These selected authors provide an introduction to the
development of African American literature. Remember many writers have
not been included in the list because the list would be too large. The
list focuses on landmark literary works and is accompanied by a brief
sketch of each author commenting on a particular work, his/her beliefs, or
segments of his/her work. Each participant will be assigned an
author from the list to sketch. The leader will introduce the background information and
explain the process which begins the charade. Again, this is a short
list of authors; it is changed or expanded depending on what the number of
students the class wants to emphasize.
I.
Introduction of the Genre
II.
Introduction of the “Literary Cafe"
“Now that I have provided
some background about African American Literature let’s hear from some of
the key figures who have agreed to talk with us today. Ms. Wheatley,
could you begin? Mr. Walker, could we hear from you? Mr. Douglas, could
you tell us a bit about yourself?” Leader continues in this manner.
The participant is to read
the sketch as if he/she were the author. This is an effective attention
getting and is more interesting for the group because they are part of the
lecture.
III.
Review Authors and Explain Research Assignments
Notice each sketch is very
brief and mentions only one or two of the writer’s works. This gives an
opportunity to assign research about the author, require the student to
read a work by the author, or another assignment related to the authors.
This same assignment can be used with historic
figures, fathers of the civil rights movement, women in African American
history, and numerous other adaptations. This interactive session can
also be adapted to other uses. I have used this approach in a sociology
course to begin a chapter on key figures in the development of sociology.
Phyllis Wheatley
Poems on Various Subjects (1773)
David Walker
David Walker’s Appeal, in Four
Articles (1829)
Frederick Douglass
Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass (1845)
William Wells Brown
Clotel; or The President’s Daughter
(1853)
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Oak and Ivy (1893)
Charles Chestnutt
The Conjure Woman (1899)
Booker T. Washington
Up From Slavery (1900)
W.E.B. DuBois
The Slaves of Black Folk (1903)
James Weldon Johnson
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
(1912)
God’s Trombones (1927)
Jean Toomer
Cane (1923)
Langston Hughes
The Weary Blues (1926)
Mulatto (1935)
Zora Neale Hurston
Their Eyes Were Watching God
(1937)
Richard Wright
Native Son (1940)
Black Boy (1945)
Margaret Walker
For My People (1942, Yale Univ.
Younger Poets Prize)
Gwendolyn Brooks
Annie Allen (1949, Pulitzer Prize
for Poetry)
Ralph Ellison
Invisible Man (1952, National Book
Award)
James Baldwin
Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953)
Lorraine Hansberry
A Raisin in the Sun (1959, New
York Drama Critics Circle Award)
Le Roi Jones/Amiri Baraka
Dutchman (1964, Obie Award)
Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye (1970, Won the
Nobel Prize for Literature)
Ernest Gaines
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
(1971)
Alex Haley
Roots (1976)
Alice Walker
The Color Purple (1982, Pulitzer
Prize for Fiction)
