--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that the first book that made me…" description: "\"I think that the first book that made me think that I could try to be a writer - or that made me aware that a young black woman from the South could wr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/jesmyn-ward-1426_books_i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me_1881664.png" --- # I think that the first book that made me think that I… ![“I think that the first book that made me think that I could try to be a writer - or that made me aware that a young black woman from the South could write about the South - was Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple,' which I read for the first time when I was in junior high.” quote by Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/jesmyn-ward-1426_books_i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me_1881664.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/jesmyn-ward-1426_books_i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me_1881664.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/jesmyn-ward-1426_books_i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me_1881664.png) > “I think that the first book that made me think that I could try to be a writer - or that made me aware that a young black woman from the South could write about the South - was Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple,' which I read for the first time when I was in junior high.” [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The novel showed a young Black Southern woman that writing her story was possible, inspiring confidence and representation. **In simple terms:** Seeing herself reflected in literature sparked belief in her own voice. Key Takeaway Believe in your unique perspective. Themes representation inspiration identity literature Mood hopeful determined Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - school assignments - writing workshops - community storytelling - personal journaling Key Concepts empowerment cultural narrative self‑efficacy Questions to Reflect On - How can you support other under‑represented writers? - What stories from your background need to be told? A Different Perspective May overlook systemic barriers that still limit opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Color Purple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color-purple/) [Junior high](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/junior-high/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [If your book is set in the plantation days of the slave-owning South and you write a little romance between two slave owners without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/if-your-book-is-set-in-the-plantation-days-of-the-slave-owning-south/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [If you asked someone, 'Can you play the violin?' and he says, 'I don't know, I have not tried, perhaps I can,' you laugh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-you-asked-someone-can-you-play-the-violin-and-he-says-i-don-t-know/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [ I escaped the \[Southern-writer\] label because I didn't and don't write about the South. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/i-escaped-the-southern-writer-label-because-i-didn-t-and-don-t-write/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [I love to write. I write everything across the board - kids' stories and novels and scripts. I actually would like to give that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evangeline-lilly/i-love-to-write-i-write-everything-across-the-board-kids-stories-and/) [Evangeline Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evangeline-lilly/) > [Why can I write 'South' with some assurance that you'll know I mean Richmond and don't mean Phoenix? What is it that the South's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelton-reed/why-can-i-write-south-with-some-assurance-that-you-ll-know-i-mean/) [John Shelton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelton-reed/) > [My husband is very supportive and is there for the kids, especially when I'm in projects such as The Color Purple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-headley/my-husband-is-very-supportive-and-is-there-for-the-kids-especially/) [Heather Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-headley/) > [ \[On writing to Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple:\] I told her I would play a Venetian blind, dirt on the floor, anything. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whoopi-goldberg/on-writing-to-alice-walker-author-of-the-color-purple-i-told-her-i/) [Whoopi Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whoopi-goldberg/) > [“Oh, she say. God loves all them feelings. That's some of the best stuff God did. And when you know God loves 'em you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/oh-she-say-god-loves-all-them-feelings-that-s-some-of-the-best-stuff/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“The painstakingly extracted purple dye was a luxury item of such prestige that the color purple became a way of showing wealth and power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kurlansky/the-painstakingly-extracted-purple-dye-was-a-luxury-item-of-such/) [Mark Kurlansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kurlansky/) > [Some of my best friends have written Broadway shows. Allee Willis and Brenda Russell wrote The Color Purple which has been recently revived on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-koz/some-of-my-best-friends-have-written-broadway-shows-allee-willis-and/) [Dave Koz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-koz/) > [I just feel that 'The Color Purple,' which was my 10th book, was a true gift from my ancestors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-just-feel-that-the-color-purple-which-was-my-10th-book-was-a-true/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.' 'What it do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-think-it-pisses-god-off-if-you-walk-by-the-color-purple-in-a-field/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [This is for jake his fav color is purple and it says keep calm and love jake and it is purple thats wat I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria/this-is-for-jake-his-fav-color-is-purple-and-it-says-keep-calm-and/) [Maria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria/) > [Many readers fail to realize this, but 'The Color Purple' is a theological text. It is about the reclamation of one's original God: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/many-readers-fail-to-realize-this-but-the-color-purple-is-a/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [The first three years my hair was purple, I still was trying to convince myself that I hated the color purple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justine-skye/the-first-three-years-my-hair-was-purple-i-still-was-trying-to/) [Justine Skye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justine-skye/) ## More by Jesmyn Ward > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I think that voodoo as a spiritual tradition has been demonized for so long in popular culture. I wanted to write against that and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-think-that-voodoo-as-a-spiritual-tradition-has-been-demonized-for/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [There's so much I love about home, but then there's a lot that I can acknowledge that I dislike about home. And acknowledging that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/there-s-so-much-i-love-about-home-but-then-there-s-a-lot-that-i-can/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“The dream of her was the glow of a spent fire on a cold night: warm and welcoming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/the-dream-of-her-was-the-glow-of-a-spent-fire-on-a-cold-night-warm/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [The first writer that I think of immediately that I studied with at Michigan is Peter Ho Davies. He was really important to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/the-first-writer-that-i-think-of-immediately-that-i-studied-with-at/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I feel like so much of what happened in the Delta over the decades since slavery was abolished seems much closer in the Delta,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-feel-like-so-much-of-what-happened-in-the-delta-over-the-decades/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Vines catch my arms, my head; we tear through until we break out into the clearing before the fence, the field, the barn, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/vines-catch-my-arms-my-head-we-tear-through-until-we-break-out-into/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Before all the little mean things she told me gathered and gathered and lodged like grit in a skinned knee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/before-all-the-little-mean-things-she-told-me-gathered-and-gathered/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [People give the South a bad rap. It's often stereotyped as backwards and close-minded and dogmatic, and all of those things have been true.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/people-give-the-south-a-bad-rap-it-s-often-stereotyped-as-backwards/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [By the time I wrote my memoir, 'Men We Reaped,' I had been running from writing it for a long time. When the events…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/by-the-time-i-wrote-my-memoir-men-we-reaped-i-had-been-running-from/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When I was a teenager, I was the only black girl at a small, private Episcopal school, where my tuition was paid by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/when-i-was-a-teenager-i-was-the-only-black-girl-at-a-small-private/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [She was the murderous mother who cut us to the bone but left us alive, left us naked and bewildered as wrinkled newborn babies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/she-was-the-murderous-mother-who-cut-us-to-the-bone-but-left-us-alive/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I hope people who read my books feel empathy for us and really see us as complicated people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-hope-people-who-read-my-books-feel-empathy-for-us-and-really-see-us/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When I was writing my first novel, 'Where the Line Bleeds,' which had young black men as its main characters, I was very invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/when-i-was-writing-my-first-novel-where-the-line-bleeds-which-had/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Lot of folks was in there for stealing food because everybody was poor and starving, and even though White people couldn’t get your work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/lot-of-folks-was-in-there-for-stealing-food-because-everybody-was/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) [Explore all 242 Jesmyn Ward quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think that the first book that made me think that I could try to be a writer - or that made me aware that a young black woman from the South could write about the South - was Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple,' which I read for the first time when I was in junior high.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jesmyn Ward" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me-think-that-i-could-try-to-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me-think-that-i-could-try-to-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/jesmyn-ward-1426_books_i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me_1881664.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/jesmyn-ward-1426_books_i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me_1881664.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/jesmyn-ward-1426_books_i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me_1881664.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think that the first book that made me think that I could try to be a writer - or that made me aware that…” — Jesmyn Ward", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jesmyn Ward", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think that the first book...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me-think-that-i-could-try-to-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-think-that-the-first-book-that-made-me-think-that-i-could-try-to-be/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```