1. Post Modernism(1946-Present) Women Fiction Writers
Flannery O’Connor, Joyce Carol Oates,
Alice Walker and Lorraine Hansberry

2. Post Modernism Notes
The U.S. was the most powerful nation on Earth after WWII
Despite the prosperity of the nation, the prospect of a nuclear war and the dominance of the Soviet Union was looming.
In 1945, the United Nations was formed in an effort to prevent future wars.
The Cold War began immediately following WWII-between the US and the Soviet Union
1st armed conflict was in Asia

3. Post Modernism notes continued
“Silent Generation”—name given to Americans of the 1950s
October 1957, Soviet Union launched Sputnik-1st artificial satellite to orbit Earth
President John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960 and was assassinated in 1963.
1954 Segregation in public schools was outlawed by the Supreme Court
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, TN, in 1968

4. Postmodernism Writers
Short Story Writers
John Updike
Flannery O’Connor
Joyce Carol Oates
Alice Walker
Lorraine Hansberry
Poets
Marianne Moore
Robert Frost
William Carlos Williams
Theodore Roethke
Sylvia Plath
Robert Lowell

5. Literary Elements—Gothic Elements & Grotesque Characters
Story set in bleak or remote places
The plot involves macabre or violent incidents
Characters are in psychological and/or physical torment
A supernatural or otherworldly element is often present.
One has become bizarre or twisted, usually through some kind of obsession
May be expressed in a character’s physical appearance
May be hidden, visible only in a character’s actions and emotions
Absurd, extreme behaviors, or distortions

6. Women Fiction Writers--Gothic
Joyce Carol Oates
Flannery O’Connor
Many of her novels and short stories concern individuals whose ordinary lives are suddenly upset by mysterious forces beyond their control
Writings focus on characters who are disturbed or who are searching anxiously for their identities.
Many of her stories are set in the fictional Eden County.
She suffered from lupus.
Her works force readers to confront such human faults as hypocrisy, insensitivity, self-centeredness, and prejudice.
Stories revolve around death and exhibit a dark sense of humor.
Characters are social misfits or people who are physically or mentally challenged.

7. “Where is Here?” by Joyce Carol Oates pp. 374-382
What is the setting of this story?
Identify the characters and describe each.
Find examples of gothic writing within the story and write them on your paper. (Give page # and paragraph.)
Which character(s) fit the description of a grotesque character? Explain by citing examples from the story.
What do you think is the real reason the stranger has come to the house?
How would you react if you were in this same situation?
What is you opinion of this author’s style of writing? Would you be willing to read other works by this writer?

8. Contemporary Female African American Writers
Alice Walker and Lorraine Hansberry

9. Alice Walker Youngest of 8 children and daughter of a sharecropper.
Shot in the eye with a BB gun at age 8—she did not lift her head for 6 years
Her self-confidence decreased and she went into isolation & indulged in reading
Once she had the surgery to remove the scar she regained her confidence and went on to be come prom queen & valedictorian of her class
Civil Rights Activist
Taught African American studies at Jackson State University
Explores the connections between sexism and racism and the effects of both on individuals and their relationships.
Famous works: The Color Purple and You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down