Black Women Writers (379-0-20)

Instructors

Nicole A Spigner

Meeting Info

Kresge Cent. Hall 2-380 Kaplan: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

This course introduces students to a variety of works by Black women writers since Phillis Wheatley. At this moment, the notion of the "Black woman writer" may not seem anomalous or unusual. However, it was only a short time ago in history that to be a Black woman writer meant to be considered an aberration. Thomas Jefferson wrote that Phillis Wheatley's poems were "beneath the dignity of criticism." Henry Louis Gates, Jr., suggested that Jefferson and a panel of white men held an official trial to interrogate the authenticity of Wheatley's work. These men would have never imagined that conference sessions, entire books, and countless critical articles would be dedicated to this foundational black woman writer: the very first black author to see their work published in the United States. We mark the beginning of Black published letters in the US with Wheatley; and it is within this tradition that we will consider the similarities and differences in content and forms by the women writers that we will read during this course.

In this class, we will survey a wide range of Anglophone Black Diaspora women authors and primarily concentrate on the United States. Our authors will include Toni Morrison and Phillis Wheatley, as well as Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Octavia Butler, and others. We will read poetry, short stories, essays, and at least one novel by these and other authors.

EXPECTATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS OVERVIEW: Apart from regular reading homework, assignments include a group discussion assignment, several in-class assignments, and a final project and presentation. Students will be evaluated on their performance in these assignments as well as class attendance and participation. As a primarily discussion-based class, class preparation and participation are essential for success. This course depends on discussion and participation of every member of the class.

Come to class prepared to enthusiastically tackle, through discussion and our own literary criticism, issues of gender, class, sexuality and race as they figure in our readings and other materials.
.

Learning Objectives

The ability to demonstrate a critical understanding of and appreciation for the Black women's literature and literary forms, themes, key terms, allusions, and symbolism.

The ability to understand, appreciate, compare and contrast, and apply critical lenses to Black women-authored texts across at least the nineteenth and twentieth centuries but with an eye on the eighteenth and twenty first centuries.

The ability to develop a reasonable interpretation of one or more stories, novels, or films assigned for this course.

The ability to identify the relationship between shifting symbolism in the Black women's literary tradition as it relates to culturally specific issues and histories.

Class Materials (Required)

Donika Kelly, Bestiary
ISBN-10: 1555977588
ISBN-13: 978-1555977580

Octavia E. Butler, Wild Seed
ISBN-10: 0807083690
ISBN-13: 978-0807083697

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: PRE-REG: Reserved for Black Studies majors & minors.