English 100
The Seminar on Criticism: The African-American Essay
| Section | Semester | Instructor | Time | Location | Course Areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Fall 2022 | Best, Stephen M.
|
TuTh 3:30-5 | Wheeler 305 |
Book List
Als, Hilton: The Women; Baldwin, James: Collected Essays; Rankine, Claudia: Citizen: An American Lyric
Description
Readers of James Baldwin, W. E. B. DuBois, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, and other black writers have often turned to their essays with a goal of better understanding their literary work. In this course we will consider the African-American essay as a literary form in its own right, one that rewards close formal analysis. The essay (from Old French essai, “attempt”) is a sort of rhetorical trial balloon, implying firstness, a want of finish, and a rigorous nonsystematicity. We will consider the matter of incompletion in two respects -- the essay as it engages the topic of the incomplete project of black freedom, and the essay as ongoing experiment in form – with a goal of puzzling out how the two are related.
Other Recent Sections of This Course
fall, 2022 |
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100/1 |
The Seminar on Criticism: "Atlantic Haunts, Black Possession" |
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100/3 |
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100/4 |
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100/5 |
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100/8 |
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spring, 2022 |
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100/1 |
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100/3 |
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100/4 |
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100/5 |
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100/7 |
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fall, 2021 |
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100/1 |
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100/3 |
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100/4 |
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100/5 |
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100/7 |
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University of California, Berkeley
English Department
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general phone: 510-642-3467
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