Final Exam Study Guide

CORRECTION: I accidentally uploaded Adrian Piper's Cornered when I meant to upload the episode of In Living Color.  I just fixed that issue.

The final exam will be Thursday, December 6, from 9:00-11:00 AM.  The exam will cover the introduction and chapters 1-7 of Black Art: A Cultural History and this  is how it will be constructed:

• 1 essay question comparing and contrasting two videos from class worth 15 points.
• 25 vocabulary terms (match the term to its definition) worth 1 point each.
• 40 multiple choice questions worth 1 point each
• 1 essay question focusing on conversations and/or lectures we've had in class  worth 20 points.

For the first essay question, we will watch two short clips that you have seen in class and then you will be asked to write a short compare & contrast essay.  The question will be phrased as follows:

• Identify the sources of the clips you have just seen (title, artist/director, and date).  Then compare and contrast these two video clips.  What is the historical/cultural/artistic importance of each video clip that was discussed in class or found in the book?  What similarities do you see in these two videos?  How do these two video clips relate to one another?

I will choose the two videos from the following six:

 Cakewalk

The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company

1903

 Sur un Air de Charleston 

Directed by Jean Renoir

1926

 Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar Acceptance Speech

Hattie McDaniel

1940

 Foxy Brown

Jack Hill

1974

In Living Color: Introducing Homie D. Clown
Damon Wayans
June 17, 1990

Bigger & Blacker

Chris Rock

1999

The 20 vocabulary terms will be pulled directly from the "Terms Of The Day" lists I have given you at the beginning of each class period. Study these lists well enough to be able to match each term on the left side of the page with its particular definition on the right side of the page.

The 40 multiple choice questions come from both the class lectures and from the book. There will be a few questions on the test that we never addressed in class; they come directly from the book.  The questions in this section will range from those that test how well you understand the definitions of terms to questions about specific artworks that you have seen, to questions about the cultural, religious, and political environments that contributed to the work.

Let me give you four example questions (yes, these will be on the test just as you see them here):

By the early 1900s, many traditions of African American culture were becoming a part of popular culture.  Among these traditions were ragtime music, _______________, religious oration, and the “the cakewalk”.

A. Hip-Hop

B. Negro spirituals

C. Funk music

D. None of the above

The New Negro Arts Movement was inspired greatly by which New York civil rights activists who pressured young black artists to create a new "black aesthetic" that would serve to “uplift” the race
A. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X

B. Booker T. Washinton and Frederick Douglas

C. Susan B. Anthony and Helen Keller

D. W.E.B. DuBois and Alain Locke

Jeff Donaldson and Jae Jerrell were members of what organization whichs pecifically took on the goal of creating a new revolutionary black aesthetic?

A. The Washington Color School

B. AfriCOBRA

C. Spiral

D. The Black Panthers

The best advice I can give you on how to study for this portion of the exam is to comb through all your notes you've taken in class, remind yourself of all the main concepts you've learned, familiarize yourself with all the "Terms Of The Day," and to make sure you have read the material in the book. Pay special attention to how each artwork serves as an example to illustrate a concept. Don't just depend on what I have told you in class. Yes, 80% of these questions will come directly from lecture. But you don't want to be thrown off by the questions that are based on the book alone.

The second essay topic focusing on conversations we had in class will require you to write a paragraph or two in response and will be chosen from the three topics listed below:

1. What is "double consciousness"?  Who was the Harlem Renaissance leader who developed the concept of double consciousness?  Name at least two works of art/music/film/performance (from any time period we have discussed) and tell how you see the concept of double consciousness displayed in those works.
2. When speaking of darkey iconography and stereotypes of African American women, what is the "Jezebel Archetype"?  Name three female artists/performers who have addressed the Jezebel Archetype in their work.  Remember that the "Hottentot Venus" was viewed as a Jezebel.  How did each woman appropriate the Jezebel Archetype and for what purpose?
3. Much of African American art of the 20th century after 1940 is created in reaction to many of the expectations or "rules" placed on artists during the Harlem Renaissance.  Name at least three of these "rules" that we discussed in class and explain how these rules were broken by these groups: African American Abstract Expressionists, AfriCOBRA, and African American Postmodernists of the 1980s.

The best way to study for this essay is to carefully read each of these questions and think about what you might write in response.  Each of them is based on lectures or a group discussion from class, but they are phrased to make you think critically about certain concepts. This is meant to test how well you have been paying attention to the concepts you've been learning in this class. If you understand the topics and concepts we've been going over in class well enough to apply them to questions that were never directly asked in class, then you have made good use of your time in this class. Consult your notes and the book.  Maybe practice what you would write for each question.

Study hard, and good luck to everyone. If you have taken good notes, if you have read the chapters, and if you have spent some time really trying to understand the "Terms Of The Day" then this exam shouldn't be difficult for you.