August Wilson The Playwright Or Philosopher - 2077 Words

August Wilson: The Playwright or Philosopher? August Wilson was one of the most accomplished African-American playwrights of this century and was one of only seven to win the Pulitzer Prize. He dedicated his entire career to documenting the 20th century struggles of African-Americans in a cycle of ten plays. He completed the cycle shortly before he died on October 2, 2005. His plays were themed around The Middle Passage, The Underground Railroad, The Emancipation Proclamation, Reconstruction and Jim Crow, The Northern Migration, Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Oppression , Civil Rights Movement and Black Nationalism, Developing Personal â€Å"Songs† and Cultural Mythologies, Sports Discrimination, and City Politics Wilson’s main goal in life was to make sure a realistic view of how the African-Americans was put on stage for everyone to see the struggles of African-American. He bridged the gap in tradition, modified tradition when experience demanded it, and he translated experience into meaning and meaning into belief. He deserves a lot of praise, but did he also backtrack on his original thoughts? In this paper, I will give a short biography of him, discuss his plays, and discuss how his plays and his paper/film The Ground on Which I Stand contradicts each other. August Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel Jr. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 27, 1945. August’s mother was African American and his father was a German immigrant. Wilson’s parents got a divorce when he wasShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 PagesFigure 5.1 Pete Saloutos/CORBIS; Table 5.1  © Managerial Leadership in the Post Industrial Society, P. Sadler, 1988, Ashgate; Figure 5.2 J Gross/Getty Images/Sport; Figure 5.3 after Manpower strategies for flexible organizations, Personnel Management August, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Atkinson, J. 1984); Figure 5.4 from Kalleberg, A., Flexible firms and labour market segmentation: effects of workplace restructur ing on jobs and workers, Work and Occupations (Vol. 30 Issue 2) pp