LIT 315 Schedule, Spring 2013
The schedule is tentative. If a change is necessary, the instructor will notify students. However, it is the
responsibility of each student to note any changes. Note: Reading assignments are to be read prior to the class
session where they appear.
Week 1
Tues., Jan. 8
Topic
Overview
Introduction to course
Reading
Syllabus
Section 1
Thurs., Jan. 10
Native American
literature and history
“An Indian’s Looking-Glass for
the White Man” by William
Apess; “In 1864” by Tapahonso.
Both are available in Joule
(along with supplementary
readings).
Week 2
Tues., Jan. 15
Topic
Native American
literature
Reading
“The Man to Send Rain Clouds”
by Silko 540-43; “The Red
Convertible” by Erdrich 126-33
Thurs., Jan. 17
Background to fiction
Native American
literature
Background to poetry
Week 3
Tues., Jan. 22
Topic
Alexie: The Lone
Ranger and Tonto
Fistfight in Heaven
Activity
Information cards (in class)
Sign up for research groups
and papers
Activity
“The Girl Who Loved the Sky,”
Endrezze, 586-87; “Prayer to the
Pacific,” Silko, 685-86; “She
Had Some Horses,” Harjo, 69193; “Emigrant,” Glancy, 811;
“Crow Law,” Hogan, 822;
“Speaking,” Ortiz, 848-49;
“Crazy Horse Monument,” Blue
Cloud, 863-64; “Matmiya,”
TallMountain, 870; “Christmas
Comes to Moccasin Flat,”
Welch, 874; “Green Threatening
Clouds,” Young Bear, 887-88.
Reading
Activity
Approaching Lit. 278-81;
interviews 295-99
Alexie: “Every Little
Hurricane,” “A Drug Called
Tradition,” “Because My Father
Always Said He Was the Only
Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix
Play ‘The Star Spangled Banner’
at Woodstock,” “The Only
Traffic Signal on the
Thurs., Jan. 24
Alexie: The Lone
Ranger and Tonto
Fistfight in Heaven
Week 4
Tues., Jan. 29
Revival
Topic
Alexie: The Lone
Ranger and Tonto
Fistfight in Heaven
Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red
Anymore,” “This Is What It
Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”
“The Trial of Thomas Buildsthe-Fire,” “Distances,” “Jesus
Christ’s Half-Brother Is Alive
and Well on the Spokane Indian
Reservation,” “A Train Is an
Order of Occurrence Designed
to Lead to Some Result,” “A
Good Story,” “The First Annual
All-Indian Horseshoe Pitch and
Barbecue,” “The Approximate
Size of My Favorite Tumor”
Reading
“Indian Education,” “The Lone
Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in
Heaven,” Family Portrait,”
Somebody Kept Saying
Powwow,” “Witnesses, Secret
and Not”
The following can be accessed
in Joule: Wheately, Horton, and
Dunbar, and Dunbar 659-60 (in
text book)
Activity
Research Project Presentation
# 1: Indian Reservations
Activity
Research Project Presentation
# 2: The Middle
Passage/Slavery
Section 2
Thurs., Jan.31
Background on
African-American
literature
Week 5
Tues., Feb. 5
Topic
Slavery and Slave
Narratives
Reading
Frederick Douglass reading in
Joule
Thurs., Feb. 7
The Harlem
Renaissance
“If We Must Die,” McKay 694;
Cullen’s “For a Lady I Know,”
758 and “Incident” 677; Hughes’
“Thank You, M’am” 418-20,
“Harlem,” 631, and “The Negro
Speaks of Rivers,” 826;
supplemental Hughes readings
in Joule
Week 6
Tues., Feb. 12
Topic
The Harlem
Renaissance
Reading
“Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem,”
Johnson 696; “A Winter
Twilight,” Grimké 635;
“Wishes,” Johnson 670;
supplemental Brown readings in
Objective and essay tests on
Section 1 available in Joule.
DUE: Proposal for Section 1
analysis paper.
Activity
Research Project Presentation
# 3: The Harlem Renaissance
Joule
Thurs., Feb. 14
Follow-up on the Harlem
Renaissance
DUE: Section 1 analysis
paper—hard copy AND in
Joule; include a rubric.
The 1950s and 1960s
“Sonny’s Blues” by Baldwin
362-86; “Those Winter
Sundays,” Hayden 572; “NikkiRosa,” Giovanni 809
Week 7
Tues., Feb. 19
Topic
The Civil Rights
Movement/the 1950s
and 60s
Activity
Research Project Presentation
# 4: The Civil Rights
Movement.
Thurs., Feb. 21
The 1970s and beyond
Reading
King—Joule
“The Flowers,” Walker 2021;“Ballad of Birmingham,”
Randall 843-44
“Everyday Use” by Walker 16976; “Brownies” by Packer 51228; “On Being Told I Don’t
Speak Like a Black Person,”
Joseph 582-84; “Blink Your
Eyes,” Sundiata 607-08
Week 8
Tues., Feb. 26
Topic
Reading
“Sweat” by Hurston 421-29;
“Recitatif” by Morrison 445-59
Activity
Thurs., Feb. 28
Hurston: Their Eyes
Were Watching God
Chapters 1-5
Week 9
Mon., Mar. 4
through Fri., Mar.
8
Topic
Reading
Activity
Spring Break
Spring Break
Spring Break
Week 10
Tues., Mar. 12
Topic
Hurston: Their Eyes
Were Watching God
Reading
Chapters 6-14
Activity
Thurs., Mar. 14
Hurston: Their Eyes
Were Watching God
Chapters 15-20
Objective and essay tests on
Section 2 available in Joule.
Week 11
Section 3
Tues., Mar. 19
Topic
Background on
Hispanic-American
literature
Thurs., Mar. 21
Reading
“Nada” by Cofer 395-402; also
by Cofer “Cold as Heaven” 646
and “The Latin Deli” 727-28—
more?
“The House on Mango Street”
by Cisneros 160-61; “The
Moths” by Viramontes 557-61;
Activity
DUE: Proposal for Section 2
analysis paper.
Reading
“Crossing the Border” by
Machado 909-16; “Running to
America” by Rodriguez 858-60;
“Freeway 280” by Cervantes
663-64; “Problems with
Hurricanes” by Cruz 786-87;
“The Butterfly Effect” by
Hernandez 806; “Praise the
Tortilla . . .” by Gonzalez 81112; “Nani” by Rios 857-58
Part I: 1989-1972
Activity
DUE: Research paper
proposal
Research Project Presentation
#5: Hispanic Immigration
Week 12
Tues., Mar. 26
Topic
Thurs., Mar. 28
Alvarez: How the
Garcia Girls Lost
Their Accent
Week 13
Tues., Apr. 2
Topic
Alvarez: How the
Garcia Girls Lost
Their Accent
Alvarez: How the
Garcia Girls Lost
Their Accent
Reading
Part II: 1970-1960
Activity
Part III: 1960-1956
Objective and essay tests on
Section 3 available in Joule.
Topic
Background on AsianAmerican literature
Reading
“Courting a Monk” by Min 24758; “Two Kinds” by Tan 543-52
Activity
DUE: Proposal for Section 3
analysis paper.
Thurs., Apr. 4
Week 14
Section 4
Tues., Apr. 9
Thurs., Apr. 11
“Clothes” by Divakaruni 32837; “Eating Alone” 596 and
“Visions and Interpretations”
832-33 by Lee; “Naming the
Light” by Chang 779; plus Lee
reading s in Joule
DUE: Section 2 analysis
paper—hard copy and in
Joule; include a rubric.
Week 15
Tues., Apr. 16
Topic
Reading
“How I Got That Name” by
Chin 780-82; “Mother’s
Mother” by Hahn 812-14; “The
Shapes of Leaves” by Sze 86970
Chapters 1-3
Activity
Research Project Presentation
# 6: Internment Camps in
America During WWII
Thurs., Apr. 18
Okada: No-No Boy
Scholar Day—no class
(but read anyway)
Week 16
Tues., Apr. 23
Topic
Okada: No-No Boy
Reading
Chapters 4-7
Thurs., Apr. 25
Okada: No-No Boy
Chapters 8-11
Activity
DUE: Final draft of the
research paper—hard copy
and in Joule; include a rubric.
Objective and essay tests on
Section 4 available in Joule.
Week 17
Tues., Apr. 30
Topic
Final Exam
Reading
DUE: Section 3 analysis
paper—hard copy and in
Joule; include a rubric.
Activity
Final Exam, 10:00-11:50 AM