Colloquium in Literature: Nativism

This colloquium will explore the issue of nativism in the United States. We will examine texts from a broad historical range and chart the appearance of both Indians and Americans and their roles as suitable natives for a national, autochthonous literature. We will explore nativism in four sections: colonial discourse, nineteenth century discourse, modernist discourse, and contemporary ethnic discourse. Each of these sections will examine the use of Indian identity and definitions of American-ness in relation to the historical context of the narrative and also the text's production. While we will consider each text independently, we will also develop and historicize a perception of nativism as it functioned within the period and/or genre in which the text traditionally resides.

We will first address each text in comparison and contrast to the preceding texts and critical issues, and then we will have a class presentation introducing additional issues and critical apparatuses. We will then return to the assigned text and reconsider it. If it becomes evident that students are falling behind in their reading, then response papers will be assigned.

We will quickly cover the majority of the assigned readings. In April we will have a series of guest lecturers introduce issues of nativism across the academic spectrum. Students are required to attend all guest lectures and interrogate our guests. In this manner, we will explore the extent to which Nativism is a powerful hermeneutic with which we can interrogate literature, the academy, and the cultural contexts around us.

Texts:
Available at The Book Stop (931 16 St., Greeley):
Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca. Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America.
James Fenimore Cooper. The Last of the Mohicans.
William Faulkner. Absalom, Absalom!
Nathaniel Hawthorn. The Marble Faun.
Cherrie Moraga. The Last Generation.
James Welch. Winter in the Blood.
Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.

On Reserve in Michener Library:
Richard Drinnon. "Introduction" and "The Maypole of Merrymount."
Jenny Franchot. "Protestant Meditations on History and 'Popery'."
Waldo Frank. "Our America."
Nancy Glazener. "The Grand Reservoir of National Prosperity."
José Martí. "Our America."
F. O. Mathiessen. "From Hawthorne to James to Eliot."
Walter Benn Michaels. "Land of the Kike Home of the Wop."
Mary Rowlandson. "A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson."
Irene Rostagno. TBA
Frederick Jackson Turner. "The Closing of the American Frontier."

Warnings, Notices, Addendum, etc.:
This course is designed for upper-level English majors, students who have ostensibly completed their required courses and are now fulfilling their upper-level elective requirement. As such, then, this course will be very challenging and require substantial independent thought, very active participation, and vast reading requirements. Students are expected to integrate the themes and issues of this class with the knowledge they have gained from their previous and current classes. Additionally, students will be required to make class presentations and prepare an annotated bibliography. Be forewarned.

Assignments:


1/14 Introduction
1/16 Guest Lecture: Paul Taillon, History


1/19 Cabeza de Vaca
1/21 Class presentation on Franchot
1/23 Cabeza de Vaca


1/26 Rowlandson
1/28 Class presentation on Drinnon
1/30 Rowlandson


2/2 Cooper
2/4 Cooper
2/6 Class presentation on Turner


2/9 Cooper
2/11 Hawthorne
2/13 Class Presentation on Mathiessen


2/16 Hawthorne
2/18 Class Presentation on Glazener
2/20 Hawthorne
Annotated Bibliography due


2/23 Wharton
2/25 Class presentation on Frank
2/27 Wharton


3/2 Wharton
3/4 Faulkner
3/6 Class presentation on Martí


3/9 Faulkner
3/11 Class presentation on Michaels
3/13 Faulkner


Spring Break


3/23 Mid-term Exam
3/25 Guest Lecture:
3/27 Guest Lecture:


3/30 Guest Lecture:
4/1 Guest Lecture:
4/3 No Class


4/6 Guest Lecture:
4/8 Guest Lecture:
4/10 Guest Lecture:
Paper proposals due


4/13 Guest Lecture:
4/15 Welch
4/17 Guest Lecture:


4/20 Welch
4/22 Class presentation on Rostagno
4/24 Moraga


4/27 Moraga
4/29 Moraga
5/1 Conclusion
Research Papers due


Final Exam

Course Requirements:


Grading:
10% Class Presentation
15% Mid-term Exam
15% Final Exam
(10% Response Papers, if necessary -- 5% reduced from both exams)
10% Attendance and participation
10% Annotated Bibliography
40% Research Paper


Annotated Bibliography:
This assignment is not as hard as it sounds. Using MLA format, list at least fifteen references related to Nativism; each bibliographical entry is followed by a three to four sentence synopsis of the major points and/or argument of the article of book. Internet web sites, encyclopedias and dictionaries do not count toward the fifteen entry requirement. At least two thirds of entries must be dated after 1985.


Research Paper:
Fifteen page research paper examining a text of your choice with my signed approval. You must cite at least ten references in the form of articles or books with a maximum of two internet web sites counting toward the ten reference requirement; class texts, encyclopedias, and dictionaries do not count toward the ten reference requirement, although if you use information from these sources, they must be cited correctly. Your paper must be written in MLA format. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade.




Paper Proposal:
You must write a proposal identifying the text your choose and provide a brief bibliography of relevant criticism, and turn it in for me to sign. This proposal will be turned in as part of the research paper. If you omit the proposal when you submit the paper, then you will receive a grade of Incomplete for the class.


Important Note:
If you cannot successfully write, reread and correct, and submit a research paper that merits a passing grade, you will fail this course.
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 fifteen page paper (A+, which is as rare as hen's teeth), if you average 2.7 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.
Read and remember this note. It is my experience that UNC students are good students who can successfully write in the English language. However, it is also my experience that often some students do not reread and correct their papers before submitting them. If this is your practice, change it. Now.
If you fail the research paper, you fail this course. Period.


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.


Grade Computation:
100-90 A A+ 100 A 95 A- 92
89-80 B B+ 88 B 85 B- 81
79-70 C C+ 78 C 75 C- 71
69-60 D D+ 68 D 65 D- 61
below 60 F F 55 N 30 Z 5


Que les vaya muy bien.