Margaret Walker - Research Paper Example

Running head: NOBEL PRICE CREATOR Notable Creator Paper Margaret Walker’s writing is characterized by the growing level of psychological insight. The purpose of the current assignment is to analyze the works of this great writer, and to produce a well-integrated picture of how Margaret Walker’s writing is able to influence the society. The paper seeks to develop its own particular view on the author. The ultimate goal of this paper is to show the reader that Margaret Walker made a great contribution into modern writing. Margaret Walker the author of Jubilee was born July 7, 1915 in Birmingham, Alabama. She was always encouraged by her parents to read, actively pursue the arts, and devote as much time as she wanted for them. Her family was an educated, middle class one which emphasized education and intellectual growth. Margaret moved with her family to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1925 where she finished school. As her parents taught at New Orleans University she completed two years of college there and received her bachelor’s from Northwestern University in 1935. Later Margaret completed her Master’s in Iowa in 1942 (Anumba, 2005). After her Bachelor’s, Margaret lived in Chicago, this was during the harsh period of the Great Depression. Here she worked for the Works Project Administration, initially just as an employee and soon became a member of the Federal Writers Project. This was in the period between her completing her bachelor’s and taking up her master’s. After her Masters, Margaret worked as a teacher at a college in Virginia, where she met her husband. In 1949 she moved to Jackson, Mississippi with her husband and four children and took up teaching at the Jackson State University which lasted till 1979. Margaret’s upbringing brought an interest in writing right from the beginning. Though her parents made it a priority to not let racism affect her, the reality was never hidden from her. She could see the deplorable conditions in which the African Americans lived and how they were treated by the whites. As a social worker for the Works Project Administration she got a chance to actively interact with the blacks and understood the cause of their misery, the reason behind it and how the bigotry that was an integral part of society was influencing them. Margaret’s grandmother also gave her a firsthand account from the days of slavery, to active discrimination and then the intolerance prevalent in society. This led to her being well aware of what the African Americans had to face and went on to inspire a large part of her work. Margaret’s success as a writer was partly a result of her innate intellectual ability and the rest from how it was allowed to blossom by her parents due to the environment they created for her and protected her. Margaret’s initial success was her poem For My People that in 1942 got her the prestigious Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. The period after marriage was a difficult one for her literary talent. She now had to take on the responsibilities that accompanied her role as a wife, as a mother and her profession as a teacher which left little time to undertake any creative work. In spite of this Margaret did not let the talent I her die out (Benator, 2003). In 1962 Margaret decided to complete her doctorate from the University of Iowa and it was here that along with her degree she also completed a version of Jubilee for her dissertation. This was released as a novel in 1965 and was critically acclaimed. After she completed Jubilee there were many other works that Margaret completed, these include her poetic works Prophets for a New Day in 1970 and October Journey in 1970. She also completed a biography in 1988 of Richard Wright who had been a very important source of inspiration for Margaret which was titled Richard Wright: Daemonic Genius. Richard Wright was one of the several people she met during the days of her college and who were able to play a very strong role in encouraging her, and bringing out the best that lay within. Margaret’s ability to associate herself with good company that would benefit her was also a very important factor in the emergence of the writer in her. Margaret was an extraordinary poet and essayist though she later emerged as a novelist too. Here works include: Jubilee (1966): One of her most well known works as an author it is a description of the life of an African American woman who has to fight oppression both due to the fact that she is a woman and specifically an African American one. Set in the 1800s this has a large influence of what Margaret learned from her grandmother. For My People (1942): A major award winning poem she wrote How I Wrote Jubilee (1972): A description of how she managed her daily responsibilities to find time to do her research and ultimately write the book. October Journey (1973): A collection of beautifully written poems Richard Wright:  Daemonic Genius (1987): A biography of a person who greatly influenced her life On Being Female, Black, and Free : Essays by Margaret Walker, 1932-1992, Maryemma Graham (Editor): A collection of essays that describe the struggle she went through and saw others around her going through How I Wrote Jubilee and Other Essays on Life and Literature, Maryemma Graham (Editor) Paperback / Published 1990: Another collection of essays that demonstrated her amazing writing talent This Is My Century: New and Collected Poems (1989): An acknowledgement of the fact that the role of women was finally started to being realized by society and they accepted as being at par with men. Margaret Walker’s research goes so far as to research a whole list of important issues, including ethics and psychology. Margaret Walker’s ability to work in different areas makes her one of the most distinguished people of her time. Also, the writing of this person has a strong impact on moral well-being of people. Currently, the researcher is engaged in the process of creating a notion of “reparative justice and reparations” (Chen, 2010). This conception has a strong significance for people and the manner in which they approach public truth-telling. Current research indicates that social differences and inequalities often have “a strong impact on everyday moral thinking and on philosophical ethics of people” (Chen, 2010). Consequently, Margaret Walker’s tries to build her works in the way so as to sustain human understand of the major moral issues. The articles of the researcher are widely written in journals such as Ethics, Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, Metaphilosophy, etc. Now Margaret Walker continues her work as a writer and lecturer. Recently she held visiting appointments at the University of South Florida, and Washington University where she has her lectures. She lectured widely across the different states. Now she is recognized as to a first woman who has the Cardinal Mercier Chair in Philosophy. References Anumba, C.J., Egbu, C.O. & Carrillo, P.M. (2005). Margaret Walker Blackwell. Benator, B. & Thumann, A. (2003). Margaet Walker and her writing. Marcel Dekker. Chen, H.L. (2010). Writing Guid. New York: Taylor & Francis Margaret Walker: Biographical Note. Reatreaved august 15. 2010 http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/walker/bio.htm Read More