Alice Walker and Toni Morrison are two prominent African-American female writers. Both their stories reflect their concerns with racial‚ sexual‚ and political issues—particularly the subject of oppression. Oppression runs through our language and will shape the way we act and do things in our culture. They are built around what is understood to be the norms in our society. A norm signifies what is acceptable and desirable. It is also a given position of dominance‚ privilege and power over what is
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named Twyla and Roberta. The races of Twyla and Roberta are not for certain‚ but if asked after reading‚ an individual most likely has assigned a certain race to each of the girls by the end of the story. This was Morrison’s intent when she wrote Recitatif. After reading‚
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In Toni Morrison’s short story “Recitatif”‚ a young girl named Twyla is faced with hardships and turmoil that causes her to grow and change as a character. The story is centered around Twyla and her friend Roberta as they live in a girls’ orphanage together. Though both girls are equally round characters‚ Twyla seems to undergo the most change. Twyla is first shown as a protagonist‚ a young girl who demands the readers’ sympathy as she resides in an orphanage. As the story develops‚ we start
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right in the middle of this very struggle. The characters Hazel and young Twyla bare resemblance in numerous ways. Both young ladies are very young‚ have very naïve views of the world‚ and have been disappointed by an adult in their lives. In Recitatif‚ Twyla’s young age is revealed early on: “We were eight years old and got F’s all the time.” (Morrison 130) Hazel’s youth becomes evident in Gorilla‚ My Love when she refers to the adults around her by saying‚ “Grownups figure they can treat you
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Recitatif Roberta and Twyla meet in an orphanage and become friends when they realize that they both are without their mothers. This is what bonds them and they see they have something in common. Both of their mothers show up at the orphanage and they want their mothers to become friends as well. This is when it becomes very obvious that they are very different somehow. Roberta’s mother is very condescending to Twyla’s mother. Roberta ends up leaving the orphanage while Twyla stays and their friendship
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literature‚ and it is the lack of fathers and/or father figures in the literature. Throughout the course of this class‚ the readings featured often followed this trend and over half of the stories did not include a father or father figure. In the story Recitatif by Toni Morrison‚ there are two young girls who are living in a boarding home because their mothers cannot take care of them. In this story‚ like many others of 20th century literature‚ there is an obvious absence of fathers and there is not even
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stepping stones given by Toni Morrison in "Recitatif" to draw her conclusions on the race of each girl. Abel uses conversation with a colleague‚ correspondence with Morrison‚ and a strong foundation of literature on the politics of racial issues in conjunction with feminism to support her opinion on the characters’ racial identities. This conclusion on the assigned races is also used as a springboard to highlight other themes that Abel has derived from "Recitatif." Though the author’s arguments prove
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Comparison of “Winter Dreams and Recitatif” Toni Morrison was a twentieth century writer‚ and still a current day writer. She was lauded as a writer "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import‚ gives life to an essential aspect of American reality." (Burton Blooms) It takes a very careful reader to actually get the contents of Morrison’s works because of the depth of her creativity. F. Scott Fitzgerald was also an early twentieth century writer. He was also as creative as
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go with typical norms. When Toni Morrison wrote “Recitatif” and David Henry Hwang came out with the play “M. Butterfly”‚ they both pulled ideas from out of the box to create literature which had yet to be written about. For instance‚ a scene in “M. Butterfly” compares to two scenes in “Recitatif”‚ both displaying common stereotypes while dissecting the nature of how they counteract everyday norms of race and gender roles. Two scenes in “Recitatif” show how Morrison never reveals
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“The Cartographers” is a very intriguing read‚ which takes place in the distant future. The future described is a seemingly realistic possibility‚ which gives the entire story more gravity. The main character‚ Woods‚ struggles to balance his high-tech programming job with his real-life relationships. This dilemma grows and grows when he meets a woman named Cynthia‚ and fails to effectively find time for both her and his profession. Why should someone read “The Cartographers”? Someone should read
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