Friday, April 29, 2011
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!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
"The Prowl" by Gregory Frost
- 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.
- 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.
- The point of view of the story is first person narrator.
- The protagonist of the story is George Williams and the antagonists are the white people, or the slave owners.
- The main conflict is between a person and a societal force.
- The protagonist's main struggle is trying to find a way to rebel against the racist whites and terrorize them.
- I really liked this story. I couldn't put it down. It was interesting from beginning to end!
Monday, April 18, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
"Cookin' with Aunt Ethel" an exhibit from The Colored Museum by George C. Wolf
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- I think Aunt Ethel is talking about getting rid of the old traditions of blacks, and being able to find their own identity.
- 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.
By: Stefani L. and Stephanie R.
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