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 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.
Isaac and Rosa, Emancipated Slave Children, From the Free Schools of Louisiana, December 1863. Photo by Kimball.
Hi, class,
I am making a few modifications to the individual presentation guidelines. Please note the changes. You will be responsible for delivering a brief presentation (5 minutes maximum) on one of the readings from The Black Past, the online reference guide to African American history (click on link at left). 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.
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. Please provide a handout 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.).
A 5-minute presentation is approximately 2 double-spaced typed pages. You may prefer to write out your presentation or you may work from notes. Time yourself and rehearse so that you may give a polished, professional presentation--I will stop the presentation at 5 minutes. Be prepared to answer additional questions from the instructor and your classmates on the topic of your presentation. Below is the schedule of readings. Class will begin with the delivery of the presentations, so please come to class on time on the date of your presentation.
*There will be no make-up allowed for this presentation, which is worth 10 points.*
Tuesday, 2/2
Lauren Talmadge: Frederick Douglass, "If There is No Struggle, There is No Progress" (1857)
Sameerah Coleman: John S. Rock, "I Will Sink or Swim with My Race" (1858)
Jenelle Piercy: Frances E.W. Harper, "We Are All Bound Up Together" (1866)
Tuesday, 2/9
Damon Mongelli: Frederick Douglass, "The Composite Nation" (1869)
Ashley Henderson: Hiram Revels, "The End of Segregated Schools" (1871)
Sharrelle Thomas: John F. Bruce, "Reasons Why the Colored Man Should Go to Africa" (1877)
Catherine Kilpatrick: Peter H. Clark, "Socialism: The Remedy for the Evils of Society" (1877)
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)
Tuesday, 2/23
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)
Tuesday, 3/2
Tonya Thornton: W.E.B.Du Bois: "To the Nations of the World" (1900)
Elizabeth Wellington: Mary Church Terrell, "What it Means to be Colored..." (1906)
Asia Pinckney: Ida B. Wells, "This Awful Slaughter" (1909)
Patrick Racine: William Pickens, "The Kind of Democracy the Negro Expects" (1919)
Brenda Francis: Archibald Grimke, "The Shame of America..." (1920)
Jackie Been: Marcus Garvey, "The Principles of the U.N.I.A." (1922)
Tuesday, 3/9
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)
Nella Larsen, photographed by James Allen in 1928, age 37. Harmon Foundation Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
Hi, class,
Here is the update* on the readings and presentations scheduled for next week:
Frances E.W. Harper: Read the handouts I gave you all. In addition, here is a link to a more readable version of her short story, "The Two Offers"): "The Two Offers"
Please read the above pieces and be ready to comment on a section that you find of particular significance--pay attention to diction, language, tone, and theme.What is significant about each piece? What do you notice about the rhetorical style? We will spend our first hour on these pieces.
In addition, we will be starting on Nella Larsen's Passing. Please read Part One: "Encounter," pp. 3-69. Although I will not require it, you may want to read Mae G. Henderson's foreword--it will provide some background and context to the novel.
* I have removed a couple of the readings from our list--you are only responsible for the pieces listed above.
For tomorrow, we will finish our discussion of Jefferson and Walker, and then will work on Jermain Loguen, Sojourner Truth (Web), and the Frances E. W. Harper pieces I handed out.
If we have time, we will begin our discussion of Douglass during the second half of the class, and we will continue with Douglass on 2/2.
Please read the pieces and be ready to comment on a section that you find of particular significance--pay attention to diction, language, tone, and theme.
