LITR 5731: Seminar in American Multicultural Literature: Minority

Syllabus for fall 2007

LITR 5731: Seminar in American Multicultural Literature: Minority

Fall 2007, University of Houston-Clear Lake  Thurs. 4-6:50pm, Bayou 1302

Instructor: Craig White    Office: 2529-8 Bayou    Phone: 281 283 3380

Office Hours: T 2:30-3:30; Th 1-2; Th 7-8 & by appointment

email: whitec@uhcl.edu

Course webpage: http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/5731

Caveat: Data stated and contracts implied in this syllabus may change with minimal notice with fair hearings at class meetings.

Texts

The Classic Slave Narratives, ed. H. L. Gates, 1987 (NAL)

Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon, 1977 (Plume)

John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks, 1932 (Bison)

Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine (expanded ed. 1993, HarperPerrennial)

Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima, 1972 (Delta)

Sandra Cisneros, Woman Hollering Creek, 1991 (Vintage)

John Reid (Andrew Tobias), The Best Little Boy in the World 1973 (Ballantine)

Handouts or web postings of other representative texts

Poems for seminar presentation (handouts)

Written Assignments and Graded Work

(details follow objectives):

Take-home midterm (7-10 pages; due 27 September; 20%)

Provisional research proposal (due by email 11 October; ungraded)

Research Project (Essay or journal) (12-20 pages; due 29 November; 35-40%)

Poetry reading, class & email participation, attendance (15-20%)

Final exam (in-class or take-home, 6 December; 20-25%)

Percentages are only approximate and not to be construed mathematically but only as general indications of relative weight. Only letter grades are given. Pluses and minuses may appear on final grades. Grades are based on quality of writing, as judged in comparison with work by other students, present and past. Your writing will be criticized in the interest of helping you become a better writer. Criticism does not distinguish content from presentation, except for the question, Could you have written your response to the assignment without taking the seminar? Originality and outside references are welcome and encouraged, but your writings must demonstrate learning in terms of the course’s objectives and discussions.

Course Objectives:

(Objectives highlight ideas and terms developed in lectures, discussions, presentations, and examinations. Objectives also identify learning outcomes.)

Objective 1

To define the “minority concept" as a power relationship modeled primarily by some ethnic groups’ historical relation to the dominant American culture.

1a. Involuntary participation—the American Nightmare

Unlike the dominant immigrant culture, ethnic minorities did not choose to come to America or join its dominant culture. Thus the original "social contract" of Native Americans and African Americans contrasts with that of European Americans, Asian Americans, and most Latin Americans. The consequences of "choice" or "no choice" echo down the generations, particularly in terms of assimilation versus continuing minority status.

1b. “Voiceless and choiceless”; “Voice = Choice”

Contrast the dominant culture’s self-determination or choice through self-expression or voice, as in "The Declaration of Independence."

1c. To observe alternative identities and literary strategies developed by minority cultures and writers to gain voice and choice:

·        “double language” (same words, different meanings to different audiences)

·        using the dominant culture’s words against them

·        conscience to dominant culture (which otherwise forgets the past).

1d. “The Color Code”

Literature represents the extremely sensitive subject of skin color infrequently or indirectly. Generally western civilization transfers the values it associates with “light and dark”—e. g., good & evil, rational / irrational—to people of light or dark complexions, with huge implications for power, validity, sexuality, etc. (But see objective 4 regarding “the New American” & racial ideology and practice.)

Objective 2 

To observe representations and narratives (images and stories) of ethnicity, gender, and class as a means of defining minority categories.

2a. Gender: Is the status of women, lesbians, and homosexuals analogous to that of ethnic minorities in terms of voice and choice? Do "women of color" become "double minorities?"

2b. To detect "class" as a repressed subject of American discourse.

·        “You can tell you’re an American if you can’t talk about class.”

·        American culture officially regards itself as "classless"; race and gender often replace class divisions of power, labor, ownership, or "place."

·        Class may remain identifiable in signs or “markers” of power and prestige

·        High-class status in the USA is often marked by plainness, simplicity, or lack of visibility.

2c. "Quick check" on minority status: What is the individual’s or group’s relation to the law or other dominant institutions? Does "the law" (e. g., the police) make things better or worse?

Objective 3

To compare and contrast the dominant “American Dream” narrative—which involves voluntary participation, forgetting the past, and individuals or nuclear families—with alternative narratives of American minorities, which involve involuntary participation, connecting to the past, and traditional, extended, or alternative families.

Tabular summary of contrasts between the dominant culture's "American Dream" narrative and minority narratives (still Objective 3)

3a. African American alternative narrative: “The Dream”

("The Dream" resembles but is not identical to "The American Dream." Whereas the American Dream emphasizes immediate individual success, "the Dream" factors in setbacks, the need to rise again, and group dignity.)

3b. Native American Indian alternative narrative: "Loss and Survival"

(Whereas immigrants define themselves by leaving the past behind in order to become American, the Indians were once “the Americans” but lost most of their land along with many of their people. Yet Native Americans defy the myth of "the vanishing Indian," choosing to "survive," sometimes in faith that the dominant culture will eventually destroy itself, and the forests and buffalo will return.)

3c. Mexican American narrative: “The Ambivalent Minority”

("Ambivalent" means having "mixed feelings" or contradictory attitudes. Mexican Americans as a group may feel or exemplify mixed feelings about whether they are a distinct, aggrieved minority group or an immigrant culture that will assimilate. As individuals or families who come to America for economic gain but suffer social dislocation, Mexican Americans resemble the dominant immigrant culture. On the other hand, much of Mexico's historic experience with the USA resembles the experience of the Native Americans: much of the United States, including Texas, was once Mexico. Does a Mexican who moves from Juarez to El Paso truly immigrate? In any case, it’s not just another immigrant story.)

Objective 4

To register the minority dilemma of assimilation or resistance—i. e., do you fight or join the culture that oppressed you? What balance do minorities strike between economic benefits and personal or cultural sacrifices? In general, immigrants assimilate, while minorities (esp. African Americans) remain distinct.

4a. To identify the "new American" who crosses, combines, or confuses ethnic or gender identities (e. g., Tiger Woods, Halle Berry, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, K. D. Lang, Dennis Rodman, RuPaul, David Bowie)

4b. To distinguish the ideology of American racialism—which sees races as pure, separate, and permanent identities—from American practice, which always involves hybridity (or mixing) and change.

Objective 5

To study the influence of minority writers and speakers

on literature, literacy, and language.

5a.  To discover the power of poetry and fiction to help "others" hear the minority voice and vicariously share the minority experience.

5b. To assess the status of minority writers in the "canon" of what is read and taught in schools (plus the criteria determining such status).

5c. To regard literacy as the primary code of modern existence

and a key or path to empowerment.

5d. To note development and variations of standard English

 by minority writers and speakers.

5e. To emphasize how all speakers and writers may use

common devices of human language to make poetry,

including narrative, poetic devices,  and figures of speech.

5f. To generalize the "Dominant-Minority" relation to philosophical or syntactic categories of "Subject & Object," in which the "subject" is self-determining and active in terms of "voice and choice," while the "object" is acted upon, passive, or spoken for rather than acting and speaking.

Objective 6.

To observe images of the individual, the family, and alternative families in the writings and experience of minority groups.

6a. Generally speaking, minority groups place more emphasis on “traditional” or “community” aspects of human society, such as extended families or alternative families, and they mistrust “institutions.” The dominant culture celebrates individuals and nuclear families and identifies more with dominant-cultural institutions or its representatives, like law enforcement officers, teachers, bureaucrats, etc. (Much variation, though.)

6b. To question sacred modern concepts like "individuality" and "rights" and politically correct ideas like minorities as "victims"; to explore emerging postmodern identities, e. g. “biracial,” “global,” and “post-national.”

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ASSIGNMENTS

Email and webpage contributions

This course has a webpage featuring basic information about the course and student models of required assignments. The web address is http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/5731. If convenient, install it as a “favorite” on your web browser.

Each student will make several contributions to the webpage through the instructor via email or other electronic means.

Required email / web contributions:

1. midterm exam

2. research proposal

3. research project

4. (optional) final exam by email or in-class

5. presentation summary or posting

Email address: Send all emails to whitec@uhcl.edu. Note the "c" at the end of "whitec." If you send the email to "white" only, it goes to the wrong professor.

Contents and attachments: Try both of the following

·        Paste the contents of the appropriate word processing file directly into the email message.

·        “Attach” your word processing file to an email message. (My computer and most of its programs work off of Microsoft Word 2000. The only word processing program my computer appears unable to translate is Microsoft Works, though Microsoft Word is fine, as are most others.  If in doubt, save your word processing file in "Rich Text Format" or a “text only” format.)

Student computer access: Every enrolled student at UHCL is assigned an email account on the university server. For information about receiving your account name and password, call the university help desk at 281 283 2828.

Reassurances: You are not graded on your expertise in electronic media but on your intelligence in reading discussing, and writing about literature. I’ve tried similar email exercises for several semesters; a few students encounter a few problems, but, if we don’t give up, these problems always work out. Your course grade will not suffer for mistakes with email and related issues as long as I see you making a fair effort.

Intellectual Property issues: After the semester, the instructor will remove any or all of an individual student’s contributions upon email request from that student. These materials will not be sold or marketed by the university and are intended only for student use; however, other users beyond the university may conceivably put these materials to uses beyond the university’s control.

Take-home midterm exam (due 27 September):

Describe and analyze one or more literary and/or cultural aspects of the minority experience as represented by our readings in African American Literature.  You must refer to at least two of the slave narratives, to Song of Solomon, and to at least one of the poems presented in class. You may also refer briefly to relevant texts from beyond this seminar’s assigned readings.

            In concept, this midterm stands somewhere between an out-of-class paper and a take-home exam.  As with a paper, you are expected to show originality and critical insight in developing your topic, but as with an exam you are expected to demonstrate familiarity with the course's assigned readings and some of its main themes. In terms of the midterm’s topic, as with a paper you are free to choose the aspect or aspects of the minority experience that your midterm will investigate, and you are encouraged to develop your own insights in relation to it. However, as with an exam your topic should also be related to the course’s main themes, and your development of your insights should acknowledge relevant contents from lecture or discussion.

            For examples of student topics, review the previous midterm submissions on the “Model Assignments” sub-page of the course webpage. In past offerings of this course, the best midterms "controlled" the essay and made it interesting by focusing on a specific element the texts have in common, e. g., language or literacy development; status of women; defining moments in a character's career; sexuality; violence; relations to parent or authority figures; presence of the dominant culture, etc.

            Above all, write a unified essay with a strong central thesis that successfully relates the various texts.  Don't discuss these texts in isolation from each other, but show how they relate to make a larger point.

            You may treat one or two texts in more detail than the others.  Though you should concentrate on the texts mentioned above, feel free to refer to other texts, including the poems presented by students.

            The length for the midterm exam is from seven to 10 typed or printed-out pages.

            Email submissions are expected on or before class on 27 September. If your paper is late, come to class anyway and turn it in as soon as you can afterward.

One additional requirement: Your midterm should make reference to at least one previous student midterm. If this turns out to be unwieldy, explain the situation in a note accompanying your midterm. The chief purpose of this stipulation is to assure that you review previous midterm submissions.

Differences from previous midterms: Previous offerings of the Minority seminar featured a third book in the African American section, the novel Push by Sapphire. For various reasons, this semester has omitted that assignment—but you’ll see plenty of references to it on the Model Assignments.

Research project:

Provisional research proposal due by email 11 October

(Length: 3-4 paragraphs)

Research Project due 29 November

Length: 12-20 pages; Weight: 35-40% of final grade.

Research Project options: paper or journal

You have considerable freedom to develop your research project according to your own needs. The standard options for this project are a traditional research or term paper, or a research journal. Both options will be graded by similar categories, including depth and expertise in research, and quality of writing, including readability and interest.

Provisional research proposal (due 11 October, ungraded):  Email 3 or 4 paragraphs plus or minus any outlines or bibliographies. Indicate which option—paper or journal—you're choosing. End your proposal by asking me a question or questions about your topic or your plan of action.

·        If the essay option, describe the topic you are planning for your essay. Indicate which texts you will use.  You may indicate two or three topics if you are still trying to make up your mind. 

·        If the journal option, survey the range of possible contents or subjects that you may cover, plus any unifying theme or direction for the journal.

·        You may change your option or topic as your research and writing progress. If the change is "natural" and still falls generally within the description of your original proposal, you do not need to submit another proposal. If, however, you change your option or topic completely, please submit another proposal.

·        More details on each option follow below.

Research Essay option (due by email 29 November):

            The paper's assigned length is the equivalent 12 to 20 pages, double-spaced—though it need not be double-spaced when you submit it.  Follow MLA documentation style. You are required to refer to at least three critical, theoretical, or historical (i. e., secondary) sources.  Your paper should center on one or two "primary texts"; usually the primary texts are drawn from the course’s readings, but you may propose an outside text. If you use more than one primary text, you do not have to treat them in perfect balance—that is, you might develop your ideas more from one than from another, using the second text mostly for contrast or relief. The topic is your choice but must have a direct relevance to the course (see below). Texts may be chosen from within or beyond the course readings, but if all the texts are from outside the course, their relevance should be clear.

Essay Topics: In choosing and developing a topic, students generally start either with a text or with an idea. If you find yourself interested in a text but aren't sure how to develop a topic from it, try isolating a problem or issue for minorities or for American culture or literature that the text explores. This problem or issue may be cultural or literary. How is the problem or issue expressed, and in what ways do the text and/or its characters attempt to resolve it, and with what success? What insight into American culture and literature does the text develop? For secondary sources, try to find criticism of the particular texts involved so that you can build on ideas previously established.

            If you are starting with an idea, you may want to find a theoretical text that deals with the idea for the sake of development. Then find texts in or beyond the course that develop the idea.

            As another subject option, review the course objectives. You are not expected to duplicate ideas developed in lecture and discussion as you would for an exam, but you may use them as background or as launching points.

            In some cases students may continue to develop the topics they began in the midterm. The central ideas are expected to demonstrate further development and research.

            For examples of previous research topics, review the Model Assignments on the course webpage.

Research Journal option (due by email 29 November; 40%):

Purpose: Students will extend their range of knowledge or familiarity with the field of minority literature or one of its subject areas. In brief, the journal might answer the question, "What do I want to know about this field of study, and in what types of sources or references do I find this knowledge most accessible?"

Some sample subject areas: The Harlem Renaissance, Native American poetry (or song), Mexican American literature in Texas or Houston, The Arte Publico Press of Houston, African American autobiography, Native American oral traditions, the corridos of the Border country, performance poetry by minority writers (e. g., Sapphire, Sherman Alexie), missionary literature of the American Indians, slave narratives, the Underground Railroad in literature, literature of the Civil Rights Movement, theories of "multicultural literature," literature associated with Martin Luther King, publishing by minorities, the rise of African American popular literature in the 1990s (bestsellers, Oprah's Club, etc.).

Length: Approximately 15-20 pages, though longer submissions are acceptable. Content: Specific suggestions are given below, but overall the journal should demonstrate that you have, however briefly or tentatively, initiated research in several related subjects.

Quality: Be careful not to let the label of "journal" make you lazy. All your writings should be readable and interesting, and none should look like first drafts.

Coherence: A journal provides opportunities for variety in learning, but students should look for opportunities to organize their diverse sources into larger themes according to the purposes of the assignment. The introduction and conclusion provide the primary opportunity for you to generalize on your learning. Also you may make connections between parts of your journal as they appear.

Warning regarding grading: If you choose the journal option, you are not choosing an option that involves less work than the traditional research paper option. You are expected to do just as much work and your writing will be judged by similar standards. However, the writing may be less centrally or consistently focused on one subject. Thus you may pursue several subjects, which may not perfectly cohere, but the journal must be “readable.” That is, your writing should lead the reader and connect from page to page. In brief, the journal I read should not be your first drafts, and it has to be going somewhere. If you drop subjects and introduce new ones without accounting for the shift, this amounts to bad writing in a journal just as it does in an essay. If the progression of the material doesn’t create a desire in your reader to keep reading, this is a problem in a journal just as it is in an essay.

Research journal--suggested contents: (page suggestions are for double-spaced print)

(Except for the introduction and conclusion, all the items and page numbers below are optional or variable according to your interests and findings. In no case should your journal be over 20 pages. Other options besides those listed are possible.)

·        Introduction (required): rationale: what you wanted to learn and how; preview contents, general themes, choices (1-1 & 1/2 pages)

(All the following “body” components are optional for inclusion or variable in length according to your topics and findings)

·        Reviews of two or more secondary sources. What kinds of issues and challenges does the article or book raise? What does the reader leave with, and what remains unresolved? (1 page)

·        Review of 2-3 websites (1-2 paragraphs on each site?)

·        Historical report on a major event or series of events in the cultural history of the minority you're studying. (1-2 pages)

·        Biographical report plus primary and secondary bibliography on a major minority author (2-3 pages)

·        You may suggest other possible items for inclusion in your journal.

·        Conclusion (required): In terms either of variety, priority, or unity, what have you learned from the gathering of your journal? Where might this knowledge take your studies or your teaching? What new issues have been introduced that you might like to study next? (2-3 pages)

Class Presentations & Discussions

Each student will make at least one seminar presentation and lead a discussion based on it. One or more of your presentations will require a posting to the course webpage.

·        Poetry Presentation on a pre-selected poem—lead a discussion, and provide a summary for the webpage.

·        “Web highlight” to showcase previous student contributions on the course webpage’s “Model Assignments,” e. g., selections from midterms, projects, or final exam answers.

·        “Discussion-starters.” (no email or web responsibilities)

Poetry Reading / Email Summary or Posting for Web Page

Because the course readings are prose, attention to poetry will develop in student readings and student-led discussions.  Each student will be assigned one poetry reading.

Brief description: The assigned student will introduce, read, briefly interpret, and lead a discussion of an assigned poem. The assigned poems appear in the reading schedule below, though some poems may be added or cut as needed.

·        The student reader / discussion leader is responsible for finding and making copies of the assigned poem for the other students in the class. The professor will help as necessary.

·        Other members of the class are not required to read the poem ahead of time.

·        10-minute time limit.  Ten minutes is the approximate time limit in terms of your presentation itself, not counting discussion. If shorter poems do not require 10 minutes, don't feel a need to stretch out your presentation. If your poem is quite long, extra time may be allowed, or consider reading parts of it.

·        The trickiest part of the presentation is that you’re expected to offer a two-part interpretation, concerning both content and style, but briefly enough that you don’t tamp discussion. Consider a couple of minutes interpretation before the reading and a couple of minutes after, and to suggest ideas for discussion rather than nailing or finishing ideas.

Format for poetry presentation:

1.     Before reading the poem, begin your interpretation. Cite one or two course objectives relevant to the poem’s content. You may provide some brief biography of the poet, but this is not necessary and may be distracting. Concentrate on the poem itself and the discussion it stimulates.

2.     Read the poem aloud. Look up unfamiliar words and practice pronunciations. (Feel free to ask for help beforehand.) Try to read with feeling and comprehension.

3.     After reading, briefly complete your interpretation. In general, students are most ready to discuss soon after the reading, so don't lose that opportunity by talking too long.

4.     Begin discussion by asking a question. The best way to begin is by asking a question.  Therefore, your last steps in the poetry presentation (besides leading and responding to discussion) are to wrap up your interpretation and to ask the other members of the class a question relevant to what you've said up to that point. In posing this question, the reader / leader might highlight some problematic or inspiring areas of the poem. (Sometimes they’ll just sit there, so you might have an extra question ready; sometimes they’ll want to discuss something besides what you asked, but that’s okay; sometimes you have to keep asking and trying different angles until you get a response.) Discussion may go up to 10 minutes beyond the presentation itself.

5.     The reader leads the discussion, calling on other class members and responding to their comments. Students should attempt to answer the question but may raise other issues as the discussion progresses. Students should direct comments to the discussion leader.

Single biggest aid to a good discussion: Start the discussion as soon as possible after reading the poem. After hearing and sharing the poem, the class is ready to jump in and discuss. Usually the only discussions that "die" are the ones where the students have to wait too long to start talking.

“web highlight”

The student selects passages from the undergraduate midterm, project, or final exam samples and sends them with a brief introduction and conclusion to the instructor for inclusion on the day’s webpage. This informal presentation may lead to a discussion, but a question is not required.

Project a copy of this presentation on the webpage. If you’re reviewing larger submissions like projects, welcome to go directly to them rather than copying parts.

The purpose of this presentation is to familiarize students with assignments and with standards of student work.

1. Introduction: Student writes 1-3 sentences describing the assignment and how s/he went about developing it. Student reads to begin presentation.

2. Two or more selections from assigned models: Students will be assigned to highlight midterms, projects, or finals. Student copies sections from assigned models and sends them to the instructor for posting with introduction and conclusion. Or the student may ask for links to assigned models for wider review. (Such links may be appropriate for reviewing projects.) Student reads or selectively reviews selections.

3. Conclusion: Student writes 3-5 sentences explaining what s/he learned from the review, what about the models was either impressive or disappointing, and what kinds of “models” have been created for our own semester’s work.

“Discussion-Starter” for reading assignment

·        Identify idea, theme, problem, or issue in the reading assignment. Briefly relate this idea to a course objective (or, if not, indicate why it doesn’t fit).

·        Direct class (page numbers) to one or two brief passages and read selections, briefly commenting on application to opening theme or idea.

·        (The order of the first two steps may be reversed.)

·        Ask a question to begin discussion. The question should follow from your reading, but it may also appeal more broadly to the challenges the text may present to the class. It may also refer to other class readings.

·        Lead discussion. You may follow up or re-start discussion with follow-up questions as prepared.

·        Conclude discussion by identifying major points raised by discussion and relating them to the course objective you started with.

·        No requirements for written summary or email / webpage posting.

“Silent Grade” for presentation, participation, email exchanges, etc.

You are graded for the quality of your work in presentations, email exchanges, and general class participation, but this grade is not announced until the end of the semester, when it is recorded in the Final Grade Report that is emailed to you.  The reason for this “silent grade” is to avoid unproductive behavior from students in relation to the presentations, such as second-guessing, comparing grades, competing to each other’s detriment, or performing to the teacher.  Altogether the presentations are a cooperative exercise on the part of the class, so it’s better to keep grading out of sight; however, since some students would work less otherwise, the leverage of a grade is necessary.

Final Exam (in-class or take-home, 4-6:50, 6 December; 20%)

Format: You may take your final exam either in-class using paper and ink during the final exam period (6 December, 4-6:50) or by email by 2pm the following day (7 December). The schedule for email testing is more flexible, but email students shouldn’t spend more than approximately 3 hours writing their exam. Both in-class and email exams are open-book and open-notebook.

Assignment: Two essays, whose topics may vary according to the following options. For details consult the assignment on the “Model Assignments” webpage.  In most semesters this assignment is tweaked and refined as the final exam approaches, but the standard outlines will remain, and students will have plenty of options.

Final Grade Report (emailed from instructor to student)

Final grades will be submitted to the registrar according to the usual procedures. Students may check their final grades by calling the university’s EASE line. However, I will email each student a tally of grades. This message should be accurate, but it will be “unofficial” in that none of its information aside from the final grade will be recorded or supported by the university registrar. The message will appear thus:

LITR 5731 Seminar in American Multicultural Literature: Minority 2007

STUDENT NAME + contact information

Absences:

Midterm:

Research proposal:

Research project grade:

Grade for presentation, participation:

Final Exam:

Course grade:

COURSE POLICIES

Attendance policy: You are expected to attend every scheduled class meeting.  You may take one free cut.  Attendance may not be taken systematically, but if you miss more than one meeting, you start jeopardizing your status in the course. If you miss more than two classes (especially early), you are encouraged to drop.

Partial absences also count negatively.

Even with medical or other emergency excuses, a high number of absences (full or partial) will result in a lower or failing grade.

            If shockingly absent, return and make contact (281 283 3380) or leave message ASAP. More than one absence affects final grades.  You are always welcome to discuss your standing in the course.

Class participation: Students' participation is judged less on quantity than on quality and appropriateness to the topic under discussion and the point being pursued. Final course grades may be affected by inappropriate student participation. Such inappropriate participation obviously includes offensive or distasteful remarks and persistent chatting while class is in progress. It may also include interruptions of lecture or discussion with irrelevant or untimely comments or questions. It may also include long-winded "life stories" of limited relevance to the course or interest to the students.

Academic Honesty Policy: Please refer to the catalog for the Academic Honesty Policy (2007-2008 Catalog).  Plagiarism—that is, using research without citations or copying someone else’s work as your own—will result in a grade penalty or failure of the course. Copying someone else's test leads to heavy losses of credit for the test and the course in general.  Refer to the UHCL catalogue for further details regarding expectations and potential penalties.

Disabilities: If you have a disability and need a special accommodation, consult first with the Health Center and then discuss the accommodation with me.

Incompletes: A grade of "I" is given only in cases of documented emergency late in the semester.  An Incomplete Grade Contract must be completed.

Make-up exam policy: Ask far in advance for times before the regular exam.  Professor has the right to refuse accommodations requested on short notice.

Reading and Meeting Schedule: (fall 2007)

Thursday, 23 August: Introduction, objectives, assignments. Declaration of Independence and other essential texts. Introduction to African American literature and “minority concept.”

African American literature

Thursday, 30 August: The Classic Slave Narratives, ed. H. L. Gates

Red-cover edition (Signet Classic): Introduction (pp. 1-14); Life of Olaudah Equiano (pp. 29-83); Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (pp. 339-429)

Yellow-cover edition (NAL): Introduction (pp. ix-xviii); Life of Olaudah Equiano (pp. 9-54); Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (pp. 255-326)

Poetry: Jupiter Hammon, "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, with Penetential Cries"

Poetry reader / discussion leader: instructor

Discussion-starter:

Web-highlighter:

Thursday, 6 September: continue Classic Slave Narratives; begin Song of Solomon, chapters 1 & 2 (through p. 55)

Red-cover edition (Signet Classic): Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 439-449; 470-487; 499-505; 516-528; 557-562; 567-571; 605-614; 635-637; 657-665.

Yellow-cover edition (NAL): Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 335-344; 360-374; 383-388; 397-407; 429-433; 437-440; 467-474; 490-492; 507-513. (App. 50 pages from Jacobs—welcome to read more!)

Song of Solomon chapters 1 & 2 (through p. 55)

Discussion-starter:

Web-highlighter:

Poetry: Maya Angelou, "Still I Rise" (http://swansong2.tripod.com/poetry/still_i_rise.htm)

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Poetry: Amiri Baraka, "An Agony. As Now."

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Thursday, 13 September: Song of Solomon, chapters 3-9, pp. 56-216 (complete part 1, up to part 2)

Discussion-starter:

Web-highlight:

Poetry: Michael S. Harper, "Dear John, Dear Coltrane"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Poetry: Rita Dove, "Poem in Which I Refuse Contemplation"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Thursday, 20 September: complete Song of Solomon (through part 2, through p. 337)

Discussion-starter:

Web-highlight:

Poetry: Langston Hughes, "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)"; "Dream Variations"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Thursday, 27 September: Midterm due by email. North American Indian Origin Stories (handout); begin Black Elk Speaks: chapters I-V (pp. 1-66); chapter VII (77-91).

Discussion-starter:

Web-highlighter:

Poetry: Linda Hogan, "November"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Poetry: Chrystos, "I have not signed a Treaty with the United States Government"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

American Indian Literature

Thursday, 4 October: Black Elk Speaks: chapters VII-XIII (pp. 92-161); chapter XVII-end including appendices (pp. 194-298); selections from The Black Elk Reader (handout)

Discussion-starter:

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Poetry: Peter Blue Cloud, "Crazy Horse Monument"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Poetry: Simon J. Ortiz, “Travels in the South,”

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Thursday, 11 October: Provisional Research proposal due. Love Medicine through “A Bridge” (ends on p. 180)

Thursday, 18 October: Love Medicine (complete)

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

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Mexican American Literature

Thursday, 25 October: "History of the Miraculous Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531"; Bless Me, Ultima through p. 105 or chapter Diez

Discussion-starter:

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Poetry: Jimmy Santiago Baca, "Ancestor"

(Look under "Poems" on Baca's homepage: http://www.swcp.com/~baca/)

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Thursday, 1 November: Bless Me, Ultima (pp. 106-262; chapters Once through Veintidos)

Discussion-starter:

Web-highlighter:

Poetry: Jimmy Santiago Baca, "V"

(Look under "Poems" on Baca's homepage: http://www.swcp.com/~baca/)

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Thursday, 8 November: Sandra Cisneros, Woman Hollering Creek, through p. 83 (i. e., through “Never Marry a Mexican”)

Discussion-starter:

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Poetry: Lorna Dee Cervantes, "For Virginia Chavez"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Poetry: Pat Mora, "Depression Days"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Thursday, 15 November: Sandra Cisneros, Woman Hollering Creek (complete)

Discussion-starter:

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Poetry: Walt Whitman, "In Paths Untrodden"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Poetry: W. H. Auden, "Lullabye"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Thursday 22 November: No meeting—Thanksgiving Holiday

Thursday, 29 November: The Best Little Boy in the World. Research Project Due via email. 

Discussion-starter:

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Poetry: Frank O'Hara, "My Heart"

Poetry reader / discussion leader:

Thursday, 6 December: Final exam