Professor Farah J. Griffin

University of Pennsylvania

English 290.401
Fall 1994

MEDITATIONS ON HISTORY: BLACK WOMEN, WRITING AND SLAVERY

TEXTS:
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted.
Sherley Anne Williams, Meditations on History; Dessa Rose.
Toni Morrison, Beloved.
Octavia Butler, Kindred.
Rita Dove, Yellow House on the Corner (Poems)
Michelle Cliff, Abeng.
Paule Marshall, Praisesong for the Widow.

ESSAYS: (Reading Packet Available from Campus Copy Center)
Toni Morrison, "The Site of Memory."
Angela Davis, "Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in Community of Slaves."
Cynthia Wolff, "Margaret Garner: A Cincinnati Story."
bell hooks, "Sexism and the Black Female Slave Experience."
Patricia Williams, "On Being the Object of Property."
Hortense Spillers, "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe."
Diana Axelsen, "Women as Victims of Medical Experimentation."
bell hooks, "Sexism and the Black Female Slave Experience."
Mae Henderson, "Speaking in Tongues."
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, "African American Women's History and the Metalanguage of Race."
Herbert Gutman, "Send Me Some of My Children's Hair."
Rosemary Bray, "Taking Sides Against Ourselves."
Helen Vendler, "Blackness and Beyond."
June Jordan, "The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry in America."

SCREENINGS: 7-9 pm
October 5 -- Bill Moyers, Interview with Toni Morrison.
November 9 -- Julie Dash, "Daughters of the Dust."
November 16 -- Euzhan Palzy, "Sugar Cane Alley"

REQUIREMENTS:

Attendance/Participation:
This is a seminar, not a lecture course. To help facilitate dis- cussion each week two of you will be responsible for raising 1-2 questions or issues that help to frame the reading. Journals: You are required to write 1 page entries on each text, screening, and reading. Consider your journals your personal spaces in which to reflect on readings and other class related events. I will not correct these for writing or grammar, nor will you receive letter grades. Journals will be collected 4 times throughout the semester.
Two Short Papers:
These papers will constitute your formal writing for the course. They are to be analytical and critical. I will hand out suggest- ed questions and/or topics approximately 10 days prior to their due date. Papers are due: September 30, November 4.
Projects:
You will design your own project in consultation with me. These projects may be research projects, bibliographical essays, creative writing projects, review essays or analytical papers. Projects are due on April. EACH STUDENT WILL PRESENT HIS/HER PROJECT TO THE ENTIRE CLASS AT THE END OF THE TERM.

SCHEDULE:

September 9

  • INTRODUCTION

    Week of September 12

  • Sherley Anne Williams, "Meditations on History"
  • Angela Davis, "Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves"
  • bell hooks, "Sexism and the Black Female Slave Experience"

    Week of September 19

  • Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

    SEPTEMBER 23: NO CLASS

    Week of September 26

  • Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Iola Leroy

    SEPTEMBER 30: PAPER DUE

    Week of October 3

  • Toni Morrison, Beloved

    Week of October 10

  • Morrison
  • Cynthia Griffin Wolff, Margaret Garner, a Cincinnati Story
  • Toni Morrison, Site of Memory
  • Herbert Gutman, Send Me Some of My Children's Hair

    Week of October 17

  • Sherley Anne Williams, Dessa Rose

    Week of October 24

  • Octavia Butler, Kindred

    OCTOBER 28: NO CLASS

    Week of October 31

  • Rita Dove, Yellow House on the Corner
  • Helen Vendler, "Blackness and Beyond"
  • June Jordan,"The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry in America"

    NOVEMBER 4: PAPER DUE

    Week of November 7

  • Michelle Cliff, Abeng

    Week of November 14

  • Paule Marshall, Praisesong for the Widow

    Week of November 21

  • Mae Henderson, "Speaking in Tongues"
  • Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, "African American Women's History and the Meta Language of Race"

    PROJECT PRESENTATIONS

  • Three presentations per class.

    This page was prepared by Audrey Mickahail at the Center for Electronic Projects in American Culture Studies (CEPACS), housed at Georgetown University, under the direction of Randy Bass, Department of English.


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