English 20-  Survey of African American Literature:
The Early Oral Traditions to the Contemporary Period
Professor: Michael Schwartz  Office: PSC 1
Office hours: M/W 1-3pm, T 12:45-1:45pm  (951) 571-6213 
Michael.Schwartz@mvc.edu
W.E.B. DuBois
Sojourner Truth
Toni Morrison
Spring 2012 (23342)
M/W 11:10-12:35  PSC 3
Ralph Ellison
Langston
Hughes
Olaudah Equiano
 Course Texts
Required: Gates and McKay Eds. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 2nd Edition
Recommended: A book of literary terms. A good, cheap one is The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary
Theory, Ed. Cuddon. 0-14-051363-9.
 Course Description
Prerequisite: None, but English 1B is strongly suggested. A survey of African American literature from the early oral traditions
to the present, including a comprehensive exposure to the poetry, drama, and fiction of this era as well as a basic understanding
of the cultural, intellectual, and artistic trends it embodies. Students who have taken ENG-21 and ENG22 may not receive credit for ENG-20 54 hours lecture. (Letter Grade, or Pass/No Pass Option.)
 Student Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
General Education SLO
Critical Thinking
 Construct sound arguments and evaluate arguments of others
 Consider and evaluate rival hypotheses
 Recognize and assess evidence from a variety of sources
 Generalize appropriately from specific contexts
 Identify one's own and others' assumptions, biases, and their consequences
Communication Skills
 Write with precision and clarity to express complex thought
 Read college-level materials with understanding and insight
 Listen thoughtfully and respectfully to the ideas of others
 Speak with precision and clarity to express complex thought
Breadth of Knowledge
 Respond to and evaluate artistic expression
Application of Knowledge
 Be lifelong learners, with ability to acquire and employ new knowledge
Global Awareness
 Participate in constructive social interaction
 Demonstrate understanding of ethnic, religious and socioeconomic diversity
 Demonstrate understanding of alternative political, historical and cultural viewpoints
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1. Recognize and appreciate distinctive features of the major writers, literary works, movements, trends,
and genres in African American literature from the early oral tradition to the present, and synthesize ideas
that connect them into a tradition.
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Critical Thinking - Generalize appropriately from specific contexts
Critical Thinking - Integrate knowledge across a range of contexts
Communication Skills - Read college-level materials with understanding and insight
Breadth of Knowledge - Understand the basic content and modes of inquiry of the major knowledge fields
2. Explain how the African American literary tradition both reflects and shapes the literary history of
America with an awareness of how differences of culture, gender, and other social markers may shape an
African American writer’s interactions with this history.
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
Global Awareness - Demonstrate understanding of alternative political, historical and cultural viewpoints
Global Awareness - Demonstrate understanding of ethnic, religious and socioeconomic diversity
3. Employ college-level methods of literary analysis to reading and interpreting African American
literature and literature in general.

Communication Skills - Read college-level materials with understanding and insight
3a. Read literary works closely, recognize differences in language use, understand figurative language, and
distinguish between literal and metaphorical meanings.
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
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Critical Thinking - Generalize appropriately from specific contexts
Communication Skills - Read college-level materials with understanding and insight
Breadth of Knowledge - Respond to and evaluate artistic expression
3b. Employ the basic language and terminology of literary analysis to the discussion and interpretation of
various works of literature.
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
Critical Thinking - Consider and evaluate rival hypotheses
Communication Skills - Read college-level materials with understanding and insight
Communication Skills - Speak with precision and clarity to express complex thought
Breadth of Knowledge - Understand the basic content and modes of inquiry of the major knowledge fields
Breadth of Knowledge - Respond to and evaluate artistic expression
3c. Develop an appreciation for works of literature as unique contributions to and reflections of culture.

Application of Knowledge - Be lifelong learners, with ability to acquire and employ new knowledge
4. Demonstrate critical thinking and writing skills through the process of constructing responses to,
interpretations of, and arguments about African American literature.



Critical Thinking - Construct sound arguments and evaluate arguments of others
Communication Skills - Write with precision and clarity to express complex thought
Breadth of Knowledge - Understand the basic content and modes of inquiry of the major knowledge fields
4a. Synthesize diverse points of view in the classroom and listen to the ideas of others while taking
literature as a focus for discussion and analysis.


Critical Thinking - Consider and evaluate rival hypotheses
Communication Skills - Listen thoughtfully and respectfully to the ideas of others
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
Communication Skills - Speak with precision and clarity to express complex thought
4b. Provide valid logical premises in supports of an interpretation, analysis, or argument about literary
works, and support premises with effectively sufficient evidence drawn (as appropriate) from literary texts
and the writer's prior experience and knowledge.




Critical Thinking - Construct sound arguments and evaluate arguments of others
Critical Thinking - Generalize appropriately from specific contexts
Critical Thinking - Integrate knowledge across a range of contexts
Breadth of Knowledge - Respond to and evaluate artistic expression
4c. Demonstrate an ability to apply principles of sound critical thinking to their own interpretive
arguments by composing unified and coherent written analyses of literary works.


Critical Thinking - Construct sound arguments and evaluate arguments of others
Communication Skills - Write with precision and clarity to express complex thought
4d. Think creatively within and beyond literary studies, making some connections between the literary
work and intellectual and cultural forces that shape individuals' lives.



Critical Thinking - Integrate knowledge across a range of contexts
Critical Thinking - Identify one's own and others' assumptions, biases, and their consequences
Application of Knowledge - Be lifelong learners, with ability to acquire and employ new knowledge
 Course Policies
1) Class begins at 11:10am, and I will take roll. After four absences and/or “tardies” (11:20 or later), the course GPA may be
lowered by .10% per subsequent absence or tardy. Please bring Norton to class daily, and please switch off phones and
don’t text.
2) The deadline to drop without a “W” is March 12—please decide your status by then as I don’t normally approve drops after
the deadline and require documented “serious and compelling reason”: a medical emergency or permanent change in work
schedule is adequate reason; a failing performance or frequent absence isn’t. Please be aware that Incompletes won't be
issued for missed work or absence—only for medical or other documented emergency on the final exam when all prior
work is complete. All work is due by 5 PM, June 6; grades will be available on WebAdvisor by the following Monday
morning, maybe late Sunday.
3) The deadline to drop with a “W” is May 16.
4) For take-home essays, please type and double-space (200-250 words/page) and don't use folders. Sorry, I can’t accept
voluntary rewrites—let’s get it right the first time.
5) Please acquaint yourself with the MVC plagiarism policy and follow the MLA Handbook (available in the WRC) for
format and documentation. If you copy from another source without proper acknowledgement/ documentation, the
consequences will normally include my assigning an F for the course and reporting it to the Dean of Instruction’s office.
6) Disability: If you have a physical, psychiatric/emotional, medical or learning disability that may impact on your ability to
carry out assigned course work, I urge that you to contact the staff in Disabled Student Services, on any one of the three
campuses, or call 222-8060 or 222-8062 for TDD. DSP&S will review your concerns and determine, with you, what
accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation of disability is confidential.
7) Conferences: During the semester, each student should plan to attend at least one conference with the instructor. Making
this appointment often may mean the difference between success and disappointment.
 Breakdown of Grading
1. Active participation in informed, oral discussions that
may include quizzes, when necessary
2. Mid-Term and Final Examination
3. Critical Paper #1 and #2
4. Oral presentation based on second paper.
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30%
30%
30%
10%
English 20  Tentative Schedule
(all readings are in Norton, unless otherwise specified; also, please read all author
profiles preceding assigned readings)
The Early Record of the African American Experience
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
M
W
M
W
Feb 13
Feb 15
Feb 20
Feb 22
M
Feb 27
W Feb 29
Wk 4
M Mar 5
W Mar 7
Wk 5
M Mar 12
W Mar 14
Wk 6
M Mar 19
W Mar 21
The Vernacular Tradition
Course Intro/In-Class Writing and Discussion
For next class meeting, read “Introduction: Talking Books,” “The Vernacular Tradition”
HOLIDAY: CLASSES NOT IN SESSION
For next class meeting, read “City Called Heaven,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Steal Away to Jesus,”
“Peace Be Still,” “Stand By Me”
For next class meeting, “Me and My Captain,” “Promises of Freedom,” “Oh Freedom,” “Four Women,” “John
Henry,” “Brer Rabbit Tricks Brer Fox Again,” and “The Awful Fate of Mr. Wolf”
The Literature of Slavery and Freedom (1746-1865)
For next class meeting, (Terry) “Bars Fight,” (Equiano) From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah
Equiano” (189-213)
For next class meeting, (Wheatley) “To the University of Cambridge, in New England,” “On Being Brought
from Africa to America,” “To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth”
For next class meeting, (Walker) From “David Walker’s Appeal in Four Articles,” (Truth) “Ain’t I a
Woman,” From The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
For next class meeting, (Brown) From Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave (317-325)
For next class meeting, (Douglass) Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written
by Himself (387-419)
For next class meeting, finish Douglass’ Narrative, and also (Harper) “Ethiopia,” “Bury Me in a Free Land,”
“Our Greatest Want”
For next class meeting, read Norton p. 541-554, (Washington) From Up From Slavery, (Chesnutt) “The
Gooperhered Grapevine,” “The Passing of Grandison”
“To Make a Poet Black and Bid Him Sing”: The African-American Experience during
the Era of Reconstruction
Wk 7
Wk 8
M
Mar 26
W
Mar 28
M
Apr 2
W Apr 4
Wk 9
M Apr 9
W Apr 11
Wk 10
M Apr 16
For next class meeting, (Cooper) “Womanhood a Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress of a Race,”
(Du Bois) From The Souls of Black Folk (692-730)
For next class meeting, (Du Bois) Finish Souls of Black Folk, (Johnson) The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored
Man (803-843)
ESSAY ONE DUE
For next class meeting, finish Johnson’s Autobiography, and also read (Dunbar) “We Wear the Mask,” “The
Colored Soldiers,” “The Poet”
MIDTERM EXAM
During Spring Recess, read Norton p. 953-962, (Locke) “The New Negro,” (Garvey) “Africa for the
Africans,” “The Future as I See It,” (McKay) “To the White Fiends,” “America,” “The White House”
SPRING RECESS
SPRING RECESS
“The New Negro”: African-American Experience during the Harlem Renaissance
W Apr 18
Wk 11
M Apr 23
W Apr 25
For next class meeting, (Cullen) “Yet Do I Marvel,” “Heritage,” (Brown) “Old Lem,” (Bontemps) “A Black
Man Talks of Reaping,” “Miracles”
For next class meeting, (Hughes) “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “Mulatto,” “Afro-American Fragment,”
“Theme for English B”
For next class meeting, (Hurston) “How it Feels to Be Colored Me,” “Characteristics of Negro Expression,”
For next class meeting, read Norton 1355-1368, (Tolson) “An Ex-Judge at the Bar,” “The Birth of John
Henry,” (West) From The Living is Easy
Modernism and The Black Arts Era (1940-1975)
Wk 12
M Apr 30
For next class meeting, (Wright) “The Man Who Lived Underground,” “Blueprint for Negro Writing,”
(Ellison) From Invisible Man
4
W May 2
Wk 13
Wk 14
M May 7
W May 9
M May 14
For next class meeting, (Brooks) “a song in the front yard,” “Sadie and Maud,” “We Real Cool,” (Baldwin)
“Stranger in the Village”
For next class meeting, From The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (King) “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
For next class meeting, (Lorde) “Coal,” “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” (Baraka) “SOS,” Dutchman
For next class meeting, Norton p. 2127-2139, (Angelou) “Still I Rise,” (Marshall) “The Making of a Writer:
From Poets in the Kitchen,” (Morrison) “Unspeakable Thing Unspoken: The Afro-American Presence in
American Literature”
Literature Since 1975
W May 16
Wk 15
M May 21
W May 23
Wk 16
M May 28
For next meeting, (Morrison) “Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation,” “Recitatif,” (Walker) “Everyday
Use”
For next meeting, (Butler) “Bloodchild,” (Johnson) “The Education of Mingo,” (Mosley) “Equal Opportunity”
ESSAY TWO DUE
Review for Final
HOLIDAY: CLASSES NOT IN SESSION
FINAL EXAM: JUNE 4 (11:10-1:10)
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