Module Identifier ENM3020  
Module Title AFRICAN AMERICAN NOVELS AND DRAMA - AN INTRODUCTION  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Dr Helena Grice  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Co-Requisite ENM0120 , ENM0220  
Course delivery Seminars / Tutorials   Seminar. 2 hours per week  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Essay: 1 x 5,000 word essay100%
Supplementary Assessment essay, 5,000 words Resubmit any failed elements and/or make good any missing elements. Where this involves re-submission of work, a new topic must be selected.100%

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module, students should be able to:

1. demonstrate, in the written assignment, an understanding of the African American text(s) under review which is informed by an engagement with and understanding of relevant secondary reading on civil rights and African American history;

2. demonstrate an awareness of the broader cultural and theoretical issues raised by the module;

3. demonstrate an ability to write competently about the texts with reference to their cultural and historical background;

4. produce organized, coherently argued and critically informed work.

Aims

This module aims to enable students to:

1. study a range of African American prose and drama texts and engage with relevant contextual and critical material;

2. appraise some tof the challenges to the monolithic version of Americanness if the post-war period;

3. examine the ways in which the texts selected for study engage with or embody the complex conditions which gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement.

Brief description

This module aims to examine the cultural, social, and political condition of the United States in the aftermath of the Second World War through the lens of a series of key African-American texts published in the post-war period.   These African-American prose and drama texts allow an appraisal of some of the challenges to the monolithic version of Americanness in the dominant discourses of the time. These texts also embody, either prospectively or retrospectively, the complex conditions which gave rise to the Civil Rights movement.

Content

1. Post-War American Drama

LeRoi Jones, "Dutchman" (1964); August Wilson, "Fences", (1986)

2. Growing up in America

James Baldwin, "Go Tell It On The Mountain" (1953)

3. Black Fiction and Political Strategies (1)

Ralph Ellison, "Invisible Man", (1952); James Baldwin, "The Fire Next Time" (1963)
'Eyes on the Prize', Selected episodes TV documentary; see also The Autobiography of Malcolm X

4. Post War Drama by Women

Lorraine Hansberry, "A Raisin in the Sun", (1959)

5. Black Fiction and Political Strategies (2)

Gloria Naylor, "The Women of Brewster Place" (1980); Ann Petry, "The Street", (1946)

Reading Lists

Books
** Should Be Purchased
Ann Petry The Street Houghton Mifflin 0395901499
August Wilson (1995) Fences Plume Books 0452264014
Gloria Naylor The Women of Brewster Place Minerva 0749390786
James Baldwin (2001) Go Tell It On the Mountain Penguin Modern Classics 0141185910
James Baldwin (1990) The Fire Next Time Penguin Twentieth Century Classics 0140182756
Leroi Jones (1999) The Leroi Jones / Amiri Baraka Reader Thunder's Mouth Press 1560252383
Lorraine Hansberry A Raisin in the Sun Methuen 0413762408
Ralph Ellison (2001) Invisible Man Penguin Modern Classics 0141184426

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7