A Study Guide for Ishmael Reed's "Chatanooga"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Ishmael Reed's "Chatanooga", 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Mar 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781535845908

Book preview

18

Chattanooga

Ishmael Reed

1973

Introduction

Writer and political activist Ishmael Reed is known for his strong opinions—and for his willingness to express them without fear of reprisal or disapproval. At times his outspoken nature makes him unpopular, but it certainly gets the attention of critics and readers alike. Moreover, his strongly held beliefs have spurred him into action that has had lasting effects on society, such as his pivotal role in cofounding the Before Columbus Foundation. The foundation is described on its website as a nonprofit educational and service organization dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary American multicultural literature.

Reed was a pioneer in multiculturalism, valuing the art, music, and stories of cultures from all over the world and borrowing elements for his own creations in a style that he dubbed Neo-HooDooism. His poem Chattanooga, which was first published in his collection of the same name in 1973, reflects his multicultural outlook, touching on locations in and history of the area surrounding his hometown in Tennessee, while also offering the reader a glimpse into his own childhood as an African American boy growing up in the South. Chattanooga can also be found in Reed's New and Collected Poems, first published in 1988.

Author Biography

Ishmael Scott Reed was born on February 22, 1938, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Thelma V. Coleman and Henry LeNoir. His surname came from his stepfather, Bennie Stephen Reed, whom his mother married in 1942. The same year, the family moved to Buffalo, New York, where Reed remained for his schooling, attending Buffalo Technical High School, East High School, Millard Fillmore College, and the University of Buffalo.

In 1960, Reed married Priscilla Rose Thompson, and their daughter, Timothy, was born. Two years later Reed and his young family moved to New York City, where he got involved in the literary scene. He participated in the publication of the literary journal Umbra, and his poems appeared both in that magazine and in the Liberator. This success with his work was counterbalanced by difficulties in his personal life: Reed and his wife separated in 1963 and later divorced.

The late 1960s and early 1970s proved a fertile period for Reed's