Spring Semester 2005
Juda Bennett
Office: Bliss 239
Office Hours: M & R, 9:50-11:20
Phone: 771-2380
http://socs.tcnj.edu

Multicultural Literature, LIT 217-01 (MR 08:30 AM - 09:50 AM in BB 204)

This course will introduce students to multicultural literature through the issues, debates, and problematics of the field.  The term “multicultural,” which itself invites inspection, will be examined during the semester as one of several ways to ensure that this course will focus on building critical thinking skills rather than providing a fixed field of study.  Students will be discouraged from thinking of the readings as providing an instant entrance into a reified culture but instead as an opportunity to explore such issues as the social construction of race and ethnicity, the intersections of identities, such as race and sexuality, the legacy of colonialism, and the problem of canon formation and tokenism in a multicultural society. 

Required Texts:

Alexie, Sherman.  The Toughest Indian in the World Grove Press; 1st Pbk edition (April 9, 2001) 0802138004

Baldwin, James.  Giovanni’s Room.  Delta (June 13, 2000) 0385334583

Eady, Cornelius.  Brutal Imagination Putnam Publishing Group; (January 11, 2001) 0399147209

Harjo, Joy.  Map to the Next World W.W. Norton & Company; (March 2001) 0393320960

Hurston, Zora Neale.  Their Eyes Were Watching God Perennial; (December 1, 1998) 0060931418

Idlibi, Ulfat.  Sabriya (Syria) Interlink Publishing Group; (March 1, 1998) 1566562546

Kingston, Maxine Hong.  The Woman Warrior Vintage Books USA; (June 1, 2000) 0072435194  

Larsen, Nella.  Passing.  Rutgers University Press (April 1, 1986) 0813511704

Ortiz, Simon.  Woven Stone.  University of Arizona Press (November 1, 1992) 0816513309

Soto, Gary.  Buried Onions.  HarperTrophy; Reprint edition (April 30, 1999) 0064407713

January 17: First Class
January 20: Alexie, Sherman.  Toughest Indian in the World (“Assimilation” and “Toughest Indian in the World”);

January 24:  Toughest Indian in the World (“One Good Man” and “Dear John Wayne”); “Race, Ethnicity, and Post-Colonial Analysis” in Literary and Cultural Theory, Donald E. Hall (SOCS)
January 27:  Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, "The Language of African Literature"from The Postcolonial Studies Reader (handout); Derek Walcott, "A Far Cry From Africa" (handout); and Edward Brathwaite, "Starvation and Blues" (handout)

January 31:  Idlibi, Ulfat.  Sabriya (1-100)
February 3:  Idlibi, Ulfat.  Sabriya (100-185)

February 7:  TBA
February 7:  Essay #1 on any of the Sherman Alexie stories
February 10:  Larsen, Nella.  Passing (Part One)

February 14:  Larsen, Nella.  Passing (Part Two)
February 17:  Gates, Henry Louis.  “Authenticity and the Lesson of The Education of Little Tree,” “The Black Man’s Burden,” and “African American Criticism”

February 21:  Baldwin, James.  Giovanni’s Room (3-71)
February 24:  Baldwin, James.  Giovanni’s Room (75-169)

February 28:  Eady, Cornelius.  Brutal Imagination (5-57);
March 3:  Eady, Cornelius.  Brutal Imagination (61-108)
March 3:  Essay #2 Authenticity, Whiteness, and a single Cornelius Eady poem

March 7: Spring Break
March 10: Spring Break

March 14:  Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God (Foreward and 1-95)
March 17:  Hurston, Zora Neale.  Their Eyes Were Watching God (96-184 and Afterword)

March 21:  “The Oral Tradition and the Study of American Literature, Theresa Melendez in Redefining American Literary History (ed. Ruoff and Ward); “Native American Oral Literatures” from The Heath Anthology;
March 24:  Kingston, Maxine Hong.  Woman Warrior (3-53)

March 28:  Kingston, Maxine Hong.  Woman Warrior (57-109)
March 31:  Kingston, Maxine Hong.  Woman Warrior (113-209)
March 31:  Paper #3 Comparison/Contrast paper on Their Eyes Were Watching God and Woman Warrior and their uses of Anthropology, History, or Fable

April 4:   Ortiz, Simon.  Woven Stone/Going for the Rain (begin reading); “The Oral Tradition and the Study of American Literature, Theresa Melendez in Redefining American Literary History (ed. Ruoff and Ward); “Native American Oral Literatures” from The Heath Anthology
April 7:   Ortiz, Simon.  Woven Stone/Going for the Rain (35-148)

April 11:  Harjo, Joy.  A Map to the Next World (13-53)
April 14:  Harjo, Joy.  A Map to the Next World (57-135)

April 18:  Soto, Gary.  Buried Onions (1-68); 30 minute In-Class Essay on Your Growth in This Class (This does not count as one of the formal essays.)
April 21:  Soto, Gary.  Buried Onions (69-146)

April 25: Essay #4 on Buried Onions and the multilingual/multicultural young adult novel

Reading Period: April 28-May 1

Final Exam Date TBA:  Essay #5:  After attending one of the Women’s History Month Events, write a paper that examines the themes or arguments of this event in relationship to the themes or arguments represented in any of the required texts for this class. 

20% for each Essay
20% for class participation (daily contributions, Reading Circle contributions, final exit essay) 

Class Grades:

Four Short Essays: 4 X 20% of grade=80%
Class Participation, Exit Essay on Your Growth in This Class, Reading Circles: 20% of grade

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Short Essays: You are required to complete four of the five short essay assignments, and each essay (3-5 pages) must address the indicated theme.  The successful essay must go beyond class lecture and discussion, distinguishing itself by providing a close reading of SPECIFIC passages from the text.  These are short essays; therefore, you should provide a very brief introduction to the work, probably placing the focus on specific passages in the introduction.  For example:  “Idilbi Ulfat’s Sabriya  focuses on the war for independence, developing the narrative through the point of view of a young woman.  The conflict between the young protagonist and the forces of familial oppression appears early in the novel.”  These two sentences might be followed by a few brief lines that further introduce the key scene, but an analysis a the scene as it relates to the theme should quickly announce itself in either the introduction or the second paragraph.  At your peril, you may choose to explore more than two key scenes or you may choose to answer the writing prompt in another way, but I offer the example above to head off three frequent flaws:  1) Many weak essays provide vague and diffuse introductions 2) Many weak essays fail to provide textual support for the various arguments or points 3) Many weak essays fail to provide focus, sometimes rambling and sometimes superficially addressing everything yet never developing anything. 

Late Essays:  Because there are five opportunities to turn in four essays, students must choose which essay to pass over.  I suggest you make the first four deadlines, and save the fifth for a backup.  Late essays are docked five points if they are presented after the due date and no later than a week past the due date.  I will accept no late papers that are seven days later than the due date.  If you cannot make four deadlines, then you will receive zero points on the missing paper.  If students choose to write all five essay assignments, I will average the four highest grades and ignore the weakest essay.

Class Participation: If you are not present, you cannot participate.  If you miss three or more class periods, this is grounds for receiving zero points for this portion of the grade.   Conversely, you may attend all the classes but still receive a failing grade if you do not make an effort or if you are consistently unprepared or passive.  There will be many opportunities for you to participate in the class, but please speak to me if you feel unsure about your class participation.

Exit Essay:  This essay, written in-class and at the end of the semester, should document your involvement with the class and with your learning.  You should describe any and all work done inside and outside of class.  I will particularly be interested in your work for the “Reading Circles.” 

Reading Circles:  I will submit a list of reading prompts for the semester and students will be asked to be prepared with specific contributions to the class, along the lines of providing, for example, some biographical information or reading with an emphasis on minor characters and their roles in shaping the plot.  I will explain this further in class.

ESSAY FORMAT:

Be professional!  Use dark ink printed on standard-sized white paper (8.5”x11”), being careful not to play with margins, colored fonts, or other distracting features.  There should be 1” margins all around and the text should be justified to the left and unjustified to the right.  You should use a font that results in approximately 300 words per page. (Times New Roman 12 pt. yields about 300 words per page while Courier 12 pt. yields approximately 200 words per page). 

You may use a cover page.  If you do not, you should place the following information in the upper, left side of the first page:  Juda Bennett, Course Title and Number, Your Name, Date, Word Count.  If you choose to use a cover page, you should place this same information somewhere on that page and not to be duplicated on the first page of the essay. 

Every essay must have a title.  Do not very the font, color, or pitch of the text or title.  Keep copies of your work! Failure to do any of the above may result in a lower grade.

ESSAY GRADE:

Papers will receive the following points for:

a) Technical Form (10 points):  Students should follow the guidelines for “Essay Format” as stated above.  They should also attend to proper form when quoting or providing citations.    

(b) Writing Style (15 points): The successful paper will use proper grammar and spelling, but will also engage the reader by varying sentence length and structure, attending to diction and word choice, and employing active verbs and rich language.  Redundancies and undeveloped passages are both problems of organization and writing style.

(c) Organization (15 points): Essays must feel cohesive and planned, or the reader will distrust the work and thought that went into the paper.  Develop your ideas, and provide guide-posts to that development.  Organization is not simply a question of transitions.  Consider writing an outline.  Consider writing the introduction after you have written the rest of the paper.

(d) Content (60 points): If there are significant problems with the form, style, or organization of the paper, it may be difficult to fully appreciate the content of the argument.  It is your responsibility to successfully convey your best ideas with clarity.  You may, however, receive all 50 points if your ideas are strong and there is enough clarity to convey those ideas.  It is, however, difficult to receive even a passing grade if you do not have original ideas to convey.  

A Word of Caution: You may receive zero points in any of the above categories of evaluation if your work does not demonstrate basic care or ability.  You may, for example, write an essay that demonstrates technical skill and care on every page except the last page.  This may result in a grade of zero points for the technical aspect of the paper.  The paper, finally, must be graded as a whole.  This means that there are some mistakes that may overshadow a few strengths.  Late papers will receive a grade penalty, depending upon how late they are received.

SPECIAL NEEDS AND EXCUSED ABSENCES:

If you honor certain religious observances that conflict with the class schedule, please contact me at the beginning of the semester.

If you have extracurricular activities (e.g., sports or theater) that conflict with the class schedule, please contact me at the beginning of the semester.

If you have diagnosed learning-needs that I should know about, please contact me at the beginning of the semester.

If medical problems effect your performance, please contact me as soon as possible.  An excused absence will be given for legitimate situations and if you provide documentation of the problem.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

Each student is expected to submit original work that has been produced by the submitting student for this and no other class.  If students wish to collaborate, rework a previous project, or combine projects for this class with another class, students are required to receive permission from me.

COURSE SCHEDULE:

The above schedule of readings and assignments may change to accommodate the class, the college, or the weather.  I will try to give advanced notice in class, through e-mail, and/or on this website in the event of any needed changes.