Category: american literature

"Charles W. Chesnutt and The Race Question at the Turn of the TwentiethCentury" Syllabus

Recently, I just finished reading Charles W. Chesnutt’s “The Future American” (1900) and The Quarry (1928) for a paper I am writing. As I read Chesnutt’s last novel, I started to think about a possible syllabus that would use Chesnutt as a focal point to explore “the race question” at the turn of the twentieth century. I have posted syllabi such as “African American Crime … Read More "Charles W. Chesnutt and The Race Question at the Turn of the TwentiethCentury" Syllabus

Some Thoughts about Amelia E. Johnson’s "Clarence and Corinne; or, God’s Way"

Recently, I wrote about Paul Laurence Dunbar’s The Love of Landry (1900), a novel that focuses on white characters and the frontier. Along those same lines, I want to briefly discuss another novel from the late nineteenth century by an African American author that focuses on non-racialized characters. Amelia Johnson’s Clarence and Corinne; or, God’s Way (1890) originally appeared as a religious tract published … Read More Some Thoughts about Amelia E. Johnson’s "Clarence and Corinne; or, God’s Way"

Reflections on the 2016 College Language Association Conference

Last week, I attended the College Language Association’s (CLA) 2016 conference in Houston, TX. While there, I presented on Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Dayton Tattler and the role of the press in Dunbar’s writing. While that, in and of itself, made the conference something worthwhile for me professionally, I experienced things that I have only encountered at a few other academic gatherings. Yes, I heard … Read More Reflections on the 2016 College Language Association Conference

Suffocation and Concealment through Dust in Faulkner’s "Dry September"

After writing about Ellen Glasgow’s “Jordan’s End,” I picked up William Faulkner’s “Dry September” (1931). While not necessarily in the exact same narrative vein, Faulkner’s story, as with his other works, highlight the ideas of the Southern Gothic, specifically a place of suffocating oppression that does not resemble the idyllic region that authors sought to “recapture” after Reconstruction during the latter part of the … Read More Suffocation and Concealment through Dust in Faulkner’s "Dry September"

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Paul Laurence Dunbar’s "The Love of Landry" and Civilization

Recently, while preparing for the 2016 College Language Association Conference, I went back and looked at more of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s writings. I examined some of his newspaper articles, short stories, and The Love of Landry (1900). During his career, Dunbar wrote four novels, and three of them focused on white, not African American, characters. The Love of Landry was Dunbar’s second novel, and … Read More Paul Laurence Dunbar’s "The Love of Landry" and Civilization