The black woman in the novels of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison

The work is a doctoral research essay which examines the depiction of the black woman in the novels of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, as compared to the depiction of the black woman in several representative novels by earlier writers in the tradition of the black female novelist. The relationships of the black woman with the black man, other black women, and her children are scrutinized, as are the pressures exerted on the black woman by both the black and white communities. The role of racial and gender identity in the development of the self is the primary focus of the discussion of each novel and its black female characters.; The essay is divided into six chapters. Chapter One is entitled "Statement of Thesis" and provides a rationale for such a study. Chapter Two contains an examination of six novels by the black female predecessors of Walker and Morrison. Chapters Three and Four represent an analysis of the depiction of the black woman in the novels of Walker and Morrison, while Chapter Five presents the conclusions which may be drawn from the literary analysis conducted in the study. Chapter Six then presents a curriculum which details how this study may be developed into a college or university course.