LIT 333 African American Literature

This course is a survey of African American literature from the 1700s to the present. Students will examine writings from their historical contexts, analyzing the social, economic, and political forces that influenced these works. They will also explore the influence of the literature and culture of African-Americans on American culture. Authors read in this class include Oladuah Equiano, Phyllis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Ida Wells Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neal Hurston, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Audre Lorde and others. Students will learn how literary devices are used to create meaning for readers: plot, characterization, theme, point of view, symbol, irony, and figurative language. Students will engage in close reading: they will be asked to analyze literature inductively, using clues from the surface level of literature (literary devices) to create larger truths they see in the literature. Student analysis of literature will be expressed through essays, presentations, and other activities.