Modern American Authors: The Western & the West ENLT 2514 Ethan Reed Pavilion VIII 108
[email protected] TR 12:30PM – 1:45PM Office hours: TBD Key dates & policies Writing assignments Writing Project 1: 5-6 pages, due Friday February 24th. Writing Project 2: 6-8 pages, due Wednesday April 5th. Writing Project 3: 6-8 pages, due Sunday May 7th. Includes research (cite 3 academic sources). Rewrite of Writing Project 1 or 2 + self-assessment letter: due Sunday May 7th. Late policy: For every 24 hours past due date, lose 1/3 of a letter grade on writing project. Weekly Collab posts: Allowed to make up two missed posts during the semester. Attendance Attendance for this course is mandatory. Students are permitted two unexcused absences without penalty. Each absence beyond these two results in a 1/3 letter grade reduction of final grade (NOT participation grade). If more than four absences I ask that you withdraw or will give you a failing grade for the semester. Final Exam Saturday, May 6, 2:00PM—5:00PM. Evaluation Writing Portfolio: 60% Final Exam: 20% Participation: 20% Course Description Posses, shootouts, and the frontier–loners, violence, and the law. Or is it family, legacy, and society–storytellers, safety, and a warm hearth? What is a western? What is the West, and why do we keep writing stories about it? This course explores where myth and reality meet on the horizon of the American West, the staying power of the stories that have been imagined out of it, and how modern writers adapt, challenge, and disrupt the legacies of both.