AML 4170
(Sec. 6059)
Realism,
Naturalism, Local Color
Instructor
Susan
Hegeman
Course
meetings
Tuesdays period 4
(10:40-11:30); Thursdays periods 4 and 5 (10:40 to 12:35) in Turlington
2328
Course
Description
This course will survey
some of the narrative fiction—novels and short stories—of the United
States in the period 1880 to 1915. The literature of this moment is
categorized using a number of different labels, especially “realism,”
“naturalism,” and “local color,” but it is also indebted to other
artistic movements of the time, including aestheticism, decadence, and
modernism. We will discuss the process by which literary historians
categorize works of literature as we examine the overlapping themes,
forms, settings, and contexts that went into the creation of both
novels and short stories. In particular, we will be interested in how
authors of this exciting period of American history grappled with the
experience of being “modern.”
Required
Texts
The following books
have been ordered for this class at Goering's
Textbook Store
(1717 NW 1st Avenue; Tel.
352-377-3703). If you purchase your books elsewhere, please try
to get the editions ordered for the class.
Abraham
Cahan, Yekl and the Imported Bridegroom and other Stories of Yiddish
New York (Dover 0486224279)
Stephen Crane, Maggie, a Girl of the Streets and Other New York
Writings (Modern Library 0375756892)
Harold Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware (Penguin 0140390251)
Henry James, The Bostonians (Oxford UP 0192834428)
James Weldon Johnson, Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man (Hill and
Wang 0809000326)
Jack London, The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and Other Stories
(Oxford UP 0192835149)
Additionally, some
readings have been placed on electronic
reserve (Ares). If you need help getting access to the readings,
please consult me or a librarian at Library West.
Mary
Austin, “The Land of Little Rain”
Hamlin
Garland, “Up the Coolly”
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, “A New England Nun”
Charles Chesnutt, “The Sheriff’s Children”
Sui-Sin Far (Edith Eaton), “Its Wavering Image”
Willa Cather, “Paul’s Case”
Charles
Chesnutt, “The Wife of his Youth”
Course
Requirements
1. You are
required to attend class and participate in discussions. Eight or more
absences will result in an E grade for the course. You are also
expected to have read the material to be discussed on a given day, and
you are expected to bring the assigned material to class. Ares
documents should be downloaded and brought to class. I reserve
the option of holding unannounced quizzes if I feel students are
inadequately prepared for class discussion.
2. You will write two papers of 7 to 10 pages each on topics generated
from the assigned course materials. An in-class paper workshop
will be held well before the due date to allow an opportunity to refine
paper topics and get feedback on the writing from your professor and
peers.
Final due dates for the papers are Thursday March 6 at the beginning of
class and Friday, December 7 at 4 pm.
Course grades will be determined as follows:
1/3 of grade: attendance,
participation, any quiz grades, and participation in paper workshops
1/3 of grade: first
paper
1/3 of grade: second
paper
Please make a note of the paper due dates. They are at the
beginning of class Thursday, March 6, and 4 pm on Friday, April 25.
Academic Honesty Policy
You are required
to review the university's Academic
Honor Code and the Academic Honesty Guidelines, especially the
discussion of plagiarism, found in the Undergraduate Catalogue.
Plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty will result in an
automatic failure of the assignment and the filing of a report in your
academic file.
Types of plagiarism include (but are not limited to):
presenting as your own work
papers written in whole or in part by someone else (for example a paper
written by a friend; a purchased or retyped paper; or one taken from a
file)
directly quoting,
paraphrasing, or summarizing from external sources without proper
citations
Please take a moment to consider the second category of
plagiarism. Many students fail to fully understand that even such
possibly innocent mistakes as paraphrasing the work of others or
failure to give proper citation is a serious form of plagiarism.
Because such mistakes are potentially serious, you should talk to
me if you have any questions about plagiarism, academic honesty, or
proper research and citation methods.
Course
Schedule
1/8 Course
Introduction
The Problem of Regions
1/10 Mary Austin, “Land of Little
Rain” (Ares)
1/15 Garland,
“Up The Coolly” (Ares)
1/17 Mary E.
Wilkins Freeman, “A New England Nun” and Sui Sin Far
(Edith Eaton), “Its Wavering Image” (Ares)
1/22 Charles Chesnutt, “The Sheriff’s Children” (Ares)
The Experience of Being “Modern”
1/24 Harold
Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware
1/29 Harold Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware
1/31 Harold
Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware
2/5 Harold Frederic,
The Damnation of Theron Ware
2/7 Willa Cather,
“Paul’s Case” (Ares)
2/12 London, The Call of the Wild
2/14 London, The Call of the Wild
2/19 London, The Call of the Wild
Those Modern Women
2/21 James, The
Bostonians
2/26 First paper workshop
2/28 James, The Bostonians
3/4 James, The
Bostonians
3/6 James, The Bostonians First paper due
SPRING BREAK
3/18 Crane, Maggie A Girl of the Streets
Documenting
"The Other Half:" The Social Reform Photography of Jacob Riis and Lewis
Hine
3/20 Crane, Maggie A Girl of the Streets
3/25 Crane, Maggie A Girl of the Streets
Immigration, Assimilation, and the Color Line
3/27 Cahan, Yekl
4/1 Cahan, Yekl
4/3 Cahan, Yekl
4/8 Chesnutt, “The Wife of his Youth” (Ares)
4/10 Johnson, Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man
4/15 Second paper workshop
4/17 Johnson, Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man
4/22 (last class meeting) Johnson, Autobiography of an
Ex-Coloured Man
4/25 Second paper due
updated 2/28/08
