COL 287

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COL 287

Toni Morrison COL 287 FA

Crosslistings: AFAM279, WMST287

Next Offered in 9899 FA

Toni Morrison's lyrical style and vibrant imagination have made her one of the most engaging contemporary novelists. She is also one of the most thought-provoking inviting us to join her in exploring the formation, deformation, and transformation of human subjects in the crucibles of race and ethnicity, sexuality and gender, caste and class. This seminar focuses on a close reading of Morrison's six published novels: THE BLUEST EYE, SULA, SONG OF SOLOMON, TAR BABY, BELOVED, and JAZZ. It will be supplemented and informed by essays and interviews of the author, by selective readings of significant predecessors, by historical documents and other contextualizing materials, and by consideration of relevant critical theories.

MAJOR READINGS

Toni Morrison, THE BLUEST EYE (novel), SULA
(novel), SONG OF SOLOMON (novel), TAR BABY (novel), BELOVED
(novel) JAZZ (novel)
Toni Morrison, "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," PLAYING IN THE
DARK, and THE NOBEL LECTURE IN LITERATURE, 1993 (lectures
and essays)
Danille Taylor-Guthrie, ed., CONVERSATIONS WITH TONI
MORRISON (interviews)
Harriet A. Jacobs, INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL,
and other slave narratives: selections
Middleton Harris, et al., eds., THE BLACK BOOK: selections
Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, Angela Davis, Audre
Lorde, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Hazel Carby, Kimberly
Bentson: historical and theoretical essays
Patricia Hill Collins, BLACK FEMINIST THOUGHT

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Thoughtful preparation, regular attendance and participation in class discussion, two interpretive essays and one final paper.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA COL

Prerequisites: None

Last Updated on MAR-03-1998

About the Photo:

Reference:

Otten, Terry. THE CRIME OF INNOCENCE IN THE FICTION OF TONI MORRISON, Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1989

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