Long Beach City College - Spring 2005

English 42: American Literature II

Section 34069

 

           

Instructor:  Dr. Karen Rose           Class room:  P120

          Office:  P103                                         Class time:  Wednesdays 6-9 PM

          Phone:  562-938-4099                           Course web site:  www.skidandkaren.com

          E-mail:  krose@lbcc.edu                                 

Office hours:  Tuesdays 11–11:30 AM, Wednesdays 4-5 PM, Thursdays 9–11:30 AM

                                               

 

Course Prerequisite

You are ready to take English 42 if you are eligible to take English 1.  You may have been placed in English 1 after taking the English assessment test, OR you have successfully completed English 105 or ESL 34 with a grade of “C” or better.

 

Course Description

English 42 is a three-unit course (transferable to CS/UC) that provides an introduction to literature published in the United States from the Civil War to the present.   Important American writers, styles, themes, and imaginative concerns will be our focus.  We will consider how social and political issues influence the authors’ works and our understanding of them, and we will discuss literary movements so you can see how American literature has changed and evolved over time. 

 

Textbooks

  • Baym, Nina, et. Al.  The Norton Anthology of American Literature.  Package 2.  6th edition.
  • Fitzgerald, F. Scott.  The Great Gatsby.

 

Course Requirements

Two essays – Your essays will be 4-5 pages in length, typed, double-spaced with one-inch margins.  I will provide you with essay topics at least two weeks before the final essay is due.

Midterm and Final Exam – You will be expected to define the literary terms we have discussed in class, recognize and write about passages from the reading selections, and respond to an essay question.

Homework/Quizzes – Periodically, I will give homework assignments and short quizzes on the reading assignments to encourage you to keep up with the reading. 

Group and class discussions – Your participation in group activities and class discussions is vital to the success of this class.  Your contribution to class discussions will make our class more interesting, and we will all benefit from different points of view.  It is essential that you complete the reading assignments before coming to class.

 

Grading

Your final grade for the course will be determined as follows:

Essay #1                 200 points

Essay #2                 200 points

Midterm                  200 points

Final                       200 points

Homework/Quizzes    100 points

Class participation     100 points

                             __________

TOTAL                    1000 points

 

Grading Scale

A = 1000 – 900 points

B = 899 – 800 points

C = 799 – 700 points

D = 699 – 600 points

F = 599 or less points

 

Attendance

I will take attendance at the beginning of class everyday.  I expect you to arrive on time, bring your textbook to class, and be prepared to participate in class discussions and activities.  Your failure to fulfill these expectations will adversely affect your grade.  Please make note of the following rules:

·         If you are absent in excess of 20% of total class hours or for two consecutive weeks, you will be dropped from the class.

·         If you arrive after attendance is taken, you are tardy.  Three tardies count as one absence.

·         In-class work missed during an absence cannot be made up. 

 

Late work

Fifteen points will be deducted for each day your essay is late (including weekends).  When an assignment is due, it must be handed in at the beginning of the class. 

 

Classroom conduct

Treat your classmates as you would want them to treat you!  When somebody is talking, pay attention and listen to what he or she has to say, even if you disagree with what is being said.  You have the right to speak up and present your viewpoint, but personal insults are not acceptable.  Treating one another (and me) with respect will make our class more fun.  And finally, please make sure that all cell phones are turned off during class.  

 

Plagiarism

The MLA Handbook defines plagiarism as “the act of using another person’s ideas or expressions in your writing without acknowledging the source.”  This includes buying papers, having a relative or friend write your essay, and copying/pasting content from the Internet.  If you are not sure you understand what constitutes plagiarism or you have any questions about how to acknowledge another’s work, please ask me.  Be aware that LBCC regulations require that all instances of plagiarism be reported to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action.  If I learn that you have plagiarized, you will receive a zero on the assignment, and I will contact Dr. John Fylpaa.  Please be careful to cite other people’s words and ideas that you incorporate – by way of quotation, paraphrase, and summary – into your essays. 

 

Resources

Take advantage of the resources available to help you develop your writing skills and succeed in this class:

 

·         Me -- I am dedicated to helping each of you achieve your academic goals.  If you feel that you need extra assistance, please come to my office hours.  I will be happy to help you. 

 

·         Writing and Reading Center -- The WRC is located at L149 on the LAC campus and GG129 on the PCC campus.  You can receive FREE walk-in writing assistance from an English instructor or tutor.  If you would like more specialized individual instruction, you can enroll in a half-unit course.  There are eleven courses to choose from.  For more information, please ask me, call the Writing and Reading Center at 938-4520, or visit the web site:  http://engl.lbcc.cc.ca.us/

 

·         Computer Labs -- The English Department Computer Lab is located in P111 and is available to all students currently enrolled in an English course.  The Open Access Computer Lab is located in the south wing of the 2nd floor of the Library Building (L208).  It is free to use the computers (PC and Mac) for word processing or to access the Internet.  Printing costs 10¢ per page.  For more  information, call 562-938-4852, or visit the web site:  http://clas.lbcc.cc.ca.us/openaccess1.html

 

·         Our class web site -- On our web site you will find the syllabus, assignments, and links to many web sites that I think you will find helpful.  Please visit http://www.skidandkaren.com.  Click on “Karen’s English Students”

 

 

 

 

Course Schedule and Assignments


Week 1
Jan. 12

 

Course Introduction

 


Week 2
Jan. 19

 

Overview of literary theory & terminology

 

Regional Realism

 

 

  • Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 16 (272-286), Chapter 31 (356-361), Chapter 36 (378-381)
  • Charles Chesnutt, “The Wife of His Youth” (789-797)
  • Kate Chopin, “The Storm” (629-633)
  • Mary Wilkins Freeman, “The Revolt of ‘Mother’” (733-744)

 


Week 3
Jan. 26

 

Social Realism

 

 

  • Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (832-844)
  • Anzia Yezierska, “The Lost ‘Beautifulness’” (1253-1263)
  • Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, Chapter 1 (746-754), Chapter 2 (754-760), Chapter 14 (760-768)
  • W. E. B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk, Forethought (877-878), Chapter 1 (878-883), Chapter 3 (884-893)

 


Week 4
Feb. 2

 

Modernism

Imagism

 

 

  • Robert Frost, “Mending Wall” (1177-8), “Home Burial” (1183-1185), “The Road Not Taken” (1187)
  • T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1420-1423)
  • William Carlos Williams, “The Red Wheelbarrow” (1271), “This Is Just to Say” (1274)
  • Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro” (1286)

 

 

Week 5
Feb. 9

 

Modernism

Harlem Renaissance

 

 

  • Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttons, “Objects” (skim 1164-1168)
  • Ernest Hemingway, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (1848-1864)
  • Sherwood Anderson, “Adventure”  (1219-1223)
  • Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1892), “Mother to Son” (1893), “The Weary Blues” (1893), “I, Too” (1894), “Mulatto” (1895-6), “Song for a Dark Girl” (1896)
  • Zora Neale Hurston, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” (1516-1519)

 

 

Week 6
Feb. 16

 

Modernism
American Dream

 

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby


Week 7
Feb. 23

 

 

Southern Renaissance

The Grotesque

 

  • William Faulkner, “Barn Burning” (1790-1803)
  • Richard Wright, “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” (1927-1935)
  • Flannery O’Connor, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” (2204-2211), “Good Country People” (2211-2225)

 

 

Week 8
March 2

 


LBCC Flex Day


No Classes


Week 9
March 9

 

 

Southern Renaissance

 

  • Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (1979-2041)


Week 10
March 16



 

Essay #1 Due

A Streetcar Named Desire, film

 

Week 11
March 23

 

 

 

Midterm Exam


SPRING BREAK
March 30

 

No Classes

 

No Classes


Week 12

April 6

 

American Dream

 

Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (2111-2176)


Week 13
April 13

 

 

Death of a Salesman, film

 

Week 14
April 20

 

Postmodernism

Defeat of Idealism

 

 

 

  • Carlos Bulosan, “Be American” (1936-1941), “Homecoming” (1941-1946)
  • James Baldwin, “Going to Meet the Man” (2191-2202)
  • Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, “Prologue” (2077-2083), Chapter 1 (2083-2093)
  • Saul Bellow, “Looking for Mr. Green” (2095-2109)
  • Bernard Malamud, “The Magic Barrel” (2052-2064)

 


Week 15
April 27

 

American Suburbia
Alienation

“Minimal Fiction”

 

  • John Cheever, “The Swimmer” (2043-2051)
  • John Updike, “Separating” (2268-2276)
  • Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” (2368-2378)
  • Kurt Vonnegut, “Fates Worse Than Death” (2183-2190)

 


Week 16
May 4

 

Women’s Issues

 

  • Sylvia Plath, “Lady Lazarus” ( 2969-2971), “Daddy” (2972-2974)
  • Anne Sexton, “Sylvia’s Death” (2935-2937)
  • Adrienne Rich, “Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (2944-2948), “Diving into the Wreck” (2949-2951)
  • Lorna Dee Cervantes, “Uncle’s First Rabbit” (3079-3080), “Visions of Mexico While at a Writing Symposium . . . “ (3082-3084)

 

 

Week 17
May 11

 

Search for Identity

 

Essay #2 Due

 

  • Toni Morrison, “Recitatif” (2253-2266)
  • Alice Walker, “Everyday Use” (2469-2475)
  • Judith Ortiz Cofer, “The Witch’s Husband” (2551-2555)
  • Sandra Cisneros, “Mericans” (2559-2561)

 


Week 18
Final Exams


 

 

Final Exam
Wednesday, May 18
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM