Dunbar and Dove : two great Ohio poets, two different worlds /

Abstract

Dunbar and Dove: Two Great Ohio Poets, Two Different Worlds The aim of this thesis is to acquaint readers with the very different circumstances under which two of Ohio's most successful African American poets achieved national and international fame for their poetry, and their contributions to history and literature in doing so. In comparing the biographies and critical acclaims of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Rita F. Dove, this thesis provides the reader with insight into the lives of the poets, and the times in which they lived/live and wrote/write, and how their works have been viewed by critics. The thesis also looks at the aesthetics that guided these poets' writings and it traces the history 0 f aesthetics in African American poetry since Dunbar's time. Readers are also given the results of a study of how Dunbar and Dove are covered today in their hometown newspapers in Dayton and Akron, Ohio, respectively, and a Dunbar scholar gives his perspective on the significants of these Ohio poets' contributions.