Ethnic Literatures of the United States
	English 213: Description: Unity in Diversity?

Contents

Texts & Materials	Focus	Class Format	Goals	Attendance	Adds & Drops
Issues and Questions	Notes on Writing Assignments	Criteria for Final Grading	Grading	Computers & the Web	VAX & E-mail Accounts

Texts and Materials

Primary	Véa, La Maravilla Beaty and Hunter, New Worlds of Literature 213 Course Reader (photocopied readings) 213 Class Packet: parts 1 & 2 (photocopied handouts)
Secondary	Lynn, Texts and Contexts (great overview of current cultural theory, showing how one might use a particular approach to illuminate a literary text)
Recommended	Dornan, Brief English Handbook Woodward, Writing Research Papers: Investigating Resources in Cyberspace A college-level dictionary
Materials	2 light-weight folders with dividers (for your writings, class notes, handouts)

Focus

In this course, we will explore the concept of ethnicity in literature through reading, discussing, and writing about works from various cultures within the U.S. Among other issues, we will consider the role of gender, economic class, sexual orientation, national origin, and religion, as well as ethnic identification and interethnic relations, in shaping literature by U.S. writers of African, Asian/Pacific, European, Latino, Middle Eastern, and Native American heritage. At the heart of the course will be Alfredo Véa's La Maravilla, a short novel about the complex inter-ethnic relationships within a community of social outsiders living in a shanty-town near Phoenix over forty years ago. Students will each focus their research on one of the groups portrayed in this novel, investigating the historical conditions which helped shape members of that group as well as their interactions with other groups. We will explore La Maravilla and other core readings from a variety of perspectives, using ethnically diverse conceptual frameworks to help us understand more fully our own relationship to the readings as well as to the world we share. Some questions we will consider: What impact has this work made on me? How has it achieved this effect? How have my own ethnically-shaped assumptions affected my experience of this work? How might I begin to bridge the distance between the writer's cultural context and my own? What can I carry away from the work into my own life and world now? Lectures and class discussion, as well as writing and research assignments, may also focus on the literary expression of such concerns as the following: the role of ethnicity in forming individual and group identity; interethnic tensions; influences of the dominant culture; mixed ethnicities, and the variety of class, gender, and cultural expression within ethnic groups; problems of terminology, categorization, and metaphor (such as the "melting pot"); and consequences of including (or not including) European American works in a consideration of ethnic literatures. The class may also consider literary implications of such issues as oppression (institutional, interpersonal, and internalized); silencing, marginalization, and polarization; the role of place and language in defining "insider" and "outsider"; and the vision of a diverse society enriched by a multiplicity of cultures.

Issues & Questions
(these are starters; add your own)

- ambiguities in terminology such as "ethnic," "minority," "Third World," "people of color," "European American," "identity," "marginality - literary responses to oppression -- material, psychological, and ideological - silencing, by inner as well as outer forces - literary strategies for speaking of violence and being heard; ways of deflecting the reader's resistance to hearing what is unfamiliar, disturbing, painful - what it means for a person to be "mad" ("crazy" or angry, or both); the "madwoman's" language as a personal and narrative response to the strictures of the "normal"; the possible role of anger in the process of healing - undoing "us"/"them" polarization (restrictive binary thinking) - "englishes" and the "Creole continuum" - advantages of "living on the boundary"; the "new mestiza" and cultural transformation - structures of domination and strategies of subversion - the dubious privileges that come with being a member of the dominant group; the extent to which these privileges can be disabilities, preventing one from seeing or hearing - ethnicity and economic class: intersections and misapprehensions - distinctions: bigotry, racism, and other forms of bias - unconscious racism: the ways in which each of us is scarred by it (members of target groups; members of non-target groups) - internalized oppression - unearned "common ground"; difference, and alliance: problematic connections - intersecting influences of gender, class, and race on individual and cultural identity - alienation: from one's society, one's self, the human condition; the sense of being an outsider - the negative and positive faces of "tribalism" and community: when does it cramp the individual and falsify human relations? when can it make genuine human connection possible while allowing each of us to live true to our own vision of reality? - negative and positive aspects of tradition - ways in we are (or are not) each responsible to our society - envisioning a diverse, harmonious, and exciting national culture

Notes on Writing Assignments

Please word-process each piece of out-of-class writing. (Typewriter may be used in an emergency.) Be sure to save your work every 15 minutes or so, and make a backup floppy disk. Also, be sure you've made an extra copy for yourself before letting go of anything you've written. Things have been known to disappear in unexpected ways. Work may be turned in early; work more than one class-meeting late will receive half credit. Feel free to use e-mail or fax if necessary, but be sure I received it.

Requirements
(See Class Pkt 2 for specific tips for written work and presentations.)

READING: assigned texts, pieces in the photocopied Reader, and additional handouts WRITING: 1 short fictional narrative (4-5 pp text) One-page handout for colloquium presentation (may be double-sided) Final exam (take-home) Final "weaving" of quotations In-class responses to core readings Written peer responses to each other's writing Other informal writing (focused freewriting, reading notes, study questions) CLASS PRESENTATION (5-10 minutes): Final presentation of your cultural research CLASS PARTICIPATION: Taking part in discussion (active speaking and listening), in large and small groups Providing prompt oral as well as written feedback to each others' work CONFERENCES WITH INSTRUCTOR FINAL PORTFOLIO (divided into sections, with table of contents) Folder including all formal & informal writing done in the class, including official draft of essay as well as peer responses from your writing group (See Class Packet 2 for details.)

Criteria for Final Grading

A: Excellent attendance and strong participation in small-group and large-group discussion, including active listening and respectful acknowledging of others' ideas. Journal and portfolio of essays, as well as take-home final, are complete and of outstanding quality. The quality of the writing is excellent (organization, clarity, tone). The essays in particular demonstrate originality of insight and articulate a clear argument, supported with specific evidence from the readings. The work is free of major grammatical and mechanical errors. Documentation of sources is complete and in correct MLA form. B: Excellent attendance and good participation in small-group and large-group discussion. Journal and portfolio of essays, as well as take-home final, are complete and of good quality. The quality of the writing is good (organization and clarity), though the organization or development of the argument may be lacking in some regards. The work is generally free of major grammatical and mechanical errors. Documentation of sources is complete and generally in correct MLA form. C: Good attendance and a fair level of participation. Journal and essay portfolio are complete, and show a fair understanding of the texts and issues addressed. The quality of writing is adequate. The argument frequently needs to be developed more fully and to demonstrate a clearer grasp of ideas. Clarity, organization, and mechanics may need improvement. Documentation of sources in essays is complete, although there may be occasional problems of form. D: Attendance and participation may be inadequate. Journal and essay portfolio show serious effort, but may be incomplete, show inadequate understanding of the texts, lack serious examination of ideas and issues, and/or fail to address all the specifics of the assignment. There are significant problems with the expression and development of ideas. There may be more than a few mechanical and grammatical errors, and documentation of sources in the essays may be lacking in some regards. F: Attendance, participation, and written work are unsatisfactory, and do not justify a passing grade. Or work is satisfactory, but plagiarism (inadequate documentation of sources) has occurred in several instances.

Grading

Short essay: 25% Final exam: 25% Cultural presentation: 25% Preliminary assignments Final presentation + handout Class participation: 25% Participation in large and small-group discussion Final "weaving of quotations" Final portfolio (all formal and informal writing done for the class, divided into sections, with table of contents) In-class freewritings Extra credit for participating in a culture-based student group and turning in a thoughtful written account of your involvement (1-4 pts)

Computers and the Web

Tips on computer use: If you aren't presently using a computer, make space in your schedule for learning to use a MAC or IBM as well as a good word-processing program. Self-paced instructional tutorials are usually available on the Mac and Windows computers in the student labs. Computer literacy is essential for academic success. To activate your e-mail account, see note at end of syllabus. Student computer labs: For state-of-the-art Mac, Windows MT, multi-media and (usually) assistance: ñcomputer commonsî in 98-C5-12/13/14. For Mac computers and (sometimes) assistance: 97-121 (under the commuter cafeteria). For Internet/e-mail access only: lab in basement of library. All labs tend to have free instruction materials available. The computer commons will require you to buy a print card to do printing there.

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