Syllabus --- ENL336 American Fiction, 1945 to Present

Transcription

1 Syllabus --- ENL336 American Fiction, 1945 to Present The literary texts you will need for ENL 336 American Fiction, 1945 to Present include novels, excerpts from novels, and a few short stories. I will distribute the excerpts and short stories as they appear on the syllabus along with their associated "Study Materials." You will need to purchase or borrow the full-length novels. Full length novels (purchase from UMD Campus Store or elsewhere): Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon Bobbie Ann Mason, In Country Don DeLillo, White Noise Douglas Coupland, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club Excerpts (posted on course website) Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man Jack Kerouac, On the Road Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar Joseph Heller, Catch-22 Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

2 Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections Cormac McCarthy, The Road Deborah Eisenberg, Twilight of the Superheroes Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex Short Stories (posted on course website): Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery" Ursula LeGuin, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" Flannery O'Connor, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" Raymond Carver, "Cathedral," "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" Sandra Cisneros, selections from Woman Hollering Creek COURSE OUTLINE Unit 1: The 1940s - Existential Angst; Political Disillusionment (Jan Jan. 26): The Great Twitch excerpt from R. P. Warren s All the King s Men excerpt from Norman Mailer s The Naked and the Dead Shirley Jackson s The Lottery Unit 2: The 1950s - Growing Up Absurd: Ironic Bildungsroman (Jan Jan. 30): excerpts from J. D. Salinger s The Catcher in the Rye Prologue and Battle Royal excerpts from Ralph Ellison s Invisible Man excerpts from Jack Kerouac s On the Road excerpts from Sylvia Plath s The Bell Jar

3 Unit 3: The 1960s - Black Humor & Social Surrealism (I) (Jan Feb. 3): Catch-22 excerpt from Joseph Heller s Catch-22 Flannery O Connor s A Good Man is Hard to Find Ursula LeGuin s The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Unit 4: The 1960s - Black Humor & Social Surrealism (II) (Feb. 4 - Feb. 11): Thomas Pynchon s The Crying of Lot 49 (note: assignment has two parts with two diff erent due dates) Unit 5: The 1960s - Black Humor & Social Surrealism (III) (Feb ): Kurt Vonnegut s Slaughterhouse Five Unit 6: The 1970s - American Mythopoeia; the Search for Roots (I) (Feb Mar. 1): excerpt from Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime, Chapters 1-20 E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime, Chapters (note: each assignment has its own due date) Unit 7: The 1970s - American Mythopoeia; the Search for Roots (II) (Mar. 2-19): Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, Chapters 1-4 Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, Chapters 5-15 (note: each assignment has its own due date - separated by the Spring Vacation. Unit 8: The 1980s - Neo-realism; pop & consumer culture (I) (Mar Mar. 26): Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" Raymond Carver s "Cathedral" Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country, through Part II, Chapter 17

4 Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country, Part II, Chapter 18 - end Unit 9: The 1980s - Neo-realism; pop & consumer culture (II) (Mar Apr. 8): Don DeLillo's White Noise, Part I: Waves and Radiation Part II: The Airborne Toxic Event, Part III: Dylarama (note: unit has extended reading period; each part of novel has a diff erent due date) Unit 10: The 1990s - New Voices; New Disaff ections (I) (Apr. 9-16): Selections from Sandra Cisneros's Woman Hollering Creek Douglas Coupland's Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, through "Shopping is Not Creating" Douglas Coupland's Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, p.47 to end Unit 11: The 1990s - New Voices; New Disaff ections (II) (Apr Apr. 24): Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club Unit 12: The 2000s - America After 9/11 (Apr ): excerpt from Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin excerpt from Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections excerpt from Cormac McCarthy's The Road excerpt from Deborah Eisenberg's Twilight of the Superheroes excerpt from Jeff rey Eumenides' Middlesex Course Paper (due May 7th by 11:59 p.m.) See course requirements section of syllabus and weekly assignment sheet for details. COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING

5 I. Participation: Since we do not have a physical classroom setting, the importance of keeping up with the reading assignments and discussion postings cannot be overstated and is reflected in the course's grading system. Each unit folder contains a clear list of what needs to be done. If you fall behind in your work, please notify me of the reason immediately and reschedule a date for its completion. I will grade individual postings/replies on a 3 point scale: "3" for superior work, "2.5" for good work, "2" for satisfactory work, and "1.5" or "1" for less than satisfactory work. Omitted assignments will obviously receive '0" points. I will also regularly supply brief verbal feedback to help keep (or put) you on the right track. I permit late work submissions, but, unless you request and receive a due date extension, they will receive a maximum grade of "2." You will receive an end-of-semester numerical/letter grade for participation based on the percentage of possible discussion points you actually received during the semester. (e.g. 60 out of a possible 80 points would equal a 75 or C grade) II. Course Paper: The "capstone" work in the course is a 5-7 page ( word) comparative analysis of two works on the course syllabus or a critical paper on an appropriate novel or selection of short stories not covered on the class syllabus or only covered in excerpts. I will distribute a comprehensive title list of significant American fiction published since 1945 and more details about how to approach this assignment. This paper will also receive a numerical/letter grade. Grading Formula: A. Discussion Board Postings: End-of-semester Performance Review = 80% B. Course Paper = 20%

6