Professor Noelle Brada-Williams
Class: MW 12-1:15 PM MW, DMH 226B
Office: FO 110 Office Hours: MW 2-4 AM & W, 10-11:45 AM (and other times by appointment)
Phone: 924-4439
Email: awilli@email.sjsu.edu (no attachments)
Website: www.sjsu.edu/faculty/awilliams
This course examines major issues in American literature that pertain
to both the ethnic experience in America as expressed by members of
ethnic
communities and the way in which American race or ethnicity has been
narrated
by authors outside those communities. It will examine
world-views
and strategies of representation by a sampling of Americans with
origins
in the five different continents that have populated the United States:
North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. During the
course
of the semester, we will explore a variety of literary genres or forms
including novels, poetry, oral narrative, critical essay, and short
story.
You should take heed that the content of this course will not only
focus
on the difficult subjects of racism and the formation of racial and
ethnic
identity in the United States for a full semester but will contain
themes
related to religion, sexuality and other highly charged
issues. Some
texts may offer alternative or even antagonistic value systems to your
own.
Course Objectives:
1. To gain an awareness of the range of cultural experiences
and productions that make up American literary and cultural history.
2. To explore various literary genres which have shaped (or
been
reshaped by) representations of ethnicity in America.
3. To strengthen our abilities to engage literary text and to
analyze both its form and content as well as its historical contexts.
4. To hone students' reading, writing, researching, and
critical
thinking skills through the practice of intellectually challenging
analyses.
Course objectives 1-3 will be accomplished through the readings and
class discussions while the written work will allow us to accomplish
objective 4 and to assess our level of accomplishment in objectives
1-3.
Course Requirements and Grading:
Coursework includes reading assignments (see schedule below); two five
to eight-page formal literary analyses (which must include research); a
midterm of 5 short “identification”
questions/paragraphs; a final exam composed of both essay and
identification questions. Late
paper policy: keeping in mind the many emergencies and
unforeseen events that can occur in the average SJSU
student’s life, I have a very generous extension policy. As
long as you give me the request in writing—print or
email— (complete with a new deadline) before the
paper’s due date, most requests for an extension will be
granted. If
the original deadline is passed by a student who has not received an
extension or an extended deadline has been passed, 10% of the total
points possible will be taken off for lateness up to one week, NO PAPER
WILL BE ACCEPTED ONCE AN ORIGINAL OR EXTENDED DEADLINE HAS PASSED BY
MORE THAN A WEEK. Extended or late papers will be graded AFTER on-time
student work. Note that doing the reading and being able
and willing to respond to the comments and questions of both the
professor and your fellow students on a daily basis is a requirement of
the course. Reading quizzes and other in-class assignments will be
given to ensure that students are indeed completing and understanding
the readings. These cannot be made up.
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The following statement has been adopted by the Department of English for inclusion in all syllabi:
In English Department Courses, instructors will comment on and
grade
the quality of student writing as well as the quality of ideas being
conveyed.
All student writing should be distinguished by correct grammar and
punctuation,
appropriate diction and syntax, and well-organized paragraphs.
The Department of English reaffirms its commitment to the differential
grading scale as defined in the SJSU Catalog ("The Grading
System").
Grades issued must represent a full range of student performance: A =
excellent;
B = above average; C = average; D = below average; F = failure.
In written assignments for English 169, this scale is based on
the following
criteria:
A [90-92=A-, 93-96=A, 97-100=A+] = Excellent: The "A" essay is
articulate
and well developed with fluid transitions and a clear and persuasive
use
of evidence, which is drawn from the literary text itself, lecture
materials
(when appropriate), and research materials. An "A" essay contains a
fresh
insight which teaches the reader something new about the subject
matter.
B [80-82=B-, 83-86=B, 87-89=B+] Above average: The "B" essay
demonstrates
a good understanding of its subject, a clear and persuasive use of
evidence,
a certain level of ease of expression, and solid
organization. However,
it usually lacks the level of originality and creativity that
characterizes
the insight found in an "A" essay.
C [70-72=C-, 73-76=C, 77-79=C+] = Average: The "C" essay
makes
a good attempt at all the assignment's requirements. It has a
reasonable
understanding of its subject matter but its ideas are frequently
simplistic
or over-generalized. The writing style is also more bland and
repetitive
than the style shown by "A" and "B" essays and it often contains flaws
in grammar, punctuation, spelling and/or word choice. It may
also
use textual evidence out of context.
D [60-62=D-, 63-66=D, 67-69=D+] = Below average: The "D" essay is
poorly
organized and generally unclear. It has inappropriate or
inadequate
examples, is noticeably superficial or simplistic, and/or contains some
serious mechanical and grammatical problems. A "D" essay may
also
reveal some misunderstanding of the assignment requirements.
F = Failure: An "F" essay has not addressed the requirements of the
assignment and is unacceptable work in terms of both form and content.
The university has defined plagiarism as “The act of incorporating the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts of, and/or the specific substance of another's work, without giving appropriate credit, and/or representing the product as one's own work;” (excerpt from the complete policy at http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.htm). Plagiarism or cheating in English 169 will result in a failing grade. The incident will also be reported to the university for possible further action. All quotes must be enclosed in quotation marks or, when more than three lines, put in an indented block (like the quotes above). Full citation of the original author and source must also be included. For all papers, review excerpt from Diana Hacker’s Writer’s Handbook at the front of the reader for help with quote integration, formatting & proper citation. Your final requirement in the course is to be courteous and professional to both classmates and the professor. I realize that most people take this as a requirement in their daily lives and this statement does not need to be reiterated here. However, people sometimes forget that the classroom is a professional setting and rules that govern a business meeting apply here. For example, devices such as cell phones need to be turned off; coming to class late is unacceptable.
Campus policy in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act: "If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with DRC to establish a record of their disability.”
Schedule: [Do the assigned reading and writing in preparation for the discussion on the date on which the assignment is listed.]
Eight Required Texts:
•
English 169 Reader available at Maple Press on San Carlos, between 10th
and 11th.
• Abraham Cahan,
The
Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories (text also available online)
• Louise
Erdrich, Tracks
• Arturo Islas, The Rain God
• Jean Toomer, Cane, Norton Critical edition
• Maxine Hong
Kingston, China Men
• Z.Z. Packer, Drinking
Coffee Elsewhere
• Karen Tei
Yamashita, Tropic of
Orange
• I also
recommend Persis Karim, ed., A World
Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans
• You need to
keep the professor updated as to your most accessible and current email
address.
Week One:
Introduction
Monday, August 27: Introduction.
Recommended reading: sampling of Native American oral literature in
your reader.
Wednesday, August 29: Read China Men to page 81. Recommended reading: Excerpt of Ronald Takaki’s A Different Mirror (in 169 Reader).
Week Two:
Nineteenth-Century Immigration
Monday, September 3:
Labor Day Holiday
Wednesday, September 5:
Read China Men
to page 162.
Week Three:
Concluding Kingston’s China
Men
Monday, September 10:
Read China Men
to page 233
Wednesday, September 12:
Complete China Men
(to 308).
Week Four: The
Impact of Place on Identity
Monday, September 17:
Read Abraham Cahan, Yekl
(to page 89). Recommended viewing: Hester
Street (video in library).
Wednesday, September 19:
Read Abraham Cahan's "The Imported Bridegroom” (to page
162).
Week Five:
Identity and the Land
Monday, September 24:
Read Solmaz Sharif's "My Father's Shoes," and Willa Cather's "Neighbor
Rosicky” (both in reader).
Wednesday, September 26:
Louise Erdrich, Tracks (to page 61).
Week Six: Erdrich’s Historiographic Metafiction Monday, October 1: Tracks (at least to page 130). Wednesday, October 3: Conclude Louise Erdrich, Tracks (to end/p. 226).
Week Seven: An
Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance
Monday, October 8:
Read W.E.B. Dubois’ “Criteria of Negro
Art,” Alain Locke’s “The New
Negro.”
Wednesday, October 10:
All essays and poems by McKay, Hughes & Brown (all in
reader).
Week Eight:
Modernism, Generic Innovation, and the Depiction of Ethnicity
Monday, October 15:
Read part 1 of Cane
(3-37).
Wednesday, October 17:
Read part 2 of Cane
(41-80).
Week Nine:
Midterm & Paper 1
Monday, October 22: Paper
1 Due. Conclude discussion of Harlem Renaissance and
review for Midterm.
Wednesday, October 24:
MIDTERM EXAM in class—bring two blue
books.
Week Ten: Arturo
Islas’s The
Rain God
Monday, October 29: Read
Arturo Islas’s The
Rain God (to page 50)
Wednesday, October 31: Read The Rain God (to
page
110).
Week Eleven:
Personal Responsibility and Resistance to Oppression
Monday, November 5: Finish
The Rain God
(113-180).
Wednesday, November 7:
Read Adrienne Rich, "Split at the Root: An Essay on Jewish Identity,"
and Reginald McKnight, “The Kind of Light That Shines in
Texas” (in reader).
Week Twelve:
Humor and Resistance
Monday, November 12:
Veteran’s Day. School Closed.
Wednesday, November 14:
Read Sherman Alexie, “The Approximate Size of My Favorite
Tumor"; and Percival Everett, “The Appropriation of
Cultures,” and Mariam Salari's “Ed McMahon is
Iranian” (reader).
Week Thirteen:
Karen Tei Yamashita’s Tropic
of Orange
Monday, November 19: Read
Karen Tei Yamashita, Tropic
of Orange (at least to page 70).
Wednesday, November 21: Read
Karen Tei Yamashita, Tropic
of Orange (at least to page 140).
Week Fourteen:
Magical Realism and Images of Dystopia/Utopia
Monday, November 26:
Read Karen Tei Yamashita, Tropic
of Orange (at least to page
210).
Wednesday, November 28:
Finish Karen Tei Yamashita, Tropic
of Orange (280 pages).
Week Fifteen:
Packer’s Stories of Group Dynamics and the Recent
Past
Monday, December 3:
Read Z.Z. Packer, “Brownies” (1-31) and
“Geese” (210-233).
Wednesday, December 5:
Read Z.Z. Packer, “The Ant of the Self” and
“Doris is Coming.”
Week Sixteen: A
Summing Up
Monday, December 10:
Paper two Due. Read Langston Hughes’
“Let America Be America Again”; Lorna Dee
Cervantes' “Poem for the Young White Man Who Asked Me How I,
An Intelligent, Well-Read Person Could Believe in the War Between
Races”; and Aurora Levins Morales' “Child of the
Americas” (all 3 in Reader). We will review for the final on
this day.
Final Exam: December 18, 9:45 AM to Noon.