attachd

The Black Vernacular Revisited For your written assignment, you are to do a literary analysis of ONE (1) of the short stories listed below and engage in a close reading of that text (while I cannot prevent you from seeing what’s been written on any particular piece, I’d recommend that you try to read the story without regard to any outside criticism). Since this is a close reading, YOU ARE TO DO NO OUTSIDE RESEARCH IN COMPOSING THIS PAPER. Analyze your story, paying particular attention to a specific element/convention and/or theme that is invested in the African American literary or Vernacular tradition as we’ve discussed and/or defined it (a tradition of struggle and endurance) and suggest how it informs a particular reading of the American Dream at work in the tale. You are to choose ONE (1) element/convention/theme and build your paper around your exploration of this singular aspect of the work; DO NOT simply compose a list of loosely related elements/conventions/themes you see at work in a text.  While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, your choices could include the likes of the signifying, the dozens, the boast, the ancestral figure, the act of  minstrelsy/wearing the mask, the themes of bondage and/or freedom, jazz/blues/spirituals and other musical forms that are used in a work, story-telling as an act, enslavement/bondage, deprivation, endurance, hope, salvation, family and ideas of rootedness, call and response, roots/hoodoo/voodoo, the trickster, the badman, the plantation tradition, Womanism, etc. Your book lists several as part of the general introduction to the African American Vernacular. For example, it is not enough to tell me that Chesnutt’s Uncle Julius is a trickster figure (in this case, we will have discussed this salient point already); build on that general assertion to suggest something greater about the character or the trope of the trickster in that story. What is Chesnutt doing with tricksterism in the story and what conclusions does he draw? In other words, get beyond mere plot-line and the super-general claim; tell me how we can use certain textual clues to read and divine meaning from your chosen story (i.e., “For Chesnutt, the trickster figure of Uncle Julius becomes a metaphor for X as the author examines black/white relations in post-Civil War America”). What’s the greater implication of an author’s particular usage of an element (what’s an author doing with a musical form in his/her story, i.e., what’s the blues’ function within a particular piece) and how does it relate to our American Dream?  The beautiful and terrific reality is that there will not be just one answer. Use both your knowledge of Af/Am. traditions and your imagination to have some fun with this. While you certainly may inform your own reading with outside criticism, I encourage you to first read the work carefully and formulate an interpretation on your own. Then, using this interpretation as your basis, perform your analysis of the work. Successful papers will be three to five (3-5) pages in length and will have a clear claim that gives the essence of your argument (what is it that you are trying to prove?). Thus, you are to rely upon primary material (the text itself) to maintain your claim. Remember to document any and all references in MLA format (yes, as a matter of course, include a “Works Cited” page with your analysis). All papers will have one (1) source and that is your primary text.  All essays are to be typed, double-spaced, and presented in 12 point, Times New Roman font. Additionally, include a title page with your name, the due date, and the course number. The textual choices are as follows: Charles Chesnutt’s “The Goophered Grapevine” Richard Wright’s “Long Black Song” Zora Neal Hurston’s “The Gilded Six Bits” 
Walter Mosely’s ”Equal Opportunity” Gloria Naylor’s “Mattie Michael” or “Etta Mae” or “The Two” chapters from The Women of Brewster Place (Choose only one of these)