A Critical Analysis Of Bell Hooks

Statement of Purpose Racism is from a series of books that exploring ideas of social, political, and economic controversies from the national and international views of today. The author purpose for writing a book on racism is to show people different views of racism in America. Jennifer Hurley the author wanted to clear up the debates in current controversies of race problems in America. Some people believe the civil rights movement effectively eliminated racism in American society. Other people believe that racism is still alive and is prominent in African Americans lives, holding them back from their progression in American society.

In the poem Angelou uses repetition and metaphors to convey to readers how she overcame racism. Angelou does an exceptional job of showing her strength through oppression, showing her struggles of being an African American female in America and she effectively shows how she overcomes racism. The poem “Still I Rise” is about overcoming oppression with grace and moving on despite the hateful words and actions of oppressors. The poem is written with Maya Angelou herself as the speaker. It is written in the present tense displaying that she has overcome all her hardships.

“Feminism begins with the premise the at women’s and men’s positions in society are the result of social, not natural or biological factors.”(ppt, slide 9) This quote helps establish the definition of feminism, which is that women’s and men’s ideas and concerns should be treated as equal. That quote is from an influential feminist writer bell hook. She grew up in the south were young black girls were not encouraged to speak. This was so greatly instilled in her that she decided to write her books using a pseudonym so that she could have an identity where she would be able to write and not go back to silence. To break her silence she had to be defiant with her speech, which lead her to become an independent speaker.

Kenneth Eble states, “…She undertook to give the unsparing truth about women’s submerged life” (2). Speaking solely about Kate Chopin, this quote puts emphasis upon Chopin’s disputes with her society. She used her writing as a technique to indirectly explicate her life by the means of narrating her stories through the characters she created. Kate Chopin was one of the modern writers of her time, one who wrote novels concentrating on the common social matters related to women. Her time period consisted of other female authors that focused on the same central theme during the era: exposing the unfairness of the patriarchal society, and women’s search for selfhood, and their search for identity.

First, she writes about the hardships of slave life such as losing people close to you. Then, she provides examples of how the women and men of the south differ from those who were born and raised in the North Through out the novel, she continuously states the hardships mothers have to face, which women anywhere can relate to. Finally, her emotionally detached tone causes the readers to really understand that she is writing to make a point rather than to look for sympathy.

The progression of civil rights for black women that existed throughout the twentieth century mirrors the development Celie makes from a verbally debilitated girl to an adamant young woman. The expression of racism and sexism that evidenced itself during the postmodern era presented Walker with an opportunity to compose a novel that reveals her strong animosity toward discrimination. Without these outlets, Walker would not have had the ability to create a novel with such in-depth insights into the lifestyle of an immensely oppressed woman. The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor, young black girl, growing up in rural Georgia in the early twentieth century. The novel follows the protagonist, Celie, as she experiences such hardships as racism and abuse, all the while attempting to discover her own sense of self-worth.

It mostly concentrates on the emotional viewpoints on it and what it did to shape who she is. When writing her story, Jacobs had a clear motive. Her motive was one of a political taking. She writes through her experiences and sufferings to make it clear to people, mainly the Northerners, and more specifically white women in the North, how slavery really is. She does not want sympathy, however, she does want "to arouse the women in the North to a realizing sense of the condition of two millions of women of the South, still in bondage" (460).

The reason why women’s literature can guide you so earnestly into this world is because they too have encountered some of these obstacles, but it’s more than this, they want to share with you the power that lies within their words. Writers like Frances E.W. Harper who wrote poems and novels about the pain many slaves endured during the mid 1800s (Showalter 176-183), or Charlotte Perkins Gilman who wrote about her battle with depression and the biased treatment she received (Showalter 446-462). When it comes to these literary works of women with its wide diverse texts, all its different genres to choose from, and all its compilations, how is one to interpret and make sense of it all? I believe the poet Adrienne Rich had an answer in her essay When we Dead Awaken: Writings as Re-Vision, “A radical critique of literature…would take the work first of all as a clue to how we live…how our language has trapped as well as liberated us; and how we can begin to see-and therefore live-afresh…We need to know the writings of the past…not to pass on tradition but to break its hold over us” (Rosenman

This diary entry represents the black woman’s strength. The third entry, “Awakening” contains a second poem written by Lucille Clifton, titled “come home from the movies”. This poem represents a black woman awakening in her community and noticing all of the various factors that are breaking up the union in the black community as well as preventing their success. Within this poem, this woman is urging her people to gain this awakening too, and realize how they have gotten distracted from what is important in life. This diary entry represents the black woman’s knowledge by showing how she can identify when her community is headed for

The poem Still I Rise by African American poet, Maya Angelou. She is a 20th century poet, who uses her voice to broadcast the oppression and hardship that African American women face. Maya Angelou spoke for those who don’t have the ability to or courage as well as using life struggles and accomplishments to uplift and give power back to the African American population especially towards women. The poem consist of many different tones of voice, varying from playful, defiant, and bitter, this help Maya Angelou beautify showing the strength and the endurance of the black women. Despite, the ever presence barriers that are set in place by the oppressors ( colonial powers, rich-poor gap etc.)