An Analysis of Prejudice in Tayari Jones's Novel An

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

An Analysis of Prejudice in Tayari Jones's Novel An AN ANALYSIS OF PREJUDICE IN TAYARI JONES’S NOVEL AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE A THESIS BY WIDI AMBARWATI REG.NO. 150705024 DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA MEDAN 2019 ii 3 Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra from the Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara, Medan. The examination is held in Department of English Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara on October 25th, 2019 Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara Dr. Budi Agustono, M.S. NIP. 19600805 198703 1 001 Board of Examiners Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, M.A., Ph.D. Dr. Siti Norma Nasution, M.Hum. Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum. 4 AUTHOR’S DECLARATION I, WIDI AMBARWATI DECLARE THAT I AM THE SOLE AUTHOR OF THIS THESIS EXCEPT WHERE REFERENCE IS MADE IN THE TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS CONTAINS NO MATERIAL PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE OR EXTRACTED IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM A THESIS BY WHICH I HAVE QUALIFIED FOR OR AWARDED ANOTHER DEGREE. NO OTHER PERSON’S WORK HAS BEEN USED WITHOUT DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN THE MAIN TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF ANOTHER DEGREE IN ANY TERTIARY EDUCATION. Signed : Date : October 25th 2019 5 COPYRIGHT DECLARATION NAME : WIDI AMBARWATI TITLE OF THESIS : AN ANALYSIS OF PREJUDICE IN TAYARI JONES’S NOVEL AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE QUALIFICATION :S-1/ SARJANA SASTRA DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH I AM WILLING THAT MY THESIS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR REPRODUCTION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LIBRARIAN OF DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT USERS ARE MADE AWARE OF THEIR OBLIGATION UNDER THE LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA. Signed : Date : October 25th 2019 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, Alhamdulillah, all praises go to Almighty Allah SWT who has given me health and capability in completing this thesis as one of the requirements to finish my study from English Department, Faculty of Cultural Studies, University of Sumatera Utara. My deepest and greatest gratitude thanks to the Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies, Dr. Budi Agustono, MS. Thanks to the Head of English Department, Prof. TengkuSilvanaSinar, M.A., Ph.D, and the Secretary of English Department, RahmadsyahRangkuti, M.A. Ph.D and to all the lecturers of English Department for all assistances, valuable knowledge and motivation during my academic years. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Supervisor Dr. Siti Norma Nasution, M.Hum who has provided valuable time, advice and guidance in doing my thesis patiently. Gratitude and appreciation are also dedicated to my Co-supervisor, Dra.SwesanaMardiaLubis, M.Hum who always supports me to finish my thesis. My deepest gratitude is also dedicated to my mother SasmitaSiregar and my father, DediHermansyahFrans who always pray in supporting me during my study in English Literature of Faculty of Cultural Studies, my deepest gratitude also goes to my parents for being there with unceasing prayers, unconditionally love, attention and support as always in the process of completing this thesis. For my dear brother and sister, ZulfandiKurniawan and WinaFradita thank you so much for your support, happiness and sadness that we always share together. 7 To my forever partner in everything, MiftachKhairani thank you for always be with me and finish this thesis together from the beginning to the end process. Thank you for encouraging each other, and supporting each other during the process. To my beloved friends from Looking for Husband, my very dearest squad (AudryValeinsiaFarjer, Miftach Khairani,Rara Tri AntikaPulungan, Regina GoelaStevanieDepari, Sri Wahyuni, and), thank you very much for the great time, memories, support and motivation, for being bestfriends who always give a help when I got trouble during the process of writing this thesis. I also thank to my Senior High School friends, Dedek, Dhea, Dila, Fanny, Novi, Rio, Vira, and my beloved one Yogi Atma Satria thank you for your never ending encouragements, prayers, and supports. And all my friends in English Literature University of Sumatera Utara, especially Class B 2015 that cannot mention one by one, thank you for sharing the priceless experiences to me. In writing this thesis, I admit that this thesis is far from being perfect even though I have done my best for my thesis, I really need suggestions for this thesis. Without any helps and support from all participants, this thesis would not be completed. Finally, may this thesis be advantegous for the readers and the next researchers in the future. May the grace and love of the Almighty Allah SWT be with us all forever.Amin. Medan, October 25th 2019 WidiAmbarwati Reg. No. 150705024 8 ABSTRACT This thesis entitled "An Analysis Of Prejudice As Portrayed In Tayari Jones's Novel An American Marriage". In this thesis the writer analyzes the forms of prejudice namely stereotype, social distance, and discrimination and this thesis also aims to reveal that literary works reflect to social reality. The object of this thesis is a novel entitled "An American Marriage", a novel published in 2018 written by Tayari Jones. This novel shows that prejudice is always exist in every race. The impact of prejudice in every race tends to have a negative impact. In this thesis the writer has two problems to discuss: how is the stereotype as a form of prejudice as portrayed in the novel An American Marriage, how is the discrimination as form of prejudice as protrayed in Tayari Jones’s novel An American Marriage, and how is the discrimination as a form of prejudiceas portrayed in the novel An American Marriage. The research method used in this thesis is a qualitative descriptive. Data is obtained from words, phrases, clauses or sentences that relate to stereotype and discrimination. The data in this thesis are analyzed with a sociological approach to literature. The theory that writer uses in this thesis is the forms of prejudice by Liliweri. The writer hopes this thesis can be a reference that can provide useful information about prejudice. Keywords: Prejudice, Stereotype, Social Distance, Discrimination, Sociology. 9 ABSTRAK Judulskripsiiniadalah ―An Analysis Of Prejudice As Portrayed In Tayari Jones’s Novel An American Marriage‖. Dalam skripsi ini penulis menganalisabentuk- bentuk prasangka yaitu stereotip, jarak sosial, dan diskriminasi danskripsi ini juga bertujuan untuk mengungkapkan bahwa karya sastra mencerminkan realitas sosial. Objek dari skripsi ini adalah sebuah novel yang berjudul ―An American Marriage‖, sebuah novel yang diterbitkan pada tahun 2018 yang ditulis oleh Tayari Jones. Novel ini menunjukkan bahwa prasangka selalu ada di setiap ras. Dampak prasangka yang ada di setiap ras cenderung berarah pada dampak negatif. Dalam skripsi ini penulis memiliki dua masalah untuk didiskusikan: bagaimana stereotip sebagai bentuk dari prasangka tergambar di dalam novel An American Marriage, bagaimana jarak sosial sebagai bentuk dari prasangka tergambar di dalam novel An American Marriage, dan bagaimana diskriminasi sebagai bentuk dari prasangka tergambar dalam novel An American Marriage. Metode penelitian yang digunakan penulis pada skripsi ini adalah Deskriptif Kualitatif. Data diperoleh dari kata, frasa, klausa atau kalimat. Data dalam skripsi ini dianalisis dengan pendekatan sosiologi sastra. Teori yang digunakan penulis dalam pembahasan skripsi ini adalah bentuk-bentuk prasangka oleh Liliweri. Penulis berharap skripsi ini dapat menjadi referensi yang dapat memberikan informasi yang bermanfaat tentang prasangka. Kata kunci: Prasangka, Stereotip, Jarak Sosial, Diskriminasi, Sosiologi. 10 TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHOR’S DECLARATION .................................................................................. v COPYRIGHT DECLARATION ............................................................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... ix ABSTRAK .................................................................................................................. x TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1 1.1 Background of the Study .................................................................. 1 1.2 Problems of the Study ....................................................................... 9 1.3 Objectives of the Study ..................................................................... 9 1.4 Scope of the Study ............................................................................ 9 1.5 Significances of the Study ............................................................. 10 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .................................... 11 2.1 Novel .............................................................................................. 11 2.2 Sociology of Literature ................................................................... 12 2.3 Brief Description of Prejudice ........................................................ 15 2.4 The forms of Prejudice ................................................................... 16 2.4.1. Stereotype .................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • For Immediate Release
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, AND SPELMAN COLLEGE PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO STUDENTS AND FAMILIES FOR LIMITED SPRING IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION AND CAMPUS RESIDENCY ATLANTA, Georgia, November 16, 2020– To allow students and their families the necessary time to prepare for the 2021 spring semester, the presidents of Clark Atlanta University (CAU), Morehouse College, and Spelman College today shared preliminary plans to begin spring courses on February 1, 2021. Reflecting awareness and anticipation of a fall spike in national COVID-19 cases, the plans include an adjusted academic calendar and a limited return to in-person instruction and campus residency for specific groups of students. These plans are subject to change based on public health information which is monitored on an ongoing basis. Each of the institutions will identify and invite cohorts of students to live and/or learn on campus while other students will continue virtual learning. Classes for the 2021 spring semester begin on Monday, February 1, 2021 for all CAU, Morehouse, and Spelman students. AUCC member institution Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), which follows a separate academic calendar, will continue in-person and hybrid instruction and has enhanced health and safety protocols. The Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center (AUC) will provide both in-person and virtual services for AUC students. After a fall semester of virtual instruction, each institution would ideally prefer to return all students to campus. However, by reducing the number of students on their campuses, CAU, Morehouse, and Spelman are best able to implement rigorous health and safety protocols designed to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
    [Show full text]
  • Complete List of Oprah's Book Club Books
    Complete List of Oprah’s Book Club Books 2020 American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker Deacon King Kong by James McBride 2019 The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates Waterford does not own, can request Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout from another library 2018 An American Marriage by Tayari Jones The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton Becoming by Michelle Obama 2017 Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue 2016 The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Love Warrior: A Memoir by Glennon Doyle Martin 2015 Ruby by Cynthia Bond 2014 The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (announced in 2013, published in 2014) 2012 – “Oprah’s Book Club 2.0,” post-Oprah Winfrey Show club launched Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis 2010 Freedom by Jonathan Franzen A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 2009 Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan 2008 A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski 2007 The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier The Road by Cormac McCarthy Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett 2006 Night by Elie Wiesel 2005 A Million Little Pieces by James Frey As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and Light in August by William Faulkner 2004 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy The Good Earth by Pearl S.
    [Show full text]
  • Writers Week 2015—November 16-20
    WRITERS WEEK 2015—NOVEMBER 16-20 Buckner Speaker - Jill McCorkle Jill McCorkle is the author of six novels and four story collections. Her work appears in numerous periodicals, and four of her short stories have been selected for the Best American Short Stories series. She has taught at Harvard, Brandeis, and North Carolina State University, and currently teaches in the Bennington College Writing Seminars. jillmccorkle.com Visiting Writers, Agents, and Editors James Campbell received his BA from Yale University and his MA from the University of Colorado. He has written stories for Outside, National Geographic, Backpacker, and Audubon. His first book, The Final Frontiersman, was chosen by the Midwest Booksellers Association, Outdoor Writers of America, Amazon's editors, and the Book of the Month Club as one of 2004's top titles. His second book, The Ghost Mountain Boys, won the 2008 RR Donnelley Award. He is also the co- Executive Producer of the Animal Planet docu-series, The Last Alaskans, which was inspired by The Final Frontiersman. Edward P. Jones was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He is the author of three books, Lost in the City, The Known World, and All Aunt Hagar's Children. He is the recipient of the PEN/Hemingway Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. He has been published in Ploughshares, Callaloo, the New Yorker, and the Paris Review. He teaches at George Washington University. Tayari Jones is the author of three novels, including Silver Sparrow. She holds degrees from Spelman College, Arizona State University, and the University of Iowa.
    [Show full text]
  • The Global Impact of Spelman's Undergraduate Research
    SPELMAN The Global Impact of Spelman’s Undergraduate Research Janina M. Jeff, C’2007, Ph.D. Global Bioinformatics Specialist for Illumina THE ALUMNAE MAGAZINE OF SPELMAN COLLEGE | FALL 2017 | VOL. 127 NO. 1 SPELMAN EDITOR All submissions should be sent to: Renita Mathis Spelman Messenger Office of Alumnae Affairs COPY EDITOR 350 Spelman Lane, S.W., Box 304 Beverly Melinda James Atlanta, GA 30314 OR http://www.spelmanlane.org/SpelmanMessengerSubmissions GRAPHIC DESIGNER Garon Hart Submission Deadlines: Fall Issue: Submissions January 1 – May 31 ALUMNAE DATA MANAGER Spring Issue: Submissions June 1 – December 31 Alyson Shumpert Dorsey, C’2002 ALUMNAE NOTES EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Alumnae Notes is dedicated to the following: Jane Smith, C’68 • Education Sharon E. Owens, C’76 • Personal (birth of a child or marriage) Joyce Davis • Professional Jessie Brooks Please include the date of the event in your submission. TAKE NOTE! WRITERS Take Note! is dedicated to the following alumnae Jasmine Ellis achievements: Connie Freightman • Published Adrienne Harris • Appearing in films, television or on stage Jennifer Jiles • Special awards, recognition and appointments Frank McCoy Please include the date of the event in your submission. Lorraine Robertson BOOK NOTES PHOTOGRAPHERS Book Notes is dedicated to alumnae and faculty authors. DeRonn Kidd Please submit review copies. Scott King Ben Kornegay IN MEMORIAM We honor our Spelman sisters. If you receive notice Furery Reid of the death of a Spelman sister, please contact the Spelman Archives Office of Alumnae Affairs at 404-270-5048 or Ashli Washington Sharon Owens, director of alumnae affairs, at Julie Yarbrough, C’91 [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • Renewing Our Mission in New Orleans Innovative Interfaces Cover 3
    OPRAH WINFREY Bookwoman n FACEBOOK Fanning Friendships n 2015 ALA Strategic Plan May/JuNE 2011 THE MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PLUS n Inspiring Library Advocacy n Creating Communities of Learning n The Best in Library Branding Renewing Our Mission in New Orleans Innovative Interfaces cover 3 FREEDOM IMAGINE WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED YOUR LIBRARY TO BE Introducing the Sierra Services Platform ALA 2011 Annual Conference, Booth #2234 www.iii.com Untitled-5 1 5/9/2011 2:47:02 PM CONTENTS A m e r i c A n L i b r A r i e s | m ay/June 2011 Features 47 38 Reading fOR Life: OpRah WinfRey The television talk-show host and media mogul has championed books and libraries By Leonard KniffeL facebOOk fOR LibRaRies 42 it’s easy to use social media’s most popular tool to connect with your community By david Lee King 46 LibRaRy advOcacy: One Message, One vOice Lessons from the 1991 rally for America’s Libraries By richard M. dougherty 56 pROfessiOnaL gROWth 56 thROugh LeaRning cOMMunities Knowledge comes with teamwork and fun— all across the organization By PauL SignoreLLi and Lori reed the best in LibRaRy bRanding 74 Winners of the 2011 John cotton Dana Library Public relations Award wow judges and their communities By Judith giBBonS 70 nOpL’s children’s cOveR stORies Resource center, before (on cover) ReneWing OuR MissiOn and after (left) 60 renovations. in neW ORLeans new combined opening session/exhibits kickoff, cover design by an extended film series, and a host of authors and taína Lagodzinski; speakers are on tap for 135th Annual conference photos provided By PaMeLa a.
    [Show full text]
  • African American Literary Counter-Narratives in the Post-Civil Rights Era
    African American Literary Counter-narratives in the Post-Civil Rights Era DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Tiffani A. Clyburn Graduate Program in English The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Valerie B. Lee, Advisor Dr. Debra Moddelmog Dr. Vincene Verdun Copyright by Tiffani A. Clyburn 2011 Abstract African American Literary Counter-Narratives in the Post-Civil Rights era is situated at the intersection of 20th and 21st century African American literature and Critical Race Theory while also being attentive to the continuity of the historic engagement between African American literature and the law through the exploration of the law as a trope in the works of African American authors of the post-Civil Rights era. In exploring these critical connections, I argue that African American authors construct counter-narratives that challenge color-blind narratives of racial progress using the familiar language of the law and posit various modes of legal and extra-legal storytelling as a way of aggregating the varied and often alienating experiences of race in America. Since the election of the first African American president in 2008, there has been a boom of self-congratulatory proclamations that his election marked the destruction of the final racial barrier in the United States. I argue that these post-racial proclamations are nothing new and are, in fact, rooted in a longstanding trend of American nationalist discourse so often deployed as a distraction from the continued subjugation of marginalized groups.
    [Show full text]
  • Staging Civil Rights: African American Literature, Performance, and Innovation
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2014 Staging Civil Rights: African American Literature, Performance, and innovation Julius B. Fleming Jr University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the African American Studies Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, and the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Fleming Jr, Julius B., "Staging Civil Rights: African American Literature, Performance, and innovation" (2014). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1276. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1276 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1276 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Staging Civil Rights: African American Literature, Performance, and innovation Abstract This dissertation examines the relationship between African American literature and performance during the modern Civil Rights Movement. It traces the ways in which the movement was acted out on the theatrical stage as creatively as it was at those sites of embodied activism that have survived in intellectual and popular memories: lunch counters and buses, schools and courtrooms, streets and prisons. Whereas television and photography have served as primary ways of knowing the movement, this project turns to African American literature, and the live performances it inspired, to provide a more complex framework for analyzing the
    [Show full text]
  • Tayari Jones, an American Marriage TIP: Conveniently Register & Pay Tuesday, November 13, 2018 Online at Our Website
    NOVEMBER 2018 NEWSLETTER During November we will host TAYARI JONES. This luncheon was originally scheduled for November 14 but it has been rescheduled and will take place ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13. Registration closes on November 6 – don’t delay, contact us now to register! Tayari Jones, An American Marriage TIP: Conveniently register & pay Tuesday, November 13, 2018 online at our website. th The registration deadline is November 6 TIP: Mail delivery is sometimes Register online or by email / phone / mail slow. When mailing in your New York Times best-selling author Tayari Jones is the author luncheon reservation, it’s always of the novels Leaving Atlanta, The Untelling, Silver Sparrow, a good idea to call or email us to and An American Marriage. Her writing has appeared in Tin let us know it’s on its way. House, The Believer, The New York Times, and Callaloo. A member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, she has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, Lifetime Brickell Avenue Literary Society Achievement Award in Fine Arts from the Congressional Black 18495 S. Dixie Hwy., #312 Caucus Foundation, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Miami, FL 33157 Fellowship, and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship. Silver 786-691-4521 Sparrow was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in [email protected] 2016. BrickellLiterary.org Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She is a Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University. A Bit About the Book Newlyweds, Celestial and Roy, are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South.
    [Show full text]
  • An American Marriage (Questions)
    An American Marriage (Questions) 1. The title of this novel is "An American Marriage." Do you feel this title accurately represents the novel? Why or why not? And if you do find the title appropriate, what about the story makes it particularly "American"? 2. When Celestial asks Roy if he would have waited for her for more than five years, he doesn’t answer her question but reminds her that, as a woman, she would not have been imprisoned in the first place. Do you feel that his response is valid, and do you think it justifies his infidelity? Do you believe that he would have remained faithful if Celestial had been the one incarcerated? Does this really matter, and if so, why? 3. In her "Dear John" letter to Roy, Celestial says, "I will continue to support you, but not as your wife." What do you think she means by this statement? Do you feel that Roy is wrong to reject her offer? 4. You may not have noticed that Tayari Jones does not specify the race of the woman who accuses Roy of rape. How did you picture this woman? What difference does the race of this woman make in the way you understand the novel’s storyline? 5. Andre insists that he doesn’t owe Roy an apology for the way his relationship with Celestial changed. Do you agree? Why or why not? 6).There are two father figures in Roy’s life: Big Roy is the one who shepherded him into adulthood and helped him grow into a responsible, capable person, but Walter is the one who taught Roy how to survive.
    [Show full text]
  • Tayari A. Jones
    Focus Editor •Tayari A. Jones Associate Editor XfisHa McClellan Focus Editorial Board Suzanne. Menry •Kiyana Morton Simona M. Jones Carmen Luttery MJcok Pitts Njini Salaam Nadia Spears Creative Designs by Marl^A. Coo^ Aurelia James Simona Jones •Ernie Mays Nicole Pitts Sponsors Jean Pillingslea-Prown gloria ‘Wade-Qayles Anne Bradford Earner Business Manager Andrea L. ivory Table of Contents This Passion Woman of Black, S. Terrail Singleton................... 6 My Grandmother, C. Wiatta Freeman............................................. 7 Ashley’s Dance, Phillip Harvey.......................................................... 8 Abstract, Christopher Watkins......................................................... 10 A People’s Destiny, Denine Brown.................................................. 11 Cracking Up, Kalia Spears................................................................. 12 They Ain’t Heavy, ArcellaKeys........................................................ 14 Pulling Our Lives Apart, Lynette Y. Ray....................................... 15 Eugenics, Tayari A. Jones.................................................................. 16 Headaches, Mark Jefferson (Thandiwe Onipede)........................... 21 Where the Black and the White of the City Meet, Nicole Pitts........................................................................................... 22 Untitled, Robert A Boyd, Jr.............................................................. 26 l/luv/u’s, Tayari A Jones..................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • DISCUSSION GUIDE an American Marriage
    DISCUSSION GUIDE An American Marriage “Subtle, well-crafted, and powerful.… This is, at its heart, a love story, but a love story warped by racial injustice. And, in it, Jones suggests that racial injustice haunts the African-American story.” ~ Kirkus Reviews Summary Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together. This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward--with hope and pain—into the future. (From the publisher.) Tayari Jones • Birth— November 30, 1970 • Where—Atlanta, Georgia, USA • Education—Spelman College; Arizona State University; University of Iowa • Awards—Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (twice); Lillian C.
    [Show full text]
  • Definition in African American Return Migration Novels Of
    THE SPACE OF THE SOUTH AND SELF- DEFINITION IN AFRICAN AMERICAN RETURN MIGRATION NOVELS OF THE POST- CIVIL RIGHTS ERA _______________________________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by SHELLI ELIZABETH HOMER Dr. Christopher N. Okonkwo, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2014 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled THE SPACE OF THE SOUTH AND SELF-DEFINITION IN AFRICAN AMERICAN RETURN MIGRATION NOVELS OF THE POST-CIVIL RIGHTS ERA presented by Shelli Elizabeth Homer, a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. _____________________________________________________ Professor Christopher N. Okonkwo _____________________________________________________ Professor Elaine Lawless _____________________________________________________ Professor April C. E. Langley _____________________________________________________ Professor Wilma King ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express my gratitude to my committee members, Elaine Lawless, April C. E. Langley, and Wilma King for their time and valuable feedback throughout my entire degree process. I would like to thank my adviser Christopher N. Okonkwo for his endless encouragement and support through the long process of developing, researching, and writing this dissertation. During the writing of this dissertation, my beloved writing group kept me setting goals and moving forward, and offered much needed moral support; so, thank you for your stability Brianne Jaquette and Meagan Ciesla. There were also countless swimming pool, kickboard conversations with poet Melissa Range that helped me work through my ideas about the South and southern literature.
    [Show full text]