Katherine Anne Porter
Jianan Chen
Ms. D’Amore
English Honors 11
10 October 2012
Katherine Anne Porter
Katherine Anne Porter is one of the most celebrated authors in American Literature, she is mostly known for her collection of short stories, often about themes regarding justice, betrayal, and the unforgiving nature of the human race. Throughout her life the many things that influenced her views and morals also helped shape the way she writes and the messages in her stories. Porter experienced a variety of cultures, from the Southern farm culture to the posh Paris life. She first handily experienced the Mexican cultural revolution, seen the rise of Nazism and lived through the time of the cold war. These travels and experiences from different cultures gave her a diverse pool of inspiration that influences her works and her writing style.
In Porter’s early childhood her mother died because of complications during child birth and she was left alone with her father and four siblings. When she was five years old, Porter was sent to live with her dominant and puritanical grandmother who became the main source of influence throughout her childhood and early life. Her grandmother entrusted her with a strong set of feminist and values and made her believe “...women could be as strong as or stronger than man” (Hendrick 85), which allured her to explore the world on her own and go against the traditional role of women. Grandma Cat died when Porter was eleven years old, and the family moved to San Antonio, where Porter attended the private Thomas School, the only source of real education she got in her whole life. She also studied acting and music and performed in summer plays. Through acting she alone supported her family, and gave her the experience of a single women’s work. Porter was ashamed of her poor southern background later maintained she had been educated in a convent school. Her time spent in San Antonio cemented her life-long desire to travel to Mexico.
Porter’s life was the
Ms. D’Amore
English Honors 11
10 October 2012
Katherine Anne Porter
Katherine Anne Porter is one of the most celebrated authors in American Literature, she is mostly known for her collection of short stories, often about themes regarding justice, betrayal, and the unforgiving nature of the human race. Throughout her life the many things that influenced her views and morals also helped shape the way she writes and the messages in her stories. Porter experienced a variety of cultures, from the Southern farm culture to the posh Paris life. She first handily experienced the Mexican cultural revolution, seen the rise of Nazism and lived through the time of the cold war. These travels and experiences from different cultures gave her a diverse pool of inspiration that influences her works and her writing style.
In Porter’s early childhood her mother died because of complications during child birth and she was left alone with her father and four siblings. When she was five years old, Porter was sent to live with her dominant and puritanical grandmother who became the main source of influence throughout her childhood and early life. Her grandmother entrusted her with a strong set of feminist and values and made her believe “...women could be as strong as or stronger than man” (Hendrick 85), which allured her to explore the world on her own and go against the traditional role of women. Grandma Cat died when Porter was eleven years old, and the family moved to San Antonio, where Porter attended the private Thomas School, the only source of real education she got in her whole life. She also studied acting and music and performed in summer plays. Through acting she alone supported her family, and gave her the experience of a single women’s work. Porter was ashamed of her poor southern background later maintained she had been educated in a convent school. Her time spent in San Antonio cemented her life-long desire to travel to Mexico.
Porter’s life was the