Screening for 3/16: Marlon Riggs's "Black Is...Black Ain't"

This Tuesday, we will view Marlon Riggs's 1994 documentary Black Is...Black Ain't. In addition, we have the following presentation. Please note next Tuesday's presentation as well. 


Tuesday, 3/16
Faraji Johnson: Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Toure): "Definitions of Black Power"

Tuesday, 3/23
Catherine Kilpatrick: Barbara Jordan: "Who, Then, Will Speak to the Common Good?" (1976)



Below is a poem by black lesbian feminist poet and scholar Audre Lorde (1934-1992). Here is a link to more information on Lorde, her life, and her work: Voices From the Gap: Audre Lorde

Coal
I
is the total black, being spoken
from the earth's inside.
There are many kinds of open
how a diamond comes into a knot of flame
how sound comes into a words, coloured
by who pays what for speaking.

Some words are open like a diamond
on glass windows
singing out within the crash of sun
Then there are words like stapled wagers
in a perforated book—buy and sign and tear apart—
and come whatever will all chances
the stub remains
an ill-pulled tooth with a ragged edge.
Some words live in my throat
breeding like adders. Other know sun
seeking like gypsies over my tongue
to explode through my lips
like young sparrows bursting from shell.
Some words
bedevil me


Love is word, another kind of open.
As the diamond comes into a knot of flame
I am Black because I come from the earth's inside
Now take my word for jewel in the open light.
                                               --Audre Lorde

Readings for 3/9 and 3/11: The Bluest Eye and The World and the Jug

African American girl, full-length portrait, seated on stool, facing slightly right. Photo by Thomas E. Askew. From Types of American Negroes, compiled and prepared by W.E.B. Du Bois, v. 1, no. 59. Part of the Paris Exposition of 1900. 

 Literary/Textual Analysis Quiz #3

Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye:

Write an essay of between 300-500 words (2 pages—MAXIMUM) in answer to the following question.  
DUE TUESDAY, MARCH 9th, 2010--at the BEGINNING of class.

In author Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, shame and internalized racial self-hatred are motivating factors in the actions of some of the major characters we meet in the first 93 pages. Discuss how these self-destructive factors manifest themselves in two (2) of the following characters: Junior, Pecola, Geraldine, Cholly. Please base your response on textual evidence and quotes from the text. I am not asking you for your opinion in the absence of reasoned analysis, although you are free to include a final personal observation at the end of your essay. For this quiz, please paraphrase and include only page numbers, MLA-style. Ex: (54).

Discussion

Ellison's "The World and the Jug" 

We will discuss Ellison's major argument in this seminal essay on Thursday, as we continue to discussion the Morrison novel. Please come prepared to participate. 

Presentations This Week

  

Tuesday, 3/9

Patrick Racine: William Pickens, "The Kind of Democracy the Negro Expects" (1919)
Shena Fraser: Charlotta Bass, "Acceptance Speech for Vice-Presidential Candidate..." (1952)
Leonard Stewart: Malcolm X, "Exhorting Afro-Americans to Confront White Oppression" (1965)
Timmia Dansby: Shirley Chisolm, "I Am for the Equal Rights Amendment" (1970)
Faraji Johnson: Stokely Carmichael, "Definitions of Black Power" (1966)
Amanda Griffin: Barbara Jordan: "Who, Then, Will Speak to the Common Good?" (1976)

Readings for 2/23: Morrison and Ellison

 Novelist, essayist, professor, and literary critic Toni Morrison (b. 1931)

On Tuesday, 2/23, we will finish Nella Larsen’s Passing—for more background on the literary movement popularly regarded as the “Harlem Renaissance,” please click on the link below to be directed to the online site PAL: Perspectives in American Literature - A Research and Reference Guide - An Ongoing Project, created by Dr. Paul P. Reuben.
 

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap9/chap9.html

I also asked you to read up to p. 58 of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. I will have handouts of the seminal Ellison essay, “The World and the Jug.” I am shifting the Audre Lorde selections to Tuesday, 3/16.

PRESENTATIONS THIS WEEK

Tuesday, 2/23

Khadeeja McElroy: Ida B. Wells, "Lynch Law in All Its Phases" (1893) 

Sandra Wansley: Booker T. Washington, "The Atlanta Compromise Speech" (1895)

Yarsiah Nelson: John H. Smyth, "The African in Africa and the African in America" (1895)

Milagros Herrera: Mary Church Terrell, "In Union There is Strength" (1897)

Iman Muhammad: Lucy Craft Laney, "The Burden of the Educated Colored Woman" (1899)

Guidelines for English 238 Final Research Paper

Ralph Waldo Ellison (1914-1994), novelist, essayist, and literary critic. Author of Invisible Man, Juneteenth, and Three Days Before the Shooting, and the essay collections Shadow and Act and Going to the Territory.

ASSIGNMENT: You will write a final essay of 6-8 pages, allowing you the luxury of extended thought and discussion of a dominant theme in one of the semester’s readings or on one of the major works we have read (Ex: Passing, The Bluest Eye). This essay will be written utilizing Modern Language Association guidelines. We will have a brief “brainstorming” session on Tuesday, 3/23 to assist you in developing a topic and focus for your final paper.

CORRECTION: THIS PAPER IS DUE ON THE LAST DAY OF CLASS, TUESDAY, 4/20. NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED. (corrected by Prof. Williams, 3/28/10)

This paper will be due on Tuesday, 4/6. Any paper submitted after this date will result in a loss of 5 points per class meeting day overdue (ex: submitted by Thursday, 4/8 for a possible maximum of 25 pts; submitted by Tuesday, 4/13 for a possible maximum of 20 pts). You may submit your paper early. NO papers will be accepted after Tuesday, 4/13/10.

Sample themes: abolitionism, accommodationism, adventure, aesthetics, alienation, childhood, class distinctions, colorism/color consciousness, community, corporeality, education, equality, family, femininity, feminism, freedom, gender roles, hypocrisy, individuality, integration, intellectualism, interracialism, law, literacy, masculinity, morality, passing, poverty, race relations, racism, radicalism, rebellion, religion, repatriation, responsibility, revolution, science, segregation, separatism, sexism, sexual exploitation, sexuality, slavery, stereotyping, violence. Some of these themes overlap—your thesis should reflect your theme in a clear, well-articulated manner.

The paper will follow MLA guidelines in matters of form (see MLA in-text citation style below—for complete MLA style, click at left on course blog), and it will contain a Works Cited Page, in-text citations to those sources, and a complete outline.

If you wish to (not mandatory), you may turn in a typed draft of the research paper by Thursday, 4/1 for a quick review. This will be quickly scanned during class for structure and documentation and returned to you. You must use a total of ten (10) in-text citations from at least five (5) sources, in any combination, for your essay.

For this final research paper, YOU MAY NOT USE the following as sources, as they are NOT considered scholarly works: SparkNotes, CliffsNotes, ClassicNotes, Enotes, GradeSaver, or any other student guides.

A Wikipedia entry may NOT be used as a source—however, if the “Source” section of a Wikipedia entry contains a scholarly work (a journal article or academic book) that you want to quote from in your paper, you are free to retrieve the work from the library (hard copy or from a database) and incorporate it into your paper.

YOUR PAPER WILL BE GRADED ON CONTENT AND MECHANICS

(see Student Checklist for Papers).

ANY INSTANCE OF PLAGIARISM IN THE RESEARCH PAPER WILL RESULT IN AN “F” ON THE ENTIRE PAPER WITH NO POSSIBILITY FOR REVISION.

_____________________________________________________________________

SUBMISSION DATES

ABSTRACT: Students must present a one paragraph abstract of approximately 75-100 words summarizing the paper and how he or she plans to proceed, detailing the following: Why you chose it; what is important about it; what you intend to examine; what library resources you intend to use to complete the assignment. 

Due Tuesday, 3/23

BIBLIOGRAPHY: You must present a Bibliography of sources (books, journal articles, newspaper articles, media sources, Internet sources) that you think you be using for your research paper. The page will consist of no fewer than five (5) outside sources. At least three (3) of the sources must come from scholarly books or articles on the main topic. Internet sources can comprise no more than two (2) of the sources.

Due Tuesday, 3/30

OUTLINE: An outline is required as part of the grade for the research paper. This outline must directly correspond to the research paper.

Due Tuesday, 3/30

DUE DATE for Research Paper (with final Works Cited page): Tuesday, 4/6.

ANY PAPER SUBMITTED AFTER THIS DATE WILL RESULT IN THE LOSS OF 5 POINTS PER CLASS MEETING DAY OVERDUE. NO PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER TUESDAY, 4/13/10. NO EXCEPTIONS. PAPERS MAY BE SUBMITTED EARLY.

Requirements for Individual Presentations

Portrait of Knoxville College Glee Club, ca. 1880s.

Regarding the requirements for the presentations--the objective of the assignment is to present the work in such a way as to heighten the class’s interest in learning more about the author or the topic presented in the text. I mentioned the guidelines in class numerous times, and I posted them on the course blog. Several of you lost 2 points of credit for not completing the assignment as instructed. Here are the instructions again:

Please provide a one-page handout containing the title of the speech and its author, along with one or two passages which exemplify the major theme of the piece. This handout should include at least 3 educational/scholarly links  to more information about the author (such as an online bibliography, collected works, etc.).

You must provide a brief overview of the piece, as well as some analysis as to why you think the work is of continuing literary/historic value.

If you send it to me in advance (by 12:00 NOON the day of your presentation), I will make copies for the class so that you don't have to spend money on copies. Do NOT print out or send the speech--all the students in the class have access to the original speech online. Just send the one-page handout as a Word Document.

If you choose NOT to provide the handout, you will automatically lose 2 points, so you will only be eligible to earn up to 8 of the 10 points--the choice is yours.

Class will begin with the delivery of the presentations, so come to class on time.

*There will be no make-up allowed for this presentation, which is worth 10 points.*

Best,

Prof. Williams  

P.S. Please spare me stories of technical difficulties--you all have plenty of time to get this done--thanks!

Passing, Hollywood Style!

Hi, class,

Here are the presentations scheduled for this week:

 

Tuesday, 2/16

Eric Cutliff: Ferdinand Barnett, "Race Unity" (1879)

Kyle Miller: Lucy Parsons, "I Am an Anarchist" (1886)

Cyndi Pinkney: Frederick Douglass, "On Woman Suffrage" (1888)

Pearl Burl: Anna Julia Cooper, "Women's Cause is One and Universal" (1893)
Khadeeja McElroy: Ida B. Wells, "Lynch Law in All Its Phases" (1893)

What follows are two scenes from the film adaptations of novelist Fannie Hurst's Imitation of Life (clip misspells "imitation"). The first version, made in 1934, stars African American performers Louise Beavers (Delilah) and Fredi Washington (Peola) as the mother and daughter, respectively. The second adaptation, filmed in 1959, features Juanita Moore (Delilah) as the long-suffering mother, and Susan Kohner (Sarah Jane) as her daughter. Interestingly, Susan Kohner is a white actress passing as a black woman passing as a white woman in this version.

Imitation of Life, 1934. Delilah (Louise Beavers) and Peola (Fredi Washington).

Imitation of Life, 1959. Annie (Juanita Moore) and Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner).

Literary Analysis Quiz #2 – Nella Larsen’s Passing - Due Tuesday, 2/16/10

Literary Analysis Quiz #2 – Nella Larsen’s Passing

DUE IN-CLASS on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2010

No late essays or make-ups will be allowed, per the syllabus.

All essays are due at the BEGINNING of class!

Write an essay of between 300-500 words in answer to ONE of the following questions. Please follow standard essay-writing principles—strong thesis statement, thoughtful, well-reasoned, organized, and fully-developed argument, supporting details, and proper grammar. This essay must be TYPED and DOUBLE-SPACED, per MLA format. Cite specifically to the source, using standard MLA-style documentation.

1) In her introduction to Nella Larsen’s Passing, critic Thadious M. Davis writes that “…Larsen represents passing as a practical, emancipatory option, a means by which people of African descent could permeate what W.E.B. DuBois termed ‘the veil of color caste.’”




Question: How is this idea of “freedom” exemplified in the novel thus far? Cite specifically to the source, using standard MLA-style documentation.



2) Critic Deborah E. McDowell writes: “In Passing, understanding that Irene Redfield, from whose perspective much of the novel is told, is an unreliable narrator, is key to understanding the novel. Equally important is the function of Clare and Irene as doubles, a strategy that undermines Irene’s authority as the center of racial consciousness, and uncovers the issues of sexuality and class that an exclusive focus on race conceals.”



Question: The metaphor of passing accrues several layers of meaning. What are they? How do they relate to each other? Cite specifically to the source, using standard MLA-style documentation.

3) “[Irene] was caught between two allegiances, different, yet the same. Herself. Her race. Race: The thing that bound and suffocated her. Whatever steps she took, or if she took none at all, something would be crushed. A person or the race. Clare, herself, or the race. Or, it might be all three.”


Question: What does this passage mean? Cite specifically to the source, using standard MLA-style documentation.


All best,


Prof. Williams