| Study programme competencies |
| Code | Study programme competences |
| A1 | Coñecer e aplicar os métodos e as técnicas de análise lingüística e literaria. |
| A2 | Saber analizar e comentar textos e discursos literarios e non literarios utilizando apropiadamente as técnicas de análise textual. |
| A6 | Ter un dominio instrumental avanzado oral e escrito da lingua inglesa. |
| A11 | Ter capacidade para avaliar, analizar e sintetizar criticamente información especializada. |
| A14 | Ser capaz para identificar problemas e temas de investigación no ámbito dos estudos lingüísticos e literarios e interrelacionar os distintos aspectos destes estudos. |
| A16 | Ter un coñecemento avanzado das literaturas en lingua inglesa. |
| A17 | Coñecer a historia e a cultura das comunidades anglófonas. |
| A18 | Dominar a gramática da lingua inglesa. |
| A19 | Coñecer a situación sociolingüística da lingua inglesa. |
| A20 | Coñecer a variación lingüística da lingua inglesa. |
| A21 | Coñecer a evolución histórica externa e interna da lingua inglesa. |
| B1 | Utilizar os recursos bibliográficos, as bases de datos e as ferramentas de busca de información. |
| B2 | Manexar ferramentas, programas e aplicacións informáticas específicas. |
| B3 | Adquirir capacidade de autoformación. |
| B4 | Ser capaz de comunicarse de maneira efectiva en calquera contorno. |
| B5 | Relacionar os coñecementos cos doutras áreas e disciplinas. |
| B6 | Ter capacidade de organizar o traballo, planificar e xestionar o tempo e resolver problemas de forma efectiva. |
| B7 | Ter capacidade de análise e síntese, de valorar criticamente o coñecemento e de exercer o pensamento crítico. |
| B8 | Apreciar a diversidade. |
| B9 | Valorar a importancia que ten a investigación, a innovación e o desenvolvemento tecnolóxico no avance socioeconómico e cultural da sociedade. |
| C2 | Dominar a expresión e a comprensión de forma oral e escrita dun idioma estranxeiro. |
| C3 | Utilizar as ferramentas básicas das tecnoloxías da información e as comunicacións (TIC) necesarias para o exercicio da súa profesión e para a aprendizaxe ao longo da súa vida. |
| C4 | Desenvolverse para o exercicio dunha cidadanía aberta, culta, crítica, comprometida, democrática e solidaria, capaz de analizar a realidade, diagnosticar problemas, formular e implantar solucións baseadas no coñecemento e orientadas ao ben común. |
| C6 | Valorar criticamente o coñecemento, a tecnoloxía e a información dispoñible para resolver os problemas cos que deben enfrontarse. |
| C7 | Asumir como profesional e cidadán a importancia da aprendizaxe ao longo da vida. |
| C8 | Valorar a importancia que ten a investigación, a innovación e o desenvolvemento tecnolóxico no avance socioeconómico e cultural da sociedade. |
| Learning aims | |||
| Subject competencies (Learning outcomes) | Study programme competences | ||
| To familiarize themselves with some of the most relevant authors and their corresponding texts. | A1 |
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| To be able to read critically. To be able to identify specific gender and race issues within the texts required. | A6 |
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| To know how to relate mainstream American literary discourse and recurrent topics with those which are particular of African American writers in general. | A11 A14 A16 A17 A19 A20 A21 |
B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 |
C2 C3 C4 C6 C7 C8 |
| To identify recurrent themes and/or literary discourses among the African American writers analyzed, and formulate their own conclusions. | A2 |
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| Use the appropriate bibliography (books, chapters of books, or literary magazines), as well as do some reserch via internet facilities | B1 |
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| Be fluent in English (C2). When students do written tests or exercises they should concentrate to make good use of English grammar. Written texts/exercises should be well organized, coherent, and readable. | A6 A18 |
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| To be able to compare and contrast texts written by different authors which deal with totally different issues. Students are taught how to point at main differences or similarities thrughout de semester. Their aim is to read in between the lines to highlight most relevant information, and check whether it can be compared and/or contrasted. This method implies a lot of practice doing "close readings". | B5 |
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| Be able to work in groups, organize the time alloted, set priorities, and make good use of team work. | B6 |
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| Literature is about life. Students should be able to show a keen interest and an understanding of race and gender issues in our own community as well as worldwide. They should bring to class any particular topic, related to subject, and that might be of interest to the whole class (media news, a concert, a film, police brutality, racist misbehaviour in sports, etc) | C7 |
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| African Americans were brought by force to the Americas (and Europe) to work as slaves. This subject teaches students to respect the Other--no matter what kind of otherness that particular person represents. The knowledge of the socio historical background--racist, discriminatory, and terribly violent--should make the students (us all) better understand the differences within a given community, and respect them--whether one agrees or not. | C4 |
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| Contents |
| Topic | Sub-topic |
| The Literature of Slavery and Freedom | On Slave Narratives, and "The Land of Milk and Honey" |
| The Harlem Renaissance. | When Harlem Was in Vogue (1919-1940) |
| Realism, Naturalism, Modernism. | The Protest Novel. |
| The Black Arts Movement. | The Sixties, Civil Rights Movement, and "Black is Beautiful" |
| African American Drama. | On Dreams Deferred: From Lorraine Hansberry to August Wilson |
| African American Women's Literature since 1970. | Black Women Writers: From Mammies to Militants. |
| Planning | |||
| Methodologies / tests | Ordinary class hours | Student’s personal work hours | Total hours |
| Workbook | 0 | 25 | 25 |
| Oral presentation | 1 | 11 | 12 |
| Short answer questions | 2.5 | 0 | 2.5 |
| Guest lecture / keynote speech | 16 | 16 | 32 |
| Long answer / essay questions | 5 | 25 | 30 |
| Workshop | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Introductory activities | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Personalized attention | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| (*)The information in the planning table is for guidance only and does not take into account the heterogeneity of the students. | |||
| Methodologies |
| Methodologies | Description |
| Workbook | Required readings are chosen chronologically to better understand the social context, as well as the role African American Literature plays in mainstream American Literary discourse. Thanks to the detailed syllabus, students will know ahead of time the readings assigned for each class. Students are expected to read carefully and critically, and come to their own conclusions. They are also expected to come to class with the required reading assigned done. Instructor would provide a brief introduction which includes critical reception, formal and themes issues, and would point at more relevant aspects so students might be informed before actually starting their own reading of the material. |
| Oral presentation | Class presentation is team work. Format required is power point presentation. Students choose topic to talk about from the list provided by instructor of works and texts we are NOT going to deal with in class. Students should inform the instructor about the author/work of their choice. Students need to include the following: brief plot summary; critical reception (two reviews: one positive; one negative); an interview with writer (when and if possible); an article from a literary magazine or chapter of book, and any other visual material they think relevant (clips from film adaptations; clips from documentaries; articles from media, etc). Team is made of 3 students (4 max.) |
| Short answer questions | This is an "identify-quizz type" test. Students are expected to provide brief and to the point responses. From a list, students should identify an item, a recurrent expression, a metaphor, a proper name, a setting or a particular statement from the required readings. The idea is to go from the very particular to the more general. Students should comment on the reasons why they think that particular word or words are relevant to the whole text. |
| Guest lecture / keynote speech | This is NOT the traditional one-way boring lecture someone might expect. The purpose of this lecture is to familiarize students with the new required text and author, point out at main issues dealt with, comment on critical reception, and ask them to pay particular attention to certain passages, characters' reactions or narrative discoure used. Lecture always goes two ways. Students are more than welcome to interrupt and ask questions, or make comments. This lecture-type methodology is, in fact, more a dialogue between students and lecturer where student are NOT the "empty glass", and the instructor is NOT the "full jar". |
| Long answer / essay questions | At this stage in their academic studies, students should be able to write well organized, original, and critical essays. This is NOT a class where you have to memorize dates and names. On the contrary, you are expected to read critically and write with a thesis statement in mind. Students, thus, are required to write a comparative essay about topics chosen by the instructor. You are given several options (up to four), to write about formal aspects of the text or about recurrent themes or characterization. The use of evidence from the texts are a must, and this is the reason why students are allowed to use the books for this in-class test. Before the long comparative essay, students will have the opportunity to work on and write a short essay (four to five pages long). This is a take-home assignment. |
| Workshop | A work-shop on close reading always helps students to learn how to read creatively and critically. Following our methodology (from the more specific to the more general), students are provided a selecction of quotations from the text we are reading in class. With the help of the instructor, first, we point out at the most basic literary aspects. We focus on narrative voice, point of view, language used, tone and style, or characterization and setting. We always try to find a response for the question: Do you think this quote is relevant to the whole text? Why? Why not? |
| Introductory activities | The first week in class students will be given specific information about what is expected from them, the different tasks used in class, and how to help them better organize their time when preparing for reading quizzes, short essay, comparative essay or class presentations. It is also important to know what you expect from a subject--African American Literature--which is not usually included in the syllabus of Spanish Universities. I would recommend students to be alert to any news in the media, a film, a concert, or a lecture related to this subject, and I would encourage them to share that information with the class. |
| Personalized attention |
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| Assessment | ||
| Methodologies | Description | Qualification |
| Oral presentation | Students would work in groups (up to 4 students max.), and present a topic to the class. From a list provided by the instructor, students choose one particular author and text which is NOT included in the required readings list. This is a power point presentation. They are required to provide, at least, the following information: brief plot summary; critical reception of work (minimum of a possitive and a negative review); an interview with the author (if and when possible); information from a chapter of a book; they can also include some visual material such as a clip from the film adaptation, a clip from a documentary, or news from the media).For the presentation students are encouraged to use some cards with notes, make sure it is cohesive and well organized, and pay special attention to their communicative skills. |
30 |
| Short answer questions | This is the "Identify-Quizz" test. Students are provided with a list which include some of the following: items, metaphores, recurrent expressions, brands, intertextual information, proper names, settings, etc. Students should identify author and text, and comment on the particular word/words given. They would comment on the reasons why they are relevant to the whole text. Why? Why not? Responses are open, but students should use evidence from text. "Indentify-Quizz" is based on information from required readings. |
10 |
| Long answer / essay questions | This is supposed to be the most relevant test because it covers a wide range of tasks. Students should show they have a good grasp of English. They have to express their ideas clearly and coherently. Since this is a comparative essay, students have to choose from several options, and provide a well organized essay, where they make clear their points at the same time they support their ideas with evidence (quotations) from the text. Essay needs and introduction, a body and a conclusion. This is NOT a descriptive task, and I am not expecting to read your class notes, but learn from your personal and creative reading of the texts/themes required. Essay is based on information from required readings. Previous to the comparative essay, students are also required to write a take-home short essay on a selection of texts and authors. |
40 |
| Workshop | Obradoiro/Quotation Test. Based on the experience gained through the "Quotation Workshop", students are prepared to pass an in-class test where they are asked to focus on ONE particular quotation and provide not only a close reading but also to identify author, and work, narrator, protagonist tone and style. This is NOT a descriptive question, but a question where the student is supposed to read critically. Quotations are selected from the required readings. Students are provided several choices (up to four). It time allows we are planning to have TWO QT (2x10=20) |
20 |
| Assessment comments | ||
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Depending on the number of students we could have more than one workshop on quotations, or improvise some extra "Identify-Quizz". It will only benefit the students. Students should pass ALL the tests/assignments to get a final grade. Those who fail and whose average grade is below the passing grade (50 points) will have to sit for July exam. The July test has the following sections: 1) "Identify-Quizz" questions to choose from a list given; 2) One or more quotations from the required readings to focus on them, identify work and author as well as provide a close reading, and analyze form, structure, language used, theme/s, setting, or particularities about gender, race, etc. Students should respond to the following question: Do you think this quotation is relevant to the text? Why? Why not?. 3) A comparative essay (introduction, body and conclusion) from the required readings. Students should provide evidence from the texts to make their points stronger. Students are allowed to bring their reading books to the class. You do not need to memorize for this exercise. You need to read critically and write coherently. For the three types of tests students will have a list with several options. Students will be asked to sit for an oral test (specific content to be announced). N.P: A student will receive a grade of "Non Presentado" in case they do not sit for the July test and / or they did not complete 50% or more of the required assignments for the June continuous evaluation. Students who are officially allowed to attend only part-time and have been granted official dispensation from attending should contact instructor throughout the first TWO weeks of semester to discuss the specificities. Students can contact instructor via e-mail (maria.frias@udc.es), but a personal appointment is needed too. In case students could not be able to sit for any of the tests required, they should contact me as soon as possible, to try and solve the problem. |
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| Sources of information |
| Basic |
Carby, Hazel (1987). Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist. New York: Oxford UP
(). African American Review.
Christian, Barbara (1980). Black Women Novelists, 1892-1976. Westport (Connecticut) : Greenwood Press.
Beaulieu, Elizabeth Ann (1999). Black Women Writers and the American Neo-Slave Narrative . Westport: Greenwood P.
Baker, Houston (1984). Blues, Ideology, and Afro-American Literature a vernacular theory. Chicago: Chicago UP.
Hill, Patricia Liggins (ed) (1998)). Call and Response: The Riverside anthology of the African American Literary Tradition.
hooks, bell (2000). Feminist theory from margin to center. Cambridge : Bell Hooks.
Stepto, Robert (1991). From Behind the Veil: A Study of African American Narrative. Urbana: U of Illinois P.
Christian, Barbara (2007). New Black feminist criticism, 1985-2000 . Urbana : University of Illinois Press.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (1997). Norton Anthology of African American Literature.. Norton
hooks, bell (2006). Outlaw culture : resisting representations /. New York: Routledge
Andrew, Foster and Trudier Harris (eds) (2001). Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Oxford UP.
Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (1985). Race, Writing, and Difference. hicago : The University of Chicago Press
hooks, bell (2010). Teaching critical thinking : practical wisdom. New York: Routledge
Bell, Bernard (1987). The Afro-American Novel and its Tradition. Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press.
Graham, Maryemma (2004). The Cambridge Companion to the African American Nove. Cambridge UP |
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Required readings: Phillis Wheatley's "On Being Brought from Africa to America" (1773) (poem) Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) [excerpts] Frederick Douglass' Narrative of his Life, Written by Himself (1866). Sojourner Truth's "Aren't I a Woman? (1851) [Recording] [pages 198-201]. Norton Anthology for African American Literature. (speech) Zora Neale Hurston's "The Gilded-Six Bits" (1926). Short story. [pages 999-1008]. Richard Wright's "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch". Short story. [pages 1388-1398] Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959). Play. [pages 1728-1779] Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye (1970). Novel; Taiye Selasi's "The Sex Lives of African Girls" (2011). Short Story. Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" Virtual lit http://bcs.bedfordsmartins.com Goodison, Lorna's By Love Possessed (2001) (one short story to be announced) Báez, Josefina's Dominicanish (2001) (performance text) Lorde, Audre's Undersong: Chosen Poems Old & New. (1992) (selected poems to be announced) |
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| Complementary |
Gadsby, Meredith. (2006). Sucking salt : Caribbean women writers, migration, and surviva. Columbia : University of Missouri P.
Frias, María (1998). "Marriage Doesn't Make Love": El discurso del matrimonio en la obra de Zora Neale Hurston. Alcalá: Universidad de Alcalá
Eastwood, Clint (dir.) (2001). Bird. Madrid: Warner Bross
Naylor, Gloria (2004). Conversations with Gloria Naylor . Jackson : University Press of Mississippi
King, Lovalerie (2008). he Cambridge introduction to Zora Neale Hursto. New York: Cambridge UP
Sirk, Douglass (dir.) (2005). Imitation of life. Universal City, Calif. : Universal Studios Home Video.
Fleischner, Jennifer. (1996). Mastering slavery : memory, family, and identity in women's slave narratives. New York: New York UP
Fraile, Ana (1996). ora Neale Hurston y su aportación a la literatura afroamericana [Recurso electrónico]. Salamanca: Universidad P.
(2010). Precious. Madrid: Warner Bross
Sapphire (2010). Push.
Amian, Katrin. (2008). Rethinking postmodernism(s) : Charles S. Peirce and the pragmatist negotiations of Thomas Pynchon, Toni Morrison, and Jonathan Safran Foer . Amsterdam ; New York : Rodopi
Conner, Marc C. (2000). The aesthetics of Toni Morrison speaking the unspeakable. Jackson: UP of Miss.,
Coppola, Francis (dir.) (1984). The Cotton Club . [USA] : Zoetrope Studios
Denard, Carolyn C. (ed). (2008). Toni Morrison : conversations. Jackson: UP of Miss., |
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This is just a selecte bibliography which also includes visual material. Student will be provided with an extended version of this list (specific authors, in particular), and more audio visual material will be incorporated. This material is fundamental to better understand the social reality of race and gender in mainstream US. That is the reason why students will be encouraed to watch the films (some remarkable films on amazing artists such as Bird, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles or Tina Turner), as well as the play version of The Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, or the film version of Richard Wright's Native Son where the writer plays the role of the protagonist. The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, or Beloved, based on Toni Morrison's novel of the same title are a must for the students of this subject. Students are encouraged to bring to class any material they might find related to the African American community in the United States (a new concert or show; a new film; a new book; or any kind of news in the media). Since there is a growing community of African origin in Galicia, I would encourage the students to pause for a minute and think about what is behind that anonymous face they meet in the streets (usually selling illegal articles, and penalized by the local police). The stories you are familiar with can be incorporated within the fictional stories we will be reading in class. |
| Recommendations | |||||||
| Subjects that it is recommended to have taken before | |
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| Subjects that are recommended to be taken simultaneously | ||
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| Subjects that continue the syllabus | |||||||
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| Other comments | |