The assignment for Monday has two parts. You should read chs. 1, 2, and 10 of The Souls of Black Folk (with an emphasis on ch. 10), and you should listen to the musical selections for this part of the course on the Virtual Media Reserve.
• You will find discussion questions for ch. 1 in the readings book. Among other things, they call your attention to some ideas that Du Bois introduces there that will be useful for thinking about not only the later chapters of Du Bois but also many other things in the module.
• Ch. 2 is a historical discussion of the period towards the end of and immediately after the Civil War focusing on the Freedmen's Bureau, which had the task of resettling recently freed slaves. What sorts of things were required beyond the legal abolition of slavery in order to create a functioning society without this institution? How much progress was in fact made, and how much was left undone? (The first sentence of the chapter is important enough that it has often been assigned in years when the chapter as a whole wasn't.)
• Ch. 10 is an account of African-American religious institutions that, toward its end, turns to a discussion of what Du Bois calls “two extreme types of ethical attitude” (p. 225). Look for both what Du Bois has to say about the character and role of religion and churches over time and his characterization of these two attitudes.
• On the VMR, you may find two different links to C&T material. This assignment can be found in each, labeled “D. Aspects of African American Experience Part I: From Slavery Through the 19th Century” (scroll to the bottom of the page). There are seven selections, three from a collection of “Shouts and Early Spirituals” and four examples of spirituals from the “Concert Tradition.” Of course, listen to the music; but pay attention to the words, too. You will find texts for some of these songs in the readings book.
• Each chapter of The Souls of Black Folk begins with a quotation of poetry (from a variety of sources) and a few bars of a spiritual. The spirituals quoted at the beginning of chs. 1, 2, and 10 are all well known; but, in case you are no better than I at recognizing tunes and remembering words, here are links for each of them. (Be sure to remove any line breaks or spaces in the addresses. The first two may be slow to load; if you aren't taken to the right place in the book, just go to the page shown at the end of the address.)
ch. 1 “Nobody know the trouble I've seen”
http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/armstrong/armstrong.html#ham181
ch. 2 “My Lord, what a morning”
http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/armstrong/armstrong.html#ham176
ch. 10 “Steal away”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/singers/sfeature/songs_steal_sheet.html
Of course, all three are related to ch. 10 in the way the selections on the VMR are, but they also have a connection with ch. 2 (specifically, two of the schools Du Bois mentions on p. 71). The first two are from a book about Hampton published in 1874; and the third is from the website of a PBS documentary on the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who began touring in 1871 to raise money for their school.
If you are curious about the spirituals heading other chapters (one of which you will read for Wednesday), here is a link to an on line version of The Souls of Black Folk that itself has links to words, music, and clips from performances: