English 1100
focus on Afrofuturism
Description of Course
English 1100- Literary Interpretation
This class is an introduction to the study of literature. It will focus on Afrofuturism. As students read Afrofuturistic texts, they will develop abilities to read literature and write about it with skill and will interrogate commonly held perceptions about African and African American culture. They will write several papers that will require them to think critically of the texts they read and use them to re-frame the past, present, and future. Course required for entry into most upper-level English courses.
Required Texts
1. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. This novel is about a west coast community suffering from the effects of climate change, racism, crime, and more. A teenage girl takes it upon herself to lead a small group of people north.
2. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor. This text features an alien invasion in Lagos. A scientist, a singer, and a soldier are all impacted when the alien involves them in her quest.
3. Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This book is about a young boy who uses a special ability to get involved in the Underground Railroad and work his way north, away from the southern slavery.
4. Flight to Canada by Ishmael Reed. This novel is a slave escaping to Canada on a plane. The text focuses on the Civil War from a slaver's perspective and features many modern day elements in this past time.
5. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. This book is about magic being removed from the main character and her community. The book follows their struggle against the government to regain their magic.
6. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. This classic text tells the story about an 1800's Igbo resistance to British colonizers.
Other readings:
Selections from The Dark Fantastic
Chapter from Racial Innocence on the imagination
Selections from How to be an Antiracist
NY Times article on Kapernick by Ta-Nesie Coates
Other articles