ENGL234

ENGLISH 234

SECTION 0201

MTWTHF 9:30-10:50

This is an introductory survey of African-American literature in the United States from the beginnings to the present. We will investigate some of the key texts in the literary response to, and creative re-imagining of, various historical experiences in America by people of African descent in various genres. Some of the major aspects we will consider in this course include slavery, abolitionism, and assimilationism, the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts movement, and contemporary regionalism and cosmopolitanism.

TEXTS
COURSEPACK: Selections from Dudley Randall, ed. The Black Poets (Bantam), Phillis Wheatley, The Collected Works (Oxford), James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son, (Bantam),, Earnest Gaines, Bloodline, Randall Kenan, Let the Dead Bury their Dead (Harcourt).

OTHER TEXTS
Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equino (Penguin) ; 0140434852

Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Signet); 0-451-16188-2

Frances W. Harper, Iola Leroy (Oxford) 0-19-505240-4

Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes were watching God (University of Illinois Press).
0-252-00686-0

James Weldon Johnson, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man (Vintage).
0-679-72753-1

Richard Wright, Native Son (Harper Perennial). 0060812494

Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (Penguin). 0-14-002335-6

James Baldwin, Go Tell it on the Mountain (Black Swan)
0-552-99043-4

Toni Morrison, Beloved (Picador). 0-330-30571-2

Ntokake Shange, Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo (St. Martin’s). 0-312-69972-7

are to be completed by the beginning of the class period assigned for discussion of a given text.

2. WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS (KEEP ALL WRITING THAT YOU HAVE DONE FOR THIS CLASS. YOU WILL NEED TO TURN IN ALL YOUR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS--JOURNALS, DRAFTS, PAPERS--AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER!!!!!)

Once a week, on a day specifically assigned to you, you will contribute to a discussion which you will be having with three or four other students in the class throughout the term. In your group conversation, you will discuss any observations you or your peers can make about the literature or any connections you may find between texts, between the primary and the secondary materials, or between the readings of this class and other things you have read. The four basic components of a journal entry are (a) observation; (b) inquiry; (c) hypothesis; and (d) dialogue. In class, you will sometimes be asked to report on your group discussion. The purpose of this assignment is to allow you to build a community with your peers and to further collaborative learning. Specifics will be addressed in class.

Four papers including one preliminary and one final draft each.. The criteria for evaluation are objective and include (a) thesis; (b). argument; (c) evidence; and (d) mechanics. Although I will have to act as an assessor of your writing, you should not think of me as your primary audience. Rather, imagine, when writing your papers, that you are writing for a scholarly journal whose subscription list includes all members of the class.

c. quizzes

These short quizzes (essay and/or multiple choice) will periodically be given at the beginning of class in order to review the out-of-class reading assignments.

During the term, each student will be asked to give one 5-10 min. presentation on a text scheduled for that day. Topic should be decided on in consultation with me.

Although you may be able to clear certain questions over e-mail, you are still strongly advised to see me frequently in order to talk about your work in general during office hours. If you cannot see me during my regularly scheduled office hours, arrange other times with me. During weeks when papers are due, you will be encouraged to sign up for extra conferences specifically intended to assist you in the writing process.

A substantive part of your learning experience in this class will depend on your participation in class discussion, as well as receiving and giving responses to the written work which students bring in. Therefore regular attendance is imperative and required. Attendance will be taken at every meeting. Tardiness disrupts the class and will not be looked upon kindly. Three tardies will therefore count as one absence. If you have more than two unexcused absences at the end of the semester, your final grade will be lowered by 0.1 points for every absence (after the third). Students who have more than a total of 5 unexcused absences will automatically fail this course. In order to be excused from an absence in case of a serious illness, you must produce a written explanation for your absence and proper, official documentation attesting to your illness. Obligations to teams, sororities or fraternities, clubs, jobs, other courses or appointments with professors/advisors will not be considered to be valid excuses.