To design, develop, and organize a multicultural literature course to assist students in learning more about the world and in understanding how there can be unity in diversity; to expand my own knowledge of other cultures for a broader perspective in all courses I teach. | |
Introduction: Richard Wright, in 12 Million Black Voices, talks about the common heritage that all of us share: "We black folk, our history and our present being, are a mirror of all the manifold experiences of America. What we want, what we represent, what we endure is what America is. If we black folk perish, American will perish. If America has forgotten her past, then let her look into the mirror of our consciousness and she will see the living past living in the present, for our memories go back, through our black folk of today, through the recollections of our black parents, and through the tales of slavery told by our black grandparents, to the time when none of us, black or white, lived in this fertile land. The differences between black folk and white folk are not blood or color, and the ties that bind us are deeper than those that separate us. The common road of hope which we all traveled has brought us into a stronger kinship than any words, laws, or legal claims." We will do well to remember these words as we study together during this term. This survey of African-American literature will allow you to study many different works and styles of writing, from the oral tradition of passing down folk tales to the powerful non-fiction of the l990s. As you read and study each piece, make note of when and where it was written. Knowing relevant facts about the history of a story, poem or play -- as well as the author -- will greatly enhance your understanding of the theme, imagery and symbolism in the work. Your objective should be to interpret each work as it was understood by people living during that period and also how it compares to our interpretation today. Throughout the course, the burden will be on you to show how and why each assigned work is important in the development of African-American literature. As the instructor, I will guide you in this study but I will not act as an interpreter. In order for this course to be meaningful, you will have to spend time outside the class analyzing everything that you read. Frequently, this means going to the library to conduct some research on a topic or author. More often, however, you will need to re-read a work several times before you can begin to understand its meaning. Please do not rely on condensed versions, plot summaries or Cliffs Notes of major writings. Such summaries can be helpful, but they do not allow you to discover the work for yourself. No story, poem or play can mean exactly the same thing to all persons; each of us is unique and we, therefore, view what we read in a different way than someone else. Your educated analysis and interpretation are important elements in this study of African-American literature, and you are expected to offer your ideas during all general class discussions. Your approach to this course will determine how much you learn during the term. If you come to your work with a positive attitude, then you will be receptive to what a certain story, poem or play is saying to you as an individual. Make it your objective to understand the origin of each piece and to see how it compares to other works written both earlier and later. Attendance: Writing Requirements: Rewrites: Make-ups: Plagiarism: Tutoring: Tardiness: Grading : Papers: Study Sheets: Format: Homework: Readings: Class Participation: Completing Assignments: Texts Other Materials: The Piano Lesson Theme: Wilson told a Chicago Tribune interviewer in 1987, the theme is: "What do you do with your legacy? There's 130 years of family history in the piano that you see on stage. What does the family do with it?" The Piano Lesson, however, is more than a simple domestic drama. As Frank Rich wrote in his review in The New York Times, the play "is joyously an African-American play: it has its own spacious poetry, its own sharp angle on a nation's history, its own metaphorical idea of drama and its own palpable ghosts that roar right through the upstairs window of the household where the action unfolds." Schedule: Date | Topic | Readings | June 11 | Course introduction and outline; discussion on types of literary criticism; first-week paper assigned | | June 13 | History of African-Americans: From the 15th Century to the Present | xvii-xxiv in text | June 18 | Race Matters by Cornel West; PAPER DUE Study Question: (Please write a response to the following question and bring it to class; this will be collected and graded) On page 22, West says the following: "The proper starting point for the crucial debate about the prospects for black America is an examination of the nihilism that increasingly pervades black communities." Please explain what West means by this phrase. | All pages | June 20 | Slavery -- Time of Trial; Quiz Today Study Question: Discuss at least three similarities that you see between "The Slave Mother" by Frances Watkins Harper and "Letter to His Master" by Frederick Douglas. | Ch. 1 | June 25 | Oral Tradition in African-American literature | Handout | June 27 | Standing Ground & The Folk Tradition Study Question: Explain the underlying message in the folk tale "How Buck Won His Freedom." In addition, what does the tale say about people like Buck and Master Henry Washington? | Ch. 2,3 | July 2 | On Being a Man; Short Paper #1 Due | Ch. 4 | July 5 | Midterm Exam | --- | July 9 | On Being a Woman; Quiz Today Study Question: The poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes is both a simple and a complex work. What does the poem mean to you and why? Also, what are the many implications found within this seemingly uncomplicated work? | Ch. 5 | July 11 | Relationships, Love and Conflicts | Ch. 6 | July 16 | Passing Down Heritage; Quiz Today Short Paper #2 Due | Ch. 7 | July 18 | Of Dreamers and Revolutionaries Study Question: Please analyze the differences in tone in "Vive Noir" by Mari Evans and "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King Jr. Be as detailed as possible and make sure you cite specific examples from each work to support your points. | Ch. 8 | July 23 | Native Son by Richard Wright; Quiz | All Pages | July 25 | Native Son continued Study Question: In your opinion, did Bigger ever have a chance at a "fair" life? Why or why not? Please cite at least three examples/passages from the story that support your opinion. | --- | July 30 | The Piano Lesson by August Wilon Short Paper #3 Due | All Pages | August 1 | The Piano Lesson continued; Quiz Today Study Question: Throughout the play, Boy Willie talks about selling the piano so he can buy some land. But the land represents much more than owning apiece of property. Explain what this land symbolizes and why Boy Willie is willing to sell his very soul (represented by the piano) in order to get the money he needs. | --- | August 6 | "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara | Handout | August 8 | Final Exam | --- |
Note: Please be advised that this is a tentative schedule and it is subject to change during the term. You will be notified well in advance of any modifications or revisions. In addition, the chapter readings specified above relate to the main text by Worley and Perry. Study Sheet Presentations Please sign up for one of the following presentations. Remember that you must provide a copy of the information to each member of the class. See syllabus for further details on this assignment. June 20 | "Runagate Runagate" by Robert Hayden "Letter to His Master" by Frederick Douglass Life of Frederick Douglass | June 27 | "Willie" by Maya Angelou "I, Too" by Langston Hughes "Stagolee" by Julius Lester "The Steel Drivin' Man" | July 2 | "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" by Richard Wright "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin "The Only Man on Liberty Street" by Wm. Melvin Kelly "In My Father's House" by Ernest J. Gaines "To Mississippi Youth" by Malcolm X | July 9 | "one thing i don't need" by Ntozake Shange "To Da-duh. In Memoriam" by Paule Marshall "Magic" by Rita Dove "Getting the Facts of Life" by Paulette Childress White | July 11 | "Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston "The Bean Eaters" by Gwendolyn Brooks | July 16 | "The Creation" by James Weldon Johnson "Women" by Alice Walker "For My People" by Margaret Walker "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar | July 18 | "Nikki-Roasa" by Nikki Giovanni "The Immediate Program of the American Negro" by DuBois "Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note" by Amiri Baraka "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King |
Student Project 1 The Piano Lesson About the Author: - Born in 1945 in Pittsburgh, PA
- He has fine siblings that lived with his parents and he.
- His youth years was spent in Pittsburgh in poverty.
- His education was gain in a local library.
- At age sixteen Wilson began working at menial jobs.
- In 1968 he became active in the theatre.
- In St. Paul Wilson wrote his first play called "Jitney."
- Awards: best play of 1984-85 from New York Drama, Award nomination from League of New York Theatres Outstanding Play Award from American Theatre Critics Pulitzer Prize for drama Tony Award for best play Many more
- Writings: Jitney Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Fences Joe Turner's Come and Gone The Piano Lesson Three Plays Two Trains Running
Characters: - Doaker; 47 yrs. old, work full-time as a railroad cook
- Boy Willie; 30 yrs. old
- Lymon; 29 yrs. old
- Berniece; 35 yrs. old, has an 11 yr. old daughter
- Maretha; Berniece's daughter
- Avery
- Wining Boy
- Grace
Setting: Most of the action takes place in the kitchen and parlor of the house where Doaker Charles lives with his niece, Berniece, and her daughter Maretha. The look of the house is a little rough with most of the wood unfurnished. The two women have the upstairs rooms with Doaker having the room next to the kitchen. In the parlor is where the piano is. The one thing that is different about this piano is that on each leg there is a carved manner of an African sculpture, resembling figures of totems. Summary of the Play: An overview of the whole play is that there is a conflict in the family about a piano. Berniece's ancestors when they were slaves were traded for it. An when that family got it they carved African-style portraits of them to remind them who they were. Later in the story we find out the Berniece's father died trying to reclaim the piano. Now the big conflict is that Berniece's brother Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy some farmland, and this issue threatens to tear the family apart. Student Project 2 Author: August Wilson Born: Pittsburgh in 1945 Career: Writer. Black Horizons Theater Company, St. Paul, MN, founder and director, beginning in 1968; scriptwriter for Science Museum of Minnesota Awards: Award for best play of 1984-85 from New York Drama Critics Circle and Antoinette Perry ("Tony") award nomination from League of New York Theatres and Producers, both 1985, and Whiting Writers' Award from the Whiting Foundation, 1986, all for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom; Outstanding Play Award from American Theater Critics, 1986 Pulitzer Prize for best Broadway play from Outer Critics Circle, all 1987, all for Fences; John Gassner Award for best American playwright from Out Critics Circle, 1987; award for best play from New York Drama Critics Circle and Tony Award nomination, both 1988, for Joe Turner's Come and Gone; Pulitzer Prize for drama, 1990, for The Piano Lesson; award from Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, 1991. Writings: Jitney (two-act play)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (play)
Fences (play)
Joe Turner's Come and Gone (play)
The Piano Lesson (play)
Three Plays (contains Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, and Joe Turner's Come and Gone)
Two Trains Running (play)
Also author of play Fullerton Street and the book for a stage musical Jelly Roll Morton. Poetry represented in anthologies, including The Poetry of Black America. Contributor to periodicals, including Black Lines and Connection. Student Project 3 The Piano Lesson Theme: Wilson told a Chicago Tribune interviewer in 1987, the theme is: "What do you do with your legacy? There's 130 years of family history in the piano that you see on stage. What does the family do with it?" The Piano Lesson, however, is more than a simple domestic drama. As Frank Rich wrote in his review in the New York Times, the play "is joyously an African-American play: it has its own spacious poetry, its own sharp angle on a nation's history, its own metaphorical idea of drama and its own palpable ghosts that roar right through the upstairs window of the household where the action unfolds." , by August Wilson, added to his stature with another Pulitzer Prize, won before the play ever reached Broadway. Set in 1936, in Pittsburgh, The Piano Lesson is a largely realistic play concerning the trials and tribulations a family endures over the legacy of an old and cherished piano that has symbolic importance to the family endures over the legacy of an old and cherished piano that has symbolic importance to the family. As slaves in the mid-19th century, two members of the Charles family were exchanged by their owners, the Sutter family, for a piano. When the Sutters order one of the remaining members of the Charles family to carve decorations into the piano, the sculptor instead creates a memorial not only to those recently sold, but to his ancestors who survived from the middle passage to the present time. Stolen for the Sutter family by the grandsons of the sculptor, 80 years later the piano is now in the possession of Berniece , whose father was killed in retaliation for the theft. Two of the Charles descendants, Berniece and her brother Boy Willie, fight over the piano, not fully understanding its symbolic and emotional worth. Obsessed with the anguish suffered by her mother over the piano, Berniece fails to recognize the more important connection it has with her family's legacy. Boy Willie sees more value in the piano as a commodity and wants to sell it in order to buy farm land. This issue threatens to tear the family apart. At the plays end, the family is reconciled each member comes to realize that the piano must remain as a living symbol of the family's painful, yet proud heritage., by August Wilson, added to his stature with another Pulitzer Prize, won before the play ever reached Broadway. Set in 1936, in Pittsburgh, The Piano Lesson is a largely realistic play concerning the trials and tribulations a family endures over the legacy of an old and cherished piano that has symbolic importance to the family endures over the legacy of an old and cherished piano that has symbolic importance to the family. As slaves in the mid-19th century, two members of the Charles family were exchanged by their owners, the Sutter family, for a piano. When the Sutters order one of the remaining members of the Charles family to carve decorations into the piano, the sculptor instead creates a memorial not only to those recently sold, but to his ancestors who survived from the middle passage to the present time. Stolen for the Sutter family by the grandsons of the sculptor, 80 years later the piano is now in the possession of Berniece, whose father was killed in retaliation for the theft. Two of the Charles descendants, Berniece and her brother Boy Willie, fight over the piano, not fully understanding its symbolic and emotional worth. Obsessed with the anguish suffered by her mother over the piano, Berniece fails to recognize the more important connection it has with her family's legacy. Boy Willie sees more value in the piano as a commodity and wants to sell it in order to buy farm land. This issue threatens to tear the family apart. At the plays end, the family is reconciled each member comes to realize that the piano must remain as a living symbol of the family's painful, yet proud heritage. Please make sure that you have a notebook or folder in which to keep all of your notes and completed work. You should bring this folder, along with your text, to each class session.Race Matters by Cornel West
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
African American Literature by Worley and Perry
The Piano Lesson by August WilsonAll work is due at the beginning of the class session indicated unless otherwise announced, and all assignments are due when scheduled even if you are absent from class. Only an excused absence, which must be supported in writing by a note from a physician or parent, will allow you to turn in a late paper without a grade penalty. No late papers on regularly scheduled assignments will be accepted. You are encouraged and expected to participate in all class discussions. Your enthusiasm and interest in African-American literature are integral parts of this course. Without your active participation, the course may seem somewhat tedious. Please feel free at all times to offer your analysis on relevant issues and the works themselves. In addition, at the beginning of some class periods, excluding exam days, you may be asked to write one question on the board which pertains to the readings for that day. For example, when you read chapter one of The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison your question might be: What does Ellison mean when he says, "That I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am the invisible man!" Your question and others like it will help us begin our discussion of this definitive work on African-American culture.You are expected to have read an assignment by the dates listed on the following pages. Please keep up with the assigned readings because there may be unannounced quizzes. All homework or other assignments (sample writings, exercises, rough drafts, etc.) not completed when due will result in points being deducted from your term total. Up to 10 points per occurrence may be subtracted for missing or incomplete work. This applies only to those additional assignments which are announced in class and do not appear on the attached course schedule. All papers must be typed and follow the usual format for research papers in this discipline, such as the Modern Language Association (MLA) style. Please double-space all work and do not use the back side of the page. Make sure that you put the following items on the first page: the title of the paper, your name, the course and number, and the date. The study sheet on a particular work should prepare the class for the themes and issues about to be analyzed and discussed. The length should be about two typed pages, single-spaced, and must include information on both the author and the main points raised in the work. You may add a brief plot summary (or a paraphrase for a poem) if you wish. See the attached example on August Wilson, author of The Piano Lesson.This semester you will be required to write three short papers (750 words) and one longer paper (2000 words). These may be on any topic that you choose as long as it relates to the material being covered in the course. For the shorter papers, you are encouraged to pick something that has already been discussed in class and dig deeper into the work. All topics, however, must be approved by me before you can begin your paper. These papers should analyze some specific aspect of African-American literature and each paper will be due on the date listed in the course schedule. Your papers should follow all the rules of good grammar and MLA (Modern Language Association) style. Please keep in mind that your main goal when writing is to present your educated analysis of a particular work and its author. Use quotes from scholars and critics only to support your point of view, not to present your opinion. In most cases, I am aware of what the critics have said; what I want to know is how you feel about the subject. During the term you will be required to write several papers as well as to take two exams and several quizzes. Your term grade will be determined using the following percentages: the first week paper, worth 5 percent; three short papers of 750 words each, worth 5 percent each for a total of 15 percent; a longer paper analyzing some aspect of African-American literature (2000 words), worth 15 percent; a midterm exam, worth 15 percent; the final, worth 20 percent; quizzes, class participation and responses to study questions, worth a total of 10 percent; and a study sheet on a selected work and author to be shared with the class, worth 10 percent. Grades for each assignment will be based on a 100-point scale (A=90-100, B=80-89, etc.) and this will be decreased or increased accordingly for each assignment. The total number of points earned during the semester will determine your final grade: A=934-1000; A-=900-933; B+=867-899; B=834-866; B-=800-833; etc.Frequent tardiness is not acceptable. The class will begin promptly at the scheduled time and your tardiness will be noted on the attendance sheet. Up to five points per occurrence may be deducted for each time you are late.Those who have questions or those who would like additional help with their writing should contact me. I am available each day to work with you on an individual basis to help you correct any difficulties you may be experiencing. Please talk with me whenever you need help, and do not wait until the end of the term to become concerned about your lack of progress. By that time it is usually too late. Any student suspected of plagiarizing any material will be reported to the provost. Please become familiar with the definition of plagiarism so that you know how to document and quote the work of others. Any assignment missed because of an excused absence -- a verified illness or a family emergency -- must be made up as soon as possible when you return to class. It is your responsibility to arrange an appointment with me to make up the work. Make-ups will not be accepted for unexcused absences.During the term you may be given the opportunity to rewrite some papers for a possible increase in the grade. These rewrites, however, must show significant improvement from the original and there must be other changes in the paper than merely correcting errors which have been pointed out by me. If there is little or no improvement, the grade for the rewrite will not be increased. The grade which you receive on the rewrite will be the one which will be recorded, and the rewrite grade never will be lower than the original grade for that particular assignment. You need to make sure that you write each of the assigned papers and do all of the homework assignments. Failure to write any paper or complete a homework assignment will result in a "0" for that particular exercise. You are expected to attend all classes, but you will be allowed two absences without a penalty. These, of course, do not pertain to any classes when an assignment is due or when a quiz or test has been scheduled. If you miss class because of an illness or an emergency, you must notify me as soon as possible; if you do not, the absence will be counted as unexcused and twenty points per occurrence will be deducted from your term total (1000 points possible). Any student with a total of four unexcused absences may be dropped from the course with a failing grade. An attendance sheet will be circulated at the beginning of each class; please remember that it is your responsibility to sign it each time. For perfect attendance during the term you will receive 50 extra credit points. Please note that this means no absences, excused or otherwise, from any class. There are no exceptions and your name must appear on each attendance sheet. The purpose of this course is to increase your knowledge and awareness of African-American literature. Through the readings selected for this study, you will begin to understand better how African-American short stories, poems, plays and non-fiction can give you insight into another culture and into your own culture as well. By learning more about others, you will discover more about yourself no matter what your race and background. |
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