Introduction to Bread Givers, by Anzia Yezierska Introduction to Author and Novel

The Author: Anzia Yezierska -Born 1880s, Poland -Jewish -Father: the Talmud -contributions from neighbors honoring the father -mother peddled goods

IMMIGRATION - Yezierska family immigrated around Lower East Side, Manhattan - Yezierska  Mayer -Anzia  Harriet or Hattie

Jewish Immigration -Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) greeting card from the early 1900s -Americanized Jews calling over European Jews -American Eagle above American Jews, Russian coat of arms above Russian Jews -Hebrew/Jewish writing on the bottom right (means “A Happy New Year”)

Young Hattie Mayer (Anzia Yezierska) – Her Struggle for Independence -Anzia’s (Hattie’s) jobs: -made homemade paper bags to sell -laundromat -a waitress -sweatshop worker -Left home at age seventeen -Lived at a home for working girls -Continued education and earned a scholarship to study at Teachers College at Columbia University -Graduated  teacher -Later, befriended feminists and socialists.

Rags-to-Riches: From Poor Jewish Immigrant Girl to Famous Writer and Hollywood Screenwriter (We Started from the Bottom) -Published first story in 1915; began receiving wide recognition in She was even given a $100,000 contract to write scripts for Hollywood movies. -Depicted the immigrant girl she had once been, trying to break away from her traditions and religion and make a place for herself in a new land. -Expressed the turbulent relationship she had with her father, who tried to force her to live a traditional lifestyle.

BREAD GIVERS -A coming-of-age story about a Jewish-American immigrant girl -Semi-autobiographical: the main character, Sara Smolinsky, based on the author. -Sara is 10 years old at the beginning of the novel, and lives in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. -She lives with her mother, Shenah, her father, Moses (nicknamed "Reb"), and her three sisters, Bessie, Fania, and Mashah.

Chapter 1 -Smolinskys: struggling to survive; Reb, the Father, only cares about holy books -Financial struggles and family dynamics -Conflict between Sara, who yearns for American ideals and independence, and her father, who clings obsessively to traditional Jewish culture