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ENG 3633, Native American Verbal Art Spring 2000, 11:00-12:15 TR W. M. Clements (Office: W408; Hours: TR 9:30-11:00, W 10:00-12:00, and by appointment)
Texts Sherman Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain Leslie Marmon Silko, Storyteller Brian Swann, ed., Coming to Light: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America Schedule Jan. 11 - Introduction 13- Native American Identity (Photocopied handouts) 18 - Oral and Written Verbal Art 20 - Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain 25 - Momaday, continued 27 - Translating Native American Oral Literature (photocopied handouts; Swann, pp. xiii-xlvi) Feb. 1 - Arctic (Swann, pp. 3-81) 3 - Subarctic (Swann, pp. 82-150) 8 - Subarctic (Swann, pp. 151-221) 10 - EXAMINATION (This exam has been postponed: It will be either a take-home exam or give on Tuesday, 15 February--depending on class consensus on 8 February.) 15 - Northwest Coast (Swann, pp. 225-272) 17 - Northwest Coast (Swann, pp. 273-310) 22 - Great Basin/Plateau (Swann, pp.313-373) 24 - Plains (Swann, pp. 377-440) 29 - Eastern Woodlands (Swann, pp. 443-518) Mar. 2 - REPORTS 7 - Southwest (Swann, pp. 521-589) 9 - Southwest (Swann, pp. 590-656) 14-16 - SPRING BREAK 21 - Southwest (Swann, pp. 657-713) 23 - California (Swann, pp. 717-771) 28 - REPORTS 30 - EXAMINATION (This exam is being given as a take-home test. To see the questions click here.) Apr. 4 - Silko, Storyteller, pp. 1-62 6 - Silko, Storyteller, pp. 63-137 11 - Silko, Storyteller, pp. 138-211 13 - Silko, Storyteller, pp. 212-265 18 - Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, pp. 1-75 20 - Alexie, continued, pp. 76-148 25 - Alexie, continued, pp. 149-223 27 - Film: Smoke Signals May 2 - Film, continued; Conclusion 4 - FINAL EXAMINATION (This exam will be given as a take-home test. For the questions, click here.) Requirements 1. Examinations. These will occur on 10 February, 30 March, and 4 May. Each will involve some objective questions (e.g., identification of terms and concepts, of characters from literary works, of important figures in the study of Native American verbal art) as well as essay questions which ask you to bring together material from various readings for analytical and synthetic purposes. Study guides will be provided at the class meetings immediately preceding the exams (and will be available earlier on the webpage for the course). Each examination will count one-fifth of your final grade. 2. Informal Essays. During the semester you will submit five short (c. two typewritten pages) essays which respond to the assigned readings. Each of the papers is due at the beginning of the class for which the assigned reading is due, and only one paper may be submitted per class. Moreover, each student must present orally one of her or his essays to the class. Another of the essays must be submitted in hard copy and on disk so that it can be posted on the course's website. Late papers will not be accepted. If you are going to miss a class for which you have written an essay, have it delivered to the English Department office. The schedule for submission is as follows: 15 February through 23 March: Three essays (all on different days) treating material in Swann's Coming to Light 4 April through 14 April: One essay treating material in Silko's Storyteller. Note that you can submit only on the pages assigned for the particular day. 1 8 April through 25 April: One essay treating material in Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Again submit only on the assigned pages. When you write each of the five papers, focus directly on the assigned reading (or part thereof) by dealing with some feature of its style, theme, structure, or mode of presentation (for entextualizations of oral literature). You may want to compare/contrast with other examples of verbal art, either from this course or from your other experiences. During the period 15 February through 23 March, you may write one extra essay as sort of a trial run. If you do that extra essays, I'll use the three best of the four you write over that material. The average of your five essay grades with count as one-fifth of your final grade. For an essay by Iris Armstrong, click here. For an essay by Brandon Clippard, click here. For an essay by Jessica Collier, click here. For an essay by Leann Cowan, click here. For an essay by Heather Duncan, click here. For an essay by Katherine Fielder, click here. For an essay by Mandy Martin, click here. For an essay by Destiny McSpadden, click here. For an essay by Amy Moody, click here. For an essay by Heather Morris, click here. For an essay by Wendy Reid, click here. For an essay by Charles Sherley, click here. For an essay by Richard Stanley Spence, click here. 3. Report on Sources. Each student will prepare a report on the sources available in the Dean B Ellis Library and via the internet on the verbal art of a particular American Indian group. The report will be presented orally either on 2 March or 28 March. You will also provide a handout for each class member. In early February I will provide written detailed instructions for this project as well as a list of possible groups from which you can choose. The grade on this report will count as one-fifth of your final grade. 4. Make-Up Examinations. Make-up examinations will be given only with a justifiable, verified excuse (illness, serious family emergency, university business, inclement weather [commuter students only]). Exams must be made up within a week after your return to class at sometime during my scheduled office hours. You are responsible for initiating the process to make up the examination. Remember that failure to take an examination will result in a zero for one-fifth of your final grade. 5. Attendance. Although university attendance policy does not apply to this course, excessive absences will affect your final grade both indirectly and directly. Missing more than eight classes without a justifiable, verifiable excuse will result in the loss of one letter from your final average. 6. Inclement Weather Policy. This class will meet unless the university closes. In the event of hazardous conditions, students should exercise common sense about coming to class. Absences due to inclement weather will be treated as excused (for commuter students only). 7. Disability Services. Students who require academic adjustments in the classroom due to a disability must register with ASU Disability Services (972-3964). Following registration and within the first two weeks of class, please contact me to discuss appropriate accommodations. Arrangements can be made to ensure equal access to this course. 8. Grading Scale. The final letter grade for this course will correspond to these numerical averages: A = 89.5-100; B = 79.5-89.4; C = 69.5-79.4; D = 55.0-69.4; F = under 55.0. Letter grades on in-class essays have the following numerical equivalences: A = 95, A- = 92, B+ = 88, B = 85, B- = 82, C+ = 78, C = 75, C = 72, D+ = 68, D = 65, D- = 62, F = 50. Any questions about grades on specific items must be raised within one week of their return. Otherwise they will not be considered. |
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