Another Look at African American Writers Quiz

Answer: William Wells Brown

"The President's Daughter" was a novel about Thomas Jefferson's daughters from a relationship with his slave. The inspiration for this novel came from William Wells Brown's personal experience as the son of a white plantation owner and a mother who was a slave.

He was born into slavery but eventually escaped on a steamboat to the free state of Ohio. He wrote and published his work "The President's Daughter" from Great Britain, where he was living at the time to avoid recapture as his popularity spread from being an anti-slavery activist. William Brown continued to write many other literary works and plays including "The Escape", "The Negro in the American Rebellion", and "My Southern Home"

Answer: Annie Allen

"Annie Allen" was Gwendolyn Brook's poetry work that won her the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950. The book explored an African American girl's journey from childhood to adulthood.

Annie experiences with birth and her mother were brought to light. The story also revealed Annie's thoughts on racism, killing, and death. As she grew up she dreamed of marrying a solider who would go off to war. When she reached adulthood, her focus became less on fantasies and centered more on changing the world she lived in.

Answer: Home to Harlem

In "Home to Harlem", Jake deserted the United States Army when he felt like his role there was very limited. He decided to return home and along the way got into trouble with his friend Zeddy. Things became chaotic between being involved with women and drugs. Jake searched for true love until he found the woman he was looking for.

"Home to Harlem" was one of three novels Claude McKay published. The other two were "Banana Bottom" and "Banjo". "Home to Harlem" was a picture of African American street life in the cities. Although "Home to Harlem" became his most famous work, when it was published it received many negative attacks.

Answer: The Weary Blues

Langston Hughes' first poem was written in 1921 and was titled "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". It was first published in an African American magazine named "The Crisis". The poem became his signature work and Langston Hughes included it in his first book of poetry, "The Weary Blues".

Hughes became one of the most well known leaders of the Harlem Renaissance. In addition to writing poetry, he also was a playwright and novelist.

In 1960 the NAACP awarded Hughes the Spingarn Medal for his achievements. When he died, his ashes were buried under the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.

Answer: The Hazeley Family

When it was first published, "The Hazeley Family" was advertised as "a book that should be in every Sunday-school library" (American Baptist Publication Society). The protagonist in the book, Flora Hazeley, fought to keep her family together with her morals and Christian faith.

Amelia Johnson, like many other African American writers during her time, avoided including the race of her characters in her novels. She addressed issues such as poverty, alcoholism, and family violence as a societal problem instead of a racial problem. These two characteristics made her works an inspiration to many cultures. She was one of the few African American women in the nineteenth-century to be praised for her work during her lifetime.

Answer: I'm Black When I'm Singing, I'm Blue When I Ain't

Sonia Sanchez wrote "I'm Black When I'm Singing, I'm Blue When I Ain't" and published it in 1982. The main character Reena struggled with multiple emotions as an inmate in an institution. She connected her personality with songs of African American women singers, who faced multiple difficulties themselves.

Sonia Sanchez won numerous awards for her works of poetry. She read her works in multiple places around the world including Africa, the Caribbean, China, Australia, Europe, Nicaragua, Canada, and Cuba.

Answer: Bill Clinton

Maya Angelou read her poem "On the Pulse of the Morning" at Bill Clinton's first presidential inauguration in 1993. Some of the themes of this poem include change and responsibility. She was the first poet to read at a presidential inauguration address since the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

Maya Angelou was a gifted writer and poet. Her most noted works became her autobiographies. She had written five autobiographies prior to being the poet speaker at the inauguration. "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" became one of her most famous works.

Answer: Dreams From My Father

In "Dreams From My Father" Barack recorded his life's memories up to the time he went to law school. This became one of his most noted works as he began his political career. It described his childhood and ended with his reunion of his Kenyan relatives in Africa, shortly before he went to Harvard Law School.

His goal of the book was to share his beliefs on race, culture, and his dreams. Three years after this book's publication, Obama began striving for the presidential office.

Answer: on the streets in Philadelphia

Teri Woods wrote her first novel, "True to the Game" while working in a law firm. She tried six different times to get the book published, all of which were rejected. Not giving up, Teri started printing her works herself and sharing them on the street in Philadelphia. Sometimes she would pass out the books to people from the trunk of her car. Eventually when people and local bookstores began to buy her work, she used the money to start her own publishing company that published her books as well as other African American authors.

Her business and literature were so successful, she was eventually offered a multi-million dollar contract to republish the works that had been previously rejected.

Answer: Beloved

In the book "Beloved", Sethe is haunted by the memories of her past and the ghost of her baby. Her baby died nameless and is marked by a tombstone that says "Beloved". Sethe left everything to be free and escaped to Ohio. However after she gained her freedom, her memory was still attached the farm and the unspeakable things that occurred.

"Beloved" became one of Toni Morrison's most famous works. It earned her the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988. Inside the novel, the book was dedicated to the "Sixty Million and More" Africans who died as a result of the Atlantic slave trade.

In May of 2012, Toni Morrison was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work.