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The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated and Explained Russell McNeil, PhD Editor, Malaspina Great Books In 1862 the English literary critic and poet Matthew Arnold described Marcus Aurelius as "the most beautiful figure in history." The Stoicism of Aurelius is grounded in rationality and rests solidly on an ethical approach rooted in nature. Stoicism promises real happiness and joy in this life and a serenity that can never be soured by personal misfortune. This philosophy has universal appeal with practical implications on problems ranging from climate change and terrorism to the personal management of sickness, aging, depression and addiction. I truly believe that the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius has much to offer us now...(Click on book cover for more)

Category:	Modern Literature
Name:	Zora Neale Hurston
Birth Year:	1891
Death Year:	1960
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Biography, Lectures, and Research Links:	Biography Blog Zora Neale Hurston! SEARCH NOW: by title by author Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an African American author. Her most famous novel is Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston was a student of anthropology at Barnard College. Hurston's work was largely ignored until 1975, when an article by Alice Walker about Hurston was published in Ms. Magazine. Before this, her work had slid into obscurity for a number of reasons, cultural and political. Dialog in Hurston's work is roughly transcribed so as to mimic the actual speech of the period, and thus it embraces the dialect and culture of Black America of the early 20th century. For example ( Amy from the opening of Jonah's Gourd Vine): "Dat's a big ole resurrection lie, Ned. Uh slew-foot, drag-leg lie at dat, and Ah dare yuh tuh hit me too. You know Ahm uh fightin' dawg and mah hide is worth money. Hit me if you dare! Ah'll wash yo' tub uh 'gator guts and dat quick." Many felt that rendering the language this way was making a caricature of Black culture and thus was not deserving of respect. Recently, however, critics have praised her for her artful capture of the actual language and idiom of the day. During the '30's and 40's when her work was published, the preminent Black American author was Richard Wright. Unlike Hurston, Wright wrote in explicitly political terms, using the struggle of Black Americans as both the setting and the motivation for his work. Because the political struggle of the time was aligned with Wright's writings, Hurston's work was ignored because it simply didn't fit in with this struggle. Other popular Black authors of the time, such as Ralph Ellison and Langston Hughes, were aligned with Wright's vision of the struggle of Black Americans, and did not sink into obscurity. The rediscovery in the mainstream of Hurston's work has coincided with the popularity and critical acclaim of authors such as Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, whose works are centered in a Black American experience which includes but don't necessarily focus on racial struggle. [This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and uses material adapted in whole or in part from the Wikipedia article on Zora Neale Hurston.] The Great Books: Zora Neale Hurston Please browse our Amazon list of titles about Zora Neale Hurston. For rare and hard to find works we recommend our Alibris list of titles about Zora Neale Hurston. Comments or Questions! This database is maintained by Malaspina Great Books.
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Records from Related Period and Category:	Modern Literature

About this Database:

This web page is part of a biographical database on Great Ideas. These are living ideas that have shaped, defined and directed world culture for over 2,500 years. By definition the Great Ideas are radical. As such they are sometimes misread, or distorted by popular simplifications. Understanding a Great Idea demands personal engagement. Our selection of Great Ideas is drawn from literature and philosophy, science, art, music, theatre, and cinema. We also include biographies of pivotal historical and religious figures, as well as contributions from women and other historically under-represented minorities. The result is an integrated multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary database built upon the framework of the always controversial Great Books Core List published in 1940 by the late Great Books Pioneer Mortimer Adler (1902-2001). Most of the works on that list are available in the 60 volume Great Books of the Western World.