Abstract
The paper compares and contrasts the styles of Gloria Naylor and Amy Tan. The paper is based on a pair of articles in which each describes anecdotes that illustrate differences between standard English and that which was practiced within their families.

From the Paper
"Both Amy Tan and Gloria Naylor described ways in which the language of their culture are sources of strength and understanding even while being subject to derision and contempt by the dominant White culture. Both saw language as sources of strength, pride and distinction for people of their respective cultures. Both Tan and Naylor are authors who, despite tremendous odds, wrote best selling novels while very young. In both cases the books were somewhat autobiographical, drawing heavily on their..."

Tags:racism, language, mother

Abstract
Authors never begin with nothing when they sit down to write. They begin with their lives and with the stories that they grew up with, which is to say that they begin not only with their own experiences but with those of their parents and all the generations before whose stories and lives are still remembered.

From the Paper
"Authors never begin with nothing when they sit down to write. They begin with their lives and with the stories that they grew up with, which is to say that they begin not only with their own experiences but with those of their parents and all the generations before whose stories and lives are still remembered. When a novelist begins her first book, she begins, at least in part, by unraveling these layers of memory and narrative that form her own life up to that point. And with each successive book she then begins her own process of the layering of stories, so that each new book is in some measure - as hard as it may be to perceive on a first reading - a retelling of the stories that she has told before. This re-mingling of tales is apparent in the works of both Gloria Naylor and Tony Morrison.

This paper examines one work by each of these authors ..."

From the Paper
"Gloria Naylor's Linden Hills is a novel that tells the story of a black neighborhood built and supported by the manipulative and mysterious Nedeed family. The first Luther Nedeed to arrive from the South bought the apparently worthless land and established his undertaker's business there. Each succeeding generation of Nedeeds consisted of one son who was the exact image of his father and bore the same first name. The first Nedeeds had hoped to defy the white world and the white God by establishing the worth of the black people who lived in Linden Hills. They devoted all their efforts to building up the neighborhood and ensuring that as it improved, and the land became extremely valuable, it remained in the hands of African Americans. But the current Luther Nedeed had become convinced that there was nothing that black people could do to truly change.."

Abstract
This six-page paper compares the use of language in two essays, one by Amy Tan and the other by Gloria Naylor.

From the Paper
"In many cases, the purpose of an essay is to "speak," to appeal, to a particular audience. The author may wish to do so for a particular reason, such as to create a shared identity through what is perceived to be a shared experience or to share his or her experiences with those people who might be unfamiliar with them. In addition, the author may seek to attract or to unite his or her target audience. The "voice" that the author uses to appeal to his or her audience may create a bond with that particular audience. However, not all appeals are universal. By creating this bond with his or..."

Tags:naylor, amy tan, writing

Abstract
This paper examines racism in the English language as seen in the works by Amy Tan and Gloria Naylor.

Tags:naylor, tan, race

Abstract
This paper explains that each of the women characters in Gloria Naylor's novel "The Women of Brewster Place" was affected for her entire life by her sexual choices. The author points out that these sexual choices dominated their lives such as Mattie, who chose to sublimate her sexual desires with other values, or Cora Lee, who used sex to give meaning to her life. The paper states that, of all the characters in the book, the only one who seems to have a balanced view of the place of sex in the overall fabric of her life is Kiswana.

From the Paper
"From the time she is introduced into the action, Kiswana is a recurring presence in the story and, while we never actually meet her lover, Abshu, it is made clear that he is there. "That's Abshu's woman, and that bid dude don't mind kickin' ass," says a street thug. (Chapter 6, pg. 163) Kiswana's choice of a suitable, reliable man and a monogamous relationship leave her free to pursue the political activism that is an essential element of her character. Together, she and Abshu work in the movement for equal rights, with Kiswana spearheading an effort to force the absentee landlord of Brewster Street to improve his properties."

Tags:advocate, characters, sex, choices, meaning

Abstract
This paper examines how, in "Mama Day", author Gloria Naylor narrates the story of a relationship that takes place between the characters, George and Ophelia. It looks at how both are black and without biological parents, yet carry different cultural backgrounds despite this likeness of race and parentage. George is the son of a prostitute, has no memory of blood relatives, and grows up in a white-run orphanage where his ideals and beliefs are shaped. Ophelia, who is also called Cocoa, is raised by her grandmother, Abigail, and great aunt, Mama Day, who enable her to maintain cultural connections to history through her birthplace, Willow Springs. It shows how Willow Springs is barely influenced by its connection to the United States and how, instead, it is a space shaped by its African relation through the people who inhabit it. It explores how the novel takes place in New York, where life is structured and hectic and juxtaposed against Willow Springs, where time and structure do not hold importance in the lives of its inhabitants.

From the Paper
"Beginning in1823 through the legend of Saphira Wade's possession of Willow Springs then her killing of her white husband, white control on the island is never again achieved. The black inhabitants carry on the myth of Saphira Wade as a means of maintaining their power. In this sense, "Mama Day's and Naylor's own attempts to recuperate a cultural legacy reveal the desire for ancestral knowledge as a motivating force behind the ways in which individuals and communities construct myth. For the people of Willow Springs, such myth making becomes an essential tool in the construction of personal and collective identities" (Stave, p.158). As an island with a past of slavery and presently owned by blacks, the culture on Willow Springs is created and maintained by the blacks that live there and the physical nature of the land."

Tags:willow, springs, george, ophelia

Abstract
This paper explores complicity in the novel, "Linden Hills" by Gloria Naylor and the short story, "The Sleeper Wakes" by Jessie Redmon Fauset. The paper examines complicity in issues of race, gender and class in these two contrasting works the former a tale of the descent into hell in an affluent suburb and the latter concerned with the redemption of an individual.

From the Paper
"There are several female characters in Linden Hills but we will focus on Mrs Nedeed when looking at gender issues in the novel, since she is the one who brings about her husband's demise. The latest Mrs Nedeed is imprisoned by her husband in the basement and finds hidden records of the women who have before her and how they met their ends. Initially, she finds the diary of the first Mrs Nedeed " Luwana Packerville who was bought by Luther Nedeed. This charts Luwana's isolation " being first cut out of her son's life and then out of running a household, while at the same time being unable to mix with the community in Linden Hills for reasons of status and race."

Tags:race, gender, class, status, community, luther, nedeed, luwana, packerville

Abstract
The paper examines the book "Mama Day" and explores how its black author, Gloria Naylor, draws upon motifs of the traditionally white patriarchal American romance tradition and renders them relevant to a black text, set in our modern day multi-cultural society. The paper outlines the multiplicity of themes covered in the novel, thereby illustrating the many sides to the story.

Introduction
Continuing the Tradition
Typology
Eden and Isolation
Bridges
The Akedic Myth
Knowledge and Skepticism
Genealogy
Matriarchy
Tradition and Religion
Black and White
Language
Conclusion
Bibliography

From the Paper
"In his essay Tradition and the Individual Talent, T.S. Elliot observes that "the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past" (Selected Essays 15). In other words, each new addition to the literary tradition reconstructs the entire canon, both in the way it conforms to the already existing canon, as well as in the direction towards which it carries the canon from that point on. In the past, there has perhaps been little need to consider where the American Romance Tradition was heading. The shift to newer forms of writing might suggest that the tradition that had begun in the 19th century with Poe and Hawthorne died out sometime in the early part of the 20th century; with Faulkner, perhaps, or with Flannery 0'Connor. It seems to me, however, that the tradition is still very much alive, and evolving to adapt to the environment of a new era."

Tags:white, black, culture, george, andrews, cocoa, willow, springs, miranda, manhattan

Abstract
This paper examines how both Gloria Naylor's "Mama Day" and William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" exemplify the qualities of classic tragedy. It looks at how "Mama Day" is a mimicry of Shakespeare's use of elements to completely delineate tragedy that is, however, marked with contradiction. It analyzes how the characters and plot in each work follow the general rules of tragedy in divergent ways and how George and Hamlet are proved to be the tragic heroes. It shows how their dissimilar paths through life guide them both to parallel endings and how deliberation versus action and knowledge versus acceptance are the two questions that lead each tragic hero to his death.

From the Paper
"The suffering in a tragedy is characterized as exceptional and unexpected. Before the murder of King Hamlet, Denmark was in all its glory, occupying part of Norway and Hamlet was a content student at the University of Wittenberg. The state of everything changes when Claudius' scheme of domination is put into play as he kills Hamlet's father and marries his mother, Gertrude. This creates a strong contrast to the prior glory the characters had. The characters of Mama Day similarly displayed a prosperity crushed by conflict. George and Ophelia, though two strong-willed adults, finally found harmony with one another. Their two opposite upbringings and philosophies balanced, and they had a successful married life. George's long-anticipated trip to Willow Springs began their final plight."

Tags:george, death, denmark, new, york, claudius