Please be sure to follow all requirements given by my professor.

Also, be sure to do everything in MLA format.

My professor said,

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Essay #3 – Research Paper – African American Literature

In the chapter “Of Spiritual Strivings” of The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. DuBois describes double-consciousness as a notion of two-ness, of the black American looking at themselves through a veil, seeing themselves through the eyes of another. DuBois writes

It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness, an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife- this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He does not wish to Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He wouldn’t bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face (5).

Essay Prompt:

Choose one:

1. James Baldwin “Sonny’s Blues”

2. African American Poetry: (must use at least three of the poems in your paper)

• • • • Phillis Wheatley “On Being Brought from Africa to America”
      • Claude McKay “If We Must Die”
      • Paul Laurence Dunbar “We Wear The Mask”
      • Langston Hughes “I, Too, Sing America”
      • Maya Angelou “Caged Bird
      • Tupac Shakur “The Rose That Grew From Concrete”

1. 1. August Wilson Fences

Then answer the following research question:

How does the author(s) connect with DuBois’s idea of double-consciousness?

When answering this question, you must identify and employ DuBois’s idea of double-consciousness in your chosen work (short story, poems, or play), and you must also consider how the author uses literary devices to show double-consciousness through theme, symbols, language, negation (i.e. what isn’t in the work), character development, or metaphor/allegory. All of which must be included in your analysis.

Guidelines & Requirements:

• Minimum of eight pages. (Any essay not meeting the eight-page requirement will earn a zero).
• Must use textual evidence from the short story, poems, or dramatic play.
• Must have a minimum of FOUR outside sources: two of which must be scholarly articles found on SMC Library Database (e.g. Philon, JSTOR, Project Muse) or through Google Scholar.
• Must follow MLA formatting and guidelines. (Any essay not following MLA guidelines and does not have a properly formatted Works Cited list will receive a zero).
• Must be a Word document (doc, docx). No PDFs, TXTs, Pages, Google Drive, or OneDrive links accepted. Any file other than a Word file will not receive feedback.
• No emailed assignments. No exceptions.
• Must upload to Canvas by the due date. Late submissions either rough draft or final draft will not receive feedback.

Essay Due Dates: (*note these are different than what is on the original schedule*)

• Rough Draft due Tuesday, 11/17 by 11:59 PM.
• Final Draft due Tuesday, 11/24 by 11:59 PM.

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