English 3373

                                                              Southern Literature

 

Instructor:                  Dr. Deborah K. Chappel

Office:                         221B Wilson Hall

Office Hours:             2-4 MW, 2-3 F and by appointment

Phone:             (870) 972-3043 (Office; leave message)

(870) 935-5736 (Home; before 10 p.m. please)

E-Mail:                       dchappel@astate.edu

 

Required Texts:         The Literature of the American South (William Andrews, et al,

Norton 1998)

Light in August (William Faulkner, Vintage)

All the King=s Men (Robert Penn Warren, Harvest Books 50th

Anniversary Ed. With Foreword by Joseph Blotner)

New Stories from the South 2000 (Shannon Ravenel, Algonquin)

 

Course Requirements:

 

(1) Reading Focus and Journal.  Each student will choose a reading focus for the semester (some examples might include race, social class, gender--all of these could, of course, be narrowed--importance of history, landscape, community, etc.) and will be responsible for coming to class prepared to discuss how his or her focus applies to the literature assigned for that day.  Students will keep a journal of their thoughts regarding this focus with at least one entry for each day of assigned reading (when more than one work is assigned for a particular day, students can deal with the entire assignment in a single journal entry).  Entries may be collected in class and graded on a plus, check, or minus basis, but the overall journal grade will be determined when the journal as a whole is submitted at the end of the course.  Entries collected in class cannot be made up under any circumstances. (200 points).

 

(2) Presentation.  Each student will participate in a team presentation on Faulkner or Warren or will present singly one of the short stories from the Norton anthology or from Ravenel.  The presentation should include author=s biography, critical history of the work, and should introduce class discussion of the work.  Each presentation should be accompanied by a handout for each class member.  Exams will cover student presentations.  For grading purposes, each group should furnish me with a written description of what each team member contributed to the presentation. The two large group presentations (Faulkner and Warren) should take the entire period; the short story presentations should take 15-20 minutes.  (100 pts.)

 

(3) Midterm exam.  Open book, open note.  Short answer, passage identification, essay (150 points).

 

(4) Papers.  Students will write two 500-750 word idea papers on assigned literature (the first due by 10/12 and the second by 11/26).  These papers do not require outside research.  Avoid lengthy plot summary; assume a reader who has read the work and use detail to support your thesis.  (100 pts. each paper).

 

(5) Southern Short Story.  Each student will submit his or her original Southern short story, along with a one-page justification for why the story should be considered Southern (this justification should reflect the knowledge the student has gained from reading and class discussion concerning what constitutes Southern literature).  The best short stories submitted by the class will be xeroxed and presented for class study along with the contemporary short stories of such major authors as Lee Smith, Reynolds Price, and Bobbie Ann Mason.  Due date: Nov. 30  (150 pts.).

 

(6) Final Exam.  Not cumulative except for one essay question regarding reading focus.  Same format as midterm.  (200 pts.)

 

Grading: 900-1000 pts. = A; 800-899 pts. = B; 700-799 pts. = C; 600-699 pts. = D

The student=s raw grade may be raised or lowered by one letter according to the quality of the student=s class participation and attendance.

 

Attendance: Although this is an upper-division course, your attendance in class is important to me.  My classes are not lecture classes; much of the work of the class involves in-class discussion that cannot be made up.  Therefore, students should expect that excessive absence (more than 5 for the course) will negatively impact their grades.

 

Makeup Work: Makeup work is the responsibility of the student and permission to make up work is not automatic but must be obtained ahead of time from the instructor.  It may not be possible, given the number of students in the class and the tight course schedule, for the student to make up a missed presentation.  YOU MUST CALL ME AHEAD OF TIME IF YOU CANNOT DO YOUR PRESENTATION AS SCHEDULED.  Journal entries taken up in class for grading cannot be made up.  In some circumstances, with permission from the instructor, the midterm exam and papers can be made up within a reasonably short period from the due date.

 

Students with disabilities who require special accommodations to complete the course successfully must be registered with the Office of Disability Services.  Confidentiality will be maintained.

 

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious offense and breach of academic integrity which could result in failure for the paper, failure for the course, and expulsion from Arkansas State University.  If students have questions concerning the nature of plagiarism, they should ask me.

 

Course Outline:

8/22     Intro to course

8/24     Cook (20), Byrd (27), Kennedy (58)

8/27     Brown (153), Clemens from Life on the Mississippi (260-270)

8/29     Lanier (270), Cable (275)

8/31     Harris (288), Chopin=s ADesiree=s Baby@ (301)

9/3       Labor Day

9/5       Page (309), Washington (325)

9/7       Chesnutt (335)

9/10     Mencken (368), Southern Agrarians (389), Ransom=s ABells for John Whiteside=s

Daughter@ (399) and AThe Equilibrists@ (402)

9/12     Hurston (405), Toomer (424)

9/14     Cash (488), Tate=s AOde to the Confederate Dead@ (478)

9/17     Wright (545)

9/19     Welty (616)

9/21     Tennessee Williams (Scenes 1-3) (628-653)

9/24     Williams (Scenes 4-7) (653-673)

9/26     Williams (Scenes 8-11) (673-690)

9/28     Walker Percy (728)

10/1     Peter Taylor (758)

10/3     Alex Haley (781)

10/5     Spencer (801)

10/8     Flannery O=Connor (815)

10/10   Maya Angelou (851)

10/12   First paper due/ Discussion of reading focus

10/15   MIDTERM EXAM

10/17   Light in August; Group Presentation on author=s biography, background, critical history.

Reading assignment: first l/4 of novel

10/19   Light in August: second l/4 of novel

10/22   Light in August: third l/4 of novel

10/24   Light in August: final l/4 of novel

10/26   All the King=s Men; Group Presentation on author=s biography, background, critical    history.  Reading assignment: first l/4 of novel

10/29   All the King=s Men: second l/4 of novel

10/31   All the King=s Men: third l/4 of novel

11/2     All the King=s Men: final l/4 of novel

11/5     Doris Betts (869)

11/7     Ernest Gaines (885)

11/9     Reynolds Price (908)

11/12   Bobbie Ann Mason (957)

11/14   Lee Smith (1001)

11/16   Alice Walker (1011)

11/19   Henry Louis Gates (1052)

11/21-23 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

11/26   Selections from Ravenel (SECOND PAPER DUE)

11/28   Ravenel selections continued

11/30   Ravenel selections continued; STUDENT SHORT STORIES DUE

12/3     Ravenel selections continued

12/5     Student short stories

12/7     Student short stories

12/10   Discussion of reading focus; preparation for final exam

12/12   FINAL EXAM 12:30-2:30