New Essays On Go Tell It On The Mountain

A collection of critical essays on James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain.

In one of the greatest American classics, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's discovery of the terms of his identity. Baldwin's rendering of his protagonist's spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin tells the story of the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Originally published in 1953, Baldwin said of his first novel, "Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else." “With vivid imagery, with lavish attention to details ... [a] feverish story.” —The New York Times

The publication of James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain ushered in a new age of the urban telling of a tale twice told yet rarely expressed in such vivid portraits. Go Tell It unveils the struggle of man with his God and that of man with himself. Baldwin's intense scrutiny of the spiritual and communal customs that serve as moral centers of the black community directs attention to the striking incongruities of religious fundamentalism and oppression. This book examines these multiple impulses, challenging the widely held convention that politics and religion do not mix.

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. CliffsNotes on Go Tell It on the Mountain explores the Great Migration, a time in American history characterized by a mass exodus of African Americans from the rural south to northern cities. Follow the simple story of a young boy coming of age, a tale that gains complexity as it interweaves with the experiences of his mother, father, and aunt. This concise supplement to James Baldwin book about religion, racism, and familial expectations features summaries and commentaries on each part within the novel. Other features that help you study include Background on the author Descriptive character map and analyses Critical essays on racism, the church, and homosexuality as a subtext A quiz, plus suggested essay questions and practice projects Classic literature or modern-day treasure—you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

One of the most brilliant and provocative American writers of the twentieth century chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention in this “truly extraordinary” novel (Chicago Sun-Times). Baldwin's classic novel opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin tells the story of the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Originally published in 1953, Baldwin said of his first novel, "Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else."

An essential compendium of James Baldwin’s most powerful nonfiction work, calling on us “to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country.” Personal and prophetic, these essays uncover what it means to live in a racist American society with insights that feel as fresh today as they did over the 4 decades in which he composed them. Longtime Baldwin fans and especially those just discovering his genius will appreciate this essential collection of his great nonfiction writing, available for the first time in affordable paperback. Along with 46 additional pieces, it includes the full text of dozens of famous essays from such books as: • Notes of a Native Son • Nobody Knows My Name • The Fire Next Time • No Name in the Street • The Devil Finds Work This collection provides the perfect entrée into Baldwin’s prescient commentary on race, sexuality, and identity in an unjust American society.

A collection of essays presenting critiques and analysis of the major works of the African American author.

As Anthony Pinn argues in his latest collection, humanism comes in many colors. When more attention is given to issues of race as connected to other forms of oppression, it is easier to see the manner in which humanism has lived and functioned within African American communities. Using the biblical figure Nimrod as symbol, African American Humanist Principles demonstrates African American humanists' intellectual and praxis-related grounding in a history of rebellion against over-determined and oppressive limitations on human doing and being. Pinn maintains that it is this quest for a fuller sense of being - for greater existential and ontological worth - that informs the basic principles of African American humanism. African American Humanist Principles is one of the only books to present the inner workings of humanist principles as the foundation for humanism from the African American perspective - its form and content, nature and meaning.