Final Research Guide: Colonial African American Poetry and Literature
Topic Definition:
Colonial African American poetry and literature was written by men and women who were slaves during the civil war and they wrote about how they were treated by their slave owners and these people sang songs about being free and having equal rights for their race. Their slave narratives included: tales of religious redemption, inspire the abolitionist struggle, and of progress.
Key Artists/ Figures:
Phillis Wheatley
William Wells Brown
Lucy Terry
David Walker
Henry Highland Garnet
Mira Costa Library:
General Comment:
Mira Costa’s Library has great resources on Colonial African American Poetry and literature which includes biography books about African American poets that lived during this time and there were also books that have poems that were written by these poets. I really appreciated the help from the research librarian who helped me find the right books for my research project on the school website and she showed me where it was located in the library. Also, the library’s database was very helpful for me to find websites that had more information about Colonial African American poets and their poetry.
Most Useful Resources:
Cima, Gibson. “Black and unmarked: Phillis Wheatley, Mercy Otis Warren, and the limits of strategic anonymity.” Theatre Journal 52.4 (Dec. 2000): 465-495. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. <http://www.proquest.com>
This author of the scholarly journal, Gibson Cima, talked about the 18th century African American female poet named Phillis Wheatley and a white female poet named Mercy Otis Warren who both were performance critics and they have both negotiated through identity categories which include blackness and whiteness. Cima also talked about their poems and how they demanded natural rights to reshape concepts of American womanhood, intelligence, and virtue. This makes the text a secondary source because Cima is talking about their poems. This text is for scholarly use because it is college level writing and it has higher level vocabulary.
Gates, Henry Louis, and Nellie Y. Mckay, eds. The Norton Anthology: African American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1997. Print.
This anthology has text on Colonial African American poetry and literature which talked about various poets personal experiences as a slave that included being sold at a slave sale and being abused by their slave owners, this makes it a primary source. This text is popular use because it has simple vocabulary and so it is easy to understand what the poets are talking about.
Hill, Laban. Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2010. Print.
This book has many great poems of an African American man named Dave whose job was making pottery when he was a slave. This text is secondary because the author of the book, Laban Hill, had talked about David’s personal experiences. He talked about objects that had a greater meaning like a pot where somebody can put flowers in for decoration, but for Dave, he described it as a large pot that he can store food that he can eat for the following months. This makes the book for popular use because it is easy to understand what they are talking about and it has simple vocabulary. Kids and adults can read this book.
Randy, Dudley. The Black Poets. New York: Bantam, 1970. Print.
This text has many great poems that were written by African American poets during the Colonial era. These poems have personal experiences from the poets of what they went through, how they were treated by their slave owners, and how they got through these horrible situations; this makes it a primary source. This text also has a brief bibliography of poems which makes this book scholarly. Some other poems were slave songs about being free and equality for all races, so this book can also be for popular use because it is easy to read and understand what they are talking about. Overall, this book has poems that I can use to show examples of black poetry.
California State University of San Marcos:
General comment:
I was not able to go to CSUSM library, but I went on their library catalog website. They had a few resources that related to my topic, but it was still very helpful for my research guide.
Long, Richard. Afro American writing: an anthology of prose and poetry. University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press, 1985. Print.
This book has one of my key artists, Henry Highland Garnet, and many other Colonial African American poets. This text is primary because it has the original poems from the poets. This text is scholarly because it has bibliographical references.
Shields, David. American Poetry: The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. New York: Penguin Putnam, 2007. Print.
This book has poems that include one of my key artists, Lucy Terry, and many other Colonial African American writers. This book is a primary source because it has the original poems from the poets and it is scholarly because it has a bibliography.
Shields, John. The collected works of Phillis Wheatley. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print.
This book has a collection of the original poems from the Colonial African American poet whose name is Phillis Wheatley and this makes it a primary source. This text is popular because it has simple vocabulary and it is also scholarly because it has bibliographical references.
University of California San Diego:
General comment:
I was not able to go to the UCSD library, but I went onto their library catalog website. I was able to find three resources that related to my topic and it was very helpful.
Bullins, Ed. I am Lucy Terry. Cambridge, 2005. Print.
This book talked about Colonial African American writer, Lucy Terry, the author talked about her life so this makes it a secondary source. This text is scholarly because it has bibliographical references at the end of the book.
Farrison, William. William Wells Brown: author and reformer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969. Print.
This book talked about Colonial African American writer, William Wells Brown, and the author talked about his life as a slave and when Brown started to publish his writings; this makes it a secondary source because someone else is talking about Brown’s life. This is a scholarly text because it has bibliographical references at the end of the book.
Hutchinson, Earl. Let your motto be resistance; the life and thought of Henry Highland Garnet. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. Print.
This book talked about the life of Colonial African American Writer, Henry Highland Garnet and it is a secondary source because the author of the book is talking about his life. This text is scholarly because it has bibliographical references at the end of the book.
Web:
General comment:
The web is very helpful and has information about Colonial African American poetry and literature, but there are some websites that do not always have the correct information like Wikipedia.
Most Useful Resources:
“Lucy Terry Prince”. Africans in America. PBS. Web. 23 Sept. 2011. <http: www.PBS.org>
This website has a biography of the Colonial African American poet named Lucy Terry Prince which makes it a secondary source and it talked about her early life and how she became a poet. This reading is popular use because the vocabulary is not complex and it is not hard to understand. This biography gave good information that I can use for my research project.
Kirkpatrick, Mary. “Narrative of William Wells Brown.” Documenting the American South. 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Dec.2011. http://www.docsouth.unc.edu/neh/brown47/summary.html
This website has a biography of the Colonial African American writer whose name is William Wells Brown and it is a secondary source because another person talked about his life. The writer of the biography, Mary Kirkpatrick talked about when Mr. Brown started to write about his life and how he had published his works, this makes it a scholarly source. This resource is also popular use because it has simple vocabulary that is easy to read.
“Garnet’s, Call to Rebellion Speech”. Africans in America. PBS. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. <http:www.PBS.org>
This website talked about the Colonial African American writer whose name is Henry Highland Garnet who gave a speech that is titled “Call to Rebellion” where he encouraged slaves to retaliate against their white slave owners. It is a primary source because the text is coming directly from Garnet. This text is popular because it has simple vocabulary that is easy to understand.
