This course is an introduction to oral and written literature of African-American writers from the earliest times through the Harlem Renaissance to present times.

Overall Course Objectives | Major Course Topics | Course Format | Orientation |
Course Requirements | Materials | Exams

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify and explain the significance of the different literary periods in African-American literature from the 1760s to the 1990s.

2. Read critically and interpret African-American literature, answering questions posed in class discussions and generated by their own inquiry.

3. Compare and/or contrast the historical, social, cultural, and literary milieus of significant periods in the development of African-American literature.

4. Write critically on tests, papers, and journals about ideas, issues and major authors of African-American literature.

5. Analyze the possible reasons for the treatment of African-American literature, including the oral tradition.

6. Collaborate with peers in posing and answering questions about the text, as well as questions posed by the instructor.

7. Research works from a biographical, historical, social, political, and aesthetic context.

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List the major topics

• Beginning to the Civil War
• • Poetry
  • Essays
  • Autobiography/Slave Narratives
  • Spirituals
• The Civil War to World War II
• • Essays
  • Folklore: Tale, Song, Sermon
  • Poetry
  • Autobiography
• World War I to World War II
• • The Harlem Renaissance
  • • Poetry
    • Essays
  • The Novel
• The 1940's to 1970
• • Poetry
  • Essays
• 1970 to the present
• • Poetry
  • Drama
  • The Novel

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• Is not self-paced.
• Does not require on-campus meetings.
• Does not require real-time chats.
• The communication in the class will take place through WebCT mail and weekly response posted in the discussion board.

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This course does not have a required face-to-face orientation. 

Course Requirements

• Review the “What you should know before you register” section of the Distance   Learning Homepage.
• Weekly responses posted in the discussion board
• 1 research project
• Midterm and final exams
• Reading Quizzes
• Reading Journals

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Gates, Henry Louis and Nellie McKay, eds.  The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 2^nd Ed.  Norton: New York, 2004. 

Hacker, Diana.  The Bedford Handbook.  7^th ed.  Bedford: Boston, 2002.

Buy your textbooks from our online Bookstore, or visit our Bookstore. (Maps)

Review the Technical Requirements link above. The following plug-ins are required for this course:

• Acrobat Viewer
• Flash
• Internet Explorer
• PowerPoint Viewer, if you don’t have the full version of Microsoft PowerPoint
• Word Viewer, if you don’t have the full version of Microsoft Word

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Exams for this course will be administered online.