Notes on African American Women Writers: The Tradition According to Barbara Christian and  Nellie McKay
      • What is the basic time-line of African American Women Writers, decade by decade
        • 18th Century --
          • beignnings of literacy
          • first poets: Lucy Terry and Phillis Wheatley (multi-tasking: social justice; poetry, newspaper articles plays)
        • 19th Century --
          • first novel-- Harriet Wilson, Our Nig (1859)
          • Speaking circuits give voice to African American women such as Sojourner Truth
          • Female versions of slave narratives: Harriet jacobs, Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl (1861)
        • 20th Century
          • Harlem Renaissance--  20's-30's (goal: correct impression that all Black were poor; establish existence of Black middle class and intellectual life)
            • Jessie Fauset -- Plum Bun, Chinaberry Tree
          • 40's to 50's -- continue effort to refute negative images.  increasing self-definition; period of some major recognition
      • What are some of the main themes of African American women's writing?
        • fight against various steroetypes
          • woman as victim n slave narratives
          • all Blacks poor and uneducated
          • Black version of female polarization: victim driven to prostituiton and the Mammy who is all suffering, all-bearing

      • Who are some of the major writers and works?
        • Lucy Terry "Bars Fight" (1746)
        • Phillis Wheatley Poems on Various Subjects (1773)
        • Sojourner Truth  link to stamp info |Link2| Autobiogrpahy| Ain't I a Woman
        • Harriet Wilson Our Nig or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (1859)

          • Reference Guide | Voices from the Gaps | |
        • Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) Link2
        • Frances Watkins Harper Iola Le Roy: Shaadows Uplifted (1892) Link1 |Link2 (PAL) | |
        • Anna Julia Cooper
        • Alice Dunbar Nelson  link1 | | |
        • Jessie Fauset
        • Nella Larsen
        • Dorothy West
        • Zora Neal Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
        • Gwendolyn Brooks   Voices | Academy of American Poets
          • Maud Martha (1953)
          • Poetry (Pulitzer, 1949)
        • Paule Marshall, Voices | Intro
          • Browngirl, Brownstones ( 1959)
          •  Soul Clap Hands and Sing,  (1961) (4 novellas)
          • The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (1969)
          • Praisesong for the Widow (1983)
        • Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
        • Alice Walker | | |
          • The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970)
          • Meridian
          • Color Purple (1982)
        • Toni Morrison | | |
          • The Bluest Eye (1970)
          • Sula
          • Song of SOlomon (1978)
          • Tar Bay (1980)
        • Gayl Jones

        • Toni Cade Bambara
          • The Salt Eaters (1980)
        • Audre Lord
          • Zami (1982)
        • Maya Angelou
        • Gloria Naylor
          • Women of Brewster Place (1980)
        • Terry Macmillian
        • Alice Childress
        • Nickki Giovanni
        • Iyanla Vanzant
      • What kinds of parallels are there between the experience of African-American women writers adn American women writers in general?