Katedra anglického jazyka a literatúry Fakulty humanitných a prírodných vied Prešovskej univerzity, 17. novembra 1, 081 16 Prešov
Literature of the Ethnic Minorities in the USA
Summer Semester
2008/ 2009
Elective Course
Instructor: doc. PhDr. Jaroslav Kušnír, PhD.
Room No. 242
tel.: (051)7570232; (051)7570247
e-mail: jkusnir@fhpv.unipo.sk
Webpage for this syllabus: see the Moodle system, Native American Literature Course (everybody is supposed to sign in in the Moodle SYSTEM, and to create her/his profile there)
Course Description:
This course will consist of two parts – the first part, that is from February 9th to March 31st, 2009 will be taking place as distance learning through the Moodle system. You will have to sign up for the course in the Moodle system for which you need 1) a password. You will obtain your password from Ing. Martin Marušák from the Computer Centre at FHPV before the course starts. Then you will have 2) to create a profile in the Moodle system, that is basically your identity so that I could send you messages and evaluate your activity during this part of the course. Then you will enter the course by 3) clicking on the icon
Literature of the Ethnic Minorities in the USA course. When you click on the icon, you will need what is called 4) enrollment key, which is basically another password. This is created by me. The enrollment key for this course is—native. You will have the tasks, assignments, questions and other activities along with deadlines to be done each week in the Moodle system. Each week will have separate topic and assignments to be done and submitted online, that is in the Moodle system. In addition to creation your profie, it is compulsory to check the Moodle system during the week for further instructions and all deadlines must be kept. You will find the syllabus, my lecture notes and bibliography for this course in the Moodle system as well.
2) The second part of the course, that is from March 31, 2009 will be taking place in the real classroom at FHPV in Prešov, that is through traditional teaching and activities in the classroom, you should just follow the seminar programme, reading, writing and other assignments.
3) There is a possibility those who will be graduating this year will apply for this course as well. This means that those students’ semester is shorter (finishing in April 11th, 2009). For this reason, the course is divided into two modules- the basic module for students graduating in 2009 (bachelor’s degree) and extended module for those who will be graduating later than this year. Those who graduate this year will be able to take only the basic module after which they will get their credits after fulfilling requirements below (see requirements and deadlines).
Course Description:
The main aim of the course is to familiarize students with multicultural character of American fiction and with the formation of different ethnic literary traditions within the context of American culture. The discussion will revolve around the terms such as minority, ethnicity, race and multiculturalism and a difference among them. The main emphasis will be on the Native- American, Black-American, Jewish-American, Asian-American and Hispanic-American literature and the way literatures of these minorities reflect a relationship to both their and American culture. The above groups of authors are not understood to fall into a unified category of ethnic or racial belonging, but a diversity and heterogeneity of each category will be emphasized. We will point out the way this writing has contributed to both an enrichment and diversity of the American literary canon. The other objective of the course is to stimulate students’ independent and creative thinking on literature that would help them appreciate the aesthetic and cultural merits of the works discussed.
Lecture and Seminar Program:
I. THE BASIC MODULE (COMPULSORY FOR ALL)
1) Diversity of American culture, ethnicity and Immigration
2) Melting Pot and American Dream
3) a) T. Jefferson: A Declaration of Independence
b.) H. St. Jean de Crevecour: What is An American?
NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE AND BACKGROUND
1) The Origin Myth of Acoma
2) D’Arcy Mc Nickle: Train Time
3) Teton Sioux Songs
4) Gerald Vizenor: Feral Lasers
5) Sherman Alexie: The Toughest Indian of the World
AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE AND BACKGROUND
1) Slave Narratives: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (extract available at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography (chapters 4-7)
M. Luther King: I Have a Dream
2) Harlem Rennaissance:
L. Hughes: Themes for English B
Dream Buggie
Zora Neale Hurston: Sweat
3) Modern, Contemporary and Experiment:
Alice Walker: Everyday Use
JEWISH-AMERICAN LITERATURE AND BACKGROUND
EUROPE AND AMERICA, TRADITION AND NEW LIFE:
Isaac Bashevis Singer: Gimpel, the Fool
HISPANIC-AMERICAN LITERATURE AND BACKGROUND
Sandra Cisneros: Little Miracles, Kept Promises
II. EXTENDED MODULE (Continuation of the course after April 11, 2009, that is for those who do not graduate in 2009):
Women, Humor, Myth and Writing:
Grace Paley: Samuel
Howard Wolf: Library of the Lost
ASIAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE AND BACKGROUND
Carlos Bulosan: Silence
Amy Tan: Two Kinds
Course requirements:
- to sign up for the course in the Moodle system, create a profile and fulfill all course requirements
- if you do not create a profile or do not fulfill weekly requirements and assignments during the distance part of the course, you cannot get a credit and proceed with a course
- in addition, if you create a profile but do not fulfill assignments regularly, I will inform a Disciplinary Commission of the FHPV PU in Prešov about this with an official letter
- to attend classes and to participate in the class discussions during the regular part of the course – since March 31st, 2009
- to do all oral and written assignments on a sufficient level and on time
- to pass a graded test based on your knowledge on Australian literature and its practical application through the analysis of a literary work
· Attendance at seminars during the second part of the course is compulsory. If you miss the class for whatever reason, you should contact me as soon as possible to explain the reasons. Unexcused absence is unacceptable. I can, however, excuse your absence if you have any reasons, but you should ask me about it in advance, before intending to miss the class. Please, mind that if your name is not signed in the attendance sheet distributed during the seminar lessons, you are considered to be absent from the class.
- if you have two and more excused absences during the second part of the course (non-distance, traditional learning), and extra work will be required from you, usually an extra test or essay
- most of the reading materials can be found in our departmental library, on internet, or at Faculty of Arts Library-Resource Center at FF PU in Prešov.
- the dates for the credit test will be specified during the semester. The test will include the lecture and seminar topics (my lecture notes and works to be read for the seminar) and possibly an extra chapter or two to be studied (provisional deadline is April 3, 2009, exact date will be specified during the semester)
Literature of the Ethnic Minorities in the USA
Reading list for a credit test:
· all works included in the seminar program plus:
1) US. Society and Values – online , Vol. 5, no. 1, february 2000
2) American Indian Fiction 1968-1983 available at http://www2.tcu.edu/depts/prs/amwest/html/wl1058.html
Asian-American Literature: History, Classroom Use, Bibliography & WWW Resources
3) compiled by Brenda Hoffman (only Introduction, Rationale, Characteristics and History part, available at http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/asialit.htm
4) Slave Narratives: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (extract) http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography (chapters 4-7)
Prešov, November 19th, 2008 doc. PhDr. Jaroslav Kušnír, PhD.
- Učiteľ: Kusnir Jaroslav
- Učiteľ: Matejova Zuzana