Week 1

Tuesday 8/31

Thursday 9/2

In class

Introduction of Course

For Class

1. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur
   LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN FARMER
2.  Let America Be America Again
   Langston Hughes

Week 2

Tuesday 9/7

Thursday 

In class

Review literary terms, Go over literary motifs and tropes (especially the bildungsroman), Introduce key elements in early American literature (especially creation myths)

Creation myths/ Myths of Origin

For Class

1. Do  intros on ANGEL 

2. What is a bildungsroman? Read these sites:

3. Creation myths and American identity

Readings:

1. What is a myth? 
2. Theories of Myth: http://www.uwo.ca/classics/myth/mythintro.htm 

Questions to consider: How does the bildungsroman contribute to the creation of national identity? Can you think of any examples from your own experience? How do creation myths also help form group identity?  How do these types of stories differ?

1.              Overview of Creation myths of the Americas: http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/NAANTH/CREATION.HTM

2.              The Iroquois Creation story: http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/NAANTH/IRCREAT.HTM

3.              Introduction to the Maya: http://www.jaguar-sun.com/maya.html    

4.              Excerpt from the Popul vuh

Questions to consider: How are myths used to create a sense of community? Are there any myths that are central to the way you understand your own identity? How do the indigenous American myths differ? How do they relate?

Week 3

Tuesday 9/14

Thursday

In class

Colonial Considerations:

Cabeza de Vaca,  Bartolomé de las Casas, William Bradford

For Class

Readings:

1. Extract from Columbus’s Journal (skim the beginning and focus on October 11 and after)

2.  Cortés Letter

3.  Full Text of John Smith's True Relation (Read the first 10 paragraphs after the reader's note. Skim the rest if you like.)

Questions to consider: How do the accounts of Columbus, Cortés and Smith differ?  What were their goals in writing?  Who was their audience? How did they describe the wonder of the New World? How did they describe their relationship with the Indians? 

Turn in Critical Response paper #1         

1. William Bradford: History of Plymouth Plantation 
2. William Bradford OF Plymouth Plantation
3. Bartolomé de las Casas From A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies
   [1542] 
4. Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca (Excerpts from the Journey –to be posted on Angel)

Week 4

Tuesday 9/21

Thursday

In class

Visions of Independence and State Formation:

Bolivar, Madison. Monroe Doctrine, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

American Identity and American Dialectics:

 Darío, Martí

For Class

Reading: 

1.      James Madison: Federalist Papers (1788)

2.      Simón de Bolívar:
Message to the Congress of Angostura (1819)

3.      THE MONROE DOCTRINE (1823)

4.      Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848 (excerpts)

Readings:

2. José Martí "Our America" (in The Heath Anthology)

Turn in Critical Response paper #1 by TODAY

Week 5

Tuesday 9/28

Thursday

In class

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (continue our discussion)

For Class

Readings:

1. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (Read the e-text available at: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography/)
2. About Slave Narratives: http://guweb2.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl311/slave.htm

Close Reading #1 in class

Week 6

Tuesday 10/5

Thursday

In class

          Douglass and Komunyakaa

          Mid-term review

For Class

Readings:

Yosef Komunyakaa Venus Fly-trap, Prisoners, Facing it

Week 7

Tuesday 10/12

Thursday

In class

Mid-Term

For Class

1. William Faulkner “Barn Burning” (In Heath)
2. Juan Rulfo “Tell Them Not to Kill Me” (In the Oxford Book of LA short stories p. 284)

Week 8

Tuesday 10/19

Thursday

In class

Civilization and Barbarism II

 American Difference I

For Class

 Readings:

1. Esteban Echevarría “The Slaughterhouse” (In the Oxford Book of LA short stories p. 59)
2. Upton Sinclair The Jungle (excerpts In Heath)

Readings:

 1. Zitkala Sa, “The School Days of an Indian Girl” (in the Heath Anthology)

2. Edith Maud Eaton (Sui Sin Far) “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian” (in The Heath Anthology)

Week 9

Tuesday 10/26

Thursday

In class

           American Differences

The American Dream?

Presentation on

Issues in Immigration

For Class

Readings:

1. Jose Maria Arguedas "The Pongo's Dream"
2. Clarice Lispector “The Smallest Woman in the World” (on-line course reserve)

 Readings in Heath

1. Pietro Di Donato “Christ in Concrete” (p.1937)
2. Carved on the Walls: Poetry by Early Chinese Immigrants (p. 1955)

Week 10

Tuesday 11/2

Thursday

In class

American Wives

Presentation on Nationalism and the Melting Pot

For Class

Readings:

1. Rosario Castellanos “Cooking Lesson” (in the Oxford Book of LA short stories p.345)
2. Rosario Ferre "Mercedes Benz 220SL" (on-line course reserve)

 Readings in Heath

1. Allen  Ginsburg “America” (p. 2304)
2. Pedro Pietro “Puerto Rican Obituary” (p. 2572)
3. June Jordan “Poem About my Rights” (p. 2632)

Week 11

Tuesday 11/9

Thursday

In class

Bitita’s Diary

Presentation on Bitita

Bitita continued

Close Reading #2 in class

For Class

Readings:

Bitita’s Diary

Week 12

Tuesday 11/16

Thursday

In class

Ariel Dorfman

 Presentation on Dorfman

For Class

Readings:

Heading South, Looking North

Week 13

Tuesday 11/23

Thursday

In class

Library Day    

Thanksgiving Holiday

For Class

Week 14

Tuesday 11/30

Thursday 

In class

Presentation on Marmon Silko

For Class

Ceremony

Week 15

Tuesday 12/7

Thursday

In class

Final Paper presentations

 Final Paper Presentations

For Class