Imagine two strong and courageous African-American women who searched to find their own voice and uncovered a gift for being remarkable writers. These two women are the one and only Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston. Both women were successful at what they did and overcame the obstacles that stood in their way. These women not only wrote literature, but also helped to make it what it is today. Both Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston had unprecedented achievement for black American women writers.

"I have never lived an easy life, but struggled on to achieve my ideas." These words, written by Zora Neale Hurston summarize both her life and career as a writer (Witcover 7). Zora Neale Hurston was born in the small town of Notasulga, Alabama on January 7, 1891. She was the fifth of eight children in her family. Her father was a carpenter, sharecropper, and a Baptist preacher; and her mother was a former schoolteacher (Yannuzzi 3). Within a year of Zora's birth, her family moved to Eatonville, Florida, which is known as the first incorporated black municipality in the U.S. When Zora was just t

Toni Morrison, just as Zora Neale Hurston, has always remembered her past. Born with the name Chloe Anthony Wofford in 1931 in the small town of Lorain, Ohio, she was the second of four children (Kramer 8). Although Chloe was born in Ohio, she had southern roots. Her mother's family was from Alabama, and her father's family was from Georgia (Century 6). Chloe's father moved north when he was sixteen years old, hoping to escape the racism of the south. Like other families of the Depression, her parents struggled to feed and clothe their family (Century 14). She attended a multi-racial school where many of the students had difficulty pronouncing her name. This made her decided to change her name to Toni Morrison (Kramer 62). After graduating from high school with honors, she attended Howard University, just as Zora Neale Hurston did before her. Toni earned her bachelor's degree in English and continued her education with a master's degree from Cornell University. She t!

hirteen years old, her mother died and she was sent to care for her brother's children by her father (Yannuzzi 19). At the age of sixteen, she became a member of a traveling thea

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Approximate Word count = 783
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)