English 2025: Introduction to Fiction

This class will focus on Louisiana's diverse and unique cultural history as represented both in literature and in collected oral histories. One purpose of the class is to serve as a tribute to that rich history as seen through the eyes of the authors, the characters to whom they have given life, and the people who have actually lived it. By connecting the literature to the oral histories, students will be able to put a human touch on the literature by engaging with real lives that they can compare with the fictional ones and by comparing the themes and issues present in the fiction to themes and issues in past and present life. Class discussion will address such issues as slavery, class distinction within African-American, Cajun, and Creole cultures, and change effected through civic action. We will examine various cultures, their interrelated struggles, triumphs, and contributions, as we look objectively at a past we are not always proud of but that deserves to be remembered as shaping our present and certainly as impacting the larger US culture.

The Service-Learning component of this course will consist of using existing collected oral histories from Old South Baton Rouge and creating interactive Power Point Presentations to present to social studies students at McKinley High School and projected to be housed at Carver Library for the larger community to access.