Research Paper on:
Revealing Self Through Writing According to Alice Walker

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
the significance of appearance for a woman. Due to its autobiographical nature, initially this approach may seem like a departure for Walker; however, an examination of her writing reveals that  this essay is typical of Walkers work, in theme, style and content. This is exemplified by Walkers The Color Purple and The Way Forward Is With A Broken Heart,  which both draw upon Walkers life and her own understanding of how female African American identity is formed. In her novels, as well as her biographical essay, the principal female  voice draws on knowledge that has been "gained through experience" and also these works share the theme that "survival is effective revenge for the pain" (Dawson 70). In her  essay "Beauty When the Other Dancer is the Self," Walker utilizes a dance metaphor to describe the way that she "dances" over conventional generic categories (Waxman 93) As her novels,  Walker selects and chooses incidents from her childhood that create a coherent narrative history, while also providing characterizations of those involved. Her essay charts the development of the authors self-image,  as it shaped by keenly recalled, emotionally charged incidents (Waxman 93). The reader sees Walker first as a precocious toddler, just two-and-a-half, being chosen by her father from her seven  siblings to be one of the "lucky" ones to go to the fair with him. The image is of a pretty, favored child. Walker next relates an incident from  when she was six and she recited Bible verses perfectly at the church Easter service. At this age, she was still confident, still self-assured. But then when she was eight,  one of her brothers thoughtlessly aimed his new BB gun at his little sister and the BB struck her in the eye. As in her novels when the action becomes