I Needed a Membership. Ladies and Gents, Here a Shtity Paper on Toni Morrison!

Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18th, 1931. As a young child, she was introduced to a startling amount of ways of looking at the world. Being the second of four children, she had both younger and older siblings, some to pick on, and some to be picked on by. Her father George was working three jobs to support the family, which sometimes wasn't enough. At the age of two, the landlord of the complex attempted to set fire to the exterior of their apartment for not paying the rent. Although she may not have been old enough to recall the event, she was reminded of it throughout her childhood, as her father loved to tell that story to guests. George believed that the white man was incapable of thinking of blacks as equals. "He had strong views about race, believing that white people were genetically incapable of overcoming their prejudice against blacks and trusting no white person" (G.A.W.). Her mother, however, believed that the white man could be educated through schooling to think all races were equal, and that with enough of it, their opinions could be changed.

Growing up in an integrated community of whites and blacks, Morrison got her fair share of childhood experiences. On the first day of school, she was the only black girl in her class, and she was also the only person who could read. What set her apart was not that she could read though, it was that she enjoyed reading. Some of the authors that Toni might be found reading are Ryodor Dostoyevski, Jane Austen, and William Faulkner. These influential writers had a huge impact on her young and developing mind.

Morrison started working at the age of twelve; still with many years of schooling ahead of her. She was a strong student, and took part in student government and yearbook club. By the time high school came around, Morrison already had a profound interest in literature, but in her high school years, she developed a stronger sense of what it was like to tell a good story. "Her father told thrilling ghost stories, and Morrison's grandparents, who lived with the family [told horror stories of their slavery days], the family stories ignited Morrison's imagination and her interest in history" (G.A.W.). Some of the depictions she heard would later be expressed in the book Beloved that she wrote years later.

After high school, Morrison attended Howard University, an African American college in Washington D. C.. Her major was English and she kept a minor in classics. She also tried some new activities as part of the college experience. "One of her most memorable activities was performing with the Howard University Players, a well-respected acting troupe" (G.A.W.). In this acting group, she really got a sense for racial injustice in the southern states of the U.S.. Morrison finally wound up getting her masters in English at Cornell University.

After getting her masters, Toni went back to Howard to teach classes that combined English and civil rights. Her effect on the civil rights movement was so great that "Even if she had never written her own novels, Toni Morrison's impact on African American literature would be significant" (G.A.W.). A few of her students went on to be major civil rights leaders and others went on to be authors. Around the same time, she joined a writing club, to both get opinions about her pieces of literature, and to befriend some fellow writers. It was in this club that Toni wrote a short story called The Bluest Eye. This story about a girl who wishes she was prettier captivated the members of the writing group, and Toni would go back to revisit this story, and make it into a novel in her later years.

In the midst of her blossoming career, Toni married a man named Harold, and together they had two children. The marriage eventually failed, and Toni moved on to try new things in her field. The first was that she became a textbook editor. The second was she began editing autobiographies of famous African Americans. Through both of these jobs, she found time to write novels at night when she wasn't working. "She wrote in the room where her sons played, because she found that they interrupted her less often than if she wrote in a room alone" (G.A.W.). Since she had the full time job of being a mother on top of her two other jobs, it is noted by some of Toni's closest relatives that she also found more time to write because she had a very limited social life.

In 1970, Morrison published her first full-length novel; The Bluest Eye. Although captivating, her career did not flourish as a writer. Her second novel, Sula, was praised for it's insightfulness into the African American society, but was still not seriously acclaimed. It was her third fictional piece that gave her recognition for her works. That novel, Song of Solomon, won Toni an award with the National Book Critics Circle. She was the first African American to receive this award since Richard Wright. Morrison became the second African American to appear on the cover of a newsweek for writing the novel Tar Baby.

All of this praise pushed Morrison to give up her career as an editor and focus most of her time on writing. It was this period of time where she endeavored on the most massive take on the writers world yet. Her idea for a touching trilogy on slavery would span for over ten years. Within those years were the installments of the trilogy; Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise. The first of the series, Beloved, received a Pulitzer prize in literature in 1988. "Morrison has been praised for her use of language and for the sense of voice that emerges not only in her dialogue but also in the movement of her narratives" (Hoffman). Her greatest achievement was in 1993 when she received a Nobel Prize in literature, the highest award any writer can receive.

Her works were not limited to novels, however. Her son inspired her to write a series of children's books; she would write a total of five in her career. She also composed a drama entitled "Dreaming Emmett" in 1986. Some of her other works included non-fiction pieces about stories and events in her life. (Begnal)

As both a leader in the world of women's rights and also African American's rights, Toni's work has been read and analyzed in every way imaginable. Her work has been praised, quoted, nominated, deciphered, torn apart, and spat out by literary critics nationwide. They have been speculated down to the letter, and criticized as a whole. Her manipulative use of words and consistent style prove to be addicting and captivating to both her readers and critics.

In the 1940's, it was common for children in school to read a poem about a boy and a girl named Dick and