A representative selection for studying African American autobiography as a literary discipline is "A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South" by Anna Julia Cooper, published in 1892. As a literary form, the book is a series of eight essays: four essays about women and their relation to other groups or their place in the overall human community; and four essays that explore the economic, literary, political, and philosophical constructs that race can and does create. As a source of information, the book includes biographical data about the author, describes the historical period in which it was written, and provides information about classes of people. In giving writing assignments, teachers sometimes treat students as though they have no history and no culture. Autobiography, however, can serve as a form of empowerment for the individual and the group, and student writers need to know that it represents a collective experience. Whether used as a source of information or as a literary form, "A Voice from the South" would be appropriate in a variety of courses covering a variety of themes, including education reform, the family, employment, feminism, and the history of the African American woman. (Contains 22 references.) (RS)