Aim. A writer’s aim is his or her purpose, or goal. People may write with the following aims: to inform (expository/informational writing); to tell a story, either true or invented, about an event or sequence of events (narrative writing); to reflect (personal/ expressive writing; to share a perspective by using an artistic medium, such as fiction or poetry, to entertain, enrich, or enlighten (imaginative writing); to persuade readers or listeners to respond in some way, such as to agree with a position, change a view on an issue, reach an agreement, or perform an action (persuasive/argumentative writing). As you read, determine what the author’s aim is.
Autobiography. An autobiography is the story of a person’s life, written by that person. As you read, decide what the autobiography reveals about the author’s character.
|
Wright’s autobiography, Black Boy, published in 1945, is considered by many critics to be his most important work. According to Ralph Ellison, the autobiography “is filled with blues-tempered echoes of railroad trains, the names of Southern towns and cities, estrangements, fights and flights, deaths and disappointments, charged with physical and spiritual hungers and pain.” Black Boy was originally seen as primarily an attack on Southern white supremacist society, but later critics described it as the development of a young writer’s sensibility, in which race was only a factor. In the following selection, Wright seeks refuge in fiction, much to the dismay of his grandmother.
What story has made you want to read more by a certain author?
|
