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Brooklyn College
The City University of New York
English Department
English 794
Textual Analysis
Spring 2010
30 hours + conference
Professor Martha Jane Nadell
2305 Boylan / 951-5207 mnadell@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Office Hours: Th, 2:00-4:30 (by appointment)
Critical Debates in African American Literature
Discussion: Intensive study in selected texts.
Description: This class will focus on major debates about race and representation in twentieth-century
African American literature. Topics will include debates about the nature of racial representation in the
Harlem Renaissance, the literature of protest in the 1930s and 1940s, the influence of anthropology and sociology, the rise of African American women writers, the representation of black men, and the politics of literary publication.
You will write a research paper of 10-12 pages in length. You will write one short take-home exams.
Sometime, before Wednesday night, before each class meeting, you must post a response paper about that week’s reading or a comment on someone else’s response. Your response paper may be about anything that intrigues, puzzles, or moves you. Students will take turns posting response papers.
Objectives:
During the class, you will
 develop ability to understand and analyze literary texts
 develop understanding of literature in its interdisciplinary contexts (e.g., cultural, social, historical, scientific, psychological, and political)
 learn to appreciate literary complexity, ambiguity, and paradox
 develop understanding of interrelation of language, culture, and society
2/11
2/25
3/4
3/11
 be able to reason, think critically, evaluate, use evidence, and make judgments
 be able to write clearly and imaginatively, in a variety of forms and for a variety of purposes and audiences
Course Schedule
1/28
2/4
Intro
Jesse Fauset, Plum Bun
Nella Larsen, Passing
Alain Locke,ed. Survey Graphic, Fire!!
Langston Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”
George Schyuler, “The Negro Art Hokum”
Alain Locke, “Art or Propaganda”
W. E. B. Du Bois, “Criteria of Negro Art”

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3/18
3/25
4/8
4/15
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Richard Wright, Native Son
James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain
Zora Neale Hurston, Introduction to Mules and Men
Richard Wright, “Blueprint for Negro Writing”
James Baldwin, “Everybody’s Protest Novel”
4/22, 4/15 Black Arts Movement
5/6
5/18
Walter Mosley, Devil in a Blue Dress
Paul Beattie, The White Boy Shuffle
TBA
Requirements
Course Materials
Jesse Fauset, Plum Bun
Nella Larsen, Passing
Alain Locke, ed. The New Negro
Wallace Thurman, ed. Fire!! A Quarterly Devoted to the Younger Negro Artists
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Richard Wright, Native Son
James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain
Walter Mosley, Devil in a Blue Dress
Paul Beattie, The White Boy Shuffle
Required texts are on order at Shakespeare & Co, located at 14 Hillel Place.
Participation (15%): You must attend regularly, arrive on time, and participate. Participation will include a presentation of one scholarly article about one of the texts we are reading in class.
Response Papers/Blog (15%): before Wednesday night, before each class meeting, you must post a response paper about that week’s reading or a comment on someone else’s response. Your response paper may be about anything that intrigues, puzzles, or moves you. Students will take turns posting response papers. The address of the blog is eng794spring2010.wordpress.com
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Paper (40%): You will write a final research paper (10-12 pages), with a bibliography of four books and/or journal articles. The paper is on May 18, 2010. Please keep a back up for your records. No late papers will be accepted.
Exams (30%): There will be one take-home exams. You will write one essay (you will have a choice of two topics for each of the essays you will write) of 2-3 typed pages.
Evaluation criteria for class participation:
Your class participation will be judged on the basis of your respect for class members’ comments and your attentiveness to the discussion (people who don’t like to speak frequently will not be penalized, but you should make an effort to participate). I also expect that your participation will reflect your having done the reading for each class.

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Evaluation criteria for written work:
From a list by Lewis Hyde, edited by Sue Lonoff, with thanks to Richard Marius's writing handbook.
The Unsatisfactory Paper.
The D or F paper either has no thesis or else it has one that is strikingly vague, broad, or uninteresting. There is little indication that the writer understands the material being presented.
The paragraphs do not hold together; ideas do not develop from sentence to sentence. This paper usually repeats the same thoughts again and again, perhaps in slightly different language but often in the same words. The D or F paper is filled with mechanical faults, errors in grammar, and errors in spelling.
The C Paper.
The C paper has a thesis, but it is vague and broad, or else it is uninteresting or obvious. It does not advance an argument that anyone might care to debate. "Henry James wrote some interesting novels." "Modern cities are interesting places."
The thesis in the C paper often hangs on some personal opinion. If the writer is a recognized authority, such an expression of personal taste may be noteworthy, but writers gain authority not merely by expressing their tastes but by justifying them. Personal opinion is often the engine that drives an argument, but opinion by itself is never sufficient. It must be defended.
The C paper rarely uses evidence well; sometimes it does not use evidence at all. Even if it has a clear and interesting thesis, a paper with insufficient supporting evidence is a C paper.
The C paper often has mechanical faults, errors in grammar and spelling, but please note: a paper without such flaws may still be a C paper.
The B Paper.
The reader of a B paper knows exactly what the author wants to say. It is well organized, it presents a worthwhile and interesting idea, and the idea is supported by sound evidence presented in a neat and orderly way. Some of the sentences may not be elegant, but they are clear, and in them thought follows naturally on thought. The paragraphs may be unwieldy now and then, but they are organized around one main idea. The reader does not have to read a paragraph two or three times to get the thought that the writer is trying to convey.
The B paper is always mechanically correct. The spelling is good, and the punctuation is accurate. Above all, the paper makes sense throughout. It has a thesis that is limited and worth arguing. It does not contain unexpected digressions, and it ends by keeping the promise to argue and inform that the writer makes in the beginning.
The A Paper.
The A paper has all the good qualities of the B paper, but in addition it is lively, well paced, interesting, even exciting. The paper has style. Everything in it seems to fit the thesis exactly. It may have a proofreading error or two, or even a misspelled word, but the reader feels that these errors are the consequence of the normal accidents all good writers encounter. Reading the paper, we can feel a mind at work. We are convinced that the writer cares for his or her ideas, and about the language that carries them.
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