The paper comments on the relationship between the title and the fences the characters erect around themselves, symbolized by the fence Troy Maxson builds on his property. It concludes that African Americans have interiorized three hundred years of racism and allowed it to warp the way they think of themselves, and building emotional fences is a form of self-defense. No additional sources cited. A nine page paper looking at Willa Cather's lesbianism as a reason for her nonconformist views. The paper asserts that due to the threat of being blackballed in the publishing industry, Cather was forced to hide her homosexuality, but her nonconformity shines through in her works.
Bibliography lists seven sources.
A 15 page research paper which explores the profound connection between blues and jazz and African-American literature and poetry. The writer relates how music was the only source of creativity allowed blacks during the slave era, and how this caused a rich musical heritage to be developed which has carried over into works of such writers as Langston Hughes and Toni Morrison. The 'Coltrane poems,' which were inspired by the work of the great jazz musician, John Coltrane, are also explored. Bibliography lists 10 sources. A 5 page research paper which examines the multiple contributions of black Americans beginning in the colonial period and giving a brief overview to the present.