Instructions

Students may present a reception history of any of Hurston’s texts discussed in class. Students must prepare a short post for our course website (HERE!), and provide a brief (10 minutes or less) presentation to the class. Visuals are welcome, but not required.

An analysis of the critical reception of a literary text is an analysis of how the work was received and assessed at the time of publication (initial and subsequent, if applicable). Such an assessment asks if the work was received favorably, criticized harshly, etc. by professional reviewers/critics and the general reading public.

Your primary goal is to answer the following questions: When the work first appeared, how was it received by readers and critics?  Where was it reviewed, and who reviewed it? If applicable, when was the novel published initially, when did printing cease, and when did printing resume? Other interesting things to consider include whether or not the text was a bestseller, if it was ever banned in schools,  and if reactions to the text changed over time.

**I highly recommend stopping by the reference desk on the first floor of the library for help with this assignment. They will be able to immediately point you to amazing resources both in print and online that will make this project a breeze for you.**