What ideas can I write about the difference between African- American Literature and American Literature?

I think that this is a really excellent topic.  There will
have to be much in the way of research and analysis present here.  In my mind, I feel
that the most pressing difference between both sets of literature is the presence of
race and how this factor helps in the social construction of identity.  I would examine
some of the writings of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.  He has spent a great deal of time
exploring the foundational elements of African- American literature.  I think that your
essay should spend some time assessing Gates' analysis and also delve into how race and
identity are specifically powerful to African- American literature.  It might be so
important to the discussion of how it differs from traditional American Literature
because what it means to be "different" is an element that is so unknown and so vast. 
The experience of being "different" is a part of the African- American literature
dialogue specifically because it is not part of the dialogue of mainstream American
Literature.  While much of American Literature does discuss individuality and seeing
things in a different light, African- American literature deals specifically with what
happens when this is socially, economically, politically, and psychologically
reinforced.