Carol Shields Essay

Carol Shields, while not the most notable author in history, made quite an impact in the women’s literature world. Her most famous work, The Stone Diaries left behind the legacy she is now known for today. Born in the United States, she later moved to Canada, where she grew most of her fanbase there. As an American-Canadian author, she grew to change the way people viewed women and their writing capabilities in the novels she transcribed. Although Shields lived in a suburban, white area throughout her childhood and lived a very easy life, she still continued to make progress by influencing women to pursue their passions, becoming a feminist icon in the world of literature. Carol Ann Shields, was born on June 2, 1985 in Oak Park, Illinois,

When asked about the differences of college and living in Oak Park, she claims that, “You’re surprised the world is so big, that there’s so much more there” (Carol 1). After growing up in an all-white town, then moving away for college to an area with people of multiple cultures, a person’s view of the world is completely altered. Carol grew up in a small, white- dominant town where she had not experienced many of the things that people nowadays would consider to be ordinary. For instance, before she went away for college, she had never spoken to a black or Asian person, never tasted garlic, nor even heard certain curse words uttered aloud (Carol 3). Leaving home and going off to college was a major culture shock for Shields. For the first time in her life, she began to speak to ethnic persons and even tasted the flavor of something that is now considered so plain and ordinary. Coming from such a conservative town, it is not uncommon that she did not hear many curse words spoken aloud. Yet looking at her childhood in a modern perspective, it is utterly shocking that she did not have such experiences, especially of such to where she did not even have the opportunity to speak to people of color until she moved