Narrative of ex-slave to be freshmen text

A University committee has selected the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, as the text for next year's Penn Reading Project, officials announced yesterday. Over this summer, each member of the class of 1996 will receive a copy of the autobiography, which chronicles the slave life of the legendary black abolitionist. The incoming freshmen will participate in one of a number of small discussion seminars with faculty members during Freshman Orientation. In addition, certain American history professors, including President Sheldon Hackney, were asked to serve as "lead faculty" and will teach other University professors how to teach the text. Earlier this year, the Text Selection Committee had asked for suggestions from members of the University about what text should be used. The committee, which consisted of faculty from the four undergraduate schools and one undergraduate student, eventually narrowed the field down to seven finalists: Bertolt Brecht's Galileo, Albert Camus's The Stranger, Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior, Lao Tzu's Tao te Ching, Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, Ezekiel Mphalele's "The Living and the Dead" and Douglass' autobiography. The committee then chose from two books -- Death in Venice and Douglass' autobiography. Faculty members lauded the book's selection yesterday. "It's an excellent choice of a text," History Undergraduate Chairperson Robert Engs said. "While it's specifically about an escaped African-American slave, it has a common and universal theme about what freedom means and about what denying that freedom means." "[The book] speaks to a broad audience. I think it's a great choice," Engs added. "When [other faculty] ask me [to lead student discussion groups,] I'm sure I'll do it." And History Professor Drew Faust said the book is "a wonderful choice." "It's a book that raises all kinds of questions about American history, American identity, and American literary and historical traditions," Faust said. Jonathan Pitt, a College sophomore who is both a Steering member of the the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education and the Text Selection Committee also praised the choice of the narrative. "It's a really beautiful work," Pitt said. "I think it's a canonical work which allows for a great deal of debate on a number of issues." Last year, the Penn Reading Project was inaugurated with Euripides' The Bacchae, which was sent to all members of the Class of 1995. During Freshman Orientation, the new students met in small groups with faculty members to discuss the play. Administrators said they started the program to give all freshmen the common experience of sharing a work with a universal theme. Students applauded the selection of Douglass' autobiography yesterday. "I think it's better [than The Bacchae]," College freshman Scott Litman said. "The autobiography is pretty good. It should be more interesting." "It would probably be a good prelude to a course like the American South," Litman added. "And it's something that everyone should have a bit of a background in. [The book] should make discussion a little easier." "It's a good book for [the freshmen] to read and it's not too long that they would be turned off right away," College sophomore Kaplan Mobray said. "I think this book is good because it's a powerful and concise narrative of struggle and success which is also analogous to students' experiences at Penn." "It's an effective precursor to the diversity program they have during the first week," added Mobray, Black Student League vice president. But some freshmen said they did not read The Bacchae and did not think the program was a useful introduction to the University. "I guess originally I was put off because we had gotten homework before school even started," Wharton freshman Scott Pearl said. "To tell you the truth, I didn't even read it. I personally don't know anyone who read it. I think if you want to do something the first week, more emphasis should be placed on the diversity workshop."