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Last Updated: 08/20/01
CENTRAL OREGON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Hum 230: Immigrant Experience in American Literature
Texts: Hum230
E-Reserves (available online)
Casey and Rhodes/Modern Irish American Fiction
Ibieta and Orvell/Inventing America
Rodriguez/Hunger of Memory
Gold/Jews Without Money
The United States has been formed by the literature and culture of many groups
whose voices have not always been
listened to, but whose presence is nonetheless reflected in our every day lives.
Immigrants from all parts of the world have contributed to “American”
literature, popular culture, film, history,
and fine arts. This course
draws on a wealth of authentic (and inauthentic) expressions of the immigrant
experience in the United States to explore varieties of the hyphened-American
experience from immigration to melting pot to mosaic. Background lectures, films, discussions of readings in
literature, history, sociology, and guest lecturers will be used to bring a full
range of resources to this study. The
course will provide students with historical and theoretical backgrounds to
study the experience of immigrants and their contributions to American culture.
We will examine the history of several immigrant groups (individual
reports will cover groups of interest) from the mid-nineteenth century to the
present, through their
representation in fiction, non-fiction (including autobiography) and film in
order to come to a better understanding of the relationship between immigrant
and other groups in America’s multicultural society.
Course Outcomes:
Knowledge about a culture different from one’s own:
·
Explain the broad features of American Immigrant history (for example,
push vs. pull immigration; patterns of immigration; ability to assimilate in the
U.S.) and situate individual texts
within that history.
·
Apply
specific and defensible criteria, appropriate to the specific cultural and
historical contexts of each immigrant group (such as Italians, Irish, Jewish),
to analyze, interpret, and evaluate specific Immigrant texts.
·
Analyze
the effects of education, gender roles, printing and publication practices, the
specific historical/cultural circumstances of particular immigrant groups,
assimilation, and cultural identity on the development and reputation of these
authors.
Analysis of a written text:
·
Demonstrate
an understanding of specific themes in Immigrant literature such as generational
conflict; the American Dream; ethnicity and cultural identity; the journey
motif; accommodation and assimilation; melting pot and mosaic imagery; conflict
with the dominant American culture and ethics; media representations.
·
Use
formal and informal writing to develop and express interpretations and analyses,
distinguishing between personal and critical responses.
·
Use
evidence from the texts and bring multiple viewpoints and perspectives to bear
in developing one’s interpretations, evaluations, and comparative analyses of
these literary works.
·
Explain
the relationships within these selections, among audience, purpose,
organization, form, voice, diction, style, and use of literary conventions.
·
Explain
how the literary treatment of an event, issue or idea differs from the approach
of another academic discipline.
Comparative analysis of cultures:
·
Examine
the effects of individual and culturally-determined factors (such as race,
gender, class, ethnicity, region, religion, biases of information sources, prior
cross-cultural experiences) in one’s own and others’ responses to Immigrant
literature and culture.
·
Identify
and explain significant differences and similarities among Immigrant works and
cultures and our own, or other nonwestern and multicultural American cultures
with which you may be familiar.
Coursework and Grading:
15% Participation:
Includes in class writing and group work…very difficult to make up.
To get the most out of a literature course, attendance is vital. Includes
the individual reading and oral report on that reading assignment, worth 5% of
the 15%.
50% Five 3+ page essays (10%
each) analyzing the readings and class discussions. Due dates are noted below
and a list of prompts will be handed out. One
paper may be revised.
35% Final Project includes
topic proposal (5%), oral report (5%), draft (5%) and annotated bibliography on
a topic, theme, immigrant group, immigrant novel or writer of your choice.
Final paper (20%) is due at the final exam. More details will be handed
out later.
Course Outline (Readings and Assignments due are in bold):
|
Week
1
Tues
Sept. 18 |
What
is Immigrant Lit?
Cross-cultural themes in Immigrant Lit
Overview of the course
How to use E-Reserves |
|
Thurs
Sept. 20
|
|
Week 2
|
“Encountering
Others”
Film: Out of Ireland
Read:
“Inventing” pp. 38-46 and 47-57;
E-Reserve: Mary Antin’s “The Promised Land” |
|
Thurs
Sept. 27 |
Discuss Essay #1, conclude “Encountering Others” discussion and begin
“Exiled Voices”
Sign up for individual reading responsibilities (We will use this syllabus to
fill in names….everyone must be responsible for one extra reading that you
will read in preparation for summarizing and interpreting for the class.
Read: “Inventing” pp.68, 85-97
|
Week 3
|
Discuss Final Paper
“Exiled Voices”
Essay
#1 due
Read “Inventing” pp.98-104
Individual Readings:
“Inventing” pp.105-116 ___________________
“Inventing” pp. 117-125___________________ |
|
Thurs
Oct 4
|
|
Week 4
Oct 9 |
“Exiled Voices”
Read “Jews Without Money” chapters 4-11 |
|
Thurs
Oct. 11 |
“Exiled
Voices”
Read
“Jews Without Money” chapters 12-13
E-Reserve: Rolvaag’s “Giants in the Earth”
E-Reserve: DiDonato’s “Christ in Concrete”
Individual Readings:
E-Reserve: Bell’s “Out of this Furnace”____________________
E-Reserve: Curran’s “Parish and the Hill”__________________
|
Week 5
Oct 16
|
“Exiled Voices”
Read “Jews Without Money” chapters 14-20
Individual Readings:
“Modern Irish” O’Hara pp.65-69___________________
“Modern Irish” Hamill pp.246-252__________________ |
|
Thurs
Oct 18 |
“Exiled Voices”
Discuss Essay #2
Finish “Jews Without Money”
Final Project Topic Description due (typed) |
Week 6
Oct 23 |
“Multicultural Self”
Essay #2 due
Read “Inventing” pp.222-223
and pp. 207-218
Individual Readings:
“Inventing” pp. 203-206__________________
“Modern Irish” Gordon pp.265-end______________
|
|
Thurs
Oct 25 |
|
Week 7
Tues
Oct 30 |
Conclude “Multicultural Self” and begin “Border Crossings”
Discuss oral presentations on final projects…day assigned
Read “Inventing” pp.243-252, pp.260-268 and pp. 280-287
Individual Readings:
“Modern Irish” Smith pp.55-64___________________
“Modern Irish” Kennedy pp.165-181________________
“Modern Irish” Breslin pp.196-215 _________________ |
|
Thurs
Nov 1 |
“Border Crossings”
Film: Hester Street” |
Week 8
Nov 6 |
“Border Crossings”
Essay #3 due
Read from Hunger of Memory, “Aria” (chapter 1) and “Complexion” (chapter
4) |
|
Thurs
Nov 8 |
|
Week 9
Nov 13 |
Oral Reports on Final Projects
Essay #4 due |
|
Nov 15 |
“Representing Ethnicity”
Scenes from The Godfather Read “Inventing” pp.466-479
Individual Readings:
“Inventing” pp. 505-511__________________ |
|
Week 10
Tues
Nov 20 |
“Representing Ethnicity”
Scenes from The Godfather
Rough draft of Final Project due |
|
Thurs
Nov 22 |
School Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
|
|
Week 11
Nov 27 |
“Representing Ethnicity”
Scenes from The Godfather
Drafts returned |
|
Thurs
Nov 29 |
Essay #5 due |
|
Finals Week |
Final Project due in Deschutes 16 by Monday December 3rd at 12:15pm
(the end of our scheduled final exam time). If I am out of the office, please
slide under my door. |