EN 082.08 Literature & Society: Marginal in America (Spring 2008-2009: 3)
Satisfies Literature Core Requirement
In this Core class we will examine a range of texts for their depiction
of life on the margins or the peripheries of American society. One emphasis
in our reading will be to distinguish between the many stages and states
of marginality, i.e. between visible and invisible marginality, permanent
and transitory, voluntary and involuntary. Therefore, the experiences
we will encounter include that of the Native American, the urban working-class,
the African American, the first generation European immigrant, the regionalist
voice, the "New" woman, among others. Marginality, in other words, will
be encountered in terms of class, race, gender, ethnicity and geography,
and, in many cases, these conditions will overlap. Authors will include
Walt Whitman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Rebecca
Harding Davis, Jacob Riis, Stephen Crane, Abraham Cahan, Anzia Yezierska,
Willa Cather, Tillie Olson, Alice Walker, Mazine Hong Kingston, and Sandra
Cisneros. Students will also view and discuss two movies. Assignments
will include three short response papers, a mid-term and a final exam.
James Smith
Last Updated: 17-JAN-08