English 177 - Winter, 2024

Study of an Individual Author

Class Information

Instructor: Clover, Joshua
CRN: 44598
Time: MWF 1:10-2:00pm
GE Areas: Writing Experience

Description

This is actually a study of two authors: Diane Di Prima and Amiri Baraka, who go together because they knew each other, shared parts of a time and place (New York in the fifties and sixties and into the seventies), edited a journal together, and together provide a helpful sense of the world of culture and politics in the US. We'll read poems fist and foremost, but also other writings, like essays, a play, a memoir, essays, etc. Note: all books will be available at bookstore except the Baraka collection SOS and a couple other docs which will be available virtually.

Grading

A mix heavily weighted toward participation (50), four short writing assignments (20 total), a final paper (20), and a final exam (10).

Texts

Diane Di Prima, Memoirs of a Beatnik
Diane Di Prima, Revolutionary Letters: 50th Anniversary Edition
Diane Di Prima, Recollections of My Life As a Woman
Amiri Baraka, The Dutchman and The Slave : Two Plays
Amiri Baraka, Blues People
Amria Baraka, S.O.S.