syllabus for 20th c Amer lit

Course Description:

What happens if we reconceive of the color line as a “contact zone”?

What changes if we reconfigure the border to be a “borderland”?

What occurs when we transform our perception of the American landscape as a site of intercultural encounter?

This course explores (in a non-colonizing way) multi-ethnic literatures in several genres (novels, poetry, short stories, film, autobiography, essays) with a focus on contemporary American writers. Rather than assume that ethnic groups in American society are discrete and separate entities, this course conceives of America as a “contact zone,” that is, a site where cultures come into contact with one another, blending and clashing but inevitably shaping and re-shaping one another. To this end, we will consider the many and varied ways that different cultures in the United States come into contact with one another. We will concentrate on the interconnections, hybrid spaces, and intercultural encounters among the many cultures that make up American society. The underlying question we will seek to answer is: How has intercultural contact shaped American literature and American culture?

Course Texts

1. Mona in the Promised Land (novel)

by Gish Jen (Chinese American)

Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679776508

2. Native Speaker (novel)

by Chang-Rae Lee (Korean American)

Riverhead Books; ISBN: 1573225312

3. The Women of Brewster Place (novel)

by Gloria Naylor (African American)

Penguin USA; ISBN: 014006690X

4. Powwow Highway (novel)

by David Seals (Native American)

Plume; ISBN: 0452263778

5. Down These Mean Streets (autobiographical novel)

by Pirie Thomas (Puerto Rican)

Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679781420

6. Course Readings on-line at eRes, UM-Flint’s Electronic Reserve

http://reserves.lib.umflint.edu/ password: 1234

You must have a UM-Flint username and password to access this website.

Course Requirements: You must complete all of these requirements to receive a passing grade in this course. If you do not complete one of these requirements (such as failure to hand in a paper or failure to meet the attendance requirements), you cannot pass the course. For your own protection, you should keep a copy of everything you turn in to me.

· Attendance. Your attendance is required. If you accumulate more than three absences, your participation grade will be lowered one-half grade (5 points) for every subsequent absence. If you accumulate eight absences, you will fail the course (except in cases where you and I make alternative arrangements because of extenuating circumstances). I do not make distinctions between excused or unexcused absences—all absences count. Please let me know during the first two weeks of classes if you must miss a class for religious observance, important scheduled events that conflict with class, or other unavoidable reasons for missing class. If you miss class, please come talk to me about the material you’ve missed. Out of respect for your classmates, please come to class on time. If tardiness to class (more than 10 minutes) becomes a persistent problem, I will count lateness as absences.

· Participation. This class emphasizes discussion and interaction with course issues. It also includes a significant amount of reading. You are expected to come to class having read all the readings assigned for that day and prepared to discuss the material. Participation also includes occasional quizzes on the assigned reading, short response papers due at the beginning of class, in-class writing assignments, attending extra-curricular events, and bringing artifacts of popular culture to class to analyze. Some of these activities will be required; others will be your choice.

· E-mail Account. You will need an e-mail account that you can access on a regular basis. You are expected to post e-mail comments to the class e-mail list and respond to your classmates’ e-mails periodically.

· Responses to Readings. A 1-2 screen response to the upcoming week’s readings is due periodically throughout the semester (see class schedule for due dates). While these assignments are not formal essays, they are intended to be thoughtful, engaged responses to the readings. They may include personal anecdotes as long as you analyze your experience, but they are not intended to be informal journal entries. Please e-mail your response to the class e-mail list by the due date at midnight. Group 1 includes people with last names beginning with A-L; Group 2 includes people with last names beginning with M-Z.

· Off-Syllabus Reading Assignment. Because we are only reading a handful of texts, this assignment is intended to give you a broader view of multicultural literatures in the United States. For this assignment, you will need to choose one primary text (novel, autobiography, collection of short stories, or volume of poetry) by a multicultural writer. You may choose this text on your own or in consultation with me. After reading this text, you will write a 1-2 paragraph annotated bibliographic entry (which will include a summary and discussion of your text). We will then compile all of these entries to create a class bibliography of multicultural literatures.

· Mid-Semester Paper and Final Paper. These 5-page papers, based on one or two of the course texts, will focus on a topic of your choosing. I will hand out some ideas for topics and more detailed guidelines during the course of the semester, but you are encouraged to choose a topic of your own creation. These are NOT research papers and should focus on the literature we are reading.

Grading: Participation 15 %

Responses to Readings 20 %

Paper 1 25 %

Off-Syllabus Assignment 15 %

Paper 2 25 %

I use a 100-point grading scale for all assignments:

Deadlines: All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date and must be typed. I take deadlines very seriously. No extensions will be given except in the rarest of circumstances. Late papers will be docked by 3 points for each day late. Note these deadlines now:

· Syllabus Response Wednesday, Jan. 9 (1-2 screens sent to me on e-mail)

· Responses to Readings	Group 1 (A-L)	Group 2 (M-N)
	January 14	January 23
	January 28	February 4
	March 4	March 11
	March 18	March 25
	April 15	April 8

· Paper 1 Friday, February 15

· Off-Syllabus Assignment Friday, April 5

(Selection of text due to me via e-mail on Friday, March 15)

· Paper 2 Monday, April 22

Accessibility: One of my goals is to make the course and the classroom as accessible as possible for all students. Please come talk to me if you have any concerns about accessibility. The Office of Disability Services is also an excellent resource for students with disabilities, and I will work closely with you and Disability Services to address all needs. Disability Services is located at 264 University Center, and the phone number is 762-3456.

Writing Help: The Marian E. Wright Writing Center is an excellent on-campus resource for help with writing, and it’s FREE! You need an appointment to work on a paper with a tutor, so call (810) 766-6602 to set one up or stop by the Writing Center in 559 French Hall. Check out the Writing Center’s website for great writing info:

http://www.flint.umich.edu/Departments/writingcenter/

Plagiarism and Academic Honesty: The University's Academic Honesty Policy prohibits cheating, fabrication of work, facilitating academic dishonesty, and plagiarism. Plagiarism includes the purchase of academic work from others, copying material directly from another source without attributing it to that source, using the ideas of another person without giving that person credit (even if you are not using a direct quote and have put the concepts into your own words, you must cite your source). Please talk with me if you are unclear or have concerns about plagiarism.

Other Concerns: If you have any special concerns you wish to discuss (e.g. you have a disability that requires accommodation; English is not your first language; you are very shy in discussion; or there are other factors I should know about that will affect your performance in class), please feel free to come talk to me. My office door is open to hear your concerns. Please feel free to come see me at my office, call me, or email me. I am very willing to set up appointments with you to discuss papers or other questions you have about the course. If you cannot make my office hours, let me know, and we’ll set up another time to meet.

Course Schedule

What Is America?

WEEK 1: Jan. 7, 9, 11

Introduction

Mary Louise Pratt, Imperial Eyes on the “contact zone”

Readings on eRes:

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker

“A Different Mirror” by Ronald Takaki

“America the Multinational Society” by Ishmael Reed

**Wednesday, Jan. 9: Syllabus response due to me on e-mail (1-2 screens) **

Blending and Clashing

WEEK 2: Jan. 14, 16, 18

Begin The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

Group 1 Response Due Jan. 14 by midnight

WEEK 3: Jan. 21, 23, 25

Continue The Women of Brewster Place

Monday, Jan. 21: No Class, Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

Group 2 Response Due Jan. 23 by midnight

WEEK 4: Jan. 28, 30 & Feb. 1

Continue The Women of Brewster Place

Begin Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee

Group 1 Response Due January 28 by midnight

WEEK 5: Feb. 4, 6, 8

Continue Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee

Group 2 Response Due February 4 by midnight

WEEK 6: Feb. 11, 13, 15

Continue Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee

Poetry on eRes:

Li-Young Lee, “Persimmons,” “The Gift”

Naomi Shihab Nye, “Making a Fist,” “Two Countries”

Luis J. Rodriguez, “We Never Stopped Crossing Borders”

Pat Mora, “Borders,” “Sonrisas,” “Immigrants”

Dwight Okita, “Notes for a Poem on Being Asian Americans”

Sherman Alexie, “Vision (2),” “Translated from the American”

Ishmael Reed, “Jacket Notes”

**Friday, Feb. 15: Paper 1 Due**

WEEK 7: Feb. 18, 20, 21

Reading on eRes:

“La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness” by Gloria Anzaldua

Poetry on eRes:

Cherríe Moraga, “The Welder”

Jessica Hagedorn, “Filipino Boogie”

Wendy Rose, “If I Am Too Brown or Too White for You”

David Mura, “Secrets and Anger”

Friday, Feb. 22: Class Cancelled

Friday, Feb. 22: Last Day to drop classes

Spring Break: Feb. 23-March 3

WEEK 8: March 4, 6, 8

Begin Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas

Group 1 Response Due March 4 by midnight

WEEK 9: March 11, 13, 15

Continue Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas

**Friday, March 15: Selection of Off-Syllabus Text due to me (send an e-mail to me with full bibliographic reference)**

Group 2 Response Due March 11 by midnight

WEEK 10: March 18, 20, 22

Begin Powwow Highway by David Seals

Group 1 Response Due March 18 by midnight

WEEK 11: March 25, 27, 29

Continue Powwow Highway by David Seals

Group 2 Response Due March 25 by midnight

Shaping and Re-Shaping: America As a Contact Zone

WEEK 12: April 1, 3, 5

Watch Lone Star by John Sayles

**Friday, April 5: Off-Syllabus Reading Assignment Due**

WEEK 13: April 8, 10, 12

Begin Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen

Class Cancelled Friday, April 12

Group 2 Response Due April 8 by midnight

WEEK 14: April 15, 17, 19

Continue Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen

Group 1 Response Due April 15 by midnight

WEEK 15: April 22

Wrap Up, Review

“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes

**Final Paper due Monday, April 22**

“We are the subjects of our own narrative, witnesses to and participants in our own experience, and, in no way coincidentally, in the experiences of those with whom we have come in contact.”

— Toni Morrison, “Unspeakable Things Unspoken”