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    A Study Guide for Carolyn Ferrell's "Proper Library"
    A Study Guide for Carolyn Ferrell's "Proper Library"
    A Study Guide for Carolyn Ferrell's "Proper Library"
    Ebook36 pages26 minutes

    A Study Guide for Carolyn Ferrell's "Proper Library"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Carolyn Ferrell's "Proper Library," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories 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 Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJul 15, 2016
    ISBN9781535831444
    A Study Guide for Carolyn Ferrell's "Proper Library"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Carolyn Ferrell's "Proper Library" - Gale

      1

      Proper Library

      Carolyn Ferrell

      1993

      Introduction

      Proper Library by Carolyn Ferrell was first published in the literary journal Ploughshares in 1993. It was selected for the collection Best American Short Stories 1994 by editor Tobias Wolff, which brought Ferrell's work to the attention of Houghton Mifflin editor Janet Silver, who offered her a book contract. In 1997, the book Don't Erase Me was released, a collection of eight first-person stories featuring mostly poor black girls and women. Proper Library, however, tells the story of a young black boy, a gay teenager living in the housing projects of the South Bronx in New York. Ferrell's experiences directing a family literacy project in the South Bronx helped her to render a disturbingly accurate and poignant portrait of the challenges faced by Lorrie and his family and the attitudes and prejudices that govern their lives. Despite the difficulties Lorrie faces, however, the story is not entirely bleak; his own confidence, compassion, and optimism leave the reader feeling that he may someday succeed in fulfilling his dreams.

      Author Biography

      Carolyn Ferrell was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 29, 1962, and was raised on Long Island. She began writing at the age of six, beginning with poetry she describes as often terrible, then moving on to stories.

      In 1980, Ferrell began her studies in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. During her four years at Sarah Lawrence, she studied with such accomplished authors as Grace Paley and Allan Gurganus. After graduating in 1984, she lived in Germany for four years, studying German literature and also working as a high school teaching assistant on a Fulbright scholarship. Ferrell is a skilled violinist, and during her years in Germany she was a member of both the Berlin Sibelius Orchestra and the Brandenburgisches Kammerorchester.

      After her years in Germany, Ferrell returned to New York, teaching adult literacy first in Manhattan then in the South Bronx (where Proper Library takes place). She also directed a family literacy project in the South Bronx.

      Ferrell then began studying for her master's degree in creative writing at City College of New York. It was during this time that she began submitting her stories to literary journals.

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