Robert Edmund Cormier was a well-known columnist, author and reporter. He was born on January 17, 1925 in Leominster, Massachusetts to Irma and Lucien Cormier. He was the second of eight children and enjoyed spending time with his family. Family was always more important than fame or fortune to Cormier. Hard work and commitment led him to jobs that helped prepare him to be an excellent writer. Throughout his life he wrote many award winning books; two of his most well known books are The Chocolate War and Now and at the Hour. Used as an escape from the harsh truths of life, writing was Cormier’s favorite hobby (Smith).
During his childhood, his family moved many times within the French Hill area, but the family never left Leominster where his father, Lucien, supported the family by working at local factories. They moved frequently as the family grew in order to afford rent during the Depression (Hubbard). Cormier never felt a close bond with his father, since he was always busy working in order to provide for the family. Growing up his mother was always his biggest fan and encouraged him in everything he chose to do (Cormier). Although his mother was Irish the Cormier’s spoke English at home. Cormier always chose to write in English, but the characters in his stories had French-sounding names (Smith).
Cormier was a bookish child, and not particularly good at physical activities. He enjoyed reading all types of books and was happiest when he was at home with his family (Smith). Cormier attended St. Cecilia’s Parochial School, a private catholic school in the Leominster area. The experiences at the school greatly impacted his life and writing in several different ways. In sixth grade, a nun encouraged him to write; that was the f...
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...utlook. While he was a student, teachers always encouraged him to write short stories and poems. Young Cormier never imagined that he would one day be a writer; he believed writers only came from wealthy important families. He was not born into wealth or fame; he worked hard in order to obtain jobs that would one day make him a famous author. The legacy he created did not leave with him, it remains in each of his thrilling books.
Works Cited
Cormier, Robert. The Rag and Bone Shop . New York: Random House, Inc., 2003.
Hubbard, Michael LeBarron and Andrea. Robert Cormier. 2002. 9 April 2014 .
Rothman, Ellen K. Robert Cormier. 2014. 9 April 2014 .
Smith, Nick. Biography of Robert Cormier (1925-2000). 2000. 9 April 2014 .
...ction of Literary Biographies. Ed. Leonard Unger. Vol. 2: Ralph Waldo Emerson to Carson McCullers. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1974. 77-100. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
When inditing, authors incline to tell their own personal story through their literature work, sometimes done unknowingly or deliberately. Albeit some components of the author’s work are fabricated and do not connect with their own personal lives whatsoever, this is sometimes what causes a reader to do their own research about the author and their background of the story. Upon researching Wallace Stegner’s novel Crossing to Safety, one may discover that he did indeed, reveal bits and pieces of his own experiences in his novel. “You break experience up into pieces and you put them together in different amalgamations, incipient cumulations, and some are authentic and some are not… It takes a pedestrian and literal mind to be apprehensive about
Cormier was born in Massachusetts. Like his characters in The Chocolate War, he attended a private Catholic school in New England. In the school, like many other students, he had both bad and good experiences. One of these good experiences originated from a teacher who had enjoyed Cormier's writing and encouraged him to continue. Although this teacher started Cormier on his career path, her presence and importance in his life could not balance out the horrible incident he was faced with at that school. One day in class, Cormier saw his house on fire from the window. Knowing that some family members had been home at the time, he wanted to leave class immediately and hurry back to his home. This was before cell phones, so he could not just dial
Harriet Beecher was always a good writer, even when she was young. When she was young, she won an essay contest. Besides winning essay contests, she also wrote an essay for her high school graduation. In the future, writing would be her life. She married her husband Calvin Stowe and to help finance her poor family, wrote articles to make money. What she didn’t know was that one day her writing would make a huge impact in America and also around the world(Haugen 20-32).
Baym, N. (2008). Cotton mather. In N. Baym (Ed.), The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume 1 (p. 143). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Wright, Richard. "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." Literature and the Writing Process. Ed.
...been prosperous, he may have never been successful in writing. Because he was influenced by his life, his stories influenced and continue to influence many others’ lives. His use of moral wrongness helped students in their faithful walk and their life morals. Many people may be thankful that he was unhappy during his life time because they would not have his stories to read.
"It is one of the blessings of this world that few people see visions and dream dreams" (Hurston). An author, especially during the Harlem Renaissance which immediately followed World War One, is someone who took their dream, acted upon it, and made it into something tangible on paper. An author takes their thoughts and creates something beautifully unique each and every time. Being an author takes a lot of strength in order to find your place in the overpopulated industry of up and coming authors-to-be. In any industry, not just writing, it takes a while to find one's special voice and style. A well respected author of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston wrote
His schooling was brief and of a desultory kind. It ended one day in 1847, when his father died and it became necessary that each one should help somewhat in the domestic crisis. His brother Orion, ten years his senior, was already a printer by trade. Pamela, his sister; also considerably older, had acquired music, and now took a few pupils. The little boy Sam, at twelve, was apprenticed to a printer named Ament. His wages consisted of his board and clothes--"more board than clothes," as he once remarked to the writer.
...il in a story should contribute to the story. Words must not be wasted. Poe’s life was short. He died at the age of forty. He did not appear to waste a moment of his life. He moved from Boston, to Philadelphia, to New York, and to Richmond in the early 1800’s. He even spent five years in London, England. All of these experiences shape his odd life. All of his experiences in his lifetime, including the bad memories, reflected how he wrote his literature. The reader had to understand every aspect of his life to better understand his stories and poems. His writings have been teachings and inspirations for the authors today. Poe is one of the most famous authors in today’s world because of his odd tales, and his eerie life.
Writing is something not everybody can do, but Neal Shusterman makes it seem like a walk in the park. Neal has become a very successful writer, editor, and playwright. Neal Shusterman is not only an author, he is an inspiration for youth readers and writers around the world.
The next four years were spent traveling the states fighting in some of the most well known battles of the Civil War . Ambrose Bierce’s experience during the Civil War where he faced the dangers of nature and man influenced his writing.
As every well-read person knows, the background in which you grow up plays a huge role in how you write and your opinions. Fuller grew up with a very strict education, learning multiple classic languages before she was eight years old. Fern grew up with writers all throughout her family and had a traditional education and saw first hand the iniquities of what hard-working had to contend with. Through close analysis of their work, a reader can quickly find the connections between their tone, style, content, and purpose and their history of their lives and their educational upbringing.
As these few tales reveal, my memories of writing are strongly connected with the intense emotions I felt as I grew up. They are filled with joy, disappointment, boredom, and pride. I believe that each of these experiences has brought me to where I am today. I can only look to the future and hope that my growth will continue, and my writing will reflect those changes within me. As a writer, I have grown immeasurably and will continue to so long as I can find some paper and a pencil.
Bain, Robert, Joseph M. Flora, and Louis D. Rubin, Jr., eds. Southern Writers: A Biographical Dictionary. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1979.