Cross Listed as ENGL129
From Langston Hughes to contemporary poets such as Amiri Baraka and Angela Jackson, African American poets have been preoccupied with the relations of poetry to other traditions. Vernacular speech, English poetry, jazz and other musical forms, folk humor and African mythology have all been seen as essential sources for black poetry. This course will survey major poets such as Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Robert Hayden, Gwendolyn Brooks, Baraka, Jackson, and Yusef Komunyakaa, reading their poems and their essays and interviews about poetic craft. We will ask how black poetry has been defined and whether there is a single black poetic tradition or several.
Class Format: discussion/seminar
Requirements/Evaluation: 20 pages of writing in the form of a journal on the readings and several short papers
Additional Info:
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preference: first-year students
Department Notes:
Material and Lab Fees:
Distribution Notes: meets Division 1 requirement if registration is under ENGL; meets Division 2 requirements if registration is under AFR
Divisional Attributes: Division II,Writing Intensive
Other Attributes: AFR Interdepartmental Electives
Enrollment Limit: 19
Expected Enrollment: 19
| CLASSES | ATTR | INSTRUCTORS | TIMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFR129-01(S) SEM 20th Century Black Poets (W) |   |
David L. Smith |
MWF 11:00 AM-12:15 PM |