Category: american literature

+ african american literature, american literature, bloodline, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, leadbelly, nirvana, southern literature, the autobiography of miss jane pittman

Playing Around the Note: Leadbelly and Me

by Unknown's avatar

Statue of Leadbelly in downtown Shreveport, LA “Man, this sucks,” I remember thinking as the sounds of a tin can voice and guitar made their ways to my ears. Sitting on that stool in Blockbuster Music, I did not fully understand why the artist I was currently listening to had such a huge impact on the band that helped to define my musical palette. … Read More Playing Around the Note: Leadbelly and Me

+ american literature, bob dylan, fairy tales, joyce carol oates, the blood brothers, the salesman denver max

Teaching Research With Joyce Carol Oates’s "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

by Unknown's avatar

When teaching courses that introduce students to research, I like to do various activites that require them to set foot within the library. A few year ago, I had the class read Joyce Carol Oates’s oft-anthologized short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Typically, students enjoy the story and get sucked into the mystery surrounding Arnold Friend and his ultimate seduction … Read More Teaching Research With Joyce Carol Oates’s "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

+ african american literature, american literature, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, jim crow, reach records, sho baraka, talented tenth, the bluest eye

Why do we read literature?; or, Questions from the Classroom

by Unknown's avatar

During a class discussion last week on Ernest Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River,” a student asked, “Why do we read literature? Why do we read Hemingway?” I provided a generic answer and tried to get the class to respond with their own ideas. This method completely failed. I told the class, “I cannot give you a definitive answer to that question.” I went on to … Read More Why do we read literature?; or, Questions from the Classroom

+ african american literature, american literature, august wilson, fences, great migration, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post

August Wilson’s "Fences" and the American City

by Unknown's avatar

With the announcement that Denzel Washington would  be starring in one and producing all ten of August Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle, I thought it would be fitting to do a brief post on Wilson’s Fences. Plenty of scholars have focused on the failure of the American Dream and the integration of sports in the play; however, I do not want to focus on what Troy … Read More August Wilson’s "Fences" and the American City

+ a long day in november, african american literature, american literature, araby, dubliners, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, irish literature, james joyce, southern literature

James Joyce’s "Dubliners" and Ernest J. Gaines

by Unknown's avatar

Last week, I led a discussion on the influence that James Joyce had on Ernest J. Gaines. I have written about this before, briefly, on the Ernest J. Gaines Center’s blog. There, I wrote about the reference to Joyce in Gaines’s A Lesson before Dying. Throughout his career, Gaines has espoused the ways that authors like Joyce provided models for his own writing. He … Read More James Joyce’s "Dubliners" and Ernest J. Gaines

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