ENGL 6120: The American Novel and the American Racial Imaginary, 1865-Present
W 5:30-8, Pafford 309
Dr. Joshua Masters, TLC 2244
Phone: 678-839-4862
Email: jmasters@westga.edu (and mastersjosh@yahoo.com if UWG mail is being fussy)
Office Hours: M 10-12 & 1-4, T 1-4, W 4-5, TH 1-2
Description
After the Civil War ended, the battle to define, represent, and deconstruct the idea of “race” in the American imagination had only just begun. This course will examine the development of the post-bellum, post-Romantic American novel, with a particular eye towards the operation of “whiteness” and “blackness” in the American cultural imaginary. As we survey such literary movements as Realism, Modernism, and Post-modernism as they played out in the American novel, we will pay special attention to the way that new literary forms and movements responded to dramatic social and historical events and shifting cultural attitudes about race. The historical context surrounding each novel—both its moment of production and the historical moment(s) it reproduces—will thus be a central rather than peripheral concern of the class.
Required Texts (in order of appearance)
Mark Twain Pudd’nhead Wilson (1893)
Frances Harper Iola Leroy (1893)
James Weldon Johnson Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912)
Nella Larsen Passing (1929)
William Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! (1936)
Ralph Ellison Invisible Man (1950)
Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye (1970)
Percival Everett’s Erasure (2002)
Charles Johnson Middle Passage(1990)
Paul Beatty White Boy Shuffle (1996)
Russell Banks Rule of the Bone (1993)
Jon Clinch Finn (2007)
Explanation of Course Policies and Procedures
Final Grade Components: Preparation for, and active participation in, weekly discussions (10%); process-based writing assignments (10%); three short essays (20%); 15-20 minute oral presentation (20%); a fifteen to twenty page research paper.
Attendance: As this is a graduate class, it should go without saying that attendance and active participation are expected. Generally, one doesn’t miss grad classes. If for some reason you must miss class, make sure you contact me and stay on top of any work you miss. If you miss more than two classes, you should not expect a grade above a C unless your reasons are extremely compelling; you will need to meet with me to discuss your position in the class. However, this won’t happen.
Preparation: I’m looking at the stack of books on my desk for this class, and I’m thinking, “Gosh, that’s a lot of books.” And it is. And I expect you to read every word contained in each one of them. You will have between 300 and 400 pages of reading a week consisting of a novel (in Week 4 you will read two novels), and a critical essay or an excerpt from a larger work of criticism. Please bring a copy of the assigned critical text and the assigned works of literature to each class.
Classroom Etiquette: Please, try to arrive on time and check your electronic devices at the door.
Process-based Writing Assignments: During weeks two, three, and fourteen, you will complete a written assignment meant to help you think about the analytical process of constructing an argument based on textual evidence. Each assignment will be posted on Courseden.
Short Papers: Over the course of the semester, each student will write three thesis-driven short essays of approximately two pages. These essays will focus one of the works of literature (rather than the criticism) due that week, and they should present an original, focused thesis on a clearly defined topic or issue relevant to the class. 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. You will be encouraged to rewrite, revise, and resubmit two of them. These essays must be submitted to me by email no later than 10 a.m. the day of class, as I may use them to help structure our discussion.
Research Paper: A 15-20 page critical essay on a topic you will devise. You will submit a two-page prospectus beforehand. I will provide more detailed guidelines a little later in the semester.
Oral Presentation: Over the course of the semester, each of you will give an oral presentation based on a “cultural artifact” of your own devising. Each of our literary texts is richly grounded in America’s cultural and material history: they contain references to song lyrics, folk tales, historical events, political figures, legal statutes, law cases, scientific discoveries, broad social movements, geographical spaces, cultural practices, 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 the texts’ social and historical contexts and to flesh out our sense of the characters’ and/or the writers' experiences.
At the beginning of the semester, you will sign up for the book on which you would like to do original research. Your research, however, won’t be based on what other critics have said about your book; instead, it will be archival—rooted in cultural and historical connections that you discover. Your goal is to pursue a tangible cultural artifact which you feel is directly relevant to our understanding of the book. It might be a photograph, painting, physical object, movie clip, piece of music, historical document, scientific discovery or development, legal decision, song, fashion rage—or it might be something else altogether; part of the point is to allow you considerable freedom in choosing your subject. One thing you will discover is that this sort of research can lead in unexpected directions, so give yourself time to follow the various threads wherever they lead. We have access to fairly good technology to aid you with your presentation.
As for the presentation itself, plan to speak for 15-20 minutes. You should begin by introducing us to the artifact itself: this can be in the form of a handout, a physical object, a film clip, a website, a series of images, etc. Your goal will be to illuminate for the class some aspect of the text’s context that will enrich our understanding of the time period and culture that influenced the text’s production. After introducing us to your cultural artifact, plan to read a 5-7 page paper to the class. Devise a central argument or thesis that explains, specifically, how your artifact and research can enhance and enlarge our understanding of the primary text. If you have any questions about the suitability of a topic you have in mind, or if you have trouble coming up with a topic, please come talk to me.
Note: You are welcome to incorporate work from the oral presentation and paper into their final paper; however, you are certainly not required to do so. You are also welcome to use one of your short essays as a gateway to the final project.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: The Department of English 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. Any form of plagiarism or academic dishonesty—no matter the assignment or its relation to the final grade—will result in an automatic course grade of F.
Learning Outcomes
Demonstrate an enhanced familiarity with the characteristics of the post-Civil War American novel, as well as the social forces, historical events, and cultural interests that shaped and was shaped by the literature of the period;
Understand and appreciate the significance of the individual authors’ unique contributions to post-Civil War American Literary history, as well as comprehend the continuities expressed by those contributions within the American literary tradition;
Recognize the implications and applications of the critical and theoretical sources that ground the critical analyses of the primary texts, demonstrating that recognition by applying those ideas and methods in both oral and written work;
Conducting independent and meaningful course-related research and synthesizing it in the form of a correctly documented research paper prepared according to current professional standards.
Schedule
Week 1 (8/24)
Introduction, Syllabus, Discuss Oral Presentations and Sign-up, Discussion of “Appropriation of Cultures”
And “Mountain of Notes” free-for-all.
Week 2 (8/31)
Mark Twain Pudd’nhead Wilson
Oral Presentation by Dr. Masters
Critical Work: Excerpt for Toni Morrison’s Playing in the Dark
“Mountain of Notes” Assignment (20% of process-based writing grade)
Week 3 (9/7)
Frances Harper Iola Leroy
Oral Presentation(s) by ________________
Critical Work: Mary Mitchell’s essay, "Rosebloom and Pure White.”
Mountain of Notes and Paragraph Assignment (30% of process-based writing grade)
Week 4 (9/14)
James Weldon Johnson Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Oral Presentation by ________________
Nella Larsen’s Passing
Oral Presentation by ________________
Critical Work: Cheryl Harris, “Whiteness as Property”
Week 5 (9/21)
William Faulkner Absalom, Absalom!
Oral Presentation(s) by ________________
Critical Work: Critical Work: Preface and Chapter 1 of Shades of Citizenship
In an ideal world, you will have turned in short paper #1 by week 5, which means you either turned one in last week on Johnson or Larsen, or are turning one in on Faulkner this week.
Week 6 (9/28)
Ralph Ellison Invisible Man, Chapters 1-13
Critical Work: Foucault’s chapter “The Panopticon,” from Discipline and Punish
Week 7 (10/5)
Ralph Ellison Invisible Man, Part 2
Oral Presentation(s) by ________________
Critical Work: Introduction to Houston Baker’s Blues, Ideology, and Afro-American Literature.
Week 8 (10/12)
Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye
Oral Presentation(s) by ________________
Critical Work: David Roediger’s “The Pursuit of Whiteness”
Paper #2 should be submitted by week 8.
Week 9 (10/19)
Percival Everett’s Erasure
Oral Presentation(s) by ________________
Critical Work: Jean Baudrillard’s essay, “Simulacra and Simulations”
(Last day to withdraw with a W)
Week 10 (10/26)
Charles Johnson Middle Passage
Oral Presentation(s) by ________________
Critical Work: Introduction and Chapter 1 of Eric Lott’s Love and Theft.
Week 11 (11/2)
Paul Beatty White Boy Shuffle
Oral Presentation(s) by ________________
Critical Work: Michael Hardin’s article, “Postmodernism's Desire for Simulated Death.”
Paper #3 due.
Week 12 (11/9)
Russell Banks Rule of the Bone or John Clinch Finn
Oral Presentation(s) by ________________
(No Critical Work)
Research Paper Prospectus Due
Week 13 (11/16)
Text-Based Mountain of Notes Due (50% of process-based writing grade)
Week 14 (11/23)
Thanksgiving Break!
Week 15 (11/30)
Five Annotated Bibliography entries and at least ten pages of draft due.
Final Paper Due 12/6