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8G:009 American Lives – Spring 2007
“Literature from America’s Urban Centers”
Office Telephone: 660-7075
Office: 200Y Art Building
Email: keith.wilhite@duke.edu
Section 4 MW 3:30 – 4:45 213 EPB
Course Description and Goals
Americans celebrate their cities as invaluable cultural centers while condemning them for their crime, crowding, and blight. This course will examine literary representations of American lives and ask critical questions about the different ways characters define an urban American identity. Over the course of the twentieth century, especially after World War II, middle-class families fled cities in search of a suburban American dream, initiating an era of precipitous urban decline and anti-urban sentiment. In short, to borrow from the title of one of our texts, American cities increasingly became sites of fear and loathing. We will read varied expressions of American identity alongside America’s ambivalent attitudes towards its urban centers. Our literary urban geography will include New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. The course assignments will encourage you to develop your own questions and ideas about American cities and the complex relationship between place, literature, and American identity.
Our main goal in this course is to consider the formal and thematic dynamics of literary texts and the connection between individual texts and broader cultural contexts. This course should help you become more aware of your role as readers and the influence of gender, ethnicity, geography, and past experience on interpretation. The assignments should help you refine your reading and writing skills.
Required Texts (available at IMU Bookstore)
- Brown Girl, Brownstones Paule Marshall / Feminist Press (1558611495)
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson / Random House (0679785892)
- How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Julia Alvarez / NAL Plume (0452287073)
- If He Hollers Let Him Go, Chester Himes / Thunder’s Mouth Press (1560250976)
- Lost in the City, Edward P. Jones / Harper Collins (006079528X)
- Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago, LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman / Simon & Schuster (0671004646)
- Theater of Tennessee Williams, Volume 1: Battle of Angels, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams / New Directions/Norton (0811211355)
Grading Policy and Course Requirements
Completing the reading and writing assignments, showing up to class with your text(s), notebook, and a writing utensil, 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 an assignment, 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. Interpretation, writing, and critical reading are all difficult and time-consuming processes that require practice and effort on your part if you want to be successful.
The University expects a 3-hour credit course to entail at least 6 hours of outside preparation per week by students. Here’s the breakdown for our course requirements:
Formal Essay (25%): You will write one formal essay, 5-6 pages in length, in which you offer your interpretation of two works from the course. Your thesis statement should relate your interpretation of the two literary works to some topic, theme, or question we’ve posed about American identity, American literature, or American cities during the semester. Your purpose is to explain how these two works maintain a specific national myth or ideology OR how they produce examples of individuals and situations which do not conform to traditional American myths and ideologies.
Reaction Papers (25%): You will write five “reaction papers” over the course of the semester, each 1 ½ to 2 pages in length. You may be asked to respond to discussion questions, offer close readings of passages you select from our texts, or explore some context related to the works we are reading.
Participation & Group Presentation (20%): Consistent and thoughtful contributions to our discussions are essential. Participation includes your preparedness for class, as well as your participation in small group activities or writing workshops. Each student will also participate in one small group “urban context” presentation. In groups of three, students will research and offer a presentation on one of the cities that we will be reading about and discussing during the semester.
Discussion Questions & Quizzes (15%): Every Monday by 10:00 a.m. this semester, you will submit a discussion question on the “Dropbox” page of our ICON course website. Each question will make specific reference to a passage from the day’s reading assignment and should be designed to promote discussion—i.e. no questions that would necessitate one and only one specific answer. Every Wednesday, we will likely have a reading quiz. These quizzes may ask you to identify characters, discuss plot points, or respond to a passage selected from the day’s reading. You are expected to read the assignments thoroughly, taking notes and highlighting passages to improve your comprehension. Always read with a pen/pencil in your hand!
Final Exam (15%): For the final exam, you will be given a short story that we have not previously read as a class. I will ask you to read the short story and write an in-class essay response in which you explain how the story intersects with themes and cultural contexts we have been discussing throughout the course.
Attendance Policy
This is a participation based course, not a lecture course. Frequent absences or consistently arriving late to class will adversely affect your performance. Emergencies arise, people get sick, and other obligations intrude; I understand. Each student will be allowed three absences, for any reason whatsoever. Beyond three missed class periods, however, you will need to provide written documentation in order for the absence to be excused. Missing more than three classes will likely result in an “F” for Participation.
Deadlines
Assignments are due in class at the start of class. Quizzes and other in-class assignments cannot be made-up at a later date. If you are absent on a day that a Reaction Paper is due, you will likely receive a zero for that assignment. I will accept a late Formal Essay if you notify me in advance and explain why you are unable to complete the assignment on time. However, your grade on the Formal Essay will be lowered by one letter for each day it is delinquent beyond the original due date.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s ideas or words as your own, whether in writing or speaking. Copying material from another source without using quotation marks and citing your source is plagiarism. Paraphrasing or summarizing information without citing your source is plagiarism. Presenting another student’s paper as your own is plagiarism. The University considers plagiarism a grave offense. If you plagiarize, you will receive an F for that assignment and possibly for the course.
The Writing Center
The Writing Center in 110 EPB is open for twice-a-week enrollment hours from 9:30-3:30 MTWTh (come to the center in person to sign up for twice a week.) For individual appointments, sign up on the bulletin board outside the writing center. Appointment hours are 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. MTWTh and 12-2 F in 110 EPB. There are also four writing center satellites across campus, and e-mail tutoring is available. Visit http://www.uiowa.edu/~writingc/ where you will find more information about writing center services, locations, and hours.
Students with Special Needs
I need to hear from anyone who has a condition which may require some modification of seating, testing, or other class requirements so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Please contact me during my office hours.
Contact Information
The best way to get in touch with me is via e-mail. I check my e-mail daily, 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 you have any questions or concerns about the course, the assignments, or your grade, please contact me first, either during office hours or via e-mail. If by chance there is a problem we cannot resolve, you may contact the Program Associates (64 EPB, 335-0484). The General Education Literature Supervisor is Brooks Landon (brooks-landon@uiowa.edu).
CLAS Statement
This course is given by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This means that class policies on matters such as requirements, grading, and sanctions for academic dishonesty are governed by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Students wishing to add or drop this course after the official deadline must receive the approval of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Details of the University policy of cross enrollments may be found at: http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/deos/crossenroll.doc .
Reading Schedule (page numbers in parentheses)
Mon. 1/15: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Wed. 1/17: Course Introduction
M 1/22: Alvarez, Garcia Girls (1-102)
W 1/24: Alvarez, Garcia Girls (103-146)
M 1/29: Alvarez, Garcia Girls (147-251)
W 1/31: Alvarez, Garcia Girls (252-286)
Reaction Paper #1 Due
M 2/5: Himes, If He Hollers (1-62)
W 2/7: Himes, If He Hollers (63-99)
M 2/12: Himes, If He Hollers (100-160) – Presentation 1: Los Angeles
W 2/14: Himes, If He Hollers (161-203)
Reaction Paper #2 Due
M 2/19: Thompson, Fear and Loathing (1-62)
W 2/21: Thompson, Fear and Loathing (63-96)
M 2/26: Thompson, Fear and Loathing (97-160) – Presentation 2: Las Vegas
W 2/28: Thompson, Fear and Loathing (161-204)
M 3/5: Williams, Glass Menagerie (123-141; Scenes 1-5, 143-189)
W 3/7: Williams, Glass Menagerie (Scenes 6-7, 190-237)
Reaction Paper #3 Due
SPRING BREAK
M 3/19: Film Screening: A Day Without A Mexican (dir. Sergio Arau)
W 3/21: Film Screening: A Day Without A Mexican (dir. Sergio Arau)
M 3/26: Jones, Lost in the City
“The Girl Who Raised Pigeons” (1-25), “The First Day” (27-31), and “Young Lions” (55-76)
W 3/28: Jones, Lost in the City – Presentation 3: Washington D.C.
“The Store” (77-104), “An Orange Line Train” (105-115), and “Lost in the City” (141-150)
M 4/2: Jones, Lost in the City
“His Mother’s House” (151-175), “A New Man” (203-216), and “Marie” (229-243)
W 4/4: Williams, Streetcar Named Desire (Scenes 1-4, 239-324)
Reaction Paper #4 Due
M 4/9: Williams, Streetcar Named Desire (Scenes 5-11, 325-419) – Presentation 4: New Orleans
W 4/11: Jones & Newman, Our America (Part I, 25-83)
M 4/16: Jones & Newman, Our America (Part II, 85-155) – Presentation 5: Chicago
W 4/18: Jones & Newman, Our America (Part III, 157-200)
FORMAL ESSAY DUE BY FRIDAY, APRIL 20 @ 5:00 P.M.
M 4/23: Marshall, Brown Girl, Brownstones (1-116)
W 4/25: Marshall, Brown Girl, Brownstones (116-150)
M 4/30: Marshall, Brown Girl, Brownstones (150-240) – Presentation 6: New York
W 5/2: Marshall, Brown Girl, Brownstones (241-310)
Reaction Paper #5 Due
Final Exam Date: Monday, May 7, 2:15 p.m