AML
4242 American Fiction Since WW
II
Professor Andrew
Gordon Spring 2003 Section 3515
Tu
8-9 (3:00-4:55), Th 9 (4:05-4:55), TUR 2336
Office: 4323 TUR
Hours: W
6-8, or by appointment
Phone: 392-6650
x254
Mailbox: 4301
TUR
E-mail: agordon@ufl.edu
Home page:
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/agordon
READINGS:
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (Bantam)
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (Random)
The Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer (Signet/NAL)
The Book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow
(Penguin Plume)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Plume)
The Color Purple by Alice Walker (Washington Square Press)
Middle Passage by Charles Johnson (Atheneum)
Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee (Fawcett Crest)
American Pastoral by Philip Roth (Vintage)
Contemporary American
Literature ed. Perkins (Random) (the short stories and introductory material
on the period and authors are in this volume)
Cultural Contexts for
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
ed. Eric J. Sundquist (Bedford St.
Martin's)
The Twentieth-Century
Novel by R.B. Kershner (Bedford)
OBJECTIVES:
An introduction to American
fiction since 1945. We will read some of
the major authors and look at the techniques and themes of the novels and
stories, with particular emphasis on African‑American and Jewish‑American
fiction. We will consider the influence
of the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and other
political and historical events on the fiction and also take into account
literary movements such as modernism and postmodernism and genres such as
realism, naturalism, and metafiction.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Andrew M.
Gordon received the Ph.D. in English from the University of California,
Berkeley and has taught post-WW II American fiction, Jewish-American fiction,
science fiction, and film at UF since 1975.
He has been a Fulbright Lecturer in American Literature in Spain,
Portugal, and the former Yugoslavia, a Visiting Professor in Hungary and
Russia, and he taught in the UF summer program in Rome. He is author of An American Dreamer: A
Psychoanalytic Study of the Fiction of Norman Mailer, co-author (with
Professor Hernán Vera, UF) of Screen Saviors: Hollywood Fictions of
Whiteness, and co-editor (with Professor Peter Rudnytsky, UF) of Psychoanalyses/Feminisms. In addition, he has many articles and reviews
on contemporary American fiction, including writers such as Barth, Bellow,
Kosinski, Ozick, and Pynchon.
REQUIREMENTS:
1) Attendance and
participation. You are allowed
three hours of absence. Every unexcused
cut of one hour after that means two points off your final grade. Late arrival or early departure from the
class counts as half a cut. Attendance
alone is not enough; you are expected and encouraged to participate in class
discussion. Attendance and participation = 10%.
2) Twelve short quizzes. Short answers on character and plot to keep
you current on the reading. No
makeups, but I drop the two lowest quiz grades. Ten quizzes = 20%.
3) Two papers. I will suggest
topics, but feel free to write on any idea, feeling, character, image, or
technique of one work. Original thought
and closely focused, careful analysis are encouraged. Papers may evolve from but should not merely
repeat class discussion. You are also
encouraged to apply to the fiction knowledge from other courses (sociology,
history, psychology, philosophy, art, music, women=s studies, or political science, for example).
Papers
One is five pages (about 1250 words) on one work from Weeks 1-5 and may but
need not necessarily involve research.
Paper Two is a research paper (cite at least three critical sources) of
seven-eight pages dealing with one work or a comparison between any two works
(but please exclude any work you wrote on for Paper 1).
Alternatively,
for Paper One only, you may use the fiction to create your own: for example, Holden Caulfield 2003, the secret diaries of Phoebe Caulfield,
Holden=s essay about Allie, or D.B. Caulfield=s AThe Secret Goldfish.@ You can write
a sequel or prequel, rewrite a scene from another point of view, or introduce a
character from one story to a character in another. There are numerous
possibilities: use your imagination and
pay careful attention to the personality and style of the character or of the
narrator if you are attempting to duplicate or parody elements of the
story. This is a way to experience the
fiction by writing your way into it. I would recommend this option only to
those with previous experience in fiction writing. Please consult with me in advance about this
option.
I
am always glad to discuss paper topics or review rough drafts during office
hours. Take advantage of office hours or schedule an appointment or send me an
e-mail. It is far more useful for you
to consult with me before handing in the paper than after the graded paper is
returned.
If
you are writing an analytic paper, you may use critics as a starting point or
in order to bolster your own argument, but do not rely on them
excessively. Your voice should dominate
the argument. If you wish to consult the
critics, be sure to read more than one to get different opinions. Document all published sources with quotation
marks and notes in MLA Style (see any current handbook on composition, or The
MLA Style Manual by Walter Achtert and Joseph Gibaldi, or a recent issue of
PMLA in the library for this form of documentation). Any student who uses material that is not
his or her own without proper attribution will fail the course.
Papers
are due by 4:00 pm on the due date, in my mailbox or under my office door. Notify me before the due date if you need
more time. Unexcused late papers lose
two points per school day. Paper
One will not be accepted more than five
days late. Because of the end of the
semester, Paper Two will not be accepted
more than two days late.
Please
make enough copies of Paper One for the entire class. To economize, copies may be single-spaced and
back-to-back (the version you give me, however, should be double-spaced). The purpose of these copies is to give you a
sense of writing for an audience. As
time permits, we will discuss some papers in class.
Paper
One (due Friday, February 7):
five pages (about 1250 words) on one
work from Weeks 1-5. Counts 25%.
Paper Two (due Monday,
April 28): seven-eight pages, (about 1750-1800 words) research paper on one or two works
from the course. Counts 35%.
You may also write on
outside works (but clear this with me).
You
may revise Paper 1 if its initial grade
is below B. This is due within one week
after the paper is returned. Papers
= 60% .
4) One oral report (about five minutes per
person). Possibilities include critical
information on an author, report on some outside work, discussion or debate on
a work, dramatic reading or staging of a scene, a piece parodying the author's
style, a review of the film version of the novel, a mock interview with the
author, or a videotape presentation.
Avoid capsule biographies; we have those already in the Perkins
anthology. Also avoid reciting a list of
works and dates and awards (a printed handout can do this better).
These
reports may help you prepare for your papers.
Reports may be done individually or with a group of two-four students (I
will distribute sign-up sheets). Have
fun; this is required but ungraded (that is, everyone gets 10 points for
doing it). Let me know if you need
audiovisual equipment. Oral report
= 10%
5) Class etiquette: please, no chatting, reading, or sleeping
during class.
Note: There will be no midterm or final exam.
OUTLINE
Week 1 Tu,
Jan 7 Introduction
Th, Jan 9 Catcher (to p. 52). In Perkins:
1-12. Kershner: 104-24.
Week 2 Tu,
Jan 14 Finish Catcher. Kershner, Chapter 1. Q (quiz)1.
Th, Jan 16 In
Perkins: Updike, AA&P.@ Kershner,
Chapter 2.
Week 3 Tu,
Jan 21 In Perkins: 60-70; Invisible
Man (Introduction, Prologue, Chapter 1-2).
Sundquist, pp. 1-47. Kershner,
Chapter 3-4.
Th, Jan 23 Invisible
Man (through Chapter 8). Sundquist,
pp. 48-71. Q2.
Week 4 Tu,
Jan 28 Invisible Man (through
Chapter 17). Sundquist, 112-34.
Th, Jan 30 Finish Invisible Man. Sundquist, 199-247. Q3.
Week 5 Tu,
Feb 4 In Perkins: Baldwin, ASonny=s Blues,@ Kerouac, from
On the Road.
Th, Feb 6 O=Connor, AGood Country People.@ Q4. Paper 1 due by 4 pm, Fr, Feb. 7
Week 6 Tu,
Feb 11 The Armies of the Night
(through Book One, Part III). In Perkins: 125-26, 459-67.
Th, Feb 13 The
Armies of the Night (through end of Book One).
Week 7 Tu,
Feb 18 Finish The Armies of the
Night. Q5.
Th, Feb 20 The
Book of Daniel (Book One). In
Perkins: 517.
Week 8 Tu,
Feb 25 The Book of Daniel
(Books Two and Three).
Th, Feb 27 Finish
The Book of Daniel. Q6.
Week 9 Tu,
Mar 4 The Bluest Eye (to p.
93). In Perkins: 526. Kershner, Chapter
5.
Th, Mar 6 Finish The Bluest Eye (also AAfterword@). Q7.
Week 10 SPRING BREAK
Week 11 Tu,
Mar 18 The Color Purple (to p.
115). In Perkins: 676-77.
Th, Mar 20 Finish
The Color Purple. Q8.
Week 12 Tu,
Mar 25 Middle Passage (to p.
99).
Th, Mar 27 Finish Middle Passage. Q9.
Week 13 Tu,
Apr 1 In Perkins: Carver, AA Small, Good Thing,@ Le Guin, AOmelas.@
Th, Apr 3 In
Perkins: Ozick, AShawl.@ Q10.
Week 14 Tu,
Apr 8 Jasmine (to p. 108).
Th, Apr 10 Finish
Jasmine. Q11.
Week 15 Tu,
Apr 15 American Pastoral
(first third). In Perkins: 566-67.
Th, Apr 17 American
Pastoral (second third).
Week 16 Tu,
Apr 22 Finish American Pastoral.
Q12.
Paper
2 due by 4 pm Monday, April 28
GORDON=S GUIDELINES
Rules for Writing (these are jokes; each memorably illustrates the rule by breaking it):
1. Verbs has to agree with
their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not
words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a
sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split
an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the
plague.
6. Also always avoid
annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks
(however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use
repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't
necessary and shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and
phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do
not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. One should never
generalize.
15. Comparisons are as bad as
cliches.
16. Don't use no double
negatives.
17. Eschew ampersands &
abbreviations, etc.
18. One‑word
sentences? Eliminate.
19. Analogies in writing are
like feathers on a snake.
20. The passive voice is to
be ignored.
21. Eliminate commas, that
are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
22. Never use a big word
when a diminutive one would suffice.
23. Kill all exclamation
points!!!
24. Use words correctly,
irregardless of how others use them.
25. Understatement is always
the absolute best way to put forth earth shaking ideas.
26. Use the apostrophe in
it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
27. If you've heard it once,
you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million
can use it well.
28. Puns are for
conversation and children, not groan readers.
29. Go all around Robin
Hood's barn to avoid colloquialisms.
30. Even if a mixed metaphor
sings, it should be derailed.
31. Who needs rhetorical
questions?
32. Exaggeration is a
billion times worse than understatement.
33. Proofread carefully to
see if you any words out.
My Rules (joking aside):
1. Grading Criteria:
A
(90 and above)= distinguished work, well
written,
free from all serious defects,
shows
originality and insight.
B
(80)= good work, above average
performance, no
serious
weaknesses in form or content.
C
(70)= acceptable work,
unobjectionable. A C paper
usually
has more writing errors than the A
or
B paper and does not show as much depth,
originality,
or insight.
D
(60)= below average work: serious or
many
defects in form and/or content.
E
(55 or under)= unacceptable.
0= failure to turn in an assignment may result
in failure in the course.
A grade such as A-/B+ means
that your paper was on the borderline between the two grades.
2. Pick a carefully focused topic you
can handle in a few pages: not "The
Character of Holden Caulfield in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye"
but "Holden and Phoebe" or "Holden and the Movies."
3. State your thesis (an argument or
point worth proving) at the end of the first or second paragraph. For example:
"The automobiles and the way they are driven in F. Scott
Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby reflect the character of the people
who own or drive them."
4. Be sure your argument is original and
worthwhile. Don't waste your time
and mine restating the obvious, reciting critical commonplaces, or retelling
the plot.
5. Support your argument with references
to characters, incidents, and relevant quotations.
6. Your title should reflect your
specific topic: not The Great Gatsby
but "Cars in Gatsby."
7. Novel but "Short Story." In other words, underline (or italicize) the
titles of long works but use "
" around the titles of short works.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald but "The
Swimmer" by John Cheever.
8. Do not underline or put in quotation
marks your own title.
.
9. Recount narrative action in present tense: "At Myrtle's party, everyone gets drunk
and Tom breaks Myrtle's nose."
Exception: action which is
antecedent to the "present tense" of the narrative: "Gatsby had always been given to
grandiose dreams, dreams which seem realized when he met Daisy in 1917."
10. Use "
" even when quoting only a few words from the text.
11. Avoid long quotations, especially in
short papers. If a quotation is longer
than 50 words, set it off by indenting and single-spacing it. You don't need to use " " then since it is already set off from
your text.
12. When you are quoting two lines of poetry
as if they were prose, put them in "
" and use a slash / to indicate line endings. When you are quoting three or more lines of
poetry, indent, single-space and write them out exactly as they appear on the
page in the original text. You don't
need to put them in " "
then.
13. Dialogue is already in " " in a story, so quote using double
quotation marks: "= '"
(13).
14. Follow American punctuation: commas and periods go inside the
quotation marks, unless a parentheses follows.
Thus:
" ," or
" ."
But " " (13), or
" " (13).
15. Number all pages (except cover page
and page one).
16. Keep a copy of the paper for your
protection.
17. Never end a line with a hyphen.
18. Avoid paragraphs that are too short
(one or two sentences) or too long (one page).
19. A hyphen is indicated by a -. A dash is indicated by a --. Don't confuse the two.
20. A three-dot ellipsis (. . .) indicates that
something has been omitted from the middle of quoted matter. You don't need the ellipsis at the beginning
of a quotation (it is obvious that something has been omitted if your quotation
does not begin with a capital letter). A
four-dot ellipsis (. . . .) indicates that the end of a sentence or a
sentence or more has been omitted (the fourth dot is the period ending the
sentence).
21. Use brackets [ ] not parentheses to indicate your own
insertions within quoted matter:
"His [Jim's] notion was wrong." Parentheses within quoted matter are taken as
the original author's.
22. I don't expect perfection in papers because I
don't find it in my own work. Everyone
can use a good editor. Writing errors
are evidence that you are doing your own work and honestly trying. Use your mistakes: learn from them and learn
to be your own editor.
23. I value papers that do some original thinking
and teach me something new about a novel or story. When you're writing, remember: you're the teacher.
24. Some abbreviations I use in correcting
or commenting on papers:
AWK= awkward
BA= "Not only x. . .but also y." Keep them balanced, grammatically
equivalent: "She wanted not only to
swim the English Channel but also to climb Mount Everest."
CHOP= choppy writing.
Too many short sentences in a row; this usually goes along with W, O-U,
and R.
D= diction (word choice: check dictionary or thesarus)
DP= dangling participle: "Walking down the street, the Empire
State Building came into view." Who
is doing the walking: the building?
FS= fragment sentence.
For example: He wanted to
run. Although he could barely walk. The second "sentence" is FS (a
subordinate clause belonging to the first sentence).
H= "On the one hand. . . .On the other hand. . .
." Don't use one without the
other. Think of a pair of handcuffs.
ITS= one of the most common spelling mistakes is the
incorrect use of "it's." This
can only be used as a contraction for "it is." The possessive of "it" is
"its," formed like "yours," "theirs," or
"ours"--without the apostrophe.
N-P= lack of agreement between noun and pronoun: "Will everyone take their
seat?" Incorrect because
"everyone" is singular. Should
be "Will everyone take her seat?" or "his or her
seat." "Each" is also
singular. You can tell by the singular
verbs: "everyone is" or
"each is."
O-U= omit unneeded words
PSV= avoid passive tense (not "the ball is hit by
me" but "I hit the ball").
R= needless repetition
(Note:
a lot of what I do in reading papers is
crossing
things out: unnecessary or
repetitious
words,
phrases, sentences, or occasionally entire
paragraphs.)
RO= run-on sentence
CS= run-on sentence, comma splice (using a comma where
a period, semicolon, or comma plus coordinating conjunction is called
for). For example: He wanted to go, however, he couldn't. That's CS because the clauses on both sides
of the comma can stand as independent sentences, and you can=t link sentences with a comma. Correct to:
He wanted to go. However, he
couldn't.
He wanted to go; however, he couldn't.
He wanted to go, but he couldn't.
S-V= lack of agreement between subject and verb. "High levels of air pollution damages
the respiratory tract" is incorrect.
Ignore the prepositional phrase "of air pollution"; the true
subject is "levels." Correct
to "High levels of air pollution damage the respiratory tract."
SP= spelling
T= wrong tense
U= unclear
V= vague
W= wordy
& = paragraph
T = good point