English 623, The American West: Twain to Didion
Fall Semester, 2005
Tuesdays-Thursdays 3:30-4:45 SAB G25
University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee
Prof. Liam Callanan
|
Office: Curtin
515 |
Office hours:
12:30-1:30, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and by appointment |
|
|
E-mail (the best way to reach me): liam@uwm.edu |
Required texts
The list looks long (it is
long), but the first three are all available for free, online. The others are
all readily available in libraries or in bookstores. Online, used copies of
each title are usually available for around $5. We’ll also be reading some
critical materials; these will all be available for free download online. To
access them, visit the UWM Libraries’ home page (http://www.uwm.edu/Library/), click on
the “Reserve
and E-Reserve” link at left, and in the search screen that comes up, select
my name from the “Instructor” list.
|
Title |
Author |
Date
originally published |
ISBN of
the edition ordered for this class |
|
Luck of Roaring Camp and Other
Tales |
Bret Harte |
1868 |
014043917X; also online at http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/H/HarteBret/prose/roaringcamp/roaringcamp.html |
|
Roughing It |
Mark Twain |
1872 |
0451524071; also
online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/TwaRoug.html |
|
Mountaineering in the |
Clarence King |
1872 |
0803277830;
also online at http://www.yosemite.ca.us/history/mountaineering_in_the_sierra_nevada/ |
|
Death Comes for the Archbishop |
Willa Cather |
1927 |
0679728899 |
|
Horseman, Pass By |
Larry McMurtry |
1961 |
068485385X |
|
Wolf Willow |
Wallace Stegner |
1962 |
0141185015 |
|
House Made of Dawn |
N.
Scott Momaday |
1969 |
0060931949 |
|
Play It As it Lays |
Joan Didion |
1970 |
0374521719 |
|
Blood |
Cormac McCarthy |
1985 |
0679728759 |
|
Fools Crow
|
James Welch |
1986 |
0140089373 |
|
|
Annie Proulx |
1999 |
0684852225 |
|
|
James Houston |
2001 |
0156011433 |
Course Overview & Objectives
This seminar focuses on
literature of the American West, fiction and nonfiction, running roughly from Mark
Twain to Joan Didion (we’ll actually start a little earlier on the timeline and
finish a little later). It’s long been
argued that the American West is a place of massive mythmaking; how, then, does
literature written about, and in the west, construct or deconstruct that myth?
Moreover, what happens when mythmaking makes reality instead? In short, we’ll
examine how these books create, and are created by, the American West. And in
the process, we’ll consider what all this means to how the west and Americans
are perceived worldwide.
Methods of Instruction/Course Requirements/Grading
·
Introductions.
Almost every class, one or two students will be asked to introduce that day’s
material. (We’ll schedule this the first day.) These introductions need not be
exhaustive; a few biographical notes about the author, some information about
the genesis of the text, salient points gleaned from any critical reading
assigned, and finally, some observations and questions that you have after
reading the book. In short, they should help launch that day’s discussion
(launch, but not dominate; they need not last longer than 15 minutes).
Elaborate presentations—handouts, slides, costumes—are not required. The only
written aspect that is required is a 1-2 pp. informal, personal reflection on
the book—what was your reading experience? What did you learn? Did it
challenge, frustrate, please you? (Focus on your reading experience for this
brief paper; leave the background info for class discussion.)
·
Short paper. Your
first paper, due about halfway through the course, will be a short (7-10 pp.)
paper focusing on a specific novel. Again, we’ll discuss this further in class.
·
Final paper. Your
final paper, due at the end of the class, will be a more thorough (15-20 pp.)
analysis of several works from the syllabus. We’ll discuss further in class,
but the guiding principle will be to trace a compelling thesis through several
books selected from a variety of time periods.
·
The obvious. This
class is a seminar, not a lecture. It only functions if everyone reads and
contributes to class discussions (and lets others contribute to discussion).
·
Grading.
Class participation, which includes contributing to discussions, doing the
readings and staying awake, counts for 30% of your grade. The introduction
counts for 10%. The short paper, 20%. The long paper, 40%.
Course policies
·
Late assignments. Because of the nature of the class, it is difficult to accommodate
late work. If you know in advance that you will be unable to turn in an
assignment, please let me know as soon as possible so we can see if alternative
arrangements are possible. Otherwise, late work will be reduced a grade per
day, including days we are not in class. The final paper will not be accepted
late.
·
Attendance. See
“the obvious” under “Course Requirements,” above.
·
Plagiarism. The
UW-Milwaukee Student Handbook states
that “UWM expects each student to be honest in academic performance. Failure to
do so may result in discipline under rules published by the Board of Regents
(UWS 14). The most common forms of academic dishonesty are cheating and
plagiarism” (140). The Handbook goes on state, “Plagiarism includes: 1.
Directly quoting the words of others without using quotation marks or indented
format to identify them; or, 2. Using sources of information (published or
unpublished) without identifying them; or, 3. Paraphrasing materials or ideas
of others without identifying the sources” (140). Don’t plagiarize. It’s wrong,
it’s rude, and it will lead to ruin.
·
Format. Written
work should be turned in on paper, typed, double-spaced, margins no greater
than 1.25”, in a 12 pt. serif font such as Times Roman.
·
Students with disabilities. If you need accommodations, please let me know as soon
as possible. For your reference, the
Important dates: First paper due, 10/20; no class, 11/24; final paper due, 12/13.
Changes to this schedule will be posted online. Please note—many of the online
readings are PDF files. You’ll want to make sure your computer has the latest
version of Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
|
Date |
|
Author |
Notes/Person assigned to introduce material |
|
Tuesday, September 6 |
Frederick Jackson Turner |
|
|
|
Thursday, September 8 |
Bret Harte |
|
|
|
September 13 |
Twain |
|
|
|
September 15 |
Continue discussion of Twain from Tuesday, plus pp. 67-80 of “Mitchell / Verbally Roughing It: The West of Words (File size=642.1K)” (If the link doesn’t open directly, head for it via E-reserve) |
Twain |
|
|
September 20 |
Mountaineering in the |
King |
|
|
September 22 |
Mountaineering in the More info on King at http://online.wr.usgs.gov/outreach/highlights/clarence_king.html |
King |
|
|
September 27 |
Death Comes for the Archbishop |
Cather |
|
|
September 29 |
Death Comes for the Archbishop, continued, plus Bloom & Bloom
/ The Genesis of Death Comes for the Archbishop (File size=750.0K) |
Cather |
|
|
October 3 |
No class, but this is the last day to drop full-term
classes with partial refund or withdraw without notation of "W" on
academic record (withdrawal fee assessed). |
|
|
|
October 4 |
Fools Crow |
Welch |
|
|
October 6 |
Fools Crow |
Welch |
|
|
October 11 |
Fools Crow |
Welch |
Katie |
|
October 13 |
Blood |
McCarthy |
|
|
October 18 |
Blood |
McCarthy |
|
|
October 20 |
Blood Meridian, continued plus Phillips / History
and the Ugly Facts of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian (File size=794.8K) |
McCarthy |
|
|
October 25 |
Blood |
Stegner |
|
|
October 27 |
Wolf Willow |
Stegner |
|
|
November 1 |
Wolf Willow |
Stegner |
Jonathan |
|
November 3 |
Horseman, Pass By |
McMurtry |
Keith |
|
November 8 |
Horseman, Pass By |
McMurtry |
|
|
November 11 |
Horseman, Pass By, continued, plus Sarll /
Boundaries, Borders and Frontiers: A Revisionary Reading of Larry McMurtry's Horseman,
Pass By (File size=1970.0K) |
McMurtry |
|
|
November 15 |
House Made of Dawn |
N.
Scott Momaday |
|
|
November 17 |
House Made of Dawn, continued, plus Douglas / The
Flawed Design: American Imperialism in N. Scott Momaday's House Made of
Dawn and Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian (File size=1645.2K) |
N.
Scott Momaday |
Sybil |
|
November 22 |
Title and first paragraph of your paper due. Note: class today meets in room E159 on the first floor East wing of the Golda Meir Library building. We will have 20-30 minutes of instruction with a librarian specializing in humanities research. She will introduce you to the various resources the library owns and how best to take advantage of them. After she’s finished, you will then head out into the library to do research, returning at 4:30 p.m. to check in with me and report on what you’ve found. |
Annie Proulx |
Patricia |
|
November 24 |
Thanksgiving holiday |
|
No class |
|
November 29 |
|
James Houston |
|
|
December 1 |
|
James Houston |
|
|
December 6 |
Play It As it Lays |
Joan Didion |
|
|
December 8 |
Play It As it Lays |
Joan Didion |
|
|
December 13 |
|
Annie Proulx |
|
| December 14 (Wednesday) |
|