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    A Study Guide for Minnie Bruce Pratt's "The Great Migration"
    A Study Guide for Minnie Bruce Pratt's "The Great Migration"
    A Study Guide for Minnie Bruce Pratt's "The Great Migration"
    Ebook35 pages23 minutes

    A Study Guide for Minnie Bruce Pratt's "The Great Migration"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Minnie Bruce Pratt's "The Great Migration", excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Studentsfor all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJan 18, 2018
    ISBN9781535845960
    A Study Guide for Minnie Bruce Pratt's "The Great Migration"

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      A Study Guide for Minnie Bruce Pratt's "The Great Migration" - Gale

      17

      The Great Migration

      Minnie Bruce Pratt

      1999

      Introduction

      In a 1998 interview with Janet Palmer Mullaney, poet Minnie Bruce Pratt strongly states her views on the social responsibilities of every writer: I think the concept of writing or art as just self-expression or self-fulfillment is a Euro-centric and sterile patriarchal idea. Instead, according to Pratt, writers must form their creations with an awareness of the world and people around them. You make art only in the matrix of your community, Pratt continues, and you're pretty foolish if you don't think that that's true. This point of view likely stems in part from Pratt's social activism, but the theme is not always a political one, sometimes simply advocating showing kindness or patience to a fellow human being.

      Pratt's poetry reflects this belief in the importance of community and the connections between people. The Great Migration, which is included in Walking Back Up Depot Street (1999), is a good example. The poem describes the beginning of a surprising friendship between Beatrice, the white woman who is the protagonist of the collection's narrative arc, and a young African American woman she meets in her Spanish class. Also mentioned are others who have journeyed across geographical borders to end up in the same city. It is a poem about reaching past social boundaries—such as race—to forge connections with others.

      Author Biography

      Pratt was born in Selma, Alabama, on September 12, 1946. Racial tension was high in the South at the time, and Pratt attended a segregated high school. She earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, followed by a doctorate in English literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After finishing her studies, she taught at various colleges, many of them traditionally African American schools. Her experiences intensified her interest in civil rights and activism in general.

      Pratt started composing poetry in college, but she stopped writing when she married and became

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