ENGLISH 352-01 (WI)

THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN NOVEL

SPRING 2002

GENERAL TOPIC: THE AMERICAN LAND

INSTRUCTOR

Kelley Griffith

Office: 203 McIver Office hours: T/Th 2-3:15

Telephone: 334-5866 (office), 274-4184 (home)

E-mail address: kelley_griffith@uncg.edu

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES

This is a WI (Writing Intensive) course. Your work will consist of the readings, three essay tests, in-class responses to the weeks reading, two papers, and class discussion. Each of the tests will cover one third of the course material (readings and presentations in class). Of the twelve or so responses, I will drop the two lowest grades. You may make up three of the responses (within two weeks of each one). The average of your response grades will count 15% of your final grade. The tests and papers will each count 15%. Class participation (discussion, attendance, attention) will count 10%. For the tests, you are responsible for the readings, information presented in class, and ideas that emerge in class discussions. The paper should be four-to-six typewritten pages long and should develop a thesis that connects two of our novels. The first paper should focus on two novels from the first half of the course (through Welty); the second on novels in the second half. Unless you make an A on the first paper, you must rewrite it. The better grade of the two versions is the one that counts.

ATTENDANCE

Allow yourself no more than three unexplained absences. Come to class on time, ready to discuss the weeks readings.

HONOR POLICY

All of our work is governed by the UNCG Academic Integrity Policy.

SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS (see next page)

GOALS FOR THE COURSE

When you have completed this course you should have

1. Read, discussed, and written about important and representative American fiction published in the 20thC

2. Gained an understanding of the cultural and intellectual context of this fiction (most significantly, its manifestation of artistic and philosophical movements associated with Modernism)

3. Considered this fiction in relationship to at least one concept that has been central to the American experience and identitythe America Land theme.

4. Become more aware of how the components of fiction work together to communicate ideas and reflect and comment on real-life situations

5. Gained more experience in speaking your ideas and listening to the ideas of others

6. Increased your skill in developing written arguments, using reasoning and clarity of expression to convince others of the believability and value of your ideas.

SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS

1/15 Introduction

1/17 F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925). (Read the first half.)

1/22 Gatsby (2^nd half)

1/24 O. E. Rölvaag, Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie (1927). (1^st third)

1/29 Giants (2^nd third)

1/31 Giants (final third)

2/5 Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926). (1^st half)

2/9 Sun (2^nd half)

2/12 Sun

2/14 Test # 1

2/19 William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929). (1^st part: Benjy)

2/21 Sound (2^nd part: Quentin)

2/26 Sound (3^rd part: Jason)

2/28 Sound (4^th part: omniscient narrator)

3/5 Eudora Welty, The Golden Apples (1949). (Shower of Gold, June Recital)

3/7 Golden (Sir Rabbit, Moon Lake, The Whole World Knows)

3/12 Spring Break

3/14 Spring Break

3/19 Golden (Music from Spain, The Wanderers)

3/21 Golden

Paper # 1

3/26 Henry Roth, Call It Sleep (1934). (1^st third)

3/28 Sleep (2^nd third)

4/2 Sleep (final third)

4/4 Test # 2

4/9 Ann Petry, The Street (1946). (1^st half)

4/11 Street (2^nd half)

4/16 Louise Erdrich, Tracks (1988). (1^st half)

4/18 Tracks (2^nd half)

4/23 Tracks

4/25 Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower (1993). (1^st half)

4/30 Parable (2^nd half)

5/2 Parable

5/7 Tuesday (no class) Paper # 2 (on two novels since Welty)

5/8 Reading Day

5/9 Thursday, 3:30-6:30 Test # 3