English 286: Prose
Professor Susan Kalter
Class meeting time: MW 3-4:15 in Stv 223
Office hours: T 3:30-5 and by appointment on MTW
Office location, phone and email: Stv 420E, 438-8660, smkalte@ilstu.edu
Websites: http://lilt.ilstu.edu/smkalte/default.htm and http://stvcas.cas.ilstu.edu/~smkalte/public
Course Description
In this course, we will examine some of the nature and historical development of prose through the prose of the Fourth World, or Native America. The texts of the Native American Literary Renaissance that we read in the second half of the semester will be placed into historical perspective through prose narratives and indigenous writing from the western hemisphere dating back to the pre-1450 eras. We begin with the Popul Vuh and foundational readings from Gordon Brotherson, Bernardino de Sahagun, Traveller Bird, and others. We will then examine the works of two early twentieth century writers—Mourning Dove and John Joseph Mathews—and four modern Native American writers—N. Scott Momaday, James Welch, Louise Erdrich, and Linda Hogan.
Required texts
(in order of appearance)
You will need the first two items immediately. E-reserves will be available through my website and are linked to the online syllabus there.
Popol Vuh translated by Dennis Tedlock
Readings on-line/on e-reserve
Cogewea by Mourning Dove
Sundown by John Joseph Mathews
House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
Winter in the Blood by James Welch
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan
How to Study in College by Walter Pauk (cost-sharing recommended)
Evaluation
The following grading percentages will be the basis for your final course grade.
Attendance, reading quizzes, & evidence of close, careful
complete, and on-schedule reading of the required texts: 25%
Independent or collaborative research project: 25%
Final exam 25%
Please note that 25% of your grade is based upon preparation for and participation in class. Students who are involved and engaged, and who demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the materials, should excel in this course.
Attendance and reading grade
1) Attendance: Any student who misses a total of seven classes or more, excused or unexcused, will receive an F for the course. Each student may miss up to three class sessions, no questions asked, without harm to the attendance and reading grade. Every absence after the third absence and up through the sixth absence will reduce the overall attendance and reading grade by 5 points. Chronic lateness, disrespectful language, text-messaging during class, and other disruptive activities will lower your attendance and reading grade significantly. Class ends at 4:15 p.m.: packing up prior to that time will be considered a disruptive activity.
2) Reading quizzes: On a regular basis throughout the semester, you will be completing narrative-style, or multiple choice, or other types of quizzes to ensure that you are keeping up with the reading and comprehending what you have read. Failure to complete a minimum of 70% of the reading quizzes will result in an F for the course. Students are expected to look up unfamiliar vocabulary and to obtain assistance from peers, tutors, or the professor when faced with difficulty understanding sentence-level or concept-level aspects of the material. (Difficulty understanding these aspects is assumed: please do not be embarrassed to ask for help, or if you are embarrassed, don’t let that stop you from asking for help.)
3) Evidence of close, careful, complete, and on-schedule reading of the required texts (note-taking skills, study skills enhancement, participation, analytical journaling): Your note-taking practices for lectures and class discussions will be checked and assessed once during the semester: on Friday, March 9. Be sure to use a loose-leaf notebook so that I can collect your notes without interrupting your subsequent note-taking. I will check your note-taking on How To Study in College at the same time that I check your lecture notes. Embedded in your lecture notes, you should have at least three tips from each chapter of Pauk’s book noted as reminders to yourself for improving or maintaining your study skills.
You may enhance both the attendance and reading portions of your grade through regular, in-class participation that exhibits:
• completion of required reading;
• preparation for the day’s class;
• a genuine engagement with the materials and course issues;
• active contribution to discussion topics;
• efforts to work as learning team (i.e. refraining from dominating the discussion, respect for others and their contributions whether you agree or disagree, speaking up if you are normally quiet, showing a collaborative spirit, etc.).
• an understanding of the cognitive value of participating verbally and aurally in active class discussion and collaborative situations; and
• an understanding of your responsibility to contribute reciprocally toward the learning of others
You may also enhance the reading portion of your grade by performing regular analytical journaling. This analytical journaling may be turned in to me with your midterm and final exams. If you choose to keep a journal (handwritten or electronic), each individual entry should be the equivalent of one single-spaced page of writing in a regular font (approximately 700-800 words, or about 40-45 lines of type). Remember that the two key portions of this enhancement activity are: evidence within the journal entries that you have read the selected material closely, carefully, & completely; and analysis of either the text and/or contexts and/or implications of the reading. Analytical journaling is not the same as a personal, subjective freewrite. It is an exploration of the importance of the material for learning and for the growth of society through knowledge of what people in previous societies have spoken or written.
Midterm and Final Exams
The midterm exam will be a take-home exam designed to synthesize your understanding of oral traditions, indigenous forms of writing, and early twentieth-century alphabetic prose. You will be synthesizing together the materials and perspectives that we explore through texts related to that topic. Typed and proofed exams will be due on Friday, March 9. The final exam will be a take-home exam designed to synthesize your understanding of the Native American Literary “Renaissance.” Typed and proofed exams will be due on Monday, May 7th at 3:00 p.m.
Students will have the option of performing either an independent research project or collaborating with one or more other students in the course on a joint research project. Each student, whether working independently or collaboratively, will be responsible for an annotated bibliography of 10 sources including several required types of sources and a 5-page-minimum double-spaced write-up of the research findings. More information about the research project will be available in a handout. Projects are due on Friday, April 20.
This course is designed to present you with a workload of approximately 6 hours per week of reading and writing outside of class. Please plan accordingly. (The formula I use to determine this workload is the standard 3-hours-per-credit-hour formula applied to a 3 credit-hour course.)
All assignments (including attendance) must be completed in order to receive a passing grade in this course. Late assignments will be marked down by one full grade for every twenty-four hours of lateness (including Saturdays and Sundays), with absolutely no excuses accepted and no exceptions made. (Electronic submissions are accepted on weekends and off-hours as proof of completion, with hard copy expected as soon as possible.) Missing class on a day that an assignment is due is not a valid excuse for not turning in work on time. Requests for extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must be conveyed prior to the deadline for that assignment. If at any time, you have a question or concern about a grade or my comments on an assignment, please see me in my office hours or schedule an appointment with me to discuss the matter.
My classroom aspires to be a Disabilities Safezone in an Illinois undereducated about disabilities issues. I attempt to be sensitive and understanding toward the wide range of “visible” and “invisible” disabilities experienced by individuals. Any student in need of a special accommodation should present a Disability Concerns card to me, or first talk to me briefly and then contact Disability Concerns at 438-5853 (voice) or 438-8620 (TDD) in order to obtain an official card documenting your disability. Illinois State University officially supports diversity and compliance with federal anti-discrimination regulations regarding disabilities.
Academic Honesty
I expect my students to maintain the highest standard of academic honesty. You should make yourself familiar with Illinois State University’s Student Code of Conduct, which contains the university’s policy on academic honesty. You should also make yourself familiar with the penalties for violations of the policy and your rights as a student. At last check, the Student Code was posted at http://www.policy.ilstu.edu/archives/student_code_of_conduct.htm.
Please be aware that plagiarism (one form of academic dishonesty) includes, but may not be limited to: using all or part of a source, either directly or in paraphrase, either intentionally or unintentionally, whether that source be published, or online, or taken from a fellow or former student, without acknowledging that source. If you have a question specific to a paper you are working on, please bring it to my attention. I am happy to discuss areas of ambiguity that may exist in your mind.
While students are expected and encouraged to share ideas and insights on the course concepts and materials, all written assignments and other graded components of the course must reflect the individual effort of the student being evaluated. Students found guilty of academic dishonesty will fail this course. Cases of academic dishonesty may also be referred to the Department Chair, the Department Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Community Rights and Responsibilities. Incidents of academic dishonesty can result in penalties up to and including expulsion from the university and may be recorded on official transcripts.
Wednesday, January 17: Introductions
Gordon Brotherson, Selections from Book of the Fourth World
Excerpts from Traveller Bird, Tell Them They Lie
How to Study in College, Chapter 9 (Note-taking Mindset)
Monday, January 29: Popol Vuh, pages 35-43, 91-142 & associated notes
Gerald Vizenor, Selections from Narrative Chance READ ONLY SECOND CHAPTER
Wednesday, January 31: Popol Vuh, pages 43-60, 145-198, 15-19 & associated notes
Excerpts from translations of Bernardino de Sahagun texts: link one, link two, link three
Monday, February 5: Mourning Dove, Cogewea (1927), pages 1-79
Gary Tomlinson, “Unlearning the Cantares Mexicanos”
Wednesday, February 7: Mourning Dove, Cogewea, pages 80-150
Barbara Mann (Seneca/Wyandot), “The Lynx in Time”
How to Study in College, Chapters 4 and 7 (Defending Memory; Building Vocabulary)
Monday, February 12: Mourning Dove, Cogewea, pages 151-227
J.N.B. Hewitt (Tuscarora), from “Iroquois Cosmology”
Wednesday, February 14: SNOW DAY
How to Study in College, Chapter 6 (Improving Reading)
Monday, February 19: Mourning Dove, Cogewea, pages 228-285
Paul A.W. Wallace, from The White Roots of Peace
Wednesday, February 21: John Joseph Mathews, Sundown (1934), chapters 1-6
How to Study in College, Chapter 2 (Controlling Your Time)
Monday, February 26: John Joseph Mathews, Sundown, chapters 7-9
Gerald Vizenor (Ojibwa), “Socioacupuncture”
Keeping Slug Woman Alive, chapter 2
How to Study in College, Chapter 5 (Managing Stress)
The Native American Literary “Renaissance”
Imre Nagy, “Cheyenne Shields...”
Friday, March 9: Midterm due
Wednesday, March 21: N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn, pages 112-198
How to Study in College, Chapter 1 (Setting Goals)
Monday, March 26: James Welch, Winter in the Blood (1974), Part I
Wednesday, March 28: James Welch, Winter in the Blood, Part II
How to Study in College, Chapter 8 (Thinking Visually)
Monday, April 16: Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine, pages 276-367, P. S. 1-16