Howard Community College
Online Course Information

ENGL-206 African-American Literature

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 | Course Web Site

Overall Course Objectives

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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Major Course Topics

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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Course Format

·        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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Orientation

This course has a required face-to-face orientation.  Check the list of scheduled orientations for the date, time, and location.

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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Materials

Required:

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.  6^th ed.  Bedford: Boston, 2002.

Recommended:

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

Technical Requirements and Plug-Ins:

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

Exams for this course will be administered online.