Early in my career, I became immersed in the work of Ernest Gaines because I worked at the Ernest J. Gaines Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. This position allowed me to dig deep into Gaines’ work, utilizing the archives at the center as well as Gaines himself. I had the opportunity to sit down with Gaines, multiple times, and just talk. … Read More Southern Connections Between Lillian Smith & Ernest Gaines
+ african american literature, all the sinners bleed, american literature, ernest j gaines, Literature, s.a. cosby, southern literature, the autobiography of miss jane pittman
Recently, I wrote about some of the ways that S.A. Cosby addresses religion and faith in his recent novel All the Sinners Bleed. Today, I want to look at another aspect of his novel that stood out to me, namely the ways that he examines the roots of enslavement and racism buried deep within the soil of Charon, the South, and the nation. He does this … Read More Literary Influences in S.A. Cosby’s “All the Sinners Bleed”
+ ernest j gaines, incognegro, killers of the dream, lillian e smith, mat johnson, of love and dust, southern gothic, the autobiography of miss jane pittman, warren pleece
In preparation for my fall literature class, I reread Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece’s Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery. There are a lot of aspects of the book I could discuss, and that I want to discuss with students. One of these will definitely be looking at Incognergo in relation to themes that James Baldwin discusses in his essay “Stranger in the Village.” As well, … Read More Haunting in Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece’s “Incognegro”
+ a rose for emily, american literature, art, dessa, ernest j gaines, gothic literature, music, my own devices, southern literature, the autobiography of miss jane pittman, the sound and the fury, william faulkner
In “Going Empty,” Dessa writes about filming the music video for her song “Sound the Bells.” She talks about learning to control her breathing to dive underwater amidst Jason deCaires Taylor’s submerged sculptures off the coast of Mexico. She ruminates about her career, writing about the fears that time is rapidly running out on commercial success. She thinks, Yet all my life I’ve been … Read More Art and Creation
+ african american literature, alice walker, american literature, dorie miller, ernest j gaines, Literature, southern literature, the autobiography of miss jane pittman, the third life of grange copeland
Today, I’m going to finish the discussion I began last week on history and the ways that we construct meaning. In the last post, I looked at Ernest J. Gaines’ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971). For this post, I will focus on one more scene from Gaines’ novel then move on to look at a section from Alice Walker’s The Third Life … Read More History and Education in Alice Walker’s “The Third Life of Grange Copeland”
Interminable Rambling 