Chabot College
Fall 2002
Replaced Fall 2010
Course Outline for English 21
THE EVOLUTION OF THE BLACK WRITER
Catalog Description:
21 - The Evolution of the Black Writer
3 units
Introduction to Black writers in fiction, poetry, drama and the essay, beginning with the "Slave Narratives"
and continuing to the present. Emphasis on the 20th century writers' growth and development in relation
to their historical and cultural context. Strongly recommended: Eligibility for English 1A. 3 hours.
[Typical contact hours: 52.5]
Prerequisite Skills:
None
Expected Outcomes for Students:
Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:
1. demonstrate familiarity with and explain a critical perspective on the varied achievements in
imaginative literature by African American writers;
2. analyze literary works in relation to their historical and cultural contexts;
3. demonstrate knowledge of the structures of the works studied and analyze them in terms of such
literary components as plot, point of view, character, style, tone, irony, paradox and figurative,
language, such as simile, metaphor and symbol;
4. compare and contrast the diversity of the treatment of common themes, such as the legacy of slavery
5. critically evaluate distinctive elements of African American literature, such as the fusion of
literature and politics;
6. demonstrate understanding of and appreciate the particular contributions of African American writers
to American history and contemporary American culture;
7. evaluate arguments in literary criticism in terms of fairness, accuracy and effectiveness;
8. write a research paper on a literary topic.
Course Content:
1. Critical reading of a representative sample of literary works including poetry, drama, essays, short
stories, and novels
2. Analysis of supplemental readings giving historical, cultural and critical contexts for the works studied
3. Critical viewing of media relevant to the historical and cultural milieu of the works studied
4. Writing of several papers, including a research paper, involving a critical
analysis of thematic or structural aspects of the works considered
Methods of Presentation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Lecture
Large and small group discussion
Student presentations
Multimedia
Guest lectures by writers and critics, when possible
Field trips to visit museums, to attend plays readings and other performances, when possible.
Chabot College
Course Outline for English 21
Page 2
Fall 2002
Typical Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
1. Typical Assignments
a. In a 2000 word essay, evaluate the use of images of rural America in the urban poetry of
Gwendolyn Brooks.
b. John Edgar Wideman has said that "In spite of and because of marginal status, a powerful,
indigenous vernacular tradition has survived, not unbroken, but unbowed, a magnet, a focused
energy, something with its own logic, rules, and integrity connecting current development to the
past." Write a research paper in which you explore the use of the vernacular in the writings of
Widemen or of Zora Neale Hurston or the works of the playwright August Wilson.
2. Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
a. Short critical papers
b. One long critical paper or research project
c. Journal writings
d. Oral presentations
e. Quizzes and exams, including a final examination
f. Participation in small and large group discussion
Textbook(s): (Typical):
A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines, Vintage Pub., 1993
The Homewood Trilogy, John Edgar Wideman, Avon Pub., 1985
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, ed. David W. Blight,
Bedford Books, 1993
The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., et. al., Norton Pub., 1997
The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader, ed. David Lettering Lewis, Viking Pub., 1994
Within The Circle, ed. Angelyn Mitchell, Duke University Press, 1994
Special Student Materials:
None
dk 11/01/01
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