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(1893-1967)
"The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue." "Four be the things I'd have been better without: love, curiosity, freckles and doubt."

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Dorothy Parker did what she loved and didn’t let other people’s opinions affect her writing style and poetry. To this day not much is known about why Parker became interested in poetry and writing but it may have a connection to her childhood. Parker had a rough childhood in which she experienced many family deaths. Parker was born August 22nd, 1893 in Long Beach, New Jersey. Parker attended The Blessed Sacrament Covenant School in NYC but a year later was asked to leave because of her strong beliefs of Christ’s conception. She then attended Miss Dana’s school in Morrison, New Jersey. Her formal education ended when Parker was only 13. In 1917 Parker married Edward Pond, and divorced him in the same year. She later married Allan Campbell in 1934, but divorced after 16 years of marriage. However, Parker stayed with him until his death in 1967. After Campbell's death Parker moved to New york where she died of a heart attack on June 7th, 1967. Parker left her literary estate to the NAACP. Even with little education Parker had very emotional and funny poetry that always displayed her opinions and beliefs.

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Dorothy Parker experienced many tragedies in her life; it was these tragedies that may have had some connection to the topics she chose to write about. Through her childhood she lost many family members and never really got to experience her families love. When Parker was four years old her mother died. Her father remarried, but Parker never had a good relationship with her father and step mother. Her step mother later died in 1903, and her brother died on the Titanic. Later in 1913 parker’s father died. Even though it is unknown what exactly sparked parker’s interests in writing we can infer that writing and poetry may have helped Dorothy get through tough times. At the age of 21 Parker began to submit her first writings to magazines and newspapers. in 1916 Parker received the opportunity to join the editorial staff for Vogue Magazine. One year later Parker moved to Vanity Fair to become a theatre critic. However, in 1920 she was fired from Vanity Fair because of her harsh drama reviews. In 1920 Parker began focusing on writing about many cause and situations based on her opinons. Most of these writings focused around her political views. In 1927 Parker recieved another job, this time working as a book reviewer for the New Yorker. Later in 1933 Parker and her husband moved to Hollywood to take up a job as a screen writer. Parker acheived much more then just poetry but but it was her poems that often consist of her craving for a friend and the love she never received as a child. Parker’s poems and writings have been quite popular and received many awards. In 1926 Parker’s book Enough Rope became an instant bestseller. Later in 1929 Parker won the O.Henry award for her short story “Big Blonde”. Parker also won an academy award for her film __A Star is Born.__



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A Potrait

﻿Because my love is quick to come and go- A little here, and then a little there- What use are any words of mine to swear My [|heart] is stubborn, and my spirit slow Of weathering the drip and drive of woe? What is my oath, when you have but to bare My little, easy loves; and I can dare Only to shrug, and answer, "They are so"?

You do not know how heavy a heart it is That hangs about my neck- a clumsy [|stone] Cut with a birth, a death, a bridal-day. Each time I love, I find it still my own, Who take it, now to that lad, now to this, Seeking to give the wretched thing away

Parker was noted by [|critics] for her wit and concision, but critics were concerned with her sentimentality. Her poems mainly consist of her hopes and dreams of love and how she views herself. In Parker's poem //A potrait// she talks about how her love is quick to come and go and how she has a stubborn heart but a low spirit. She also discusses how nothing drives her to sadness but nothing can stop her from feeling sad. In Parker's poem Autumn she talks about her breakup and the sadness it caused her. She says how she can't remember the heart that once loved and cared. Many critics link Parker's sadness and type of writing style back to her chilhood.

Parker not only focused her writing on sadness but she also used her poetry to get a message across. Many [|critics] "intepret Parker's humor as a form of social protest against patriarchal and societal conventions. Dorothy parker had strong political values as she was a member of the communist party. It was through Parker's poetry that she conveyed her political opinons and beliefs. Parker's poems also criticizes the status of women at her time and how they dont try to fight back against that society. Parker once said " I am [|outraged womanhood]."

To this day critics aren't exactly sure what made Parker write about such topics but many critics believe it had to do with the lack of love and the amount of doubt she lived with throughout her life. However, Parker did express her feelings and opinons openly and didn't let other affect the ways she thought and wrote.

MLA: __American Poets.__ 30 April 2011. 30 April 2011 [].

__Wikapedia. __ 27 April 2011. 30 April 2011 [].

"**Dorothy** **Parker**." //Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online//. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. <[]>.

30 April 2011 [].

Pettit, Rhonda. __Bio-critical summary and selected biography.__ 3 May, 2011 []. __Dorothy Parker.__ 3 May, 2011 [].