English 254 Course Notes

Introduction

The editors of The Norton Anthology of African American Literature state that the literature illustrates four themes: Bondage and freedom - Early African American writers have demonstrated the quest for liberty beginning with the slave narrative. In the twentieth century, writers continue to illustrate through fiction, poetry, and drama how places, situations, and concepts can enslave people. Many women writers demonstrate how gender bias thwarts the freedom of women and denies them equal participation in American society. City - Migration from the rural South to the urban North has been a subject of African American literature. Early slave narratives depict the slave's flight to freedom to a city. Nineteenth and twentieth writers often demonstrate that life in the urban North is as harsh as life in the South. Family - African American literature has traditionally portrayed family relationships. It has shown the importance of extended families as well as the complicated relationships among family members, including mother and children, father and children, and husband and wife. Identity - Historically, African American literature, beginning with slave narratives, has demonstrated African Americans' search to define who they are and what their relation to the world is. In slave narratives, slaves begin to assume a sense of self by achieving freedom. Some characters in the literature cannot accept who they are because society does not accept them, and they exist in confusion while trying to determine who they are. They often discover their identities by relating to their African heritage and individuals or parts of their communities who have established strong images. As you read the literature this semester, look for these themes and others, such as alienation and isolation, love, equal rights, conformity, and generational conflicts.

Week 1

Richard Wright (1908-1960) was the first African American author of a best seller, the novel Native Son which helped to earn him the title of protest writer. His use of realism (depicting life as it really is) and his use of naturalism (showing that characters are controlled by instinct, emotion, or social and economic conditions, and not free will) characterize his writing. "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow" is an autobiographical essay that reveals how he adapts to life in the segregated South. "Long Black Song" is one of the short stories in his book entitled, Uncle Tom's Children, and it reflects the militant spirit that characterizes the stories in this collection. The main character, Silas, fights back instead of accepting the injustices of an oppressive white society and, therefore, achieves a sense of power. Note on p. 1377 that the editors comment on Wright's depiction of a woman character in this story.

Week 2

Ralph Ellison (1914-1994) was an essayist and novelist who gained critical acclaim for his only novel, Invisible Man. The novel depicts a person's attempt to define himself in white America which does not see him as a human being or provide him the freedom to progress. The selection "From Invisible Man" introduces readers to the protagonist's journey. He graduates high school with great expectations, but the night of his speech at the hotel disappoints him when the battle royal occurs. The battle royal was a pastime in antebellum America in which slavemasters pitted their slaves against one another as they did bears, dogs, and roosters in a fight. The American Dream for wealth and education and the African American's difficulty in achieving the Dream are depicted in this selection.

Week 3

Margaret Walker (1915-) and Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-) Margaret Walker is a poet and novelist whose works celebrate the history of African Americans. She depicts the harshness of life in the rural South and the urban North where African Americans hoped to achieve a better life. Gwendolyn Brooks, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry, also portrays the African American experience through her poetry. Note the editors' comments on p. 1578 that "the poet's primary concern [is] to hammer out a portrait of and for African Americans."

Week 4

James Baldwin (1924-1987) was a novelist, essayist, and playwright known for his criticism of social inequality in America. Notes of a Native Son captures the awareness that segregation constrained African Americans in the North as it did in the South.

Week 5

Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) was a playwright whose play, A Raisin in the Sun, remains a classic. When playing on Broadway in 1959, the play won the New York Drama Critics Circle award for Best Play of the Year. A Raisin in the Sun is a realistic play about a family that desires freedom to realize its dreams. One of those dreams is to own a house.

Week 6

Mari Evans, Sonia Sanchez, and Nikki Giovanni are poets who gained recognition during the Black Arts Movement of the 60's and 70's. In an effort to change the social status of African Americans in America, writers and artists attempted to change the portrayal of African Americans in literature and the arts. The poetry, particularly, captured the voices of African Americans appealing for social equality. As the textbook editors explain, the "verse was free, conversational, jazzy, and bluesy" (1797). Mari Evans's poetry celebrates the struggle of African Americans for justice and the assertion of self. Sonia Sanchez's urban folk poetry includes rhythms of blues, jazz, and rap projecting a revolutionary tone. Nikki Giovanni's diverse poetry captures the revolutionary spirit of sixties as well as the beauty and love of her people. Her poetry is characterized by its honesty, directness, and conversational tone and language which captures the rhythms of African American speech and music.

Week 7

Maya Angelou (1928-) has written autobiographies and poetry that reflect the ability of African Americans to endure despite obstacles. "From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is only an excerpt from her first autobiography. She relates her interaction with Mrs. Flowers, whom the textbook editors describe as "the aristocrat of black Stamps, [who] helped Angelou regain her voice through afternoons of reading and reciting literary classics" (2038). She also describes her experience working in "a white woman's kitchen" (2047) and the importance of being called by her real name which symbolizes recognition of one's identity.

Week 8

From The Autobiography of Malcolm X In this selection, Malcolm X is in prison and describes his acquisition of reading and writing skills. The selection demonstrates the power of literacy for Malcolm X gains freedom through reading while being imprisoned. It also demonstrates the intellectual and economic imprisonment of black America .

Week 9

Martin Luther King, Jr. While writing to clergymen from jail in Alabama , King reveals his faith in humanity and Judeo-Christian principles as well as the power of civil disobedience.

Week 10

Ernest Gaines (1933-) is a novelist and short fiction writer. He has created a mythical place called Bayonne that is the setting for his works and is based on his childhood hometown of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. "My characters are usually poor, mostly uneducated, and almost always very independent. The conflict in which they usually find themselves is how to live as a man in that short period of time," says Gaines. "The Sky Is Gray" presents a youth's discovery of how to live in the segregated South.

Week 11

Alice Walker (1944-), poet and fiction writer, is the author of numerous books of poetry and essays, short fiction, and novels. She won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1982 for the novel, The Color Purple. Her works reveal her interest in the relation of art and language to mental health and physical survival. "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens" and "Everyday Use" illustrate the importance of artistic expression to the survival of African American women.

Week 12

August Wilson (1945- ) is an award-winning playwright whose plays portray the African American experience throughout the twentieth century. In Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Wilson focuses on the migration of African Americans to the north from the south. Through the character of Hearld Loomis, who comes north looking for his wife after he is released from prison, Wilson presents the displacement of African Americans and their ability to survive despite enslavement, imprisonment, and displacement. To hear a scene from the play

Week 13

In Act 2, Hearld Loomis’ journey ends, and he must overcome the pain of his past as well as the past of his slave ancestors, and then he can begin to live a meaningful life.