African American Literature
I. Identification / Matching (20 points)
Put the letter of the correct match in the blank space next to its corresponding answer.
1. W.E.B. Du Bois ____
2. Zora Neal Hurston ____
3. Booker T. Washington ____
4. “Struggle for an Education” ____
5. End of the Civil War ____
6. Charles Chestnutt ____
7. Frederick Douglass ____
8. Start of slavery in the United States ____
9. “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” ____
10. “The Passing of Grandison” ____
A. 1607
B. Author of “Struggle for an Education”
C. Author of “The Wife of His Youth”
D. Details W.E.B. Du Bois’ reflection on freedom, liberty, and book-learning
E. Details Booker T. Washington’s reflection on becoming educated
F. Provides Charles Chesnutt’s representation of the trickster figure
G. Author whose narrative exposes the fallacies in US thinking on slavery
H. Author who introduced the concept of “double consciousness”
I. 1865
J. Author whose work takes place in Eatonville, Florida
II. Definitions (30 points)
Give a brief definition for six of the below terms / concepts. Use the provided green book to write your answers.
1. Accommodationism
2. Regionalism
3. Trickster Figure
4. Black Subjectivity Debate
5. Social Construction
6. The Veil
7. Double Consciousness
8. Colorism
III. Short Answers (50 points)
Answer five of the following questions as completely as you can by including whatever pertinent information you can think of
to demonstrate your knowledge. Successful answers will usually be at least 4 – 6 sentences. Use the provided green book to
write your answers.
1. Discuss the significance of what God and the horizon symbolize in Their Eyes Were Watching God.
2. How does Uncle Julius function as a trickster figure in “The Goophered Grapevine”? Be sure to describe what the trickster
figure is in providing your response.
3. What is the significance of African American writers’ practice of detailing the moment they come to recognize their
Blackness? Describe two examples of where writers we’ve discussed do this.
4. How does Hugh Auld’s response to his wife teaching Frederick Douglass the alphabet work against the assumption that
slavery was natural?
5. How is the appearance of language in Charles Chesnutt’s writing related to the Regionalist literary tradition?
6. How does Harriet Jacobs portray the particular impact slavery’s oppression has on Black women? Describe one example from
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in providing your response.
7. What is the difference between where Black subjectivity is during W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington’s ideological
debate versus where Black subjectivity is during Jacobs and Douglass’ writing of their narratives? What does this difference
say about the nature of race as a social construct?