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=Toni Morrison by Hope Alexandra Lee=

Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931. Morrison received her B.A. from Howard University in 1953 and went on to Cornell University and received her M.A. in 1955. She is an African-American, Nobel Prize winning author of many critically acclaimed novels such as __The Bluest Eye__ (1970) and __Beloved__ (1987). Most of Morrison’s novels are based on identity of oneself and the process of discovering oneself through hardship. Much of Morrison’s work reflects the culture that she herself grew up in. Morrison grew up with her grandparents telling her stories of the south in the early 20th century and its injustice. Their stories of myth and folklore would inspire her literature, most of which included the cultural identity of blacks. Morrison’s work contains both negative and positive themes and values. Most recurring is an alternative way of being black, female, or human, which creates a negative connotation of the seduction of black people by white culture. Morrison uses the other end of the spectrum by creating a positive theme in many of her novels by creating a quest for cultural identity among African-Americans. These themes are most apparent in her novel __The Bluest Eye (__1970). Morrison herself says that she wanted “to capture that same specificity about the nature and feeling of the culture I grew up in.” (“Toni Morrison” by Susan L. Blake). Many of the characters in Toni Morrison’s novels have an inner conflict, an issue with themselves, a secret, or suffer from their own self-hatred. Some characters believe the only way that they will be able to attain love is by being someone that they are not. Something that Morrison’s novels have in common with one another is the impact on her view of African American life, Morrison’s poetic style, and the way that she constructs narratives out of stories and scenes. Another aspect that Morrison’s novels have in common is the way that characters are put together and viewed by readers. Many see her characters as bizarre and readers become confused as to what to think about the character. Many wonder if they should praise self sacrifice or denounce the same character because of tyranny or if they should adore the freedom of the character’s spirit or despise them because of their heartlessness. This quality in Morrison’s writing causes confusion and frustration quite often among readers and for this reason, many do not read her novels completely. Morrison concerns herself with many social issues and intertwines them into her writing. One of her greatest concerns is that black history in her stories is immediately relevant. All of her novels’ main characters are black, mostly black women, who must face their own identities, discovering that they have no advantage being neither white nor male and realizing that they had to create the freedom and triumph that society had forbidden them. Morrison is a supporter of black women’s rights and she felt that women’s rights would be irrelevant to black women until it focused on equal pay for equal work. This was especially prevalent to the 1960’s and 1970’s when equality in the workplace and affirmative action were hotbeds of discussion in politics. Most of Morrison’s writing has a similar message of breaking the constraints of white society and a transitioning period in one’s life, which Morrison will most likely be remembered for. Morrison is currently on the editorial board of //The Nation// magazine.

Blake, Susan L. "Toni Morrison." __Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 33:Afro-American Fiction Writers After 1955__, Eds. Thadious M. Davis and Trudier Harris, Gale Research Inc., 1984, pp. 187-199 http://www.galenet.com/servlet/srcx
 * Annotated Bibliography**

The essay "Toni Morrison" from the Dictionary of Literary Biography, is an extremely helpful source of information about Toni Morrison's literary work. The essay is organized chronologically by Morrison's novels' publication date and the years that they were published. Susan L. Blake gives an accurate summary of each novel, their symbols and metaphors. She also informs the reader on how the books were received when they were first published and it includes criticism and praise from other writers. I would recommend this essay to anyone who either has never read or has read Toni Morrison's novels before. It is informative and the comprhension level is fairly easy.

Mobley, Marilyn Sanders. "A Different Remembering: Memory, History and Meaning in Toni Morrison's "Beloved" __Bloom's Modern Critical Views: Toni Morrison__, Chelsea House Publishers., 1990 http://search.ebscohost.com

Bloom's Critical Review by Marilyn Sanders Mobley explains the inspiration and true story of Toni Morrison's most famous work, her novel __Beloved.__ It tells the story that actually inspired Toni Morrison to write the book. This article mainly describes important events that occured in __Beloved__ and the importance of dialogue. This article is written at a basic reading level and would give a different point of view and other insights on this book. I would recommend this article to someone who is familiar with or has read __Beloved__ especially.

David, Ron. “Beloved (1987)” __Toni Morrison Explained,__ New York, Random House, 2000. 111-138

Ron David’s take on __Beloved__ in his book __Toni Morrison Explained__ is a somewhat sarcastic one. He gives background information on the book, a synopsis of the book and he explains important quotations. He also gives a list of characters and their impact on other characters in the same book. David makes his points very clear and precise. He sates symbols and motifs that are mentioned in the book, which he makes extremely clear as well. I would recommend this book to all levels, high school and college students alike. It does away with any confusion or frustration regarding metaphors and symbolism especially.

Miner, Madonne M. “Critical Views on __The Bluest Eye__” __Toni Morrison.__ Ed. Harold Bloom, Broomall, Chelsea House, 2000. 18-20. Madonne M. Miner’s critical view of Toni Morrison’s __The Bluest Eye__ is written to emphasize rape, madness, and silence in the novel. Miner uses examples and direct quotes from the book to explain the significance of these three vital aspects of __The Bluest Eye__. Miner does make good points, but parts of the review are a bit hazy and she jumps around a bit. This review is written at an intermediate level, so it should be useful to high school and college students as well. I would recommend this review to someone who has previously red __The Bluest Eye__ by Toni Morrison and has a firm grasp of the book and its events.