Week of May 13: Assata conclusion

This week we finish the autobiography of Assata Shakur. For Monday 5/13, finish Assata: pages 215-274 (chapters 15-Postscript). Again, make sure to pay attention to the various poems she includes in the story on pages 240 (“Current Events”), 259 (“To My Daughter Kakuya”), and 263 (“The Tradition”). Think also about the themes that Mary Phillips raised in her talk on Wednesday. Also, here is the Democracy Now! newsmagazine story on recent developments in Assata’s case.

For Wednesday 5/15 (re)read my guide to final exams, “Zen and the Art of Finals” (PDF), which will help you begin to prepare for our final (and hopefully others as well). Think about major themes that we’ve been talking about all semester and bring questions to the class. We’ll spend the last class reflecting on the semester and have an open prep/ study session for the final exam.

As a reminder, the final is Monday, May 20, 1:30-3:30 PM in the regular classroom. Be sure to arrange for childcare/ time off work/ whatever you need to do now, as there will be no make-ups, except for extraordinary circumstances. Unless you can provide a hospital or arrest record (your own, not a family member’s), you get no make-up. “My family bought plane tickets to go on vacation” or similar is not an extraordinary circumstance in my book. Consider college a job and be up front with family, friends, etc. about what that commitment means.

Week of May 6: Assata, continued

This week we continue with our last book of the semester, the autobiography of Assata Shakur. For Monday 5/6, read my guide to final exams, “Zen and the Art of Finals” (PDF), which will help you begin to prepare for our final (and hopefully others as well). In Assata, read pages 118-172 (chapters 7-11). Again, make sure to pay attention to the various poems she includes in the story on pages 130 (“Love”), 140 (“Stranger”), 146 (“Leftovers: What is Left”), 159 (“Culture”) and 163-4. Think also about the themes that Don Ramon of Rutgers raised in his talk today and if these return in the text. Think about her long speech to the court on pages 166-70. What does this show about her development as a person and a woman? Also think about what the “American Dream” represents to her.

For Wednesday 5/8 Mary Phillips of Lehman’s African and African American Studies Department joins us as a guest speaker for Assata. She’ll discuss Assata as a Black Feminist text and talk about some of the political aspects of the book. Read pages 173-215 (chapters 12-14) to prepare. Pay attention to the “To My Momma” poem on p. 193 and her description of her time as a CUNY student.

Week of 4/29: autobiography of Assata Shakur

This week we move on to the our last book of the semester, the autobiography of Assata Shakur. For Monday 4/29, read the first 70 pages (chapters 1-3) of Assata: An Autobiography. Be sure to read the foreward by Angela Davis and Lennox Hinds. Also make sure to pay attention to the various poems she includes in the story on pages 1,17,44, and 62.

Questions to think about:

How effective is her style of storytelling? Does the non-linear narrative with flashbacks make the book more engaging?

What are some of the ways you see her struggle against some of the stereotypes we saw in Marlon Riggs’ Ethnic Notions documentary last class?

How does Assata go about re-telling history?

What role do poems play in an autobiography? What do they tell you about Assata or the other people that the regular story does not?

Extra: Listen to “A Song for Assata” by Common, from his 2000 Like Water for Chocolate release, featuring CeeLo Green.

For Wednesday 5/1 Don Ramon of Rutgers returns as a guest speaker for Assata. Pay special attention to the “Fourth of July” speech for his talk and discussion. Read pages 71-117 (chapters 4-6) to prepare.

Donavan Ramon

Donavan L. Ramon earned his B.A. in English and the Special Honors Curriculum at Hunter College (CUNY), where he was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. A specialist in African American Literature, he earned his M.A. in English at Rutgers University in 2012 and is now writing a dissertation that traces a genealogy of twentieth-century narratives of racial passing. Donavan coordinates the African American Graduate Interest Group at Rutgers and serves as the Member-at-Large for Diversity with the Northeast Modern Languages Association (NeMLA). This semester, he’s teaching a course on Race and Ethnicity in literature at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

Week of 4/22: Def Poetry Jam and Black images

For Monday 4/22 the assignment is to watch the Youtube videos of various poets from Russell Simmons’s Def Poetry Jam, which ran for several seasons on HBO. Also read Ben Brantley’s New York Times review of Def Poetry on Broadway and Jerry Quickley’s article “Hip Hop Poetry”, which is on the Readings page. Questions to think about:

How does being in front of a live audience change the perception of the poetry?

In the Pedro Pietri interview I posted, Pietri was critical of slam poetry and thought it relied too much on people’s personalities and being performers–do you agree?

What do their stories say about the urban experience?

Lastly, choose 2 poems you like, watch them a few times and be prepared to discuss in class.

Here are the poems. There are several, but they’re mostly short. It’s less than a half hour, total.

For Wednesday 4/24 read the “Black Beginnings” chapter from Donald Bogle’s book Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks on Black stereotypes, which is a pdf on the Readings page. We’ll use it (partly) as preparation for Assata Shakur’s autobiography (which we’ll start next week: get a copy now if you don’t have it yet. Think about what it says about the emergence of stereotypes and how we view popular images.

For the week of April 15: Angie Cruz’s Soledad continued

For Monday 4/15, we’ll continue reading Angie cruz’s novel Soledad. We’ll cover chapters 6-7.

For Wednesday 4/17, we’ll cover chapters 8-10: the end of the book. Again, think about the themes we’ve covered in the book so far and make notes as you read.

Finally, a reminder that papers are due on Friday, April 19th. If you need to watch David Riker’s The City/ La Ciudad again, this weekend is a good time to do it. Head on over to the assignments page for the assignment itself and links for where to find copies of the film to watch. I have office hours after class in Carman 398 on Monday and Wednesday after class and all day on Shuster 179 (The Urban Male Leadership Program office). See me if you have questions about the paper or want to go over your outline or a draft.

For the week of April 8: Angie Cruz’s Soledad

First, remember that there’s an assignment due on April 19th (yes, it’s a Friday). Extra time becuase it’s based on David Riker’s feature film The City/ La Ciudad that we saw in class and you’ll probably want to watch it again and take notes. That also means that there are no excuses for turning it in late. Head on over to the assignments page to download it if you haven’t already. Links are also up there for where to find copies of the film to watch again.

For Monday 4/8, we’ll continue reading Angie cruz’s novel Soledad. We’ll cover chapters 1-6 on Monday (up to page 136 in the new paperback edition).

For Wednesday 4/10, we’ll cover chapters 7-8 (up to page 180 in the new paperback edition).

In addition to the points I made to look for in last week’s post, here are a few more things to think about in terms of thinking about Soledad as an urban narrative based on the additional info in the upcoming chapters.

We briefly discussed the settings in the last class: the split between the East Village and Washington Heights and what each represents. Watch for locations as you read, how Cruz presents them, and what different urban spaces mean to key characters.

Point of view. Soledad comes from a female author and the P.O.V. the reader gets is primarily from women. What differences (if any) do you notice?

Following on the last point, one key subtext of the book are the various forms of violence against women. Think about this as you read and what it feels like for the various characters to move through urban spaces.

Culture. One point of tension in the plot is the difference between the younger and older grnerations of characters in the book and between more traditional Dominican culture and the different outlook that the younger, Americanized characters have. What are the differences between how characters see the world and their place in it?

There are, obviously, many more things, but these are a few to ideas to think about and note as we work our way through the book. We’ll finish it off (page 230) next Monday, the 15th.

Spring Break edition: Angie Cruz’s Soledad

Angie Cruz, author of “Soledad”

First, apologies for the verylate post: I’ve been dealing with some health issues enjoy your break and I hope you get some time to relax. When we return, we’ll get right into Angie Cruz’s novel of Dominican immigrants in Washington Heights, Soledad. Over the break, read chapters 1-4 (up to page 80). Warning: it starts slow and Cruz’s narrative is non-linear and slightly more challenging than what we’ve read so far, but the effort is worth it. It is also the first from a female POV and female author. Here are a few things to think about as you read:

What do the different urban spaces in the book (the East Village) and (Washington Heights) represent to Soledad?

What are Soledad’s feelings toward her family and the neighborhood and how do they change? (Spoiler: they do)

The narrative is “non linear” (i.e. it doesn’t proceed in chronological order, time-wise) and the narrator (person telling the story) changes. Try to track the characters and who is speaking.

What tensions are there between old school Dominican culture and the different strands of US culture?

Also, I neglected to hand out the writing assignment before we left for the break. Here it is as a Microsoft Word document file: CntmpUrbWrtComparePaper. It’s due Friday, April 19th by e-mail.

For the week of 3/11: Midterm time!

Photo credit: Columbia Spectator newspaper (columbiaspectator.com)

On Monday, we’ll have a formal review session for the midterm exam, which is Wednesday. Also finish reading Bodega Dreams if you haven’t yet. We’ll take final questions and points on that as well. Here are some things to consider.

Review all the readings. Make sure you have them handy and re-download anything you can’t find.

Know writers and the key plot points of the book and plays we’ve read so far and be able to talk about the main characters in each.

Review the poems and writers. You don’t need to know everything we’ve done, but you should know a few key poems from Pietri and Pinero and basic biographical info about their lives.

Think about key themes that we’ve been talking about so far this semester and how they occur in different works we’ve read. Think about how you would write an essay about one (or more) of them and examples of those themes in different things we’ve read/watched/listened to.

If you haven’t read or watched anything, now’s the time to do it! You’re responsible for anything that’s been assigned or posted here as an assignment, including video.

Finally, bring any questions you have.

Wednesday is the Midterm. Be on time and do not miss it! I will not be offering make-ups unless you’re hospitalized and have proof. So be there. Set your alarm clock and leave earlier than usual. The exam is hard, but not tricky. If you’ve been in class, paid attention, and done the work, you should be fine.

Week of 3/4: Ernesto Quiñonez’s Bodega Dreams

For Monday 3/4: Read pages pages 97-146 in Ernesto Quiñonez’s Bodega Dreams.

For Wednesday 3/6: Read pages 146-213 (end of book) in Bodega Dreams.

As you read, think about the key themes of the book. Also think about how characters develop. What changes do you see? Are there any surprising changes? What seem to be key turns of the plot?

For Wednesday 2/20: Dutchman and urban theater

Poster for the 1967 film version of Dutchman starring Shirley Knight as Lula and the late Al Freeman, Jr. as Clay.

Reminder: class does not meet Monday because of the President’s Day holiday. On Wednesday, we’ll finish discussion on Dutchman and watch a very rare film version from 1967 starring the recently deceased Al Freeman, Jr. (who also appeared in the stage version of The Slave) and Shirley Knight, who plays the character of Lula with incredible intensity.

Please read Baraka’s essay “The Revolutionary Theatre”, which is online here.

Also read The New Yorker magazine’s review of a 2007 revival of the play. Online here.

Lastly, watch this short clip from a 2010 revival of Dutchman.

Questions to think about:

How do you imagine the characters in the play looking and acting?

How might you direct their characters to act?

Does the play do the things that Baraka describes in his “Revolutionary Theatre” essay?

How well do you think the play translates to the current day?