Untitled document
The following presents a sample of six possible ethnic traditions. There might be minor adjustment in topics with a different selection of ethnic traditions.
European American
1. First-generation experiences and the literature they have spawned.
2. Old-country backgrounds: escape from persecution (religious, political, cultural, racial), customs of ethnic cohesion, folklore, relevant history (political or demographic), religion.
3. Adaptation to American economic, cultural, and political conditions.
4. Reception by earlier arrivals from other ethnic groups (racism, ethnic conflict, competition for work, stereotyping).
5. Second- and third-generation experiences and the literature they have spawned (rejection of one's ethnic traditions; rediscovery of them; rising fortunes within American society; etc.)
6. Contemporary experiences and the literature they have spawned.
Asian American
1. First-generation experiences and the literature they have spawned.
2. Old-country backgrounds: escape from persecution (religious, political, cultural, racial), customs of ethnic cohesion, folklore, relevant history (political or demographic), religion.
3. Adaptation to American economic, cultural, and political conditions.
4. Reception by earlier arrivals from other ethnic groups (racism, ethnic conflict, competition for work, stereotyping).
5. Second- and third-generation experiences and the literature they have spawned (rejection of one's ethnic traditions; rediscovery of them; rising fortunes within American society; etc.)
6. Contemporary trends in Asian American literature.
Native American
1. Ancient Tales and Traditions: creation myths, the oral tradition.
2. Tribal culture, backgrounds: differences among various tribal traditions and how they show up in key tales and tale-telling traditions. Elements of culture shared among tribes (depending on specific region selected).
3. The Coming of the White Man, and the literature it spawned (approx. 1790-1890).
4. Adaptation to European American cultural traditions: Indian poetry, tales and fiction that adopt features of the European written literary tradition (approx. 1850-present). Relevant economic, cultural, political and educational backgrounds.
5. Recent and contemporary trends in Native American literature.
African American
1. Slave narratives
2. Folk traditions
3. The Harlem Renaissance
4. The evolution of Black American identity via literature
5. Contemporary trends in African American literature
Latino/ American
1. Forms of expression peculiar to the Latino/a experience.
2. Political, cultural, historical, aesthetic phenomena in Latino/American literature.
3. Old World vs. New World perspectives.
4. The Chicano/a literary tradition.
5. Contemporary trends in Latino/a American literature.
Middle Eastern American
1. First-generation experiences and the literature they have spawned.
2. Old country backgrounds: escape from persecution (religious, political, cultural, racial), customs of ethnic and religious cohesion, ancient civilizations, relevant history (political or demographic).
3. Reception by earlier arrivals from other ethnic groups (racism, ethnic and religious conflict, competition for work, stereotyping).
4. Influence of high profile events on Middle Eastern communities (Middle Eastern conflicts, September 11th).
5. Second and third-generation experiences and the literature they have spawned (rejection of one's ethnic traditions, re-discovery of them).
6. Contemporary trends in Middle Eastern American literature.
Untitled document
For African American literature:
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, Random, 1963.
Native Son, Richard Wright, HarperCollins, 1993.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, ed. Frederick Douglass, Dover, 1995.
Beloved, Toni Morrison, NAL-Dutton, 1991.
The Color Purple, Alice Walker, Harbrace, 1982.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou, Bantam, 1983.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston, HarperCollins, 1990.
For Asian American literature:
China Men, Maxine Hong Kingston, Random, 1989.
Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan, Putnam, 1989.
Fifth Chinese Daughter, Jade Snow Wong, U of Washington Press, 1989.
Yokohama, California, Toshio Mori, U of Washington press, 1985.
A Gesture Life, Chang Rae Lee, Putnam, 1999.
Bone, Fae Myenne Ng, Harper Collins, 1994.
Fish Head Soup and Other Plays, Philip Gotanda, Univ. Washington Press, 1995.
For Latino/a American literature:
Barrio Boy, Ernesto Galarza, U of Notre Dame, 1971.
El Teatro de la Esperanze: Anthology of Chicago Drama, ed. Jorga Huerta, Teatro de la Esperanza, 1973.
Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya, Quinto Sol Publ, 1972.
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, Sandra Cisneros, Vintage, 1990.
Zoot Suit and Other Plays, Luis Valdez, Arte Publico Press, 1992.
For European American literature:
Giants in the Earth, Ole Edvart Rolvaag, HarperCollins, 1965.
The Soul of an Immigrant, Constantine Panunzio, Ayer, 1969.
Shawl, Cynthia Ozick, Knopf, 1989.
The Invention of the White Race, Theodore Allen, Verso, 1994.
My Antonia, Willa Cather, Bantam, 1994.
For Native American literature:
The Way to Rainy Mountain, N. Scott Momaday, U of New Mexico Press, 1976.
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, Viking Penguin, 1986.
Love Medicine, Louise Erdrich, HarperCollins, 1993.
Night Flying Woman, Ignatia Broken, U of Minnesota Press, 1983.
Lakota Woman, Mary Crow Dog, Harper Perennial, 1990.
The Woman Who Owned the Shadows, Paula Gunn Allen, Spinster's, 1983.
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, Michael Dorris, Warner, 1988.
Fightin': New and Collected Stories, Simon Ortiz, Thunder's Mouth, 1983.
Bone Game, Louis Owens, U of Oklahoma Press, 1994.
Calling Myself Home, Unda Hozan, Greenfield Review Press, 1991.
In Made Love and War, Joy Harjo, Wesleyan U Press, 1990.
Earth Song, Sky Spirit, Clifford Trafzer, Doubleday, 1992.
Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexi, Warner Books, 1996.
For Middle Eastern American Literature:
Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie, 2006.
Four Arab Plays: Works by Leila Buck, Jamil Khory, Yussef, El Guindi, and Lameece Issaq & Jacob Kader,
Michael Malek Najjar, editor, 2013.
One Story, Thirty Stories: An Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature, Eds. Zohra Saed and Sahar Muradi, 2010.
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseni, 2003.
Persian Girls, Nahid Rachlan, 2006.
Born Palestiani, Born Black: Suheir Hammad, 2008.
The Alchemist's Diary, Hayan Charara, 200l.
The Road From Home, David Kherdian, 1995.
Words Under the Words: Selected Poems, Naomi Shihab Nye, 1994.
Edges, Leora Skolkin-Smith, 2005.
Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Ayelet Waldman, 2006.
A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans, Persis Karim and Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami, 1999.
Sample Background Works:
Strangers From a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans, Ronald Takiki, Penguin, 1989.
American Mosaic: Multi-Cultural Readings in Context, Barbara Roche Ricoand Sandra Mano, Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
Ethnic Writers in America, Myron Simon, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972.
The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions, Paula Gunn Allen, Beacon Press,1986.
Blues People: Negro Music in White America, LeRoi Jones, Morrow, 1971.
A Different Mirror, Takaki, Back Bay Books, 1993.
Reading the Literatures of Asian Americans, eds. Lim and Ling, Temple U. Press, 1992.
Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel, Louis Owens, U. of Oklahoma Press, 1992.
Playing in the Dark, Morrison, Vintage, 1992.
Uprooting Racism, Paul Kwel, New Society Publishers, 1996.
Peoples of Color in the American West, Sucheng Chan, et al., eds. D. C. Heath & Co., 1994.
A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn, W. W. Norton, 1997.
Orientalism, Edward Said, 1979.
Arab American Literary Fiction, Cultures and Politics, Steven Salatia, 2006.
arab American Literature and Culture, Alfred Hornung, 2013.