English 309-001
American Literature: 1960 to the Present
Instr: Tatham, Cam
Office: CRT 392; 229-3504
e-mail: ctatham@uwm.edu
Office hours: MW; 10:00-10:30; by appointment
Course Information: MW; 11:00am-12:15pm; CRT 118
Course Description
This course will trace, through various genres, certain of the major concerns in post WWII American literature, especially the relationship between shifting concepts of the personal 'self' and a collective identity, be they racial and/or cultural. Changing attitudes toward and interrogations of the masculine, the feminine, relationships, community, and so on will be explored in all these writers. Collisions between mainstream (straight) culture and what was called the counter (stoned) culture will concern writers as different as Thomas Pynchon and Adrienne Rich. Another concern will be the function of 'memory' and its relationship to perception, understanding of the experience of 'reality.' The question of the formation of 'the canon' is currently an important issue, and we shall be studying a deliberately diverse group of writers who are part of or outside the mainstream of American literature - e.g., the Nobel Laureate and now thoroughly canonized Toni Morrison and younger and beginning novelists, Alex Shakar And Jonathan Foer. With Foer, we will also look at the profound effect of 9/11 on American culture and concerns.
Required Texts:
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (Perennial)
Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (Perennial)
Adrienne Rich, Diving into the Wreck (Norton)
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale (Anchor)
James Dickey, Deliverance (Delta-Dell)
Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried (Broadway)
Toni Morrison, Beloved (Plume)
Alex Shakar, The Savage Girl (Perennial)
Jonathan Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
(note: all texts available from Panther Bookstore only)
Course Requirements:
- Assigned reading, to be completed by the first class dealing with each text. Regular attendance (no more than two cuts allowed).
- Participation: you should come to each class prepared to discuss your various thoughts and feelings about the readings - you may be called on at any time.
- A reading journal in which you record your reactions to each text, to class discussion, and to the various ways in which the texts and discussion intersect with your own experience. You should write a minimum of two single-spaced pages per week. All written work to be handed in on March 15th , and again on May 10th, the last day of classes. You may hand in your journal at any time for feedback.
- Also: you will be expected to participate in an online Discussion Forum, posting at least twice each week.
Grade: class participation = 10%; participation in online Discussion Forum = 30%; Reading Journal = 60%.
