The Loudest Voice (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Grace Paley
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Work: Short story
- Genres: Short fiction, Domestic realism
- Subjects: Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Parents and children, New York City, Religion, 1930’s, Jews or Jewish life, Christianity, Holidays, Christmas
- Locales: New York, NY
“The Loudest Voice” is the first-person-voice recollection of Shirley Abramowitz, who remembers her childhood as a place where “every window is a mother's mouth bidding the street shut up” and where her “voice is the loudest.” Shirley is the daughter of Jewish immigrants, a bright and uninhibited child who talks loudly and incessantly and, like her father, fearlessly speaks her mind.
On a cold November morning, Shirley is summoned by the teacher organizing the school's Christmas play. Knowing that she has a loud and clear voice, he asks her to be his narrator. The...
[The entire page is 786 words long]
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