Showing Results for
- Literature Criticism (127)
Search Results
- 127
Literature Criticism
- 127
-
From: The New York Times Book ReviewIn the beginning of Ernest J. Gaines's third novel the narrator-historian approaches Jane Pittman for an interview: "I had been trying to get Miss Jane Pittman to tell me the story of her life for several years now,...
-
From: A Gathering of Gaines: The Man and the WriterErnest J. Gaines could be called a philosopher as well as a novelist, though in his works he does not preach, nor judge, nor does he try to inflict his personal views on the reader. He does not need to. The reader...
-
From: Callaloo[(essay date winter 1984) In the following essay, Callahan contends that in Bloodline "voice becomes a transforming agent" that allows the characters to realize their identities and pursue changes that will result in...
-
From: New Statesman[(review date 29 May 2000) In the following review, Upson compares Walkin' the Dog with Ernest J. Gaines's A Gathering of Old Men, commenting that both works explore "the point at which a stand against brutality and...
-
From: The Southern ReviewErnest J. Gaines's most recent novel, In My Father's House, published in 1978, was not widely reviewed. The notices that did appear were respectful but a bit gingerly and unenthusiastic in tone, as if the reviewers did...
-
From:Reference Guide to American Literature (3rd ed.)Ernest J. Gaines came to the attention of the American public with the broadcast of a made-for-television movie based on his 1971 novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. The story of a 108-year-old woman who lived...
-
From: Negro American Literature Forum[(essay date summer 1975) In the following essay, McDonald explores the theme of manhood in Bloodline and compares the collection to works by William Faulkner and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.] Born on a...
-
From: The NationErnest J. Gaines's fifth novel, A Gathering of Old Men, is set in the black rural Louisiana parish where all his stories take place--in the cotton and cane fields northwest of Baton Rouge, near the bayous. It is the land...
-
From: The Black American Short Story in the 20th Century: A Collection of Critical Essays[(essay date 1977) In the following essay, Puschmann-Nalenz provides a thematic and stylistic analysis of "A Long Day in November" and views the story as a precursor to Gaines's popular novel The Autobiography of Miss...
-
From: Black American Literature ForumWith The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Ernest Gaines has become one of our most highly regarded Afro-American writers. While Miss Jane Pittman is his signal achievement, the world of the novel is identical to that...
-
From:Twentieth-Century Young Adult WritersJust as Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote about a European Jewish culture that had been destroyed before he began writing, so too has Ernest Gaines written about a culture that almost has been destroyed by economic and social...
-
From: Chicago Tribune BooksThe incident that propels the narrative of Ernest J. Gaines's rich new novel is deceptively simple. Shortly after World War II, in a Cajun Louisiana town, a 21-year-old black man who is barely literate finds himself in...
-
From: The Scary Mason-Dixon Line: African American Writers and the South[(essay date 2009) In this essay, Harris focuses on the character Procter Lewis in Gaines's short story "Three Men" in order to comment on the author's development of the theme of manhood and the social and racial ideas...
-
From: Voices from the Quarters: The Fiction of Ernest J. Gaines[(essay date 2002) In the following essay, Doyle traces the evolution of Gaines's literary technique, as well as his use of the themes of manhood and intergenerational interaction in Bloodline, characterizing its...
-
From: Christian Science Monitor[(review date 4 October 2005) In the following review, Spanberg commends the nonfiction pieces of Mozart and Leadbelly for the insight they provide into Gaines's creative process, and he deems "The Turtles" and "My...
-
From: Journal of the Short Story in English[(essay date spring 1992) In the following essay, Gaudet contends that religion fails to supply hope and comfort to the young people in Gaines's stories because it does not support social progress or change.] Ernest...
-
From: Callaloo[(interview dates 27 November and 11 December 2001) In the following interviews, which took place in November and December of 2001, Gaines discusses his regional and emotional ties to Louisiana, comments on his overall...
-
From: Southern Quarterly[(essay date spring 2004) In this essay, Piacentino centers on the relationship between the characters Paul Bonin and Grant Wiggins in A Lesson before Dying as one that "represents the possibility for eventual change and...
-
From: Southern Quarterly[(interview date fall 2006) In the following interview, Gaines discusses the influence of plantation life on his growth as a writer, his use of father/son themes in his narratives, and the prevalence of strong women in...
-
From: Wendell Berry[(essay date 1991) In the following essay, Hicks addresses the symbolic aspects of husbandry (as an agricultural duty) and being a husband (as a moral duty) in Berry's work, concentrating on the ability of the men in A...