Today, I will be posting some essays I've written recently about American literature. Later this week, I will try to post at least one book or story review a day. I hope you'll read and comment on at least one this week if you have the time; it will help me get a better grade. :-)

Here's an essay I wrote about James Baldwin and the concept that rather than being an unalloyed good, innocence is a way to further evil in the world:

( Something Left to Lose: The High Cost of Losing Innocence )

And here's the PDF of a photoessay I did for the same course, "James Baldwin in his own words."

The way I think this will work is I'll post each of my essays, lit reviews, or link lists under a cut, and tag the living daylights out of each, so that the collection can grow organically. I'm pondering how to best use tags (compound author:name tags, maybe?), so if you have suggestions, please pipe up. I want this to be pretty awesome in just ten weeks, so I'm open to tutelage.

First up is an essay I wrote for a Black Lit class about Harriet Jacobs, drawing on four articles about her work.

( Harriet Jacobs on the Authority of Black Women )