Abstract

In this study we try to explore the author Alice Walker in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on Alice Walker; in addition the study focuses on several incidents in the life of the author. Alice Walker was an exceptional writer; in addition, she achieved a lot of success within a short span of time. The paper focuses on the life style of Walker, personality, education and family history. Nevertheless, the study also analyzes the master piece of Walker “Every Day Use” and relates it to personal life of Walker.

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Education4

Family History4

Lifestyle5

Personality6

How Everyday Use Ties to Alice's Personal Life6

Conclusion8

Works Cites9

Alice Walker and Every Day Use

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and explore the author Alice Walker. The paper explores distinct elements in the life of Alice Walker and compares the literary works of Walker with the reflections of her life. Alice Walker gained a lot of success within a short span of time. Walker has become a major voice among black and women artists, not only because of her creative writing, but also because of her articulation of the role of art and the artist in a complex society. In both her personal essays and her own art, she has sought a unity of social, moral, and aesthetic purpose. All of her work relies upon her roots in rural Georgia, her experiences as a black woman, and the political ferment of the 1960s and 1970s (Donnelly, 11).

Alice Walker was the youngest of their eight children. Walker grew up in a period of American racial segregation and her family struggled constantly with poverty. Her early brilliance with words and performance was noted by her community and through the help of friends, neighbors, teachers, and state scholarships; she was able to attend two prestigious women's universities: a black women's college, Spellman in 1961, and later Sarah Lawrence College. Walker is widely known for her phenomenal master piece “The Color Purple”, for which she was the first black woman to win the highest honor in American literature: the Pulitzer (Donnelly, 12). The story was also made into a film directed by Steven Spielberg. Walker's contribution to the American literary canon is immense.

Education

Walker started school at age four, when her mother could no longer take her into the fields with her, and went on to become valedictorian at her high school. Walker recalls her mother's buying her, out of the less than twenty dollars a week she made as a domestic, three gifts that gave her increasing degrees of freedom: a sewing machine to provide the independence of making her own clothes, a suitcase to allow her the freedom to travel, and a typewriter to enable her to pursue her art. When, because of her injured eye, the state of Georgia offered Walker a "rehabilitation scholarship" to Spellman, a black women's college in Atlanta, she was able to put all three gifts to use (Donnelly, 13).

Walker finished her education at the predominantly white women's school. Some of the ...