... significant numbers that communicate an essence or idea more quickly and completely than words can. It is in this manner that Toni Morrison uses numbers in Beloved. Significant numbers occur starting with the first symbols of the text and the words on the pages before the body of the ... disapproval and a solitary life....Was that the pattern? she wondered. Every eighteen or twenty years her unbelievable life would be interrupted by a short-lived glory?" (173). This symbol is significant, and twenty-eight ap! pears only within this context. Many numbers occur that are significant ... e...

• Word Count: 2260
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... good education and attended the Amherst Academy. After she finished her studies there, she left for the South Hadley Female Seminary. After spending only one short year at the seminary, Dickinson returned home in 1848. This is when she started to live a life of seclusion. When Emily had a sizable ... is derived from Psalms and Protestant hymns. But then Dickinson imposes her own long, rhythmic dashes that serve to interrupt the meter and indicate short pauses that we lose the resemblance to the more traditional form. Unlike other poets, Dickinson is not a philosophical poet. She makes no ...

• Word Count: 1665
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... the story, goes quietly insane, withdrawing into a fantasy world in which she is the most beloved little girl. By society's standards, Pecola is ugly because her skin is darker than a normal lighter skinned black child. Morrison takes this poor, innocent, ugly, little black girl and shows the devastating effects of daily ... not bring her comfort and satisfaction, because she is afraid the eyes given to her are not blue enough. At the end of the book Pecola is isolated from the town both physically and emotionally. She and her mother move to the edge of town. Adults look away when ... n...

• Word Count: 1724
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... . A poet, novelist, play writer, and artist, Jean Toomer was one of many talented African Americans during the 20th century before the Harlem Renaissance. Best known for his book Cane, which included poetry, sketches, short stories and a play, Toomer was established as one of the leading American writers during the 1920's. Most of Toomer's work included discussion of tragedy, frustration and also spirituality ... (winner of a Pulitzer in 1986), Virginia Hamilton, an African American writer of children's books (winner of the Newbery Medal in 1975), Toni Morrison, an African American novel...

• Word Count: 2200
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate