Office Hours, Mon., Thurs. 1-3 PM & by Appt.; Extensive E-Mail Hours

MODERN AMERICAN NOVEL SYLLABUS

Ira Sadoff Ml 224 x.5283; e-mail [email protected] Office hours, Mon., Thurs. 1-3 PM & by appt.; extensive e-mail hours

EN397A . Modern American Novel -M-W--- 9:30-10:45 am LOVE 109 Syllabus: the Syllabus is a course plan: inevitably, depending on the duration and completion of class discussions, we’ll be somewhat flexible concerning when work will be discussed. If you miss a class, it’s your responsibility to find out what we’ll be discussing in the following class. Sept. 5 INTRO Sept.10 The Twenties: Sept.12 supp: boom and Bust: Fitzgerald, THE Poverty in the 1920'S excpt from: Fitzgerald, THE GREAT GREAT GATSBY http://www.hausarbeiten.de/rd/faecher/haus GATSBY (continued) arbeit/enc/1983.html http://www.geocities.com/f Weblen, Chapter 4, "Conspicuous lapper_culture/jane.html Consumption, "THE CONSUMER New Republic, 1925 SOCIETY http://econ161.berkeley. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1902ve edu/TCEH/Slouch_roarin blen00.html g13.html Or wealth Concentration gif http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/DSS/Vebl handout en/CONSPIC.HTML Meyerowitz, excpt. Shultz, The Politics of Prosperity Women sexual mores http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/le (hdt) cture15.html http://vlib.iue.it/history/USA/ERAS/20TH/19 20s.html Sanger, Women and the new Morality, http://www.bartleby.com/1013/14.html Front story: "THE GREED CYCLE: How the financial system encouraged corporations to go crazy". BY: John Cassidy, The New Yorker Sept.17 West, The Sept.19 supp: Thirties, West, MISS http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depressio West, MISS LONELYHEARTS n/about.htm LONELYHEARTS 2. http://econ161.berkeley. edu/TCEH/Slouch_Cras h14.html 3.Freud's definitions 4. excpt Freud, Civilization Discontents 5. depression symptoms excpt Depression DSM unemployment.gif(hdts) Sept.24 Race Sept.26 supp: 1.Wright, NATIVE SON, Wright, NATIVE SON, Read the Fanon section of (sections 1 & 2) http://www.adamranson.freeserve.co.uk/pos 2.Homi Bhaba, "The tcolonialism.htm Other Question" (hdt) Language and postcolonialism: 3.Lynchings History of http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Lang Lynching web uage.html 4. Jana Evans Braziel on Fanon (hdt) Oct.1 Race (FINISH/ Oct.3 supp: Post WW 2) 2.Film Noir OUT Taft-Hartley Bill 1.Richard Wright, OFTHE PAST Shultz, NATIVE SON, section 3 http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/le Race and cture23.html criminalization: Effects of WW 2: Japan 3. ACLU statistics Photos of Hiroshoma 4. Amnesty USA http://64.233.161.104/search? 5. pyschological effects q=cache:Hkel51Bjh8wJ:www.wildforhumanr of World War 2 ights.org/dl/criminalized.pdf+race+criminaliz film Noir handouts ation+united+states&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Discourse on film (hdt) Potter, wealth and crime FILM NOIR Oct.10 http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20 discussion 1.THE BOOK OF 401 DANIEL Books one, continued: Oct.8 the Cole, “Grand Inquisitors” two. Greenglass, BBC Fifties Revisited: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1 /hi/world/americas/169 Begin discussion 5240.stm McCarthy Era 3. Rosenberg Sites http://www.english.upe nn.edu/~afilreis/50s/ho me.html http://www.english.upe nn.edu/~afilreis/50s/me eropol-on- rosenbergs.htmlTHE BOOK OF DANIEL Books two, and three http://www.ala.org/ala/ oif/ifissues/usactlibraria ns.htm Oct.15 the Fifties Oct. 17 supp: http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/library/Divisions/ Revisited: Finish THE BOOK 1.THE BOOK OF Government/rosenbergs.html OF DANIEL DANIEL Book 3/4 Robeson concerts 2. Greenglass, BBC Front story: Patriot act ACLU discussion http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/h excerpt i/world/americas/169524 Victor Navasky, Naming Names"The Social 0.stm Costs" 3. Rosenberg Sites http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/mccarthy/ http://www.english.upen navasky.htm n.edu/~afilreis/50s/home http://www.radfilms.com/rosenberg_case.ht .html ml http://www.english.upen Hoover, counterintelligence chapter 8 excpt. n.edu/~afilreis/50s/meer opol-on-rosenbergs.html

Fall break Oct.24 The Cold Supp: War, Shultz, (Perhaps night class) http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/le 2.Alfred Hitchcock, cture23.html REAR WINDOW, 3.Laura Mulvey on Reserve 4. Front Story: FBI investigates Quakers 5. Mulvey "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema"

Oct.29 REAR Oct.31 WINDOW discussion The American Dream (continued) 1.REVOLUTIONARY ROAD 2.Reserve: Spigal, WELCOME TO TV, "Women's Work" (Spigel, Lyn. Make Room for TV. Chicago: U. Chicago, 1992).3.Lacayo, Richard. "William Levitt." Time 7 Dec. 1998: 148-51 Nov.5 Nov.7 possibly third supp: 1.REVOLUTIONARY class on REV.ROAD Meridian honors slain civil rights worker ROAD OR (continued) The Sixties, Civil Rights Emotional House 1.Alice Walker, workbook (hdt) MERIDIAN &move assignments from here on up a day 2. Former Klan leader faces murder trial … 3. http://www.cnn.com/U S/9808/18/klan.trial/ http://www.jacksonfree press.com/comments.p hp? id=P3227_0_22_0_C

Nov.12 Nov.14 Viet Nam Supp: Meridian 1.Robert Olen Butler, A Guantanamo torture, UN, UC Davis, etc. GOOD SCENT FROM (hdt) Death of Schwerner, A STRANGE “The Grand Inquisitors,” NYRB Patriot Act Cheney and Goodman MOUNTAIN revisited Esp. "Open Arms," "Fairy Tale,""Crickets," The Black Sites (CIA) The Phoenix program, hdt) Nov.19 Thanksgiving Butler (continued) break "Love," "Snow," "The American Couple" handoutSen. Beveridge, "Christian destiny" (hdt) Nov.26 Race, Class Nov.28 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/1209 and Immigration Lucy (continued) 8329 immigration economics Jamaica Kincaid, LUCY Zelizar, immigration racism: Homi K. Bhabha: "the Liminal Negotiation of PURCHASING http://www.youtube.com/watch? Cultural Difference, INTIMACY (excpt., v=rl0Gm0Z9PIo&mode=related&se Benjamin Graves," introduction) arch= Web read blog responses too http://www.public.iastate. edu/~ttung/bhabha- info1.html Dec.3-5 CLASS See film THE DISCUSSION the WORLD world Take Home Final due when Final exam would be due.

Texts/films: The Great Gatsby F.Scott Fitzgerald Miss Lonelyhearts/Day of Locust Nathanael West Native Son Richard Wright Revolutionary Road Richard Yates Meridian Alice Walker The Book of Daniel E.L.Doctorow A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain Robert Olen Butler Lucy Jamaica Kincaid Three films: Alfred Hitchcock, REAR WINDOW OUT OF THE PAST (film noir) 1947 Zhang Ke Jia -- THE WORLD (Chinese 2006)

Ira Sadoff Ml 224 x.5283; e-mail [email protected] Office hours, Mon., Thurs. 1-3 PM & by appt.; extensive e-mail hours

EN397A . Modern American Novel -M-W--- 9:30-10:45 am LOVE 109

Expectations: I direct the class as a discussion group, a community of learners, so students are expected to prepare the poems before coming to class and take notes on the texts. bringing questions when you’re puzzled to stimulate interchange. Always bring your texts to class: we'll refer to them all the time. Class discussion counts as part of class grade. Students are expected to attend and contribute to all classes; you'll be permitted two unexcused absences during a semester; if you don’t bring your text, you’ll be absent.

Papers: Each student will write two 6-8 page papers, I’m interested in your direct experience with the text and NOT scholarship. Should you use scholarship and it’s not attributed, that’s plagiarism, and I take plagiarism personally as a violation of trust and will deal with it seriously and institutionally. Parenthetically, I suggest at least 48 hours before due date, students e-mail me their thesis statements for paper. I’m happy to help consult in any part of the pre-writing process, but re- writes will not be permitted.

Due dates short paper 1 Wed. October 12th 1 PM, short paper 2 Wed. Nov.16th 1 PM

Note:, Students will be allowed one extension if they give at least 48 hours advance notice. Unexcused late papers will be penalized. I will not accept any papers after the last day of class.

Grading: Each paper counts 25% of your grade; Forum entries/class participation 25% Final take-home paper 25%

Forum: Additionally, virtually every Sunday by midnight (except when papers are due) students will write at least two substantive paragraphs on our class forum, responding to a question that will create a dialogue and help structure thinking about poems for class discussion. Students should respond to one another, argue, quote freely from texts; if you respond early you might check the forums to see if you want to supplement your earlier responses. (late respondents will find a lot of what they wanted to say has already been said). The forums offer the opportunity for informality, risk-taking and respectful disagreement: you will NOT be graded on how right or wrong your interpretation, but rather the substantive and attentive way you approach the texts and comments by other students. The responses will not be graded individually, but collectively will be worth 25% of your grade. You will receive e-mail responses to the work if your entry seems particularly pointed or responsive, or if the quality of work needs improvement. If you miss more than one forum response, your grade will suffer. If your early responses don't respond sufficiently with specificity to the text, I will email you with advice or ask you to come in for conference so I can help . Late responses, because the work will have been discussed in class, cannot be counted.

Forum URL: http://www.colby.edu/fusetalk/forum/?forumid=195

PLEASE CHECK TO SEE IF YOU CAN GET ON THE FORUM THIS WEEK. I.T.S. is not available over the weekends. If you’re having trouble getting on the forum, contact ITS and me please.

You’ll need to log on with yr Colby password: read other replies, respond to them with a reply (this is a conversation among yourselves); suggestions; write reply on word document and cut and paste onto forum in case your reply gets lost, as occasionally happens); the closer to the deadline you respond the more likely what you’ve been thinking has already been said, and that will diminish the content of your forum entry.

Sample –excellent forum entry: Question: In What we Talk About When we Talk About Love," Ed's following speech is full of subtexts, some he's aware of, some he's not. What are a couple of reasons for his distress in the following passage. Look for correspondences and contradictions in other passages. What do you think Carver means it to say about love?

After reading the posts I found Sam's argument that love is intangible to be convincing, but like Stacey had doubts that Carver is instead stressing to us "a need to define love in one way or another." Mel realizes the connection between "physical love, that impulse that drives you to someone special ... and love of the other person's being, his or her essence, as it were" (3). However long a diatribe, the story of the old man and his wife is important in that it shows Mel recognizes the "old man's heart was breaking ... because he couldn't see [his wife] through his eye-holes" (7). His doubts come in labeling what "true love" truly is everlasting if when separated from one's partner "the other party would go out and love again, have someone else soon enough" (3). Mel is obsessed with finding the pattern of things. When pouring himself another drink "he looked at the label closely as if studying a long row of numbers" (6). There is a clear split between Mel and the rest of his group. Mel's audience isn't nearly as receptive as he might have hoped to his musings. When he proposes on pg. 2, 'A toast to love. To true love' the group echoes 'To love.' The narrator notes they raised their "glasses again and grinned at each other like children who had agreed upon something forbidden" (3). The story is filled with subtle hints that Laura, Terri, and Nick are happy with their own definitions of love. After Terri inserts her nervous joke about Mel and his National Safety Council PSA's she says 'sometimes you're just too much. But I love YOU, hon' (4). In reality she seemed anxious that Mel would be opening up like this, she doesn't know how to handle herself. His "get your seatbelts on" reference focuses on 'holding on for life' as much as it does road safety. Laura indulges Mel to finish his story he started while at the same time "was having hard time lighting her cigarette. Her matches kept going out" (6). Her outer appearance remains unphased, the narrator describes the high color in her cheeks and the brightness of her eyes, but as she is listens to the story she is not internalizing its message, her 'light' won't go on. Nick (the narrator) knows "it was hard to keep everything in focus" while listening to Mel's story (7). He also admits "we all need a pill now and then" when Terri presses one upon Mel to sooth his nerves. (8) Mel is trying to 'connect the dots' to love, while our narrator recognizes that maybe there is no pattern in love. When he "stared at the pattern [the leaves] made on the panes and on the Formica counter" he sees "they weren't the same patterns, of course." (6)

Drinking obviously is not solving that problem for him; it is only making his feelings more complicated. The rest of the group act as the foil's to Mel's deterioration, an act which is precipitated by his unrest caused by "true love." Alcohol does bring him to question: "what does any of us really know about love" (2), but by the end of the story I think there is one answer, however ambiguous. Despite the turmoil of his last relationship, the one tangible aspect of his cantankerous marriage that he can identify with is his children. (8) While love was an "intangible" which didn't last with Marjorie, the children are a product of the marriage which exemplifies the love which they both shared with each other - and still do. In reaching out for his children he is searching for "true love".

Edited: 11/11/2006 at 05:35 PM by Bob Brady