Alice Walker, An African American Born Into Poverty

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Walker, an African American born into poverty, came into this world on February 9, 1944 in Eatonon, Georgia. She was the youngest child of eight children born to Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah Walkers. Both of her parents were sharecroppers as well as expert story tellers. Things were not easy for the Walkers and Alice often witnessed her mother’s frustration of having the burden to take care of eight children with little means. Even though children of share croppers were usually made to work the fields, Alice’s mother made sure that her kids received an education. Alice was brilliant at writing poetry. When Alice Walker was eight years old, her brother accidentally shot her with a BB gun in her right eye. She lost the use of that eye and was left with scar tissue that was noticeable. Other kids would ridicule and laugh at her. This caused her to become very withdrawn. She became more of an observer and she started composing poetry in her head. She was afraid to put them on paper because she thought that her siblings would find her writings and tear them up. Despite her childhood issues and growing up when schools were segregated, Walker graduated from her high school as valedictorian. She won a full scholarship to Spellman College in Atlanta Georgia in 1961. When she was a freshman there, she was invited to the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He recognized her because she attended the Youth World Peace Festival in Helsinki, Finland. SheShow MoreRelatedalice walker in search of the garden1376 Words   |  6 PagesMother’s Garden, talks about her search of the African American women’s suppressed talent, of the artistic skills and talents that they lost because of slavery and a forced way of life. Walker builds up her arguments from historical events as well as the collective experiences of African Americans, including her own. She uses these experiences to back up her arguments formed from recollections of various African American characters and events. Walker points out that a great part of her mother’s andRead M oreAlice Walker and the Color Purple887 Words   |  4 PagesAlice Walker is an African-American woman’s activist/feminist and author who was born in the early 1940s, in Eatonton, Georgia. Walker lived in the the rural south at a time when there were heavy poverty and racial violence amongst most African Americans. The circumstances that Walker faced ended up contributing to the person that she is today and it is reflected in many of her novels. Even throughout the trials and tribulations that Walker endured, she was still able to succeed in life. As a youngRead MoreThe Color Purple By Alice Walker1540 Words   |  7 Pages Alice Walker is an award winning   author, most famously recognized for her novel   The Color Purple ;aside from being a novelist Walker is also a poet,essayist and activist .Her writing explores various social aspects as it concerns women and also celebrates political as well as social revolution. Walker has gained the reputation of being a prominent spokesperson and a symbolic figure for black feminism. Proper analyzation   of Walker s work comes from the   knowledge on her early life, educationalRead More Alice Walker Essay1482 Words   |  6 Pages Best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple, Alice Walker portrays black women struggling for sexual as well as racial equality and emerging as strong, creative individuals. Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia, the eighth child of Willie Lee and Minnie Grant Walker. When Walker was eight, her right eye was injured by one of her brothers, resulting in permanent damage to her eye and facial disfigurement that isolated her as a child. This is where her feminineRead MoreResponse Essay Everyday Use By Alice Walker1033 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker Everyday Use is a short story written by Alice Walker as part of the story collection in the book Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women. The short story is a powerful piece of writing that takes the reader on an insightful journey into the challenges, struggles, and realities of growing up as an African woman. The main issues that are palpable throughout the story are the issues of black consciousness and the stereotypes of rural black African women. I believe thatRead MoreAn Analysis Of Alice Walker And Kate Chopin916 Words   |  4 Pagesunderstanding of where they originate. Alice Walker and Kate Chopin both touch on the struggles and outcomes of not knowing or taking advantage of one s heritage through their stories â€Å"Everyday Use† and â€Å"Desiree’s baby.† In both of the stories, the antagonist Dee/Wangero, and Armand has problems with whom they truly are because of their lack of knowledge and acceptance of who they truly are. The misfortune of not appreciating one s heritage is clearly identified in Alice Walker s â€Å"Everyday Use.† The characterRead MoreCritical Analysis Of Alice Walker s Everyday Use2414 Words   |  10 PagesEng122 24 April 2016 Critical Analysis of Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† Alice Walker, most revered African American writer of the present time was born on 9th February 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. She started her career as a social worker/activist, followed by teaching and and being a writer. She has won many awards for her fantastic social and literary works. Everyday use† was published in 1973, when African Americans were struggling to revive their original African culture, to stay connected with theirRead MoreLife Struggles and Themes in Alice Walkers The Color Purple 2040 Words   |  9 PagesBorn in Eatonton, Georgia, in 1944 Alice Walker was last of her eight siblings. As far as becoming author, Alice walker herself was faced with many struggles throughout her life. After a childhood accident blinded her in one eye, she went on to become valedictorian of her local school, and attend Spelman College and Sarah Lawrence College on scholarships, graduating in 1965(Janet Witalec). Her biggest turning point/ motivation was an author named Zora Neal e Hurston, who made a great influence onRead MorePhysical And Emotional Abuse Explored The Color Purple3677 Words   |  15 Pagesis written by an African-American woman who may have truly experienced the harshness of what she was writing about; on the other hand The Help by a white woman who had servants at an early age of her life, who would help her has enabled me to consider not only if the novel lacks authenticity but if Kathryn’s reason to writing the novel was to catch the readers mind about such harsh conditions of to actually affect the audience with the physical and emotional abuse. Walker was born in 1944, GeorgiaRead MoreThe Color Purple By Alice Walker1655 Words   |  7 Pagesendings. In the novel, The Color Purple, Alice Walker presents the life of a 14 year old African American girl Celie, through letters to God and her sister Nettie, who she fears she will never see again. The impractical events that occur in The Color Purple demonstrate fiction. Although t here are some realistic elements such as the Jim Crow Laws, the events between Celie and her daughter are too convenient and the reality of Celie economically surpassing poverty does not justify the overall genre, causing