Ethnic Literature Syllabus and Home Page

Ethnic Literature in America is a course which investigates the literature of American cultural minorities. Specific coverage is from the literature of Native Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, and various European immigrant groups. Particular focus will be placed upon the depiction of African American culture in its literature. In our investigation, we will be primarily concerned with the literary evidence of what the "American experience" has meant for each of the minority cultural groups covered. We will be looking for the features and themes of that literature that mark it as uniquely representative of a particular culture but also representative of the general character of the American experience.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE FINAL

Your final is scheduled for Tuesday, May first from 10:30 until 12:30. You will have a written essay examination. To see a list of the topics you may choose from, click here . You may bring a prepared opening paragraph (up to eight lines of text, typed in Courier new, 12 pt. font); your textbooks, and a brief, topical outline. Any other type font, books, or style of outline is not allowed during the final.

Don't Forget: Go Yankees

	Course Description		Submitting Work & Due Dates
	Books and Other Media Required		Class Participation
	Papers and Projects Required		Contacting the Instructor
	Schedule of Assigned Readings		Individual Book Essay List
	Essay Exams		Core Curriculum Requirements

Core Curriculum Requirements:

University Core Curriculum Goals for English 330. This course meets requirements for UCC categories B1 and C2.

B. The Self: Enhancement of Individual Development - B1. The ability to make informed, intelligent ethical judgments

Students should enhance their understanding of their ethical obligations to others and their responsibility to contribute to the common good. They should be able to articulate important ethical issues and to identify alternative positions on those issues (including the grounds of those positions). They should also develop or refine their own ethical viewpoints and be able to defend them.

C. The World: Enhancement of Cultural and Natural Awareness - C2. An understanding of individual development and social behavior

Students should know how individuals develop, interact, and organize themselves in political, religious, social, and economic spheres. They should understand the significance and vitality of social organizations ranging from groups to institutions, and the role of the individual within social environments.

Contacting the Instructor:

Office: LA 3039 Phone: (812) 465-1669 E-mail: blhart@usi.edu
Class Web site: http://www.usi.edu/libarts/english/blhart/profhart.htm

1. Required reading for all class members: Gloria Naylor's Bailey's Cafe. There will be an essay examination on this book.

2. 4 - 6 page thematic interpretation (critical analysis) of Oscar Hijuelos' The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. Students may choose topics from a list of approved topics. The author must use critical sources and standard MLA documentation.

3. Three response essays (2-3 pages, typed). Each essay consists of a summary and commentary in response to a common theme found in the group of readings. Each essay is worth 33 points; one additional point is added to the last paper.

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Class Participation:}combined with the following class participation points: 10 points for class work; 8 points for preparation and participation in class discussions; and 7 points for attendance. These total scores will be graded on a 100-point scale.

5. Final Examination: An in-class written essay applying a specific literary interpretation to some aspect of the ethnic experience in America. Specific questions for the final exam will be given out before the final. Any student who fails to take the final receives a grade of F for the course.

Good writing skills are expected for all writing exercises in this class. Your essay exams will be graded primarily for content to evidence your knowledge and understanding of the material, but the quality of your writing will also be considered in assigning your grade.

All papers are due at the beginning of class. These papers are to be placed on my desk. Papers received after class begins or anytime afterward are considered late, unless prior arrangements have been made. Do not expect much flexibility on this rule, as the consistent and timely submission of papers greatly aids in their consistent and timely return.

Students may not make up any missed class work assignments, including journal entries, if they are absent or tardy on the date which the assignments are due. Students who have excusable absences may make up missed examinations within one week of their return to class with no grade penalty. Students who do not have excusable absences may make up missed examinations within one week of their return with a penalty of one letter grade reduction of the earned grade.

The student is responsible for contacting the instructor regarding missed papers as soon as she returns to school. For assignments, lecture notes, and any other classroom activity that may have occurred during the student's absence, the student should contact his classmates for information regarding what he missed. If the student waits until a later date to contact the instructor, the student's work will be accepted as late. Students are responsible for documenting their absences. Class work and homework exercises cannot be made up.

Week	A Different Mirror, Takaki	Kaleidoscope (Perkins)
1	A Different Mirror Before Columbus: Vinland	"Notes Toward Understanding," p. 16 "Introduction": Different Shores, p. 3
2	The "Tempest" in the Wilderness: The Racialization of Savagery	Verrazzano, "Verrazzano's Voyage," p. 21; de Vaca, "The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca," p. 31
3	The "Giddy Multitude": The Hidden Origins of Slavery; No More Peck o' Corn: Slavery and Its Discontents *First Response Essay - in 2nd class*	Trollope, "Domestic Manners of Americans," p. 129; Jacobs, from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, p. 201; The Narrative of Oladah Equiano, pp. 108-113.
4	Emigrants from Erin: Ethnicity and Class Within	Readings provided by handouts
5	Searching for Gold Mountain: Strangers from a Pacific Shore	Cahan, "Circumstances," p. 307 Eaton, "In the Land of the Free," p. 322
6	The End of the Frontier; The "Indian Question": From Reservation to Reorganization	Johnson, "Narrative," p. 119; Apes, "A Son of the Forest," p. 155 FILM Second Response essay - in 2nd class
7	Oscar Hijuelos' Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love	Research: Biography of Oscar Hijuelos

8	Oscar Hijuelos' Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love	Research and summary: Critical articles
	SPRING	BREAK
9	Pacific Crossings: Seeking the Land of the Money Trees Mambo Kings Essay due 1^st class	Amy Tan, "Half and Half," p. 658 Mehta, "The Cloud Has Spread," p. 576 Geha, "News from Phoenix," p. 625
10	Between "Two Endless Days": The Continuous Journey to the Promised Land Essay Examination	DiDonato, from Christ in Concrete, p. 463 Mary Antin, "The Promised Land," p. 349 Geoseffi, "Roas in Television," p. 615
11	El Norte: The Borderland of Chicano America	Candelaria, "El Patron," p. 558 Bulosan, "America is in the Heart, p. 474 Kinkaid, "Mariah," p. 648
12	To the Promised Land: Blacks in the Urban North	Hurston, "Dust Tracks on the Road," p. 363; Toomer, "Becky," p. 400
13	The Ashes at Dachau-Through a Glass Darkly: Toward the 21st Century *Third Response Essay – in 1^st class*	Gold, "Jews Without Money," p. 390 Bellow, "A Silver Dish," p. 500
14	CLASS NOVEL: GLORIA NAYLOR'S BAILEY'S CAFÉ	CLASS NOVEL: GLORIA NAYLOR'S BAILEY'S CAFÉ – CRITICAL ARTICLES
15	CLASS NOVEL: GLORIA NAYLOR'S BAILEY'S CAFÉ	Interpretive essay due on Thursday.