English 463-001
Writers in African-American Literature: Toni Morrison
Instr: Tatham, Cam
Office: CRT 392; 229-3504
e-mail: ctatham@uwm.edu
Office hours: MW; 10:00-10:30am
Course Information: MW; 11:00am-12:15pm; CRT 368
Course Description
You will be reading and discussing one of the most important and highly praised authors of our time. Toni Morrison has won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in literature; Beloved was made into a major movie and has since become something of a cultural icon. Why? We'll start by looking at Sula, her second novel, to provide a general introduction to Morrison's approaches and concerns. Then we will follow emergent themes through five successive works, including her self-described 'trilogy' of Beloved, Jazz and Paradise, as well as her latest, Love. We will of course have many conversations online and in class about her central themes (e.g., love, in its many variations, and the problems it raises; the dynamics of families in crisis; the dangers of excess in all aspects of life, etc.). We will also be noting the growth of her craft and interest in stylistic experimentation: what makes her such a presumably 'great' writer, and how does she avoid being repetitious? What does she have to say of this new millennial world in which we find ourselves? (Put crudely: is she genuinely relevant?) Each will have to decide for him/herself whether she finally deserves the huge reputation she currently enjoys.
Above all, we will be engaging a difficult but undoubtedly rewarding writer, whose primary goal, as she herself puts it, is to "stretch readers' imaginations." This course will certainly stretch you, in many ways, and its success will depend on your willingness to engage it fully, to be stretched.
Course requirements: a reading journal, of about 30-35 single-spaced pages in which you record your experiences of the assigned texts, as well as the in class and online conversations (you will post to an online forum at least twice per week). You will be expected to participate actively in both.
Grade: Writing Journal = 60%; online Forum = 30%; Participation = 10%
Required Texts:
Toni Morrison (Sula, Song of Solomon, Beloved, Jazz, Paradise, Love)
