ENGL 314 2 Credit Hours
Introduction to African Literature
This information is for second semester 2017/2018 academic year
Teachers responsible
Dr. Edward Sackey Dr. Kwame Adika
Availability
This course is available open to all visiting students but only as a sAecond semester course.
Course Content
African Literature, as a conceptual category, covers a broad array of discourses flung across the continent’s various sub-cultures and its multiple language heritages. Given that wide and far-reaching background, we shall set ourselves a modest and a reasonable goal for the semester: we shall imagine English 344 as a survey course meant to offer a formal introduction to African literature in its broadest historical and cultural contexts. Because of time constraints, however, we shall focus our readings/discussions on a set of contemporary texts that, rightly speaking, belong to the postcolonial Europhone literatures of the continent and yet trace a trajectory that leads us back to the oral bases of African literary expressions. We shall also invoke the peculiar historical, socio-cultural and cultural contexts that inform our selected texts.
Teaching
Tuesday, 9.30am-11.30 am
This is a two-hour per week course that will adopt a lecture/discussions format. It is a reading-intensive course that compresses a week’s load of readings into a single day’s lecture/discussions. On a given meeting day, you may be expected to have read and developed thoughtful opinions about one hundred pages or more of the text. In other words, students will be expected to read the assigned texts before each class session. Regular attendance is expected of all students who sign up for this course. Students will be expected to bring hard copies of relevant texts to class each week and actively participate in class discussions.
Formative Coursework
Student’s general performance is assessed through class participation, class tests/quizes and final end-of Semester Examination.
Indicative reading
Availability of Textbooks:
Every effort has been made to provide a selection of primary texts that are available online or at local bookshops (i.e. EPP and Legon). You may also get cheap copies of some of the texts at either Half Price Books or the Ghana Book Trust. The secondary readings will be provided in a course packet which will be available for purchase/photocopy at the Department office.
Required Readings
Part 1: Week 2—7 (Dr. Edward Sackey)
Ayi Kwei Armah, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born
Kobina Sekyi, The Blinkards
Ola Rotimi, The Gods Are Not to Blame
Ama Ata Aidoo, Anowa
Part 2: Week 8—13 (Dr. Kwame Adika)
Chimamanda Adichie, Purple Hibiscus\
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
Various, Poetry Packet
General Secondary Readings:
Abiola Irele, F., “Introduction,” The Cambridge Companion to the African Novel
A.U. Azodo, “Interview with Chimamanda Adichie: Creative Writing and Literary Activism”
Ben Okri, “A Mental Tyranny is Keeping Black Writers from Greatness”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The Dangers of a Single Story”
Chinua Achebe, “The Novelist as Teacher”
Ngugi wa Thiong’O, “The Language of African Literature”
Obi Wali, “The Dead End of African Literature”
Assessment and Grading
End-of-semester course grades will be based on a final examination. The instructors may, in addition to that, assign a class test/quiz to account for continuous assessment.
Grading standards shall be tough but fair. Instructors want to help students in every possible way to achieve the highest grade of which they are capable. But that help will be determined in a large part the efforts students make over the course of the semester. If any student has questions about grades or about the grading standards at any time during the semester, they can visit the instructors’ office to speak to them.
Grading Scale
Students’ performance in the course shall be graded as follows:
Letter Grade Marks Grade Point Interpretation
A 80-100 4.0 Outstanding
B+ 75-79 3.5 Very good
B 70-74 3.0 Good
C+ 65-69 2.5 Fairly Good
C 60-64 2.0 Average
D+ 55-59 1.5 Below Average
D 50-54 1.0 Marginal Pass
E 45-49 0.5 Unsatisfactory
F 0-44 0 Fail
Other Information:
1. Availability of Textbooks: Every effort has been made to provide a selection of primary texts that are available at either the University bookshop or EPP Books. You may also get cheap copies of some texts at either Half Price Books or Ghana Book Trust. A course packet made up of poems and secondary readings will be available for purchase at the Department Office.
2. Mobile Phones: Using mobile phones in class or pitting up other disruptive behaviour is strictly prohibited. Disruptive students shall be made to face appropriate sanctions as stipulated by the University Handbook.
3. Disclaimer: Modifications to the course schedule may be made to reflect exigencies such as public holidays, availability of texts, etc.
