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The influence of blues lyrics on artists in other genres. How blues lyrics operate autobiographically to convey the hardships of African Americans in the South. The vernacular songs of Charley Patton and the literary work of the novelist Richard Wright and the poet Etheridge Knight. Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and how the blues nurtured a sense of community in industrialized urban areas through performance. The blues as poetry in the songs of Robert Johnson. The 1920s music of Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and Bessie Smith as a source for understanding the histories of black working-class women.
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