English R1A

Description

"By foregrounding the concept of voice, this course addresses the dual goal of Reading & Composition courses -- to improve students� written and oral expression. Early in the twentieth century, the voices of writers and artists from the British colonies of Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Guyana contributed to the development of national consciousness which, in turn, helped these colonies to gain independence in the 1960s and 1970s. The course title alludes to a radio program which aired on BBC�s West Indian Service in the 1940s and 1950s. Writers who participated in the program reflected on how � Caribbean voices� were different from English voices, asking what new things they had to say and in what form those things could be expressed.



As students read and write about the artistic discoveries of these figures, they will be developing voices of their own. �Voice� is a term for the personal qualities not only of your writing style but also of your speech. In this class, students will record some of their writing assignments as podcasts; peer review will involve reading as well as listening to other students� work. Similarly, the syllabus comprises readings and �listenings,� drawn from the work of Louise Bennett, Kamau Brathwaite, Wilson Harris, C. L. R. James, Walter Jekyll, Claude McKay, V. S. Naipaul, Elizabeth Nunez, and Jean Rhys. "