Sunday, March 2, 2014

Specifications for Essay I

English 2650
Sections 150 and 201
Spring 2014
African American Literature
Essay I

So far this semester, we have read and discussed some of the key literary and creative productions of African Americans in the New World. We have encountered the trickster figure and the ‘signifying’ functions of the African American folktales and songs; the spiritual and gospel forms that provided solace and masking functions for the slave and his descendants. We have looked at examples of early African American biography’s antecedents in the Slave Narrative, beginning with Olaudah Equiano. These texts convey to us many of the prevailing themes and preoccupations that attended the African American struggle for freedom, recognition, and civil rights in the years leading up to the turn of the twentieth century. For this first formal essay, you are to choose at least one text that we have covered so far, and analyze that text in accordance with one (or two) of the themes we have covered. Your essay should be thesis-driven: that is, it should be shaped and structured along one central point or observation you wish to make about the texts you address in your essay, and the body paragraphs should strengthen and reinforce that idea.

The following are some prompts that you may follow:

o   Consider the peculiar situation of the female slave as characterized in the excerpt from Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. What ordeals did the female slave face according to Linda Brent’s narrative? How does Linda Brent’s narrative intersect thematically William Wells Brown’s depiction of the female slave’s experience? In your essay, you should reference passages or scenes in each narrative that illustrate these points of intersection.

o   In a similar vein, compare the experiences of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Jacobs. How did slavery attempt to define their respective roles as women and as mothers? How did the machinery of slavery use their gender against them—particularly in the case of the Mistress of the house?

o   Review the short stories we have read and discussed from Charles Chesnutt and William Wells Brown. What common concerns do these writers share over questions of race and color? How does each writer re-introduce the folk figure of the trickster to convey a poignant message concerning the condition of their characters?

o   Compare the projects of David Walker and Olaudah Equiano. While each writer addresses the horrors of chattel slavery, Walker and Equiano choose distinct methods in conveying that message. In what ways does each use language (the master’s tools) to denounce slavery (the master’s house)?

o   As we have discussed, the conventional slave narrative assumed a recognizable organization: each tends to be episodic, features an “I Moment,” and depicts the awfulness of slavery. Compare one of the slave narratives we have read so far to the film Twelve Years a Slave. In what ways does cinema contribute to the tradition of the slave narrative—particularly in its role as a mode of abolitionist propaganda?


You may use one of these prompts, or formulate an original thesis of your own that compares or contrasts two authors or texts. However, there must be a central point you wish to argue and prove.

You should use at least one outside source to argue your thesis. You are only permitted to use sources made available through the Southwest library’s website, our website, gotheretoknowthere, or the college or public library, and you must cite/credit those sources with MLA citation. You may not use SparkNotes, Wikipedia, Gradesavers, or any other commercial cite as reference. Plagiarism of any kind will result in a zero grade.

A Works Cited page is required.

*Essays should be formatted with one-inch margins, double-spaced, STAPLED, and typed in 12-point font.

Due Date: (201): Monday, March 17th
                  (150): Tuesday, March 18th