English 4760, UVSC, fall 2005—M/W 7:00-8:15
Instructor: Dr. John Charles Goshert
Office: LA 121t  Phone: 863-6288   e-mail: gosherjo@uvsc.edu
Office Hours: MW 11:00-12:30 and by appointment

Framed by the theme “multicultural encounters,” this course focuses on a set of recent literature by American authors whose work touches on the concerns of ethnicity.  In these works we will encounter a relatively wide range of ethnic groups, along with concerns of various national, gender, and sexual constituencies.   No work, however, either in this course or another, can sufficiently encompass the variety of possible expressions by any one group.  Thus, our reading list should not be read either as representative or exhaustive; instead, the course offers an opportunity to look at individual works in various historical, ethnic, and literary contexts.

 
Over the semester, students will have the opportunity to:

1.  engage with a set of literary works, including novel, short story, poetry, drama, and film focusing on  issues facing various ethnic groups in the United States;
2.  be introduced to some basic moves in multiethnic literary and cultural criticism in order to build a critical apparatus for the study of literary works;
3.  produce a research-guided term paper to culminate the course. 

Audre Lorde.  Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982).  Freedom, CA: Crossing ISBN: 0895941228

Frank Chin.  Donald Duk (1991).  Minneapolis: Coffee House ISBN: 0918273838

Paul Beatty.  White Boy Shuffle (1996).  New York: Picador ISBN: 031228019X

Peter Bacho.  Dark Blue Suit (1997).  Seattle: U of Washington ISBN: 0295976373

Sarah Schulman.  Shimmer (1998).  New York: Bard ISBN: 0380797658 (not available at UVSC)

Eric Miles Williamson.  East Bay Grease (1999).  New York: Picador ISBN: 0312204043

Sherman Alexie.  Ten Little Indians (2003).  New York: Grove ISBN7: 080214117X

Required Reading  (reserve)
eres.uvsc.edu

Banks and Kelly.  “Guess Who’s Coming to Academia?”  Multi-America 381-90.

bell hooks.  “Revolutionary Feminism.”  Killing Rage (98-107)

Frank Chin and Jeff Chan.  “Racist Love.”  Seeing Through Shuck 65-79.

Victor Villanueva.  “On the Rhetoric and Precedents of Racism.”  College Composition and Communication 50.4 (1999).

Sarah Schulman.  “When We Were Very Young.”  My American History 125-48.

Judith Roof.  “Introduction.”  Come as You Are (xiii-xxxvi).

Anne Fairbrother.  “Check Out the Real America.”  English Journal 88.2 (1998): 57-61.

AnnLouise Keating.  “Interrogating ‘Whiteness,’ (De)Constructing ‘Race’.”  College English 57.8 (1995): 901-18.

Ward Churchill.  “Fantasies of the Master Race.”  Acts of Rebellion (185-217).

Jeffrey Berglund.  “Facing the Fire: American Indian Literature and the Pedagogy of Anger.” 

American Indian Quarterly 27.1-2 (2003): 80-90.

Films include Spike Lee’s Bamboozled (2000)

Students are encouraged to supplement course materials—during class and in written work, for instance—with their own favorite works and recent discoveries.

 
Grade Distribution/Policies

Response papers: 30%
Midterm: 20%
Term Project: 20%
Attendance/Participation: 30%

• If you have any disability that may impair your ability to successfully complete this course, please contact the Accessibility Services Department located in BU 146. Academic Accommodations are granted for all students who have qualified documented disabilities. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by the Accessibility Services Department. Accessibility Services Department telephone 801 863 8747; TDD 801 221 0908.
• Plagiarism will result in failure of the course and the possibility of administrative action.
• Attendance is required.  You should plan to attend and be prepared for each class meeting.
• All written work will follow MLA, or other appropriate style guidelines (Chicago, APA, etc.); late work will not be accepted.
            See a sample MLA works cited page.
  
• This is a class focused on developing strategies of critical thinking, analysis, and writing.  Course materials are determined by standards of academic inquiry and a commitment to the exchange of ideas; materials will not be “rated G” or censored in any way.
• Per UVSC policies: “Each student is expected to take an active role in the learning process by meeting course requirements as specified in written syllabi” (VII.A); and, each student has “The right to receive academic credit and/or academic degrees when all specified requirements and course work have been satisfied” (V.L.).  Thus, the course syllabus comprises a contract between instructor and students, who will be held to its terms and expectations.  The student has the right to receive credit for work that meets or exceeds satisfactory performance; however, the student also has the right to fail based on those same conditions of performance.
• It is not only your right, but also your responsibility to ask questions, to raise challenges, to discuss readings, and to otherwise participate in the class as it unfolds over the semester
• The course website (http://research.uvsc.edu/goshert/uvsc476b.htm) will direct students toward additional resources for research, documentation, and bibliographic conventions.  Sample student papers will also be archived, as available, throughout the semester

 
Response Paper Guidelines

Brief (2-3 page) response papers will be assigned periodically throughout the semester.  While the response paper is, primarily, an expression of your opinion, you should nonetheless develop a cogent, well-written argument.  The best responses take on a specific topic from lecture, class discussions, presentations (or, of course, from your own reading alone), which is then worked out in some critical/analytic detail.  Avoid trying to fit an entire week’s reading—an entire novel or other extended text—into your response, since this leaves you with such a broad scope that any detailed examination is rather difficult.

Avoid summarizing the text and, instead, argue for a particular position, for a particular “reading.”  Your treatment of whatever topic you choose will be enhanced not only by a strong thesis, but also by your incorporation of specific material from the texts (both literary and critical); that is, present details, such as dialogue or other citations.  This is in keeping with that old adage of “showing” rather than “telling” as you work out your argument/position.

Consider addressing questions you have about the reading—perhaps centered on a scene, event, character, etc.  How do specific questions or parts of the novel/essay/poem inform the significance of the whole?   You may also think about developing connections between works—how do formal characteristics, topics, characters, etc. resonate across our focus period, across gender and/or ethnic boundaries?  How are those characteristics treated differently and why?

 Plan to put your growing critical apparatus into practice.  Develop the research and response strategies which will lead to success on your term project.  Articulate your agreement or dissention with critical responses we read, or pursue critical readings on your own which will allow you to enter into an informed conversation on literary, cultural, and theoretical concepts.

See a sample response paper from September 2005

The final response paper, a narrative self-and-course evaluation, is due on the last day of class.

Tentative Class Schedule

 
August

 
24            introduction

 
29            Banks and Kelly (handout)
                Zami 1-80

               
31            Zami 81-160

 
September

 
5              no class

 
7              Zami 161-219

 
12            complete Zami
                hooks (reserve)
                Response Paper #1 due

 
14            Chin and Chan (reserve)
                Donald Duk 1-43 (chapters 1-6)

 
19            Donald 44-131 (chapters 7-15)

 
21            complete Donald Duk

 
26            White Boy Shuffle 1-94

 
28            White 95-150

 
October

3              complete White Boy Shuffle
                Response Paper #2 due

 
5              Villanueva (reserve)
                Dark Blue Suit (1-64)

 
10            complete Dark Blue Suit
                Midterm Prep
                Response Paper #3 due

 
17            Bamboozled

 
19            complete Bamboozled (if necessary)
                Midterm due

 
24            Shimmer 1-61
 

26            Shimmer 62-141

 
31            Shimmer 142-229

 
November

 
2              complete Shimmer
                Schulman (reserve)
                Response Paper #4 due

 
7              Roof (reserve)

 
9              Fairbrother (reserve)

East Bay Grease 1-74

 
14            East 75-150

 
16            East 151-212

 
21            complete East Bay Grease
                Keating (reserve)
                Response Paper #5 due

 
23            no class

 
28            Churchill (reserve)
                Berglund (reserve)

 
30            Ten Little Indians 1-101

 
December

 
5              Ten 102-68

7              complete Ten Little Indians

               
12            final exam period
                Response Paper #6 due
                Term Project Due

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