Mbalia, Doreatha D. : University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Lee, Margaret G. : Hampton University
Preface
Heritage collection of fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction by and about African Americans, a writing text,
designed to appeal to writers who are interested in African American culture and the extent to which it touches
every facet of American society. This second edition further emphasizes that African American culture is not monolithic;
we have chosen in this edition a wide range of subjects that reflect this cultural diversity. We believe that thought-provoking
writing is often the result of an inspired beginning; therefore, we have again selected readings for their use
as models, but more importantly, for their potential to touch the soul of the reader.
However, we provide students with more than inviting selections. This edition continues the goal of the first
edition by being an excellent writing guide, while integrating reading and writing throughout the text. This edition
includes a broader range of engaging selections, each followed by probing questions and stimulating writing assignments.
We strive to illustrate the beauty and power of the canon and believe in the importance of motivating students,
through their written discourse, to discover the in individual, yet universal significance of the literature.
Heritage continues to focus on the quality of writing rather than just form. It is designed to help students
write more substantively, not by presenting superficial topics, but by allowing students to use interesting, provocative,
and diverse readings as springboards for exploring meaningful issues and for developing their own voice. This new
edition of Heritage reflects our belief that writing is a means through which students discover more about themselves
and the world. This collection of readings has been chosen with writers and readers in mind, with consideration
given to interest level, vocabulary, length, readability, as well as to intrinsic literary value.
ORGANIZATION AND NEW FEATURES Part I: Understanding the Writing Process
Heritage is divided into two parts. Part I, "Understanding the Writing Process," continues to focus
on the stages of writing. An overview of writing and a writing inventory are designed to help students to understand
writing and their own writing habits and preferences. Writing as a process is illustrated in various stages from
paragraph to essay. Chapters 1 through 3, the writing chapters, have been revised to make explanations more comprehensive,
precise, and clear, and to put greater emphasis on the writing process. In this regard, more attention has been
given to pre-writing and organizational strategies (Chapter 1); tips for composing on the computer and selecting
a title (Chapter 2); and a broader view of revising and editing (Chapter 3).
New Chapter: Writing About Literature
New to this edition is Chapter 4, "Writing About Literature," designed to provide an introduction
to literary analysis. This chapter includes observations and discussions on aspects of literary analysis, followed
by sample first and final drafts of a literary essay. A checklist for reading and writing about literature provides
guidelines and strategies with emphasis on the writing process. This chapter complements the list of Literary and
Writing Terms in the back of the text.
The Readings
In Part II, Chapters 5 through 22 consist of the actual readings, presented under eighteen different themes
representing diverse aspects of African American history, culture, life, and thought. Over thirty new readings
have been added to this part, including essays, articles, short stories, and poetry, selected to appeal to various
reading and writing interests. These readings consist of both professional and student work. Consideration continues
to be given to gender, generational, and philosophical diversity. Each reading is introduced with a biographical
sketch of the author and definitions of potentially difficult terms. At the end of the selection, the reader will
find discussion questions and suggested writing assignments, designed to stimulate critical thinking and writing.
Discussion questions and writing assignments for many of the readings retained from the first edition have been
revised for this purpose. At the end of Part II, is Chapter 23, "Supplemental Readings," which offers
more in-depth and challenging selections. Four new readings can be found in this chapter.
Literary and Writing Terms List
At the end of the text, the list of Literary and Writing Terms remains from the first edition. The Suggested
Bibliography and the Video List to Supplement Readings, both from the first edition, have been expanded to include
additional and more recent sources that can be used to complement and supplement reading selections. New to this
edition is a Glossary of Grammatical Terms to complement Chapter 3, "Revising and Editing."
Online Instructor's Manual
An Online Instructor's Manual, which contains answers to discussion questions, is available on-line at www.prenhall.com/english.
Contact your local Prentice Hall representative or call (800) 526-0485 for a user name and password to the site.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to thank the following individuals: Craig Campanella, Prentice Hall English editor; Jill Dougan, permissions
editor; Alison Gnerre and Frances Russello, production editors; and Brenda Hunter, production manager at' Publications
Development Company, for their guidance and encouragement throughout the revision of this text; Valerie Sweeney
Prince for her contribution to Chapter 4; our students, with whom we worked and through whom we were inspired for
permitting us to use their compositions; and the following reviewers for their sound advice: Robin Benny, Chicago
State University; Lee McKnight, Stillman College; Alosi J. M. Moloi, California State University-Long Beach; Linda
Ballard, Norwalk Community Technical College; Jennifer Blackman, San Jose State University.
Summary
For developmental courses in reading and writing; and for any level courses in Humanities, Literature, African-American
Literature, and African-American Studies.
Unique in its perspective and range, this developmental reader uses diverse essays, short stories, poems and plays
by and about African Americans to stimulate student critical reading, thinking, discussion, and writing. It first
provides a comprehensive process-oriented writing guide, and then offers a diverse collection of readings that
provide models and reflect the rich heritage of African American culture. The readings explore 18 themes and will
appeal to a broad spectrum of students�both traditional and non-traditional.
Features :
NEW�27 new readings�Includes works from Queen Latifah; Gloria Naylor; Alice Walker; W.E.B. DuBois; and Maya
Angelou.
Presents students with a greater variety of authors and points of view to read and respond to.
A process-oriented approach to writing�Features early chapters on planning, writing, and revising and editing.
Provides students with a thorough introduction to the writing process�which they can carry with them throughout
the course, and illustrates writing-in-progress by tracing a topic from the pre-writing stage through the revision
stage.
A combination of professional works and student essays.
Gives students the opportunity to follow professional models, while also allowing them to learn from other
students' writing.
Readings arranged according to level difficulty�From least to more difficult reading level.
Meets the needs of students who are beginning writers without being too difficult or too simplistic. Allows
instructors the chance to assign the readings that will be most effective for their students by choosing the readings
either at the beginning of the chapter or at the end.
A section of longer and more challenging supplementary readings�At the end of text.
Offers students a chance to take their reading to the next level�with readings similar to those they will see
in Freshman Composition.
A brief biographical sketch of the author�Introduces each reading.
Highlights information about the author and enables students to get the most out of each selection.
Selected vocabulary words�Defined at the beginning of each reading.
Provides students with an understanding of unfamiliar words without interrupting the flow of the literary text.
Comprehension/discussion questions and writing assignments�Follows each reading.
Helps students develop critical reading and discussion skills and express their own ideas related to readings,
both orally and in writing.
Table of Contents
I. UNDERSTANDING THE WRITING PROCESS 1. Planning Writing
2. Writing the First Draft
3. Revising and Editing
II. THEMATIC CONTENTS
4. Slavery
How Buck Won His Freedom, (Anonymous)
Bury Me in a Free Land, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
How a Slave Was Made a Man, Frederick Douglass
On Being Brought from Africa to America, Phyllis Wheatley
Student Essay: Fruits of Labor, Fruits of Sorrow, Fruits of Love, Hakimah Alim Gregory
5. African American Women
I Am a Black Woman, Mari Evans
Those �Super Strong� Black Women, Tansey Thomas
From Angela Davis: An Autobiography, Joy James
Spirit of March Must Be Kept Alive, Margaret G
Lee
Student Essay: Islam and African American Women, Vernell Mundadi
6. African American MenA Fling on the Track, Bill Cosby
Blacks in Vietnam, Robert Mullen
Black Men and Public Space, Brent Staples
Respect on the Streets, Elijah Anderson
Student Essay: Are Black Males Becoming an Endangered Species?, Dwayne Griffin
7. Childhood/Adolescence/Growing Up
Alice, Paulette Childress White
Living Jim Crow, Richard Wright
Marguerite's Graduation, Maya Angelou
Finishing School, Maya Angelou
Girl, Jamaica Kincaid
Student Essay: Stone City, Jerome Mason
8. Family
Mother to Son, Langston Hughes
Such a Paradise That I Lived, Jamaica Kincaid
Those Winter Sundays, Robert Hayden
Dear Mama, Wanda Coleman
Student Essay: The Positive Environment in Black Female-Headed Families, Camille Gray
9. Male-Female Relationships
A Summer Tragedy, Arna Bontemps
Just Don't Never Give Up on Love, Sonia Sanchez
What Black Women Really Want from Black Men, Walter Leavy
Romance 101, Laura B
Randolph
Student Essay: Positive Affirmations Among African American Men and Women, Jason Orr
10. Civil Rights
Working For SNCC, David Rubell
Emmett Till Is Dead, Anne Moody
Howard University: A Rude Awakening, Cleveland Sellers
Student Essay: The Criminal Justice System and Poor Blacks, Marshall Mercy
11. Freedom/Equality/Unity/Protest
Freedom, Joyce M
Jarrett
We Wear the Mask, Paul Laurence Dunbar
If We Must Die, Claude McKay
The Rap on Frederick Douglass, Roger Guenvuer Smith
Student Essay: U.N.I.T.Y., Queen Latifah
12. Arts/Science/Media
The Slave Inventor, Portia James
Are Blacks Giving Away the Blues?, Joy Bennett Kinnon
Portrait of Harlem, Eric J
Sundquist
13. Religion/Church
Salvation, Langston Hughes
The Creation, James Weldon Johnson
The Dynamic Tension in the Black Church, Michael A
Battle, Sr
Student Essay: The Tradition of IFA, Karl Nichols
14. Heritage/Identity
To Know One's History Is to Know Oneself, John Henrik Clarke
Kunta Kinte Is Born, Alex Haley
To Those of My Sisters Who Kept Their Naturals, Gwendolyn Brooks
My Blackness Is the Beauty of This Land, Lance Jeffers
From �I Get On The Bus,� Reginald McKnight
Student Essay: Kwanzaa: An African American Holiday, William Weir
15. Reading/Writing/Education
Discovering the Writer in Me, Terry McMillan
Send Your Children to the Libraries, Arthur Ashe
My Self-Education, Malcolm X
Bringing Technology Home: Access for the African American Community, Grady Wells
Student Essay: Public Schools for African American Males: Are They Necessary?, Byron T
Thompson
16. Political Philosophies
Atlanta Exposition Address, Booker T
Washington
Garvey Speaks at Madison Square Garden, Marcus Garvey
Becoming a Republican, Tony Brown
Double Consciousness, W.E.B. DuBois
Student Essay: The Black Panther Party, Khadijah A. Mayo
17. Black Dialect/Language
African American Youth Resist Standard English, Felicia R
Lee
BlackTalk, Geneva Smitherman
If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?, James Baldwin
Mommy, What Does Nigger Mean?, Gloria Naylor
Student Essay: The Question of Name: African or African American?, Cyril Austin Greene
18. Folklore
I Get Born, Zora Neale Hurston
Student Essay: Folktales: An African American Treasure, Elizabeth Mitchell
19. Racism/Discrimination
Incident, Countee Cullen
A Difference of Opinion, Toni Morrison
For My People, Margaret Walker
My Life in Black And White, Pauli Murray
The Sound of Freedom: Jazz and the Cold War: Part One: The Trick Bag, Elliott Bratton
Driving While Black, Joy Bennett Kinnon
Sometimes, Symbols Don't Symbolize Much of Anything, William Raspberry
20. Interracial Relationships
Becky, Jean Toomer
Betrayal?, Why Black Men Date White Women, Bebe Moore Campbell
What's American About America?, Ishmael Reed
Why I Married a White Man, Myrna Cook
Color Me Real, California J
Cooper
Student Essay: Society Rejects Mixed Children, Mia Elliott
21. Interracial Prejudice
If You're Light and Have Long Hair, Gwendolyn Brooks
The Revolt of the Evil Fairies, Ted Poston
Debut, Kristin Hunter
Student Essay: Black Is Beautiful � All Shades, Andrea Providence Robinson
22. Supplemental Readings
Education and Work, W.E.B. DuBois
Don't Let Them See You Cry, Elizabeth Eckford
The Debate Has Been Miscast, Henry Louis Gates
Cowards from the Colleges, Langston Hughes
When the Paranoids Turn Out to Be Right, Brent Staples
Am I Blue?, Alice Walker
Student Essay: Female Genital Mutilation and Castration, Anika Yetunde
