Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco on December 14, 1916, a year prior to the U.S. entering World War I. It was a very tumultuous time in the world and especially influential in Ms. Jackson’s life as she developed through childhood. Events of the time that may have influenced Ms. Jackson’s view of society when growing up included the introduction of prohibition, the Roaring 20’s, women’s suffrage, and the advent of the Great Depression. Women were beginning to exercise their independence and more exciting opportunities to develop creativity as a female finally seemed a real possibility. In 1934 at the age of seventeen the Jackson family moved east and settled in the community of Rochester, NY. Moving from the West Coast to the East Coast brought its challenges for Ms. Jackson including a drastic change in societal views from a more free spirit liberal view in California to a more traditional conservative view in Western New York. After a year of attending the University of Rochester and spreading her wings a bit, Shirley decided to spend a year at home in a more conservative environment with her parents practicing her writing skills and perfecting her style. During this time the world was moving in a dangerous direction with Adolf Hitler being appointed as Chancellor of Germany and the Nazi Party beginning to expand its power and persecution of the Jews in Europe. In 1937 Ms. Jackson enrolled at Syracuse University where she met her future husband Stanley Edgar Hyman. While there she published her first short story, helped develop a new literary magazine and became editor of a campus humor magazine. With all this going on in her life, the world changed once again with the start of World War II in 1939. Many of he... ... middle of paper ... ...e a Dream" speech and civil rights was the single most influential movement of the day. With major social changes on the horizon, Ms. Jackson was engulfed with enough writing inspiration to create material for the next decade. In 1965 she was awarded the Arents Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Achievement from Syracuse University. Life was good and many new projects were in the works. Unfortunately on August 8, at the age of 48, it all came to an abrupt end as Shirley Jackson died unexpectedly of heart failure during an afternoon nap. Works Cited About.com 20th Century History. ttp://history1900s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/1900timeline.htm Allen, Linda. "Shirley Jackson's Bio." Shirley Jackson's. N.p., 1 Jan. 2009. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. . Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery and Other Stories. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. Print.
Many of Jackson’s stories were influenced by the continuous refusal to agree with her mother’s beliefs about how women should portray themselves. Jackson’s mother always wanted her to be the typical woman, a beautiful house wife. Her mother, from the day Jackson was born, wished that her daughter could be “a fool, a beautiful fool, the best thing a girl could be in this life” (Oppenheimer 11). Despite her mother’s wishes, Jackson was anything but a beautiful fool. The constant struggle against her mother’s negative feedback towards the person she wanted Jackson to be, influenced the view she had about women being capable to do more with their lives.
Katherine Johnson was known for her amazing mind ever since she was little. She was born on August 26th, 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and is still alive today. Her mother worked as a teacher, and her father as a farmer and janitor. At the age of thirteen, she was one of only three black students picked to go to a prestigious, and primarily white college in West Virginia. Her family moved 125 miles away so she and her 3 siblings could further their education there. She actually enrolled in the college itself at fourteen and quickly learned the math curriculum. During college she met her first husband, James Goble. She eventually got involved in a choir at Carver Presbyterian church and stayed there for 50 years. She also joined
Jackson Attended regular school and decided to enroll into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He was older than most of his classmates but at first Jackson struggled terribly with his course. To make all the matters worse, his classmates often teased him about
People were starving, homeless, and always in line at the soup kitchen and the citizens of America were hopeless, what could possibly help their lives happier during this sorrowful time? That's right, Shirley Temple Black. She was America's shield from harsh reality, everyone was searching for any money they could find just to go see her, even the president of the united states made a statement! While she was starring in movies like “Little Miss Marker” Shirley didn't even know how much of a help she was to our country. People were happy, for once, while watching Shirley tap dance and pucker her lips. Shirley took the risk of pursuing acting at a young age and going into the harsh world of reality while still a toddler and it paid off. Though she had to remember that the roles she played were just roles and not new additions to her
The supernatural cannot be explained by logic nor reasoning, neither can it be studied by science, since the intangible force that controls the supernatural cannot be measured or controlled by the intellect. Shirley Jackson expressed “interest in superstition, and the supernatural” as a child; her interest in the occult led Jackson to become a practicing witch, Lenemaja Friedman Professor of English Literature confirms this in her book Shirley Jackson (Friedman 19). Jackson critics, felt that her stories were the works of a twisted mind, because of this “Jackson downplayed the single real-life parallel to her fiction — her personal study and practice of witchcraft” in order to debunk the critics evaluation of her mind as brought to light by Charles Avinger in his essay Shirley Jackson Identities & Issues in Literature (Avinger). Shirley Jackson’s interest in superstitions, and delving into the supernatural influenced the writing of “Home”, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and The Haunting of Hill House.
Gallagher, Julie. "WAGING "THE GOOD FIGHT": THE POLITICAL CAREER OF SHIRLEY CHISHOLM, 1953-1982." Journal of African American History 92.3 (2007): 392-416. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.
From the "I Have a Dream" speech to "The Drum Major Instinct," Martin Luther King Jr. was notable speaker and leader during the Civil Rights Movement between the 1950s and the 1960s. Based upon his Christian beliefs, King used nonviolence and civil disobedience to achieve his goals of racial equality; the "I Have A Dream" sermon was famously delivered during the March on Washington in 1963, and a year proceeding, King received a Nobel Peace a Prize through his passive resistance. The activist was fatally shot in 1968, yet albeit his death, King became an iconic American figure, leaving a momentous legacy. The day following his assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, in which caused a major leap forward for racial equality in the United States. In his honor, a memorial was erected in Washington D.C., reflecting his "I Have a Dream" speech alongside various messages from other sermons.
Shirley Jackson's short story “Charles”, takes place in the late 1940’s at Laurie's house and the beginning of school year. From the first day of kindergarten, Laurie comes back from school full of stories about a kid named Charles. These stories include very bad behavior, such as being rude to the teacher and hurting other students. Laurie's behavior gets worse as weeks go on. The parents did not believe Laurie was causing any problems in the classroom. This conflict quickly escalates into an everyday problem. This leads up to Shirley Jackson's theme that lies affect other people then just yourself. This theme is supported through point of view and foreshadowing throughout the short story.
Helen Hunt Jackson was born on October 14, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was born Helen Maria Fiske and lost both her parents as a child being raised by her aunt. Jackson was known as an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans. Known best as an author of children's books and poems during the nineteenth century, According to Lily, “Helen Hunt Jackson very rarely published under her given name, preferring instead to use such pseudonyms as H. H. and Saxe Holm.” She wanted to keep her work anonymous. Helen Hunt Jackson was a major contributor that played an important role in American History.
Margaret Peterson Haddix is an influential writer. With guidance from one of her professors she obtained newspaper internships (Ohio Reading Road Trip). She strived to her goal of writing. With the help of her husband Doug and children, Meredith and Conner she was
Andrew Jackson was born in Waxhaw, South Carolina on March 15, 1767. Before he was born, his father died leaving his mother with three young boys to raise herself. Growing up, he joined the Revolutionary War, later to be taken by the British with his brother where he picked up the disease Smallpox. When Jackson’s mother got them released, his brother died on their journey back home. Soon after that his mother died from Cholera.
Laurie was a troubled boy who had a tendency to lie in the story “Charles,” an entertaining short story written by Shirley Jackson. Laurie’s mischievous actions were caused by a longing for attention from his parents. Laurie had recently become a kindergarten student in addition to an older brother to an infant sibling. The story is set during the 1950’s in Laurie’s home and kindergarten classroom. Laurie was clearly having difficulty adjusting to the kindergarten atmosphere. Consequently, Laurie’s behavior was affected by this uncertainty.
Born in Hampton, Virginia, mathematician and aeronautical engineer Mary Jackson is an unsung hero of social justice and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Jackson excelled academically, graduating from high school with honors and then earning a dual degree in Mathematics and Physics from Hampton University. She had several jobs before working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, currently known as NASA) but it was not until she worked for them as a “human computer” that she had the chance to truly let her talents shine. At NACA, computers like Jackson calculated the answers to long, complex equations by hand. These very equations are the ones that advanced the United States’ position in the Space Race and enabled Neil Armstrong to safely land on the moon.
Born in 1962, in the city of Hartford, Connecticut, Suzanne Collins was the youngest of four children. Due to her father being an Air Force Officer and a college professor, history was a very important subject to her family. During her youth, the Collins family traveled many times; she found herself living in places like New York and Brussels. Continuing to grow up, Suzanne Collins eventually graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts, and enrolled into Indiana University where she received a double major in theatre and telecommunications (The College Magazine- Indiana). She later continued to expand her education by attending New York University and earning a master’s degree in Dramatic Writing. Right after graduation in 1991, Suzanne Collins began her work in show business by writing for several children’s television programs at Nickelodeon, including “Clarissa Knows It All” and “Little Bear”. After some time, her work on the shows was noticed by James Promios who hired Collins as his head writer and encouraged her to write a book. Suzanne Collins, who finally became a writer, released her debut novel in 2001 which was k...
Marguerite Anne Johnson, better known as Maya Angelou, was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was born and raised in an era that involved the Great Depression and World War I. When her parents divorced at a young age, she and her brother were sent to live with her grandmother in a heavily racially segregated Stamps , Arkansas. She found solace in her brother, Bailey, in the hard times produced by the South. This segregation was severe in this era, especially for shy young Marguerite. Throughout her childhood, she was sent from her grandmother to her father and mother. All these different environments exposed Angelou to a series of experiences including: racism, segregation, music, and politics. These experiences were most likely what prompted her to chronicle her life through autobiographical works as well as poems. In these works, Angelou utilizes elements such as literary devices, poetic devices, allusions, recurring themes and symbols to portray