LITR 4332: American Minority Literature

Revised Syllabus for Fall 2008 (post-Hurricane Ike)

Meeting time & place: Tuesdays 7-9:50pm . . . Bayou 1235

Instructor: Craig White       Phone: 281 283 3380          email: whitec@uhcl.edu 

Office: 2529-8 Bayou       Office Hours: TBA & by appointment

Course webpage: http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/hsh/whitec/litr/4332

Caveat: All materials on this syllabus are subject to change with minimal notice.

Primary Texts

Course Objectives

Graded Work: (details via links; percentages are only approximate relative weight--no numbers or computations are used to decide final grades)

midterm on minority & African American literature (7 October; 40%) proposal for research report due

final exam (written research report + essay question) (2 December; 40-50%)

presentations & postings, attendance, participation, emails, reading quizzes (10-20%; graded silently)

Presentation + posting descriptions: (General information & all-presentation requirements)

Minority Culture Reader / Discussion Leader

Literary Style Reader / Discussion Leader

Poetry Presentation

Web Highlight

Reading & Meeting Schedule 2008

Tuesday, 26 August: course introduction; “minority concept”; Declaration of Independence; introduction to the African American Dream narrative.

Texts: The Declaration of Independence (1776)
Martin Luther King, “I Have a Dream”
selections from Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers
Olaudah Equiano, Interesting Narrative of the Life of . . . Olaudah Equiano, The African (London, 1789)

Tuesday, 2 September: begin Classic Slave Narratives:

Red-cover edition: Introduction (pp. 1-14); Life of Olaudah Equiano (pp. 29-83); Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (pp. 339-383)

Yellow-cover edition: Introduction (pp. ix-xviii); Life of Olaudah Equiano (pp. 9-54); Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (pp. 255-289)

or use these links to selections on our course webpage:

selections from Life of Olaudah Equiano

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Literary Style Reader (Classic Slave Narratives): Leigh Ann Moore

Poetry presentation(s): Jupiter Hammon, "An Evening Thought . . . "

Reader: instructor

Tuesday, 16 September: class cancelled due to Hurricane Ike

Tuesday, 23 September: begin Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (pages 1-93; through "Autumn" and "Winter")

Literary Style Reader: Christi Wood

Poetry: Maya Angelou, "Still I Rise"

Reader: Christina Holmes

Tuesday, 30 September: conclude The Bluest Eye (pp. 95-206 ("Spring" and "Summer") + Morrison's 1993 Afterword, 209-216 .

Minority Culture Reader: Allison Beck

Literary Style Reader: Catherine Louvier

Web highlight (midterms): Christine Michelle Pearson

Tuesday, 7 October: Complete African American, assign American Indian literature; midterm prep

Poetry presentation: Albert Gazeley, "The Cry of the Native American"

Reader: LeChelle Walker

Poetry presentation: Langston Hughes, "Harlem" & "Dream Variations"; Countee Cullen, "From the Dark Tower"

Reader: instructor

Tuesday, 14 October: midterm exam (in-class or email)

Tuesday, 21 October: American Indian Stories

Reading assignments:

• Zitkala-Sa, American Indian Stories: "Impressions of an Indian Childhood" (7-45); "The School Days of an Indian Girl" (47-80); "Dream of her Grandfather" (155-58)

Minority Culture Reader: Telishia "Tee" Mickens

Literary Style Reader: Veronica Valdez

Tuesday, 28 October: begin Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine (expanded version 1993) through “A Bridge” (ends on p. 180)

Minority Culture Reader: Lindsay Kelley

Literary Style Reader: Josh Hughey

Poetry presentation: Louise Erdrich, “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways”

Reader: Bethany Roachell

Tuesday, 4 November: complete Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine (expanded version 1993)

Minority Culture Reader: Ariana Gonzalez

Literary Style Reader: Mary Anne Kane

Tuesday, 11 November: "Virgin of Guadalupe" + begin Bless Me, Ultima

Reading assignments:

• “The Virgin of Guadalupe”(web post)

• Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima (through p. 50 or chapter Cinco)

• Glossary for Bless Me, Ultima

Minority Culture or Literary Style Reader: Rosalea "Rosie" Marti

Tuesday, 18 November: continue Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima (pp. 50-176; chapters Seis through Catorce)

Glossary for Bless Me, Ultima

Minority Culture Reader: Lacey Fleshman

Literary Style Reader: Benjamin Hamley

Poetry presentation(s): Pat Mora, “Senora X”

Reader / Discussion Leader: Lorraine Joseph

Tuesday, 25 November: complete Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima (pp. 177-262; chapters Quince through Veintidos)

Glossary for Bless Me, Ultima

Literary Style Reader: Peter Becnel

Web highlight (final exams regarding American Indian literature): Heather Thompson

Web highlight (final exams regarding Mexican American literature): Julie Mash

Tuesday, 2 & 9 December: final exam, in-class or email.