Month: July 2016
+ a darkness at ingarahm's crest, a gathering of old men, african american literature, american literature, cult of domesticity, frank yerby, gillian, of love and dust, southern literature, southern womanhood, Uncategorized
The Convict Lease System in Frank Yerby’s “Gillian”
Frank Yerby’s Gillian (1960) deals, thematically, with the idea of manhood and the mythological ideals surrounding white Southern Womanhood. Gillian MacAllister and Hero Farnsworth shatter the virginal, innocent idea of white Southern Womanhood while Michael Ames challenges ideas of manhood. While these themes are at the forefront of Gillian, there are, as usual with Yerby, racial aspects that swim just beneath the surface. Gillian, … Read More The Convict Lease System in Frank Yerby’s “Gillian”
+ african american literature, american literature, frank yerby, langston hughes, Literature, southern literature, Uncategorized, white magnolias
Frank Yerby’s “White Magnolias”
On a recent trip to New Orleans, I stopped by Librairie Bookshop on Chartres and picked up four Frank Yerby paperbacks: The Saracen Blade (1952), Gillian (1960), The Man from Dahomey (1971), and A Darkness at Ingraham’s Crest (1979). Since then, I have been delving, in earnest, into Yerby’s oeuvre, one that includes thirty three novels. I’ve written about his first novel The Foxes … Read More Frank Yerby’s “White Magnolias”
+ african american literature, american literature, ernest j gaines, ghosts of ole miss, louisiana literature, neh summer institute, neh.gov, quentin tarantino, southern literature, star wars: the force awakens, the hateful eight, Uncategorized, william faulkner
Some Pedagogical Takeaways from the NEH Summer Institute
Part of this post appears in “‘I think Aladdin looked kinda white’: Teaching Cultural Projection in the Classroom” on the Pedagogy and American Literary Studies’ blog. The links throughout provide more insight into the technique being discussed. During the NEH Summer Institute, Ernest J. Gaines and the Southern Experience, pedagogy was a big topic of discussion. Throughout the institute, the visiting lecturers and scholars shared with … Read More Some Pedagogical Takeaways from the NEH Summer Institute
+ african american literature, american literature, lecrae, southern literature, t geronimo johnson, Uncategorized, welcome to braggsville
Readings for the Personal Identity Narrative
In August 1996, I stepped foot onto the campus of Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe). At the time, I had no clue how I even ended up at NLU, about 90 miles from my hometown. It was just the thing to do. Once I graduated high school, college was the next stop on the road of life. However, at … Read More Readings for the Personal Identity Narrative
+ composition, ernest j gaines, gains and losses, identity, lecrae, richard rodriguez, Uncategorized
Personal Identity Narrative Essay
When I teach first year composition courses, I have students write some type of personal narrative for their first essay. This typically involves them relating a story about themselves and creating an argument based off of what they learned from their own personal experience. Recently, instead of having students do a personal narrative where they relate any story from their lives, I have been … Read More Personal Identity Narrative Essay
