CANG9266 : C1+ _ Introduction to African-American Literature

Description

This course is an introduction to twentieth- and twenty-first century African-American literature. Students will read and analyze the play A Raisin in the Sun (1959) by Lorraine Hansberry, The Bluest Eye (1970) by Toni Morrison, An American Wedding (2018) by Tayari Jones, and a variety of poems. Students will think critically about how to define the literary category known as African-American literature and examine how African-American authors have changed the American literary landscape. This module will investigate how literature has taken part in American social and political movements with regards to segregation, civil rights, discrimination, and police violence.

Objectives

• Students will understand how the history of slavery, segregation, and racial discrimination has influenced American literary history.
• Students will understand how African-American literature has contributed to modernist literary movements.
• Students will understand how literature shapes cultural memory.
• Students will be able to summarize texts, analyze them using appropriate terms to describe literary techniques, and examine them in relation to their historical context.
• Students will enrich their vocabulary through reading, speaking, and writing.
• Students will improve their written and oral English skills through in-class discussions, oral presentations, and written assignments.
• Students will hone their writing skills through in-class writing workshops.

Assessments

This course is assessed through coursework (50%) and a final exam (50%). The coursework includes two essays and one oral presentation. The final exam will require students to answer an essay question using examples from the texts studied in class.