Biography of Toni Morrison - 1620 Words

Toni Morrison Born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue and richly detailed black characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved. Morrison has won nearly every book prize possible. She has also been awarded honorary degrees. Early Career Born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison was the second oldest of four children. Her father, George Wofford, worked primarily as a welder, but held several jobs at once to support the family. Her mother, Ramah, was a domestic worker. Morrison later credited her†¦show more content†¦That year, The New York Times Book Review named Beloved the best novel of the past 25 years. She continued to explore new art forms, writing the libretto for Margaret Garner, an American opera that explores the tragedy of slavery through the true life story of one womans experiences. The opera debuted at the New York City Opera in 2007. Morrison traveled back to the early days of slavery in the United States for her next novel, A Mercy. Once again, a woman who is both a slave and a mother must make a terrible choice regarding her child. As a critic from the Washington Post described it, the novel is a fusion of mystery, history and longing. In addition to her many novels, Morrison has written several works of non-fiction. She published collection of her non-fiction writings entitled What Moves at the Margin in 2008. A champion for the arts, Morrison spoke out about censorship in October 2009 after one of her books was banned at a Michigan high school. She served as editor for Burn This Book, a collection of essays on censorship and the power of the written word, which was published that same year. She told a crowd gathered for the launch of the Free Speech Leadership Council about the importance of fighting censorship. The thought that leads me to contemplate with dread the erasure of other voices, of unwritten nove ls, poemsShow MoreRelated Memoirs of a Geisha and the Bluest Eye Essay example900 Words   |  4 PagesComparison Essay of Memoirs of a Geisha and the Bluest Eye Memoirs of a Geisha by Aurthor Golden and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison are two thought provoking books with a unique style of writing. Memoirs of a Geisha has a beautiful poetic grammar which captures readers imagination and brings the story to life. Morrison on the other hand uses combined voices to give varied perspectives with out resorting to authorial intrusion or preaching. Memoirs Of A Geisha and the bluest eye both containRead MoreFrom Milton Mirkin to Toni Cade Essays967 Words   |  4 Pagesyears with her mother, Helen Brent Henderson, and her brother, Walter. She and her family moved often but she came to call the communities of New York City and New Jersey home. (www.answers.com) Miltona Mirkin Cade would later change her name to Toni Cade Bambara. The reason she changed her name? Atop the reason that many writers generally change their names from their birth names, Bambara adopted the name after she had run across her great-grandmother’s sketchbook, which had the name Bambara etchedRead MoreWell-known American Author Toni Morrison1182 Words   |  5 PagesToni Morrison (named Chloe Anthony Wofford at birth) was born in Lorain, Ohio, on February 18, in 1931, to Ramah (nà ©e Willis) and George Wofford. She is the second child of four in a middle-class family. As a child, Morrison read frequently; her favorite authors were Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy. Morrisons father told her many folktales of the black community (something that would later be apart of Morrisons works). Morrison is a well known American author, editor, and professor who won the NobelRead MoreToni Morrison Analysis Essay1167 Words   |  5 Pagesparticipated in this literary exercise and despite their motives, they acquired the profound ability to empathize with their audiences’ ambitions, fears, and misfortunes. During the lamentable times of racial and economic turmoil, a brilliant woman named Toni Morrison was introduced into this world and would later be a remarkable influence on literature. Proactively, she channeled her frustrations and fears of racial prejudice into her literary works, earning an admirable reputation for her bravery of discussingRead MoreEssay on Themes in Song Of Solomon2113 Words   |  9 PagesToni Morrison is one of the most talented and successful African-American authors of our time. Famous for works such as The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Beloved, Morrison has cultivated large audiences of all ethnicities and social classes with her creative style of writing. It is not Morrison’s talent of creating new stories that attracts her fans. In contrast, it is her talent of revising and modernizing traditional Biblical and mythological stories that have been present in literature for centuries.Read MoreSlavery and Racism in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy Essay2930 Words   |  12 Pagesslavery and racism in the new world in the early 17th Century would lead us towards a sensitive understanding of the kind of ‘playful’ relationship African Americans have with notions pertaining to location, dislocation and relocation. By taking up Toni Morrison’s ninth novel entitled A Mercy (2008), this paper firstly proposes to analyze this work as an African American’s artistic representation of primeval America in the 1680s before slavery was institutionalized. The next segment of the study intendsRead MoreRelationship Between Mothers and Daughters in Toni Morrisons Recitatif4756 Words   |  20 Pagesand daughter s in Toni Morrisons â€Å"Recitatifâ€Å" Karolin Lattisch Brinkstraße 3 17489 Greifswald Lehramt Gym Eng/ Ru 128126 6th semester k.lattisch@yahoo.de Contents 1. Introduction 1 2 4 5 7 10 11 13 14 1.1 The author – Toni Morrison 2. 3. Introducing â€Å"Recitatifâ€Å" Relationship between mothers and daughters 3.1 Relationship between Twyla and her mother 3.2 Relationship between Roberta and her mother 3.3 Role of Maggie 4. Conclusion Sources 1. Introduction Although Toni Morrison is best known forRead More The Works of Phillis Wheatley Essay examples803 Words   |  4 PagesThe Works of Phillis Wheatley Biography: Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1753. Sometime after her birth, she was brought to America and purchased by John Wheatley in 1761. He turned Phillis over to his wife, Susanna, to work as a personal maid. After realizing Phillis’ intellect, the Wheatley family encouraged Phillis to study the Bible and read English and Latin literature, history and geography. Wheatley’s first poem was published in a Rhode Island newspaper in 1767.Read MoreEssay on The Song of Solomon2983 Words   |  12 Pages Book Title Song of Solomon Author Toni Morrison Summary The first black boy ever born in Mercy Hospital in a town in Michigan comes into the world the day after an insurance agent named Robert Smith kills himself by trying to â€Å"fly† from the roof of the hospital across Lake Superior. The boys mother, Ruth, nurses him until he is eight or nine years old, thus earning him the ridiculous nickname Milkman. Milkman befriends an older boy named Guitar, visits his Aunt Pilate, and falls in love withRead MoreLyon Park s Community And Recreation Center1002 Words   |  5 Pagesperformance. Lyon Park’s CommUNITY Scholars After School Tutorial Program’s teachers make an effort to decorate the walls with African American intellectuals and leaders. On the walls, one can spot images and biographies of people such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, etc. Spring argues ethnocentric curricula allows students to believe â€Å"getting ahead in the economic and social system is not a matter of being white