Zamora-Melgoza: MLO4
MLO 4: Secondary Cultural Knowledge
While doing my undergraduate Spanish studies at CSUMB not only were I exposed to courses related to Spanish language studies but also to courses dealing with different cultures. The African-American culture is one that has always intrigued me and in order to fulfill not only my Secondary Cultural Knowledge but also my curiosity for the culture I decided to take HCOM 324, African-American Literature. Through this course that examines the development of African-American diaspora I was able to explore the role that the spreading of African and African-American literature and culture have had in the development of American mainstream literature, culture and identity. Here I learned racial and gender identity as well as about how African narratives evolved from vernacular spoken traditions that told the African-American experience to actual written literature. Some of the books that I read to gain knowledge about African American culture include: The Confessions of Nat Turner. By Nat Turner, The Souls of Black Folk. By W.E.B. Du Bois, Home to Harlem By Claude McKay, The Color Purple. By Alice Walker, Soledad Brother. By George Jackson and Carlos Aldama’s Life in Batá By Umi Vaughan. Reading this variety of books helped me to understand as well as to appreciate even more the African-American community and their traditions.
Work samples:
Home to harlem (essay)
Color of water (essay)
Color purple presentation (powerpoint)
While doing my undergraduate Spanish studies at CSUMB not only were I exposed to courses related to Spanish language studies but also to courses dealing with different cultures. The African-American culture is one that has always intrigued me and in order to fulfill not only my Secondary Cultural Knowledge but also my curiosity for the culture I decided to take HCOM 324, African-American Literature. Through this course that examines the development of African-American diaspora I was able to explore the role that the spreading of African and African-American literature and culture have had in the development of American mainstream literature, culture and identity. Here I learned racial and gender identity as well as about how African narratives evolved from vernacular spoken traditions that told the African-American experience to actual written literature. Some of the books that I read to gain knowledge about African American culture include: The Confessions of Nat Turner. By Nat Turner, The Souls of Black Folk. By W.E.B. Du Bois, Home to Harlem By Claude McKay, The Color Purple. By Alice Walker, Soledad Brother. By George Jackson and Carlos Aldama’s Life in Batá By Umi Vaughan. Reading this variety of books helped me to understand as well as to appreciate even more the African-American community and their traditions.
Work samples:
Home to harlem (essay)
Color of water (essay)
Color purple presentation (powerpoint)
