English 262, Spring 2010
American Literature II

After each date below you'll find a reading and possibly a writing assignment due for that day. You may also see a summary of tentative class activities. If you miss a class, please contact a couple classmates for full notes and instructions. Then see me if you have specific, informed questions.  (You're expected to be prepared for each class meeting, whether you missed the previous one or not.) Feel free to contact me anytime by email:  Cindy Nichols.

Note: this schedule is flexible. You will need to check it regularly for updates and changes. Details are added throughout as we progress through the term.

• Course introduction.
  
• Count laptops.
  
• Edition issue with Norton.
  
• First learning log entries: what makes any literary art worth reading? Worth studying? How would you describe your own "reading practices"?

Blackboard Thursday

• Be reading all assignments due for the 19th. Read actively— mark your texts; jot notes; formulate questions.
  
• Go into Blackboard Discussion Board, find the Thursday Forum, and create a Thread for yourself.
  
• Post your learning log entry from Tuesday's class as your first Blackboard Thursday thread. (Copy-and-paste or type it in.)
  
• Aquaint yourself with our Homepage and all course links.

Before Class

Read in Norton: "American Literature 1865-1914," pp. 1-13

"Walt Whitman" (introduction to Whitman) pp. 17-21.

Whitman, "Song of Myself," pp. 17-77 and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," pp. 71-77.

Be prepared to


click here

In Class

• Perspectives on reading lit, drawing on BB Thurs. postings.
• Whitmanmania.

Blackboard Thursday

1.

Post to your BB Thurs. Thread an imitation of Whitman, at least 50 lines long, in your own voice and with details from your actual life or from contemporary American culture.

Include a brief statement (1 paragraph) explaining what elements and/or qualities of Whitman's work you imitated. Be clear, specific, and precise.

2.

Review our discussion of Transcendentalism on the 19th, then explore this site a bit: American Transcendentalism Web/Student Definitions.

Find 2 specific passages from Whitman which you believe show the influence of Transcendentalism. Explain your choices in a couple sentences for each.

Remember to keep Blackboard Thursday materials in a well-organized folder. Always be prepared to turn in this Thursday work the following Tues.

NOTE: we will not meet today. See email for full instructions.

Before Class

Read all of Dickinson, pp. 77-93.

Read Dickinson slowly, quietly. Then read her again. Then read her again. Again.

Questions to keep in mind as you read: how is she radically unlike Whitman? How, perhaps oddly enough, might she actually be like Whitman, have affinities with “transcendentalism,” etc. ?

In Class

• Complete work with Whitman.
• Look at Transcendentalist passages you selected last Thurs.
• Begin Dickinson.

Blackboard Thursday

Click here for today's instructions.

Before Class

Read Twain, all of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (You can complete this in a week if you read about 30 pages per day.)

In Class

• Continue work with Dickinson.
• Be sure you've memorized one Dickinson poem. This means you should be able to recite it as well as write it down. Be sure you remember line breaks, dashes, etc.
• Begin work with Twain.

Before Class

In Class

• Continue work with Huck.
• Groups assigned authors.
• Begin reading for group reports.

Before Class

• Groups work on assigned authors and readings.
• Read the full section on "Realism and Naturalism," beginning on p. 569.
• Read the full section on "Debates Over 'Americanization'," beginning on p. 675.
  

In Class

Groups report: tell us something insightful about your assigned author and story. Draw on all discussions and readings to date, including the Norton material assigned for today. Help us understand a bit about the fiction which the rest of the class hasn't read, due to time constraints.

Blackboard Thursday

1. Review the reading you did earlier this week on realism, naturalism, and "debates over Americanization." In a good paragraph, draw some connections between that material and any literature that you are currently reading (for any course at school or just on your own) or have recently read. You can focus on any specific topic or issue you like, relevant to the Norton material.
   
2. Your only other BB Thurs. work for today is to re-read the James assignment for next Tues. (That is, read "Beast in the Jungle" at least twice.) In your BB Thurs. thread, note a few quick but meaningful comments about what you noticed from one reading of this story to the next.

Before Class

• Read Henry James, intro and "The Beast in the Jungle," pp. 315-318 and 374-403. (Read this twice; it's part of your BB Thurs. work for the 18th.)
• Read Stephen Crane, intro, "An Open Boat," "The Blue Hotel," and poems, pp. 601-641 .

In Class

Work with James and Crane.

Blackboard Thursday

1. Write a 1-3 paragraph micro essay on any story assigned on the 23rd (your choice). You must

• provide a thesis;
• support your thesis with textual evidence;
• write your essay in a Jamesean sentence style, drawing on class discussion from the 23rd.

2. Read over your classmates' Power Point documents from last week. Jot a few thoughts about what you learned and/or what you consider to be the highlights.

3. Start reading the ample material assigned for March 2!

Before Class

Read "American Literature 1914-1945, pp. 705-720.

Read all of Gertrude Stein, pp. 763-775.

Read T.S. Eliot, pp. 861-883.

Read Ezra Pound, pp. 842-843 and sample some of his poems.

Read Marianne Moore, pp. 864-855, and sample her poems.

In Class

IMPORTANT lecture/PPT on the Victorian Period and the Modern Period.

Blackboard Thursday

Again: read.

Read.

Read.

Create at least 3 pages (typed, double-spaced) of reading notes. This includes material assigned for the 9th as well as for the 23rd.

Spring

Break

Spring

Break

Before Class

Read all of The Sun Also Rises.

In Class

Discuss Hemingway.

Hey! Don't forget: come to class prepared to

Click here

Blackboard Thursday

Meet with group and prepare presentation.

Before Class

Practice 8-minute group presentations.

In Class

• Group presentations.

Blackboard Thursday

Be reading for upcoming Tuesday classes. No writing due for BB Thursday thread, but you will be asked about the reading in your sign-in notes on Tuesday.

Before Class

Read William Faulkner, introduction, pp. 1040-1042, "Barn Burning" pp. 1048-1060, and "That Evening Sun." (Would be a good idea to print out this last work.)

In Class

Fill in gaps for presentations on March 30th. Finish up Hemingway.

Blackboard Thursday

Extra credit: write 1 page of thoughftul notes on either "Barn Burning" or "That Evening Sun." Include a little research on the story (see BB Thurs. assignments).

Before Class

Review (again) Wallace Stevens.

Read "A Streetcar Named Desire," pp. 1158-1222.

Read "American Literature since 1945," pp. 1129-1142.

In Class

Finish Hemingway documentary. Wallace Stevens.

Blackboard Thursday

Read stories by Ann Beattie. These are located in Blackboard "Course Documents."

Be thinking about how Beattie might be a "literary daughter" of Hemingway. Be prepared to comment on this in your sign-in notes for April 20.

Before Class

Read White Noise, Parts I and II, pp. 3-163.

In Class

Return learning logs and discuss.

Discuss essay assgnment.

Critical approaches to Faulkner and T. Williams: formalist and feminist, etc.

Wrap up Modernism. Begin work with post WWII material. Beattie stories. Share questions about novel.

Blackboard Thursday

Try to have all of the Beattie stories read.

Find one passage or scene in any story which you think best exemplifies what Beattie's work is all about. This could be a passage which epitomizes her main characters (shows them at their most characteristic--or even at their best or worst), which shows the theme or themes she's most concerned about, which shows an image common to nearly all her work, or which shows a situation or conflict which is at the heart of all her plots, etc. Explain in a paragraph or two. 

Carefully read through your essay assignment. Try to decide on a topic, focus, and approach for your critical essay.

Tues., April 27

Before Class

Finish reading White Noise, Part III.

Take a quick look at James Wright.

Take a quick look at Sherman Alexie.

Review Gertrude Stein.

In Class

• Finish Faulner/Williams.
• Intensive look at Postmodernism. Beattie, DeLillo, Stein.
• Discuss essay drafts.

Blackboard Thursday

• Draft of critical essay due online.
• Peer critiques.

Before Class

Work on critical essay and portfolio.

In Class

Second draft of essay due. Bring 2 copies. Critiques.

Continue work with novel: culturalist and other approaches. Wrap-up discussion of novel and postmodern poets.

Instructions for Portfolios.

Extra credit opportunity.

Course evaluation.

Work on essay and portfolio.

PORTFOLIO DEADLINE: Midnight, Thurs. May 14

CLICK HERE for full portfolio assignment & instructions.

This must be HARDCOPY and include a manilla envelope which contains the following:

1. Your learning log.
2. Your finished essay, with rough drafts attached.
3. A selection of your 5 best BB Thurs. pieces.
4. A reflective letter to instructor.

Each item will receive its content score (see Homepage) plus 5 pts. for presentation and neatness in the portfolio.

If you want this work returned to you, you MUST self-address the envelope and provide appropriate postage.

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