Zora Neale Hurston: The Woman and the Writer Essay -- Essays Papers

Zora Neale Hurston The Woman and the writer To around pot, the name Zora Neale Hurston is associated solely with Their Eyes Were Watching God, her most notable work. In some cases her name is synonymous with the Harlem Renaissance. However, very few people are informed roughly the aspects of Zoras life that influenced her writing of Their Eyes , nor do they know about how she arrived in New York to become one of the most famous Black female writers of her time. Robert Hemenways Zora Neale Hurston A Literary Biography and Valerie Boyds cloaked in Rainbows The Life of Zora Neale Hurston both seek to educate people about the life of this writer and to give the reader information about her early(a) literary works. Both authors also draw from other sources to tell the recital of Zoras life, including interviews with friends and colleagues and Zoras own words. However, the differences are apparent in terms of what Hemenway and Boyd chose to emphasize and what they do not. I n the introduction of Zora Neale Hurston , Hemenway discusses his objectives in writing the biography. Zora Neale Hurston is a literary workman of sufficient talent to deserve intensive study, as an artist and as an intellect, he writes. She deserves an important place in American literary memorial(Hemenway xx). In writing the biography, Hemenway is hoping to help push Hurston into her rightful place in the history and achievements of American literary tradition. He also explains that, as a White male author, he does not feel that writing a definitive biography is his job. He feels that a definitive book.should be writeby a black woman(Hemenway xx). His main objective in writing Zora Neale Hurston was to contribute a new, closer exami... ...ry Louis and McKay, Nellie Y. New York 1997. 1 Hemenways fill in critical analysis of her work as well as his audience seems to be explained by his background as an educator. He is before long chancellor of the University of Kentucky, and has been for over thirty years. 2Crisis was the name of the NAACPs magazine during the Harlem Renaissance. 3 Jessie Fauset was another(prenominal) Black female writer of the Harlem Renaissance. According to Norton , she was responsible for the encouragement and discovery of numerous famous Black Harlem Renaissance writers (Gates and McKay 951). 4 Richard Bruce Nugent, who was, as Boyd puts it, inveterate broke, lived with Zora briefly and sometimes used her apartment to work on his writing. 5 Madam C.J. Walker was Americas first Black self-made millionaire, who was the creator of many hair care products for Black women.