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Flannery O' Connor

analytical Essay
1173 words
1173 words
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Flannery O’ Connor was a Southern author who “wrote during a time of great social change, those changes- and the relationships among blacks and whites- were not at the center of her fiction.” (New, n.pg). She was a very spiritual person whose faith shined through her works. She was said to be one of the strongest apologists for Roman Catholicism in the twentieth century. “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, is an example of how she “consciously intended to underscore bolding one’s common sinfulness and need for divine grace.” (New, n.pg). Flannery O’ Connor wrote “A Good Man is Hard to Find” for an audience who did not share her belief in the fall of humanity and its need for redemption.

Flannery O’ Connor was born on March 25, 1925, in Savannah, Georgia. Her parents, Regina Cline and Edward F. O’ Connor, were descendants from two of Georgia’s oldest Catholic families. She began her education in the Savannah’s parochial schools but moved to her mother’s hometown, Milledgeville, in 1938. In Milledgeville, Flannery attended the Peabody Laboratory School that was associated with Georgia State College for Women. Today, Georgia State College for Women is called Georgia College and State University. At 15 years old and as an only child, Flannery lost her father due to systemic lupus erythematosus. Being as close as she was to her father, she decided to remain in Milledgeville and attend Georgia State College for Women as a day student in an accelerated three-year program. (New, n.pg)

While attending Georgia State College for Women, Flannery served as editor of the college’s literary magazine, Corinthian. She also had the unofficial job as campus cartoonist. “Before devoting herself to writing, she considered a career as a cartoonist.” (Fl...

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...did not share her belief in the fall of humanity and its need for redemption. She wrote about her religious beliefs and the human condition which elevated her writings to a level of great literature (O’Connor Biography, n.pg).

Works Cited

"Flannery O'Connor." Www.kirjasto.sci.fi. 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.

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"New Georgia Encyclopedia: Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964)." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 3

Mar. 2009. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.
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"O'Connor Biography." Georgia Center for the Book. 15 Dec. 2000. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.

Festival/Archive/2001/elffoc.html>.

"O'Connor on "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"" Error. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.

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In this essay, the author

  • Opines that flannery o' connor was a southern author who wrote during the time of great social change, but the relationships between blacks and whites weren't at the center of her fiction.
  • Explains that flannery o' connor was born on march 25, 1925, in savannah, georgia. she attended the peabody laboratory school, which was associated with georgia state college for women.
  • Explains that flannery served as editor of the college's literary magazine, corinthian, and unofficially as campus cartoonist. she graduated from georgia state college for women with a social science major.
  • Narrates how flannery received a scholarship for journalism from the state university of iowa, but decided journalism wasn't her métier and sought out the writers' workshop's head, paul engle.
  • Narrates how o' connor received her degree of master of fine arts in literature the following year, 1947. she won the rinehart-iowa fiction award for a first novel and was accepted at yaddo, an artists' retreat.
  • Narrates how o' connor left yaddo in 1949 to live with robert and sally fitzgerald. she found devout catholics who provided her with the balance of solitude and communion necessary to her creativity and intellectual and spiritual life.
  • Describes how flannery stayed in touch with the literary world through her friends robert fitzgerald, robert lowell, caroline gordon, and others. she won several awards and grants while out of the spotlight.
  • Analyzes how flannery o'connor's work emphasized on original sin, guilt, and alienation. her characters' names are often ironic clues to their spiritual deficiencies.
  • Analyzes how flannery o' connor died in 1964 after surgery for a fibroid tumor that reactivated her lupus. her body of work was small: 31 stories, 2 novels, speeches and letters.
  • Cites "flannery o'connor." www.kirjasto.sci.fi, 2008. web. 11 mar. 2012.
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