Syllabus--English
635
Professor Ferguson
Studies
in African American Literature Spring 2002
(The
African American Novel and Its Traditions)
Students
will critically read selected novels written by African Americans that help to
comprise the African American literary tradition(s). Special attention will be paid to identifying and evaluating
these tradition(s). Other course objectives include:
To outline and evaluate the design and
structure of these writings;
To examine the social, political, and
economic schemes of these texts;
To identify and evaluate the aesthetic
qualities of these writings, and;
To explore critical and theoretical approaches
to African American novels.
Required Texts
Clotel: or, the President
The
Garies and Their Friends (1857), Frank Webb
Contending
Forces: A Romance Illustrative of Negro Life North and South (1900), Pauline Hopkins
The
Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), James Weldon Johnson
Infants
of the Spring
(1932), Wallace Thurman
Their
Eyes Were Watching God (1937), Zora Neale Hurston
Invisible
Man (1952), Ralph
Ellison
A
Different Drummer
(1967), William Melvin Kelley
Kindred (1979), Octavia Butler
Beloved (1987), Toni Morrison
The Last Integrationist (1996), Jake LaMar
The
Afro American Novel and Its Traditions (1987)
Tentative Reading Schedule
Jan.
14 Introduction: assignment of reports,
specific course requirements,
21 MARTIN LUTHER KING
HOLIDAY
28 Clotel: or, the President
Cedars (1900) by Charles W.
Chesnutt
Feb. 4 The
Garies and Their Friends; Report: Blake, or the Huts of America;
A Tale of the Mississippi Valley,
the Southern United States and
Cuba (1859) by Martin Delaney
11 Contending
Forces; Report: The Fanatics (1901) by Paul Laurence
Dunbar
18 The
Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man; Report: The Conjure Man Dies
(1932) by Rudolph Fisher
25 Infants of the
Spring; Report: Passing
(1929) by Nella Larson
Mar 4 Their
Eyes Were Watching God; Aunt Sarah
Mercedes Gilbert
11
SPRING BREAK
18
Invisible Man; Report: Native
Son by Richard Wright
25
Wright
continued; Report: Go Tell It on the Mountain (1952) by James Baldwin
Apr. 1 A
Different Drummer; Report: The Man Who Cried I Am (1967) by John
A. Williams
8
Kindred; Report: Mumbo Jumbo (1970) by Ishmael Reed
15
The Color Purple; Report: The Salteaters (1980) by Toni
Cade
Bambara
22
Beloved; Report: The Healing
(1998) by Gayl Jones
29
The Last Integrationist; The Farming of Bones (1998);
Edwidge Danticat
May
6 Catch-Up; Evaluation
Evaluation
20 % of the final grade is determined by an oral report on a novel not listed among the required texts. This report should be less a plot summary of this text than a critical evaluation of its significance to the African American literary tradition(s)of men and women writings, accommodation, nationalism, folklore, music, etc. This report must also include primary and secondary bibliographies as well as other material(s) you deem helpful in understanding and interpreting this specific novel. A course paper of at least 15-20 typewritten pages (with publishing potential) counts for 70% of the final grade and should critically examine an original idea generated by the course. Lastly, students must write a position paper of 1-2 typewritten pages that briefly defends a specific critical approach to each of the required course novels. These short papers count for 10% of the final grade, cannot be made up, but are especially important because they can also generate ideas for the longer course paper. Try to turn in this position paper either to my office or mailbox by 3:30 PM on the day the work will be discussed. Make-ups for the course essay will be considered for medical emergency only, for which the student provides documentation.
Office:
111 McIver
Phone:
334-5484
Office
Hours: M: 4:45 PM-6:30 PM and by
appointment
E-Mail:
shfergus@.uncg.edu