Main Currents in American Literature

English 230 Fall 2006

FACT SHEET

 

Dr. Barbara Bass

Linthicum 218A

Hawkins Hall 403J

410-704-4573

bbass@towson.edu

 

Texts and Supplies:

á        Norton Anthology of American Literature, shorter sixth edition.

á        Reading Packet to Accompany English 230

á        Esmeralda Santiago, When I Was Puerto Rican, Vintage, 1993.

á        Ellsworth, Blanche, English Simplified, Latest Edition, Harper and Row.

á        a light-colored cardboard folder with pockets across the bottom, no center brads. You will be using this folder to keep all of your work for this course.  It will be collected at the end of the semester.

 

Course Conduct:

á        Turn off cell phones and beepers before you enter class.  Cell phones and beepers must remain in your backpack or purse during class.  Do not leave class to answer any calls.

á        Any student who is disruptive to the class will be dismissed from the course.

á        Plagiarism will result in dismissal from the course with a grade of F.

á        Please take care of trips to the restroom and the water fountain before and after class begins.  Refrain from leaving in the middle of class except in extreme emergencies.

á        You are expected to attend every class and to arrive on time with the appropriate materials.  Bring your Norton Anthology or novel and your Reading Packet every day.

á        All work must be submitted on the date it is due, including written homework and graded essays.  No homework will be accepted late without a valid written excuse.

 

Course Objectives:

This course is an introduction to the many voices that make up American literature.  The emphasis will be on the diversity of the American literary tradition, as well as the political, cultural, and aesthetic backgrounds which have produced it. Literature doesn't exist in a vacuum: it is the result of interaction with history as well as with cultural practices. We will examine what the works we read reveal about America, Americans, and American literature itself.

 

Through participating in this class, you will have opportunities to

á        work collaboratively,

á        reflect on what you have read,

á        learn through film, video, and Internet resources, and 

á        increase your knowledge of authors of color.

 

In brief, here are the 3 Key Learning Goals of ENGL 230:

 

Learning Goal #1:

Reading:  We will interpret written materials, understand that multiple meanings are possible, and that textual evidence needs to support individual interpretations and the implications drawn from it.

 

Learning Goal #2:

Writing: We will have opportunities to use writing as a way to learn about literature and focus on improvement in writing, including grammar, mechanics, usage, and expression and development of ideas in essay form.

 

Learning Goal #3:

Reflecting: Through reading and writing about literature, we will learn to become reflective lifelong learners.

 

Course Requirements:

á        The course requires a generous amount of reading, thinking, writing, and analyzing.

á        There will be few lectures. As we read texts, we remake them, so that our responses themselves become texts for us to study. Because most of the course will be conducted through class discussion, sometimes involving group work, it is essential that you complete each assignment and come to class every day prepared to participate in the discussion of the readings.

á        Class participation is essential.  It will count as 5% of your grade.

á        At-home writing assignments are measures of your preparation. They will not be accepted late.

á        Take-home essay exams must be typed, double spaced, on standard paper, using Ariel 14 point font. All written work must be stapled.

á        Some of your homework will involve e-mail and the World Wide Web. You are required to obtain your own e-mail account and register with Learnonline by the end of the first two weeks of class.

 

Content Standards:

Students in English 230 will be able to demonstrate the following content standards:

 

 

 

Exams:

The exams will take the form of take-home essays.  They must be typed, double-spaced on standard paper, using only Ariel 14 point font and stapled.  They will be graded on the standards for good writing established by the English Department, including clear organization and adequate and logical development. They should be free from errors in spelling, grammar, and mechanics.  All exams must be submitted on the dates listed on the syllabus. No exams will be accepted late without a valid written excuse.

 

At-Home Writing Assignments:

For each reading assignment, you will find in your syllabus a question to think about before you come into class the next day.  Type at least a ¾ page response to each question.  Again, use Ariel 14 point font. Written homework is a measure of your preparation for class.  No written homework will be accepted late without an valid written excuse. 

 

Syllabus:

We will generally follow the syllabus, but be sure to check with a classmate for changes if you must miss a class.  Additions and changes do occur.  Finding out about such changes is your responsibility.

Grading Policy:

Grades will be based upon the standards established by the English Department. 

Your final grade will be based on the following formula:

á        class participation                                           05%

á        written HW assignments                             40%

á        at-home essays                                               55%

 

Absences will adversely affect your grade:

á        If you are absent more than 2 times, you cannot earn an A.

á        If you are absent more than 4 times, you cannot earn a B.

á        If you are absent more than 6 times, you cannot earn a C.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English 230                          Main Currents in American Literature                Spring 2006

Syllabus

 

Be sure to bring your anthology/novel/reading packet  with you every day.  Be sure to come prepared to discuss the stories.  Class participation counts for 5% of your grade.  There will be regular in-class writing assignments based on the assigned reading.  With each homework assignment, you will find a question about that night's reading.  Write a response of at least ¾ page to the question and be prepared to discuss at the next class period what you wrote for homework.  Save all work in your cardboard folder. No work is accepted late.

 

ALL READING AND WRITTEN HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

ARE DUE AT THE NEXT CLASS MEETING LISTED ON THE SYLLABUS.

NO WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED LATE WITHOUT A VALID WRITTEN EXCUSE.  IN-CLASS WORK CANNOT BE MADE UP WITHOUT A VALID WRITTEN EXCUSE.

 

Aug      28    Mon          Expectations for class; Why read American Literature?

                                  Reading HW: Revolutionary Current: Introduction to Thomas Jefferson and The Declaration of Independence p. 334. Also, read When I was Puerto Rican (WIWPR) by Esmeralda Santiago, pp. 2-33.  Use Post-Its as you read for every reading assignment. Choose one post-it and expand on it in your journal.  All Reading HW is due for the next class period. Writing/Reflection HW #1: Written reaction of at least ¾ page: Why do you think the underlined part of The Declaration of Independence that begins with ÒHe has waged cruel warÉ.Ó was removed?

 

                 30  Wed           The Declaration of Independence.

                                  Reading HW: Henry David Thoreau, Introduction and Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience), p. 834-852.  Also read WIWPR, pp, 37-60.  Continue to use Post-Its as you read.  Writing/Reflection HW#2: As you read Resistance to Civil Government, mark either (?) or (!) on the page to indicate questions you have a question about or feel strongly about.  After you have finished reading, choose one of these marks and write a response of no less than ¾ page further developing your idea or your question.

 

Sept     4   Mon              Labor Day – No class.

 

           6    Wed Discussion of Resistance to Civil Government and discussion of WIWPR. 

                             Reading/Planning HW #3: During the next class period, there will be an in-class graded writing assignment based on your reading of this essay by Thoreau. Think about how the following quote applies to Resistance to Civil Government:  Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison. Reading HW:  WIWPR, 61-104.  Continue to use Post-Its as you read.

 

11         Mon        Writing about Literature (sample graded essay #1 in class based upon your reading of Henry David ThoreauÕs Resistance to Civil Government).

                                  Graded essay #1: Choose another quote from the sheet of Thoreau quotes in the Readings Packet. Write an essay of 1-2 typed pages illustrating how the quote you chose connects to what Thoreau wrote in Resistance to Civil Government. Due next class.

                             Reading HW: Read BannekerÕs letter and JeffersonÕs reply and the Sun article on the exchange of letters (Readings Packet) and the poem ÒBannekerÓ by Rita Dove in your anthology, p. 2825. Writing/Reflecting HW #4: What connections can you make between DoveÕs poem and BannekerÕs letter?

 

13    Wed     Graded Essay #1 due today based upon Thoreau quotes and reading selection.

                                  African-American Currents: In-class exercise on BannekerÕs letter and JeffersonÕs reply and the Sun article on the exchange of letters (Readings Packet); Rita Dove's poem, Banneker, p. 2825.

                                  Reading HW: WIWPR, pp. 105-151.                                

 

18     Mon      Discussion of WIWPR, through p. 151.

                                           Reading HW: Read the introduction to and the poems of Langston Hughes, p. 2225-2231 plus the HughesÕ poems in your Readings Packet; also read the introduction to Countee Cullen and his poems Yet Do I Marvel and Incident, pp. 2245-2246.  Continue to read WIWPR, pp. 155-185. Continue to use Post-Its as you read. Writing/Reflecting HW #5: Create a Venn diagram to compare/contrast the poems of Hughes and Cullen.

 

               20    Wed         Hughes and Cullen. 

Reading HW: Zora Neale Hurston p. 2096-2099, Introduction and How It Feels to be Colored Me.  Continue reading WIWPR, pp. 189-140.  Continue to use Post-Its as your read.  Writing/Reflecting HW #6: According to Hurston, how does it feel "to be colored me"?

                                              

               25     Mon         Zora Neale Hurston: How It Feels to be Colored Me. 

                                             Reading HW: Read the introduction to Alice Walker and her short story Everyday Use, p. 2580-2587. Writing/Reflecting HW #7: Which daughter do you think should get the quilts?  Why?

                                             Graded Essay #2: Write a dialogue between the African American writers we have studied and Thoreau and Jefferson.  Even though this assignment is not in essay form, it still needs to have a clear purpose:  Why are they gathered together?  What subjects will they discuss?  Also, be sure to include specific evidence from the authorsÕ works to support what you have them say.  Put each direct quote that you take from the poems and essays in italics. SITE ALL SOURCES.  Due Weds, Oct. 4.

                                                                                         

27      Wed          Alice Walker. Discussion of Everyday Use.

Reading HW: Finish reading WIWPR, pp. 241-270.  Continue to use Post-Its as you read. Writing/Reflecting HW #8: Use the (?) or (!) strategy as you read. Then choose one of your marks and open it up by writing a one paragraph response

 

Oct        2    Mon          Yom Kippur – No class.

 

               Esmeralda Santiago will be visiting our campus on Wednesday, October 4.  There are two opportunities to see her: an afternoon question and answer period and an evening lecture.  You must attend one of these scheduled events.

 

              4   Wed           Final discussion of WIWPR.  Be sure to attend one of the events on campus which feature Esmeralda Santiago today. 

                                             Reading HW: Emily Dickinson, pp. 1167-1188 and Readings Packet, these poems only: 185, 214, 249, 258, 435, 585, 712, 754, 986, 1129, and 1463. Writing/Reflecting HW #9:  Choose the Emily Dickinson poem from the above list that you liked the most and explain why.

 

                9       Mon         Graded Essay #2 due today.  Emily DickinsonÕs poetry.

                                             Writing/Reflecting HW # 10: Choose the Emily Dickinson poem with which you had the most difficulty.  Make a list of questions you have about the poem and then attempt to answer those questions.       

 

               11     Wed        Emily DickinsonÕs poetry, continued.  Billy Collins, ÒTaking off Emily DickinsonÕs Clothes.Ó

                                             Graded essay #3: Choose an Emily Dickinson poem THAT WE HAVE NOT DISCUSSED IN CLASS.  IF YOU HAVE BEEN ABSENT, BE SURE TO CHECK TO SEE WHAT POEMS WERE DISCUSSED IN YOUR ABSENCE.  Write your essay by answering the questions below in this order.  Use the following format only. 

 

Each of the bullets below should be developed into a separate paragraph.

 

á        Begin your essay with a separate introduction.

á        Raise a question about the poem and then answer it.  

á        Raise another question about the poem and then answer it.

á        Choose what you think is the most important line in the poem and explain why.                        

á        Write what you think the poem is about and use lines from the poem to support your ideas.

á        Say what the poem reminds you of or connect the poem to yourself in some way.

á        In your conclusion, write about your personal reaction to the poem.

á        BE SURE TO MAKE A COPY OF THE POEM AND ATTACH IT TO YOUR ESSAY.  WITHOUT THE COPY, I WONÕT BE ABLE TO GRADE YOUR WORK.

 

á        NOTE:  DO NOT PLAGIARIZE.  I WANT TO KNOW YOUR INTERPRETATION OF THE POEM, NOT SOME ÒEXPERTÕSÓ OPINION.  YOU WILL RECEIVE A ZERO FOR THE ASSIGNMENT IF YOU PLAGIARIZE.

 

       Essay is due Monday, October 16.

              

               16      Mon       Graded Essay #3 due.  Finish Emily Dickinson. 

                                             Reading HW: Sylvia Plath, Introduction p.2776 and the poems Lady Lazarus, p. 2778, Daddy p.2781, Two Sisters of Persephone and Mad Girl's Love Song (photocopy).  Writing/Reflecting HW #11: What can you guess about her based upon her poetry?  What lines exactly show you that?

                                 

               18      Wed     Sylvia Plath. Discussion of PlathÕs poetry.              

Reading HW: Read Elizabeth BishopÕs poem, The Fish, p. 2650-51.  Writing HW #12: Look up in the dictionary any words with which you are unfamiliar and write down the definitions.  We will be using those definitions in class after Spring Break.

              

               23     Mon         The Fish.

                                             Reading HW: Kate Chopin: Introduction and her short stories The Storm, After the Acadian Ball and DesireeÕs Baby, p. 1594-1610.  Writing/Reflecting HW #13: Why do you think these stories have been chosen to be included in your American Literature anthology? 

 

              

 

 

       25     Wed              Discussion of Kate Chopin: Masculine Poetic Currents, an Introduction.          

                                             Reading HW: Robert Frost, pp. 1878-1892. Read the introduction and the following poems: Mending Wall and Birches in your anthology, and The Starsplitter in your readings packet.  Writing/Reflecting HW #14: Each of these poems has a central symbol: the wall, the birch tree, and the telescope are tangible objects that represent something intangible.  Choose one of these symbols and write about what you think it represents.  Then illustrate how it helps to uncover FrostÕs meaning in the poem you have chosen.

 

               30     Mon         Discussion of Robert FrostÕs poetry

 

Nov      1      Wed          Robert Frost, continued.

                                  Graded Essay #4:  Choose a Frost poem THAT WE HAVE NOT DISCUSSED IN CLASS and write an essay using the following format:

 

Each of the bullets below should be developed into a separate paragraph.

 

á        Begin your essay with a separate introduction.

á        Raise a question about the poem and then answer it.  

á        Raise another question about the poem and then answer it.

á        Choose what you think is the most important line in the poem and explain why.                        

á        Write what you think the poem is about and use lines from the poem to support your ideas.

á        Say what the poem reminds you of or connect the poem to yourself in some way.

á        In your conclusion, write about your personal reaction to the poem.

á        BE SURE TO MAKE A COPY OF THE POEM AND ATTACH IT TO YOUR ESSAY.  WITHOUT THE COPY, I WONÕT BE ABLE TO GRADE YOUR WORK.

 

NOTE:  DO NOT PLAGIARIZE.  I WANT TO KNOW YOUR INTERPRETATION OF THE POEM, NOT SOME ÒEXPERTÕSÓ OPINION.  YOU WILL RECEIVE A ZERO FOR THE ASSIGNMENT IF YOU PLAGIARIZE.

 

                                  Essay is due on Wednesday, November 8.     

 

                6      Mon         E.A. Robinson. Discussion of poems: Read the introduction to and the poems of Edwin Arlington Robinson in your anthology, Richard Cory, Miniver Cheevy, Mr. FloodÕs Party, pp. 1836-1840; The Mill, in reading packet.

Reading HW: Read Credo in your readings packet. 

Writing/Reflecting HW #15:  Write an analysis of what you think this poem is about.  Use evidence from the poem and from what you know about Robinson for support.      

 

               8      Wed         Credo

                                 Reading HW: T.S. Eliot, introduction to Eliot and The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, p. 1973-1979.  Writing/Reflecting HW #16: What does J. Alfred Prufrock look like?  How do you know?  What do you think his problem is? Why do you think so?

 

               13       Mon        Graded Essay #4 is due today.

                                             The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, p. 1975-1979.

                                 Reading HW:  the introduction to cummings and his poems in anthology, p. 2112-2119: O Sweet Spontaneous, In Just -, and Buffalo BillÕs as well as poems on photocopy from Grasshopper through She Being Brand; William Carlos Williams, Spring and All, p. 1937.   Writing/Reflecting HW #17: Compare/contrast cummingsÕ – In Just and WilliamsÕ Spring and All. 

 

    15       Wed       National Writing Project Annual Meeting – No Class.                      

 

               20       Mon      ee cummings

                                             Reading HW:  the introduction to Henry James and his novella Daisy Miller, p. 1501-1539.  Writing/Reflecting HW #18: (a) Based on your reading do you think Daisy ÒinnocentÓ or not?  What do you think Henry James thinks?  Why? (b) If you were going to cast this movie, which actors would you choose for the main roles?

                                             Graded essay #5: Using specific lines and ideas from the poetry we have read by Frost, Eliot, and cummings for support, write an essay convincing Sylvia Plath, Richard Cory, and/or the miller and his wife that suicide is not the answer to their problems.  Think about the messages in the poems.  DonÕt take the lines out of context. Due on Monday, Nov. 15.                                            

              

               22     Wed        Daisy Miller.  

                                             Reading HW: Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, p. 2206.  Writing/Reflecting HW #19: Apply this quote of HemingwayÕs to this story:  ÒI always try to write on the principal of the iceberg.  There is 7/8Õs of it under water for every part that shows.Ó

  

                27     Mon     Graded Essay #5 due.  Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro.          

Reading HW: Mary Wilkins Freeman, read introduction and her short story A New England Nun, p.1611-1620.   (There is no written HW for this short story.  See class assignment for  Nov. 29.  When you read the story, keep these possible essay topics in mind.)

 

                 29     Wed     Currents of Regionalism, Realism, and Naturalism: Mary Wilkins Freeman.  In-class group work on the following topics:

á           Discuss whether or not the title A New England Nun is appropriate for this story.

á           Discuss whether or not Louisa is sexually repressed.

á           Discuss whether or not Louisa is a stereotypical female.                                                                         

                                                    Reading HW:  from More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (readings packet): Thinking Out Loud, Saving the Children, and Letter to Mama.  Also, read the article from The Towerlight, Letter to Dr. Laura, and MaupinÕs Design for Living.  Writing/Reflecting HW #20: Write a reaction to what you have read in these chap        

  Dec   4     Mon        Video: American Experience: San Francisco: Discussion of from More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (readings packet): Thinking Out Loud, Saving the Children, and Letter to Mama and the other articles on gay issues included in your readings packet. 

                                             Reading HW: Read introduction to Louise Erdrich and her short story, Fleur, p. 2597-2608.  Writing/Reflecting HW #21:  What makes this story realistic?  regional? ethnic?

 

              6   Wed           Discussion of Fleur and final essay.

              

                                            

Final essay: Think about the women characters created by the male short story writers vs. the women characters created by female short story writers.  What differences to you discern? What do you learn from understanding those differences?

                                           

Male Authors:  Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, Armistead Maupin.

Female Authors: Alice Walker, Kate Chopin, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Louise Erdrich.

 

This essay is due at your final exam.  Please put it in your folder with the rest of your semesterÕs work.