Michael K. Johnson

Course description

English 271 involves the study of literature written in a variety of genres with a particular focus on ethnic literature. We will examine literature by writers of color (African American, Mexican American, Asian American, Native American) and/or by members of specific ethnic or religious groups (e.g., Jewish). The course begins with W. E. B Du Bois' The Souls of Black Folk, an important early twentieth-century book that addresses such topics as the importance of education and the concept of "double-consciousness" (the tension between ethnic and national identity) that we will discuss throughout the semester. The "problem of the Twentieth Century," Du Bois famously asserts, "is the problem of the color-line." As we proceed through the semester, we will see examine the way various writers describe, negotiate, and respond to this "problem." As this is an introductory literature course, we will draw on a range of literary genres, autobiography, fiction (novel and short story), and poetry. We will work to develop in general the vocabulary and techniques of literary analysis characteristic of a sophisticated understanding and appreciation of literature, and we will work to develop the ability to use that vocabulary within the specialized writing situation of the critical essay on a literary topic. In addition to our work with literary texts, we will also take seriously popular culture forms (such as film and television) that have likewise addressed the "problem of the Twentieth [and Twenty-first] century."

Ways of defining and conceptualizing "ethnicity" vary widely, and over the past 50 years the meaning of that term has been hotly debated (as have, for that matter, definitions of the other contested term in our course title, "literature," but we'll leave that debate for another day). We might begin, as Lester Friedman does (in his essay in the anthology Unspeakable Images), with a traditional definition from the Dictionary of Sociology, which defines as an ethnic group one "with a common cultural tradition and a sense of identity which exists as a subgroup of a larger society. The members of an ethnic group differ with regard to certain cultural characteristics from other members of their society." Race (e.g., African American), religion (e.g., Jewish), and national origin (e.g., France) are three categories often used as factors in determining ethnicity. For much of the twentieth-century, the dominant group (demographically and politically) in the larger society that is America has been white (Caucasian), and in terms of political power, middle class. From this position of power, white America has historically instituted legal and social restrictions (segregation, the doctrine of separate but equal, restrictions on property, voting, and naturalization rights, bans on immigration from certain "undesirable" nations of origin) that have defined ethnic and racial difference from the dominant group as a sign of inferiority justifying second-class citizenship for certain subgroups. As we will see, ethnic literature is often a politically engaged literature that addresses issues of inequality in America. We will also see that writers often work to demonstrate the value and importance of ethnic difference.

Grades

Grades will be determined primarily by your performance on two short papers (1200–1500 words) and a final exam. Each paper will account for 30% of your final course grade, as will the final exam. Such factors as attendance, attitude, quiz performance, participation, and preparedness will contribute to the final 10% of the course grade. As this class is process as well as product oriented, your participation in all aspects of that process (reading and discussing as well as writing) is essential to the completion of the course requirements. Excessive absences (excused or unexcused) will damage your course grade, and I reserve the right to substantially lower any person's semester grade if that person has more than three unexcused absences. If you do miss a class, you should check with me or with someone else in the class about any assignments I may have made. I will also try to post assignments on my Web site, but I can't guarantee that all assignments will be available from the Web site.

Quizzes

There will be a quiz over the reading material at least once a week. Quizzes will most often be in the form of a 15–20 minute written response to a general question over the reading material. If you miss a quiz because of an excused absence, you may re-take that quiz. Quizzes missed because of unexcused absences cannot be made up. Your cumulative quiz score will be the primary factor (with your contribution to class discussion) in determining your class participation grade, which accounts for 10% of your final grade.

Essays

The essays for this class should be completed in a professional and timely manner. Late papers will lose one-half a letter grade per class period (unless you provide me with evidence of a legitimate and verifiable excuse). They should be either carefully written in blue or black ink or (preferably) typed. A more detailed discussion of requirements for essays will be included on individual assignments. As this is an English course, your grade on the essays will primarily be determined by the quality of your writing. Each essay should have an original, specific, and significant thesis--an arguable assertion that you are making about the work being discussed. Each essay should provide textual evidence (quotations) in support of that thesis, and each essay should provide a well-developed analysis, discussion, and interpretation of that evidence. The papers that receive the highest grades will be well-argued and well-supported. The best papers also will be well-written and relatively free of grammatical errors.

Grading values

For papers, I assign letter grades that can be translated in terms of the following numerical values: C− (72), C (75), C+ (78). There are some exceptions to this pattern. An F corresponds to the numerical grade of 50. An assignment that is not completed will receive a grade of zero. Because the grade D− does not exist for me, a D grade will be assigned the value of 62. An A will be assigned the numerical value 100, an A− 95.

Plagiarism

As the publicity surrounding historian Stephen Ambrose's failure to use quotation marks to indicate direct quotations from the work of other historians indicates, borrowing someone else's words without appropriate acknowledgement is still frowned upon--despite the fact that the internet has made such intellectual theft easier than ever before. I expect students to act "in good faith" in doing original written work for the class. If a student violates that trust (even if it only involves a sentence or two lifted from an internet source without properly acknowledging the original), the punishment for plagiarism will be at minimum a grade of zero on a particular assignment and at maximum failure of the course. For information on what does and does not constitute plagiarism, please see The Writing Center/Mantor Library Plagiarism Tutorial.

Accommodations

Please note that any student who needs accommodations in this course because of a disability should notify me at the beginning of the semester so that arrangements can be made.