1. Toni Morrison By: Aaron Gibbs & Mitch Downing Help Received: Internet, Class Notes

2. Biography Born Feb. 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio Born as Chloe Anthony Wofford 2 nd oldest of 4 children Her father worked very hard to support the family with several jobs Mother was a domestic worker She credits her parents with fostering her love for music, reading, folklore

3. Biography (Cont.) Lived in integrated neighborhood & didn’t understand racism until she was a teen “When I was in 1 st grade, nobody thought I was inferior. I was the only black in the class and the only child who could read” Took Latin in high school & graduated with honors in 1949 Attended Howard University as an English major & graduated in 1953 Then went to Cornell; wrote her thesis on the works of Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner

4. Biography (Cont.) Got her Masters in 1955 Moved to Texas to teach English at Texas Southern University 1957 returned to Howard University to teach English where she met her husband, Herald Morrison, an architect Had two Children 1965, moved to Syracuse with her sons after her husband moved back to Jamaica; she worked as a senior editor of a textbook publisher

5. Literary Career First book published in 1970; “The Bluest Eye”; told the story of young African-American girl who believed her life would be better if only she had blue eyes Here we see her introduce her voice as a writer toward a specific societal issue which was racism/discrimination She wrote “Sula” three years later; here she speaks of good and evil through the friendship of two woman who grew up together This book was nominated for the American Book Award

6. Literary Career In 1987, she wrote “Beloved” Described the horrors and deep effects of American Slavery She won the Pulitzer Prize for this work In a New York Times poll consisting of 200 critics, it was said to be “the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years”

7. Literary Career In 1989, she became a Princeton professor and continued her career there In 1993, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature for her work in her field This made her the FIRST African- American woman to receive this award

8. Literary Career “See? See what you can do? Never mind you can’t tell one letter from another, never mind you born a slave, never mind you lose your name, never mind your daddy dead, never mind nothing. Here, this here, is what a man can do if he puts his mind to it and his back in it. Stop sniveling,’ [the land] said. ‘Stop picking around the edges of the world. Take advantage, and if you can’t take advantage, take disadvantage. We live here. On this planet, in this nation, in this county right here. Nowhere else! We got a home in this rock, don’t you see! Nobody starving in my home; nobody crying in my home, and if I got a home you got one too! Grab it. Grab this land! Take it, hold it, my brothers, make it, my brothers, shake it, squeeze it, turn it, twist it, beat it, kick it, kiss it, whip it, stomp it, dig it, plow it, seed it, reap it, rent it, buy it, sell it, own it, build it, multiply it, and pass it on – can you hear me? Pass it on!” ― Toni Morrison, “Song of Solomon”

9. Works Cited Metcalf, Stephen. "Slate Magazine - Politics, Business, Technology, and the Arts." Slate Magazine. The Slate Group, 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. “Toni Morrison.” Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 19 April.2015. "Toni Morrison Quotes." Toni Morrison Quotes (Author of Beloved) (page 3 of 19). Goodreads Inc., 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.