Course Description

Previously taught from the viewpoint of the economic and social enslavement of Africans in the United States, we shall explore “slavery” from various perspectives that consider historical, economic, political, religious and cultural contexts. This exploration will examine labor slavery (Dickens’ Hard Times), “minority” slavery (Jones’ The Known World), cultural slavery (Walters’ Ghost Singer), and mental slavery (Butler’s Pattermaster).

This course will

• require close reading of texts while providing the study of strategies for producing those close readings.
• encourage consideration of literary texts' system of aesthetics, values, and ethics
• require student responses to literary texts and provide strategies for producing those student responses through oral, written, and electronic responses
• provide students with strategies for appreciation and critique of literary texts