Instructions:
you must write about these works:
• Amiri Baraka, Dutchman, 978-0688210847 (any edition is fine)
• Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl 978-1982160142 (any edition is fine)
professor’s feedback on my proposal:
Both of these works certainly take on aspects of systemic racism. To find a graduate-level argument, you’ll want to think about what particular arguments or analyses of systemic racism each is exploring. What is of special interest in these portrayals? What new light do they cast on mechanisms of systemic racism? Or is there something we see in particular by comparing the portrayals in Baraka’s 1964 play to Harris’s 2021 novel? My point is that the *fact* of systemic racism is not an argument, and the fact that these works portray systemic racism is also not an argument (it’s an observation because no one who has read these works would dispute that). You don’t have a clear argument . You have to find a debatable argument as you move forward.
As for your list of resources, I’m not sure how helpful these will be because they are so broad and involve many different world views. Systemic racism in America has a different history from that of other countries, so research in other countries will be of very limited usefulness here. More importantly, what is it that you want to research? I assume it is not the fact of systemic racism but something more related to these works specifically?
synthesize information from primary and secondary sources. By this, I mean you should be able to close read your primary text, engage with scholars (not merely say you “agree” with them, but push ideas further), and bring together ideas from both primary and secondary sources to further your thesis.
• apply hermeneutical approaches (historical, theoretical, philosophical, genre-based, cultural, reception). Your paper should be written from a perspective—whether that be historical, theoretical, or otherwise—that allows you to connect your argument to larger ideas.
• identify appropriate methodologies to apply to research questions. This means you use reputable and current sources.
• position an argument within contemporary scholarly debates in English studies. Wonder why I make you write a scholarly overview before you start the paper proper? This is why. You need to be able to articulate what is going on in conversations about your text/topic AND how you contribute to that conversation.
I want you to put the sources in conversation with one another. Part of your job as a graduate student is to synthesize the larger scholarly conversation about this text and tell the reader: 1) When scholars discuss what these works are about, they often talk about [x]. 2) Scholars disagree about [y], and 3) Scholars often agree on [z].
MLA formatting and citation (MLA 9th edition format). You absolutely must cite anything that the average person coming out of Dunkin would not know. Use the most recent MLA citation rules (https://tinyurl.com/qukmla20).
Use direct quotes from the primary sources to prove your argument.