U.S. Minority Literature Week 2a

1. U.S. Minority Literature Week 2a

2. Du Bois’s Veil 1) literal darker skin of Black people, a physical demarcation of difference from whiteness. 2) white people do not have clarity to see Black people as true Americans 3) veil refers to Black people’s lack of clarity to see themselves outside of what white American describes and prescribes for them.

3. Du Bois’s double consciousness 1) Double consciousness: looking at yourself through the eyes of others, measuring yourself by others. “one ever feels his two-ness; an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder” 2) Double consciousness is experienced by every African American, according to Du Bois.

4. Writing Workshop

5. Session Overview • Brief Introduction • Thesis vs. Observation • Slow/Close Reading • Topic Sentences • Counterarguments • Peer Review exercise

6. Observation vs. Thesis • An Observation: An observation is simply that: an observation. It voices a general opinion or reflection about a text. It is not an argument; it is a statement.

7. Observation vs. Thesis • A Thesis: • Is argumentative, analytical, and works through a very specific problem. • A thesis also addresses the consequences or implications of your argument. • It includes interesting textual observations, an interpretation, and the significance of the argument • Ask yourself: what is at stake in making this argument? • A thesis is supported with textual evidence and careful close or Slow reading

8. Observation vs. Thesis • Think of a thesis statement as an equation: WHAT? + HOW? + WHY? = THESIS STATEMENT • WHAT is the text doing? WHAT do you notice about the (syntax, diction, tone, imagery, etc.)? • HOW is meaning disseminated throughout? HOW does the author do what they do? • WHY have they chosen this particular method? WHY is prose, verse, theater, etc. the best decision? • A well-crafted thesis statement should begin to address some (but by no means all) of these questions.

9. Examples • How to understand the difference between an observation and a thesis

10. First Example • Observation: In Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories, the scenery is much more prominent than the dialogue. • Thesis: By analyzing the use of stories about scenery in American Indian Stories, I will demonstrate that the story form emphasizes the importance of history rather than pointing fingers like contemporary justice systems; this is significant because the story is an indictment of the historically colorblind legal system.

11. Second Example • O: Homer Simpson enjoys beer, baseball and being a baseball mascot. • T: By contextualizing Homer Simpson’s debaucherous habits within the framework of the show, I will demonstrate that his lifestyle, as well as those of his entire family, further the show’s project to satirize the conventional American life.

12. Third Example • Frederick Douglass writes that the worst slave owners were often Christians, but also emphasizes the importance of Christianity at his narrative’s end. • Descriptions of Christianity are ambiguous in Douglass’s Narrative; they both affirm and refute Christian claims. Yet, the narrative creates such ambivalence to market its texts to white, Christian readers, while also subtly criticizing their religion and its ramifications.

13. Remember: • Your Argument must be supported with Slow or Close Reading

14. Close Reading not only pays attention to what the writer says, but how she or he says it • You must use quotations from the text. • When you make a claim, you must always support that claim with quotations from the text. After you quote something, provide at least once sentence that analyzes that quote.

15. What Does Slow Reading Look Like? • Examples of Slow Reading of Donne’s “The Flea.” (focus on language) • Donne’s poem sustains a balance between religious language and sexual language; this effectively characterizes the sexual act as inherently not sinful, and instead natural, as represented through the metaphor of the flea. Such sexual language extends to a hint of the language of pregnancy: the flea contains their “two bloods mingled,” it “swells with one blood made of two,” it contains “three lives in one flea spare,” and killing it is “three sins in killing three.” This is continued in the last stanza, where an implied miscarriage is taken by the speaker as evidence of the ease with which one can hide the “sin” of premarital sex. The switches in the speaker’s diction are important as it gives a cue to his own desires and his attempt to convince the woman to sleep with him.

16. The Flea BY JOHN DONNE (1633) Mark but this flea, and mark in this,    How little that which thou deniest me is;    It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;    Thou know’st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead, Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pampered swells with one blood made of two, And this, alas, is more than we would do. Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, nay more than married are.    This flea is you and I, and this Our mariage bed, and marriage temple is;    Though parents grudge, and you, w'are met,    And cloistered in these living walls of jet. Though use make you apt to kill me, Let not to that, self-murder added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?    Wherein could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it sucked from thee?    Yet thou triumph’st, and say'st that thou    Find’st not thy self, nor me the weaker now; ’Tis true; then learn how false, fears be: Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me, Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.

17. What Does Slow Reading Look Like? • Examples of Slow Reading of Donne’s “The Flea.” • Donne’s poem sustains a balance between religious language and sexual language; this effectively characterizes the sexual act as inherently not sinful, and instead natural, as represented through the conceit of the flea. Such sexual language extends to hint of the language of pregnancy: the flea contains their “two bloods mingled,” it “swells with one blood made of two,” it contains “three lives in one flea spare,” and killing it is “three sins in killing three.” This metaphor is continued in the last stanza, where an implied miscarriage is taken by the speaker as evidence of the ease with which one can hide the “sin” of premarital sex. The switches in the speaker’s diction are important as it gives a cue to his own desires and his attempt to convince the woman to sleep with him.

18. Now for your own paper… • Underline your evidence (your quote) • Circle your analysis • Squiggle-line under your connection between analysis and thesis Make sure each body paragraph of your paper has a good balance of evidence, analysis, and connection to your thesis.

19. Topic sentences • Your topic sentence should act like a mini thesis demonstrating: A) The main point of the paragraph B) How that main point connects to your previous paragraph and further affirms or proves the thesis. C) Each topic sentence should demonstrate a development in your thinking D) You might think of the topic sentence as a shift from Old to New Information.

20. Each Burden of Proof = Topic Sentence • Ryan Gosling is the best actor of our generation because he captures the ideals of our time on and off screen. • Burdens of Proof: • What makes the best actor? • What are the ideals of our time? • Who is Gosling, and how does he adhere to these ideals? • Counterargument: No he’s not.

21. Rewrite burdens of proof • Burdens of Proof: • What makes the best actor? • What are the ideals of our time? • Who is Gosling, and how does he adhere to these ideals? • Counterargument: No he’s not.

22. Counterarguments • Depending on how controversial your claim, you might use a whole paragraph to explain – without judgment – the best counterargument to your point you can make. • You then need to provide your rebuttal to that counterargument directly after the paragraph on the counterargument, or within the actual paragraph itself. • Make sure your reader knows you’re addressing a counterargument.

23. Counterarguments • Obama Slow Jam The News • In this video, identify the main argument, how quickly Obama reaches his counterargument, and think about why his presentation might have been organized in this way.

24. Background on Dawes Act 1887 • Authorized the U.S. President to divide American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. Those who accept allotments and live separately from tribe are granted U.S. citizenship. • Goal: to assimilate Indians into mainstream American society.

25. Dawes Act Provisions • The allotments held for 25 years, and then individuals had to pay taxes on the land. • Eligible Native Americans had four years to select land, then it was chosen for them.

27. Dawes Act Impact • Ends communal holding of property ensuring everyone in tribe has home. • The amount of land for Native Americans depleted from 150 million acres to 78 million acres. The remainder of the land was declared surplus and sold to non-natives. • Legislators hoped that the act would make Native Americans part of the economic capitalist system with dependency in smaller household units.