Course Syllabus

Protest Literature

ENG 34023                                                                 Kate Glavin

Fall 2013

Class Website:                                                                        A 308, kate.glavin@ottawa.edu

eng34023.blogspot.com                                            Office hours: MWF, by appointment

                                               

“I submit that literature is made upon any occasion that a challenge is put to the legal apparatus by conscience in touch with humanity.”

                                                                                    --Nelson Algren

Course description:  An examination of a variety of literary works from the middle of the 19th century to the present, focusing on the ways they critique prevailing power structures and ideology.  How these various writers construe the relationship between aesthetics and politics (that is, the social/political purposes of their art) is the central question we will seek to answer.  By examining the ways in which each work assaults the status quo of an inhumane, often brutal society, we will trace a tradition of protest literature and discover the means and methods of protest writers from several different cultures and national literatures.

 

Required texts:

            Algren, Nelson. Chicago: City on the Make  

            Davis, Rebecca Harding.  Life in the Iron Mills

Despentes, Virginie. King Kong Theory

Jensen, Derrick.  The Culture of Make Believe

Marx, Karl.  The Communist Manifesto

Thoreau, Henry David.  Civil Disobedience & Other Essays

            Wright, Richard. Native Son. 

Course Purposes:  This class is designed to treat, at least in part, the outcomes for the English major requirement at Ottawa University.  In terms of this course, these are:

Knowledge

·          Knowledge of the functions of language in representing human experience; knowledge of literary genres; knowledge of selected works of contemporary literature; and knowledge of approaches to literary criticism.

Skills

·          Communication.  The student will display her ability to write clearly and coherently in short analytic essays, in written questions about the reading, and in other written formats.  Students will also engage in effective oral discussion by raising appropriate questions, marshaling relevant evidence, and providing sensitive, incisive feedback to other speakers and writers.

·          Critical thinking.  The student will analyze literary texts using a variety of critical approaches, and will be able to evaluate the validity and soundness of competing approaches.

Values

·          Ethical Values.  The student will recognize ethical dilemmas in most, if not all, of the literary works and identify the values that inform them.  The student will also recognize personally held values that inform her own responses to such dilemmas.

Papers:  During the course of the semester you will write three 5-7 page papers on a selected topic.  One of these papers will likely require you to consult critical voices other than your own in the form of secondary sources.  The goal of this research paper will be synthesis rather than regurgitation; I want you to pursue an interesting argument about the text (and criticism) you have chosen, using specific evidence from the text to prove your case.  The last of the three papers will be a written narrative of your own act of social protest (see “final project” below) and any analysis of its execution and outcomes that you wish to provide.

Late papers:  Late papers will be lowered a letter grade for each class day late and will not be accepted for a grade after they are a week late.

Oral presentation/final project:  Near the end of the semester I will ask all of you to prepare a 15-20 minute presentation on an act of social protest in which you will have engaged.  The idea for this particular protest event will arise (in an ideal world) out of our readings and class discussions and will be relevant to the overarching subject of protest literature.

      Class participation:  As a discussion-oriented class, its success hinges on the quality of your participation in the discussions.  The small size of the class will allow us to explore these texts together as a community of readers, and in this respect I will think of our class time together as weekly conversations.  You will want to read our assignments with an eye toward discussion, noting what interests, perplexes, amuses, angers, or excites you.  When you read for class, write down your ideas about the material and come to class prepared to voice an opinion, to support it with evidence from the readings, and to respond respectfully to other students.  At times I will ask all of you to mark passages from the reading and come to class prepared to talk about them. 

Attendance:  Given the small size of this class, your attendance is extremely important.  I will adhere to the policy that more than five unexcused absences will adversely affect your final grade; but beyond that rather legalistic threat I should say that I genuinely relish seeing all of you in class and talking about issues that will arise from our readings, especially the issues that most interest you.

Disclaimer:  Course content and schedule may vary from this outline to meet the needs of the group.  The instructor will explain the rationale for any variance as it occurs.

Students with Disabilities: Any student in this course who has a documented disability should inform me as soon as possible.  The student must declare her disability and request related services by promptly submitting a completed Accommodations Request Form, as well as necessary documentation, to her campus Disabilities Services Coordinator.  All arrangements for implementing approved accommodations are collaborative, involving the student, the Disabilities Services Coordinator, and the instructor.  

Plagiarism:  Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s ideas or words without citing the source, or the use of another person’s essay and passing it off as one’s own.  All work must be original for this class.  The penalty for plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty will be failure in the course.

Grading:  Grades will be based on two major exams (each worth 15%), two typed papers (each worth 22.5%), and classroom participation (25%). I may make slight changes to these criteria if I feel other work should factor into the work you do for this course.  NOTA BENE:  You must complete all assignments to receive a passing grade in the course.

                        Grading scale:   A = 90-100

                                                  B = 80-89

                                                  C = 70-79

                                                  D = 60-69

                                                  F = 0-59