African American Literary Tradition Midterm Flashcards

50 Question for the African American Literary Tradition course.

What is the Black Vernacular Tradition and what are key characteristics discussed in the course?

The Black Vernacular Tradition encompasses the oral, expressive, and musical forms of African American culture, featuring characteristics such as call-and-response, scared/spiritual sermons visioning justice, endurance, and liberation, the use of AAVE, folklore and narrative types embodying resilience, as well as blues and hip-hop

What is the AAB blues structure and how does a blues stanza work?

The AAB blues structure is a poetic stanza form with 16 lines, 4 bar phrases with 3 lines in each. The first line (A) statement, problem, image or feeling, the second line (A) repeats or slightly alters the first line, and the third line (B) provides a rhyming response or resolution, adding a different or stronger meaning to the phrases significance

What happens when suffering becomes form in works like Bessie Smith's 'Backwater Blues' and Marilyn Chin's 'Blues on Yellow'?

When suffering becomes form, personal and collective trauma or grief is transformed into structured, disciplined art that conveys emotional power, allowing racial audiences to relate or resonate with the topic as their own realties are reflected.

Who was Phillis Wheatley, and why is her historical position as an enslaved Black woman writing poetry in 18th-century America important?

“Humanity is not contingent on the poems Wheatley wrote- it was because she was human” Phillis Wheatley was an 18th-century poet; her position is critical because she created high literary art while navigating the oppressive constraints and prejudices of enslavement in early America. Europeans did not see Black intellect and humanity so Wheatley was considered revolutionary for her talent.

What is the primary message of Phillis Wheatley's 'On Being Brought from Africa to America'?

The poem reflects on her transition from Africa to America through Christian faith and how distant the enslaved feel from their ancestorial home due to assimilation, race in relation to religion asserting that Black people can be redeemed and saved equally alongside white Christians, critique of the views of Black Christian being less holy.

Why does June Jordan describe Phillis Wheatley as a 'difficult miracle'?

Jordan calls Wheatley a 'difficult miracle' because Wheatley managed to achieve creative brilliance and poetic mastery being the first Black women to publish poetry despite being enslaved in an era designed to deny her autonomy and literacy. “It was not natural. And she was the first”

What does June Jordan mean by 'A poet is somebody free. A poet is someone at home'?

Jordan draws comparison between what we consider a poet to be vs. how the enslaved had to persist and redefine themselves as poets with hindered self-expression. Poetry requires autonomy, emotional safety, and a sense of belonging, making Wheatley's achievement under chattel slavery paradoxical and miraculous.

What is the significance of June Jordan's statement to Wheatley: 'They taught you to read but you learned how to write'?

It distinguishes between the passive skill taught by enslavers (reading) and the active, autonomous creative self-expression that Wheatley claimed for herself (writing). They were given limited resources however had the strive and passion to seek out more.

How does June Jordan complicate modern readings of Phillis Wheatley?

Jordan strengths the statement “The Master’s tools can NEVER dismantle the master’s house” in which Wheatley was raised and created her work under the realms of violence therefore influenced her ideas and use of voice (style, assimilation, erasure). Jordan reframes this to say her audacity and persistence to write foreshadows self-ownership of Black craft and life.

What argument does Sojourner Truth make in 'Ain't I a Woman?' Who is her audience and how does she use her body as evidence?

Truth argues the horror of slavery (pain and suffering as an enslaved women), corruption of religious establishments, hypocrisy to rights of suffrage/ property ownership to white women while not black women (intersectional rights). She states exclusion of black women will limit the Women’s rights movement and uses her body to show the 19th century definitions of femininity ignore Black women, pointing to her muscular arms from plowing and gardening, stating she has the endurance and strength of any other man

Audience: White women’s rights activists, white male abolitionist, and organizers of the Ohio event

How does bell hooks explain the simultaneous operation of racism and sexism in Black women's lives?

hooks demonstrates erasure of the Black women’s lived in experience is furthered by harmful stereotypes and the invert activism of “white feminist” because of some parallel oppression, however allyship is not transactional or owned. The victimization of white women in feminist spaces deflects from their own internalized racism and classism.

What happens when categories like 'women' and 'Black people' are treated as entirely separate?

It marginalizes Black women by defining 'women' primarily around white women's experiences and 'Black people' around Black men's experiences, erasing the unique experience of Black women and weakening both social justice movements.

How does reading bell hooks deepen our understanding of Sojourner Truth?

Hooks drives the understanding in the 20th century framework being a black woman is it’s own identity btu also a multitude of identities needed to represented as a whole (INTERSECTIONALITY)

In Frederick Douglass's Narrative, why does Mr. Auld oppose Douglass learning to read?

Mr. Auld argues that reading makes an enslaved person unmanageable, unhappy/discontent with their condition, and unfit to remain a slave.

Why does Frederick Douglass describe literacy as the 'pathway from slavery to freedom'?

Douglass realizes that intellectual enlightenment allows enslaved individuals to recognize the injustice of slavery and mentally free themselves from bondage. (Intellectual agency and increased curiosity)

Why is Mr. Auld's attempt to prevent Douglass from learning to read ironic?

It is ironic because Auld's explanation of why reading is dangerous directly reveals to Douglass that literacy is the exact tool needed to break free from slavery, giving him the blueprint for his own freedom.

What does Douglass mean when he describes Covey as having transformed him into a 'brute'?

He refers to how Covey's relentless violence and workload broke his body, soul, and spirit, making him only act and think out of survival (lost of humanity)

Why does Douglass describe his physical fight with Covey as a 'turning-point'?

It was the first time Douglass fought back an showed he would not comply, using the intimidation and fear in Covey’s methods of enslavement. The fight rekindled his self-respect, sense of manhood, and determination to resist physical oppression, permanently ending his spirit of submission.

What distinction does Frederick Douglass make between being 'a slave in fact' and 'a slave in form'?

Form is what keeps the body captive while in fact or thought, not fully conceptualizing or protesting against their enslavement is what keeps enslaved people further from freedom or realizing they have the right to it. Being 'a slave in form' means being legally bound without mental submission, while being 'a slave in fact' means being spiritually and mentally subjugated.

What does the Covey episode suggest about violence, resistance, and freedom in Douglass's Narrative?

It suggests that self-defense and physical resistance are necessary acts of self-determination and psychological liberation from tyrannical oppression.

What is the central argument of Frederick Douglass's 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?'

Douglass argues that July 4th exposes the glaring hypocrisy of American freedom when millions of Black people remain enslaved in the nation. For this reason the forth is not celebrated the same by black people because it is a symbol of the erasure of injustices and discrimination in America.

Why is Douglass's distinction between 'your' Fourth of July and his experience rhetorically important?

It forces the white audience to recognize that national independence and liberty are privileges they enjoy, which contrast sharply with the oppression of Black Americans. Donglass distincton between "your" and his experience draws a parallel between the black vs white American experence how it popularizes/favors the whike experience, displaying the celebration and creation of the day is not in the benefit of all Americars (1/3 pop are suffering)

How does Douglass expose the gap between American ideals and American reality?

He uses irony and direct contrast between the Declaration of Independence's promises of equality and the brutal reality of legal chattel slavery. Draws towards the hypocrisy of celebrating American humanity when there are laws concerning enslaved but the declaration does not recognize the race.

What was Reconstruction, and what possibilities did it create for Black Americans?

Reconstruction was the post-Civil War period aimed at reintegrating Southern states and offering freed Black Americans citizenship, political voting power, and educational access. The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery, 14th protection under law (citizenship), 15th fight suffrage + social foundation s like the Freedman’s Buteshkmmj

Why is the backlash against Black political advancement essential to understanding post-emancipation?

It demonstrates how white supremacist violence and legal restrictions were organized to dismantle newly won Black political

Why might legal emancipation be insufficient without economic independence, safety, and political power?

Because without material resources, protection from violence, and equal rights, former slaves remain vulnerable to systemic exploitation and disenfranchisement, unable to commence in black mobility.

What does Booker T. Washington mean by 'Cast down your bucket where you are'?

He urges both Black and white Southerners to make use of local opportunities and build economic relationships within their immediate Southern communities.

In the 'Atlanta Exposition Address,' what does Booker T. Washington ask Black Americans and white Southerners to do?

He asks Black Americans to focus on industrial labor and trade education, and asks white Southerners to rely on and employ Black workers, as well as be understand and compassionate in the reform

What is a central argument supporting Booker T. Washington's strategy for Black advancement?

It prioritized practical economic survival, vocational skills, and physical stability in a violently hostile Jim Crow environment.

In Up from Slavery, why is Washington's journey to Hampton Institute important to his philosophy?

It shaped his belief that self-reliance, manual labor, and practical trade education were the primary means to elevate Black citizens, as well as a bottom-top process to progress for free blacks

Why is the scene where Washington sweeps a room to gain admission to Hampton significant?

The sweeping served as his entrance exam, illustrating his belief in the dignity, discipline, and transformative value of thorough manual work. He learned he would have to work TWICE AS HARD FOR HALF AS MUCH

What values does Booker T. Washington emphasize in Up from Slavery?

He emphasizes trade education, hard work, self-reliance, economic advancement, discipline, and perseverance. Hard work is not the sign of inferiority slavery makes.

What are potential limitations of Booker T. Washington's philosophy?

Strengths : Compassion no matter race, building from the ground up, individual dignity, patience for advancements/ socialchange, seperate fingers on the same hand, curiosity.

Limitations: no immediate civil rights, higher academic education, did not empathize voting and political agitation, which risked accommodating white supremacy and disenfranchisement.

According to Ida B. Wells in A Red Record, what is the relationship between slavery, emancipation, and lynching?

Wells shows that lynching emerged post-emancipation as a violent mechanism of control to replace slavery and suppress Black freedom and competition. Not protected by law and heinous crimes against them not documented

How does Ida B. Wells challenge dominant explanations of racial violence in A Red Record?

She uses empirical statistics, historical records, and newspaper reports to prove lynchings were motivated by economic jealousy and white control rather than alleged sexual assaults.

Why does Ida B. Wells deliberately use evidence produced by white newspapers?

To ensure her data could not be dismissed as racial bias, using white society's own published record to confirm the truth of lynching atrocities. They would see these statistics with more credibility.

How does Ida B. Wells complicate Booker T. Washington's emphasis on Black economic advancement?

Wells shows that Black financial success frequently provoked white envy and lethal violence rather than earning white respect or legal protection. There is no purpose in proving themselves and their capabilities when they are not able to defend themselves against a system that discourages black growth

Who coined the term 'double consciousness' and how is it defined?

W.E.B. Du Bois coined it; it is the sensation of measuring one's identity through the eyes of a hostile surrounding white society (white imagination/image) while holding dual identities as American and Black in an oppressive society

What does W.E.B. Du Bois mean by 'the veil'?

The veil refers to the physical and social barrier of color that separates Black Americans from equal participation in white society. It is a invisible line, but similar to the white lac of a veil, one is only able to see the white hue. This veil includes hypocrisy and prejudice in the white imagination.

What does Du Bois mean by 'second-sight' and 'twoness'?

Twoness refers to internal conflicting identities, while second-sight is the unique perspective gained from self-definition both internally and through white perceptions. THIS CONCEPT TAKES DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS utilizing the state of knowing racial perception as a VANTAGE to redefinition.

What does Du Bois mean by 'the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line'?

He asserts that global social and political segregation separating people of color are defined by racial division and inequality. (effect of imperialism and exploitation of colored people- connection to DU Bois double conscious/the veil) Legal slavery ended but institutionalized disadvantages did not in occupation, education, socials, and voting

In 'Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,' what three things does Du Bois argue Washington asks Black Americans to surrender?

Du Bois argues Washington asks Black Americans to surrender political power, demand for equality and civil rights, and higher education for Black youth apart from manual/industrial labor

What does W.E.B. Du Bois mean by Washington's 'triple paradox'?

The paradox that Washington expects Black economic success without political rights/suffrage, self-respect and dignity without civil equality and “silent submission to the label of inferiority”, and industrial training without higher educated teachers.

How do Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois differ regarding freedom after emancipation?

Washington focuses on industrial education and economic patience; Du Bois demands immediate voting rights, civil equality, and higher liberal arts education. THEY BOTH promote voting rights, education for the black youth, correct or rectify the wrongs of the South 

How does Ida B. Wells complicate the debate between Washington and Du Bois?

Wells reveals that neither economic progress nor political debate is effective without immediate physical protection and anti-lynching legislation. Exercising voting rights, education for the black youth, correct or rectify the wrongs of the South 

What do Washington, Wells, and Du Bois collectively show is necessary for Black freedom after slavery?

Freedom requires a combination of economic self-reliance (Washington), bodily safety and justice (Wells), and voting rights with higher education (Du Bois).

Across Douglass, Washington, Wells, and Du Bois, what is the core relationship between education and freedom?

Education serves as a fundamental foundation for mental liberation, economic development, civic engagement, and resistance against oppression

Across the course texts, what is the relationship between language/literacy and power?

Literacy and written expression is an instrument of power allowing Black writers to critique injustice, assert selfhood, and challenge dominant racial narratives driving systematic racism and oppression. (Liberation and self-definition)

How do different authors respond to the question 'WHAT SHOULD BLACK ART DO?'

Authors offer varied views, however Black art should express fully and intentionally the aspects collectiveness of the Black experience without being hindered to visualize their work beyond the white imagination or constructive, stereotypical ideas of Black identity. To understand what black art requires, Du Bois askes them in Criteria of Negro Art to identify their character and work as truth to black experience. Although, revolutionary literary artists like Phillis Wheatley draw contradiction suggesting Black artist individuality from the typical artist is formed with their persistence to create. In Jordan’s “The difficult Miracle” she states her difficulty in position as a published black women in her time produces the miracle of aspiring resilience in black experience. Wheatley and Jordan emphasize artistic mastery and existential freedom. Hurston promotes black art is more about expression and control over black agency rather than activism. Thus black artists need to dramatize the Negro life for originality but inevitably lead to education and inspiring future generations because art in it’s expression is standing up to the hierarchy. Art is political

What does post-slavery freedom actually require according to the Reconstruction unit authors?

True freedom requires an integrated combination of economic power, civil rights, physical safety, higher and vocational education, and cultural self-definition, however with emphasize on physical safety because advancements for the Black population can not be furthered without documented crimes and actual use of laws. The Red Record, Douglass Narrative, Hooks on multitude identity of Black women.

What are the 3 streams during the Great Migration?

From Florida, Georgia, Carolinas, and Virginia TO  Washington DC, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York in the (East Coast)

Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas TO Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland in the (Midwest stream)

Louisiana and Texas TO California, Seattle in the (West coast) stream, and the farthest place Alaska