Toni Morrison

 Toni Morrisson is a Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-

winning American novelist. Among her best known
novels are 'The Bluest Eye,' 'Song of Solomon,'
'Beloved' and 'A Mercy.'
About the Author

Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony

Wofford on February 18, 1931, in Lorain,
Ohio, Toni Morrison was the second oldest
of four children. Her father, George
Wofford, worked primarily as a welder,
but held several jobs at once to support
the family. Her mother, Ramah, was a
domestic worker.

As a child, Morrison read constantly

and her favorite authors were Jane
Austen and Leo Tolstoy. Morrison's
father also told her numerous
folktales of the black community (a
method of storytelling that Morrison's
used in her own writings).

She has two children.

 When I was in first grade, nobody thought I was
inferior. I was the only black in the class and the
only child who could read," she later told a reporter
from The New York Times. Dedicated to her studies,
Morrison took Latin in school and read many great
works of European literature. She graduated from
Lorain High School with honors in 1949.
Author's Professional Background
• Morrison received a B.A. in English
from Howard in 1953
• She earned a Master of Arts
degree, also in English, from
Cornell University in 1955
• Morrison became an English
instructor at Texas Southern
University in Houston, Texas (from
1955-57) then returned to Howard
to teach English
• She worked as a textbook editor
she went to work as an editor at
the New York City headquarters of
Random House
o played an important role in
bringing black literature into the
mainstream
• Morrison taught English at two
branches of the State University of
New York.
o In 1984 she was appointed to an
Albert Schweitzer chair at the
University at Albany, The State
University of New York.
• From 1989 until her retirement in
2006, Morrison held the Robert F.
Goheen Chair in the Humanities at
Princeton University
 In 1957, Morrison returned to Howard University to
teach English. There she met Harold Morrison, an
architect originally from Jamaica. The
couple married in 1958 and welcomed their first
child, Harold, in 1961. After the birth of her son,
Morrison joined a writers group that met on campus.
She began working on her first novel with the group,
which started out as a short story.
Literary Star
 Morrison's first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published
in 1970. She used as her literary first name "Toni,"
based on a nickname derived from St. Anthony after
she'd joined the Catholic Church. The book follows a
young African-American girl, Pecola Breedlove, who
believes her incredibly difficult life would be better
if only she had blue eyes.
 Her next novel, Sula (1973), explores good and evil
through the friendship of two women who grew up
together in Ohio. Sula was nominated for the
American Book Award.
Toni Morrisson`s major works
 The Bluest Eye (1970)
Sula (1973)
Song of Solomon (1977)
Tar Baby (1981)
Beloved (1987)
Jazz (1992)
Paradise (1999)
The Big Box (1999)
The Book of Mean People (2002)
Love (2003)
A Mercy (2008)
Key Facts about Beloved

 full title · Beloved

 author · Toni Morrison
 type of work · Novel
 genre · Historical fiction; ghost story
 language · English
 time and place written · The 1980s in Albany, New
York
 date of first publication · 1987
 publisher · Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Quotes from Beloved

"124 was spiteful. Full of a baby's venom."

"To Sethe, the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay. The
'better life' she believed she and Denver were living was simply not
that other one."

"But it wasn't the jungle blacks brought with them to this place from
the other (livable) place. It was the jungle whitefolks planted in
them."

"Dirty you so bad you couldn't like yourself anymore. And though
she and others lived through and got over it, she could never let it
happen to her own. The best things she was, was her
children. Whites might dirty her all right, but not her best thing, her
beautiful, magical best thing--the part of her that was clean."
The Life of a Writer

• Toni Morrison takes inspiration for her books from other types of art like
music. For example, for her book "Jazz" she has various voices telling the
story because in this musical genre improvisation is key and no one's
voice is omniscient.

• She is largely influenced by the true lessons of history. That is why she
doesn't want her characters to escape their past. She wants her
characters to learn from their enriching past.

• Also part of the problem in her stories is coming to terms with history.

• She has been told that she writes in black English, where the speaker
uses the present tense for events in the past.

• She is very sensitive to languages from an early age. She grew up on a

steel town (Lorain, Ohio) with many immigrants.
Most Importantly...

Author studies can help students develop a deeper love of reading

and writing.

When they find an author they identify with or really enjoy, they will be
more interested in reading more by that author or authors with similar
styles. Author studies can also inspire students to develop their own
style of writing. Students can see how one author uses their own
interests to develop meaningful pieces.
Toni Morrison was the first African-American woman to win the
Nobel Prize. Among her most famous works are "Song of
Solomon", "Jazz" and "Beloved". !
What has this experience done for us as readers?

"Having a group to discuss with helped with my comprehension of my own novel and
its tough issues. It also increase my understanding of Morrison as an author. I have
been inspired to pay careful attention to my own writing and further develop my own
writing style."
~Hannah Kestner

"Morrison's work as inspired me as a writer to think outside the box. You do not
always have to write about what you already know. Morrison discusses how she
writes about what she doesn't know in order to find an answer. I tend to usually stay
in my confort zone, but after reading several of her pieces, I have discovered that my
writing does not have to have limitations."
~Michele Howe

"This experience has shown me how powerful a reading group can be when trying to
learn about a writer's craft. I will definitely use this with my high school students in the
future."
~Jen Currin

"Toni Morrison's work reassured me that history is written by those who win. Reading
her stories brought many emotions to my heart."
Quote by Toni Morrisson
Don’t beg anybody for anything, especially love.
 “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we
do language. That may be the measure of our
lives.”

 You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that

weighs you down.

Idon’t want to make so mebody else. I want to

make myself
.