By the end of the course, you should be able to a) conduct an academic research on a topic regarding any African-American literary works in the 20th century of your choosing, b) present your academic research and argument, c) engage in literary, socioeconomic, historical, and cultural discussions on the racial issue, and d) develop your independent and critical thinking on this highly touchy issue.

By the end of the course, you should be able to a) conduct an academic research on a topic regarding any African-American literature works in the 20th century of your choosing, b) present your academic research and argument, c) engage in literature, socioeconomic, historical, and cultural discussions on the racial issue, and d) develop your independent and critical thinking on this highly touchy issue.

W.E.B. Du Bois states in The Souls of Black Folk, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line,－the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea” (9). With this notion in mind, this seminar critically investigates the theme of race in African-American Literature and examines how racial identity and inequality manifest in the selective literary works of four important African-American writers－Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison－in the 20th century. Furthermore, general knowledge of the historical and social backgrounds of the contemporary African-American society (e.g., Harlem Renaissance, Realism, Modernism, Civil Rights Movement, Black Arts Movement, etc.) will be introduced in order to solidify the understanding of the struggle of racial equality and advancement.

W.E.B. Du Bois states in The Souls of Black Folk, “The problem of the twentytieth century is the problem of the color-line,—the relationship of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea” (9). With this notion in mind, this seminar critically investigates the theme of race in African-American Literature and exams how racial identity and inequality manifest in the selective literary works of four important African-American writers-Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison-in the 20th century. Further, general knowledge of the historical and social backgrounds of the contemporary African-American society (e.g., Harlem Renaissance, Realism, Modernism, Civil Rights Movement, Black Arts Movement, etc.) will be introduced in order to solidify the understanding of the struggle of racial equality and advancement.

* Primary Readings:
1. Baldwin, James. Sonny’s Blues. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. New York: Norton, 1997. 1694-1717.
2. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Vintage, 2004.
3. Hughes, Langston. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Ed. Arnold Rampersad. New York: Vintage, 1995.
4. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. 1st Harvest ed. Orlando, Florida: Mariner, 2003.

* Secondary Readings:
1. Baldwin, James. "My Dungeon Shook". James Baldwin: Collected Essays. New York: Libr. of Amer., 1998. 291-95.
2. Hughes, Langston. "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain." The Nation. 23 June 1923. 14 Apr. 2014. < http://hisblkamerica2012.voices.wooster.edu/files/2012/01/Microsoft_Word__The_Negro_Artist_and_the_Racial_Mountain.pdf>.
3. Walker, Alice. On Stripping Bark from Myself. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. New York: Norton, 1997. 2379.
4.Walker Alice. Women. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. New York: Norton, 1997. 2377-78.
5. Morrison, Toni. "An Interview with Toni Morrison." Contemporary Literature. By Nellie McKay. 24.4 (1983): 413-29. 14 Apr. 2014. < http://www.jstor.org/ stable/1208128>.

* Primary Readings:
1. Baldwin, James. Sonny’s Blues. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. New York: Norton, 1997. 1694-1717.
2. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Vintage, 2004.
3. Hughes, Langston. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Ed. Arnold Rampersad. New York: Vintage, 1995.
4. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. 1st Harvest ed. Orlando, Florida: Mariner, 2003.

* Secondary Readings:
1. Baldwin, James. "My Dungeon Shook". James Baldwin: Collected Essays. New York: Libr. of Amer., 1998. 291-95.
2. Hughes, Langston. "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain." The Nation. 23 June 1923. 14 Apr. 2014. < http://hisblkamerica2012.voices.wooster.edu/files/2012/01/Microsoft_Word__The_Negro_Artist_and_the_Racial_Mountain.pdf>.
3. Walker, Alice. On Stripping Bark from Myself. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. New York: Norton, 1997. 2379.
4.Walker Alice. Women. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. New York: Norton, 1997. 2377-78.
5. Morrison, Toni. "An Interview with Toni Morrison." Contemporary Literature. By Nellie McKay. 24.4 (1983): 413-29. 14 Apr. 2014. < http://www.jstor.org/ stable/1208128>.