-- Emma Goldman
The literature of this period is so rich and so challenging, that the toughest part of my job has been selecting texts. A look through any recent anthology would overwhelm you with names, dates, and facts, not only about the authors of the period, but also about the historical, intellectual, and cultural forces and movements which have come and gone, or come and lingered, mutated and then re-appeared in enriched, though also, occasionally, in more virulent, forms. In order to limit my selection of texts, and to add coherence to our approach to the literature, all of the books we will be reading focus in one way or another on the issue of coming to recognize what it means to be male or female in American society. Most of these books complicate that recognition with the additional shock of realizing what it means to be a person of color in 20th century America. Through this approach, I hope to introduce to you, in some depth, to several authors and to some of the most important ideas of this century. I'm looking forward working with you and to learning from you as we read and respond to the texts together.
We will rely on three basic methods of learning in this course. First, I will provide you with basic background information on the authors and their times through lectures. Second, we will spend time discussing the texts in class. This is an important part of the methodology of the class for me because I believe that knowledge is created as we work together, pooling our responses and shaping new ones as we take in new information. I don't believe that students are vessels into which knowledge is poured; rather, I believe that meaning emerges as we think and talk together, creating a shared understanding of the texts. Third and finally, we will do a lot of writing. Toby Fulwiler, a composition theorist, claims that writing is "an important index to intellectual thought and development." He believes that
The more people write, the better they learn; writing is the most powerful use of language for developing sustained critical thought; it helps people to visualize thought and therefore to modify, extend, develop, or criticize it. [And, he asserts that] the more that students write, the more active they become in creating their own education; writing frequently, for themselves as well as for their instructors, helps students discover, rehearse, express, extend, and develop their own ideas.
I agree with Fulwiler. In order to promote these learning goals, we'll write in response to the texts both in and out of class, both formally and informally.
You've got to come to class to do well in the class. In order to share your responses and to help us construct a shared meaning of the texts we'll read, you have to be here to participate in the discussions. However, because I realize that life is chaotic, everybody gets three free absences. After three, you lose a third of a letter grade for each absence. (That is, if you have a B for the class, but you've missed 5 classes, your final grade will be a C+.) You will also be penalized for coming into class late -- three "lates" equals one absence.
Not only do you have to show up; you also have to speak up. Your participation in discussions is important to me when I make decisions about grades. Have I heard your voice? How have your comments influenced other members of the class? The value of your participation is determined by 1) how much you say, 2) how thoughtful and useful your contributions are to others, 3) how carefully you listen to the contributions of others. Lack of participation or inappropriate, distracting participation can adversely affect your grade.
Late work will not be accepted. I'm adamant about this. There will be no exceptions to this rule. If you don't turn your work in on a day we're doing group work, life is miserable. I don't want to be miserable. So, if you don't have your work in your hand in class on the day we're going to be working with it, you don't get credit for it -- you will receive an "F" for that assignment. Do you work ahead of time. Print your essay or response out the night BEFORE it's due. Don't wait until the last minute to dash something off. Be sure you back up all the work you do on your computer, so that you have a copy on your hard drive and a copy on disk. I will not accept excuses of ANY sort - computer, printer, and disk problems included.
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Quizzes over the reading will be given as I find it necessary. The main way I deem necessity in these cases is by the lack of participation. I figure that if you aren't talking, it's because you haven't read the material. I give quizzes only to promote steady reading of the course materials. The average of all your quiz scores for the semester will equal 10% of your grade.
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Six 1-1/2 page, single-spaced, typed, essays, due approximately every other week. Each paper should have a clear and interesting point to make about the text under scrutiny. I do not want you to use the journals to summarize the texts. If I read your journals and all I find is summary, that journal will receive a failing grade. I do want you to use the journals to develop thoughtful and critical approaches to the books. Some questions you might answer in your journals include, but are not limited to the following:
The Due dates for the essays will revolve. I'll publish a schedule as soon as we know who's staying in the class and who's going. Each of the six journals you submit is worth 5% of your final grade.
Every so often I'll post a question for discussion in the class forum and you'll be responsible for accessing our class web page and posting a response to that question. I'll bring these responses into the class to help instigate in-class discussions. I'll announce the dates the questions will be posted in class. I'll also be available at certain times in the computer lab in the library to help you get started with this project. Participation in this on-line discussion is worth 10% of your grade.
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At midterm and at the end of the semester you'll read over your journals and the questions and answers on the on-line discussion site, you'll think about our in-class discussions and the lecture notes you've taken. Have you been thinking a lot about the different ways men and women authors portray characters in their texts? Have you been writing and thinking about how greed affects the American psyche? Have you been looking at race relationships in two or three of the texts? Have you been looking at dialect or language use in the texts? Have you noticed patterns of images in the texts? Have you been thinking about the structure of the poems or novels? Shape your thoughts from the journals into three questions. I will select two of those questions for you to answer on your exam. You will have one weekend to write the exam. We will share and discuss our answers with the class. Each exam is worth 15% of your final grade.
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You need to choose one author from the supplemental list, below, and read at least 50 pages of primary text by that author - a novel, a collection of poems or short stories or essays. You will put together a report about the author that you chose that includes the following "pieces:" 1) a photograph or two; 2) a quote that you think illustrates the main thought of their work; 3) a brief biography (1 page); 4) a summary of the work you read, followed by a brief critical analysis of that work which includes references to outside sources (3 pages); 5) a brief bibliography of important works about the author (use the PMLA bibliography for the last 5 years.) The research project is worth 20% of your final grade.
Crane, Stephen. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets.
Drieser, Theodore. Sister Carrie.
Hwang, David. M. Butterfly.
Larsen, Nella. Quicksand.
LeSeuer, Meridel. The Girl.
McClatchy, J. D. Ed. The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman.
Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony.
Viramontes, Helena Maria. The Moth and Other Stories.
| 8/19 | Introduction to each other and to the Period |
| 8/21 | Lecture -- Realism Read Chapters 1-6 of Sister Carrie Picture of Dreiser Sister Carrie -- On-Line Dreiser Forum and Discussion Group Info about Dreiser's song writing brother, Paul Dresser Another Paul Dresser Link (Thanks to Michelle Coats for these two links.) |
| 8/24 | Lecture -- Dreiser Read Chapters 7-18of Sister Carrie |
| 8/26 | Discussion Read Chapters 19-25 of Sister Carrie |
| 8/28 | First Journal Due Read Chapters 26-31 of Sister Carrie Post to Forum #1 |
| 8/31 | Lecture -- Drieser Read Chapters 27-37 of Sister Carrie |
| 9/02 | Discussion Read Chapters 38-43 of Sister Carrie |
| 9/04 | Second Journal Due Read to end of Sister Carrie Post to Forum #2 |
| 9/07 | Lecture -- Naturalism & Crane Read Introduction and Chapters 1-8 of Maggie a Girl of the Streets Stephen Crane Page Univ of Texas Stephen Crane Page Poems from TheBlack Riders War is Kind and other Lines |
| 9/09 | Discussion Finish Maggie a Girl of the Streets Post to Forum #3 |
| 9/11 | Third Journal Due Lecture -- Protest Literature Meridel LeSueur and a handful of others Read 1/3 of The Girl In Memoriam -- Meridel LeSueur LeSueur Page -- Biography LeSueur Page -- Bibliography LeSueur Links Below -- Thanks to Michelle Coats In Memorium ,Le Sueur on Writing as Political Action , Introduction to Better Red (Good background reading) |
| 9/14 | Discussion Read 1/3 of The Girl |
| 9/16 | Fourth Journal Due Read to the end of The Girl Post to Forum #4 |
| 9/18 | Lecture -- The Harlem Renaissance Read poetry by Langston Hughes -- Handout Biography , Poems , Poster , More Poems |
| 9/21 | Lecture -- Nella Larsen Read 1/2 of Quicksand Voices from the Gaps |
| 9/23 | Fifth Journal Due Finish Quicksand Post to Forun #5 |
| 9/25 | Conferences -- Questions Due |
| 9/28 | Conferences -- Questions Due |
| 9/30 | Read William Carlos Williams and Wallace Stevens- On Line Definition of Imagism Williams' Page , To Elsie , This is Just to Say , More Williams' Poems A Sheaf of Stevens' Poems , Stevens' Home Page Some Imagist images and a few Stevens' Quotes |
| 10/02 | Watch parts of Death of a Salesman |
| 10/05 | Exam Due -- In Class discussion |
| 10/07 | Lecture -- Arthur Miller & Modernism Read 1/2 of Death of a Salesman Concordance of the Play , Photo , Discussion Group Interview , Special Issue of American Drama |
| 10/09 | Sixth Journal Due Read to End of Death of a Salesman Post to Forum #6 |
| 10/12 | Fall Break |
| 10/14 | Read Bishop and Swensen Bishop site |
| 10/16 | Read Plath and Strand Post
to Forum #7 Complete List of Plath Links Review of Hughes' Birthday Letters Mark Strand's Home Page , A sheaf of Strand Poems |
| 10/19 | Seventh Journal Due Read Ginsberg Shadow Changes into Bone, Ginsberg: Ashes and Blues Beat Links , Howl + Photo |
| 10/21 | Read Kinnell and Snyder Brief Snyder Bio and Photo |
| 10/23 | Read Hayden, Lorde Post
to Forum #8 Those Winter Mornings -- Hayden Poem Voices from the Gaps , Lorde Biography , Lorde Photo and Quotes , Lorde Page |
| 10/26 | Eighth Journal Due Dove and Harper Michael S. Harper's Home Page Rita Dove page |
| 10/28 | Adrianne Rich |
| 10/30 | Joy Harjo Joy Harjo Page , Autobiography , Eagle , Grace , Javelina , Reconciliation, A Prayer , Sante Fe , September Moon , She Had Some Horses , Voices From the Gap |
| 11/02 | Ninth Journal Due |
| 11/04 | Lecture -- Postmodernism and Silko Read 1-84 of Ceremony Interview with Silko , Essay -- Fences Against Freedom, Essay -- In The Combat Zone Silko Page , Voices from the Gap |
| 11/06 | Discussion Read 88-178 of Ceremony |
| 11/09 | Tenth Journal Due Finish Ceremony |
| 11/11 | Lecture -- Hwang and Said A Bibliography , Synopsis of Madame Butterfly -- the opera Some Lecture Notes , Transcript of Hwang Speech Read first Act of M. Butterfly |
| 11/13 | Read to end of M. Butterfly |
| 11/16 | Eleventh Journal Due Post to Forum #9 |
| 11/18 | Lecture -- Latina(o) Literature Read Viramontes -- Intro, "The Moths," "Growing," and "Birthday" Interp. of Cariboo Cafe , Questions |
| 11/20 | Discussion Read "The Broken Web" and "The Cariboo Cafe" Conferences |
| 11/23 | Twelfth Journal due Post to Forum #10 Finish Viramontes Conferences |
| 11/25 | Thanksgiving |
| 11/27 | Thanksgiving |
| 11/30 | Presentations |
| 12/02 | Presentations |
| 12/04 | Presentations |
| 12/07 | 10:00 Exams Due |
Albee, Edward
Alvarez, Julia
Anaya, Rudolpho
Anderson, Sherwood
Antin, Mary
Ashberry, John
Austin, Mary
Baldwin, James
Bambara, Toni Cade
Barnes, Djuna
Barth, John
Bartheleme, Donald
Bellow, Saul
Bennett, Gwendolyn, B.
Bierce, Ambrose
Bogan, Louise
Bonnin, Gertrude
Bontemps, Arna
Bourne, Randolph
Boyle, Kay
Brooks, Gwendolyn
Cable, George Washington
Cahan, Abraham
Carver, Raymond
Cather, Willa
Cervantes, Lorna Dee
Chesnutt, Charles Waddell
Chopin, Kate
Cisneros, Sandra
Clemens, Samuel Langhorne
Clifton, Lucille
Cofer, Judith Ortiz
Crane, Hart
Creeley, Robert
Cruz, Victor Hernandez
Cullen, Countee
Cummings, E. E.
Davis, Rebecca Harding
Doolittle, H. D.
Dorris, Michael
DosPassos, John
Du Bois, W. E. B.
Dunbar, Paul Laurence
Eaton, Edith Maud
Eliot, T. S.
Ellison, Ralph
Erdrich, Louise
Evans, Mari
Faulkner, William
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence
Fitzgerald, Scott
Foote, Julia A. J.
Forche, Carolyn
Freeman, Mary E Wilkins
Frost, Robert
Garcia, Cristina
Garland, Hamlin
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
Glasgow, Ellen
Glaspell, Susan
Gold, Michael
Hansberry, Lorraine
Harris, Joel Chandler
Hellman, Lillian
Hemingway, Earnest
Herr, Michael
Hinojosa-Smith, Rolando
Hogan, Linda
Holley, Marietta
Hopkins, Pauline
Howells, William Dean
Hurston, Zora Neale
James, Henry
Jen, Gish
Jewett, Sarah Orne
Johnson, James Weldon
Jones, LeRoy
Jordan, June
Kang, Younghill
Kingston, Maxine Hong
Knight, Etheridge
Laviera, Tato
Locke, Alain
London, Jack
Lozez, Willie
Lowell, Amy
Lowell, Robert
Mailer, Norman
Malamud, Bernard
Malcom X
Marshall, Paule
McCarthy, Mary
McKay, Claude
McNickle, D'Arcy
Millay, Edna St. Vincent
Mirikitani, Janice
Mohr, Nicholassa
Momaday, N. Scott
Moore, Marianne
Mora, Pat
Morales, Aurora Levins
Morrison, Toni
Mukherjee, Bharati
Norris, Frank
O'Connor Flannery
O'Neill, Eugene
Oates, Joyce Carol
Okada, John
Olsen, Tillie Lerner
Olson, Charles
Ortiz, Simon
Oskison, John Milton
Paley, Grace
Petry, Ann
Piercy, Marge
Pietri, Pedro
Porter, Katherine Anne
Pound, Ezra
Pynchon, Thomas
Ransom, John Crowe
Reed, Ishmael
Rivera, Tomas
Roethke, Theodore
Rose, Wendy
Sanchez, Sonia
Sexton, Anne
Sherman, Alexie
Sinclair, Upton
Song, Cathy
Soto, Gary
Standing Bear
Stein, Gertrude
Steinbeck, John
Sui Sin Far
Tan, Amy
Tate, Allen
Toomer, Jean
Updike, John
Walker, Alice
Walker, Margaret
Warren, Robert Penn
Washington, Booker T.
Welch, James
Welty, Eudora
Wharton, Edith
Wideman, John Edgar
Wilbur, Richard
Williams, Tennessee
Wright, Richard
Yamamoto, Hisaye
Yezierska, Anzia