English 348: African-American Literature

  The Legacies of Slavery, Freedom, and Racism  

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COURSE POLICIES

course description and objectives:

· English 348 focuses on the post-slavery tradition of African-American literature. Arranged chronologically, the course touches on the literature of slavery and reconstruction and then traces the journey of African-American writers from the early decades of the twentieth century to the Harlem Renaissance (1920s), the second flowering of Modernism (1940s to 1960s), the Black Arts Movement (1960s and 1970s), and African-American literature of the present day.

· In compliance with the competencies required by the English undergraduate program, we will deal with various genres including poetry, fiction and short fiction, the political essay and speech, autobiography, criticism, film, and music.

· Engaging with a culturally diverse literature, we will analyze and critically evaluate a wide range of ideas, arguments, and points of view. English 348 will train you as students in your ability to think and write critically, helping you achieve an oral and written mastery of discourse appropriate to the study of language and literature.

Essential objectives of this course are 1) gaining a broader understanding and appreciation of intellectual/cultural activity, in this case, literature and 2) learning to analyze and critically evaluate culturally diverse ideas, arguments, and points of view. An important objective is developing skill in oral and written expression.

required texts:
· James Weldon Johnson. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912)
· Zora Neale Hurston. Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
· Langston Hughes. Selected Poems (1959)
· Gwendolyn Brooks. Selected Poems (1963)
· Toni Morrison. Beloved (1987)

further requirements:
· $5-copy card

· Regular class attendance and participation with all required course materials. After five absences, excused or unexcused, your final grade will be lowered one half grade for each additional absence.

· Punctuality. Late arrivals cause class interruptions. For every two late arrivals you will be assessed one absence. I consider you late if you arrive after I have called roll.

· All assignments must be handed in on time to receive full credit. Under extraordinary circumstances an assignment may be handed in late if you obtain permission at least 24 hours beforehand. Unless specified otherwise, all assignments are due during class time.

evaluation:  

in-class examination	10% or 20%
paper 1:	10% or 20%
in-class essays:	10%
annotated bibliography:	20%
research paper:	30%
oral participation:	10%

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in-class examination (10% or 20%):
This closed-book examination covers all materials discussed up to the examination date. The idea is to assess a different kind of ability than a paper, for example the ability to apply and extrapolate from facts discussed in class. If your grade for this assignment is stronger than on paper 1, it will make up 20% of your final grade, whereas your grade for paper 1 will account for 10% of the final grade. Duration: 1 h.

paper 1 (10% or 20%):
The assignment consists of a 4-5-page typed essay (double-spaced). You will be given a choice of topics and you will be asked to respond with as much cultural and critical understanding as possible. If your grade on this paper is stronger than on in-class examination, it will make up 20% of your final grade, whereas the examination will account for 10% of the final grade.

in-class essays (10%):
Every student will be responsible for administering one handwritten in-class assignment. Your duties will be to 1) devise a topic related to the readings of the week, 2) show me the topic you have chosen before class, 3) come to class a few minutes early and write the topic on the board, 4) time your fellow classmates as they write a ten-minute essay, 5) grade and comment on the essays and return them to me within one week, 6) provide me a filled out cover sheet. The topic you create should reflect what you find to be the most interesting, important, or even confusing element of our most recent text. Your topic may be thematic or technical (concentrating on stylistic choices such as language, setting, point of view, characterization, use of irony, etc.). Your topic should have a very narrow focus and include key words (like analyze, summarize, compare, define) that will enable your classmates to quickly devise a writing strategy. Grading will be conducted holistically on a scale from zero to ten. Your focus as a grader should be on content and structure. As this is a very spontaneous exercise, you can mark spelling, grammar, and mechanical errors but must not penalize the student for them unless you no longer understand his/her ideas. Please pay careful attention to the way in which words are used, the depth of insight, and the clarity, grace, and coherence of sentences, paragraphs, and the essay as a whole. Be sure to comment on the essays so that your peers understand why they received the score you gave them. As the instructor, I will double-check all grades and take the liberty to make changes if necessary. The following is a loose guide to assist you in your grading:

9-10 Excellent. Perfect. Very detailed. You can find no room for improvement.

7-8 Very good. Though not perfect, the ideas and insights are persuasive, and the argument, paragraphs, and sentences are clear, coherent, and interesting.

5-6 The essay is flawed to the extent that you find yourself filling in gaps and details in the argument. Or the argument seems fine, but poor diction, sentence structure, or paragraph organization makes the essay awkward and confusing.

3-4 Incoherent essay. The writer does not seem to grasp the topic. You find yourself working extremely hard trying to make sense of the paper.

0-2 The writer of the essay has not done the reading or has failed to write anything of acceptable length.

You may drop your three lowest grades and not have them count toward the 10% of your final grade. This assignment cannot be made up, so any missing essays caused by either excused or unexcused absences will have to figure into the number of scores you may drop.

annotated bibliography (20%):
Students will prepare a bibliography for their second paper, covering relevant criticism of the past two decades. Eight complete MLA-citations will each be followed by 1/2-page summaries. Copies of all materials used must be included unless they are on reserve. No more than half of the sources may come from the course reserves, and no more than half may come from the internet. Inter-library loan must be used at least once.

research paper (30%):
Students will write a 6-8-page typed research essay (double-spaced) and attach a comprehensive works cited page. The paper is in lieu of a final examination and is due Thursday, 12/14 @ 10 a.m.

oral participation (10%):
Oral participation consists of responding to my and your fellow students' comments, asking and answering questions, volunteering information, suggesting new aspects and topics, and generally taking an active part in the discussions we conduct.

student partners:
In the first week, I will set up permanent student partnerships for the entire semester. Partners will be responsible for each other in the event of absence (i.e., sharing lecture notes, reminding each other of deadlines, exchanging information about syllabus changes, etc.). You may also want to study together and exchange and edit papers before you turn them in. You and your partner are responsible for the success of your learning experience.

academic honesty:
The Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Philosophy is strongly committed to academic honesty. For your information, here is the definition of plagiarism:

Using another author's words, sentences, or even ideas without explicit acknowledgment is plagiarism. If you quote directly from a source, put the sentence(s) or portion(s) of the sentence(s) you use in quotation marks. Then indicate your debt with a footnote or a parenthetical annotation.

The consequences of plagiarism range from failing the class to being expelled from the university. Plagiarism will most certainly have serious repercussions on your academic as well as professional future.

American with Disabilities Act (ADA):
In compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, all qualified students enrolled in this course are entitled to "reasonable accommodations." It is the student's responsibility to inform me of any special needs before the end of the second week of classes.

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DAILY SCHEDULE

week 1   |   week 2   |   week 3   |   week 4   |   week 5   |   week 6
week 7   |   week 8   |   week 9   |   week 10   |   week 11
week 12   |   week 13   |   week 14
week 15   |   week 16
week 17

Week 1: Introduction: The Literature of Slavery

M 8/21 Introduction to the course.
W 8/23 Organization of partners. The literature of slavery.
F 8/25 In-class essays. MLA brush-up. The literature of slavery.

                         
Week 2: The Literature of Reconstruction

	M 8/28 In-class essay #1. Booker T. Washington, "A Slave Among Slaves"; "The Struggle for an Education"; "The Atlanta Exposition Address" (from Up from Slavery).
	W 8/30 W.E.B. Du Bois, "The Forethought"; "Of Our Spiritual Strivings"; "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others" (from The Souls of Black Folk).

Week 3: Folk Traditions and the New Negro

M 9/4
Labor Day: No Class.

W 9/6
Charles W. Chesnutt, "The Passing of Grandison."

F 9/8
In-class essay #2. James Weldon Johnson, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, vii-xxxiii: 1-12.

Week 4: A New Negro in Depth: James Weldon Johnson

M 9/11 Autobiography, 13-74.
W 9/13 In-class essay #3. Autobiography, 75-108.

Week 5: Johnson Continued

M 9/18
Autobiography, 108-end. Review for examination.

W 9/20
In-class examination.

F 9/22
In-class essay #4. Inter-library loan. Alain Locke, "The New Negro"; Zora Neale Hurston, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me."


Week 6: The Harlem Renaissance: Zora Neale Hurston

	M 9/25 In-class essay #5. Their Eyes Were Watching God, vii-xiv; 1-47.
	W 9/27 Their Eyes, 48-95.

Week 7: Hurston Continued

M 10/2
Their Eyes, 96-145.

W 10/4
Their Eyes, 146-end.

F 10/6
In-class essay #6. Marita Bonner, "On Being Young--a Woman--and Colored";
"Drab Rambles."

Week 8: The Harlem Renaissance: Langston Hughes

M 10/9 In-class essay #7. Selected Poems of Langston Hughes, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," 4; 33-46.
W 10/11 Selected Poems, 177-98.

Week 9: Langston Hughes Continued

M 10/16
Selected Poems, 221-72; "I, Too," 275.

W 10/18
In-class essay #8. Countee Cullen, "Yet Do I Marvel"; "Incident"; "Heritage."

F 10/20
MLA brush-up; Quoting workshop; Richard Wright, "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow,
an Autobiographical Sketch."

Week 10: Black Realism and Naturalism: Richard Wright

	M 10/23 Paper 1 due.
	W 10/25 In-class essay #9. Wright, "Blueprint for Negro Writing"; "The Man Who Was Almost a Man."

Week 11: A Black Modernist Poet: Gwendolyn Brooks

M 10/30
Richard Wright, "The Man Who Lived Underground."

W 11/1
Gwendolyn Brooks, Selected Poems, 3-18

F 11/3
In-class essay #10. Selected Poems, 69-112.

Week 12: Fall Break; Brooks Continued

M 11/6 Fall break: No class
W 11/8 More recent selections by Gwendolyn Brooks.

Week 13: The Black Arts Movement

M 11/13
Lucille Clifton, "miss rosie"; "for deLawd"; "my mama moved among the days"; "good times"; the lost baby poem"; "homage to my hips"; "what the mirror said"; "the making of poems."

W 11/15
In-class essay #11. Nikki Giovanni, "For Saundra"; "Beautiful Black Men"; Nikki-Rosa"

F 11/17
Library day.

Week 14: Mostly Thanksgiving

M 11/20
Annotated bibliography due. Toni Morrison, Beloved, 3-19.

W 11/22
Thanksgiving Break: No class.

Week 15: A Contemporary Black Woman Writer: Toni Morrison

	M 11/27 Beloved, 20-85.
	W 11/29 Beloved, 86-132.
	F 12/1 In-class essay #12. Beloved, 133-65

Week 16: Morrison Continued

M 12/4
In-class essay #13. Beloved, 169-229.

W 12/6
Beloved, 230-end.

Week 17: Wrapping up

Th 12/14
Paper 2 due by 10 a.m.

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This syllabus provides a general plan and is subject to change.
Check the blackboard regularly for announcements.
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