Latina/o Literature and
Literature of the Americas at the
University of Northern Colorado

Synopsis:
In this course, we will examine a variety of texts and films that depict various issues regarding people called Hispanic in the United States. Although we will begin by examining issues relating to Mexican Americans, we will move to a much broader conception of this fastest growing segment of US society. Thus we will also examine texts and issues relating to Cuban Americans and Nuyoricans (Puerto Ricans in the US and New York especially). While we will find various similarities among these texts and issues, we will also find substantial differences. We will focus on three main themes, history, voice, and Latinidad, and we will read Latina/o texts in a comparative manner, examining both to what degree these themes are present, repeated, and changed in each text, as well as what these comparisons reveal about "ethnicity" in US literature and cultural/political discourse.

Weekly Syllabus: (note reading assignments are to be completed by the first day of class for which the specific text is assigned. If it becomes evident that reading assignments are not being completed on time, then we will have quizzes)

History: We will begin to address Latina/o literature through issues of history, the history of Mexican/American relations, the history of Mexican Americans, and the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. We will address how history is narrated and recovered. What constitutes a new history? How is history related to literature?

Aug. 28 Intro

Sep. 2 Americo Paredes. With His Pistol in his Hand
Sep. 4 With His Pistol in his Hand

Sep. 9 Luis Valdez. Zoot Suit
Sep. 11 Zoot Suit

Sep. 16 Oscar Zeta Acosta. Revolt of the Cockroach People
Sep. 18 Revolt of the Cockroach People

Sep. 23 Revolt of the Cockroach People
Test #1 (Take-home)

Voice: We will move from history to address issues of voice. How is voice related to literature? How is voice related to identity? How important is language difference (Spanish) in questions of voice? Students should consider to what extent voice is necessary to discover and narrate a new history, and to what degree narrative of community is both connected to historical recovery and also capable of moving beyond historical considerations to narrate specificity or difference within identities formed through historical recovery.

Sep. 25 Tomas Rivera. And the Earth did not Devour Him

Sep. 30 And the Earth did not Devour Him
Oct. 2 Gloria Anzaldúa. Borderlands/La Frontera

Oct. 7 Borderlands/La Frontera
Oct. 9 Borderlands/La Frontera

Oct. 14 Helena María Viramontes. Under the Feet of Jesus
Oct. 16 Under the Feet of Jesus

Oct. 21 Under the Feet of Jesus
Test #2 (Take-home)

Latinidad: In this last section, we will move beyond considerations of Mexican/American issues and address a broader notion of Hispanics, Latina/os. Consider the historical similarities and differences between Chicana/os and Cuban Americans and Nuyoricans. How are issues of history and voice changed by this broader conception? As we have read in the newspapers, Hispanics or Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the US population, and in terms of population, the US is one of the largest Spanish speaking nations in the world. How do questions of language determine this category of Latino, and how much does this notion of Latinos somehow provoke issues more closely related to Chicanos, such as immigration and foreign nationality?
Oct. 23 Miguel Algarín (ed.). Aloud, Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

Oct. 28 Aloud
Oct. 30 Aloud

Nov. 4 Esmerelda Santiago. When I was Puerto Rican
Nov. 6 When I was Puerto Rican

Nov. 11 When I was Puerto Rican
Nov. 13 Abraham Rodriquez. The Boy Without a Flag

Nov. 18 NO CLASS
Nov. 20 The Boy Without a Flag
Term Papers due (no exceptions)

Nov. 25 Cristina Garcia. Dreaming in Cuban
Nov. 27 Thanksgiving

Dec. 2 Dreaming in Cuban
Dec. 4 Conclusion

Final Exam Period: Test #3
Notice: some of these texts address issues of sexuality and use contemporary language that some individuals may find offensive. Students are strongly advised to examine the texts when preparing to purchase them at the bookstore.

Assignments:
Term Paper will be 12 page research paper concentrating on one of the assigned class texts. Papers will cite at least five sources in addition to the primary text. Encyclopedias and dictionaries, whether bound, on-line, or on CD (while helpful and viable sources of information) will not count toward the five source citation requirement. Additionally, all sources of information will be cited using MLA format and MLA format only. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the assignment.

Grading:
Tests: 20% each
(Quizzes, if necessary, will each be worth 5% deducted from the 20% overall test percentage for the section in which quiz is administered.)
Term Paper: 30%
Participation: 10%

Participation grades will be determined as follows:
Active participation and unfailing attendance: 10%
Frequent participation and constant attendance: 9%
Occasional participation and good attendance: 8%
Pleasant demeanor and quiet, persistent presence: 7%
Scowling demeanor and spotty attendance: 6%
Talking to neighbors, reading newspaper: 5%
Belching in class, producing odors: 4%
Sickness in class, bleeding on floor: 3%
Dragging intestines, bones poking through skin: 2%
Death in class: 1%
Face and name utter mystery to Professor: 0%

Que les vaya bien.