BLACK LITERATURE
CURRICULUM
GUIDE
WRITTEN BY
KATHLEEN SHINN
HONORS PROJECT
SPRING QUARTER, 1970
"
Basic English Curriculum
Black Literature Elective
Introduction
The idea. of first planning and then presenting a. se:l;ester' s
investigation of the black American's literary achievements and
contirbutions to the total fabric of America:l culture was r:1oti vated
by
t~ese
considerations:
First.
On t:le secondary level, at least in the school
district for wl::ich thc:se units were -planned, there is vast,
almost universal ignorance on
black authors and
t~-~eir
works.
t~le
part of students concerning
This inclurles even the most
modern and controversial writers.
Black Like
~,
a contrived and
whi te evaluation of a black situation has, for the most :cart,
been their total encounter with" Negro" literature of any derth
or length.
In short, to teach American literature has been to
teach wtite literature.
Second.
The racial c:-nfrontation in this country is so
vast in its psychological, social and emotional complexities
that high school stUdents need a specialized knowledge of the
problems facing both black and white communities in order that
they, as the country's future leaders, may deal adequately and
judiciously with the racial issues presented at the polls, in
mass media interpretations and in their daily contacts.
Third.
The history of the Negro in North America began
in 1519 when a cDrgo of stolen slaves bound for the Wel':it Indies
was traded in Jamestown, Virginia for food.
Since then
approximately nineteen million black, United States citizens
have come to share an American-originated heritage of i.gnominy
and degradation and a history based on the rule of the lash and
the chain.
In crimes of commission and omission against our
maligned brothers Vie, as educators, are mortally gu:Ll ty.
However, a belated and meager reparation is available to us in the
presentation of their history, unbelievable survival and contributions to a nation which has too frequently denied their
equality and even, at times, their humanity.
Senior High School
Basic Enelish Curriculum Guide
Black Literature Elective
Methods As Related To Laning X,Y
In an attempt to
mru~e
it possible for all students, what-
ever their abilities,to be challenged academically and still
achieve success, Fort Wayne schools have initiated laning as
a means of ability grouping.
Characteristics of the students
now enrolled in the high school English lanes, considered in the
evaluation of materials for this cu:criculum, are the following:
X-Lane Students.
These students are above average in
intelligence (C+ or higher I.Q. score), in reading achievement
and verbal fluency.
They usually have little difficulty in
generalizing observations, seeing logical relationships and making
a transference.
Host of them have experienced constant academic
success and are easily motivated.
Y-Lane Students.
'rhese students are characterized by average
intelligence (C or C- I.Q. score), readine achievement with a
range of one or two years below to one or two years above present grade level, average verbal abilities, and limited abstract
reasoning and organizins abilities.
Generally they are less
enthusiastic about school work than X-lane students and are
difficult to motivate.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES FOR BLACK
J...IT:S:::~ATU~-::I;
SURVEY AIm CRI'11ICAL ANALYSIS
COGNITIVE DO:1AIN
The students should increase their ability
1.
To understand that much literature, black or white, seeks
to define man's nature and his relationship to the Vlorld. The
quest for definition creates a theme of unity that transcends
race and culture to accent ~umanity and form common bonds
among all men.
To establish criteria by which literature representative of
several genres may be judged successfully.
2.
3.
To develop,through a study of black literature, a :new or
deeper knowledge and broader appreciation of the Negro as an
artist and spokesman for equality.
4. To investigate, in terms of his own self-awareness, the
chronological and historical role of the Negro author.
5. To trace trends in style, theme variation and repetition,and
contributions to specific genre by black authors in terms of
the expectations and demands of the cultural milieu in which the
auth:)r lived.
6. To investiGate the Negro image in black literature e.1:(::'o
trace, chronologically and historically, the development and
changes in this image in relationship to the racial attitudes
that existed at the time.
7.
To investigate literary devices and artistic techniques in
conveying the meaning and message that the author desires.
8. To take a literary survey that traces the historical and
cultural alienation that has consciously and unconsciously been
imposed on the Negro in America.
9.
To take a literary survey that traces the trends in
and the search for equality.
~;egro
pro~estations
10. To explore what, for most students, will be a new realm of
experience with an open :nind and critical detachment.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES (cont.)
!FFECTIVE DOMAIN
The students should
1. Learn to deal effectively with their own prejudices and
the prejudices of their classnates.
2.
Contribute frequently to class discussions and activities.
3.
Appreciate the need of others to be heard and list~n
attentively, especially if the view expressed are different
than their own.
4.
Defend their viewpoint without strong emotionalism, using
textual evidence as the only means of defense.
5.
Feel that each response is important to the group.
6. Learn to work efficiently in groups and as individuals
in preparing work.
7.
Criticize views considered invalid on an impersonal and
objective level.
8.Be aware that the investigaticn of black literature can
enlighten their own situation and expand their freedom to
determine their own values.
9. Recognize the creation of a literary work of art as an
achievement in itself.
10. ~ecognize thay the work done in class is not something
apart from their life outside school.
11. Appreciate the value of having a personal philosophy, formed
from careful readinG, on the racial issues that affect al_'_ Americans.
11.
Deal effectively and impersonally with controversial material.
UNITS 1 and 2
PREJUDICE AND HISTORY
OBJECTIVES At the end of these units the students should be able to
COGNITIVE DOHAIN
1. Understand the nature and origins of prejudice in themselves
and in their classmates.
Recognize prejudice as an instrument or device, not as a
natural state of being.
2.
3. Realize the effects of prjudice both on a cultural and personal
level.
4. Resolve to limit toleration of prejudice in themselves and
work, through discussion and classwork, to limit it in others.
5.
Appreciate the role the Negro has played in the development
of America.
6. Recognize the injustice of discrimination against fellow
citizens who are so much a part of our history.
AFFECTIVE nOt-lAIN
1.
Obtain a broader knowlege of general American history.
Understand the tradition of prejudice in this country
anC the economic and cultural factors which have fostered it.
2.
BIBLIOGI~APHY
?OI~
P:?lEJUDICE
AND
EISTORY UNITS
PREJUDICE, Books
Allport, Gorden w.
,,'lesley, 1954.
The Nature of Prejudice.
Cambridge:
Addison-
Trager, Eelen G. and Yorrow !'~arian B. They l~n~~at They Live:
Prejudice in Young Children. I;ew York: Harper and ~ow, 1952.
PREJUDICE, Films
Black and 'ilhite Together. =:ational Educational 'I'elevision.
( A study of students in an integrated school.)
Diary of a Harlem ~i'arjily.
(Filmed by Gorden Parks.)
Ever;ybody I S
Pr~judiced.
Our Race Problem.
Where Is
National Educational Television.
HcGraw Fill.
National Educational Television.
Pr~judice?
National Educational Television.
HISTOR:(, Books
X-LANE CLASSES
Apthetker, Herbert.
Redding, Saunders, J.
A Documentary Eistor;y of the Eegro Peoule
New York: Citadel, 1951.
i!! the United states.
'fhe Lonesome ~oad: The StorLqf the I;egro t s
Part in America. Garden City: Doubleday, 1958.
( Traces Nergo leadership In Lme rica)
F"lSTORY, Books
X-LANE CLASSES
Bennett, Lerone.
Before The Ha;yflower: A Histor;y of the Negro in
America, 1619-1964. Chicago: Johnson, 1966.
:Sontemps, Arna.
100 Years of Hegro Freedom. New York: Dodd and
Head, 1961. (Traces Negro leadership :in America.)
Beltzer,
Ni~ton.
In Their Cwn Viords: A IIistory of_.the !.,.meriean
New York: Crowell Series. (:0'or slow
or immature reader only.)
l~eGro.
Heltzer, :1il ton and Hughes, Lane;ston.
A Pictorial History of
The Negro in America. New
ed. New York: Crown, 1963.
HI STORY, Films
Black History: Lost, §trayed or Stolen.
Color
of~.
~Negro
The
r'~egro
The Negro
American
Central Broadcasting System.
Pyramid Films.
in Civil '}Jar and Reconstruction.
in the Gilded Age.
F,~ees
Ne~ro
HcGraw Hill Book Co.
the 20th Century.
Pathfinders.
Leading American Hegros.
He Graw Hill Book Co.
l'1eGraw Hill Book Co.
California: Vignette Films, 1967.
New York:
Sodety for Visual "?:::ducation,1964.
U~~IT 3
BLACK POETRY
OBJECTIVES.
At the end of the unit the students should be
able to
COGNITIVE DOHAIN.
1.
Account for theme and point of view.
2.
Recognize racial idiom in verse form.
3.
See common thread of Negro experience in America.
4.
See the overwhelming historical, sociological and
psychological pressures that the NeGro is subjected to and
his response to them.
5.
':'leigh and appraise his responses in terms a critical analysis
of the poems studied.
AFFECTIVE DOMAIN
1.
Establish oriteria for judging poetry.
2.
Broaden incight into poetic techniques and the functioning
and usage of literary devices.
BlACK POETRY BIBLIOGRAPHY
The wealth of black poets and the availability ot anthologies
is so large that the choice of poets tor stlXiy can be l1m1ted. only by
the needs of the class and time. Our historical and chronological survey of black poets was conducted in terms of the authors' awareness of
their own blackness, the 9Ppression or the race, relationship to lad.
lite, love, and death. Poems duplicated from the following bibliography
were more than adequate.
New York:
Brai thwai te. William S.
Selected Poems.
1968.
Braithwaite. W11liam S.
Lyrics or Lite and Love.
Tumer and. Co •• 1904.
Coward McCann,
Boston:
Bontemps, Arna.
American Negro Poetry.
Bontemps. Arna.
The Poetry of the Negro, 1746-1949.
Doubleday, 1949.
Braman, Paul eel.
Brooks.
Hill Wang, 1963.
New York:
Sixes am SeYens; An anthology of New Negro Poetry.
London: P. Breman. 1962.
Qwendo1yn.
Brooks, Gwendolyn.
New York:
H.B.
The Bean &1ters, Poems.
Row. 1960.
New York:
Harper and
A street in Bronzeville.
New York:
Harper ani
Row, 194.5.
Brpoks. GweId.olyn.
Brown, sterling.
Cullen. Countee.
Selected Poems.
Southem Road.
Copper
SUn.
New York:
New York.
New York:
Harper
am
Row. 1963.
Harcourt and Brace, 1932.
Harper and Row. 1927.
Cullen, Countee.
Caroling Dusk, An anthology of Verse by Negro Poets.
New York. Harper and Row, 19a7.
Cullen, Countee.
On these I stand; An anthology of the Best Poems of
Countee Cullen. New York: Harper and Row, 1947.
Dunbar, Paul le.urenc&.
Hughes, Langston.
Complete Poems,
New York:
The Dream Keeper ani other Poems.
1932.
Dodd and YJead, 193.5.
New York:
Knopf ,
POETHY BIBLIOGRAPHY (cont.)
Hughes, Langston.,
One-Way Ticket.
New York,
Hughes, Langston.
Ask Your Hama:
Hughes, Langston.
The Panther anq The ~h. Poems
Time s. 1\ ew Yo:;:-k: Fno:pf, 1 ~167.
1949.
I~nopf,
12 r.'loods For Jazz.
Preface to a 20 vol. Suicide
Totem preS'S';'""1961.
New York:
No!~.
o:~
New York:
Jones, LeRoi.
The Dead Lectu:£!:£.
Grove Press, 1964.
Jones, LeRoi.
Black Fire; An anthology of Afro-A.Jnerican ·;'iriting.
New y8rk: William :·1orrow and Co., 1968.
Johnson, James, Weldon.
The Book of American Negro Poetry.
(Essay on creative genius) New York:
Harcourt and Brace, 1923.
Johnson, James, Weldon.
Qod' s Trombones; Seven NeGri:) Sermons
in Vers~. New York: Vik.ing Press, 1927.
Johnson, James, Weldon.
Fifty Years and Other Poems.
The Cornhill Co., 1947.
Wheatly, Phillis.
Boston:
Poems. Chapel Hill: Uni ver si ty o:f North
Carolina Press, 1966.
UNIT 4
BLACK NONOBJECTIVES.
FIC'rIm~
At the end of this unit the students should be able
to
COGNITIVE DOMAIN
1.
Recognize that the voices of NeGro leadership has several
dimensions and taltes several directions.
2.
Recognize the shift in attitude on the part of many blacks
toward violence or at least the loss of patience and the
siGnificance of this trend for all men.
3.
Ilecognize that the !":len studied have a frame of reference that
makes their experiences unique.
4.
~ealize
that the black sees only one solution to the race problem
and that is total intecration.
AFFECTIVE DCHAIN
1.
Appreciate \'lhat is happening in the l:esro integration movement
by meeting some of its leaders.
2.
Recognize that blacks do not have a single, universally
recognized leader as yet, and be able to establish, at least
in part, why.
BIBLIOGHAPHY FOR NON-FICTION UNIT
Baldwin, James.
'llhe Fire Next Time.
New York:
Dial Press,
1963.
Cleaver, Eldrige.
Soul On Ice.
liew York:
Dell Publj.shing Co.,
1968.
Dubois, "'I.E.E.
The Souls of Black FoDt..
Chicago:
Hc Clure and Co.,
1903.
Hughes, Lanston.
Killens, John, O.
'rhe Big
Se~.
:New York:
Black Han's Burden.
:Knopf, 1940.
New YorI..::
'l'r:Lden t Pre ss,
1G65.-
King, l1artj.n·Luther.
'Shere Do We Go From Here? . Chaos .o,r
Communi ty. New York: Harper and J:.:OVl,
1967.
King, Hartin Luther.
Locke, Alain.
Trumpet of Conscience.
Harper and Row, 1968.
New York:
The New Negro. An interpretation.
Arno Press, 1940.
Li ttle, H:alcolm.
The Autobiography of
Grove Press, 1965.
~'lalcolm
X.
Hew York:
New York:
Protor, Samuel. !iliat it 1-1eans to be a Negro. Tape I<ecording
sponsored by B. S. U. Student Senate fnoT1 Em;:;ns
auditorium address. Hay 11, 1965.
Wright, Richard.
llick Power; A record of reaction in a land
of pathos. I'Tew York: Harpel~, 1954.'
'.'Jright, Richard.
','/hite Han, Listen.
New York, Harpel" and ROW,
UNIT 5
BLACK DHAHA
OBJECTIVES.
By the end of this unit the students should be
able to
COGNITIVE DOI'1AIN
1. Understand how the staging of a production is an integral
part of a successful performance.
Investigate the elements that mal<;:e a play uniquely dramatic.
The liehtine, costuming, setting, special effects, etc.
2.
3.
Determine if the play presented could have been successful
in another form and establish a criteria for judging a play.
4.
Recognize the dramatic techniques and devices, especially
the use of irony, to obtain the effect the author desires.
5. Compare the themes and style of a playwright Vlith other
works that he has published outside the theatre.
AFFECTIVE DOHAn!
1. Work efficiently in groups to produce, direct, and act out
dramatic scenes or an entire play.
2.
Broaden their knowledge of black playwrichts and black plays.
3.
Appreciat~,
effectively.
understand and judge theatre presentations more
BIBLIOGRAPEY l"OR BLACK DHAHA
X-LANE CLASSE.§
Blues For Mr. Charlie.
Baldwin, James.
·196L~.
Baldwin, James.
.The Amen Corner.
Duberman, Hartin.
New York:
New York:
Dial Press,
Dial Press, 1967.
In "'[hi te America: A Documentary Pla;[.
HOUGhton, 1964.
Hansberry, Lorraine.
A Haisin in the Sun.
1964.
Boston:
New York:
Dial Press,
l;ow Yor1;:::
Dial Press,
Y-LANE CLASS:8S
Hansberry, Lorraine.
Hughes, Langston.
Locke, Alain.
Jericho-Jim Cr9V!. Folkways Ho::ording, 1927.
B.S.U. Teacher Material Service.
Plays of 1le$ro Life.
1927.
New York:
Harper and Row,
lIIlNIT 6
BLACK FICTION
OBJECTIVES. At the end of this unit the students should be able to:
COGNITIVE DONAIN
1. Recognize the chara.cter:Lstics of heroism as the black author sees
them.
2. Find reasons for the exploitation of certain social situations
by black authors.
3.
Determine, as white readers, what type of characters strengthen
the Negro -position and what type of characters weaken the author's
cause.
Determine if the author has considered the white reader.
4.
Decide if the black author of fiction answers propaganda with
propaganda.
5.
Ex9lain the presence or absence of IIstock
in black fictjon.
II
NeE~ro
characters
6.
Prove or refute the statement that black authors are regionalists.
7.
Discuss the role of the black author as apologist.
8.
Discuss chauvinism in black fiction.
9. Discuss characterizati::>n, imagery, setting, point of view,
narrator role etc. in terms of all the fiction read for this unit.
10 •. Discuss the effects of certain philosophies such as Romanticism
or Realism on a ~articular author.
AFFECTIVE D0r1AIN
fiction with greater critical ability.
1.
~ead
2.
Appreciate authors and works that were previously unknovm.
3.
Recognize the contributions of the black fiction writer.
X-LANE
Baldwin, James.
BIBLIOG~1APEY
FOR FICTION
Giovanni's Room.
U~.;rT
New York:
Dial Press, 1965.
Brown, Claude. Hanchild in the 'promised Land.
Hacmillan, 1965.
New York:
Chesnu tt, Charles, VI. The Conjure ~:'Joman. Cambridge: Hi verside
Press, 1899. OP.
(This is a collection of short stories rather
than a novel. Eowever, the difficulty in finding mature, undated
black literature froo this period makes the addition of this
collection almost essential for a chronoloGical survey.)
Ellison, rlalph.
!h!LInvisible 11an.
Johnson, ,Tames, W.
New York:
New York:
Random
~~ouse,
1952.
The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Han.
Knopf, 1916.
New Yorl>:: Ha!'per and How, 192,5.
i":cKay, Claude.
Home to Harlem.
Parks, Gorden.
The Learning ':I:'ree.
Wright, Richard.
Native Son.
New York:
Ne',\T York:
Earner and :?low, 1963.
Harper and How, 1957.
Y-LANE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR FICTION Ul1IT
Bonterr.ps, Arna.
Black Thunder.
Chesnutt,::::harles, 'if.
Press, 1899. OPe
Hughes, Langston.
Knopf, 1930.
Parks, Gorden.
The .Conjure \Voman.
Not Without
~hoice
Wright, Richard.
Boston:
~aughter.
of -t'ieapons.
Native Son.
Beacon Press, 1968.
Cambridge:
New York, London:
New York:
New York:
Tdversicle
Harper and Row, 1966.
Ha:::per and :f(ow, 1957.
rl'EACH"SH READING LIST
Bond, Frederick.
Bone, Robert.
The NeGro and the Drama; The Direct and Indirect
Contributions ~hich the American Negro Has Made
To Drama and The Legi timate stag~. l.'Jashington
D. C. The Asso.ciated Publishers, 1940.
The Negro Novel in Amel'ica.
Press, 1965.
Buther, J.largaret.
'l'he Negro in American culture •.
Knopf, 1964.
Brown, William Wells.
Dreer,
Herman.
New
Shadow and Act.
Ferguson, Blanche.
Gloster, Hugh M.
Yorl~:
The Black Han, His Antecedents, His
Genius and His Achievements. New York:
Johnson Reprint Co., 1968.
American Literature by Negro Authors.
Hc IIi1lan, 1950.
Ellison, nalph.
Locke, Alain.
NeVI Haven; Yale Uni versi ty
Few York:
New York:
Random House, 1964.
Countee Cullen and the Negro Renaissance.
New York: Dodd and Mead, 1966.
Negro Voices in American Fiction. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1948.
The r:ew Negro. New York: Boni Press, 1925.
1survey of Harlem's authors and themes.)
Hithell, Lofton.
gack Drama and the story of the American
Negro in the theatre.
Patterson, Lindsay.
Anthology of the American Negro in the
Theatre, A Critical Ap-proach. New York:
Hawthorn Books, 1967.
Redding, Jay Saunders.
To Hake A Poet Black. Chapel Hill:
University of North-Carolina Press,
1939.
Addition:
Bronz, Stephen H.
Roots of Negro Racial ConsciOUsness.
I;ew York: Libra, 196,~.