives in which is a continual bombardment of shattering defeats for which Bigger is unable to see through. ... He feels uncomfortable in this new and benumbing world he has just stepped into, where "each person lives in one room and has a little world of his own" (100). ... He now knows that he "[lives] an...

• Word Count: 1638
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

By that, meaning the whites needed the blacks in order to keep their lives organized and crazy-free and the blacks needed the whites to help keep their lives suitable by working. ... But with the help of a military psychiatrist, he was able to turn his life around and actually enjoy it. ... She makes sure that whatever she does with the insurance money and in her life is for the good of the family. ... It was good for Antwone because he needed a father figure in his life. ... The main two characters, Lincoln and Booth, were brothers and each had their own way of looking at life. ...

• Word Count: 1924
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

The two women open a cafe together in their small Southern town of Whistle Stop and manage to survive the hardships of life, despite racism, prejudice and the pressures of trying to live their lives as individuals in a strict and close-minded Southern society. ... In both cases, companionship increases the value of life to each individual, the women use the relationships to improve themselves or their circumstances and the relationships themselves improve the lives of others around these main characters. ... Evelyn also is an altruistic personality in the beginning of the movie, spending her ...

• Word Count: 1880
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

By Standing up for what they believed in Tucker and Reverend Bradshaw gave the townspeople the courage to have faith in themselves and take their lives into their hands. ... John's eulogy was not full of accomplishments and strides he made in his life but it spoke of the sacrifices he made. ... Tucker does not want to be remembered as a man "who worked hard all his life for one family- (122). ... Tucker and Bradshaw helped people see that they can not sit back and let others decide who they will lead their lives. ... By Standing up for what they believed in Tucker and Reverend Bradsh...

• Word Count: 1992
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Throughout his life, King devoted so much time to the civil rights movement due to his many limits by segregation laws as he was growing up, in addition to the many influences of both people and his religion throughout his life. ... Growing up, King never knew of a different life, one without segregation, so he wan not bothered too much. ... King was very confused and wanted to know why his long-time friend would vanish from his life. ... Martin Luther King's parents told their son that all their lives blacks suffered through many unjust situations because of the racist whites. ... Al...

• Word Count: 1609
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

"I was very pleased that the book that...got the Pulitzer... was a book about my grandparents; a collection of poems that dealt with their lives: first his side and then her side..."" ... "...Rita Dove's award winning collection of poetry "Thomas and Beulah- provides glimpses into the lives of two people in love living together yet apart in an imperfect world. ... Part of my political and personal mandate is to represent life in all of its complexities, in its fullness."" ... "The use of young black female voices in her poems can be traced to Dove's own life experiences.""... The...

• Word Count: 1934
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Her male characters are all surrounded by legacies that haunt them throughout most of their lives, and this legacy becones them to search out their own family or personal identity. ... In Milkman hits on the false pretense of a life that he was living. ... His identity was their identity and in realizing their history and their lives, he could form a true black male identity of his own. ... "Everybody wants the life of a black man. ... What good is a man's life is he can't even choose what to die for?...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

These troops were one of the first black soldiers to become great defenders of the United States military, they determined themselves and risked their lives, learning all of the proper techniques and tactics to defeat the enemy. ... Although these men had a hard time trying to live a proper life in which there wasn't any higher or lesser individual, as time progressed, these soldiers began to inhabit their differences and judge themselves equals. ... "They have risked their lives to save their life, my life, they have given their freedom." These words demonstrate the acknowledgement on...

• Word Count: 1546
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Authors wrote to escape the trials and tribulations of life, such as poverty and discrimination. ... Their writings dealt with black life from a black perspective, and it celebrated the characteristics of African American life and the enjoyment of life without fear. ... Mckay also presented glimpses of the glamour and the grit of Harlem life in Harlem Shadows. ... Writers were able to deliver a more subtle, and more effective, message by portraying the lives of characters and by composing verses in their poems. ... The Great Depresion increased the economic pressure on all sections of life. ...

• Word Count: 1369
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

For most of McBride's life, he was yearning for an identity to call his own. ... " This helped him to cope with all these current problems in his life. ... " All of this defends the thesis, because this event demonstrates how anyone, no matter their class or race will face obstacles or difficulties in their lives, and they must be dealt with somehow. ... James McBride has taught readers through, "The Color of Water," that everyone faces obstacles in their lives, but they can all be overcome. ... McBride's life had been defined by disconnection and uncertainty. ...

• Word Count: 1571
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Her songs talked about real life and real love. ... The sights and sounds of Harlem, its music and dance and intellectual life, inspired Langston more than his classes in mining engineering, and eventually he quit school. ... In 1926 Hughes published his first book of poems, The Weary Blues, about Harlem life. ... He wrote of their daily lives in America's cities, of their anger and their loves. ... He painted many different series of works depicting the lives of many different African Americans. ...

• Word Count: 1300
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School