Key concepts about this country's national identity took shape as European travelers explored and then settled upon the continent.  In this course, we'll read travel narratives, autobiographies, political-religious treatises, novels, and other literary works to examine how the new nation, ideologically and psycho-culturally, came into being.  Our readings will especially focus on pre-1800 cross-cultural encounters and clashes from a variety of perspectives (native American, European, and African).  The last weeks of the semester will take the theme of journeying into the 19th-20th centuries and our own period. 

The course has three major goals:

--to increase your knowledge about early American authors
--to improve your analytical ability to see how texts work aesthetically and culturally
--to develop your skill and pleasure in communicating ideas, both in class and on paper
 

After our first meeting, email me saying "I've read the policies, etc."--so that I know you did and so that I will have your email address.  Your email message is also a chance for you to express any initial concerns or questions that you might have about the course.
 

TEXTS

Shakespeare, The Tempest (Signet): Sagely, imperialistic-minded Prospero vs. the sly, lyrical, beastly Caliban: this late play of the Bard presents the key issues that later define the New World experience. 

William Andrews, ed., Journeys in New Worlds (Wisconsin): This volume includes an autobiography of a demur Puritan woman, Mary Rowlandson, who learns to survive in the Indian "wilderness"; and the memoir of a Quaker woman who recalls her rebellious escape from paternal and cultural tyranny to carve out a space of independence in the New World.

Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings (Penguin): From home village in Africa, to slave ship, to the Americas and middle-class success: Equiano's life-story captures the early tensions of African-American identity in elegant and stirring prose.

Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (Dover Thrift): The quintessential American--or is he?  To know Franklin in his brief autobiography is to know key aspects of "American" identity.

Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland and the Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist (Penguin): One of the first American gothic thrillers, this novel revolts against the sunny pragmatism and rationalism of Franklin. 

Willa Cather, My Antonia (Bantam): This beautifully nostalgic novel chronicles immigrant life on the prairie states.
 

GRADES
Active, regular participation will affect your final grade, especially in borderline cases.

--25%  four ten-minute in-class objective exams, lowest grade dropped

--25%  three response papers on text passages, 1/2-one page single-spaced
--25%  seven-page non-research interpretive essay
--25%  one of the options below
 

Research Option
--1/4 of 25%:    one-page annotated bibliography of five scholarly articles or books relevant to your interpretive essay

--1/4 of 25%:    one-page single-spaced summary of two of the above
--1/2 of 25%:    expanded/revised/researched version of the seven-page essay

Or, Learning Literary Theory Option

--1/2 of 25%:    one-two single-spaced pages summarizing the usefulness of three theories for one of our texts

--1/2 of 25%:    two-three page single-spaced theoretically informed mini-reading of a portion of the text you wrote your seven-page essay on

Or, Final Exam Option
--25%:    final comprehensive in-class exam: short answer and mini-essay responses to passages        
 

 COURSE POLICIES

Attendance & Participation: I see each of you as a vital part of the class community, and I will expect you to work to make the class an intellectually energizing experience.  The flow of good discussions will result in a course more satisfying for everyone.  Diligent, thoughtful classroom participation can help pull your final grade up a notch or two, and will be decisive in borderline cases.

Regular, and on time, attendance is required (I abide by FIU's policy on religious holy days).  You get two absences penalty free.  I won't ask, and you don't need to explain.  For the next two absences, your grade will be docked a notch--e.g. B+ to B--except in the case of true emergencies.  If you miss more than four classes, you cannot pass the course. 

Incompletes:  These can only be granted if you have a health or family emergency.

Plagiarism: Don't do it.  Plagiarism is easy to detect because I'll have a sense of your writing style from your response papers.  The consequences of being found guilty can be devastating for your FIU career (besides being ethically nasty).  If you do not know university policies on plagiarism, learn them (go to this link: http://w3.fiu.edu/enc/Plagiarism.htm).  Most students plagiarize because of desperation; if you feel desperate, talk to me!   

Conferences:  I am always happy to meet with you during office hours to talk more about the readings or other course matters.  For brief questions or to set up a conference outside of my regular office hours, you may call me at my home number, leave a message on my office phone, or email me.  I almost always return email messages within the same day I receive them, so if you don't get a reply within a day, you should assume I didn't get the original message.

If you are thinking about pursuing an M.A. (at FIU or elsewhere) or a Ph.D. in English, I especially would like to talk to you about your plans.

ASSIGNMENTS

Response Papers:  These three response papers are intended to encourage the habit of intense scrutiny.  They should be between 1/2 and 1 page single-spaced, with no cover page, due at the beginning of class on the days marked with *.  If you miss class, you may email your response to me by midnight of the day it is due.  These may not be revised, but you may turn in an extra one (four *s are listed) to replace a lackluster one.  You can only turn in a late response paper because of extraordinary situations.  I will explain the assignment in more detail in class. You will receive either a "3" (thoughtful and good prose), a "2" (not very thoughtful or poorly written), a "1" (poorly written and not thoughtful), or a "0" (not turned in).  I will usually give little or no feedback, other than the grading score; but I will put on the online syllabus sample good responses anonymously from the class.  If your performance is less than you would like it to be, I will discuss the response papers, and strategies for improvement, with you in conference.  The grading hierarchy: 9=A, 8=A-, 7=B+, 6=B, 5=B-, 4=C+, 3=C, 2=C-, 1=D+, 0=F.

Papers and Options:  Everyone writes a standard analytical-interpretive essay, seven-pages long, focusing on one of our works (because this is an interdisciplinary course, you may also write about art works or film--talk to me in conference if you are interested in writing on art or film). You then have the choice to either convert that paper into an expanded one in dialogue with other scholarship (i.e., research), or instead take a comprehensive exam at the end of the semester, or learn a bit about--and demonstrate you've learned a bit about--literary theory.  If you elect the research option, you then have several preparatory stages.  If you elect the exam option, you take the exam on the officially designated day.  If you select the theory option you must order a theory book, on your own, and follow the directions for the two related assignments. 

You choose which way you want to go by completing or not completing the first research exercise or by showing me your copy of the theory book.  If you follow the exam or theory option, rewrites on your seven-page paper will only be allowed if you put forth an earnest initial effort. 

If you follow the research option, obvious improvement over the original seven-page version (besides just additional pages) will impress me, and will most definitely be factored into your final course grade.

More specific paper-writing guideline and models will be put online as the semester gets underway.  Note that you need to turn in an email paragraph describing your topic on the date on the syllabus. 

I will do all that I can to help you develop your analytical/interpretive writing skills, but this is not a remedial writing class.  Little slack will be given for sloppy prose.  Any essay with a number of major grammatical or sentence-construction glitches will be returned without a grade, and at my discretion will be deemed late.  A late paper will be penalized 1/3rd of a grade for each class period submitted late, and only emergencies will allow you to submit your essay late without a penalty. 

The following requirements are for those who select the research option:

Annotated Bibliography:  You may find scholarly books and articles either on the FIU's (or another library's) shelves or through electronic databases, especially JSTOR and ProjectMuse.  Encyclopedia-style resources, online or in the library, do not qualify as serious scholarship.  For this assignment, you need only locate and skim five books and/or articles, and in a brief paragraph for each describe their relevance to the topic focus of your paper. The emphasis is on finding relevant research materials efficiently.  This assignment should fit on one singe-spaced page.  You should try to find materials on your own to develop your research skills, but if you're having troubles, let me know and I will assist. 

I will provide little feedback other than a letter grade: "A"=complete (five listings) and correct bibliographical format and lucid writing; "B"=good faith effort apparent, but some glitches in phrasing; "C"=half-hearted, less than five listings, and sloppy prose; "D"=less than five listings and listings don't seen very relevant to your topic along with poor prose; "F"=not submitted.

Summary of the articles/books:  Summarize--not evaluate--two of the above.  This assignment requires that you read the secondary materials closely, noting main points of the argument in each.  Your job is to summarize accurately and concisely.  The entire summary should be no more than two pages single-spaced. 

Expansion of interpretive paper:  The research paper involves an energetic rethinking and reworking of your initial essay, not merely several additional pages and a few citations.  My goal is to have you write a compelling, sophisticated paper that would, for example, serve you well if you planned to apply to my department's M.A. program or a MA/Ph.D. program elsewhere.  The paper should be approximately ten-pages long (or longer).
 

The following requirements are for those who select the theory option:

Buy this book (or check it out of a library if available or borrow from me if I have extra copies): Peter Barry, Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory.  This theory introduction is suitable especially for English majors pondering graduate school or for any student interested in the intersections of literature, psychology, philosophy, and cultural criticism.  Read it and consult my online lectures and links for my graduate theory course as needed  (I will show you where to go, online, down-the-road).

Two summaries: You first submit a one-two page single-spaced reflection on how several of the theories reviewed in the Barry volume might apply to the book you wrote your seven-page essay on; and then you write an additional mini-reading, about two-three single-spaced pages long, using a specific theory, on a specific portion of or issue in the book.  The two assignments will likely overlap to some extent: the first one should be survey-ish, the second more intensely focused.  That said, the rules for this option are loose; be thoughtful but not uptight about getting it right!  This assignments calls for intellectual independence, and typically in the past (grade-wise) such independence gets rewarded.

EXAMS

In-Class Exams:  The four in-class exams will be objective/factual, and are very brief.  The lowest grade will be dropped.  Should class be cancelled on a designated exam date, assume the exam will be given the following class.  My goal is to make sure you are keeping up with the reading; and so the questions will be basic, non-obscure ones.  You should be able to get good grades on these exams by dutifully reading the main texts and web material (not my study questions or lecture summaries/reviews).
 

Final Exam:  The in-class final exam, for those who select the non-research or theory option, will be comprehensive and consist of short answers and mini-essay responses (i.e., briefer versions of the response papers) to significant quotes from our texts. Instructions will be handed out later.  All course material--our main texts,  "Prof's Stuff," and "Web Links"--will be fair game for the final. 
 

SYLLABUS

Print-out = primary text (located either at this or another linked website) that you should print out and bring to class.

Web Links = selected links for the cultural periods or authors the class is reading.  You do not need to print these out, but some exam material will come from them and you should read them before coming to class.  Unless I note otherwise, you should read only the main weblink, not sublinks. 

Prof's Stuff = enhancement  study questions, summary sheets, etc.; you do not need to print these out and they may be read either before coming to class or afterwards as reviews.  They will be assembled and merged with lecture notes, at the end of the semester, as "Course Summary"  in a link at the top of this page.