Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison

Michael K. Johnson

English 402: Toni Morrison and Tradition(s), Fall 2004

Course syllabus

Meets

11:00–12:15/WF/Roberts 205

Course description

Required texts

  • Jan Furman (ed.), Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, A Casebook
  • Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987), The Bluest Eye (1970), Paradise (1998), Playing in the Dark (1992), Song of Solomon (1977)
  • Nancy J. Peterson (ed.), Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches
  • In addition to these books, each student will be required to read one additional novel by Morrison or another writer (see the list below) as part of their final project for the course.

Preliminary course syllabus

Date Reading
9/1 Introduction
1/23 Writing sample
9/3 Hurston, "Sweat" (handout); Wright, "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" (handout)
9/8 Ann Petry, "Miss Muriel," from Miss Muriel and Other Stories (on reserve at Mantor Library)
9/10 Gwendolyn Brooks, selections from Maud Martha (on reserve at Mantor Library)
9/15 Morrison, The Bluest Eye
9/17 Morrison, The Bluest Eye; selections from Higgins, Religiosity, Cosmology, and Folklore: The African Influence in the Novels of Toni Morrison (handout)
9/22 Moses, "The Blues Aesthetic in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye"; also, selections from Higgins, Religiosity, Cosmology, and Folklore: The African Influence in the Novels of Toni Morrison
9/24 Morrison, Playing in the Dark; Poe, The Gold-Bug
9/29 Assessment essay (written during class)
10/1 Class does not meet
10/6 Morrison, Song of Solomon; before beginning the novel please read The Song of Solomon in the Bible (Old Testament); also please read "People Who Could Fly," in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, 21–23
10/8 Morrison, Song of Solomon; also, Awkward, 67–94; Brenner, 95–109, in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon
10/13 Faulkner, "The Old People" (handout), from Go Down, Moses; also, Duvall, Wilentz, and Wegs, 113–84, in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon
10/15 Morrison, Beloved; opera Margaret Garner at the Michigan Opera Theatre and the Margaret Garner Web site; Study Aids and Fun Things for Beloved (including an audio clip of Morrison reading an excerpt from Beloved aloud)
10/20 Morrison, Beloved; also, Phelan, 225–44, in Toni Morrison
10/22 Class does not meet
10/27 Morrison, Beloved; also, Perez-Torres, 91–109; Peterson, 201–21, in Toni Morrison
10/29 Moreland, 155–79, in Toni Morrison
11/3 Morrison, Paradise
11/5 Presentations
11/10 Presentations
11/12 Presentations
11/17 Assessment questionnaire; continue Presentations
11/19 Draft due for workshop on Final Project essay
11/22 Final project essay due (15 pages); please bring to Roberts 208
  Thanksgiving Break
11/29 Final Project essay returned (stop by Roberts 208 during office hours)
12/1 Conferences
12/3 Screening: Beloved. Dir. Jonathan Demme. Perf. Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton. DVD. 1998.
12/6 Deadline for submitting edited and revised version of Final Project essay to the anthology Reading Toni Morrison
12/8 Screening: Beloved. Dir. Jonathan Demme. Perf. Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton. DVD. 1998.
12/10 Screening: Beloved. Dir. Jonathan Demme. Perf. Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton. DVD. 1998.
Final Take-home Final Exam due by noon, Wednesday, December 15