Browsing by Author "Grogan, Christine"
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Item Authoring America: A Survey of American Literature from the Beginnings to 2020: An Open Anthology(University of Delaware Open and Affordable Teaching Materials Initiative, 2021-10-20) Grogan, ChristineAuthoring America: A Survey of American Literature from Its Beginnings to 2020 is a five-volume, completely-open anthology that features full text by over 100 authors. From Native American tales of origins to the latest poem read at a presidential inauguration, the selections represent the diverse voices in American literature. This anthology charts the development of the literary production in the United States, highlighting the writers who influenced and authored American letters.Item Kay Boyle and the “Jewel of Inconsistencies”(ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, 2022-02-08) Grogan, ChristineAfter Katherine Anne Porter declined the invitation, Kay Boyle taught a six-week summer course at the University of Delaware in 1957. It was her first academic job, awarded in part because of her success as a lecturer at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. The summer course at UD was designed to teach the history of the short story to teachers of English. Boyle wrote that she “desperately” needed the money ($2,000) but that she wasn’t too keen on the New Critical approach to analyzing literature that was in vogue (Spanier, Life in Letters 532). This formalist theory focused strictly on the text, neglecting the rich context that produced the work. What Boyle referred to as “this ghastly course at the University of Delaware” proved troublesome (Spanier, Life in Letters 530) – and it was not just because literary criticism tortured poor short stories, as Boyle worded it in a letter to Porter (Alvarez par. 7). Despite, or perhaps because of, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, racism was rampant in Delaware. This paper explores the context of her 1965 “One Sunny Morning,” Boyle’s story written about her time in Delaware, which markedly departs from her earlier ones about race. It argues that Boyle’s short time in the First State was instrumental in defining her views of black-white race relations and involvement in the fight for civil rights, serving as the basis for her only short story that offers an antidote to racism.