Lauren W. Callihan
TEACHING AMERICAN LITERATURE
Overcoming Obstacles and Locating Identity in 20th Century
American Literature
UNIT READING ASSIGNMENTS
Tuesday, September 23rd
Willa Cather, "Paul's Case" and Gertrude Stein, "Gentle Lena"
Thursday, September 25th
Ernest Hemingway, "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Thank You for the Light"
Tuesday, September 30th
William Faulkner, "Barn Burning" and Flannery O'Connor, "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
Thursday, October 2nd
Claude McKay, "America," "December 1919," and "Harlem Shadows," Jean Toomer, "Georgia Dusk," and Countee Cullen, "Yet I Do Marvel"
Tuesday, October 7th
Zora Neale Hurston, "Sweat"
Thursday, October 9th
Langston Hughes, "I, Too, Sing America," "Still Here," "Let America Be America, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," and "Theme for English B"
Tuesday, October 14th
Toni Morrison, "Recitatif" and "Black Matters" excerpt from Playing in the Dark
Thursday, October 16th
Eudora Welty, "June Recital" and "A Worn Path"
Tuesday, October 21st
Sylvia Plath, "Daddy" and John Updike, "Separating"
Thursday, October 23rd
Nikkia Giovanni, "Love Is," "Nikki Rosa," and "For Saundra"
UNIT ESSAY ASSIGNMENT
Throughout this unit, we have been thinking, discussing, and writing about texts across American literature that center on a few basic ideas—overcoming obstacles, locating identity, and sometime both issues occur within the same text. The texts have addressed these issues from a variety of different angles—personal struggles of difficult choices, personal identity, beliefs, skin color, and relationships, as well as broader issues, such as the aftermath of slavery, religion, sexuality, and politics.
The Task
Your task is to choose one of the texts from this unit and construct a 3-4 page essay that constructs an argument on how the text you choose addresses the issues of overcoming trauma or creating or finding an individual identity. You may also formulate an essay that analyzes how one text embodies BOTH these ideas, but be sure to devote equal attention to the issues.
As you begin formulating ideas, be sure to practice close reading skills, such as Notice and Focus, to help you identity patterns, anomalies, and other intriguing places within the text. Carefully consider the style of narration, characters, speakers, and issues at work as you develop your ideas and construct an argument.