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8:135:001 – Topics in American Literature: Suburbia
“Transgression and the Postwar Suburban Region” – Spring 2006
Office Telephone: 660-7075
Office: 200Y Art Building
Email: keith.wilhite@duke.edu
T/Th 10:55 a.m. – 12:10 p.m. 206 EPB
“My God, the suburbs! They encircled the city’s boundaries like enemy territory and we thought of them as a loss of privacy, a cesspool of conformity and a life of indescribable dreariness in some split-level village where the place name appeared in The New York Times only when some bored housewife blew off her head with a shotgun.” ~ John Cheever, “Moving Out”
Course Description
Trespassers and thieves, voyeurs and adulterers, murderers and suicides: such is the typical cast of characters writers discover behind the façade of middle-class, suburban decorum. This course will explore representations of the suburbs in American literature from 1945 to the present, paying particular attention to the theme of transgression and the “geography” of the suburban home. We will read works from a variety of genres: novels, short stories, drama, and literary criticism, as well as selected excerpts from historical and sociological studies. We’ll also consider and discuss how other media representations (film, TV, and photography) contribute to our perceptions of the suburbs. As with any worthwhile pursuit, we’ll begin with a series of questions: What social and historical forces led to the current shape of the “suburban nation”? What is the connection between transgression and suburban geography? How do these texts construct us as readers of suburban representations? Naturally, you will also be encouraged to develop your own lines of inquiry into the complex themes and ideas our course readings introduce.
Required Texts (available at Prairie Lights Bookstore, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA 52240)
Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road (1961)
Ira Levin, The Stepford Wives (1972)
Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (1993)
Gish Jen, Mona in the Promised Land (1996)
Dolores Hayden, Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth 1820-2000 (2003)
Required Reading On Reserve (Main Library)
I have placed several short stories, essays, and chapters on 2-Hour Reserve in the Main Library. A number of the secondary readings are also available electronically, which means you should be able to access these readings from any campus computer. For a full list of Reserve materials for our course, visit http://infohawk.uiowa.edu/reserve. In the “Search for” box, type in my last name: Wilhite. Click on the “Wilhite, Keith” link, and you will find our list of Reserve materials, including the “Electronic Readings for Topics in American Literature – Suburbia.”
Please Note: The Reserve Readings are also “Required Texts.” You will be expected to read these materials and take notes on them for class discussions and reading quizzes. In most cases, I recommend you photocopy or print the readings—especially the short stories. See the Reading Schedule for reading assignments and dates.
Course Requirements
This course requires a substantial amount of reading and writing, and you will be expected to play an active role in our class discussions. Literary works are sites of interpretation, and our class meetings and discussions provide an essential time and place for us to ask critical questions about the works we read. As such, you will be expected to participate in class discussions on a regular basis and to lead class discussion on at least one occasion. The latter activity will require you to prepare a set of questions based on the primary and secondary readings for the day. Over the course of the semester, you will also write four short essays (2-3 pp.). These shorter assignments give you an opportunity to develop your interpretation of a particular text and to support your thesis through the close reading and analysis of selected passages. There will be an in-class midterm exam and you should expect at least one reading quiz per week. The course requirements culminate with a Final Essay (10-12 pp.) in which you develop your own interpretation of some theme, concept, or theory about suburban literature and culture. You may revisit ideas you addressed in the short essays, but this will be a stand-alone project, not a pastiche of earlier writings from the course. A more detailed handout for the Final Essay will be forthcoming.
Grading Policy and Percentages
Completing the reading and writing assignments, showing up to class, and contributing to our discussions will take you far in this course. You should know, however, that I consider a “C” an average grade and a grade you must earn. If you satisfy the minimum objectives of the assignments, your work will earn a “C.” Failure to satisfy the minimum objectives of assignments or for the course will earn your work a below average grade. Only work that demonstrates innovative thinking and superior clarity in writing and delivery will earn above average grades. The grading percentages are as follows:
Short Essays (10% each—40%) Midterm Exam (10%)
Final Essay (25%) Reading Quizzes (5%)
Class Participation & Leading Discussion (20%)
Participation and Attendance
This is a participation-based course, not a lecture course. Participation includes your willingness to speak in class and participate in any workshops or small group activities and presentations. Frequent absences or consistently arriving late to class will adversely affect your performance in this course. More than four absences will likely result in a failing grade for participation.
Deadlines
Assignments are due in class at the start of class. Should you be absent on a day an assignment is due you will likely receive a zero for that assignment. You should let me know well in advance if you are unable to turn in an assignment on time. Late work will usually be credited only by prior arrangement.
Additional Information
The best way to get in touch with me is via e-mail. I check my e-mail once a day, usually in the morning, and will do my best to respond to any messages or inquiries within 24 hours. Please do not wait until the day before an assignment is due to contact me with your questions.
If at any time you feel uncomfortable with the ideas expressed or the level of discussion in this course, please share those concerns with me. I want the classroom to be an accommodating environment in which we can discuss a variety of ideas and exchange diverse perspectives. It will be everyone’s responsibility to treat one another with consideration and respect. If at any point in the semester you have questions or concerns about the course, the assignments, or your grade, please come speak to me first, either during office hours or after class.
Reading Schedule
Week 1
1/17: Course Introduction
1/19: Delores Hayden, Building Suburbia, Chapters 1-2 (3-18)
John Cheever, “Moving Out” (handout)
Week 2
1/24: Hayden, Building Suburbia, Chapters 6-7 (97-153)
Raymond Carver, “Why Don’t You Dance?” in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (3-10)—Reserve
1/26: Jessica Blaustein, “Counterprivates: An Appeal to Rethink Suburban Interiority,” Iowa
Journal of Cultural Studies 3 (2003): 39-63—Reserve (issue 3 of IJCS is available in the Reserve Room. Electronic versions of the essays in this issue are also available at: www.uiowa.edu/~ijcs/suburbia/sub.htm)
Week 3
1/31: John Cheever, “The Housebreaker of Shady Hill,” in The Housebreaker of Shady Hill and
Other Stories (3-30)—Reserve
Timothy Aubry, “John Cheever and the Management of Middlebrow Misery,” Iowa
Journal of Cultural Studies 3 (2003): 64-83—Reserve (or www.uiowa.edu/~ijcs/suburbia/sub.htm)
2/2: Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Chapter 2 (29-54)—Reserve
Week 4—Short Essay 1 Due, Thursday, February 9
2/7: John Cheever, “The Country Husband,” in The Housebreaker of Shady Hill (49-83)—Reserve
2/9: Robert A. Hipkiss, “‘The Country Husband’: A Model Cheever Achievement,” Studies in
Short Fiction 27 (1990): 577-85—Reserve (electronic)
Lawrence Jay Dessner, “Gender and Structure in John Cheever’s ‘The Country Husband,’”
Studies in Short Fiction 31 (1994): 57-68—Reserve (electronic)
Week 5
2/14: Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (Act 1)
Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, Chapter 11 (190-218)—Reserve
2/16: Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (Acts 2-3)
Robin Bernstein, “Inventing a Fishbowl: White Supremacy and the Critical Reception of
Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun”Modern Drama 42 (1999): 16-27—Reserve (electronic)
Week 6
2/21: Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road, Part One, Chapters 1-5 (3-93)
Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, Chapter 13 (231-245)—Reserve
2/23: Yates, Revolutionary Road, Part One, Chapter 6 – Part Two, Chapter 4 (94-176)
Week 7—Short Essay 2 Due, Thursday, March 2
2/28: Yates, Revolutionary Road, Part Two, Chapter 5 – Part Three, Chapter 3 (177-262)
Michael P. Moreno, “Consuming the Frontier Illusion: The Construction of Suburban Masculinity in Richard Yates’s Revolutionary Road,” Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies 3 (2003): 84-95— Reserve (or www.uiowa.edu/~ijcs/suburbia/sub.htm)
3/2: Yates, Revolutionary Road, Part Three, Chapters 4-9 (263-337)
Week 8
3/7: Open—“Catch-up” and Review
3/9: Midterm Exam
Week 9: Spring Break
Week 10—**Screening of Invasion of the Body Snatchers this week (date/time TBA)**
3/21: Douglas Rushkoff, “Mediasprawl: Springfield U.S.A.,” Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies 3 (2003): 128-136—Reserve (or www.uiowa.edu/~ijcs/suburbia/sub.htm)
3/23: Ira Levin, The Stepford Wives, Chapter 1 (1-65)
Week 11—Short Essay 3 Due, Thursday, March 30
3/28: Levin, The Stepford Wives, Chapters 2-3 (66-123)
Ann Krugovoy Silver, “The Cyborg Mystique: The Stepford Wives and Second Wave Feminism,” Arizona Quarterly 58 (2002): 109-126—Reserve (electronic)
3/30: Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides, Chapters 1-2 (3-47)
Week 12
4/4: Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides, Chapter 3 (48-115)
James Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere, Chapter 11 (189-216)—Reserve
4/6: Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides, Chapter 3 – Chapter 4 (115-185)
Week 13
4/11: Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides, Chapter 4 – Chapter 5 (185-249)
Laura J. Miller, “Family Togetherness and the Suburban Ideal,” Sociological Forum 10
(1995): 393- 418—Reserve (electronic)
4/13: Gish Jen, Mona in the Promised Land, Chapters 1-3 (3-51)
Week 14—Short Essay 4 Due, Thursday, April 20
4/18: Jen, Mona in the Promised Land, Chapters 4-7 (52-144)
4/20: Jen, Mona in the Promised Land, Chapters 8-10 (145-215)
Week 15
4/25: Jen, Mona in the Promised Land, Chapters 11-Epilogue (219-304)
4/27: John Cheever, “The Five-Forty-Eight” in The Housebreaker of Shady Hill (115-134)—
Reserve
Raymond Carver, “The Train” in Cathedral (147-156)—Reserve
Mark A. R. Facknitz, “Missing the Train: Raymond Carver’s Sequel to John Cheever’s ‘The Five-Forty-Eight,’” Studies in Short Fiction 22 (1985): 345-347—Reserve (electronic)
Week 16
5/2: Hayden, Building Suburbia, Chapters 10-11 (201-248)
Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere, Chapter 13 (245-275)—Reserve
5/4: Final Essay Due