English 389
Professor Julianne Newmark
Room:
Weir 129 Email:
jnewmark@nmt.edu
Office
hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1:00 to 1:50 p.m. and by
appointment
ABOUT
OUR COURSE:
Welcome
to American Literature. In this
course, we will conduct a survey of the literature of the lands that now
comprise the United States, beginning with Native legends and tales that
pre-date the arrival of European explorers and concluding with the writings of
present-day novelists, essayists, and poets who represent many ethnicities and
American regions. In between, we
will examine American texts and oral literatures from the sixteenth through the
twenty-first centuries. Since our
course is but one semester in duration, often we will read excerpts from
important American texts rather than the full texts as originally published (or
at times written but unpublished).
As students in this course, you will be expected to develop a solid
understanding of the American literary tradition based on these readings, on
the historical context that I will provide you in lecture, on the discussions
we have as a class, and on the analyses of texts that you do individually in
your essays and exams.
We will
begin our course by inquiring into the development of ÒAmerican LiteratureÓ as
disciplinary area. Why do
university students study American Literature? How does a Ònational literatureÓ develop? How does a nation know when it has
Ònational literatureÓ? What if the
members of this national body are unequal, live in radically different
geographical areas, practice different religions, and even have different
citizenship statuses? These issues
have always challenged the idea of a cohesive America. How, then, do we envision a cohesive
American national literary tradition?
What features mark American literature and distinguish it from other
national literatures? These are
the questions with which we will begin our study this semester and to which we
will return frequently throughout the term.
POLICIES:
Required
texts:
¥ The
Norton Anthology of American Literature, Shorter Sixth Edition
¥ A
style-guide of your choice
Required
work and grading scale:
Your
grade will be based on various factors, including attendance, participation,
and completion and quality of written work. You will be expected to participate in daily class
discussions, occasional online discussions, and occasional group work in
class. You will write two formal
papers and complete two exams.
Essay
one (four to five pages) 90
Essay
two (four to five pages) 90
Midterm
Exam 75
Final
Exam 150
Poem
analysis 20
Quizzes 35
Participation
and attendance 40
TOTAL 500
Grading
scale:
A 465
and above
A- 450-464
B+ 435-449
B 415-434
B- 400-414
C+ 385-399
C 365-384
C- 350-364
Class
Participation:
You will
be evaluated on your ability and willingness to participate in classroom
discussions and other activities.
Keep this in mind and be sure to be alert in class, prepared for class
work, and engaged in our subject matter.
Poem
Analysis:
Once
during the term, each student will have to read and offer an analysis of a poem
of the studentÕs choice (by a pre-selected author). This brief presentation must also incorporate discussion of
one or two pieces of pertinent criticism of the poetÕs work along with the
studentÕs own reading of the poem.
Attendance
and Tardiness:
If you
miss more than three classes, you will be asked to drop the course or you will
receive a failing grade. There are, of course, extraordinary situations in
which absences might be excused. A
stay in the hospital, for example, is what I would call Òextraordinary.Ó
I do
take attendance into consideration in the calculation of your final grade,
along with the above-mentioned factor of participation. Be sure to attend all class meetings
and to be on time. Every three
days that you are tardy (more than five minutes) count as one
"absent" day. I consider
this syllabus, incidentally, as your contract with me, and mine with you. If you choose to continue in this
class, after reading this syllabus, I expect that you will abide by the
requirements of this course.
Quizzes:
There
will be a series of unannounced reading quizzes throughout the term.
Late
Papers:
Papers
must be turned in at the beginning of our class time on the day the assignment
is due. After this time, for each
day an assignment is late, I will deduct one letter grade (meaning, if the
paper begins at an "A" and is one day late, I will begin grading it
from an "A-" -- etcetera).
Again, extraordinary circumstances might excuse a late assignment, but
these are rare. I will not accept
emailed versions of papers; you must come to class, or arrange to see me in my
office, to turn in your paper-copy of your assignment. I
reserve the right not to accept late papers.
Courteousness
and Cell Phones:
We will
be covering some sensitive topics in this class. So, I will expect you to behave appropriately and be open to
different opinions. Above all, be
courteous to your classmates. One
sign of courteousness is that you turn off your cell phone before entering
class. If there are repeated
problems with your cell phone, I will ask you to leave the classroom for the
day. You will take an absence that
day.
Equal
Access:
Qualified
students with disabilities needing appropriate academic adjustments should
contact me as soon as possible to ensure your needs are met in a timely
manner. Handouts are available in
alternative accessible formats upon request.
Plagiarism:
In our
course, I will review the standards of correct citation, academic honesty, and
intellectual property. After this
information has been presented to you in class, you are responsible for it and
cannot claim ignorance as a defense against an accusation of academic
dishonesty. You will need to quote
directly from literary texts, and appropriately cite these texts, in both of
your papers and in your exams.
Each of your papers must have a Works Cited page.
Plagiarism,
in very general terms, is the use of someone elseÕs words or ideas without
proper citation. The style guide Everyday
Writer, which
you may have from English 111 or 112, includes information about
plagiarism. I suggest that you
become familiar with pages 168 and 173-175 and commit to memory the information
regarding plagiarism that I provide for you in class. All other good style
guides provide detailed information on avoiding plagiarism. Also, the NMT
library offers a handy website addressing many plagiarism issues and provides
advice on avoiding plagiarism:
http://infohost.nmt.edu/~nmtlib/INFO/ORef/plagiarism.html
Essay
Format:
All work
that is to be handed in must be typed, double-spaced, printed on white paper in
black ink, and must use twelve-point font (preferably Times New Roman). If your paper does not conform to these
stylistic requirements, I will hand it back to you without a grade and you will
be required to reformat in and will suffer a late-paper penalty. Again, your papers must include correct
text citations and a Works Cited page.
Course
calendar:
Week
one: Reading/Assignment
Due:
Wednesday,
August 23 Course
introduction, review syllabus.
Week
two:
Monday,
August 28 pgs
17-36 (Iroquois and Pima creation stories; Columbus; Cabeza de Vaca)
Wednesday,
August 30 pgs
61-70 and 75-94 (Winnebago trickster tales and William Bradford)
Week
three:
Monday,
September 4 LABOR
DAY – NO CLASSES
Wednesday,
September 6 pgs
114-126 and 135-152 (Bradstreet and Rowlandson)
Week
four:
Monday,
September 11 pgs
293-299 (Occom)
Essay One assigned
Wednesday,
September 13 pgs
219-231 and 276-293 (Franklin)
Week
five:
Monday, September 18 pgs
299-310 and 320-334 (Crevecoeur and Paine)
Wednesday,
September 20 pgs
334-342 and 350-361 (Jefferson and Equiano)
Week
six:
Monday,
September 25 ESSAY
ONE DUE
pgs 366-378 (choose HALF of
WheatleyÕs poems)
Student poetry analysis.
Wednesday,
September 27 pgs
460-469 and 476-482 (Cooper and Apess)
Week
seven:
Monday,
October 2 pgs
482-527 and 539-556 (Emerson)
Wednesday,
October 4 pgs
834-853 and 895-905 (Thoreau)
Week
eight:
Monday,
October 9 pgs
812-834, 939-941, and 947-950 (Jacobs and Douglass)
Wednesday,
October 11 pgs
985-1003, 1058-1066, 1071-1074 (Whitman)
Student poetry analysis.
Week
nine:
Monday,
October 16 Catch-up,
review day.
Wednesday,
October 18 Exam
preparation day.
Week
ten:
Monday,
October 23 MIDTERM
EXAM
Wednesday,
October 25 pgs
1081-1111 and 1453-1460 (Melville and Bierce)
Week
eleven:
Monday,
October 30 pgs
1167-1189 (choose ONE THIRD of DickinsonÕs poems)
Student poetry analysis.
Wednesday,
November 1 pgs
1621-1630 and 1702-1719 (Washington and Du Bois)
Essay
Two assigned
Week
twelve:
Monday,
November 6 pgs
1460-1467 and 1780-1789 (Native American oratory, chants, and songs)
Wednesday,
November 8 pgs
1792-1807 (Zitkala-Sa)
Week
thirteen:
Monday,
November 13 HANDOUT:
Willa Cather
Wednesday,
November 15 ESSAY
TWO DUE
pgs 1933-1946 (choose HALF of
WilliamsÕs poems)
Student poetry analysis.
Week
fourteen:
Monday,
November 20 pgs
1954-1963 and 1973-2003 (H.D. and Eliot)
Wednesday,
November 22 pgs
2096-2109 and 2120-2126 (Hurston and Toomer)
Week
fifteen:
Monday,
November 27 pgs
2190-2206 and pgs 2245-2249 (Crane and Cullen)
Wednesday,
November 29 pgs
2249-2255, 2265-2271, and 2566-2580 (McNickle, Bulosan, Anzaldua)
Course
evaluations.
Week
sixteen:
Monday,
December 4 Exam
preparation day.
Wednesday,
December 6 FINAL
EXAM