J. sTephen Pearson, Lecturer: U of Tennessee, Spring 2009
You
have been asked by a local high school to take part in a special program for
students with talent in literature. The students will meet once a week for 12
weeks and will discuss American Literature since 1865. The course will be
divided into 4 units, with each unit featuring 3 texts. You pick the themes for
the units, which may range from groups of authors (women’s writing, minority
writing, etc.) to specific themes (“becoming American,” “examining the past,”
etc.).
Your
assignment is to submit a syllabus for the program using works we have read
this semester, describing why you chose each text and how the texts connect.
Although you want the texts in each theme to work side-by-side, try to show as
much variety as you can in order to show the complexity of the theme under
consideration. For instance, a unit on women’s issues might include a white
woman, a woman of color, and a man whose use of women characters is revealing.
Also, try to use texts from each volume of the anthology for each theme: you
want to give students an introduction to the historical range of writings.
For
the essay, create a cover letter to the principal (Dr. Booker) that gives a
brief overview of your plan and explains the reasons you chose the four themes
you chose. Then, present a detailed description of the course, explaining for
each text why you chose it, providing notes on what the teachers should
highlight about it, and showing how it connects with other texts in the course.
You may format this section of the project (that is, the list of texts,
not the cover letter) in whatever form you think would make it easiest for
teachers to follow. For instance, instead of writing one long paragraph for
each text, you might organize the entire list in table format.
Due by the final exam.
Pick
a story from our reading list that you think best exemplifies the various
issues and approaches in American Literature. In a 2.5-3.5 page essay, examine
your story from the perspective of at least four themes (as you did in the
first exam) and that connects it to other stories/poems we read (as you did in
the second exam). To get a broad variety of themes, consider including a wide
range of topics, e.g., author’s ethnicity/gender; social themes; view of
America; narrative style; etc. For each of these topics, connect your story to at
least two other stories, showing the important similarities/differences
between authors. Be imaginative, but use textual evidence to support your
claims.
For
example (using a text we didn’t read), for Huck Finn, I might discuss
the following topics:
1.
Huck Finn as regional literature of the West/Frontier
2.
Huck Finn’s treatment of white-black relations
3.
Huck Finn as a journey narrative
4.
Twain’s use of a
child narrator
5.
Twain’s views on
American history and culture
For
#3, I might connect Twain’s novel with other texts that feature the travel
motif. I could contrast Jim’s flight South to freedom with Grandison’s flight
North, and/or with Eaton’s movement across country to find a place she fits in.
I could also consider whether Huck and Jim fit Kerouac’s description of Hobos,
or how Twain’s depiction of life on the raft compares to Crane’s depiction of
the train ride to Yellow Sky, or of Bonnin’s train ride to the Indian School.
What about Washington’s description of his journey to the school for blacks? Or
O’Neill’s depiction of Yank’s journey from the ship into the city? Or
Faulkner’s journey into the wilderness or Welty’s use of the river? How does
Jim’s time on the raft compare to Todd’s learning to fly a plane? I could pick three of these to show
versatility.