Desiree’s Baby

Option 1: How I Learned To Read

Frederick Douglass’s essay is a chapter from his autobiography, a celebrated piece of American literature and probably the greatest example of a grim genre known as “Slave Narratives,” in which people who lived as slaves recount their experiences, either firsthand or having told the details to someone else who then wrote them down. Most such slave narratives date from the 18th and 19th centuries, the period from when the slave trade was at its zenith to when it ultimately ended. A close, thoughtful reading of this excerpt should enlighten you further to the brutal experience of black men and women who lived under slavery in the Americas before the 20th century, the United States in particular.

Consider the analytical comments at the very end of the Douglass essay and, adhering to the general D-Board protocol, answer one or more of these points:

• Demonstrate what methods Douglass resorts to in his quest for the ability to read and write. Give at least three examples of the actions he takes, or considers taking, and explain why.
• Explain the progression of his mental state as his self-awareness grows.
• Discuss the issues/concepts/themes that his experience raises (i.e., slavery, justice, freedom, friendship).
• You may also tie this into the life of Olaudah Equiano, whose own slave narrative, a different experience but no less appalling and dehumanizing, is summarized in his autobiographical entry (see module 1b).

Option 2: Amistad / Middle Passage / The Sorrow Songs

Having viewed the Steven Spielberg film and read the Robert Hayden poem and the W.E.B. Du Bois excerpt (and the Eric Foner essay for accuracy), consider two or more of these points. You must make at least two connections to details in Hayden and Dubois, using relevant quotes to illustrate your points. The historical details and images concerning the slave trade will prove useful here (see the first slideshow in 1a).

• How does the Amistad trial, in John Quincy Adams’s words, pave the way for “the last battle of the American revolution?”
• What cultural parallels or contrasts are made between the American-European and African worlds? What scenes stand out for you in the film, and why? Discuss two or three illustrations, at least.
• Consider what the circumstances of the African rebels say in relation to America at the time. How can their defenders argue for their freedom in the context of a world that considers them less than human, or at least too uncivilized to make their own decisions?
• Also, as Baldwin attempts, how would you explain to an outsider the court system, with all its complexities (appeals, counter-appeals).

Option 3: Desiree’s Baby

Kate Chopin was an important Southern writer in the late 19th century (le fin de siècle, as the French call it), whose style is an example of what’s called regional realism, for its accurate portrayal of the Creole culture of Louisiana in particular. Chopin would endure professional and personal scandal and was largely forgotten until her proto-feminist novel The Awakening was rediscovered in the late 20th century, bringing her fleshed-out, psychologically convincing characters, with their rich historical settings, to new life and a new readership. Both the novel and short stories like “The Storm,” “Story Of An Hour,” and “Desiree’s Baby” are surprisingly modern in their attitudes towards marital relationships, sexuality, and infidelity in particular.

“Desiree’s Baby” dramatizes the impact of slavery and miscegenation (interracial sexual relationships), and with bitter irony, mocks the cruelty and utter ridiculousness of racism. Irony means a reversal of expectations, when the result is opposite of what was intended or attempted, as is clearly the case in the tragic story’s final twist. Pudd’nhead Wilson, an 1894 novel by the great satirist and fellow regional realist Mark Twain, uses a loosely similar premise and Southern historical setting to achieve that same kind of mocking moral lesson about the evils of slavery and racism.

For Option 3, answer A and/or B:

A) Consider one or more of the ways that race and racism drive the plot (story) and themes (big ideas):

• i.e., a marriage ruined and lives lost because of racist attitudes and assumptions
• the social and material difficulties of having/being a biracial child
• the racist fear of having married a person who is unknowingly/secretly someone you (or Desiree’s husband, in this case) have been taught to despise

B) Consider whether the content of the story, or how it impacts you upon reading it, is in any way affected by the fact that it comes from the highly respected pen of a white woman writing over 100 years ago.

Option 4: Minstrelsy (proto-Blues)

Minstrelsy originally referred to black and, later, white performers in the late 19th century deliberately exaggerating racial characteristics and mannerisms (clothing, facial make-up) as part of a stage performance, because white audiences decidedly liked black music even if they held racist attitudes towards black people. This practice (also called “blackface”) continued in cinema and theater well into the 20th century. More recently, the term has also been applied to recorded music (unfairly, perhaps), with African-American performers supposedly playing up their “blackness” to appeal to a white audience or, conversely, with white musicians accused of cultural appropriation by playing “black” music (i.e., blues, rap, R & B).

See Francis Davis 36-38 for his observations on the topic. Then, with those definitions in minds, see the second slideshow in 1b and consider the editorial cartoon in a response that answers two (or more) of these questions:

• Is rap’s appeal to a suburban white audience any different than minstrelsy’s popularity back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
• How is it that “blackface” was an acceptable part of an performer’s repertoire until well past the mid-20th century?
• Note that the editorial cartoon is dated 2005. Has Black America made any social progress since then in the entertainment world?
• How has the renewed focus on issues of race, the “racial reckoning” of 2020/21, changed anything, in your opinion?
  • • Give some thought to at least one of these films (Blazing Saddles, White Christmas, Song Of the South, Bamboozled), all of which have elements of minstrelsy — though in some cases clearly meant satirically.