1. Recitatif (taken from Confirmation: An Anthology of African American Women, 1983) by Toni Morrison About the short story Twyla and Roberta are two best friends of separate races who learn how to grow up in Civil Rights-era America. Twyla and Roberta are two young girls who meet at St. Bonneventure's orphanage for girls. They become instant friends, not because of their age, but because both of their mothers are still alive. Twyla's mom parties too often to care for her, and Roberta's mother is too ill to care for her. The author is intentionally vague about the race of both girls, so all that is known is that they are not the same race as each other, not that that affects their friendship at all. One day, the orphanage throws an Easter celebration, and both girls are excluded from the other children because both of their mothers show up. Twyla and Roberta are so excited for their mothers to become best friends, too, But Roberta's mother looks upon Twyla's with disdain and refuses to shake her hand. The story follows Twyla after she is released from St. Bonneventure's. She's in her twenties and working as a waitress when Roberta and two men show up in one of her booths. She hasn't seen Roberta in years, and the Roberta in front of her now is all poofy hair, big earrings, and dark lips. She's on her way to meet Jimi Hendrix, and onto bigger and better things than Twyla could ever hope for. Twyla feels self conscious, and regrets the fact that they ever grew apart. Their paths cross again five years later, when Twyla is married and has a son. She comes across Roberta in the grocery store. Roberta is more reserved now, and has two step children of her own. She entreats Twyla to come have coffee with her; her limo will take them. Things are good between the two old friends until the local school starts integrating. Since both women are of different races, they begin to protest on opposite sides. In the heat of a protest, Roberta accuses Twyla of abusing one of the mute servants at the orphanage. Twyla only remembers sitting and watching the servant get abused by other girls, and Roberta's revelation begins messing with the careful reality that Twyla has constructed. Roberta's accusation is the last thing the women say to each other for a handful of years. When they see each other again, it's New Year's. They meet a diner; Roberta is surrounded by glittering people in glittering clothes with glittering champagne. Twyla is just popping in for a coffee. Roberta is slightly tipsy, but she grabs Twyla by the shoulders and apologizes to her for the things she said about the servant. Then she bursts into tears and the novel closes with the women comforting each other. About the author Born Chloe Anthony Wofford, in 1931 in Lorain (Ohio), the second of four children in a black working-class family. Displayed an early interest in literature. Studied humanities at Howard and Cornell Universities, followed by an academic career at Texas Southern University, Howard University, Yale, and since 1989, a chair at Princeton University. She has also worked as an editor for Random House, a critic, and given numerous public lectures, specializing in African-American literature. She made her debut as a novelist in 1970, soon gaining the attention of both critics and a wider audience for her epic power, unerring ear for dialogue, and her poetically-charged and richly-expressive depictions of Black America. A member since 1981 of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she has been awarded a number of literary distinctions, among them the Pulitzer Prize in 1988.
Other interesting information: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/toni-morrison-fear-of-losing-white-privilegeled-to-trumps-election_us_58330ee2e4b058ce7aac0964 http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1888/the-art-of-fiction-no-134-tonimorrison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjmuzU1ec3o
Topics for Discussion 1. What is Maggie's purpose in the story? 2. When Twyla says that she and Roberta had to discover “How to believe what had to be believed,” what does she mean? 3. When Twyla says that she and Roberta had to discover “How to believe what had to be believed,” what does she mean? 4. Is this ultimately a pessimistic story?
2. To Room Nineteen (taken from Collected Stories 2002 by Philip Roth About the short story Susan and Matthew Rawlings marry in their late twenties and raise four children. When the youngest child goes off to school Susan, who quit her job to mother, does not experience the sense of freedom that she expected. She feels simultaneously as if she has nothing to do worth doing and never has a spare moment to herself. Her day is taken up in waiting for the children to come home, consulting with the maid or worrying about dinner. She becomes anxious and distant, pulling away from her husband, who begins to have affairs. Finally, in order to get some time alone, she rents a hotel room every afternoon where she just sits and thinks. Her husband assumes she is having an affair and tracks her down. Knowing that his rational world will not recognize her "irrational" feelings she tells him that she is indeed having an affair. The next day, she returns to the room and kills herself. About the author Doris Lessing was brought up in southern Rhodesia. She left school at fourteen, married when she was twenty and had two children, divorced, married a communist, had a son and divorced. In 1949 she moved to London with her youngest, and established herself as a writer. Her first novel, 'The Grass is Singing' (1950), is a study of unbridgeable racial conflicts. Doris Lessing wrote over fifty books, including novels, short stories, plays and non-fiction, often with strong ethical focus and engagement with society. And as few others have done, she has personified the woman's role in the 20th century. Other interesting information: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/dec/06/margaret-drabble-doris-lessing http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=978
Topics for Discussion 1. What is the significance of Susan’s suicide at the end of “To Room Nineteen”? 2. Is Susan’s unhappiness connected to marriage? To motherhood? To social conceptions of both of these institutions? 3. What is meant by the opening lines of “To Room Nineteen”? How might this beginning be best understood in the context of the story’s conclusion? 4. Susan frequently perceives her emotions as “ridiculous,” unreasonable, irrational. Why might she experience her sense of her situation in this way?