ENGL/HIST 3300-01: Studies in American Culture

Thursday Assignments at Bottom of Document

Dr. Joshua Masters

Office: Humanities 214

Phone: 678-839-4862

Email: jmasters@westga.edu

Office Hours: Mon 9:30-12 & 4-5, Tues 4-5, Wed 9:30-12 & 4-5, Thurs 4-5, and by appointment.

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the field of American Studies, an interdisciplinary mode of critical inquiry into the various cultures, histories, and experiences that comprise “America.” We will examine the theories and methods which define American Studies as an academic discipline, and we will apply a historically-based methodology to the reading of a wide range of texts: literature, film, historical documents, the visual arts, and material artifacts. Our topic for the semester will be The American West, specifically the idea of the frontier and its impact on the history, identity, and culture of various American identities. Our goal will be to understand the complex nature of the American West as a mythic structure, social process, and lived reality by examining its rich and deeply contested representational history. We will therefore look at a variety of texts that have the West as their subject, paying particular attention to the way that notions of race, gender, ethnicity, and class are treated in each.

Required Texts

The Legacy of Conquest, Patricia Limerick

Facing West: The Metaphysics of Indian-Hating, Richard Drinnon (online book)

The Virginian, Owen Wister

Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy

Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko

God’s Country, Percival Everett

In addition, students will read a number of scholarly articles available on-line, and as a class we will assemble a database of visual images, cultural artifacts, and useful websites.

Requirements

Students are expected to complete the day’s reading assignment in advance and come to class prepared to participate in discussion. Students must maintain a passing reading-quiz average of 65% or higher, turn in several short writing assignments, a mid-length essay, and a research paper. In addition, students are expected to complete the day’s reading assignment in advance and come to class prepared to participate in discussion. If you cannot keep up with the reading, you will be strongly encouraged to drop the class.

Explanation of Course Requirements

Final Grade: To pass the course, students must turn in all written work, have less than five absences, and earn a passing quiz grade. If you average less than 65% on quizzes, you will not pass the course. Your final grade is comprised of the following: Research Paper and Presentation (45%); 1500 word essay  (20%); Quizzes (20%); Short Writing Assignments, Participation, and Preparation (15%).  Please Note: I am always happy to discuss your progress in the class with you and explain my evaluation of your work. You can expect to receive the grade you earn in this class; please refrain from telling me what grade you “need” in the class (for Hope, for athletics, to fulfill a dying relative’s final request, etc.), or what grade you “really want” (presumably an A).

Essays: Your basic task for each paper is to produce a well-written, coherent essay whose central argument is both interesting and significant. Your essays will be thesis-driven, argumentative papers, and your grade will be determined by the complexity of your central argument, the structure of your paragraphs, the logic of your organization, and the strength of your prose (i.e. your writing). Your research paper will also be evaluated in terms of its use of secondary sources and the originality of your scholarship.

Late Papers: I will accept late papers, but always with a penalty. For each weekday that a paper is late, 1/3 of a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade. For instance, if the paper is due on Tuesday and you turn it in on Wednesday, you will lose 1/3 of a grade (i.e. a C+ becomes a C). If you turn it in on Thursday, 2/3 of a grade is deducted (a C+ becomes a C-). Emailed papers will not be accepted. All papers must be handed to me and entered into the record book as received.

Discussion and Attendance: Students are expected to attend every class and arrive on time, prepared, and eager to discuss the day’s reading. Your participation grade is based upon your performance in the class in terms of group work, discussion, and attendance habits. You are expected to demonstrate genuine engagement with the material, actively contribute to discussion topics, show adequate preparation for each class, and respect the arguments and ideas of your classmates.  Be sure to bring the text under discussion to every class.

Quizzes: At the beginning of each Tuesday class, you will take a comprehensive, fact-based quiz on the week’s reading assignment. Once the quiz is distributed, the door to the class will close, and you will have about five minutes to complete the quiz. If you arrive late, you will not be allowed to take the quiz, and you must wait outside until the quiz is completed. If you are absent for whatever reason, you will not be allowed to retake a quiz. Under no circumstances will I give make-up quizzes. If at anytime during the semester it becomes mathematically impossible for a student to earn a passing quiz score (at least a 65%), he or she will be told to stop coming to class. This policy is absolutely and utterly inflexible. Each quiz is worth 10 points, and at the end of the semester, assuming that you've earned the required 65%, I will then drop your lowest quiz score when determining your quiz average and quiz grade. All quizzes are open note (but not open book), and you are encouraged to bring notes based on the reading to class.

Reading Assignments: The reading assignments for each class can be found in this document and are also available through Dr. Masters’ website, http://www.westga.edu/~jmasters/, under the heading “ENGL 3300.” All reading will be due on Tuesday, and you can expect to read between 100 and 150 pages per week. For the most part, you will be reading a mix of fiction and non-fiction each week. Remember, Tuesday’s quizzes are open note, so write down names and descriptions of important characters, significant plot developments, and the central themes from the fiction, and the central arguments and key pieces of information from the non-fiction. The key to doing well on the quizzes is to read carefully and consistently.

Short Writing Assignments: At the beginning of each week, I will post Thursday’s reading question, writing assignment, and/or preparation task on the website at the end of the syllabus. If you are asked to bring the writing assignment to class, it must be typed.

Tardiness: Each tardy will count as ½ of an absence. On Tuesdays, after quizzes are collected, the doors will be opened and late arrivals will be allowed to find a seat. At the end of class, late students are responsible for informing me that they arrived late and missed the quiz. On Thursdays, role will be taken at the beginning of class, and any student arriving late will then need to check in with the instructor at the end of class.

 Absences: I understand that illnesses and emergencies are a part of life, and therefore you are allowed to miss one Monday class and one Wednesday class without penalty. However, if you miss more than four classes, you will automatically fail the class, no exceptions. Medical emergencies and medical conditions can result in excused absences, but keep in mind that quizzes cannot be made up.

Cellphones and Sleeping: Don’t ever, ever fall asleep in this class, and I never want to see a cellphone. As soon as you see me, get the thing out of sight.

My Plagiarism Policy: If a student is caught plagiarizing (and this includes short writing assignments) or cheating on a quiz, he or she will automatically fail the course. No exceptions. Also, I consider Cliffnotes, Sparknotes, and other similar “resources” out of bounds. You must complete the reading on your own and do your own thinking in the class. Quizzes will be designed in such a way that these “sources” will be of no use to you.

Departmental Plagiarism policy: The Department of English and Philosophy defines plagiarism as taking personal credit for the words and ideas of others as they are presented in electronic, print, and verbal sources. The Department expects that students will accurately credit sources in all assignments. An equally dishonest practice is fabricating sources or facts; it is another form of misrepresenting the truth. Plagiarism is grounds for failing the course.

Reporting procedures for plagiarism:
1. Instructor should meet with the student whose work is suspected of having been plagiarized to discuss the correlation(s) between the student’s paper and the source(s) from which that paper has been constructed. 
2. During this meeting, the instructor should inform the student of the penalty s/he intends to institute (failing the individual assignment, failing the class, sending the case forward for further sanctions from the University).
3. After meeting with the student, the instructor should send a brief report of the case, including the plagiarized student work and supporting documentation, forward to Dr. John Clower, Director of Residence Life, requesting that this case become a permanent part of the student’s record at West Georgia. THIS REPORT SHOULD BE FORWARDED EVEN IF THE INSTRUCTOR DOES NOT WANT THE UNIVERSITY TO SANCTION THE STUDENT.  It is important to create a record of students’ infringement of academic honesty policies so that should a student develop a pattern of dishonesty the University can take appropriate actions to suspend or expel the student.

Course Goals

• Students will become familiar with the theories and methods that contribute to the interdisciplinary focus of American Studies.

• Student will learn the major periodic divisions of American social and intellectual history and the issues relevant to various American identities.

• Students will develop a critical understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of traditional approaches to American Studies.

• Students will demonstrate in both oral and written work a critical facility combining two or more disciplines.

• Students will demonstrate their command of academic English and of the tenets of sound composition by means of thesis-driven analytical prose.

Program Goals

• This course fulfills one of the departmental requirements for the completion of the English major.

• Students will develop the analytical, oral and written skills to pursue graduate study or careers in teaching, writing, business and a variety of other fields.

• Students will be able to define and pursue independent research agendas.

• This course contributes to the program goal of equipping students with a foundation in literary history and the issues surrounding literary study in contemporary culture.

• This course broadens students' desire and ability to take pleasure in their encounter with literature.

Schedule

1/10      Introduction to Class, Course Policies, and American Progress.

1/12      Begin Owen Wister’s The Virginian. Read Chapters 1-4.

            Introduction to Patricia Limerick’s The Legacy of Conquest.

1/17      Wister, Chapters 5-16, Limerick, Chapters 1-2.

1/19      Class Cancelled.

1/24      Wister, Chapters 17-28. Kaplan, “Violent Belongings...” (Online). Limerick, Chapter 3.

1/26      See online syllabus for assignment.

1/31      Finish The Virginian. Limerick, Chapters 4 & 5.

2/2        See online syllabus for assignment.

2/7        Begin McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, Chapters 1-4. Limerick, Chapter 6.

2/9        See on-line syllabus for assignment. Discuss Mid-Term Paper.

2/14      McCarthy, Chapters 5-13. No Critical Reading.

2/16      See online syllabus for assignment.

2/21      Finish Blood Meridian.

2/23      See online syllabus for assignment.

2/28      Read Introduction to Drinnon’s Facing West online, plus another article TBA.

3/2        Rough Draft of 1500 word essay due.

3/7        Begin Leslie Silko’s Ceremony. Pages 1-63.

3/9        1500 word essay due.

3/14      Ceremony to page 152. Limerick, Chapters 7-8.

3/16      See online syllabus for assignment. Discuss Final Projects.

3/21      Break

3/23      Break

3/28      Finish Ceremony. Limerick, Chapter 9.

3/30      See online syllabus for assignment.

4/4        Begin Percival Everett’s God’s Country. Chapters 1-12. Limerick, Chapter 10.

4/6        See online syllabus for assignment.

4/11      Finish God’s Country.

4/13      See online syllabus for assignment.

4/18      Reading and research to be determined by each individual student.

4/20      See online syllabus for assignment.

4/25      Research Presentations

4/27      Research Presentations

Thursday Writing and Preparation Assignments:

For Thursday, January 12th

Your assignment for Thursday is very short. Limerick and others write about the "mythology" of the West and the Frontier. There is, of course, a counter-mythology, or an effort to demythologize and therefore re-historicize the West. For the moment, however, I want us to consider the central, foundational myths of the West (i.e. the good guy wears the star). As you read The Virginian, choose a passage that you think reveals an important myth (or way of thinking) about the West. For class, type the passage out, and below it, type out a sentence or two (no more) about the myth or belief about the West and/or the Frontier that you think the quotation points to. I look forward to our discussion! jm

For Thursday, January 19th (bring to class on Tuesday, January 24th)

We won't be meeting in class on Thursday, though don't be surprised if you see me on campus wearing a suit and tie that day. Officially, I will be doing a two day, on-campus interview at UWG on Thursday and Friday for a tenure-track job here.

For Thursday, and in preparation for next week's class, please go rummaging about the internet and/or our library collection for visual images of the American West. Select one (or two, if you can't decide) that you think speaks to the issues we've been discussing in class, or you might choose something that takes us in a new direction. I'd also like you to note any particularly interesting and useful websites or databases that you come across. I'm planning to create an archive that the class can then draw upon for research purposes. A basic Google search will certainly get you started (images + American + West), but those of you who are more savvy about such things will no doubt have better strategies. I look forward to seeing what you unearth. jm

Note: Ignore reference to Kaplan reading above. Just read Chapter 3 of Limerick and the assigned Virginian chapters.

For Thursday, January 26th

On Thursday, I'll be collecting the image (or images) you've selected and a typed paragraph on what you see as the significance of the image. About a half a page should be more than enough (double-spaced). Within the paragraph, try to connect your image to another text you've encountered in the class thus far (American Progress, The Virginian, something Limerick says or a secondary text she refers to, or an image/line/idea from The Unforgiven).

I would also like to create a webpage with links to the archive of images and texts that we discover this semester, as well as useful, relevant websites that we come across. I'm something of a technophobe (which isn't to say I'm not a nerd, just not a techno-nerd), so I'll be keeping it very rudimentary. This is no way a web-based course, but we should take advantage of the resources and archives available to us online. If possible, please email the web-address or link to your image, as well as any useful web-pages or databases you've discovered, to jmasters@westga.edu. This will also help me to put together an email list for the class, so I can get in touch with you en masse when necessary.

See you on Thursday. jm

For Thursday, February 2nd

Tomorrow we will be discussing The Virginian and The Unforgiven. In preparation for discussion, please type out a passage from The Virginian that interests you, and below it, write a couple of sentences explaining why. Below that, write a couple of sentences about a scene, image, motif, or statement from The Unforgiven that struck (it doesn't have to be related to your Virginian quotation, though it certainly can be). We have much to talk about it! jm

For Thursday, February 9th

Starting this Thursday, we will all take part in what I will call cultural artifact searches as we read (and view) our primary sources this semester. As we've been noticing, each of our texts is richly grounded in America’s cultural and material history: they contain references to song lyrics (i.e. the Virginian's racist song about Carolina slaves), folk tales, historical events, political figures, legal statutes, law cases, social conflicts, social tendencies, myths, and, of course, other works of literature. One of our tasks as readers is to search out some of these references in order to understand a text's historical context and its social, political, and cultural meaning. In class on Tuesday we talked about a number of dates, references, issues, words, and figures in Chapters 1-4 of Blood Meridian that we wanted to better understand. Your job for Thursday is to bring in some social or cultural information that sheds light on the novel, and if possible, a tangible artifact that we can look at (a reproduction of a photograph, painting, object, advertisement, etc. that you come across). Type out a few sentences that explain how your research and artifact help us to better understand the novel.

Don't worry if you're a little uncertain about what to do (or just plain confused). Do the best you can, and as we start to compare discoveries, we'll all get a better sense of what kind of extra-textual research is most valuable.

Don't forget to have Chapters 5 and 6 of Patricia Limerick read for a short quiz.

Update: Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man arrived yesterday. Anyone who wants to watch it tonight (Wednesday) should stop by my office today. Otherwise, we'll figure out a schedule in class. Everyone will need to see it by Feb. 21st.  The opening scene between Crispin Glover (best known as Marty McFly's dad in Back to the Future films) and Johnny Depp is utterly weird and (I think) priceless. Neil Young composed the soundtrack, and look for appearances by Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, and a very old (and still very cool) Robert Mitchum. You might find the beginning a little slow (obviously, it's supposed to be--it's a long trip), but stick with it. It's a self-reflexive film, but there's also a compelling storyline, and it picks up on a number of the themes we're exploring this semester.

For Thursday, February 16th

We'll all be doing artifact searches again; follow the same directions for the previous week. Happy hunting! jm

For Thursday, February 23rd

Paper proposals are due. The more you can tell me about your topic and your sources, the more feedback I can give you. If possible, include a set of theoretical questions that you hope to answer over the course of writing this essay. What's at stake in your study? What do you (and your audience) stand to learn? Please email your proposal before class, and I will respond to it before I leave town for the weekend. Don't forget that you will be quizzed to death on Blood Meridian. I look forward to discussion.

For Thursday, March 9th

MLA Citations. The following website has everything you need to know about citations and a works cited page.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html#Works-Cited

About half-way down, you'll find an exhaustive catalogue of how to cite every kind of publication possible. It's a good source to bookmark.

For class, please remember to choose a passage from Ceremony that you want to discuss.