Questions

• Strong oral traditions exist among Native Americans. What evidence or traces of these traditions do you see in the works written by Native Americans?
• Traditionally, there has been a strong connection between Native American cultures and nature. How do the technological changes of the 20th and 21st centuries challenge this connection?
• Traditionally, literature is defined by a number of qualities. Among these are that a work of literature is especially well-written, and that it produces emotion in the reader. Which of these works are well-written, and which produce emotional responses in readers?
• The immigrants at the start of the 20th century were far from their home cultures, as are some of this week’s assigned writers. What similarities or differences do you see among these works?
• Why did ethnic literature emerge as a cultural force in the post-World War II period?

• How does the work of African American writers such as Ralph Ellison or Gwendolyn Brooks build on an existing tradition of African American literature? How is it different?
• What qualities or concerns emerge in African American literature from this period which could not have appeared in earlier African American work?
• Traditionally, literature is defined by a number of qualities. Among these are that a work of literature is especially well-written, and that it produces emotion in the reader. Which of these works are well-written, and which produce emotional responses in readers?

Each question needs to be answered in at least 100 words each.