Category: caribbean literature
+ a small place, american literature, antigua, caribbean literature, innocents abroad, jamaica kincaid, lillian e smith, Mark twain, southern history, southern literature, the journey
Why do we travel?
One of my favorite quotes comes from Mark Twain. Talking about what travel does to one’s worldview, he wrote in Innocents Abroad, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” … Read More Why do we travel?
+ 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”
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 literature, bergen, Norway, caribbean literature, early american literature, Fløyen, fulbright, kindred, louisiana literature, mississippi literature, native american literature, nineteenth century literature, norway, southern literature
Update from Norway!
Since it has been a while since I have shared an update about our time here in Norway, I thought today would be a good time to do it. From the beginning, we decided to partake in this adventure for what it promised, a once in a lifetime experience for the kids and our family as a whole. We embarked to Norway in hopes … Read More Update from Norway!
+ african american literature, banana bottom, bita plant, caribbean literature, claude mckay, frank yerby, the little black boy, william blake
Claude McKay’s “Banana Bottom” and William Blake
If you enjoy what you read here at Interminable Rambling, think about making a contribution on our Patreon page. In the last post, I wrote some about how Frank Yerby and Claude McKay each challenge western ideals of beauty. Today, I want to continue that discussion by looking at how Bita Plant interrogates these ideals in Banana Bottom, specifically when she looks at William … Read More Claude McKay’s “Banana Bottom” and William Blake
+ african american literature, banana bottom, bita plant, caribbean literature, claude mckay, frank yerby, speak now, william blake
Countering White Ideals of Beauty in Claude McKay’s “Banana Bottom”
If you enjoy what you read here at Interminable Rambling, think about making a contribution on our Patreon page. In many ways, I cannot help but think about Charles Chesnutt’s Paul Marchand, F.M.C. and Frank Yerby’s Speak Now when reading Claude McKay’s Banana Bottom. Specifically, I think about the experiment that the Craigs conduct on Bita Plant in relation to Pierre Beaurepas’ unexplained “experiment” … Read More Countering White Ideals of Beauty in Claude McKay’s “Banana Bottom”
+ african american literature, american literature, American Studies Association of Norway, asanor, caribbean literature, claude mckay, early american literature, Laestadianism, langston hughes, Literature, louise bennett, norway, richard wright, southern literature, Tadeusz Kościuszko
Things I Learned at ASANOR 2018
If you enjoy what you read here at Interminable Rambling, think about making a contribution on our Patreon page. This past week, I attended the American Studies Association of Norway (ASANOR) conference on the past and future of cosmopolitanism in Kristiansand, Norway. While there, I learned a lot, as hopefully usual for conferences. Today, I want to take the time to briefly write about … Read More Things I Learned at ASANOR 2018
+ african american literature, american literature, bergen, Norway, caribbean literature, comics, deathlok, early american literature, frank yerby, fulbright, gothic literature, graphic novels, Hilary Jordan, image comics, Kristen Imani Kasai, Literature, louisiana literature, marvel comics, mississippi literature, mudbound, native american literature, Pedagogy, southern bastards, southern gothic, southern history, southern literature, southern studies, southern womanhood, The House of Erzulie, Uncategorized
What to Expect in 2018!
Welcome to 2018! Back in August 2015, I started Interminable Rambling as a space for me to flesh out thoughts I had concerning texts I was reading, pedagogy, and culture. Since that first post, I have published 236 posts for this site on a myriad of topics such as Mary Rowlandson and Sarah Kemble Knight to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and court cases such … Read More What to Expect in 2018!
+ 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?
+ 10 bands i have seen (one is a lie), african american literature, american literature, caribbean literature, early american literature, frank norris, gothic literature, identity, irish literature, john updike, Literature, louisiana literature, Maximillian Alvarez, mississippi literature, native american literature, Pedagogy, professor, shelia liming, southern literature, Uncategorized, writing
The Facade We Sometimes Wear
As a student, I would always sit in class amazed when during a lecture professors would start to rattle off various authors and works that related in some way to the topic we were covering that particular day. I never thought I would be able to reach that same level of knowledge; however, I regularly catch myself in classes doing the same thing that … Read More The Facade We Sometimes Wear
+ african american literature, american literature, caribbean literature, early american literature, elizabeth moss, gothic literature, irish literature, Literature, louise erdrich, louisiana literature, margaret atwood, mississippi literature, native american literature, recitiatif, richard spencer, southern literature, the haindmaiden's tale, the mary sue, the red convertible, toni morrison, Uncategorized
“Why can’t we read this story as a universal text?”: Questions from the Classroom
Recently, I taught Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible.” The story focuses on two Chippewa brothers, Henry and Lyman, and their relationship after Henry returns from the Vietnam War. During our discussion of the story in class, someone asked a question about the text and some of our previous readings that caused me to think well past the end of our session. The student posed … Read More “Why can’t we read this story as a universal text?”: Questions from the Classroom
+ african american literature, american literature, caribbean literature, cla, claude mckay, early american literature, elizabeth nunez, jesmyn ward, kayne west, Literature, louisiana literature, mississippi literature, southern literature, toni morrison, Uncategorized
Some Reflections on CLA 2017
Over that past 14-15 years, I have attended numerous academic conferences, typically 1-2 per year. That means I have gone to about 28-30 during that time span. Initially, when I would go to a conference, even one with hundreds of people, I would feel alone and somewhat isolated because, as a graduate student and instructor, I did not necessarily know how to take full … Read More Some Reflections on CLA 2017
+ african american literature, american literature, caribbean literature, charles chesnutt, ernest hemingway, ernest j gaines, james baldwin, Literature, Mark twain, paul laurence dunbar, pedagogy & american literary studies, tumblr, Uncategorized, william faulkner
Collaborative Project for Literature Classroom
Last semester, I had students construct presentations of terms and historical events in my Early American Literature survey course. I have a posts on the assignment itself and on some of the projects that students created. This semester, I am tweaking that assignment in a couple of ways. Rather than having students present on specific terms and presenting during the last week of class, … Read More Collaborative Project for Literature Classroom
