LITR 5731: Seminar in
American Multicultural Literature: Minority
Sample Student Final Exam Submission,
Jennifer Jones
Seminar in American Minority Literature – The Experience
My prior experience with minority literature comes from the undergraduate course offered at UHCL in 2005. Compared to this course, the undergrad version is much more basic in nature. I built a solid foundation with which to begin this course. During the undergrad course, I became familiar with The Classic Slave Narratives and Bless Me, Ultima. The undergrad course dealt with many of the issues associated with each of the three minority groups studied, and it is because of that course, that I continued on to read works by Maya Angelou and Alice Walker. Additionally, I was prepared when the school I work for asked me to teach tenth grade English. The tenth grade curriculum deals primarily with African American race issues, so I felt more comfortable teaching “I Have a Dream” and To Kill a Mockingbird. Mockingbird, incidentally, is not written by a minority author, but many of the issues are there.
This graduate course has expanded my knowledge of minority authors. I am now more familiar with Sandra Cisneros and Louise Erdrich, and will be incorporating them into my curriculum whenever possible. This course has taken my knowledge of Frederick Douglass to higher levels. I became cognizant of the fact he was struggling to find his own identity. This is not something I had previously considered. For example, the first chapter of Douglass’s narrative contains his questioning his birth date. He says, “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it … A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood” (Douglass 339). I understood that he did not know his age, I understood that the information was being withheld from him, I understood that it was important to him that he know his age (as it is to all of us), but I had not previously made the connection that this knowledge was considered part of his identity. Finding his identity was the spark that began his quest for knowledge. The fact that Douglass does this proves to me that I am doing the right thing by having my students take time to complete activities in which they look at themselves and think about who they are. Of course, it is always in relation to a text we are reading, but identity, denied to Douglass, is important to human development.
This course also introduced me to the concept of syncretism, the idea of blending two opposite beliefs. Syncretism is found in all the works we read. For example, In Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk is both Native American and a Christian. Tony of Bless Me, Ultima is torn between his Indian roots and Catholicism. Frederick Douglass discusses the call and response songs sung by the slaves, a group vocal technique that is adapted to Christianity.
Something completely new to me this semester was the incorporation of gay literature. I had not knowingly experienced gay literature before, and I found Tobias’s work gripping. As a teacher, this genre has given me a peek inside my gay students’ lives. Dealing with the topic of gays is very tricky because, different from skin tone, they can sometimes blend into mainstream society unnoticed. I have had a few friends and students who are gay, but I have never had the opportunity to see inside their minds. Andrew Tobias gives his readers that opportunity. I have to say I learned so much about how the male mind, straight or gay, works from The Best Little Boy in the World.
One thing I would like to see in this course is more emphasis toward Mexican American literature. I say this, first, because of the demographics of our community. The Mexican American population is growing vastly by the day. Second, there just is not enough knowledge of Mexican American authors. People are not as knowledgeable as they should be on the burning issues related to these two groups because they do not know where to look. I knew of Rudolfo Anaya because of my previous encounter with him in 2005. Sandra Cisneros is someone that I knew of, but never ventured to read until this class. That gives me a knowledge base of two authors. There is so much more out there that people should be made aware. This leads me to an observation I noticed with the students in this graduate class. At the beginning, everyone was fired up and ready to talk about African American literature, but, as the semester went on, as we drifted to new topics and authors, the discussions began to wane. I would not suggest starting with gay literature because I think that is something people need to get warmed up to, but Mexican American literature is a good starting point. Maybe students would be fired up and ready to discuss the material more at the beginning of the semester. The African American literature is so exciting and relatable for all, that it might keep people motivated later in the semester.
This course has opened my mind to issues that my students may be encountering in their own lives, and there is an opportunity there for understanding. Without this course, I could very easily become one of those clueless teachers who walk around ignorant to the wonderful literature available and the needs of her students.
Additional option 4 – How do you resolve this question: Is a course like American Minority Literature primarily about literature, or is it about culture, history, sociology, etc.?
Cultural History and Fiction
This question entered my mind quite a few times throughout this course. At times, I found myself getting frustrated because I felt we were talking too much about the culture aspect rather than the literature aspect. I wanted to talk literature. At least, that is what I thought I wanted to talk about. On the other hand, I also worried that I was automatically jumping on the cultural bandwagon too often. I went back and forth, from culture to literature. Of course, some of the texts are naturally cultural histories, and they lend themselves more toward that type of discussion.
The Classic Slave Narratives are perfect examples of cultural histories. They are considered nonfiction and discuss the lives of African Americans during the time of slavery. Without these works, mainstream America would have no knowledge of what occurred during this period. We would lose valuable information about our history. We would probably repeat ourselves. This information should be discussed as though readers have taken a trip back in time, and readers should be able to make connections to modern life. In saying this, I realize that if we are able to put ourselves in these people’s places and make connections to our own lives, then that makes these narratives literature as well.
Black Elk Speaks can be similarly treated as a cultural history. This work gives us a glimpse into the life of a specific minority group. In Black Elk, we actually get to see what life was like for a real Native American, rather than the romanticized version of these peoples that is often represented in the media. Stereotypes are washed away with realities of Black Elk’s authenticity. Obviously, the information found should be discussed in class. If we ignored it and concentrated on Black Elk/Neihardt’s writing style, we would lose valuable information about our own histories.
Woman Hollering Creek, while truly considered fiction, is as close to being real as a literary work can get. The characters Cisneros creates reflect real people. Specifically, the letters read as though they were each written by different people. I am discussing this text in terms of literature, but, ultimately, it is the culture that is being reflected. She opens our minds to what is going on in the Mexican American culture.
All of the texts we read reflect their respective cultures, but they deserve to be recognized for their literary merit. Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon and Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima, for example, are filled with magical realism. Morrison incorporates human flight and Anaya writes of a golden carp with magical powers. However, these writing styles reflect their cultural backgrounds, so if one is to discuss the magical realism as a writing style, we must also address why the authors chose to use those particular images.
I feel there is no way to discuss one without the other. In a class with such powerful cultural concerns and issues, it is impossible to ignore those concerns and issues in order to only address the literature. Vice versa, this is a literature course, and it seems impossible to only discuss the cultural aspects without delving into the ingenious writing styles. That should be left to a history course.
