Details of the Research Project: Home by Toni Morrison

To Do: Closely read Toni Morrison’s short novel Home and keep Dialectical Journals (I’ll explain and demonstrate this in class) using your chosen area of focus.

Choose one of the three approaches listed below and make it your own:

1)Analysis using Literary Theory: Are you interested in Intersectionality as a theory to apply to your analysis? What about Psychoanalytic Literary Theory? Critical Race Theory? Marxist Literary Theory? Feminist Theory?

Your initial research should be broad before you are in a position to narrow your focus. Consider starting with Wikipedia to learn about a few different kinds of literary theory. There are also helpful definitions in the back of our enormous textbook.

OR

2)Analysis using research into history: If applying a particular type of literary theory to your reading of Home feels too abstract or challenging, then you can focus your research on other areas that would help you to unpack key themes in the novel; for example, find information about how black veterans of the Korean War were integrated back into American society or research eugenics and medical experiments performed on African Americans in the time period when Home is set. Another option would be to combine research into both race and economic class in the 1950s – what were (are still?) hurdles to upward mobility for African Americans at that time; how did gender affect those opportunities?

OR

3) Analyze two or three themes of your choice that are woven through the novel. One example is the theme of home, another might be the theme of duty. You’ll have a better idea of themes that are meaningful to you after your first reading of the novel. Your choice of themes will guide the course your research takes.