ENG 236.003
Latina/o Literature
Fall, 1999
Professor Marcus Embry
L-30 Michener Library
351-2111
membry@unco.edu
http://asweb.unco.edu/latina/
Office Hours:
MW 12:30-1:30, Th 6:00-7:00


Class Topic: Literary Growth and new Latina/o novels


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 Dominicans, 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 new novels as a main theme. Each time I teach this course, I endeavor to assign new books or at least different texts than I assigned previously. Given the ever-expanding nature Latina/o literature and the plethora of good and sometimes great texts already written and appearing each year, this has not been a problem. In this particular class, we will consider this issue as part of our semester's study. In other words, I will assign one very traditional Chicano text, and the remainder of the texts will be novels and collections of poetry published in the last two or three years, or so. We will read the following Latina/o texts in a comparative manner, examining both to what degree this theme is present, repeated, and changed in each text, as well as what these comparisons reveal about "ethnicity" in US literature and cultural/political discourse. Additionally, we will examine various themes that define or herald Latinidad, and we will endeavor to find in these various texts both the commonality and diversity of US Latina/os and their literature.


Required Texts (Available at The Book Stop, 931 16th Street):


Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima
Corpi, Lucha. Cactus Blood
Fernandez, Roberta. Intaglio: A Novel in Six Stories
Fernandez, Roberto. Raining Backwards
Hinojosa, Rolando. Ask a Policeman
Perez, Loida Maritza. Geographies of Home
Santiago, Esmerelda.  America's Dream
Veciana-Suarez, Ana. The Chin Kiss King
Velez, Manuel J. Bus Stops and Other Poems



Weekly Syllabus (note reading assignments are to be completed by the first day of class for which the specific text is assigned):


History, US Expansion, Immigration, Migration, Chicanos. In this section, we will consider the historical background of both the US expansion from the first thirteen colonies to the trans-continental nation that in 1898 forced Spain from its last possessions in the Americas. In this movement of our nation across the land mass, issues of immigration and migration became conflated with issues of national identity based in politics, culture, race, and language. We will consider how all these issues and influences and their are present and/or affect the assigned literature.
Aug 25 - Introduction, Lecture about History and US Latinidad
27 - Film, "Viva la Causa"


30 - Discuss Anaya
Sep. 1 - Discuss Anaya
3 - Quiz on historical background of US Latinidad
Discuss Anaya


Chicanas and Urban voices. In these works, we will consider differences between the authors below and Anaya. In these texts, we will explore the similarities and differences among Chicanas and Chicanos, and we will consider how the similarities and differences are related to geography, history, gender, class, and other issues.
Sep. 6 - No Class
8 - Discuss first and second stories in Roberta Fenandez
10 - Discuss third and fourth stories in Fernandez


13 - Discuss fifth and sixth stories in Fernandez
15 - Discuss Velez poems
17 - Discuss Velez poems


Puerto Rican/Nuyorican. Here we venture into a different arena of Latinidad with quite different historical and cultural roots and issues. It is important that you pay attention to the similarities and differences between the following texts and the preceding Chicana/o texts. In Blanco, for example, how is the historical narrative told? What are the critical points of intersection with the US at large? What are the racial issues involved?
Sep. 20 - Discuss Santiago
Response Paper Due - Subject is similarities and differences among Chicanas and Chicanos based on geography, history, gender, class, etc. (five pages, MLA format with works cited page).
22 - Discuss Santiago
24 - Discuss Santiago


27 - Discuss Rodriguez (hand-out)
29 - Discuss Rodriguez (hand-out)
Oct. 1 - Mid Term Exam


Latinidad and Afro-caribbean. In the following Dominican text, pay attention to the articulation of race and Latinidad. How do race, class, language, and Latinidad combine in this text? How is Perez's account similar and different to what we have read previously?
Oct. 4 - Discuss Perez
6 - Discuss Perez
8 - Discuss Perez

11 - Discuss Perez
13 - Discuss Perez
15 - Discuss Perez


Cubanos and Gusanos. In the following texts, we will discover what happened to Ricky Ricardo. What historical issues seem to predominate in these texts? What are similarities and differences to previous texts? How is race articulated?
Oct. 18 - Discuss Veciana-Suarez
20 - Discuss Veciana-Suarez
22 - Discuss Veciana-Suarez
Response Paper Due - Subject is articulation of race in Latinidad; choose example/s from Blanco, Perez, Rodriguez, and/or Veciana-Suarez and analyze it/them (five pages, MLA format with works cited page).
25 - Discuss Veciana-Suarez
27 - Discuss Veciana-Suarez, Fernandez
29 - Discuss Fernandez


Nov. 1 - Discuss Fernandez
3 - Discuss Fernandez
5 - Discuss Fernandez


New Genres - Detective Novels. In the following books we will find a genre that has a long middle-brow cultural history in the US (for example, how many detective novels have you read in other literature courses). Yet, Hinojosa is one of the most prolific and historically important Chicano authors. What in these novels is similar to what we have read previously? What is different? How does the genre affect or influence the role of history in these two novels?
Nov. 8 - Discuss Hinojosa
10 - Discuss Hinojosa
12 - Discuss Hinojosa


15 - Discuss Hinojosa
17 - Discuss Hinojosa
19 - Discuss Hinojosa, Corpi
Term Paper Due


22 - Discuss Corpi
24 - Discuss Corpi
26 - No Class


29 - Discuss Corpi
Dec. 1 - Discuss Corpi
3 - Last Class


Final Exam


Grading:
Quiz 5%
Response Paper 1 10%
Response Paper 2 15%
Term Paper 15%
Mid-term Exam 25%
Final Exam 20%
Attendance & Participation 10%




Research Paper:
Ten page research paper examining one of the assigned texts or, with my specific approval, a text or film of your choice. You must cite at least five references in the form of articles or books; neither internet web sites, encyclopedias, dictionaries, nor class texts count toward the five reference requirement, although if you use information from these sources, you must cite them correctly. Your paper must be written in MLA format.
Plagiarism will result in a failing grade.
Important Note:
I will deduct one point for each circled mistake, and these points will be deducted from the score your paper merits for content. Thus, even on the best possible ten page paper (A+, which is as rare as hen's teeth), if you average four mistakes per page, you will fail this course. UNC has extensive resources to assist students with writing. Use them. Also note that I specify that you submit papers in MLA format. If you do not use MLA format, then I will deduct twelve points from your overall score immediately.


Attendance and Participation:
Unfailing attendance 5%
Frequent relevant comments 5%
Frequent attendance 4%
Occasional pertinent comments 4%
Spotty attendance 3%
Couple, three-four good comments 3%
Crawling in bleeding 2%
Timid silence 2%
Name is mystery 1%
Outbursts, irrelevant comments -1%
Death in class 0%
Reading other texts or newspaper -2%
Rotting in class -1%
Chatting, disrupting neighbors -3%
Yes, Virginia, it is entirely possible to obtain negative points for your behavior. Don't.




Que les vaya muy bien.