American History Analysis

James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

ALL STUDENTS MUSTANSWER QUESTION A AND QUESTION B. THEN CHOOSE ONEQUESTION FROM SECTION C.

PLEASE RESTATE THE QUESTION AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH ESSAY. EACH ESSAY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF YOUR BOOK REFLECTION PAPER, THE PANEL DISCUSSION AND THE BAR CHAT BETWEEN BOB DYLAN AND SUSAN SONTAG MUST HAVE A CONTROLLING THESIS STATEMENT PRINTED IN BOLD. CITATIONS SHOULD BE PARENTHETICAL (CHOMSKY, P367.) IF YOU CITE A LECTURE JUST SAY (COREY, LECTURE.) YOU MAY USE YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR LECTURE NOTES. ESSAYS ARE TO BE TURNED IN TO TURNITIN BY 11 AM ON THURSDAY JUNE 13TH. YOU DO NOT NEED TO TURN IN A HARD COPY OF YOUR EXAM. INTELLECTUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHIES ARE DUE ON THURSDAY JUNE 13TH BY NOON. I WILL BE IN IN MY OFFICE FROM 11 TO 12 ON THURSDAY THE 13THTO RECEIVE THEM . IF YOU CANNOT MAKE IT TO MY OFFICE YOU CAN TURN THE BIOS IN TO THE HISTORY OFFICE BY NOON ON THE 13THAND I WILL PICK THEM UP. IF YOU HAVE CONFIDENTIALITY CONCERNS PLACE YOU BIO IN A SEALED ENVELOPE.

A.

( 2-3 PAGES. 20%)

WRITE A SHORT ESSAY IN WHICH YOU REFLECT ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE NOVEL YOU READ AND THE LARGER INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL SETTING IN WHICH IT WAS EMERGED. DO NOT WRITE A DESCRIPTION OF THE PLOT UNLESS IT RELATES SPECIFICALLY TO THE QUESTION OF CONTEXT. WHY DO YOU THINK I PUT THIS BOOK ON THE LIST? AND FINALLY WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE BOOK?

B.

(2-3 PAGES. 20%)

NOAM CHOMSKY ARGUES THAT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INTELLECTUAL IS TO SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER. CHOOSE THREE INTELLECTUALS WE STUDIED IN THE SECOND HALF OF CLASS AND DESCRIBE HOW THEY MET THIS IMPERATIVE.

C. CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. ANSWERS SHOULD BE 3-4 PAGES. 60%

1.DISCUSS WHAT YOU PERCEIVE TO BE THE SUBJECTIVE NECESSITY FOR THE IDEAS OF FOUR OF THE FOLLOWING FIVE INTELLECTUALS: REINHOLD NIEBUHR, MALCOLM X, TOM HAYDEN (OR A TYPICAL MEMBER OF SDS), BETTY FREIDAN, EDWARD SAID OR TE NEHISI –COATES. TO WHAT EXTENT DOES AN “ILLEGITIMACY COMPLEX” PLAY A ROLE IN SHAPING THEIR IDEOLOGIES.

2. IT IS POSSIBLE TO CHARACTERIZE THE OVERALL ARC OF THE INTELLECTUAL MOOD OF THE THINKERS WE HAVE STUDIED IN THIS CLASS AS A JOURNEY FROM ILLUSION TO THE AWFUL TRUTH. TRY TO FOLLOW THE LINE THAT RUNS FROM JAMES’ STRUGGLE TO BELIEVE, TO THE SOCIAL GOSPELERS (PROGRESSIVISM) , THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS, TO THE THE QUANDARY OF INTELLECTUALS LIKE REINHOLD NIEBUHR DURING WORLD WAR TWO, THROUGH THE BEATS, THE NEW LEFT, ALL THE WAY TO POST MODERNISM. BE SURE TO INCLUDE THE ROLE OF AT LEAST ONE AFRICAN AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL SUCH AS JAMES BALDWIN, MARTIN LUTHER KING, MALCOLM X, HENRY LEWIS GATES, TA NEHISI COATES OR A MUSICAL OR LITERARY ARTIST OF YOUR CHOICE IN YOUR DISCUSSION OF THIS CENTURY-LONG JOURNEY FROM CERTAINTY

3.REINHOLD NIEBUHR SUGGESTS THAT A PERSISTENT FLAW IN MODERN AMERICAN THOUGHT IS ITS UNDERESTIMATION OF THE POWER OF EVIL AND PREDATORY SELF-INTEREST. TO SOME EXTENT NIEBUHR IS ADDRESSING THE LIMITS OF AMERICAN LIBERALISM. EVALUATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH NIEBUHR’S CRITIQUE IS MIRRORED OR CONTESTED IN THE THINKING OF FOUR OF THE FOLLOWING: C. WRIGHT MILLS, PHILLIP ROTH, GUNNAR MYRDAL, E.B. WHITE, ALLAN GINSBERG, THE FRAMERS OF THE PORT HURON STATEMENT, MARTIN LUTHER KING, NOAM CHOMSKY OR MALCOLM X.

4. BOB DYLAN AND SUSAN SONTAG WALK INTO A BAR AND SIT DOWN NEXT TO ONE ANOTHER (BY ACCIDENT) THEY BOTH JUST HAPPEN TO BE CARRYING COPIES OF ALLEN GINSBERG’S “HOWL FOR CARL SOLOMON,” AND AS PEOPLE IN BARS DO, THEY BEGIN TO CHAT. THEY GET INTO A HEATED DISCUSSION ABOUT THE POEM, ITS IMPACT ON EACH OF THEM AND ITS INTERPRETATION. (WRITE THIS AS A DIALOGUE)

5. WRITE A PANEL DISCUSSION ABOUT THE PROBLEM OF RACE IN AMERICA. YOU MUSTINCLUDE TA NEHISI COATES, EDWARD SAID, JAMES BALDWIN, MARTIN LUTHER KING AND MALCOLM X IN YOUR DISCUSSION. (YOU MAY HAVE YOUR PANELISTS ALLUDE TO DU BOIS BUT HE IS NOT TO BE ON THE PANEL.) YOU MAY ALSO INCLUDE AN ADDITIONAL PANELIST – A FAVORITE HIP HOP ARTIST, WRITER, THINKER, ETC. THE DISCUSSION CAN TRAWL BACK AND FORTH THROUGH TIME (1945-PRESENT) BUT MUST INCLUDE SOME RUMINATIONS ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF RACE RELATIONS

6.SEE THE FILM THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDYAND WRITE AN ESSAY IN WHICH YOU ANALYZE THE FILM, USING HENRY LOUIS GATES’ INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, FROM LOOSE CANONS, JAMES BALDWIN’S “MANY THOUSANDS GONE,” AND EDWARD SAID’S ORIENTALISM, YOU CAN USE W.E B. DUBOIS’ CONTENTION THAT RACE IS SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED BUT AVOID A LENGTHY DISCUSSION OF DU BOIS. YOU MUST GIVE VERY SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION BOTH OF WHITENESS AND BLACKNESS IN THE FILM.

(NOTE: DO NOT BE FOOLED. THIS IS QUESTION IS MAD HARD.)

7. GENERATIONAL DISCORD CHARACTERIZES SOME OF THE CHANGES IN 20THCENTURY THOUGHT. DESCRIBE THE CHALLENGE THAT SPECIFIC THINKERS FROM 4 OF THE FOLLOWING OFFERED TO THE DOMINANT CULTURE OF THEIR TIME: THE MODERNS ; THE BEATS (ALLEN GINSBERG, ETC.) ;SDS, THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT AND THE COUNTER-CULTURE; THE FEMINISTS (BETTY FRIEDAN); THE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT (INCLUDING MALCOLM X.)

CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING NOVELS. A REFLECTION PAPER ON THIS BOOK (setion A) THAT LINKS THE BOOK TO ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXTTheodore Dreiser, An American TragedyEdith Wharton, The Custom of the CountryJames Baldwin, Giovanni’s RoomJack Kerouac, The Dharma BumsOctavia Butler, KindredPhillip Roth, The Human Stain or American PastoralWilla Cather, Oh Pioneers or My AntoniaJames Baldwin, Giovanni’s RoomJonathan Lethem, Fortress of SolitudeDon De Lillo, White NoiseColin Whitehead, The Underground RailroadUrsula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of DarknessREQUIRED READINGSBob Dylan, Chronicle, Vol 1David Hollinger, Charles Capper, The American Intellectual Tradition, Vol II, 1870-PresentAllen Ginsberg, Howl For Carl SolomonJames Baldwin, The Fire Next TimeALL STUDENTS MUSTANSWER QUESTION A AND QUESTION B. THEN CHOOSE ONEQUESTION FROM SECTION C. PLEASE RESTATE THE QUESTION AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH ESSAY. EACH ESSAY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF YOUR BOOK REFLECTION PAPER, THE PANEL DISCUSSION AND THE BAR CHAT BETWEEN BOB DYLAN AND SUSAN SONTAG MUST HAVE A CONTROLLING THESIS STATEMENT PRINTED IN BOLD. CITATIONS SHOULD BE PARENTHETICAL (CHOMSKY, P367.) IF YOU CITE A LECTURE JUST SAY (COREY, LECTURE.) YOU MAY USE YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR LECTURE NOTES. ESSAYS ARE TO BE TURNED IN TO TURNITIN BY 11 AM ON THURSDAY JUNE 13TH. YOU DO NOT NEED TO TURN IN A HARD COPY OF YOUR EXAM. INTELLECTUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHIES ARE DUE ON THURSDAY JUNE 13TH BY NOON. I WILL BE IN IN MY OFFICE FROM 11 TO 12 ON THURSDAY THE 13THTO RECEIVE THEM . IF YOU CANNOT MAKE IT TO MY OFFICE YOU CAN TURN THE BIOS IN TO THE HISTORY OFFICE BY NOON ON THE 13THAND I WILL PICK THEM UP. IF YOU HAVE CONFIDENTIALITY CONCERNS PLACE YOU BIO IN A SEALED ENVELOPE. A. ( 2-3 PAGES. 20%)WRITE A SHORT ESSAY IN WHICH YOU REFLECT ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE NOVEL YOU READ AND THE LARGER INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL SETTING IN WHICH IT WAS EMERGED. DO NOT WRITE A DESCRIPTION OF THE PLOT UNLESS IT RELATES SPECIFICALLY TO THE QUESTION OF CONTEXT. WHY DO YOU THINK I PUT THIS BOOK ON THE LIST? AND FINALLY WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE BOOK? B. (2-3 PAGES. 20%)NOAM CHOMSKY ARGUES THAT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INTELLECTUAL IS TO SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER. CHOOSE THREE INTELLECTUALS WE STUDIED IN THE SECOND HALF OF CLASS AND DESCRIBE HOW THEY MET THIS IMPERATIVE. C. CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. ANSWERS SHOULD BE 3-4 PAGES. 60%1.DISCUSS WHAT YOU PERCEIVE TO BE THE SUBJECTIVE NECESSITY FOR THE IDEAS OF FOUR OF THE FOLLOWING FIVE INTELLECTUALS: REINHOLD NIEBUHR, MALCOLM X, TOM HAYDEN (OR A TYPICAL MEMBER OF SDS), BETTY FREIDAN, EDWARD SAID OR TE NEHISI –COATES. TO WHAT EXTENT DOES AN “ILLEGITIMACY COMPLEX” PLAY A ROLE IN SHAPING THEIR IDEOLOGIES. 2. IT IS POSSIBLE TO CHARACTERIZE THE OVERALL ARC OF THE INTELLECTUAL MOOD OF THE THINKERS WE HAVE STUDIED IN THIS CLASS AS A JOURNEY FROM ILLUSION TO THE AWFUL TRUTH. TRY TO FOLLOW THE LINE THAT RUNS FROM JAMES’ STRUGGLE TO BELIEVE, TO THE SOCIAL GOSPELERS (PROGRESSIVISM) , THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS, TO THE THE QUANDARY OF INTELLECTUALS LIKE REINHOLD NIEBUHR DURING WORLD WAR TWO, THROUGH THE BEATS, THE NEW LEFT, ALL THE WAY TO POST MODERNISM. BE SURE TO INCLUDE THE ROLE OF AT LEAST ONE AFRICAN AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL SUCH AS JAMES BALDWIN, MARTIN LUTHER KING, MALCOLM X, HENRY LEWIS GATES, TA NEHISI COATES OR A MUSICAL OR LITERARY ARTIST OF YOUR CHOICE IN YOUR DISCUSSION OF THIS CENTURY-LONG JOURNEY FROM CERTAINTY 3.REINHOLD NIEBUHR SUGGESTS THAT A PERSISTENT FLAW IN MODERN AMERICAN THOUGHT IS ITS UNDERESTIMATION OF THE POWER OF EVIL AND PREDATORY SELF-INTEREST. TO SOME EXTENT NIEBUHR IS ADDRESSING THE LIMITS OF AMERICAN LIBERALISM. EVALUATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH NIEBUHR’S CRITIQUE IS MIRRORED OR CONTESTED IN THE THINKING OF FOUR OF THE FOLLOWING: C. WRIGHT MILLS, PHILLIP ROTH, GUNNAR MYRDAL, E.B. WHITE, ALLAN GINSBERG, THE FRAMERS OF THE PORT HURON STATEMENT, MARTIN LUTHER KING, NOAM CHOMSKY OR MALCOLM X. 4. BOB DYLAN AND SUSAN SONTAG WALK INTO A BAR AND SIT DOWN NEXT TO ONE ANOTHER (BY ACCIDENT) THEY BOTH JUST HAPPEN TO BE CARRYING COPIES OF ALLEN GINSBERG’S “HOWL FOR CARL SOLOMON,” AND AS PEOPLE IN BARS DO, THEY BEGIN TO CHAT. THEY GET INTO A HEATED DISCUSSION ABOUT THE POEM, ITS IMPACT ON EACH OF THEM AND ITS INTERPRETATION. (WRITE THIS AS A DIALOGUE)5. WRITE A PANEL DISCUSSION ABOUT THE PROBLEM OF RACE IN AMERICA. YOU MUSTINCLUDE TA NEHISI COATES, EDWARD SAID, JAMES BALDWIN, MARTIN LUTHER KING AND MALCOLM X IN YOUR DISCUSSION. (YOU MAY HAVE YOUR PANELISTS ALLUDE TO DU BOIS BUT HE IS NOT TO BE ON THE PANEL.) YOU MAY ALSO INCLUDE AN ADDITIONAL PANELIST – A FAVORITE HIP HOP ARTIST, WRITER, THINKER, ETC. THE DISCUSSION CAN TRAWL BACK AND FORTH THROUGH TIME (1945-PRESENT) BUT MUST INCLUDE SOME RUMINATIONS ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF RACE RELATIONS6.SEE THE FILM THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDYAND WRITE AN ESSAY IN WHICH YOU ANALYZE THE FILM, USING HENRY LOUIS GATES’ INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, FROM LOOSE CANONS, JAMES BALDWIN’S “MANY THOUSANDS GONE,” AND EDWARD SAID’S ORIENTALISM, YOU CAN USE W.E B. DUBOIS’ CONTENTION THAT RACE IS SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED BUT AVOID A LENGTHY DISCUSSION OF DU BOIS. YOU MUST GIVE VERY SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION BOTH OF WHITENESS AND BLACKNESS IN THE FILM. (NOTE: DO NOT BE FOOLED. THIS IS QUESTION IS MAD HARD.)7. GENERATIONAL DISCORD CHARACTERIZES SOME OF THE CHANGES IN 20THCENTURY THOUGHT. DESCRIBE THE CHALLENGE THAT SPECIFIC THINKERS FROM 4 OF THE FOLLOWING OFFERED TO THE DOMINANT CULTURE OF THEIR TIME: THE MODERNS ; THE BEATS (ALLEN GINSBERG, ETC.) ;SDS, THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT AND THE COUNTER-CULTURE; THE FEMINISTS (BETTY FRIEDAN); THE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT (INCLUDING MALCOLM X.)