Eng 390: Multicultural Literature

Eng 318: American Novel

Oregon State University: Cascades Campus
@ Central Oregon Community College
Dr. Stacey Donohue
sdonohue@cocc.edu

Last Updated: 12/05/01

This course will explore developments in the American novel between 1900 and 1940 including the literary (modernism), cultural (race and gender issues), and economic (immigration) issues of the period. 

Four Required Texts:

Chopin/The Awakening (Norton Critical Edition, 2^nd ed.)

Fitzgerald/The Great Gatsby

Hemingway/The Sun Also Rises

Gold/Jews Without Money OR Hurston/Their Eyes Were Watching God

Course Requirements:

made up, final project bibliography and oral presentation)----------------- 15%

Course Schedule: (Tentative and Subject to Change. Please contact either me or a fellow classmate if you must miss class.)

Week One (Jan. 7 and 9):         Introduction to the course and requirements;

Sign up for leading seminar discussion

Video: excerpts from the film The Age of Innocence

Read The Awakening

Week Two (Jan 14 and 16): The Awakening

Seminar Leaders:

Week Three (Jan 23—no class Jan 21, MLK Day):  Finish  The Awakening
                                                                        Start The Great Gatsby

                                                                            Essay #1 due (on Awakening)

                                                                                                Seminar Leaders:

Week Four (Jan 28 and 30 The Great Gatsby

                                                            Video: Excerpts from The Great Gatsby

Seminar Leaders:

Week Five (Feb 4 and 6): Finish The Great Gatsby

Start The Sun Also Rises

Seminar Leaders:

Week Six (Feb 11 and 13): The Sun Also Rises

Essay #2 due (on Gatsby)

Seminar Leaders:

Week Seven (no class Feb. 18, Pres Day; Feb19 TUES BECOMES A MONDAY AND Feb 20):
                                                 The Sun Also Rises

                                                Final Project Topics and Bibliography due

Seminar Leaders:

Week Eight (Feb 25 and 27): Finish The Sun Also Rises

                                                Start Their Eyes Were Watching God or Jews Without Money

Essay #3 due (on Sun)

Seminar Leaders:

Week Nine (Mar 4 and 6): Their Eyes Were Watching God or Jews Without Money

Video: Excerpts from Hester Street

Group oral presentations (5 minutes) on your final topic

Seminar Leaders:

Week Ten (Mar 11 and 13): Their Eyes Were Watching God or Jews Without Money

                                                                        Essay #4 due (on Eyes or Jews)

 Seminar Leaders:

Final: Tues, March 19^th, 1-3pm---Final project due in my office

Brief Overview of Assignments for Eng. 318

 Seminar Leaders: Choose one of the articles on E-Reserve related to the text, and on your assigned day, give a 5 minute overview of the main points of the article, as well as begin a discussion of which points you think most important or annoying and why. An outline of the main points should be prepared and handed in to me.

 Four Essays: Each essay should be a typed (4+ pages, double spaced, 12pt. font), formal analysis of the text.  Essay topic ideas will be provided; however, you are welcome to come up with your own.  Although you are not required to do outside research for these essays, discussion of ideas from the Reserve Readings is encouraged.

Model essays are available. There is also a Norton website that gives an overview of writing essays on literature: http://www.wwnorton.com/introlit/wal.htm

Final Project: Choose a topic related to our discussion of the American Novel and come up with a guiding research question to narrow your topic. Find 10 sources that attempt to answer your question (these can include Reserve Readings), annotate those sources (after an MLA bibliographic citation, briefly summarize how the source answers your question), and write an essay (2+pages) synthesizing the results of your search and responding to those answers. The entire project will probably be at least 12 pages long. Sources can include VALID websites; however, journal articles and critical essays should make up the majority of your sources. The final project is due at the final exam period.  A model will be provided.

            During Week 7, you will hand in your research question and your bibliography (it doesn’t need to be annotated yet) in MLA format.  Week 9 you will do an oral presentation to a small group on your topic.

            Topic ideas can include a particular theme of one of our novels; the critical reception (then and now) of one of the novels; an investigation into women writers of the period; regionalism; modernism; immigration and literature or the Harlem Renaissance and literature. BUT you must begin with a research question or questions to be answered. For example:  “What is proletariat literature and why is Jews Without Money an example of this genre? Is it a representative example and why?”