English 357-01
American Texts: 20th Century
2-3:15 TTh
210 Fawcett
Discussion group: English357@wright.edu

Required Texts:
(available at bookstore)

William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
William Faulkner, Three Famous Short Novels
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
Adrienne Kennedy, Adrienne Kennedy in One Act
Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Strongly Recommended:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th ed., and
Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms

About the readings:

This broad sketch of 20th century literary movements is accurate, but perhaps obscures the richness of 20th century American literature. Concurrent with, and affected by, modern and postmodern aesthetics in America were numerous literary-historical developments, including the social protest novel of the 1930s, the Beat era in the 1950s, the Black Arts movement of the 1960s and 70s and the renaissance in Native literatures beginning in the 1970s. These and other literary movements would both draw from and contribute to modern and postmodern conceptions of the literary artifact.

We'll be reading eight representative 20th century literary works this quarter. Some--particularly the trinity of Fitzgerald, Faulkner and Hemingway--you will no doubt have read before. Others will be less familiar. Whether the stories are familiar to you or not, each repays careful rereading. Our focus this quarter will be on each of the works as a formal artistic structure.

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Work:

1. Reader's Notes. For each day new readings are due, prepare a typed sheet of reader's notes. These will include:
   a. Correct MLA-style bibliographic citation for the work
   b. Brief, but specific description of setting (time, place, milieu), focusing on its impact on the narrative
   c. Brief description of major characters, focusing on salient characteristics
   d. Chapter outline or brief, but complete outline of major plot events
   e. Brief statement of what you think the theme of the work is (25-50 words)
   f. Two accurately copied and punctuated quotations from the work which support your statement in e. Provide correct, MLA-style parenthetical documentation for each.
   These notes take the place of reading quizzes and are due on the first day we discuss a work. Since it is imperative that we all complete the reading on time, I will not accept reader's notes after the class period in which they are due. Each set of Reader's Notes is worth 15 points, with 7 points reflecting correctness of bibliographic citation, Notes format, and punctuation, documentation and transcription of quotations. (20%)
2. Short Essay. Formal structural analysis of one or more course texts. Assignment will be given later. (20%)
3. Exams: These will be straightforward objective exams covering lecture and discussion material, as well as reading content and terminology. (@10%)
4. Fourth-Hour project. This brief project asks you to approach one of the course texts from a more personal angle of interest. Possibilities include summarizing and responding to a piece of published scholarship, preparing lesson plans for a high school or middle school unit on one of the texts, annotating a portion of a text, or surveying and evaluating available internet resources on one or more of the authors or an author's milieu. (20%)
5. Discussion group. I have set up a discussion group for this course which you can access via email. This discussion group accounts for much of your writing this quarter. You will want to use the group to converse with your classmates about the course material, to note questions, confusions or concerns, to argue points we can't always get around to in class. I will occasionally post a discussion question, but you may ignore it in favor of more burning issues. One useful approach might be to quote a passage from one of the week's readings and frame a discussion around it. This is YOUR forum. You will want to read the postings regularly and post a substantial observation or response to the group with some regularity. In order to receive a discussion grade of C, you will need to make 6 postings, either raising an issue for discussion or responding in depth to an on-going discussion. A grade of B requires 7 postings, while a grade of A requires 8 (roughly one for each text). Sometimes I will suggest a discussion topic. Mostly, though, the group is your forum. Do not put your participation off until the end of the quarter. I will count no more than three entries in the final two weeks of the course, so if you want an A for the discussion section of the course, you will need to post at least five substantive messages during weeks one through eight. Start early and post often! (20%)
6. Attendance. Although I have not specifically listed "Attendance" among the requirements for this course, it can count in a negative way. Since much of the real learning will happen in class discussion, and the exam will largely cover in-class learning, your success will depend significantly on your consistent attendance. However, I cannot compel you to attend class, and, frankly, if you do not intend to come prepared and participate fully, I, and the other members of the class, would rather you stay away. Ordinarily I will neither recap class discussion nor repeat assignments after a class meeting. If you notify me about an unavoidable conflict prior to the missed class I will give a missed assignment by phone or email, at my discretion. In the event of a childcare emergency, your children are always welcome to come and play quietly.
7. Other policies. Academic honesty is likewise essential to the fair and successful conduct of class, and dishonesty will be punished. Dishonesty includes various kinds of cheating, "plagiarism" (defined as the use of the words or ideas of another as if they were your own), and copying the work of another student in a test. Penalties for academic dishonesty can be severe and I will impose them. Please refer to the on-line student handbook for full details:
   http://www.wright.edu/academics/fhandbook/acadconduct.html#student.

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Calendar:

(Reading must be completed by date indicated. All due dates for written work are bold)

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Reader's Notes Assignment
Use the following format, titling each section of your notes with a bold heading as shown below. Be succinct in your summaries, but give sufficient detail to cover important narrative events. 200-300 words should suffice for the summary. For all sections, omit trivial details, focusing on what is important to the novel's theme. Single-space each section; double-space between sections as shown. Do not go longer than 1½ -2 pages.

Your Name
Reader's Notes #
English 356
Date

Text: give complete, correct, MLA-style bibliographic citation for text

Setting: briefly describe setting: time, place, milieu

Major Characters: identify and describe the two or three major characters.

Summary: Make an organized, brief presentation of major events. You might give a bulleted chapter-by-chapter breakdown, one or two sentences per chapter, or you might give a narrative summary. Whichever you choose, don't include unnecessary details.

Theme: Here you should write a brief (25-50 word) statement of the work's main idea, as you understand it.

Supporting quotations: Transcribe accurately two quotations from the work that clearly support the theme you have identified. These will usually be fairly lengthy quotations from the narrative. Be careful! Simple lines of dialogue should usually be assumed to represent the character's point of view, not necessarily the author/narrator's.

MLA format for bibliographic citation.

1. Longer works:

Last, First. Title of Longer Work Is Underlined, Proper Capitalization and Spelling Are Observed. Year of first publication. City: Publisher, Date of edition you use.

2. Shorter works from collections or anthologies:

Last, First. "Title of Short Work in Quotation Marks." Year of first publication. Complete Title of Anthology or Collection Underlined. Ed. Name of Editor. City: Publisher, Date of edition you use. Inclusive page numbers

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