William Wells Brown

Read full-text books and articles on:

William Wells Brown

1.

Clotel or the President's Daughter
by William Wells Brown, Joan E. Cashin. 192 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

Originally published in 1853, Clotel is the first novel by an African American. William Wells Brown, a contemporary of Frederick Douglass, was well known for his abolitionist activities. In Clotel, the author focuses on the experiences of a slave woman: Brown treats the themes of gender, race, and slavery in distinctive ways, highlighting the mutability of identity as well as the absurdities and cruelties of slavery. The plot includes several mulatto characters, such as Clotel, who live on the margins of the black and white worlds, as well as a woman who dresses as a man to escape bondage; a white woman who is enslaved; and a famous white man who is mistaken for a mulatto. In her Introduction, scholar Joan E. Cashin highlights the most interesting features of this novel and its bold approach to gender and race relations. This volume, the latest in the American History Through Literature series, is suitable for a variety of undergraduate courses in American history, cultural history, women's studies, and slavery.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Series Foreword

Gender, Race, and Identity: an Introduction to William Wells Brown's Clotel

Notes

Preface

Chapter I the Negro Sale

Chapter II Going to the South

Chapter III the Negro Chase

Chapter IV the Quadroon's Home

Chapter V the Slave Market

Chapter VI the Religious Teacher

Chapter VII the Poor Whites, South

Chapter VIII the Separation

Chapter IX the Man of Honour

Chapter X the Young Christian

Chapter XI the Parson Poet

Chapter XII a Night in the Parson's Kitchen

Chapter XIII a Slave Hunting Parson

Chapter XIV a Free Woman Reduced to Slavery

Chapter XV To-Day a Mistress, To-Morrow a Slave

Chapter XVI Death of the Parson

Chapter XVII Retaliation

Chapter XVIII the Liberator

Chapter XIX Escape of Clotel

Chapter XX a True Democrat

Chapter XXI the Christian's Death

Chapter XXII a Ride in a Stage-Coach

Chapter XXIII Truth Stranger Than Fiction

Chapter XXIV the Arrest

Chapter XXV Death is Freedom

Chapter XXVI the Escape

Chapter XXVII the Mystery

Chapter XXVIII the Happy Meeting

Chapter XXIX Conclusion

Related Documents
2.

Resistance and Reformation in Nineteenth-Century African-American Literature: Brown, Wilson, Jacobs, Delany, Douglass, and Harper
by John Ernest. 272 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

An examination of how six prominent African-American writers of the nineteenth century reconfigured a threatening world.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1: The Profession of Authorship and the Cultural Text

2: God's Economy and Frado's Story

3: Reading the Fragments in the Fields of History

4: The White Gap and the Approaching Storm

5: The Education of Othello's Historian the Lives and Times of Frederick Douglass

6: Unsolved Mysteries and Emerging Histories

Epilogue

Notes

Works Cited

Index
3.

Where in the World Is William Wells Brown? Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and the DNA of African-American Literary History, in American Literary History
by Ann Ducille. 20 pgs.

Journal Article
4.

Clotel and the Historicity of the Anecdote, in MELUS
by Lee Schweninger. 16 pgs.

Journal Article
5.

The "Unguarded Expressions of the Feelings of the Negroes": Gender, Slave Resistance, and William Wells Brown's Revisions of 'Clotel,' in African American Review
by M. Giulia Fabi. 16 pgs.

Journal Article
6.

Cross-Dressing and Forgetfulness of Self in William Wells Brown's Clotel, in College Literature
by Michael Berthold. 11 pgs.

Journal Article
7.

Black American Prose Writers: Before the Harlem Renaissance ("William Wells Brown (c. 1814-1884)" begins on p. 10)
by Harold Bloom. 159 pgs.

Book

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Black American Prose Writers: Before the Harlem Renaissance

Contents

User's Guide

The Life of the Author

Introduction

William Stanley Braithwaite 1878-1962

William Wells Brown C. 1814-1884

Charles W. Chesnutt 1858-1932

Martin R. Delany 1812-1885

Frederick Douglass 1818-1895

W. E. B. Du Bois 1868-1963

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872-1906

Sutton E. Griggs 1872-1930

Pauline E. Hopkins 1859-1930

James Weldon Johnson 1871-1938

Oscar Micheaux 1884-1951

Frank J. Webb C. 1830-C. 1870

Harriet E. Wilson C. 1828-C. 1863
8.

Intimate and Authentic Economies: The American Self-Made Man from Douglass to Chaplin (Chap. 1 "Free Labor and Intimate Capital: The Postwar Autobiographies of Douglass, Brown, and Washington")
by Tom Nissley. 202 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

The story of the American self-made man carries a perennial interest in American literature and cultural studies. This book expands the study of such stories to include the writings of Frederick Douglass, Horatio Alger and James Weldon Johnson, and the work of silent comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. Thomas Nissley examines the number of texts, from Reconstruction-era autobiographies to the films of the 30s, to show the sustained market value of status and personal authenticity in the era of contract and free labour.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Alienable, Intimate, Authentic

Chapter 1: Free Labor and Intimate Capital

Chapter 2: The Nature Theater of Americana

Chapter 3: Racial Credit, White Money, and the Novel of Assimilative Lament

Chapter 4: The Reality Effect in the Film Machine

Notes

Bibliography

Index
9.

The Fugitive Race: Minority Writers Resisting Whiteness (Chap. 1 "Narrative Interruptions of Panic: Reverse Acculturation in the Early African American Fiction of William Wells Brown and Harriet Wilson")
by Stephen P. Knadler. 249 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

Stephen P. Knadler is an assistant professor of English at Spelman College.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Introduction: “fugitive Race” Culture

1: Reverse Acculturation in the Early African American Fiction of William Wells Brown and Harriet Wilson

2: Rebecca Harding Davis, the “civil-Izing War, ” and “female Racism”

3: The Missing Crimes of Neoabolitionist Rape Culture in Pauline Hopkins's Detective Histories

4: Younghill Kang and the Cosmopolitan Resistance to the White Logic of Naturalization

5: The Unrepresented in Abraham Cahan's and Mary Antin's Narratives of Americanization

6: Homosexualization and Racial Masculinity in White Life Novels

7: Arturo Islas's the Rain God

Coda: Anti-Racist Apartheid

Notes

Works Cited

Index
10.

Rethinking the Slave Narrative: Slave Marriage and the Narratives of Henry Bibb and William and Ellen Craft ("William Wells Brown and Clotel; or The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States" begins on p. 124)
by Charles J. Heglar. 171 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

The African American slave narrative is popularly viewed as the story of a lone male's flight from slavery to freedom, best exemplified by the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845). But in stressing Douglass's narrative as a model for the genre, scholars have ignored the formal and thematic importance of marriage and family in the slave narrative. This book examines the central role of marriage in The Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave (1849) and Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (1860). In doing so, the volume points to the influence of those narratives on the later fiction of Douglass, William Wells Brown, and Martin Delany, and invites a reexamination of current assumptions about slave narratives.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Acknowledgements

1: Introduction

2: The Slave Narrative Genre

Notes

3: The Narrative of Recursion: Slave Marriage and Henry Bibb

4: The Narrative of Collaboration: Slave Marriage and William and Ellen Craft

5: Antebellum African American Fiction

6: Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

About the Author
11.

The Negro Genius: A New Appraisal of the Achievement of the American Negro in Literature and the Fine Arts (Chap. II "The Era of Effort for Freedom- David Walker, James McCune Smith, Henry Highland Garnet, Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown")
by Benjamin Brawley. 370 pgs.

Book

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Preface

Contents

Illustrations

Introduction: the Negro Genius

I: The Pioneers Jupiter Hammon -- Phillis Wheatley -- Gustavus Vassa

II: The Era of Effort for Freedom David Walker -- James Mc Cune Smith -- Henry Highland Garnet -- Frederick Douglass -- William Wells Brown

III: Poetry and the Arts, 1830-1865 George Moses Horton -- Daniel A. Payne -- James Whitfield -- George B. Vashon -- James Madison Bell -- Early Artists -- the Stage: Ira B. Al Dridge -- Music: Justin Holland, Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, Thomas J. Bowers

IV: Literature, 1865-1890 Alexander Crummell -- George W. Williams -- Albery A. Whitman -- Frances E. W. Harper

V: Music and Art, 1865-1895 "Centennial Artists" -- Fisk Jubilee Singers -- "Blind Tom" -- the Hyers Sisters -- Marie Selika -- Flora Batson Bergen -- Sissieretta Jones

VI: The Maturing of Negro LIterature Charles W. Chesnutt -- Paul Laurence Dunbar -- Booker T. Washington -- Archibald H. GrimkÉ

VII: Music and Art, 1895-1920 Harry T. Burleigh -- Musical Comedy: Will Marion Cook and J. Rosamond Johnson -- Painting: Henry O. Tanner and William Edouard Scott -- Sculpture: Meta Warrick Fuller

VIII: Protest and VIndication W. E. Burghardt Dubois -- William Stanley Braithwaite -- James Weldon Johnson -- Leslie Pinckney Hill -- Alice Dunbar Nelson -- Georgia Douglas Johnson -- Walter White -- Jessie Fauset -- Countee Cullen -- Alain Locke

IX: The New Realists the Forerunners -- Claude Mckay -- Langston Hughes -- Eric Walrond -- Rudolph Fisher -- Sterling Brown -- Zora Neale Hurston -- Arna Bontemps

X: Drama and Stage, 1916-1936 Effort in the Drama: Willis Richardson and Randolph Edmonds -- Charles Gilpin -- Richard B. Harrison -- Rose Mcclendon -- Paul Robeson

XI: Music in Recent Years H. Lawrence Freeman -- Clarence Cameron White -- Nathaniel Dett -- William Grant Still -- William L. Dawson -- Roland Hayes -- Julius Bledsoe -- Marian Anderson

XII: The New Temper in Painting and Sculpture Archibald J. Motley, Jr. -- Aaron Douglas -- Richmond BarthÉ

Bibliography

Index
12.

African American Autobiographers: A Sourcebook ("William Wells Brown (1814-1884)" begins on p. 56)
by Emmanuel S. Nelson. 416 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

Chronicling the autobiographical tradition in African American literature from the 18th century to the present, this volume features 66 authors from Maya Angelou to Malcolm X. Alphabetized entries, written by expert contributors, include concise biographies, overviews of autobiographical works and themes, reviews of critical receptions, and bibliographies.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Preface

Elizabeth Laura Adams

Hilton Als

Maya Angelou

James Baldwin

Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones)

Henry Walton Bibb

Gwendolyn Brooks

Claude Brown

William Wells Brown

Leroy Eldridge Cleaver

Lucilee Clifton

Angela Yvonne Davis

Lucy A. Delaney

Samual R. Delany

Toi Derricotte

Frederick Douglass

W.E.B. Du Bois

Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson

Zilpha Elaw

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington

Olaudah Equiano

Julia A.J. Foote

Patrice Gaines

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Nikki Giovanni

Maria Golden

Richard "Dick" Claxton Gregory

Sutton Elbert Griggs

James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw

Juanita Harrison

Josiah Henson

Chester Bomar Hines

Bell Hooks

Langston Hughes

Zora Neale Hurston

Elizabeth Keckley

Jamaica Kincaid

Jarena Lee

Audre Geraldine Lorde

Malcom X

John Marrant

James McBride

Nathan J. McCall

Janet McDonald

Claude McKay

Anne Moody

Pauli Murray

Solomon Northup

Gwendolyn M. Parker

Eliza C. Potter

Nancy Gardner Prince

J. Saunders Redding

Sarah Rice

Eslanda Goode Robeson

George Samuel Schuyler

Maria Seacole

Brent Staples

Maria W. Stewart

Sojourner Truth

Nat Turner

Gloria Wade-Gayles

Alice Walker

Booker T. Washington

Ida B. Wells-Barnett

John Edgar Wideman

Harriet E. Wilson

Richard Wright

Selected Bibliography

Index

About the Editor and Contributors
13.

African American Authors, 1745-1945: Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook ("William Wells Brown (1814-1884)" begins on p. 64)
by Emmanuel S. Nelson. 528 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

There has been a dramatic resurgence of interest in early African American writing. The works of dozens of 18th and early 20th century black writers have been recovered and reprinted; there has been a significant revival of interest in the Harlem Renaissance; and several major assessments of 18th and 19th century African American literature have recently been published. This reference book provides alphabetically arranged entries for 78 African American writers active between 1745 and 1945. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and includes a biography, a discussion of major works and themes, a summary of the critical response to the author, and primary and secondary bibliographies. A selected, general bibliography concludes the volume.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Preface

Elizabeth Laura Adams (1909-?)

Bibliography

Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert (1853-1890 ?)

Bibliography

James Madison Bell (1826-1902)

Bibliography

Gwendolyn Bennett (1902-1981)

Henry Walton Bibb (1815-1854)

Marita Bonner (1898-1971)

Bibliography

Arna Bontemps (1902-1973)

Bibliography

William Stanley Braithwaite (1878-1962)

Bibliography

Claude Brown (1937- )

Bibliography

Sterling A. Brown (1901-1989)

Bibliography

William Wells Brown (1814-1884)

Bibliography

Charles Waddell Chesnutt (1858-1932)

Bibliography

Anna Julia Cooper (1858?-1964)

Bibliography

Countee Cullen (1903-1946)

Bibliography

Lucy A. Delaney (c. 1828-19??)

Bibliography

Martin Robinson Delany (1812-1885)

Bibliography

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)

Bibliography

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)

Bibliography

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

Bibliography

Alice Moore Dunbar- Nelson (1875-1935)

Bibliography

Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797)

Bibliography

Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882-1961)

Bibliography

Rudolph Fisher (1897-1934)

Bibliography

Sarah Lee Brown Fleming (1876-1963)

Bibliography

Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (1887-1940)

Edythe Mae Gordon (c. 1898-?)

Sutton E. Griggs (1872-1933)

Bibliography

Angelina Weld Grimké (1880-1958)

Bibliography

Charlotte Lottie Forten Grimé (1837-1914)

Bibliography

Briton Hammon (Late 1720s-?)

Bibliography

Jupitor Hammon (1711-1806?)

Bibliography

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)

Bibliography

Juanita Harrison (1891-?)

Bibliography

George Wylie Henderson (1904-1965)

Bibliography

Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins (1859-1930)

Bibliography

George Moses Horton (1797-1883?)

James H. W. Howard (1856-?)

Bibliography

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Bibliography

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)

Bibliography

Rebecca Cox Jackson (1795-1871)

Bibliography

Harriet Ann Jacobs (c. 1813-1897)

Bibliography

Amelia E. Johnson (1858-1922)

Bibliography

Georgia Douglas Johnson (18807-1966)

Bibliography

Helene Johnson (1906-1995)

Bibliography

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)

Bibliography

Elizabeth Keckley (1818/1819-1907)

Bibliography

Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins (?-?)

Bibliography

Nella Larsen (1891-1964)

Bibliography

Jarena Lee (1783-?)

Bibliography

Alain Locke (1886-1954)

Bibliography

John Marrant (1755-1791)

Bibliography

Claude McKay (1889-1948)

Bibliography

Richard Bruce Nugent (1906-1987)

Bibliography

Eliza C. Potter (1820-?)

Bibliography

Mary Prince (c. 1788-?)

Bibliography

Nancy Prince (1799-c. 1856)

Bibliography

Henrietta Cordelia Ray (c.1849-1916)

Bibliography

Mary Seacole (1805-1881)

Bibliography

Maria W. Stewart (1803-1879)

Bibliography

Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954)

Bibliography

Lucy Terry (c. 1730-1821)

Bibliography

Wallace Thurman (1902-1934)

Bibliography

Katherine Davis Chapman Tillman (1870-?)

Bibliography

Melvin Beaunorus Tolson (1898-1966)

Bibliography

Eugene (Jean) Pinchback Toomer (1894-1967)

Bibliography

Sojourner Truth (1797, 1800?-1883)

Bibliography

David Walker (1785-1830)

Bibliography

Eric Walrond (1898-1966)

Bibliography

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)

Bibliography

Frank Webb (?-?)

Bibliography

Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931)

Bibliography

Phillis Wheatley (1754-1784)

Bibliography

Walter White (1893-1955)

Bibliography

James Monroe Whitfield (1822-1871)

Bibliography

Albery Allson Whitman (1851-1901)

Bibliography

Harriet E. Wilson (1827?-1863?)

Bibliography

Richard Wright (1908-1960)

Bibliography

Zara Wright (?-?)

Bibliography

Selected Bibliography

Index

About the Editor and Contributors

Search the entire Questia Library for more on: William Wells Brown

View all books and articles on William Wells Brown

William Wells Brown - Related Topics

Visitors researching William Wells Brown also searched on:

Search the Library

Related Topics

Click here for more books and articles on William Wells Brown

Sponsored Links

Read more than 5,000 classic books FREE!

Back to top

Newsletter | Privacy Policy | User Agreements | Questia School | About Us | Advertise with Us | Contact | Tools for Webmasters | FREE BOOKS

© 2009 - Questia Media America, Inc. All rights reserved. All service marks and trademarks are property of
Questia Media and its affiliates. Any advertising or navigational links included on this site are not necessarily
endorsed by the publishers or content providers whose materials appear on this site.