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Paper Instructions:

Discussion 3-5 Readings

Read "Writing as Transformation," "Literature at the Crossroads," "How I Wrote my First Novel," "What is African-American Literature?," "The Death of Horatio Alger," "The Fourth of July," "Elethia" and "The Lesson" from the Readings folder.

Discussion 3

After reading "Writing as Transformation," "Literature at the Crossroads," "How I Wrote my First Novel," and "What is African-American Literature?" from the Readings folder, respond to each reading in four reflective paragraphs total. Your reflection can include your thoughts while reading, a quote or two that stuck out to you, an interesting concept or idea, any questions you have, or your relation or non-relation to anything that was said. This exercise is to get you thinking about what you are reading and to go beyond a superficial relationship to the words on the page. This will be a helpful habit when you write your essays and need to analyze.

Discussion 4

“The Death of Horatio Alger” speaks in large part for the social construction of race and identity. Because we are inherently a nation of clashing cultures, there is a conflict between race being socially rather than biologically produced. In this story, there is a struggle to find one’s identity in the midst of these warring influences as well as a struggle in debunking or feeding into society’s racism and social expectations for “inferior” races. In order to analyze and to avoid summary, locate literary devices and themes in the work. There are plenty present in these stories. 

Use a combination of quotes and your analysis to comment on how the story displays the conflict between identity and the social construct of race. 

After reading "The Fourth of July" by Audre Lorde, you should notice the author uses irony on a number of levels, including the presentation of what events that happen to her when she was a child and her responses to them. Analyze how Lorde uses irony to comment on American society. What is ironic about the story? The holiday that is being celebrated? Comment on symbols used in the story as well. Your response should be two paragraphs total. Use examples and quotes from the text.

Discussion 5

1. The theme of a concealed past is apparent in Alice Walker’s short story, “Elethia.” Charles Taylor wrote in his essay “The Politics of Recognition” that the misrecognition of others can cause a group of people to “suffer real damage, real distortion, if the people or society around them mirror back to them a confining or demeaning or contemptible picture of themselves. Non-recognition or misrecognition can inflict harm, can be a form of oppression, imprisoning someone in a false, distorted, and reduced mode of being” (75). Comment on the theme of the concealed past and misrecognition of others with Walker’s handling of the Uncle Albert image. How is this damaging to the African-American culture?  It might be helpful to connect this to the "sentimental portraits of blackness" that bell hooks dicusses in the video you watched earlier in this module. 

Respond to question 1 in 2 full paragraphs, using examples and quotes from the text. 

2. In “The Lesson,” by Toni Cade Bambara, a group of black school children embark on a field trip to F.A.O Schwartz in Manhattan that creates a contrast between the impoverished children and their environment. Using details and examples from the story, comment on the absurdity of both the presence of economic inequality and the American dream that this story seems to highlight. 

3. In "The Death of Horatio Alger," "Elethia," and "The Lesson," the main characters share a similar struggle. What is it? Analyze this struggle and how it compares and differs from each story.

Respond to questions 2 and 3 in 2 full paragraphs, using examples and quotes from the texts. In order to analyze and to avoid summary, locate literary devices and themes in the work. There are plenty present in these stories. 

Your response should be 4 paragraphs total.

Writing As Transformation: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uwm5457ssrs7zbr/AACXnnFa48oeVa1RkzUSiYoxa?dl=0&preview=Writing+as+Transformation.pdf 

Literature At Crossroads: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uwm5457ssrs7zbr/AACXnnFa48oeVa1RkzUSiYoxa?dl=0&preview=Literature+at+the+Crossroads.pdf

How I Wrote My First Novel: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uwm5457ssrs7zbr/AACXnnFa48oeVa1RkzUSiYoxa?dl=0&preview=How+I+Wrote+My+First+Novel.pdf

What Is African-American Literature: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uwm5457ssrs7zbr/AACXnnFa48oeVa1RkzUSiYoxa?dl=0&preview=What+is+African+American+Literature.pdf