Self Evaluation

This class has made me realize that I will never be comfortable with public speaking. Even with the small amount of people in the room, I was still quite nervous. But besides all that, I am so glad that I took this course because it has opened my eyes to new African-American literature. Without this class, I might have never discovered The Colored Museum  for example, which was a great book. Overall this course has given me news way to look at literature of all kinds and at the same time, has informed me more on the history of my people!

"The Prowl" by Gregory Frost

1. This story is about a man who's been taken away from his village in Angola, Africa and brought to Charleston, South Carolina as a slave. During that process, he meets a man whom he later finds out is a plateye, also known as a shape-shifter, or a ghost of some sort. 
2. The setting in the beginning of the story takes place during the Civil War on a slave ship. The middle is when they get to Charleston and put on a plantation. And the final part is when the narrator moves to Canada. 
3. The point of view of the story is first person narrator. 
4. The protagonist of the story is George Williams and the antagonists are the white people, or the slave owners. 
5. The main conflict is between a person and a societal force. 
6. The protagonist's main struggle is trying to find a way to rebel against the racist whites and terrorize them. 
7. I really liked this story. I couldn't put it down. It was interesting from beginning to end!

African-American Storytelling : Traits of a Trickster Character

The trickster tale that I read was "Connecticut Yankee" by: S.E. Schlosser. It is a folktale about a scrawny peddler who comes to stay with a couple at their house for a couple of nights. He's old so the man thinks that he is of no harm to him. the owner of the house says that he can stay as long as he performs a Yankee trick. The peddler promises to do it the next day and goes to bed. But the next day, before he can perform the trick he leaves on his horse promising the man that he will soon see it. A couple of minutes later, the man's wife starts screaming that the Yankee had just sold her her own bed cover and ran off with the money.
The traits I received from this story were: deceiving, sneaky and smart. Obviously the Yankee had outsmarted the couple and that is one of the key traits of a trickster.

"Cookin' with Aunt Ethel" an exhibit from The Colored Museum by George C. Wolf

1. The Blues is a type of popular music that developed form African American folk songs in the early 20th century, consisting mainly of slow, sad songs often performed over a repeating harmonic pattern.
2. Aunt Ethel definitely symbolizes the Aunt Jemima stereotype, especially with the way she dresses and acts. The whole exhibit is her standing in the kitchen cooking. She also symbolizes sexism. Particulalrly for Black women, it shows that thyre good for nothing but cooking and taking care of kids.
3. Some of the ingredients in African American culture are preoccupation with hair texture, all kinds of rhythm, heap of survival, humor mixed with sadness and sweet potato pie. I think the song represents jazz, blues, R&B, and gospel.
4. I think Aunt Ethel is talking about getting rid of the old traditions of blacks, and being able to find their own identity.
5. The "you" that she is referring to is the white people. They were the ones that brought us over here, so we were their responsibility.

 

The Colored Museum Statement

We believe that this is a real eye-opener for us, because we now know that we have been oppressed for so long and don't even know it yet. We also feel that it is wrong to sit your identity aside just to get ahead in life. For example, like the exhibit, "Symbiosis." Overall, we feel every Black person should experience this amazing play!

By: Stefani L. and Stephanie R.

"The Big Mama Stories" Evaluation

Overall, this was a great book to read. Although it was fiction, it dealt with stories that could really happen in real life. My favorite was "An Independent Woman" because that's what I strive to be along with everyone in my class. I also learned from the selection "Watch the Spirit Move" because it taught me that karma can really come back to bite you in the butt. I am someone who likes to get revenge on those who have done me wrong, just like Franklin in the story, but he in the end had bad things happen to him, because he put out bad vibes. I now know I need to stop doing that because it will come back to me full  force. Honestly I am happy my class read this. The stories were interesting and entertaining, and I totally realize why Prof. Lennon chose these stories for us, because they really do teach us about life. Every selection is a different lesson and I've learned a lot from this book.

"Rosewood" essay

Stephanie Robinson
English 1B
Prof. Lennon

A Story to Be Told

Watching the film “Rosewood” was a great experience for me. The reason being because it has truly opened my eyes to the injustice of the world at that time and even today. The film has given me a new perspective on the subject of history also. We need stories to be told so that we can know what happened in the world.

One of the main motifs presented in the movie is number 20, Interlocking systems of oppression. Of course, the most significant part of that motif is racism. The whole basis of the film centered around a lie from a white woman. Therefore, blacks were considered the enemy. An example is when Aunt Sarah confronted the mob, told them the truth about what she had seen and was ultimately shot. Another aspect of the motif is sexism, when the whites started killing random black men because they fit the description of the suspect. As a viewer, I felt absolutely outraged. I wanted to yell at the screen, “what are you doing?!” Even when people part of the mob knew that the victims were innocent, they said nothing and conformed to the group.

Another motif shown is number 4, Acts of Violence. Lynching became the most widely used form of killing in the south and was very accurately portrayed in the film. That was one of the more horrifying parts of the movie for me. I could not believe they would make the killings public for the whole town, and even the victims family, could see. I did not know until later that the people committing the murders thought of it as a form of entertainment. To me it seemed like a sick validation of the fact that they were the majority and a major abuse of their authority.

Finally, I think it’s great that the story of “Rosewood” was made into a film. If it hadn’t, I probably would never have known about it. This movie has really impacted the way that I view racism. Looking at the lynchings, I can not say that was part of the past, because it still happens today in the south. Prejudice is alive and well in the world and the films, books or even songs made about it should help us know what an ugly thing it really is. I hope in the future more stories are told.

"An Independent Woman"

Stephanie Robinson

Eng. 1B

Prof. Lennon

“An Independent Woman”

The story, “An Independent Woman” from the book Big Mama Stories written by Shay Youngblood, takes place in the downtown projects of Princeton, Georgia during the late 60’s. It tells the tale of the narrator’s Aunt Mae, and her way of life. It is about how this woman disregarded societal norms and live her life the way she wanted.

            The story is told in first person: single narrator and the center story is only told of Aunt Mae. To me the setting was not important to the telling of the story because if it were set in the modern-day, people would still have the same reaction to the way this woman lived her life. The protagonist is Aunt Mae and the antagonist seems to be society. There is an inner conflict presented because, she was married before and from then on promised herself that she would always be as free as the “Fourth of July.” I would say the theme of this story is obviously independence. It is shown through the 5 ways Aunt Mae is portrayed. She often talks about never getting married again, only having men when as dates, and her wardrobe consist of short, bright dresses unlike the rest of the women her age. Big Mama describes how charming she is and that’s what makes her so alluring to men. Another sign of her independence may be her use of alcohol, which is also how she makes a living. The two values Aunt Mae possesses is being a woman and having her freedom. These values help her throughout the story because they make it easier for her to move on. For example, when she told Mr. Otis to leave and didn’t seem to miss him afterward.

In conclusion, I would recommend this story for every girl out there to read because it will help show them that they can have their own identity without having a male in their life. I enjoyed reading this story because it is so relevant to today, and it shows that women can be independent without a husband and not apologize for it.

"Born with Religion" quiz

Storytelling I

1. The story takes place in the 1960's (allusion to Dr. King) in the dowtown projects of Princeton, Georgia. Basically, the story is about how the narrator's religion was a big part of her life growing up.
2. The point of view in the story if first person: single narrator
3. This story does not have a  frame structure becasue there is just one center story presented
4. It would not be the same if it were set in maybe, modern-day white suburbia. The narrator, nor the other charcters in the story would have the same struggles or experiences as in the past.
5. I think the main charcter is Big Mama. The narrator is neither the protagonist nor the antagonist of the story. Big Mama is possibly opposing against the evil and temptations becasue she is constantly calling on God.
6. The main conflict is between Big Mama and evil

Storytelling II

    2. I guess the theme would be faith. In the south , the majority of people there are Christian, God-fearing    individuals so it only makes sense that the narrator is born with that in her life. Also whenever they were blessed or something went wrong, they would call on God becasue that's what they were taught.
    3. The character I chose was Big Mama. She seemed to value the church and her family. These values aid her in getting through tough situations, like for example and illness or financial strains. When Aunt Vi was diagnosed with a tumorin her stomach, she prayed to God and it was released from her body soon after.
    4.The African American motif Political Philosophies and Strategies for Freedom, is present. Particularly the part on segregation. It is presented when the narrator describes the two separate cemetaries where one held blacks and the other whites. Another motif is Archetypal Characters, the bglack preacher. The narrator decribes how the preacher would scream to praise God for absolutely everything.

"Breaking the Rules" Profle paper

In the memoir, The Mee Street Chronicles by Frankie Lennon, the story “Breaking the Rules” deals with the author, the protagonist in the story and her friend Nikki’s rebellious act of wearing inappropriate clothing to school which causes them to be suspended by miss Clay, the dean of students and the antagonist of the story. Other characters are Mary, the author’s mother and her father whom everyone at the school calls “Coach.” While this story takes place during the Jim Crow era, it is ultimately about accepting others even with their differences.

            There is an inner conflict within the author because while she wants to fit in with her other classmates, she values her individuality and freedom to express herself. However, sometimes, what one may think of as being creative, others may deem as defiant. The interaction between the author, her friend Nikki and Miss Clay could also be thought of as a reflection on society’s view of rebellion at that time and even today.

The main motif presented in this story is identity and belonging which the reader can see is a struggle with the author at the moment. One can also see it with Lennon’s mother, Mary when she explains to her daughter the importance of fitting in and not making a big spectacle of yourself.

            Reading this passage taught me that there are certain times when you should fit in with the crowd. I myself struggled with trying to find my identity while in high school by wearing strange clothing and saying inappropriate things at times. What I did find interesting though is that the author’s mother confessed she had a similar experience to her daughter’s yet, we never really find out what happened to her. The reader is somewhat left to make their own assumptions as to why her mother was crying.

Ultimately, this story really appealed to me as I am always someone interested in the different or usual. I would definitely recommend reading this to a friend of mine who make her decisions based on what will shock her parents and is still trying to find out who she really is. While reading, I learned the lesson that it’s okay to not follow the crowd every once in a while and have your own identity.

"Memory" Discussion

The story "Memory" is set in the 40's and 50's since there was an allusion to President Eisenhower and Truman. The story is set in Knoxville, Tennessee, particularly on Mee street. The author shows the importance of this place through her description and detail of where it is and how it looked. "The Knoxville I tell of here is no longer around," (pg.7 para. 2). I think that quote shows what the whole passage is about. The author doesn't really tell how she feels about Knoxville, but she seems to miss the way it used to be. To me, back then, Knoxville seemed like a place of oppression because of the Jim Crow reference.