Question
If you were stuck on a desert island and
you could bring one thing with you, what
would you bring and why?
2-4 complete sentences.

Warm Up

What was the best thing that happened to
you this past summer? Explain in 2-4
sentences.

You will have two minutes to complete this
assignment.
Warm Up

What was the best thing that happened to
you this past summer? Explain in 2-4
sentences.

You will have two minutes to complete this
TASK.
Take out your notebook, it’s note
taking time!!!!
Write down three things you know about
August Wilson. (even if they are basic)
Write down three questions you have about
August Wilson.
August Wilson & Fences
Mr. Brown / Dr. Moschetta
English 12 Advanced
Life & Background

Born in Pittsburgh to a white father
(Frederick August Kittle) who never lived with
his family and a black mother (Daisy
Wilson) from North Carolina. He shared life
with his mother and five siblings.

1960s - Flunked out of 9th grade and at
worked menial jobs beginning at age 16. He
received his education in libraries and in
town hubs.
Life & Background

1960s - 1970s - Became involved in the civil
rights movement and began to describe
himself as black nationalist.

Moved to Minneapolis and began to write,
clearly using speech patterns and rhythms
that were familiar to him from black
neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. His writing
was also strongly influenced by the blues.
Life & Background


Began writing plays in Pittsburgh and
then took a job in St. Paul writing
dramatic skits for the Science Museum
of Minnesota.
1968 - Founded and directed the Black
Horizon Theatre Company in Pittsburgh
in a predominantly black neighborhood
referred to as the Hill.
Life & Background

In 1972 he began writing a play, Jitney,
about a Gypsy cab station, which was
produced in 1978 at Black Horizon and
in 1982 at the Eugene O'Neill Center's
National Playwright Conference. The
play was revived and presented at the
1997 National Black Theatre Festival in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Pittsburgh Cycle


A series of 10 of
Wilson’s plays, nine of
which are set in
Pittsburgh’s Hill
District, each set in a
different decade
All designed to represent
the African American
people’s existence in the
United states during the
20th century.



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
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
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1900s – Gem of the Ocean
1910s – Joe Turner’s Come and
Gone
1920s – Ma Rainey’s Black
Bottom (set in Chicago)
1930s – The Piano Lesson
1940s – Seven Guitars
1950s – Fences
1960s – Two Trains Running
1970s – Jitney
1980s – King Hedley II
1990s – Radio Golf
Pulitzer Prize Winning Plays

Fences


Written in 1985
Pulitzer Prize in
1987

The Piano Lesson


Written in 1989
Pulitzer Prize in
1990
August Wilson’s Death


In August 2005, he was diagnosed with
liver cancer and given 3-5 months to live
He died on October 2, 2005 at Swedish
Medical Center in Seattle
Fences


Fences presents a slice-of-life in a
black tenement in (Pittsburgh) set in
the late 1950s through 1965.
The main character, Troy Maxson, is
a garbage collector who has taken
great pride in keeping his family
together and providing for them.
Fences


Troy's rebellion and frustration set the
tone for the play as he struggles for
fairness in a society which seems to offer
none. In his struggle he builds fences
between himself and family.
Troy also wrestles with the idea of death and
claims that he sees death as nothing but a
fastball, something he can handle. The
baseball metaphor is used in relation to
death and throughout the play.