Category: african american literature

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+ african american literature, american literature, cane, ernest j gaines, jean toomer, jeff nichols, louisiana literature, loving, loving v. virginia, mary agnes, ralph kabnis, southern literature, tee bob samson, the autobiography of miss jane pittman, twentieth century literature

I’m the Victim of America’s Sin. I’m What Sin Is.

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Over the last couple of posts, I have written about Jeff Nichols’ Loving and the legal constructions of race. Today, I want to conclude that discussion by looking some at Jean Toomer’s Cane (1923) and Ernest J. Gaines’ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971). In each of these texts, published close to fifty years apart, Toomer and Gaines highlight the ways that words … Read More I’m the Victim of America’s Sin. I’m What Sin Is.

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+ a gathering of old men, african american literature, american literature, bloodline, copper laurent, ernest j gaines, frank laurent, interracial intimacy, interracial marriage, louisiana literature, of love and dust, southern literature, Uncategorized

Interracial Intimacy in Ernest Gaines’ “Bloodline”

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As I read Ernest Gaines’ “Bloodline” recently, the interactions between ‘Malia and Frank Laurent stood out. The story, essentially, centers around Copper, the son of Frank’s brother Walter who raped Copper’s mother. Copper has returned to the Laurent plantation to claim what is his, by birth. Essentially, he arrives to overthrow the system that denies him an existence due to the fact that his … Read More Interracial Intimacy in Ernest Gaines’ “Bloodline”

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+ african american literature, albery allson whitman, american west, don flemons, frank yerby, herb jeffries, james baldwin, jennie carter, john marrant, nat love, oscar micheaux, paul laurence dunbar, percival everett, quintard taylor, syllabus, western

“African American Literature and the American West” Syllabus

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The photo above is of the head of Canyon de Chelly by Timothy O’Sullivan.  For my dissertation, I explored the connections between the ways that African American, Native American, and white women authors used Scottish Enlightenment rhetoric to argue for their positions within the body politic of the United States. One of the key aspects that arose from the dissertation was the ways that African American and … Read More “African American Literature and the American West” Syllabus

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+ african american literature, american literature, Americans Want to Believe Jobs are the Solution to Poverty. They're Not, caribbean literature, drown, Junot Díaz, Literature, matthew desmond, yunior

Education and Poverty in Junot Díaz’s “Drown”

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Reading Junot Díaz’s “Drown,” my mind constantly kept going back to texts such as Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and James Baldwin who said, “Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.” Along with these items, I also thought about the power structures that keep Yunior de Las Casas in subjugation and essentially strip … Read More Education and Poverty in Junot Díaz’s “Drown”

+ african american literature, american dream, american literature, big walter younger, lena younger, liesl tommy, Literature, lorraine hansberry, ruth younger, walter lee younger

Big Walter in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”

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Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, one character hovers over the entire play as a specter of the past. This character is Big Walter, Lena’s husband and Benetha and Walter Lee’s father. Even though he does not appear on stage in the script, he exists as an important part of the narrative. His death, which we do not see, causes the action … Read More Big Walter in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”

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