Identifying Data 2018/19
Subject (*) North American Literature through its Texts Code 613G03047
Study programme
Grao en Inglés: Estudos Lingüísticos e Literarios
Descriptors Cycle Period Year Type Credits
Graduate 2nd four-month period
 Fourth Optional 4.5
Language
English
Teaching method Face-to-face
Prerequisites
Department Letras
Coordinador
Frias Rudolphi, Maria
 E-mail
maria.frias@udc.es
Lecturers
Frias Rudolphi, Maria
 E-mail
maria.frias@udc.es
Web
General description This course is designed to provide students with a historic and literary overview of African American writing in US., as well as a critical study of various genres such as vernacular tradition (Black English), short story, drama, and the novel. Beginning with slave narratives, we will analyze outstanding works from the Harlem Renaissance, the School of Protest, the Black Aesthetics Movement, and we will also pause to look at contemporary black women writers. We will read texts which are concerned with race, sex, and politics to see to what extent they are central in a larger cultural and historical mainstream context. Basically, the aim of this coure is to provide students with knowledge of the literary roots of African American writing so that they may better contextualize more recent and popular works.

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.
A7 Coñecer as literaturas en lingua galega, española e inglesa.
A8 Ter dominio instrumental oral e escrito dunha segunda lingua estranxeira.
A10 Ter capacidade para avaliar criticamente o estilo dun texto e para formular propostas alternativas e correccións.
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.
A15 Ser capaz de aplicar os coñecementos lingüísticos e literarios á práctica.
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.
B10 Comportarse con ética e responsabilidade social como cidadán/á e profesional.
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
Learning outcomes Study programme competences
Familiarize themselves with some of the most relevant authors and their corresponding texts. A1
To be able to read critically. To be able to identify specific gender and race issues within the texts required. A6
A10
To know how to relate mainstream American literary discourse and recurrent topics with those which are particular to African American writers in general. A11
A14
A15
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 students' own conclusions. A2
A7
Use the appropriate bibliography (books, chapters of books, films, or literary magazines). Research work via internet facilities B1
Be fluent in English (C2). For both written texts and oral presentations, students should make good use of English grammar. Written texts/exercises should be well organized, coherent, and readable. A6
A8
A18
 B10
To be able to compare and contrast texts that deal with totally different issues and written by different authors . Throughout the semester students are shown how to organize their comparative short essays. This method implies a "close reading", a critical reading as well as personal comments. B5
Be able to work in groups, organize the time alloted, set priorities, share knowledge, distribute tasks, establish individual responsabilities and make good use of team's diversity. B6
Literature is about life. Students should be able to develop a keen interest on and an understanding of race and gender issues in our own community as well as worldwide. They are encouraged to bring to class information about any particular topic related to subject that might be of interest to the class (media news, a concert, a film, exhibitions, etc) C7
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

Contents
Topic Sub-topic
The Literature of Slavery and Freedom On Slave Narratives and "The Land of Milk and Honey." (Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Phillis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth)
The Harlem Renaissance and Modernism. When Harlem Was in Vogue (1919-1940).

(Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Langston Hughes).
Realism and Naturalism in Racist US. The Protest Novel.

(Richard Wright).
The Black Arts Movement. The Sixties, Civil Rights Movement, and "Black is Beautiful."

(James Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka).
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.

(Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, Taiye Selassi).

Planning
Methodologies / tests Competencies Ordinary class hours Student’s personal work hours Total hours
Workbook A1 0 27 27
Oral presentation A6 A10 A11 A14 A15 A16 1 11 12
Short answer questions A2 A7 A8 A18 A19 2.5 0 2.5
Guest lecture / keynote speech A17 A20 A21 B3 B4 16 16 32
Long answer / essay questions B1 B2 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 C2 C3 C4 5 21 26
Workshop C6 C7 7 2 9
Introductory activities C8 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 presented 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 receive and have access to via Moodle, they will know ahead of time the readings assigned for each class session.
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 highlight most relevant aspects so students might be informed before they actually start their own reading. Thus, instructor will provide a brief introduction which includes critical reception, form, and themes, among others.
Oral presentation Class presentation is team work. Format required is power point presentation.
Students choose topic from the list provided by instructor of works and texts we are NOT dealing with in class. Students should inform the instructor about the author/work of their choice. For the class presentation students need to include the following: brief author's bio and 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 4 students (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 introductory talk is to familiarize students with the new required text and author, point out at main issues, comment on critical reception, and ask them to pay particular attention to certain passages, characters' reactions or narrative discourse 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 students are NOT the "empty glass", and the instructor is NOT the "full jar".
Long answer / essay questions At this stage, students should be able to write well organized, original, and critical short 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, critical approaches, or characterization. The use of evidence from the texts is a must, and this is the reason why students are allowed to use the books for this in-class test.
Students will receive specific information on how to plan, organize, write, and edit comparative essay.
Before the comparative essay, students will have the opportunity to work on and write a shorter essay (two to three pages long). This is a take-home assignment.
Workshop A work-shop on how to do close reading always helps students 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, we first 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 individual responses for the following questions: Do you think this quote is relevant to the whole text? Why? Why not?
Introductory activities Throughout the first week, students will be given specific information about what is expected from them, the different methodologies 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 students 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, an exhibition, a concert, or a lecture related to our subject, and I would encourage them to share that information with the class.

Personalized attention
Methodologies
Oral presentation
Guest lecture / keynote speech
Long answer / essay questions
Workshop
Description
In general, oral presentations are a tough task for most students.
To facilitate their planning and identify specific problems, students need to meet with instructor before they start working on their respective topics. In case they have difficulties finding a topic, instructor will help students to sort it out.
All presentations are in power point format and students receive specific information on how to organize, develop, and conclude presentation. After the oral presentation students will hand a "Making of" in print where they include the following: Table of Contents; Motivations; Difficulties or problem solving; Bibliography; Brief personal comment (10-15 lines, double spaced) and reader's response. More information to be included in class Syllabus.

Comparative Essay. It is a written text where students have to organize their own ideas about topic chosen and provide evidence from respective texts. Some students lack critical abilities, tend to be descriptive and plot-oriented, thus, in preparation for the long comparative essay, instructor would ask them to work on a take-home short essay (two-three pages long and double space). This initial assessment would help them prepare for the more in-depth, longer, and more challenging comparative essay.

"Work-shop" on quotations from texts required.
Some students find very hard to read critically and come up with their own ideas. This activity is class oriented. By pointing at the particular aspects that are relevant, and need to be analized, students get the grasp of what a "close reading" means at the same time they develop their own ideas from the given text. If time allowed, we tend to work in small groups (max. 4 students) where students are given a list of quotations, and the group is assigned a particular quote to fully analyze. After fifteen minutes (aprox.) each group provides their own interpretation. To prove their points, students are asked to provide evidence from the text.

Assessment
Methodologies Competencies Description Qualification
Oral presentation A6 A10 A11 A14 A15 A16 Students 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 A2 A7 A8 A18 A19 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.


 10
Long answer / essay questions B1 B2 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 C2 C3 C4 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 their points clear 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 hear your own voice, and 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, and to familiarize students with scientific/academic paper style, they will be asked to write a take-home short essay on a selection of texts and authors. 		40
Workshop C6 C7 2 Quotations Tests (10 points + 10 points).
Based on the experience gained through "Quotation Workshop", students are prepared to pass TWO in-class tests where they are asked to focus on ONE particular quotation, and provide a close reading.
This is NOT a descriptive question (no plot-summary), 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).
Due date for Quotations tests will be March and May (to be announced in Course Pack) .
Students are expected to respond to the following questions: Do you think this quotation is relevant to the whole text? Why? Why not?
 20
 
Assessment comments

Students should pass ALL the tests/assignments to get a final grade. Those who fail any given test, and whose average grade is below the passing grade (50 points) will have to sit for July exam.
Students who have been granted EXEMPTION, as specified in the university regulations, will be assessed in either of the opportunities according to the criteria applied in the July opportunity.
Students sitting the DECEMBER EXAM (final exam brought forward) will be assessed according to the critieria specified for the July opportunity.

The July test has the following sections: 1) "Identify-Quizz" brief, simple questions to choose from a list given. Students should provide brief and accurate definitions. 2) One or more quotations from the required readings (Students should identify work and author as well as provide a close reading; analyze form, structure, language used, theme/s, setting, or particularities about gender, race, etc. Students should respond to the following questions: 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. Students are allowed to bring their reading material to the classroom. You do not need to memorize for this exercise. You need to read critically and write coherently. In all cases, students are given several options. Students will be asked to sit for an oral test (specific content to be announced, but always related to required readings).
A student will receive a grade of "Non Presentado" if they do not sit for the July test and / or they do not complete 50% or more of the required assignments for the June continuous evaluation. Students should re-sit for the test/assessment they do not pass (whether written or oral). 


Written work may be tested through Turnitin in order to detect wrong citations, plagiarism or any other type of fraud. Should this occur, the rules for plagiarism will beapplied. (Normas de avaliación, revisión e reclamación das cualificacións dos estudos de grao e mestrado universitario). Turnitin recognises papers previously turned in by other people (or the student herself/himself) at this university or other universities. 

PART TIME STUDENTS. 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. If 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.
STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS. Students who might need special attention and/or suffer from any kind of dissability (whether physical, psychological or socio-cultural) should contact ADI (Unidad Universitaria de Atención a la Diversidade): adi@udc.es

Sources of information
Basic (). .
Carby, Hazel (1987). Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist. New York: Oxford UP
McQueen, Steve (dir.) (2014). 12 Years a Slave. 20th Century Fox
(). 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. Chicago : The U of Chicago P
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 Novel.. Cambridge UP

Required readings:

Phillis Wheatley's "On Being Brought from Africa to America" (1773) (poem)

Solomon Northup's Twelve Years A Slave (1853). [Excerpts dealing with Patsy]

Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) or Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, 1845.

Sojourner Truth's "Aren't I a Woman? (1851) [Recording] [Speech: pages 198-201]. Norton Anthology for African American Literature. (speech)

Zora Neale Hurston's "Sweat" (1926). Short story. Norton Anthology for African American Literature. [pages 999-1008].

James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues." Norton Anthology for African American Literature. [1694-1717]

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959). Play. Norton Anthology for African American Literature. [pages 1728-1779]

Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye (1970). Novel. [Only a couple of copies in Library. Copies from Reprografía/Moodle] or "Recitatif". Short Story.

Gloria Naylor's "The Two" [Chapter] from The Women of Brewster Place (1982). Novel. Norton Anthology for African Am. Literature. [2544-2577] 

Taiye Selasi's "The Sex Lives of African Girls" (2011). Short Story. (Reprografía/Moodle)

NOTE: This is a tentative list of required readings.
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
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
(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.,
King, Lovalerie (2008). The Cambridge introduction to Zora Neale Hursto. New York: Cambridge UP
Coppola, Francis (dir.) (1984). The Cotton Club . [USA] : Zoetrope Studios
Denard, Carolyn C. (ed). (2008). Toni Morrison : conversations. Jackson: UP of Miss.,
Fraile, Ana (1996). Zora Neale Hurston y su aportación a la literatura afroamericana [Recurso electrónico]. Salamanca: Universidad P.

This is just a selected 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.

Audio-visual material is fundamental to better understand the social reality of race and gender in mainstream US. That is the reason why students will be encouraged 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 who are 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
North American Literature 1/613G03024
Postcolonial Literature/613G03026
Aspects of English/613G03031
English Literature and Literary Criticism/613G03032
North American Literature 2/613G03035
Varieties of English/613G03042
Literature and Visual Arts/613G03044

Subjects that are recommended to be taken simultaneously
English Literature and Literary Criticism/613G03032
English Literature (18th and 19th Centuries)/613G03036

Subjects that continue the syllabus
Final Dissertation/613G03041

Other comments


(*)The teaching guide is the document in which the URV publishes the information about all its courses. It is a public document and cannot be modified. Only in exceptional cases can it be revised by the competent agent or duly revised so that it is in line with current legislation.