Courses:

Race and Identity in American Literature: Keepin' it Real Fake >> Content Detail



Study Materials



Readings

Amazon logo When you click the Amazon logo to the left of any citation and purchase the book (or other media) from Amazon.com, MIT OpenCourseWare will receive up to 10% of this purchase and any other purchases you make during that visit. This will not increase the cost of your purchase. Links provided are to the US Amazon site, but you can also support OCW through Amazon sites in other regions. Learn more.


Required Texts


Amazon logo Twain, Mark. Pudd'nhead Wilson [1894]. New York, NY: Bantam Classics, 1984. ISBN: 9780553211580. The e-text is available from Project Gutenberg.

Amazon logo Chesnut, Charles. The Marrow of Tradition [1901]. New York, NY: Penguin Classics, 1993. ISBN: 9780140186864. The e-text is available from Project Gutenberg.

Amazon logo Johnson, James Weldon. Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man [1912]. New York, NY: Vintage, 1989. ISBN: 9780679727538. The e-text is available from Project Gutenberg.

Amazon logo Larsen, Nella. Passing [1929]. New York, NY: Penguin Classics, 2003. ISBN: 9780142437278.

Amazon logo Schuyler, George. Black No More [1931]. New York, NY: Modern Library, 1999. ISBN: 9780375753800.

Amazon logo Griffin, John Howard. Black Like Me [1961]. New York, NY: NAL Trade, 2003. ISBN: 9780451208644.

Amazon logo Jones, LeRoi. (Baraka, Amiri.) "Dutchman" [1964]. In Dutchman and The Slave: Two Plays. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 1971. ISBN: 9780688210847.

Amazon logo Parks, Suzan-Lori. "The America Play" [1994]. In The America Play and Other Works. New York, NY: Theatre Communications Groups, 1995. ISBN: 9781559360920.

Amazon logo Derricotte, Toi. The Black Notebooks [1997]. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1999. ISBN: 9780393319019.

Amazon logo Roth, Philip. The Human Stain [2000]. New York, NY: Vintage, 2001. ISBN: 9780375726347.



Readings by Session



SES #TOPICSREADINGS
1

Introductions

In-class TV clip: "When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong"

Chapelle, Dave. "When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong." In Episode 20 of Chapelle's Show, 2004.
2Herman MelvilleAmazon logo Melville, Herman. "Benito Cereno." [1856] In The Piazza Tales and other Prose Pieces, 1839-1860. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1987. ISBN: 9780810105515. The e-text is available from Project Gutenberg.
3Mark TwainPudd'nhead Wilson, chapters 1-12.
4Pudd'nhead Wilson, chapters 13-end.
5Suzan-Lori ParksThe American Play, read all.
6Charles ChesnuttThe Marrow of Tradition, chapters 1-16.
7The Marrow of Tradition, chapters 17-end.
8

Interracial identity

In-class film: Cross-Over King

Cross-Over King. Directed by John Leguizamo.

Sollors. "Passing; or, Sacrificing a Parvenu."

9

Toni Morrison

In-class film: Mr. White

Amazon logo Morrison, Toni. "Recitatif." In Women and Race in Contemporary U.S. Writing: From Faulkner to Morrison. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007. ISBN: 9781403972385.
10James Weldon JohnsonAutobiography of an Ex-Colured Man, chapters 1-7.
11Autobiography of an Ex-Colured Man, chapters 8-end.
12Nella Larsen

Passing, read all.

Amazon logo Goffman, Erving. Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York, NY: Anchor, 1959. ISBN: 9780385094023.

13Being Indian

Amazon logo Deloria. Playing Indian. New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780300080674.

Amazon logo Riley. "Adventures of an Indian princess." In Native American Literature: An Anthology. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Publishing Group, 1998. ISBN: 9780844259857.

14Philip RothThe Human Stain, chapters 1-3.
15The Human Stain, chapters 4-5.
16John Howard GriffinBlack Like Me, pp. 1-101 or 10/28-11/21.
17Black Like Me, pp. 102-end or 11/24-8/17.
18

Gender

In-class film: Paris is Burning

Paris is Burning. Directed by Jennie Livingston, 1990.

Amazon logo Butler, Judith P. "Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion." In Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. New York, NY: Routledge, 1993. ISBN: 9780415903660.

19

LeRoi Jones

Whiteness

Dutchman.

Amazon logo Lipsitz, George. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics. Revised and expanded ed. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9781592134946.

Amazon logo Hooks, Bell. "Representing whiteness: Seeing wings of desire." In Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780896083851.

20Library instruction(no readings)
21Toi DerricotteThe Black Notebooks, Introduction to "Blacks in the U."
22The Black Notebooks, "Among School" to the end.
23George SchuylerBlack No More, chapters 1-6.
24Black No More, chapters 7-end.
25In-class film: Six Degrees of Separation Six Degrees of Separation. Directed by Fred Schepisi, 1993.
26Student presentations(no readings)

 








© 2010-2021 OpenCollege.com, All Rights Reserved.
Open College is a service mark of AmeriCareers LLC.