English 108-03: Narrating Place and Identity in American Literature
Jason Cooke TR: 12:30-1:45
Office: MHRA 3206, Cubicle F Room: School of Education Bldg 104
Office Hours: T-R 11:00-12:00 Email:
Required Texts
A New Home, Who'll Follow?, by Caroline Kirkland
Rutgers University Press ISBN: 0-8135-1542-4
American Indian Stories, by Zitkala-Ša
University of Nebraska Press ISBN: 0-8032-9917-6
Lenses: Perspectives on Literature
Hayden/McNeil ISBN: 978-0-7350-5105-5
The Marrow of Tradition, by Charles W. Chesnutt
Penguin ISBN: 978-0-14-018686-4
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
Knopf ISBN: 978-0-7394-8264-3
Additional readings will be posted to Blackboard.
Additional Requirements:
Online access
I-Spartan email account
Blackboard account
Course Overview: By the time they arrive at college, most students have pored over at least one literary work and may have written an interpretation of its main themes or plot. Even if we have not written an academic essay on a literary text, all (or most) of us have read a book or a play and asked ourselves why a character acted in such a way, or why one character's actions produced this effect, and so on. Similarly, when reading poetry we may ask whether or not we identify with a particular poem's voice, or we may implicitly imagine ourselves as the speaker's confidant. It is probably not a stretch to argue that characterization is the primary lens through which we make sense of the work as a whole. The “places” in literature perhaps may at first appear as prefabricated or simply “there” as a backdrop for the more important work of what happens in the text, little more than a mere necessity. You can't have characters doing the important things that they must do without a place in which to do them! Yet, place is as much a construction of narrative as any character, and one can argue that characterization and the description of place are mutually referential and therefore inseparable functions of literature. Put differently, a writer's imagination of space is as important for the text's effect(s), if not more so, than the characters that populate it. From this perspective, the narration of space/place expresses as much about who we are and are not as the behaviors and attitudes of specific characters. In this course we will examine the different roles the representation of space/place has played in American literature from its inception to the contemporary period so as to form a broad sense of the ways “place” in text articulates unique social space(s), yielding a wide range of visions of nationhood that in turn produce strikingly different representations of its “people.”
Learning Goals:
1. Demonstrate the reading skill required for the student of literary texts. (LG3)
2. Identify and/or describe some of the varied characteristics of literary texts. (LG3)
3. Demonstrate orally, in writing, or by some other means, a fundamental ability to use some
of the techniques and/or methods of literary analysis. (LG 1 and LG 3)
4. Identify and/or describe some of the various social, historical, cultural, and/or theoretical
contexts in which literary texts have been written and interpreted. (LG3)
The learning goals are designed to satisfy the university's Student Learning Objective # 3, which is as follows: “Describe, interpret, and evaluate the ideas, events, and expressive traditions that have shaped collective and individual human experience through inquiry and analysis in the diverse disciplines of the humanities, religions, languages, histories, and the arts.”
Course Requirements and Grade Distribution:
Participation 15% Success in this course depends upon your preparation outside of class and your engagement in class discussions. We will make use of both general discussions among the class and more focused group discussions of certain texts/ideas, so please make sure that you always come to class prepared to participate.
Blackboard Posts 10% You will read and respond to each of the weekly discussion prompts throughout the semester. The prompts are designed both to facilitate our class discussions and to enable you to practice writing about narrative. Although the posts are not formally graded, you will receive credit based on their timely completion, so make sure you do these each week.
Midterm 20% The midterm will consist of a mixture of short responses, terminology questions, character identification, and one essay question.
Analytic essay 20% A longer paper (minimum 5 pages) that explores an interpretation or a critical problem regarding one or two texts we will read in class. I am looking particularly for the use of close reading and critical analysis— along with the terminology—that you have strengthened across the semester. You will hand in a one page proposal of your topic in advance describing the texts you plan on working with and what general aspects you will be focusing on (i.e. a thesis idea/main argument).
Final Exam 25% A comprehensive exam similar in design to the midterm.
Reading Quizzes 10% Short quizzes on the day’s material given at the beginning of class. Quizzes will be given once a week.
Attendance:
You are allotted three unexcused absences. Fourth and fifth unexcused absences will each drop one letter grade from your final grade. Students who miss six classes automatically fail the course. Please note that this policy is not negotiable. It is imperative that you come to class prepared and ready to participate, especially as class discussion will be a significant component of this course. Of course, I reserve the right to weigh unusual or extraordinary circumstances.
Students are by state law allowed two excused absences due to religious holidays. These absences do not count toward the total maximums allowed above. If a student plans to miss class due to a religious holiday, he or she must notify me at least 48 hours prior to the absence.
Late Work:
The workload of a college student can at times seem overwhelming. One way to help reduce stress and the risk of failure is to develop good work habits; procrastination, on the other hand, is a surefire way to get yourself in a bind. If you know you will be absent the day a given assignment is due, you need to let me know in advance so that we can discuss your options. I speak from experience when I say that procrastination is painful. As a rule I do not accept late work.
Academic Integrity:
“Academic integrity is founded upon and encompasses the following five values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. Violations include, for example, cheating, plagiarism, misuse of academic resources, falsification, and facilitating academic dishonesty. If knowledge is to be gained and properly evaluated, it must be pursued under conditions free from dishonesty. Deceit and misrepresentations are incompatible with the fundamental activity of this academic institution and shall not be tolerated” (from UNCG’s Academic Integrity Policy). To ensure that you understand the university’s policy on academic integrity, review the guidelines and list of violations at <http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu>. I expect you to abide by the Academic Integrity Policy. At the minimum, students who are discovered to have willfully engaged in cheating and/or plagiarism will result in an automatic F for the course. More serious cases could result in expulsion from the university.
Classroom Electronics:Laptops are permitted for taking notes but must be closed during group activities and discussions. Cel phones must be turned off during class unless you get special permission from me to allow it to remain on vibrate. No facebook(ing) or tweeting in class ever!!!
Disability Services:
Students with documentation of special needs should arrange to see me about accommodations as soon as possible. If you believe you could benefit from such accommodations, you must first register with the Office of Disability Services on campus before they can be made. The office is located on the second floor of the Elliott University Center (EUC) in Suite 215, and the office is open 8am to 5pm, Monday - Friday. Telephone: 334-5440; e-mail: HYPERLINK "mailto:".
Class Schedule: The following is a tentative calendar for our course readings and assignments. You are to come to each class having read the material assigned for that day. Please note that Friday, January 18th is the last day to drop the course for a full refund and Friday, March 8th is the last day to drop without academic penalty. Finally, BB indicates that the material is posted under course documents on our Blackboard page.
T 1/15 First Day of Class; Course Introduced; Syllabus Covered; “Defining Narrative” BB
R 1/17 Section 1: Postrevolutionary Spaces: J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur: from Letters from an American Farmer : “Letter I: Introduction”; Lenses Chapter 8: Time, Setting, and Place
T 1/22 Crèvecoeur continued: “Letter II: Situation, Feelings, and Pleasures” and “Letter XII: Distresses of a Frontier Man”
R 1/24 Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” “On the Death of Rev. Mr. George Whitfield,” “To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth,” “To the University of Cambridge, in New England” BB
T 1/29 Lenses Chapter 7:The Character(s) of Literature; Susanna Rowson: “Slaves in Algiers: Or, A Struggle for Freedom” Acts One and Two, BB
R 1/31 Rowson continued: “Slaves in Algiers” Act Three to Epilogue, BB
T 2/5 Section 2: Peopling Antebellum Nature: William Apess: A Son of the Forest BB
R 2/7 Henry David Thoreau: from Walden, excerpts from “Economy,” “Where I Lived, What I Lived For,” and “Solitude” BB
T 2/12 Caroline Kirkland A New Home, Who'll Follow? Preface to XVII
R 2/14 Kirkland continued, XVIII to XXX
T 2/19 Kirkland, XXXI to end; Lenses Chapter 2: Writing About Literature
R 2/21 Margaret Fuller: from Summer on the Lakes “Chapter I” “Chapter 3” and “Chapter 5” BB;
Lydia Sigourney: “Indian Names,” “The Indian's Welcome to the Pilgrim Fathers,” and “Niagara” BB
T 2/26 Lenses Chapter 4: Symbolic Relationships and Figurative Language; Edgar Allan Poe: “The Fall of the House of Usher” BB; Nathaniel Hawthorne: “Wakefield” BB
R 2/28 Walt Whitman: “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” BB; William Cullen Bryant “Thanatopsis” and “The Prairies” BB
T 3/5 Midterm Exam Review
R 3/7 Midterm Exam
T 3/12 Spring Break
R 3/14 Class Dismissed
T 3/19 Section 3: The Violence of Becoming Modern: Charles Chesnutt: The Marrow of Tradition,
Chapters I - XIV
R 3/21 Charles Chesnut continued, Chapters XV - XXIV
T 3/26 Chesnutt continued, Chapters XXV - XXXI
R 3/28 Chesnutt continued, Chapters XXXII - end
T 4/5 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” BB; Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”; One Page (Single-Spaced) Proposal for Final Essay Due
R 4/7 Zitkala-Ša American Indian Stories “Impressions of an Indian Childhood” and “School Days of an Indian Girl”
T 4/12 Zitkala-Ša, “An Indian Teacher Among Indians,” “The Great Spirit,” “The Soft-Hearted Sioux,” and “The Trial Path”
R 4/14 Zitkala-Ša, “A Warrior's Daughter,” “A Dream of Her Grandfather,” and “The Widespread Enigma Concerning Blue-Star Woman”
T 4/19 Section 4: Imagining a Future without History: Cormac McCarthy, The Road 1-80
R 4/21 McCarthy continued, 81-141
T 4/26 Final Essay Due, McCarthy 141-200
R 4/28 McCarthy, 201-end; Joy Harjo, excerpts from A Map to the Next World BB
T 4/30 Last Day of Class; Final Exam Review; Essays Returned
F 5/3 Final Exam from 3:30 to 6:30 in our classroom