African American Autobiography
AFAM 312
Fall 2011
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
ENGL 307 |
This course will examine the genre of African American autobiography, from slave narratives to contemporary memoirs. What makes this genre distinctive, and how do its individual narratives (that is, the narratives of individual African Americans) relate to--or create--a larger literary tradition? How do writers retrospectively confront the knotty issues of family, identity, geography, and memory (or "re-memory," to borrow a phrase from Toni Morrison)? We will consider a range of first-person narratives and their representations of race, of space, of migration, and of violence, as well as the historical circumstances that inform these representations. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA AFAM |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Maya Angelou, I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
Edwidge Danticat, BROTHER, I'M DYING
Frederick Douglass, NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Zora Neale Hurston, DUST TRACKS ON A ROAD
Harriet Jacobs, INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL
James Weldon Johnson, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EX-COLORED MAN
Chris Rock, ROCK THIS!
Booker T. Washington, UP FROM SLAVERY
John Edgar Wideman, BROTHERS AND KEEPERS
Richard Wright, BLACK BOY
Malcolm X, AUTOBIOGRAPHY
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two medium-length essays
One 10-15 minute in-class presentation
Weekly response assignments |
| Instructor(s): Mahurin,Sarah Joanna Times: .M..... 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: PAC413; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 6 | | |
| Seats Available: 12 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 2 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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