DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
TRENT UNIVERSITY
ENGL3309: African American Literature
Summer S62 2014
Oshawa
Instructor: Sara Humphreys
Email:
sarahumphreys@trentu.ca
Telephone: x5027
(until July 31st)
Campus: Oshawa Thornton
Office Location: 157 (until July
31st)
Office Hours:Tues
and Thurs 5 to 6
Course Description:
African American literature has a long and rich tradition and has profoundly shaped
American literature and culture. There is no work on this course that does not provide
lessons in how literature has, does, and always will change our respective worlds. We will
start the course by looking at slave narratives, which used the “master’s tools” to beat the
“master” at his/her own game. That is, slave narratives (re)took control of AfricanAmerican identity and wrote a powerful self in to being. We will then look at the literature
of the late nineteenth century when African Americans were, quite frankly, terrorized.
Using literary techniques drawn from slave narratives and creating new techniques,
authors, like Charles Chestnutt, resisted the degradation and devaluing of AfricanAmerican identity. Moving beyond literary resistance, the Harlem Renaissance created
entirely new ways of thinking about, representing, and performing African-American
identity through such celebrated authors as Zora Neale Hurston and Jean Toomer. We will
also look at the connection between forms of African American music and literature, with a
special guest lecture by a prominent musician and critic. We will end where we started (in
a sense): with Solomon Northup’s slave narrative (1853) turned Hollywood blockbuster
(2013) in order to ask the question: why do slave narratives still speak to the American
public? I hope you will join me in attempting to answer this question and, of course,
learning more about these fascinating, inspiring, and crucial stories that have influenced
and created so much of our contemporary North American culture.
Required Texts:
Primary Sources:
Fiction
Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Ed. Kwame Appiah ISBN # 978-0345478238
Solomon Northup 12 Years a Slave ISBN # 978-1843914716
Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom’s Cabin (excerpts)
Zora Neale Hurston “The Conscience of the Court”
Jean Toomer “Kane” and Blood Burning Moon”
Charles Chestnutt The Marrow of Tradition. ISBN # 978-0140186864
Poetry
Gil Scott Heron “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
Ice-T “Freedom of Speech: Just Watch What You Say”
Selections from Def Poetry Jam
Maya Angelou “Still I Rise”
Abel Meeropol and Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit”
Langston Hughes “A Dream Deferred”
Film
Steve McQueen 12 Years a Slave
Paul Devlin SlamNation
Secondary Sources:
Howard Zinn “Emancipation without Freedom”
Henry Louis Gates Jr. excerpts from The Signifying Monkey
Houston Baker excerpts from Blues, Ideology, and Afro-American Literature: a Vernacular
Theory
Toni Morrison “Black Matters”
Zora Neale Hurston “How it Feels to be Colored Me”
Alain Locke “Forward to the New Negro: An Interpretation”
Audre Lorde “Age, Race, Class, Difference: Women Redefining Difference”
Recommended Texts:


Please be sure to use the resources on Trent University Academic Skills site
(https://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/)
Cornel West “The Gifts of Black Folk in the Age of Terrorism” (lecture series posted
on Blackboard in “July 8th” folder)
learningSystem/Blackboard:
This course uses Blackboard. Please note that you are expected to check Blackboard for
videos and other course material on a bi-weekly basis.
Course Format:
Oshawa Campus:
Please check https://scheduler.trentu.ca/AcademicTimetable/ to confirm times and
locations.
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Type
Day
Interactive Lecture
Tues and
Thurs
Tues and
Thurs
Break
Seminar/Discussion
Tues and
Thurs
Time
Location
(times are
approximate and
subject to
change)
6:30pm to 8:00pm Rm 106
8:00pm to 8:10pm Wherever you
would like to
go…within 10 to
15 minutes…
8:10pm to 9:20pm Rm 106
Learning Outcomes: I have developed the course to address several learning outcomes.
By the end of the course a successful student should:





demonstrate an understanding of and ability to use the terminology and concepts
crucial to the study of African-American literature;
demonstrate critical thinking in the evaluation of sources and arguments regarding
African-American literature;
demonstrate an understanding of the crucial role African American literature played
and plays in developing a national literature;
understand the importance of narrative in creating productive, egalitarian, and
collaborative societies (and their opposites);
be able to analyze forms and traditions of thought or expression in relation to
cultural, historical, political, and social contexts.
Course Evaluation:
Normally at least 25% of the grade in an undergraduate course must be determined and
made available by the final date for withdrawal. Final date for withdrawal for summer 2014;
summer term 2 is July 17th. No final examination is worth more than 50% of the final
grade.
Type of Assignment (e.g, test, essay, lab
report, etc. and provide an explanation for
each )
Participation Journals
Personal Story
Take Home Mid-Term Exam
Proposal Presentation
Final Project
Weighting
Due Date
3 x 10% =
30%
10%
20%
10%
30%
July 8th, July 15th,
July 29th
July 3rd
July 13th
July 22nd
August 4th
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Participation Journals:
A record of your progress in the course. To receive a full grade, you will need to post and, in turn,
respond to your classmates.
Personal Story:
In this short paper, you will recount a time when you or your family went through a period of
upheaval. You might have moved or even emigrated. You can also talk about an ancestor or a
difficult historical/political/social period your family lived through.
Take-Home Midterm Exam
This exam will test your knowledge of the major methods and concepts that inform the study of
African American literature.
Proposal Presentation:
A short oral discussion in class of what each student will pursue for their final projects.
Final Project:
You will have the opportunity to write an analytical blog or a research essay.
Week-by-week schedule
(Subject to change with as much notice as possible)
June 24th: What is National Literature and Why Should We Care?
 Syllabus
June 26th: Turning the Rhetoric of Slavery to a Rhetoric of Emancipation
 Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. (read as much as you can of
each, including the introduction)
JULY 1 CANADA DAY! (no class)
July 3rd: Anti-Slavery Racism, Sentimentality, and the Liberal Tradition
 Excerpts from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Key to Uncle
Tom’s Cabin
 Excerpts from Henry Louis Gate’s Jr. The Signifying Monkey
 James Baldwin “Everybody’s Protest Novel”
 Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
 Solomon Northup 12 Years a Slave (read as much as you can – we will return to
Northup toward the end of the course)
 Personal story due
July 8th: The Age of Reconstruction, Terror, and Diaspora
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



Charles Chestnutt The Marrow of Tradition
Howard Zinn “Emancipation without Freedom”
Toni Morrison “Black Matters”
Participation journal one due
July 10th: The Harlem Renaissance Part One
 Charles Chestnutt The Marrow of Tradition
 Zora Neale Hurston “How it Feels to be Colored Me”
 Alain Locke “Forward to the New Negro: An Interpretation”
 Mid-Term Take Home exam explained and distributed
July 15th: Harlem Renaissance Part Two
 Jean Toomer “Blood Burning Moon” and “Kane”
 Houston Baker excerpts from Blues, Ideology, and Afro-American Literature: a
Vernacular Theory
 Abel Meeropol and Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit”
 Participation journal two
July 17th: Postmodern Blackness
 Zora Neale Hurston “The Conscience of the Court”
 Toni Morrison A Mercy (read as much as you can)
 Audre Lorde “Age, Race, Class, Difference: Women Redefining Difference”
July 22nd: Black Histories/Plural Histories
 Toni Morrison A Mercy
 Proposal presentation are today
July 24th: The Spoken Word: I Rise/I Rise/I Rise
 Paul Devlin SlamNation
 Gill Scott Heron “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
 Ice-T “Freedom of Speech: Just Watch What You Say”
 Selections from Def Poetry Jam (on Blackboard)
 Maya Angelou “Still I Rise”
July 29th: The Return of the Slave Narrative: Why?
 Steve McQueen 12 Years a Slave
 Solomon Northup 12 Years a Slave
 Participation journal three due
July 31st: Review of Projects
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
This class offers students the opportunity to have their projects given feedback prior
to the due date.
Department and/or Course Policies:
Late Policy and Extensions: Late papers and extensions are dealt with on a case by
case basis. The penalty for late assignments is 5% per day, so please consult with the
instructor if you think your assignment might be late.
Attendance: The course policy regarding attendance is clear and unambiguous: it is your
responsibility to show up for class fully prepared. Further, it is your responsibility to read
this syllabus carefully and understand the course expectations and deadlines.
E-mail: I return email within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays.
University Policies
Academic Integrity:
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious
academic offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an assignment to
expulsion from the University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with
plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You
have a responsibility to educate yourself – unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse.
You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s Academic Integrity website to learn more:
www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity.
Access to Instruction:
It is Trent University's intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a
student has a disability and/or health consideration and feels that he/she may
need accommodations to succeed in this course, the student should contact the
Student Accessibility Services Office (SAS), (BH Suite 132, 705-748-1281 or
email accessibilityservices@trentu.ca). For Trent University in Oshawa Student
Accessibility Services Office contact 905-435-5102 ext. 5024. Complete text can be
found under Access to Instruction in the Academic Calendar.
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