Overview

A Students' Guide to African American Literature, 1760 to the Present is designed to assist college students (and others) who are relative novices to the study of African American literature. Focusing on the prose tradition (from early autobiographical narratives to contemporary fiction), the author highlights themes, issues, and motifs peculiar to, and recurring in, African American literature, while providing students with more specific information on a number of key texts. Each chapter comes with suggestions for assignments and a selected bibliography for further research. The book also contains an appendix, which contains six student essays, as well as a useful glossary.

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9780820455211

Table of Contents

Reviews

« 'A Students' Guide to African American Literature, 1760 to the Present' is a long-awaited answer to the prayers of teachers and students of African American literature at any post-secondary level. Lovalerie King's accessible narrative style and concise but thorough handling of the African American literary tradition in fiction make this text invaluable for students who need a framework for solid critical reading in this area. This guide picks up where the anthologies leave off, and it bridges the gap between the primary texts and the literary criticism that often assume a standard body of knowledge that many students simply do not have. I am confident that this book will enrich students' experiences of African American literature and help them become much more responsible critics of literature and culture in general. I can't wait to assign it to my classes and recommend it to my colleagues who have expressed the desire to teach African American fiction with more authority in their American literature classes.

'A Students' Guide to African American Literature, 1760 to the Present' is a timely and very necessary resource for developing a critical understanding of a major body of texts in our literary tradition. Lovalerie King's authoritative, precise, and thought-provoking discussions of contexts, themes, and texts can generate rich classroom discussions. The reading questions and topics for critical essays are catalysts for exploration and discovery in the writing process. Students and their teachers will find this guide to historically situated aesthetic and rhetorical dimensions of African American writing and culture to be rewarding. (Jerry W. Ward, Jr., Professor of English and African World Studies, Dillard University, Louisiana) This book provides a concise yet richly textured introduction for newcomers to the field of African American literature. The landscape that emerges through Lovalerie King's expert and deft presentation is complex yet easy to absorb and encourages the student to read further; the bibliographies that accompany each chapter are invaluable to teacher and student. I would enthusiastically assign this book to undergraduate students to stimulate in them a deep appreciation for the many historical, social, and political forces that have shaped and continue to shape African American literature. Professor King's book is compelling for the historical and thematic connections it reveals among texts and authors and for the wealth of debates and discussions it highlights within the African American literary tradition. (Rajini Srikanth, Associate Professor of English, University of Massachusetts-Boston) 'A Students' Guide to African American Literature, 1760 to the Present' is a long-awaited answer to the prayers of teachers and students of African American literature at any post-secondary level. Lovalerie King's accessible narrative style and concise but thorough handling of the African American literary tradition in fiction make this text invaluable for students who need a framework for solid critical reading in this area. This guide picks up where the anthologies leave off, and it bridges the gap between the primary texts and the literary criticism that often assume a standard body of knowledge that many students simply do not have. I am confident that this book will enrich students' experiences of African American literature and help them become much more responsible critics of literature and culture in general. I can't wait to assign it to my classes and recommend it to my colleagues who have expressed the desire to teach African American fiction with more authority in their American literature classes. (Valerie Matthews Crawford, Assistant Professor of English, Georgia Perimeter College)

Author Information

The Author: Lovalerie King is Assistant Professor of African American Literature at Penn State-University Park. She is the author of numerous essays, articles, and book reviews in African American literature, women's studies, and cultural studies, as well as a forthcoming monograph on the treatment of theft, race, and morality in African American literature.

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