MASTERWORKS Syllabus
E316K: OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
Professor Matt Richardson
Summer 2012
MTWTH
F Discussion Section: Jennifer Shapland
Office Hours and Location: T 10-11; Thurs 1-2; Parlin 327
email: [e-mail]
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This course is a survey of American literature of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. We will be paying particular attention to the ways in
which classic short stories and plays represent American culture and
confront its construction and its myths specifically through portrayals of
the family. Work by a wide range of authors will serve as focal points for or
our discussions about family, race, culture, identity and sexuality. Our
goals are to become familiar with American literary traditions, to develop
an interpretative framework with which to read these works, and to
understand the particularized historical, gendered and racial context of
each.
Requirements:
Course Reader is available at Jenns Copy at 2200 Guadalupe St. (512)
473-8669. Please note that there are some required readings that are not
in the course reader or the main texts. They will be available on
blackboard or as handouts in class.
Books:
Sherman Alexie. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. 1993.
Loraine Hansberry. A Raisin in the Sun. 1959.
Eugene O'Neill. Long Days Journey into Night. 1956.
Books are available at the University CO-OP and the
Grading Break Down:
Section 25%
Midterm 25%
Final 30%
Participation and Attendance 20%
Course Requirements:
Office Hours: Students are REQUIRED to come to office hours at least
once during the semester to discuss your progress in the class and any
additional questions you may have. You are encouraged to take further
advantage of office hours and I am also available by appointment.
Attendance and Participation: Students are expected to attend class every
session. Participation in all aspects of the class is MANDATORY including
short in-class writing assignments that will happen throughout the
semester. All readings and assignments should be completed before class
meetings and students are responsible for adding to class discussions of
material. Please note that attendance and participation is worth 20% of
your total grade. Late arrivals are disruptive to class and I will not repeat
concepts and assignments given during class, nor will you be able to sign
in if you miss the sign-in sheet. If you miss a class or are late, you are still
responsible for any announcements, assignments, lecture material and/or
deadlines that are made. Your grade will be affected if you have more than
two unexcused absences during the semester.
Code of Mutual Respect: In general, this is not a lecture class, but one
grounded in dialogue. Feel free to be candid and direct in this class. Your
opinions and insights are important, and your voice needs to be heard, so
look forward to the opportunity to chime in. I will respect you as adults and
assume that you will treat others in the class with respect as well.
Because we will be sharing many personal ideas which may conflict with
your own personal ideas and beliefs, it is important that you strive to be
considerate, sensitive, and respectful. Be prepared to offer constructive
criticism as well as receive it. We will discuss work that includes lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender themes in this course. Students are
expected to approach all class material with maturity and academic rigor.
Code of Academic Conduct: University policy requires that students cite
sources they use in their work. THIS INCLUDES PARAPHRASING of
materials. Any inclusion of ideas that are not your own will be considered
plagiarism. Students who do not properly cite ideas, quotes or
paraphrasing of other published or unpublished material will automatically
face disciplinary action which will also be reflected in their grade.
Students with Disabilities: Any student with a documented disability
(physical or cognitive) who requires academic accommodations should
contact the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the
Dean of Students at 471-6259 (voice) or 471-4641 (TTY for users who are
deaf or hard of hearing) as soon as possible to request an official letter
outlining accommodations.
Religious authorized Holidays: If you observe a recognized religious holiday that is in
conflict with the university schedule, please come talk to me.
Week One
TH MAY
31
INTRODUCTION
Week Two
M JUNE 4
T JUNE 5
W JUNE 6
TH JUNE
7
Week
Three
M JUNE
11
Bradstreet, Anne. "The Author to Her Book." "Upon Some Distemper of Body."
"To My Dear and Loving Husband." The Tenth Muse Lately Spring Up in
America. By a Gentlewoman of Those Parts. 1650.
Wheatley, Phillis. "To Maecenas." "One Being Brought from Africa to America."
"On Virtue." Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. 1773.
Franklin, Benjamin. "The Speech of Polly Baker ." 1747. The Norton Book of
American Short Stories. Ed. Peter S. Prescott. New York : W.W. Norton &
Company, 1988.
Irving, Washington. "The Devil and Tom Walker" 1824. Norton Book of
American Short Stories.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." 1835. Norton Book of
American Short Stories.
Poe, Edgar Allen. "Fall of the House of Usher." 1839. Tales of Mystery and
Imagination. New York: The Heritage Press, 1941.
James, Henry. "The Middle Years." 1893. The Norton Book of American Short
Stories
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, 1861.
Jean Fagan Yellin, ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000 (excerpts)
Chestnutt, Charles. "The Sheriff's Children." 1889. The Oxford Book of
American Short Stories. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1992.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper."1892. Oxford Book of
American Short Stories
Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins. "A New England Nun." 1891. Great Short
Stories by
American Women. Ed. Candace Ward. New York: Dover Publications, 1996.
Chopin, Kate."Story of an Hour." 1894. Norton Book of American Short Stories.
T JUNE 12 Toomer, Jean. "Becky." 1923. Norton Book of American Short Stories.
Toomer, Jean. 1925. The New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance. Ed.
Alain Locke. New York: Touchstone, 1997. "Carma." "Fern."
Hurston, Zora Neale. "Spunk." The New Negro. 1925.
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants." 1927. Norton Book of
American Short Stories.
W JUNE
13
Faulkner, William. "Wash." 1934. Norton Book of American Short Stories.
Wright, Richard. "Big Boy Leaves Home." 1940. Uncle Tom's Children. New
York:
HarperPerennial, 1993
TH JUNE
14
O'Neill, Eugene. Long Days Journey into Night. 1956.
Week Four
M JUNE
18
O'Neill, Eugene. Long Days Journey into Night. 1956.
T JUNE
19
MIDTERM
O'Connor, Flannery."A Good Man is Hard to Find" 1953. Flannery O'Connor:
The Complete Stories. New York: Noonday Press, 1993. "Everything that Rises
W June 20 Must Converge" 1965.
TH JUNE Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." 1957. American Short Story Masterpieces. Ed.
21
Raymond Carver and Tom Jenks. New York: Dell Publishing, 1987.
Olsen, Tillie. "I Stand Here Ironing." 1961. Norton Book of American Short
Stories.
Week Five
M June 25 Hansberry, Loraine. A Raisin in the Sun. 1959
T June 26
Hansberry,Loraine. A Raisin in the Sun. 1959
TH June 27 Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use."1973. Norton Book of American Short Stories.
Bambara, Toni Cade. "Gorilla My Love" 1973. Norton Book of American Short
Stories.
Paley, Grace. "The Long Distance Runner." 1974. Grace Paley: The
Collected Stories.New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1994.
Week Six
M July 2
Silko, Leslie Marmon. "Yellow Woman." 1974.Oxford Book of American Short
Stories
Wong, Kathy. "And all the Girls Cried." Making Waves: An Anthology of
Writings By and About Adian American Women. Ed. Asian Women United of
California and
Asian Women United of California. Boston: Beacon Press, 1989
Tsui, Kitty. "Chinatown Talking Story." Making Waves
Lee, Evelyn and Gloria Oberst. "My Mother's Purple Dress." Making Waves
T JULY 3
Sherman Alexie. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. 1993.
TH JULY 5 Diaz, Junot.Drown. New York: Riverhead Books, 1996. "Fiesta." "Drown."