Category: alabama literature
+ alabama, alabama literature, civil rights, Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White, graphic memoir, graphic novels, Jennine Capó crucet, Lila Quintero Weaver, my time among the whites
Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part III
Over the past two posts, I have been writing about Lila Quintero Weaver’s Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White. Today, I want to finish up the discussion I started last post about the malleability of whiteness that Weaver highlights throughout Darkroom. She explores this with her father when he goes to the church in Texas and when he goes with the black carpenter … Read More Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part III
+ alabama, alabama literature, civil rights, Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White, graphic memoir, graphic novels, Lila Quintero Weaver, southern literature
Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part II
In the last post, I discussed how Lila Quintero Weaver’s Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White highlights the ways that whiteness and racism seep into the community consciousness. Today, I want to look at how Weaver’s Darkroom shows the intricate entanglements of whiteness, specifically with Weaver and her family. Weaver’s family is from Argentina, and they are immigrants to America. In the first … Read More Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part II
+ alabama, alabama literature, civil rights, Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White, ernest j gaines, graphic memoir, graphic novels, jimmie lee jackson, Lila Quintero Weaver
Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part I
During the fall semester, a student told me about on of her classes where the professor was using Lila Quintero Weaver’s Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White in the course. The student told me about Weaver’s book, and I immediately became interested in reading it. Finally, I picked up a copy and read it. In Darkroom, Weaver details her family’s experiences during the … Read More Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part I
+ alabama literature, american history, american literature, atticus finch, boo radley, harper lee, scout finch, southern gothic, southern history, southern literature, to kill a mockingbird, william apess
American History and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Last post, I wrote about the Southern paradoxes in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Today, I want to look at the opening of the novel because Scout traces the events of the novel deep into our nation’s history, before Jem, Scout, or Atticus arrived on the scene. This is important because for all of the missed moments of reflection in the novel, the … Read More American History and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”
+ african american literature, alabama literature, alice walker, american literature, andré m carrington, charles chesnutt, Darryl Dickson-Carr, early american literature, elizabeth key, ernest j gaines, frank yerby, gayl jones, hal bennett, harriet jacobs, interracial intimacy, john a williams, karla holloway, keith bardwell, Literature, louisiana literature, loving v. virginia, mississippi literature, octavia butler, Sherryl Cashin, southern literature
Interracial Intimacy and “Loving v. Virginia” Syllabus
Over the past year, I have been thinking about a project that am currently working on. The project involves examining African American texts from the 1960s and 1970s that center on interracial relationships. I chose this time period because the Supreme Court struck down anti-miscegenation laws in 1967 in Loving v. Virginia; however, even forty years later, racist individuals still disapproved of interracial relationships. … Read More Interracial Intimacy and “Loving v. Virginia” Syllabus
+ african american literature, alabama literature, alice dunbar-nelson, alice walker, american literature, arna bontemps, charles chesnutt, claude mckay, early american literature, ernest j gaines, frank yerby, Genarao Kỳ Lý Smith, james baldwin, jesmyn ward, kiese laymon, Literature, louisiana literature, mississippi literature, octavia butler, paul laurence dunbar, richard wright, southern gothic, southern history, southern literature, southern studies, syllabus, t geronimo johnson, uncle tom's children. afircan american literature, william melvin kelley, zora neale hurston
“African American Literature and the American South” Syllabus
Occasionally, I post syllabi ideas here on the blog. Today, I want to share a syllabus I have been thinking about recently entitled “African American Literature and the American South.” The South, as a geographic and imaginary space, looms large in the works of not just African American authors but in writers of all ethnic backgrounds from the United States. Maryemma Graham discusses the … Read More “African American Literature and the American South” Syllabus
+ academia, african american literature, alabama literature, american literature, caribbean literature, composition, early american literature, gothic literature, grading, irish literature, Literature, louisiana literature, mississippi literature, native american literature, Pedagogy, professionalization, southern literature, time management, university, work/life balance
Is Work/Life Balance Achievable in Academia?
For the first few weeks, I would walk into my eight o’clock class to bright faces and smiles from the students seated within the rows. About a month into the semester, and coincidentally around the same time that they had to turn in their first essay, the smiling faces turned to tired and haggled sleep-deprived visages that stared blankly back at me as I … Read More Is Work/Life Balance Achievable in Academia?
+ african american literature, alabama literature, american literature, archive, archives, cherokee, creek, early american literature, john horry dent, Literature, louisiana literature, mississippi literature, nathan whitefield, native american literature, Pedagogy, research, southern literature
Archive Project: Taking Students Out of the Classroom and Into History
Note: You can view the projects at engl2250.wordpress.com. Over the past year, I have constructed various projects for my literature survey courses. Last fall, I had students define a term related to Early American literature and present what they learned. In the spring, I had students read a novel or play by an author we were looking at in the course and present information … Read More Archive Project: Taking Students Out of the Classroom and Into History
+ a lesson before dying, african american literature, alabama, alabama literature, alabama memorial preservation act, american literature, bryan stevenson, confederate memorial day, confederate monuments, early american literature, enslaved, ernest j gaines, ezra klein, jefferson davis, kayla warner, Literature, louisiana literature, mitch landreau, new orleans, robert e lee, southern history, southern literature, southern studies, Uncategorized, whitney plantation
The Smoldering Embers in Our Presence
Today, I want to conclude the discussion from the previous two posts over the ways that we create memorials and remember the past, particularly in the South. In an interview with Ezra Klein, executive director of the Equal Justice Commission Bryan Stevenson commented, “What we do in the memorial spaces says a lot about who we are.” There is a lot of truth in … Read More The Smoldering Embers in Our Presence
+ african american literature, alabama literature, american literature, andrew jackson, archive, archives, auburn university, benjamin hawkins, creek, early american literature, elias boudinot, gothic literature, john marrant, Jonathan edwards, Literature, louisiana literature, maroon, mississippi literature, olaudah equiano, seminole, Uncategorized, william apess
Working With Archives in the Literature Classroom
This summer, I am teaching an American literature survey curse through 1865. While I have taught this course multiple times, I have been contemplating and incorporating new assignments into the classroom the past couple of times I have taught it. One such assignment calls for students to use digital archives of the Freedom’s Journal to find a an article, summarize it, then tell their … Read More Working With Archives in the Literature Classroom
