1) In the study of African-American literature, why is it important to pay close attention to the vernacular tradition of spirituals, songs, and folktales?
In the editors' introduction to spirituals, Gates and McKay state that the spirituals often work at multiple levels, offering "not just psychic escapes but veiled criticisms and calls for worldly attentiveness and direct action" (9). Evaluate "Go Down, Moses" (pp. 12-13) in light of this quotation.