Course Information Meets: TTH 10:30-12:00, LA 300 Instructor: Tom Nurmi thomas.nurmi@msubillings.edu Office Hours: Wednesdays 10am–1pm, LA 425 Image: Edward Hopper, “Rooms by the Sea” (1951) by Andrew Wyeth. Oil on canvas.

LIT 313 American Literature: Civil War to Present Spring 2017

Required Texts • Gocsik, Karen and Coleman Hutchinson. Writing About American Literature. NY: Norton, 2014. [978-0393937558] • McCarthy, Cormac. Cities of the Plain. New York: Vintage, 1998. [978-0679747192] • McCullers, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. New York: Mariner, 2004. [978-0618526413] • The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Shorter Eighth Edition (2012), Vol. 2: 1865 to Present. [978-0393918878] • Smith, Tracy K. Life on Mars: Poems. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2011. [978-1555975845]

Course Description • The second of two American literature surveys at MSUB, this course explores how American writers responded to the experience of living in a modern, multicultural and globalized America, 1865 to the present. Our first goal is to trace the emergence of literary realism and modernism between the Civil War and World War II to more precisely define the significance and implications of these terms. • The second goal of the course is to examine the form and legacy of the twentieth-century American novel, particularly its representations of regional communities and borderlands. This comparative approach frames a conversation in the third unit about the continuities and discontinuities of postmodern and contemporary American literature since 1980. Throughout the course, we will attend to a variety of African-American, Native-American, Latino, and immigrant writers whose voices complement and contest prevailing narratives of American identity between 1865 and 2017.

Image: Edward Hopper, “Gas” (1940)

* By enrolling in this class, you agree to all terms, assignments, and responsibilities. You agree to treat the course as professional work, including all email exchanges, and attendance is mandatory. You should not be late, and you should not miss classes. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late or leave more than 10 minutes early, you are counted absent. Missing any more than two classes will result in a two percent (2%) deduction from your final grade, per absence. * If you have a legitimate conflict, please discuss it with me ahead of time. Any work missed as a result of tardiness or absence is your responsibility to make up. Quizzes are not made up; however, if you give 24 hours’ notice before an absence, you may take an alternate quiz. * The Academic Support Center in the Student Union Building (http://www.msubillings.edu/asc/) offers a variety of services to help you as well. You should also be familiar with the MSUB Student Policies & Procedures Handbook for information on appropriate behavior and academic integrity. * MSU Billings is committed to providing equal access. If you anticipate barriers related to the format or requirements of this course, please meet with me so that we can discuss ways to ensure your full participation in the course. If you determine that disability-related accommodations are necessary, please contact Disability Support Services (657-2283; located in the College of Education, Room 135). We can then plan how best to coordinate your accommodations. * Should you need help for health or counseling, there is a mental health counselor on campus at Student Health Counseling Services, 2nd floor Petro (657-2153). If you feel overwhelmed, angry, depressed, or need help or support, please contact Student Health Service in the SUB (657-2153) or after hours: Billings Clinic Emergency Department (657-4150), Billings Clinic Hospital Emergency Room (2800 10th Ave N), or Community Crisis Center (259-8800), 704 N 30th.

Assignments and Grading

Quizzes (10) 20% Website 20% Essay 1 20% Essay 2 20% Essay 3 20%

Learning Outcomes

After successfully completing LIT 313, students will have: [1] Demonstrated careful reading of American literature between 1865 and 2017, with special attention to the relation between poetics and theme.

[2] Curated a digital space for historical, political, and literary issues raised by American writing between 1865 and 2017, emphasizing American literature’s relevance in contemporary life, culture, and society.

[3] Described the poetics of a chosen text in the realist, naturalist, or modernist period to analyze the relationship between literary craft and broader issues of style, theme, and history. [4] Articulated the relationship between a particular passage of a twentieth-century novel and the themes and poetics of the entire work, with clear and effective writing in service of an evidenced argument. [5] Produced an essay on one major theme, movement, genre, or form of contemporary American literature since 1980, with specific authors and works to support your claims.

Daily Syllabus * Assignments are subject to change. It is your responsibility to stay current. If you miss a day, check in with me via email for changes. Any reading assignments not included in the required texts will be available on the D2L course website.

1/19 – Introductions

Read for Class: * “American Literature 1865-1914” (Norton Anthology of American Literature 8th Ed., Vol. 2, pp. 3-16) [& D2L]

1/24 – Realism and Naturalism [Create your course site; email the link to thomas.nurmi@msubillings.edu]

* “Realism and Naturalism” cluster (Norton 548-65)

1/26 – Realism and Naturalism * Kate Chopin, bio & “At the ‘Cadian Ball” and “The Storm” from Bayou Folk (1894) (Norton 427-37) * Jack London, bio & “To Build a Fire” (1902) (Norton 627-39)

1/31 – Realism and Naturalism

* Theodore Dreiser, bio & selections from Sister Carrie (1900) (Norton 566-81) * Upton Sinclair, bio & selections from The Jungle (1906) [D2L]

2/2 – Realism and Naturalism

* Henry James, bio (Norton 324-327) & “The Real Thing” (1892) (Norton 366-83)

2/7 – New Americas: Journalism and Nonfiction

* “Becoming American in the Gilded Age” cluster [D2L]

2/9 – New Americas: Memoir & Essays * Zitkála-Šá, bio & selected writings (Norton 639-51) * W.E.B. Dubois, bio & selections from “The Souls of Black Folk” (1903) (Norton 531-47)

2/14 – Modernism: The Harlem Renaissance

* “American Literature 1914-1945” (Norton 653-670) * Zora Neale Hurston, bio & “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” (1928) (Norton 939-43) * Langston Hughes, bio & “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “I, Too,” and “Song for a Dark Girl” (Norton 1037-42)

2/16 – Modernism: The South

* William Faulkner, bio (Norton 994-96) and “Barn Burning” (1938) (Norton 1004-16)

2/21 – Modernism: Poetry and Poetics

* W.C. Williams, bio & “The Red Wheelbarrow,” “This Is Just to Say,” and “A Sort of a Song” (Norton 777-85) * Williams, selection from Spring and All (Norton 804-6) * Gocsik and Hutchinson, Writing About American Literature, Ch. 3 (pp. 41-67)

2/23 – Essay 1 Workshop [Bring outline and intro paragraph (or draft) of Essay 1 to class] * Writing About American Literature, Ch. 5 & 6 (pp. 83-114)

2/28 – The American Novel [Essay 1 Due]

* Carson McCullers, bio [D2L] & The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), Part I: Ch. 1-4 (pp. 3-70) 3/2 – The American Novel

* The Heart, Part I: Ch. 5-6 & Part II: Ch. 1-2 (pp. 70-134)

3/7 – No Class, Spring Break 3/9 – No Class, Spring Break

3/14 – The American Novel

* The Heart, Part II: Ch. 3-13 (135-305) * Optional: Writing About American Literature, Ch. 8 (pp. 129-40)

3/16 – The American Novel

* The Heart, Part II: Ch. 14-15 & Part III (pp. 305-59)

3/21 – The Western

* Cormac McCarthy, Cities of the Plain (1998), Part I (pp. 3-82)

3/23 – The Western * Cities of the Plain, Part II (pp. 83-152)

3/28 – The Western

* Cities of the Plain, Part III (pp. 153-227) 3/30 – The Western

* Cities of the Plain, Part IV & Epilogue (pp. 228-92)

4/4 –Contemporary American Literatures [Essay 2 Due]

* “American Literature since 1945” (Norton 1071-83) * Allen Ginsberg, bio (Norton 1354-56) & “A Supermarket in California” (1956) (Norton 1364-65)

4/6 – Contemporary American Literatures * Leslie Marmon Silko, bio & “Lullaby” (1981) (Norton 1543-50) * Sherman Alexie, bio (Norton 1645-6) & “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” (1993) [D2L]

4/7 & 4/8 – 49th Annual MSUB Powwow: “Blessing the Heartbeat”

4/11 – Contemporary American Literatures

* Audre Lorde, bio & “Coal” (Norton 1474-76) and “Poetry Is Not a Luxury” (1985) [D2L] * Junot Díaz, bio & “Drown” (1996) (Norton 1665-73)

4/13 – No Class, Mini-Break

4/18 – Contemporary American Literatures

* Ursula Le Guin, bio & “Schrödinger’s Cat” and “She Unnames Them” (1982) [D2L] * George Saunders, bio & “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline” (1996) [D2L]

4/20 – Contemporary American Literatures [Essay 3 Proposal Due on D2L] * “Globalization and Post 9/11 American Culture” cluster from The Heath Anthology of American Literature [D2L]

4/25 – Contemporary American Literatures

* Tracy K. Smith, bio [D2L] & Life on Mars (2011), Parts One & Two (pp. 3-34) 4/27 – Contemporary American Literatures

* Life on Mars, Parts Three & Four (pp. 35-70)

5/2 – Essay 3 Presentations: 12-2 PM, LA 300 [Essay 3 Due on D2L]