Professor: Seodial Deena
Phone: 328-6683
Fall 99 Classroom:GCB 1021
Class Time: TTh 800-915
Office: GCB 2139 E-mail: Deenas@mail.ecu.edu
Office hours:M 9:00-11:00; W 2:00-3:00
TTH 10:00-11:30, 2:00-3:00 and by appointment.
Scheduled Conferences with Students
Required Texts
Coleman-Johnson, Loraine. Just Plain Folk. New York: Little Brown and Company, 1998.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative
of the life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave. London:
Harvard UP, 1960.
Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson
Before Dying. New York: Vintage Books, 1993.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper, 1937.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: New American Library, 1987.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Pocket Books, 1982.
Wright, Richard. Black Boy. New York:
Harper, 1993.
To help students read, interpret,
and respond individually and collectively to imaginative literature
more thoughtfully and meaningfully
through an examination of the elements of literature.
To familiarize students with the
literature of various periods, emphasizing the twentieth century,
of African American literature.
To help students express their thinking
about African American literature and culture through
class discussion, journal entries,
class presentations, examinations, and papers.
To expose students to the culture and experience of African Americans.
Focus
This course
focuses on African American literature as represented by significant works
from
different
historical periods, emphasizing the twentieth century. It traces,
in a brief manner, the
development
of African American literature from slavery to present, and it includes
works by male
and female
writers. We will try to get an awareness of the literary, cultural,
social, political, and
economic
conditions of African Americans. It also seeks to explore the study
of literature with
films which
will provide insights into implications of converting literature, particularly
African
American
literature, into movies.
Evaluation
Position paper
(3-4 typed pages) = 20%
7 journal
entries responding to the readings of each text. 2 other assigned
topics = 10%
Each Journal
Must be At Leat 1 Page Typed
Mid-Term
Exam = 20%
Final Exam
= 20%
Attendance
and Class Participation = 10%
Quiz and
Assignments ( 7 Quizzes on Texts Before Discussion and 5 on Movies After
Viewing) = 20%
Course Outline
WEEK 1: (AUG.
19) INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF AFRICAN AMERICAN
LITERATURE
Introduction
to course. Discussion of syllabus and policies. Journal 1-Sample
writing-
What
I think/feel/know about African American literature. Filling cards.
Background
lecture
Video
on Black American Literature by Valerie Smith
Read
“Overview,” on reserve
WEEK 2:
(24 & 26) SLAVE NARRATIVES
Journal
2 and quiz 1 on Douglass
Douglass,
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Video
on the life of Douglass
Features of Slave Narratives
WEEK 3: (AUG.-SEPT. 31 &
2) CONTINUATION OF SLAVE NARRATIVES
Continuation of Douglass
Excerpts from Alex Haley’s Roots (video) (View at least 30 minutes of any
part of
Roots,
in class, cite two ways in which African Americans are dehumanized,
mention
their parallels in texts we have studied, and illustrate present-day examples
of these
points. Typed assignment due 9/7.)
Reference to Jacobs’ Incidents
in the Life of A Slave Girl, Quiz 1 on film
WEEK 4: (7 & 9) THE RENAISSANCE
OF THE TWENTIES
Journal 3 and quiz 2 on Hurston
Hurston, Their Eyes Were
Watching God
Video on Hurston
WEEK 5: (14 & 16) CONTINUATION
OF RENAISSANCE
Continuation of Hurston
Quiz 2 on film
FLOOD OF THE CENTURY (16–28) (REVISION)
WEEK 6: (OCT. 5 & 7) THIRTIES
AND FORTIES
Journal 4 and quiz 3 on Wright
Wright, Black Boy
Video tape on Wright, Black
Boy
POSSIBLE POSITION PAPER TOPICS
GIVEN BY PROFESSOR
WEEK 7: (12 & 14) CONTINUATION
OF THIRTIES AND FORTIES
Continuation of Wright
Reference to Uncle Tom’s
Children and Native Son, Quiz 3 on film
WEEK 8: (19 & 21) FIFTIES
AND SIXTIES
Journal 5 and quiz 4 on Gaines
Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying
Video on Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying
WEEK 9: (26 & 28) CONTINUATION
OF FIFTIES AND SIXTIES
Continuation of Gaines
Mid-term exam, PLEASE
BRING TWO BLUE BOOKS FOR EXAM.
Mid-term evaluation, Quiz
4 on film
NO FALL BREAK! NO FALL BREAK!! NO FALL BREAK!!!
WEEK 10: (2 & 4) SEVENTIES
Journal 6 and quiz 5 on Morrison
Morrison, Beloved
Video on Morrison, Beloved
WEEK 11: (9 & 11)CONTINUATION
OF SEVENTIES
Continuation of Morrison,
Quiz 5 on film
WEEK 12: (16 & 18) EIGHTIES
AND NINETIES
Journal 7 and quiz 6 on Walker
Walker, The Color Purple
Video on Walker, The Color
Purple
FINAL POSITION PAPER DUE
NOV. 18, 1999 ON OR BEFORE CLASS TIME
WEEK 13: (23) CONTINUATION OF EIGHTIES
AND NINETIES
Continuation of Walker
Video, The Color Purple (On your own or in groups, look at the movie, The
Color
Purple,
state two major changes in the movie, suggest reasons for these changes,
and
mention
two ways in which the movie has been successful. Typed assignment
due
11/23)
(25-28) THANKSGIVING BREAK! THANKSGIVING BREAK!!
WEEK 14: (NOV. 30 & DEC. 2)
NINETIES AND 2000
Journal 8 and quiz 7 on Johnson-Coleman
Johnson-Coleman, Just Plain
Folk
Video on Johnson-Coleman,
Just Plain Folk
WEEK 15: (7 & 9) CONTINUATION
OF NINETIES AND 2000
Continuation of Johnson-Coleman,
Just Plain Folk, Quiz 6 on film
REVIEW
No Reading Day
Journal 8 on My response
to African American literature after taking this
course/What have I learnt
about African American literature/culture/history? My
reaction to any issue discussed
in this course.
(Section 1–Friday, Dec. 17, 8:00-10:00
) (Section 3–Tuesday, Dec. 14, 11:00-1:00) (Section
4–Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2:00-4:00)
FINAL EXAM in GCB 1021 AND GOOD BYE! PLEASE
BRING TWO BLUE BOOKS FOR EXAM.
NB. Additional information/definition/clarification
will be given at different times during the
semester. Please do not hesitate
to seek my help. Good Luck!
ADDITIONAL:
1. Position Paper:
Topics will be given by professor.
Submit a typed paper no later than NOV. 18, 1999 class time.
2. Journal:
A collection of writing pieces
based on your responses to the texts. We will share some of these
in class on a voluntary and rotation
basis. These are due the first Tuesdays when the texts are
explored.
3. Attendance and participation:
Attendance and participation will
be graded on a letter scale. Poor attendance always affects
grades adversely. Avoid arriving
late and departing before class is officially ended.
Avoid eating in class, but if you
have to eat in class, please ensure that your eating does not
detract from the focus of the class.
Final Exam (REVIEW) EN 3260.002
&3 Black Literature in America
1. Frederick Douglass's fight with
Edward Covey.
2. Significance and interpretation
of pages 95–96.
3. Scripture references in Douglass'
Narrative and other texts.
4. The theme of identity in Narrative
as it relates to Douglass.
5. The effects of slavery on both
the slave and the master.
6. Argument against slavery with
authenticity.
7. Contrasting images/imageries
in Wright or Hurston's text.
8. Functions of page one of chapter
one in Their Eyes.
9. Janie's quest for identity.
Janie's three relationships, and aspects of symbolism.
10. Composition of Bigger Thomas
and his world.
11. Violence, history, religion,
city, fate, fear, and community in Black Boy.
12. Significance of the title Of
Love and Dust in Gaines' novel.
13. Gaines' rejection of characters'
rebellion against the old order and their submission to the past,
and his approval of their defiance
of the Southern Code.
14. Narrative technique or writing
style in these works.
15. Overview of African–American
Literature.
16. Human relationship, the theme
of rebellion, and highly dramatic events in Sula.
17. The themes of War and Motherhood
in Sula.
18. Biblical allusions in Sula
and Morrison's use of them.
19. The movie and the novel The
Color Purple.
20. Celie letter-writing, God and
Nettie.
21. Nel and Sula's relationship
and "Otherness."
22. Morrison's use of history in
Sula.
23. Revolution of traditional love
in The Color Purple.
24. Treatment or portrayal of male–female
relationship.
25. Roots in relation to texts
read.
(Revised 9/27/99)