EL 349W | 20th C. American Fiction

(Fall 2016)

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This writing intensive (W) course is a gallop through 20th-century American fiction, emphasizing longer prose works and organized so that we will be able to explore some of the radical (and sometimes subtle) changes in expression and aesthetic philosophy that took place during the 20th century (and are taking place today, right now, as you read). We will consider how historical and social contexts affect both the writing of literature and its reception. We will think about how Modernism gives way to Postmodernism, about how Realism in some ways sets the stage for both, and about the relationship between fiction and nonfiction in contemporary prose. We will consider the limits of big labels like “Realism,” “Modernism,” and “Postmodernism,” and the necessity of receiving each work on its own complex terms. We will think a little about what’s happening to fiction these days, and we’ll consider how visual storytelling fits into that. We’ll read constantly. We’ll write constantly. 

Major Writing/Composing Assignments to Anticipate



---- The Schedule ----

All major assignments are included, but minor assignments and readings may be added. Please note that the schedule may shift in transit. Don’t panic.

*** To Be Clear: All assignments and readings are due on the day when they're listed on the schedule, not at the following class period. ***

Week 1 (Sep. 5 and 7)

Note that it wouldn't hurt a bit to go ahead and get signed up for the course wiki.

Note that you're going to have to commit to an author for research at the end of next week. Spend some time learning about these folks.

Due Friday: Self-intro on the the course wiki

Due Monday, Class Time of Week 5: 4 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: No Class
  • Day 2: Course Introduction. To frame some big ideas for the course, we'll touch on HD's "Oread," Wallace Stevens's "The Emperor of Ice-Cream," and, from Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, two brief sketches, "The Book of the Grotesque" and "Paper Pills." (We may not get to *depth* on all of these today, but these four pieces work together in an interesting way to set up the 20th century in American fiction; we'll use them as initial touchstones for the course.)
  • Day 3: Cane (Jean Toomer), Part 1 (through "Blood Burning Moon")
  • Due: Self-Intro on the Wiki

Week 2 (Sep. 10, 12, and 14)

Note that participation in the Notes and Queries Blog is a given each week, though I won't list it here on the schedule.

Due Friday: Sign up for research subject (on wiki) before Friday's class. (Sign up no earlier than Thursday at 7:00 am.)

Due Monday, Class Time of Week 5: 4 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: Cane, Part 2 (through "Bona and Paul") + In Class: Intro to Author Inquiry Project / Research
  • Day 2: Cane, Part 3 (to the end)
  • Day 3: The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald), Chapters 1-2
  • Due: Claim Author on Wiki

Week 3 (Sep. 17, 19, and 21)

Note: Remember that you need to either PRINT online texts or have some reasonable way (Kindle? iPad? Laptop?) to view your electronic copy in class. Tiny, tiny phone screens don't really count in this context.

Due Monday: Five contributions to our timeline of 20th-century America (Wiki).

Due Friday @5:00: Proof and Justification of *3* ILL Requests (Inquiry Project)

Due Friday @5:00: Critical Response #1 (Toomer or Fitzgerald)

Due Monday, Class Time of Week 5: 4 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: The Great Gatsby, Chapter 3 to mid-Chapter 7: "So we drove on toward death..."
  • Due: 5 Contributions to 20th-c. America Timeline (wiki)
  • Day 2: The Great Gatsby, to the end
  • Day 3: Short Stories: "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," "Indian Camp," "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife," "A Clean Well Lighted Place" (Ernest Hemingway)
  • Due: Critical Response #1 + Proof of ILL 

Week 4 (Sep. 24, 26, and 28)

Due: Nothing is officially due this week, beyond reading (and potentially blog posts), but you’re digging yourself a deep, dark hole if you’re not actively moving forward your research agenda for the Inquiry Project.

Due Monday, Class Time of  WEEK 5: 4 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: Quicksand (Nella Larsen), Chapters 1-12
  • Day 2, Quicksand, to the end
  • Day 3: As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner), to Samson section ending in “But be durn if I can say it," p. 119 in Vintage 1990 edition

Week 5 (Oct. 1, 3, and 5)

Due Friday @5:00: Substantial Research Update Using Screencast-o-matic or a good alternative (Inquiry Project)

Due Monday, Class Time of THIS WEEK: 4 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner), to the end
  • Due: You should have made four substantial blog contributions by now.
  • Day 2: The Ponder Heart (Eudora Welty), to p. 80 / "They charged Uncle Daniel with..." Approx. 1/2 of book, first four chapters.
  • Day 3: The Ponder Heart (Eudora Welty), to the end.
  • Due: Research Update

Week 6 (Oct. 8, 10, and 12)

Due Friday @5:00: Critical Response #2 (Hemingway, Larsen, Faulkner, Welty, or Steinbeck)

Due Monday, Class Time of WEEK 7: 2 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: Cannery Row (John Steinbeck), through Chapter 16
  • Day 2: Cannery Row (John Steinbeck), to the end
  • Day 3: TBA / Catch Up / Midterm Prep
  • Due: Critical Response #2

Week 7 (Oct. 15, 17, and 19)

Due Monday, Class Time of THIS WEEK: 2 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

WEDNESDAY, Class Time: Midterm; Essay Sections Due FRIDAY at 5:00

  • Day 1: Author Inquiry Project Work Day (In Class)
  • Due: You should have made two more substantial blog contributions by now.
  • Day 2: MIDTERM (In Class)
  • Day 3: Ragtime (EL Doctorow), Part 1

Week 8 (Oct. 22 and 24)

Due: Author Inquiry Project Due Before You Leave for Break (THURSDAY, 5:00, at the Latest)

Due Monday, Class Time of WEEK 10: 3 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: Ragtime, Part 2
  • Day 2: Ragtime, Parts 3 and 4
  • Due: Author Inquiry Due by Thursday, 5:00, at the Latest
  • Day 3: No Class (Fall Break)

Week 9 (Oct. 31 and Nov. 2)

Due Friday @5:00: Initial Claim for Critical Analysis (Critical Analysis)

Due Friday @5:00: Five Salient Moments (/Facts) About (/for) Your Inquiry Author (Wiki Timeline)

Due Monday, Class Time of WEEK 10: 3 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: No Class (Fall Break)
  • Day 2: Critical Analysis Work / Pre-writing Day (In Class)
  • Day 3: Some "New" and "Gonzo" Journalism from the 60s: "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" (Hunter S. Thompson) + "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream" (Joan Didion) 
  • Due: Initial Claim (Critical Analysis)
    Due: 5 Salient Facts About Your Inquiry/Analysis Author

Week 10 (Nov. 5, 7, and 9)

Are you Working on Your Critical Analysis? If Not, Why Not? Work on Your Analysis! Go!

Due Monday, Class Time of THIS WEEK: 3 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: The Woman Warrior (Maxine Hong Kingston), Chapters 1-2
  • Due: You should have contributed three more substantial blog posts by now.
  • Day 2: The Woman Warrior, Chapters 3-4. This is a longer reading! Plan for it!
  • Day 3: The Woman Warrior, Chapter 5

Week 11 (Nov. 12, 14, and 16)

Due Monday, Class Time: Middle Paragraph (Critical Analysis) (Critical Analysis)

Due Friday @5:00: Middle Paragraph Critique + Middle Paragraph Critiqued

Due Monday, Class Time of WEEK 12: 2 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: Housekeeping (Marilynne Robinson), through Chapter 6
  • Due: Middle Paragraph (Accepted Until Wednesday)
  • Day 2: Housekeeping, to the end
  • Day 3: Comics / Visual Narrative: A  Primer
  • Read: Excerpts from Scott McCloud @Bb
  • Read: Batman: Hush, Chapter 1
  • Peruse: Hannah Blumenreich's Spidey Zine (ONLINE) + *Peruse* the Comics Sampler at Blackboard (Chris Ware, Lynda Barry, Neil Gaiman (British!), Fred Chao, Shaun Tan, Art Spiegelman, James Kochalka, Lilli Carre, David Mazzucchelli, R. Crumb, and Harvey Pekar)
  • Due: Middle Paragraph Critique/Critiqued

Week 12 (Nov. 19)

Critical Analysis! Work on It! Time is Flying! Also highly recommended: Get to work on Seize the Day over the break...

Due Monday, Class Time of THIS WEEK: 2 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 3: Batman: Hush (Jeph Loeb, writer; Jim Lee, Artist; et al.) (Read it all.)
  • Due: You should have made two more substantial blog contributions by now.
  • Day 2: No Class (Thanksgiving Break)
  • Day 3: No Class (Thanksgiving Break)

Week 13 (Nov. 26, 28, and 30)

Due WEDNESDAY @5:00: Critical Analysis

Due NEXT MONDAY @5:00: Habeas Corpus Reflection

Due Monday, Class Time of WEEK 15: 3 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: Seize the Day (Saul Bellow) (Read it all.)
  • Day 2: "In the American Society," (Gish Jen)
  • Due: Critical Analysis (But, okay, okay take until Friday if needed...)
  • Day 3: "Bloodchild" (Octavia Butler)

Week 14 (Dec. 3, 5, and 7) 

Due Monday @5:00: Habeas Corpus

Due Wednesday @5:00: Any (Optional!) Revised Critical Responses (See Revision Guidelines)

Due NEXT Monday @5:00: Reflective Response: OPTIONAL

Due Monday, Class Time of WEEK 15: 3 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: The Tsar of Love and Techno (Anthony Marra), 1st Three Stories
  • Due: Habeas Corpus Reflection
  • Day 2: The Tsar of Love and Techno (Anthony Marra), Next Three Stories
  • Day 3: The Tsar of Love and Techno (Anthony Marra), Last Three Stories

Week 15 (Dec. 10 + Final)

Due Monday @5:00: Reflective Response: OPTIONAL

Due Monday, Class Time of THIS WEEK: 3 Substantial Blog Contributions. For maximum points, spread them out, rather than bunching them at the end.

  • Day 1: TBA / Catch Up / Final Prep
  • Due: You should have made three final, substantial blog contributions by now.
  • Due: Reflective Response
  • Final/Exam 2: Thursday, December 13, 3:30-5:30 pm


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