Dr. Connie Jacobs
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Dr. J. Kelly Robison
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This course is a learning community that explores the events, people, and literature that have helped shape America since the Civil War. You will study the rise of the women's voice, Reconstruction and the emerging voice of African Americans that exploded in the Harlem Renaissance, and WWI that brought a sense of dislocation spawning the Modernist Movement. The Depression and WWII gave rise to its own particular literary voice, as did the 1950s with Ike, the Beats and Senator McCarthy. The Posmodern World is still unfolding as a result of the activism of the 1960s and 1970s.
In this course, you will be studying some of the most important writings by American writers since the Civil War. This is a survey course, so we will be looking at an overview of literary tradition, the historical influences, and the reoccurring themes. This course will emphasize the many voices that make up our tradition, and to this end, we will examine a wide variety of works that compositely form what is known as American Literature.
This course is also an introductory survey of the history of the United States from the end of the Civil War through the present. Students should come to an understanding of the chronology of events during the period, but should also become aware of the causes of and reactions to the major events. We will focus on the central themes and issues while examining the political, economic, and social changes that occurred during this period. These themes include industrialization, immigration and the diversification of the U.S. population, the entrance of the U.S. onto the political world stage and the social changes that occurred from 1865 to the present.
To be able to contextualize American literature within its historical framework
To gain an appreciation of the many voices that make up our American literary tradition
To be able in response papers to reflectively write on author's voice and purpose
To understand the chronology of the time period (the facts)
Become aware of the causes of and reactions to the events (the interpretations)
Through a unit test, a final examination, and two short papers to understand the trajectory that has formed our American literary tradition
You will have a test over unit one and a comprehensive final examination.
You will have daily response papers
You will write two short (4 - 5 pages) papers
Tests - There will be an in-class test on unit one and a take home comprehensive final
Response papers - You will have daily homework that asks you to reflect on the readings. This is a combination journal and response which is designed to help you understand the reading more thoroughly and to form a body of work which will help you keep track of the many authors and works we are reading.
The format for the response papers is as follows:
Upper left hand side of the paper: Name
Course
Date
Papers: Further explore a subject that interests you from our readings and discussions. Topic must be approved by instructor, 4 - 5 pages. Be sure and use your own voice to synthesize the material. Do not write a report. You must cite where you got your outside information. Use MLA or Chicago documentation
15% - unit test
25% - final examination
30% - papers
30% - response papers
You may submit extra credit projects to help your grade and to show me that you are trying
We count your effort in the class when we determine your grade
Any work that is not turned in on time will automatically receive a lower grade
A survey course demands a great deal from students. You need to read a great deal of material in a short time, so the onus is on you to make this course successful. You read the works carefully, and I will help you to understand them. You must keep up with the work, attend class faithfully, and participate enthusiastically and intelligently in order to be a good student.
You are always responsible for the introductory materials to the periods and to the individual authors.
Cell phones must be turned off when you enter class.
If you have a disability that affects you as a student in this class, you are urged to notify us and/or call Student Services. Your notification will remain confidential
We are reading some of the finest works in American literature. Keep a journal of the best pieces of writing (the best ideas or the best written lines) and explain why you find these so extraordinary.
Throughout the semester, bring in newspaper or magazine articles or anything you find that directly relates to the themes and authors we are studying
Other projects to be announced throughout the semester
| Week 1 January 12 |
Course introduction | Twain movie |
| January 14 | Industrialization Norton, ch. 18 |
Mark Twain "Letters from the
Earth" - handout Write out the best lines and explain why you chose them. Excerpts from Innocents Abroad What is Twain satirizing in this piece? Why? |
| Week 2 January 19 |
Labor and Management Norton, ch. 18 |
"The Man That Corrupted
Hadleyburg" 77 What is the theme of "The Man That..." Discuss Twain movie Extra Credit - read another Twain story and report to the class on its themes and voice |
| January 21 | Gilded Age Politics & Populism Norton, ch. 20 People's Party Platform, 1896 |
Wm. Dean Howells "Editha" 267 Analyze the character Editha Stephen Crane "The Open Boat" 503, "A Man Said to the Universe" 530 What is the theme of the story and the poem? Explain |
| Week 3 January 26 |
Urbanization Norton, ch. 19 "Life in the Tenements of New York City" (1890) - Jacob Riis |
Mary Freeman "A New England
Nun" 749 Sarah Orne Jewett "A White Heron" 723 Kate Chopin "Desiree's Baby" 363 How are these stories examples of regionalist writing ? What are some of the issues these women writers are dealing with in the Stories ? Extra Credit - read Edith Wharton "The Other Two" 1031 What are the themes of this story? |
| January 28 | The New West Norton, ch. 17 Chief Seattle's Treaty Oration, 1854 |
Charles Eastman "The Soul of the
Indian" 550 Sarah Winnemucca "Life Among the Piutes" 563 Gertrude Bonnin "The School Days of an Indian Girl" 859 From these readings, what do you learn about Native American life at the end of the 19th century ? Be sure and provide textual support |
| Week 4 February 2 |
Reconstruction and the New South Norton, ch. 16 The Emancipation Proclamation, 1862 |
Booker T. Washington "Up From
Slavery" 918 What are the main points Washington highlights about his life? Summarize his philosophy as found in "The Atlanta Exposition Address" of the part Africans Americans could play in the rebuilding of the South. What issues did he not address? W.E.B. Du Bois "The Soul of Black Folk" chpt. 3, 950, "The Song of Smoke" 965 Analyze Du Bois's objections to Washington's "Atlanta Exposition Address." How does the poem "The Song of Smoke" and knowledge about Du Bois's life help us understand his philosophy? |
| February 4 | Immigration Norton, ch. 19 |
Charles Chestnutt - "The Wife of
His Youth" 143 What issues does Chestnutt raise in this story? Paul Laurence Dunbar "We Wear the Mask " 174, "Sympathy" 176 Analyze one of these poems James Weldon Johnson "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" 971 Explain the title "Lift Every Voice and Sing" 968 What is the historical importance of this poem? |
| Week 5 February 9 |
Gilded Age Social Thought Norton, ch. 19 |
Henry James "Daisy Miller"
280 How does Daisy represent the "new American"? What are some of the rules of "Old Europe"? What social rules did Daisy break? Extra Credit - read either "The Beast in the Jungle" 334 or "The Turn of the Screw" and discuss with the class |
| February 11 | Progressivism Norton, ch. 21 |
Upton Sinclair The Jungle 636 -
650 What is the importance of this novel to American history? Finley Peter Dunne, Martin Dooley pieces 626 - 36 What are some of the issues Dooley addresses in these pieces? |
| Week 6 February 16 |
No School - President's Day |
| February 18 | Imperialism & World War I Norton, chs. 22-23 First Open Door Note - [John Hay to Andrew D. White], 1899 |
Unit Exam We will discuss Wallace Steven's "Of Modern Poetry" 1514 and how it sets the tone for the modern era |
| Week 7 February 23 |
The Economy and Politics of the 1920s Norton, ch. 24 |
Sherwood Anderson "Hands"
1142 handout "The Grotesques" from Winesburg, Ohio What is a "grotesque"? Who is the grotesque in the story "Hands"? Why? Edgar Lee Masters" Spoon River Anthology 1077 - 1180 In what ways is Masters's poetry distinctly American? |
| February 25 | The Roaring Twenties Norton, ch. 24 |
Ernest Hemingway " Hills Like
White Elephants" 1494 What is the subject of this conversation? How do you know? F. Scott Fitzgerald "Winter Dreams" - handout What are the themes of this story? Extra Credit - read another Hemingway or Fitzgerald story and discuss it with the class |
| Week 8 March 1 |
Harlem Renaissance (briefly) | Alain Locke "The New Negro"
1571 What and who is the "New Negro"? Why is this important? Jean Toomer "Blood Burning Moon " 1593 Discuss the symbols in the story. How do the symbols reinforce the theme? Langston Hughes 1599 Analyze two of the poems Claude McKay 1674 Countee Cullen 1630 Analyze one poem from McKay and Cullen |
| March 3 | T. S. Eliot "The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock" 1363 Wallace Stevens "Sunday Morning" 1506 These are two of the great poems of the modernist period. Do an analysis of one of the poems e.e.cummings 1352 - 1360 Analyze one of the poems What are the major feature of cummings's poetry Extra Credit - read poems by Robert Frost and compare therm to the other modernist poems we have read |
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| Week 9 March 8 |
Great Depression Norton, ch. 25 |
John Steinbeck "The
Chrysanthemums" 1874 Analyze the story Wm. Faulkner " A Rose for Emily" - handout What are the themes of this story? Extra Credit - read another story by Steinbeck or Faulkner and discuss with the class |
| March 10 | New Deal Norton, ch. 25 |
Zora Neale Hurston
"Sweat" 1657 Write out some of the funniest lines in the story. What happened at the end? John dos Passos excepts from U.S.A 1755 Extra Credit - read parts from Hurston's Of Mules and Men and discuss with the class |
| Week 10 March 15 |
World War II Norton, chs. 26-27 "Four Freedoms Speech" - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1941 |
Lorraine Hansberry A Raisin in the
Sun 1725 What are the themes in this famous play? Extra Credit - watch the movie version and discuss with the class |
| March 17 | World War II - the Home Front Norton, ch. 26-27 |
Richard Wright - "The Ethics of
Living Jim Crow" and "Long Black Song" - handouts What do you learn about the experience of the African American in the South from these readings? PAPER ONE DUE |
| Week 11 March 22 - 26 |
SPRING BREAK |
| Week 12 March 29 |
Post-War America Norton, ch. 28 |
Arthur Miller - The Crucible
1975 To what is Miller responding to in this play? Start movie |
| March 31 | Cold War Norton, ch. 29 The Sinews of Peace - Winston Churchill, March 5, 1946 |
Finish movie and discuss. |
| Week 13 April 5 |
Cold War II Norton, chs. 29, 31 |
Allen Ginsberg 2295 What are the distinctive features of Ginsberg's poetry? Gwendolyn Brooks 2282 and handouts Write on one of the poems: theme, language, style Extra Credit - read selections from other Beat writers and discuss with the class |
| April 7 | The Civil Rights Movement Norton, ch. 30 |
Martin Luther King "I Have A
Dream" 2456, "Letter from Birmingham Jail" - handout Malcolm X "The Ballet or the Bullet" 2468 What is the difference in the voice and vision of these two major African American Civil Rights leaders? |
| Week 14 April 12 |
The Offspring of Civil Rights Norton, ch. 30 "The Problem That Has No Name" - Betty Friedan, 1963 "THE ALCATRAZ PROCLAMATION" |
Sylvia Plath 2370 Anne Sexton 2378 Adrienne Rich "Diving Into the Wreck" 2526 What are some of the concerns these feminist poets address? Be sure and cite textual evidence for your answer |
| April 14 | the 1960s Norton, ch. 30 |
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| Week 15 April 19 |
Vietnam Norton, ch. 31 "Gulf of Tonkin Resolutions, 1964" "War Powers Resolution, 1973" |
Tim O'Brien "In The Field"
2741 Michael Herr from Dispatches 2731 Yusef Kumunyakaa 2769 What do you learn about Viet Nam from these readings? discuss with the class |
| April 21 | Cold War III Norton, ch. 31 |
Tomás Rivera "Devour Him"
2783 Helena María Viramontes "The Cariboo Cafe" 3051 Judith Cofer "Latin Women Pray" 3044 Tato Laviera "Latero Story" 3049 What do you learn about the immigrant experience from these readings? Extra Credit - read Gloria Analdua excerpt from Borderlands 3015 and |
| Week 16 April 26 |
American Foreign Policy after the Cold
War Norton, ch. 32 |
N. Scott Momaday "The Way to Rainy
Mountain" 2708 Joy Harjo 3079 Sherman Alexie "Because My Father" 2928 Simon Ortiz "from Sand Creek" 3162 What are some common features you find in these writings by Native American writers? Be sure and provide textual support PAPER TWO DUE |
| May 1 | The Culture Wars Norton, chs. 32-33 |
Hisaye Yamamoto "Seventeen
Syllables" 2535 Explain the title Bernard Malamud "The Magic Barrel" 2499 Explain the title and the ending Potluck Take home final exam handed out |
| May 3 | Final | Due in one of the instructor's office by noon |