What makes African American art distinctive? What responsibilities do black artists have to each other or to society as a whole? In this course, we will discuss what “African American art” is, can, and should be. We will analyze texts from a wide range of genres, including editorials, manifestos, literary essays, poems, and music videos. English 102 expands on English 101 by developing critical reading and writing skills. We will practice crafting a thesis, evaluating and citing sources, paraphrasing, summarizing, and revising by writing an artistic manifesto, literary analysis, reflective essay, and researched-based argument.
Student Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, students will:
- Identify and implement appropriate writing strategies for different rhetorical situations.
- Demonstrate critical thinking by producing a unified, coherent, grammatically and mechanically sound essay.
- Develop an effective personal style by recognizing the choices involved in the use of written language.
- Practice key revision strategies, by revising for sound argumentation, paragraph coherence, and sentence clarity.
- Become actively involved in their own learning by suggesting topics or activities to the instructor and by doing course-related inquiry beyond that assigned.
- Perceive direct or tangential relationships between this course and knowledge content in other disciplines.
- Develop a carefully documented research project relevant to their intended major field.
- Use electronic environments for drafting, reviewing, revising, editing, researching, and sharing text.
Course Assignments:
- Participation—10%
- Attendance
- Class discussion
- In-class exercises/peer review sessions
- Reading Summaries—10%
- One-page synopsis of assigned readings
- Artistic Manifesto Rough Draft—10%
- Mid-term exam—10%
- Reflective Essay
- Literary Analysis Rough Draft—10%
- Revision—20%
- Revision Strategy
- Revised draft of Artistic Manifesto or Literary Analysis
- Researched Argument—30%
- Annotated bibliography
- Outline
- Rough draft
- Revised draft
Schedule
Unit I—Core Skills
Week 1—Introductions
Thursday 8/16
- Discussion
- Syllabus Review
- In-class writing assessment
- Homework
- Reading and Responding to Text, SCW 40-72
Week 2—Critical Reading
Tuesday 8/21
- Discussion
- Reading and Responding to Text
- Homework
- Reading Arguments, SCW 546-564
Thursday 8/23
- Discussion
- Reading Arguments
- Homework
- Read, annotate, and summarize Clint Smith, “What Would W. E. B. Du Bois Make of Black Panther?”
Week 3—Critical Reading, continued
Tuesday 8/28
- Discussion
- Smith, “What Would W. E. B. Du Bois Make of Black Panther?”
- Homework
- Read, annotate, and summarize Stephen L. Carter, “Let HBO Make ‘Confederate’ Before You Judge It”
- Read, annotate, and summarize Roxanne Gay, “I Don’t Want to Watch Slavery Fan Fiction”
Thursday 8/30
- Discussion
- Carter, “Let HBO Make ‘Confederate’ Before You Judge It”
- Gay, “I Don’t Want to Watch Slavery Fan Fiction”
- Homework
- Writing Arguments, SCW 572-580
Unit II—Racial Aesthetics
Week 4—The Harlem Renaissance
Tuesday 9/4
- Discussion
- Artistic Manifesto assignment
- Writing Arguments
- Homework
- Read, annotate, and summarize W.E.B. Du Bois, “Criteria of Negro Art”
Thursday 9/6
- Discussion
- Approaches to writing Artistic Manifesto
- Du Bois, “Criteria of Negro Art”
- Homework
- Read, annotate, and summarize Langston Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”
Week 5—Social Realism
Tuesday 9/11
- Discussion
- Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”
- Homework
- Read, annotate, and summarize Richard Wright, “Between Laughter and Tears”
Thursday 9/13
- Discussion
- Wright, “Between Laughter and Tears”
- Homework
- Read, annotate, and summarize James Baldwin, “Everybody’s Protest Novel”
Week 6—Modernism
Tuesday 9/18
- Discussion
- Baldwin, “Everybody’s Protest Novel”
- Homework
- Read, annotate, and summarize Ralph Ellison, “Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke”
Thursday 9/20
- Discussion
- Ellison, “Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke”
- Homework
- Read and annotate Reading and Writing about Literature, SCW 712-725
- Artistic Manifesto rough draft
Friday 9/21: Artistic Manifesto Rough Draft due
Unit III—Literary Analysis
Week 7—Poetry
Tuesday 9/25
- Discussion
- Literary Analysis assignment
- Reading and Writing about Literature
- Homework
- Read and annotate Gwendolyn Brooks, “kitchenette building”
Thursday 9/27
- Discussion
- Approaches to Literary Analysis assignment
- Brooks, “kitchenette building”
- Homework
- Read and annotate Kevin Young, “Aunties”
Week 8—Poetry, continued
Tuesday 10/2
- Discussion
- Kevin Young, “Aunties”
- Homework
- Read and annotate Natasha Trethewey, “Elegy for the Native Guards”
Thursday 10/4
- Independent work day
Friday 10/5: Mid-term exam Reflective Essay due
Week 9—Poetry, continued
Tuesday 10/9
- Fall break—no class
Thursday 10/11
- Discussion
- Natasha Trethewey, “Elegy for the Native Guards”
- Homework
- Read and annotate Danez Smith, “Dinosaurs in the Hood”
Week 10—Poetry, continued
Tuesday 10/16
- Discussion
- Danez Smith, “Dinosaurs in the Hood”
- Homework
- Developing and Supporting a Thesis, SCW 118-131
Thursday 10/18
- Discussion
- Developing and Supporting a Thesis
- Homework
- Revising Content and Organization, SCW 174-193
Friday 10/19: Literary Analysis Rough Draft due
Unit IV Revision
Week 11—Revision Strategies
Tuesday 10/23
- Discussion
- In-class peer review activity
- Revising Content and Organization
- Homework
- Editing Sentences and Words, SCW 194-213
Thursday 10/25
- Discussion
- In-class peer review activity
- Editing Sentences and Words
- Homework
- Finding Sources, Taking Notes, and Synthesizing, SCW628-651
- Revision Strategy
Friday 10/26: Revision Strategy due
Unit V—Research
Week 12—Research Methods
Tuesday 10/30
- Discussion
- Research Essay assignment
- Finding Sources, Taking Notes, and Synthesizing
- Homework
- Planning a Research Project and Evaluating Sources, SCW 612-627
Thursday 11/1
- Discussion
- Approaches to Research Essay assignment
- Planning a Research Project and Evaluating Sources
- Homework
- Illustration, SCW 315-320
- Process Analysis, SCW 348-352
- Comparison and Contrast, SCW 383-387
- Classification and Division, SCW 424-427
- Cause and Effect, SCW 493-497
- Revised Artistic Manifesto or Literary Analysis
Friday 11/2: Revised Artistic Manifesto or Literary Analysis due
Week 13—Research Methods, continued
Tuesday 11/6
- Discussion
- Illustration, Process Analysis, Comparison and Contrast, Classification and Division, and Cause and Effect
- Homework
- Read, annotate, and summarize Vann Newkirk, “King’s Death Gave Birth to Hip Hop”
- Documenting Your Sources: MLA Style, SCW 670-685
Thursday 11/8
- Discussion
- Documenting Your Sources: MLA Style
- Newkirk, “King’s Death Gave Birth to Hip Hop”
- Homework
- Watch and annotate Beyoncé, “Formation”
- Annotated Bibliography
Friday 11/9: Annotated Bibliography due
Week 14—Audio-Visual Analysis
Tuesday 11/13
- Discussion
- Beyoncé, “Formation”
- Homework
- Watch and annotate Janelle Monáe, “Q.U.E.E.N”
Thursday 11/15
- Discussion
- Janelle Monáe, “Q.U.E.E.N”
- Homework
- Watch and annotate Donald Glover, “This Is America”
- Research Essay outline
Week 15—Audio-Visual Analysis, continued
Tuesday 11/20
- Discussion
- Outline due
- Donald Glover, “This Is America”
Thursday 11/22
- Thanksgiving—no class
Tuesday 11/27
- Class wrap up
Friday 11/30: Research Essay draft due
Friday 12/7: Research Essay due \lsd
