AMERICAN EXPERIENCES THROUGH STORIES AND STORYTELLING
Without stories there is no articulation of experience: people would be unable to understand and celebrate the experiences of self, community, and world. And so cultures value the tellers of stories. The storyteller takes what he or she tells from experience--his or her own or that reported by others--and in turn makes it the experience of those who are listening to the tale. (Jennifer Sergi, WB 87) English 28 will introduce you to the works of several nineteenth and twentieth century American authors of different regions, genders and races. You will notice that I have some seemingly unrelated authors: Creveceour and Emerson; Whitman and Hughes; Twain and Morrison, Wharton and Hurston, Cather and Tan; Disney and Erdrich. One of our goals is to determine how these works "talk" to each other either directly or indirectly. Our second goal is to use the primary materials to help us identify each authors' beliefs and the techniques used to reveal those to the reader. Secondary materials (book reviews, criticism, history, art, and audio-visuals) will help us reconstruct the historical, political, and cultural forces which may have influenced or shaped an author and his or her work. We will ask several underlying questions such as: • What is "American" literature?
• What recurring themes may helps us to define the "American" experiences as expressed in this literature?
• Which "American" voices does each author represent or exclude? Why? How do some authors move from exclusion to inclusion or vice versa?
• How do these authors succeed or fail to capture your voice and your experience?
• What is each author's possible goal or purpose for writing?
• How do these authors "talk" to each other either directly or indirectly? In addition to tackling these and related questions, we will also employ various critical methods of interpretation and analysis. We will begin with basic textual analysis and historical contexts. We will then add cultural, feminist, African-American and psychoanalytical approaches in order to complicate interpretations and analysis.

Class will consist of small group and whole class discussion. Group work will involve generating and answering questions, and presenting short reports that will motivate the discussion. You will also work on several group projects, perhaps even a group exam. Enthusiastic participation is a must! Furthermore, you will supplement your reading and interpretation with a variety of short and long writing assignments. I hope that class discussions will enable us to arrive at some general consensus about a work while writing assignments will allow you to develop individual, original interpretations. This the course will demand your time and brain-cells. Yet, I hope you will also find it enjoyable and thought provoking.

Syllabus

Required
Recommended
• Cather, My Antonia
• Erdrich, Tracks (Harper and Row)
• Hughes, Selected Poems (Vintage)
• Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (Harper)
• Tan, The Joy Luck Club (movie)
• Meyer, Thinking and Writing about Fiction (St. Martin)
• Morrison, Beloved (Plume)
• Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson (Norton)
• Wharton, The House of Mirth (Norton)
• Whitman, The Complete Poems (Penguin)
• Course Pack
• Reserve articles, books, & non-print materials
• An e-mail address		 • Allen, Voice of the Turtle
• Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent
• Bank, Anonymous Was a Woman
• Cineros, The House on Mango Street
• Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
• Riley, Growing Up Native American

Course Requirements: Daily • Come to class having completed the reading for the day
• Two questions for class discussion
• Rather than giving quizzes, I will expect you to submit "Salient Feature" essays (developed by C. Lewis at Davidson College). See Course Pack for guidelines.
• You are expected to participate in group and class discussion and activities. Other • You will produce two analytical papers. The first will be a 3-4 page textual analysis. The second will be a 5-7 page theoretically oriented research paper. •I have scheduled one rough draft workshop for each paper. You should bring a typed second or third draft, not an outline or the infamous "notes." You will exchange papers with one or two group members, who will offer constructive comments for development and improvement.

• If you are absent or if you come with an incomplete draft, your grade will be lowered as follows: an A becomes an A-; a B+ becomes a B and so on).

 • You are welcome to produce extra credit projects. See the Course Pack and me for details.
Policies
• I would be happy to speak to you during office hours, but if that is not possible, I suggest that you make an appointment. Furthermore, keep in mind that everyone usually wants an appointment the day before an exam or a paper due date. Unfortunately, it is humanly impossible for me to accommodate 35 students in one afternoon. After seeing four or five students, the mind slows down. If you want extensive help with your writing, see me several days before the due date or schedule an hour appointment at the Writing Center. In short, please plan ahead.

• Absolutely no late work (this includes Salient Feature essays) will be accepted. Missing work will be averaged as a zero (0). If during the course of the semester you face circumstances that require special consideration, please see me IMMEDIATELY so that we can plan an alternate time-table.