Purpose: This assignment provides the opportunity to showcase the insight you have gained about Black cultural production in the literary arts. It also provides the chance for you to sharpen your research and critical thinking skills.
Skills: Learn and/or practice the techniques of social sciences and humanities research. Use credible secondary and tertiary sources such as scholarly journal articles or newspaper articles to support evaluation of African-descended artists and Black art. Sharpen ability to formulate and execute a suitable research project using supporting evidence and examples for analysis. Present a well-organized, clear evaluation of Black cultural products in the form of literary art using a standard methodology.
Knowledge: By completing this assignment, you should develop a deeper understanding of the rich history and culture of African Americans as well as people of the African Diaspora. More specifically, you will gain insights into key African-descended literary artists, the significance of their art, and the ways it reflects, reproduces, and/or advances Black culture.
Tasks: Report on and evaluate the literary work of one of the Black artists covered in the course materials.
Produce your evaluation in the form of a final project (Powerpoint presentation, Prezi, infographics, or link to a digital media presentation) that addresses the following-
1) The artist’s background
2) The artist’s A) genre & B) the aesthetic qualities of their art
3) Your evaluation of whether the artists’ cultural products meet the three criteria for Black art as defined by Karenga in Introduction to Black Studies (364-365). Answer the following questions using supporting evidence and examples from the course readings and the credible/scholarly resources you found in your research for the annotated bibliography:
A) Is the artist’s literature functional? (Is it useful? Does it urge social purpose, inform, instruct and inspire the people, and is it unapologetically partial to Black people?)
B) Is the literature collective? (Was the it done for all? Was it inspired by all Black people and their cultures? If so, what aspects of Black culture does it reflect? Was it rooted in life-based language and images that were full of everyday relevance? Provide supporting examples. Was it understandable without being overly simplistic?)
C) Is the literature committing? (Did it commit Black people to the historical project of liberation and achievement of a higher level of human life? Did it demand and urge involvement in the struggle to build a new world and new people to live in it? Did it teach Black people to dare victory?)
4) Discuss new understandings, perspectives, appreciation, or insight you gained from working on this project. (For instance how it relates to you or your community, your perspective on whether the artist should be judged from the committed-art perspective. Why or why not?)
*Be sure to use at least one of the assigned course readings and at least two other sources. One of the sources should be credible and the other should be scholarly to provide supporting evidence, examples, details, and data about the project (for a total of at least 3 sources).* (Also, do not forget to showcase an excerpt from the artist’s or writer’s work as a primary source example!)
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Rubric: You will be graded on the following- (logical organization; relevance; supporting evidence, examples & citations; evaluation & analysis; clarity)
Logical organization – Ideas and information are well organized, presentation has strong introduction and conclusion.
Project’s relevance to the assignment’s instructions and African-American culture topics
Supporting/background evidence and examples provided from credible & scholarly sources & cited in Chicago style:
A) course reading, B) credible source, C) scholarly source
Evaluation & analysis-
A) of three Black art characteristics
B) of understandings, perspectives, or appreciation gained
Clarity – paragraph structure, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, wording, and grammar in the presentation
Primary source usage- Showcases an excerpt from the artist’s or writer’s work as a primary source example
Logical organization – Ideas &
information are well organized,
presentation has strong introduction &
conclusion.
o Ideas & information are well organized
o Presentation has strong introduction & conclusion
Relevance- Project’s relevance to the
assignment’s instructions and AfricanAmerican culture topics
o Information in project connects to themes in our AfricanAmerican culture course
Evidence- Supporting/background
evidence and examples provided from
credible & scholarly (secondary &
tertiary) sources & cited in Chicago
style: A) course reading, B) credible
source, C) scholarly source
o 1 – course reading
o 2 – credible source
o 3 – scholarly source
Analysis –
1. of artist/writer/speaker’s
three Black art
characteristics
2. of understandings,
perspectives, or
appreciation gained
Analysis of artist/writer/speaker’s three Black art characteristics
o Is the artist’s literature functional?
o Is the literature collective?
o Is the literature committing?
New perspectives gained
Clarity of paragraph structure, spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, wording, &
grammar in the response.
Primary source- Showcased an
excerpt from the artist’s or writer’s work
as a primary source example
Available on Mar 25, 2024 12:01 AM. Access restricted before availability starts.
Available until Apr 30, 2024 11:59 PM. Access restricted after availability ends.
