Native American Literature

Eng 354--Native American Literature

Room: Buck 1 Time: TTH 1:10-2:25

Instructor: James Plath Office: English House 303 Phone: 556-3352

Hours: TTH 2:30-3:30, W 1-3 and by appt. URL: http://titan.iwu.edu/~jplath

Email: jplath@titan.iwu.edu

Texts: Nothing but the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature (Purdy & Ruppert), The Way to Rainy Mountain (N. Scott Momaday), Winter in the Blood (James Welch), Love Medicine (Louise Erdrich) and selected handouts.

Course Goal: This is a multi-genre course. We'll explore selected theoretical essays, poetry, and prose from Nothing but the Truth and read three novels in common, with additional reading assigned by groups. In the process, we'll try to come to a greater understanding of the ways in which Native Americans see the world, and consider to what degree postcolonial theory might be applied. We'll also try to understand the issues that concern Native American writers.

Course Requirements:

Attendance is mandatory. More than 3 unexcused absences affects grade. And in a senior seminar, you're considered absent if you don't participate in class discussion.
Students will be expected to keep up with the reading, to contribute significantly to class discussion with informed opinions (i.e., opinions based on reading and research, not b.s.). Though a skeletal syllabus is provided, since this is a 300-level class, students will responsible for the trajectory and shape that discussions take.
Each student must work in a small group to present readings chosen by the group, along with appropriate outside sources.
All assignments MUST be completed for students to receive a grade for the course.
All work must be typed and double-spaced with standard l to l l/2" margins. Computer work should be submitted in 12pt Times, double-spaced (printed both sides okay). Only hard copy will be accepted. No email submissions.
Papers must be submitted in MLA style--handout and examples to be provided--and students must present a portion of the final paper at the class "conference" held in lieu of a final exam. The usual conference fare (coffee and donuts) will be provided.
Two conferences are required, more encouraged. And despite the miracle of technology and the MLA Online Bibliography, computer searches will always prove incomplete. Students should count making several trips to Ames and nearby Milner.

Grades will be determined on the following basis:

Class participation (includes active discussion, assignments and quizzes)----25 percent

Small group presentations--------------------------------------------------------------25 percent

2 Critical papers (8-12pp each)--------------------------------------------------------50 percent (25 percent each)

Tentative Calendar:

Jan 8--Intro and in-class reading and discussion: "For Heather, Entering Kindergarten" (Roberta Hill), "How to Write the Great American Indian Novel" (Sherman Alexie), and "Who am I?" (Joyce carlEtta Mandrake)
Jan 10--"Introduction" (Brian Swann), "The Woman Who Loved a Snake" (Greg Sarris) and "Storytelling" (Leslie Marmon Silko)

Jan 15--"The Sacred Hoop" (Paula Gunn Allen) and poems "Dear World," "Kopis'taya, A Gathering of Spirits," and "Soundings"
Jan 17--The Way to Rainy Mountain (N. Scott Momaday), first half

Jan 22--The Way to Rainy Mountain (N. Scott Momaday), second half
Jan 24--"The American Indian Fiction Writers" (Elizabeth Cook-Lynn)"The Man Made of Words" (Momaday) and "The Hawk is Hungry" (D'Arcy McNickle)

Jan 29--Winter in the Blood (James Welch), first half (through Chap 19)
Jan 31--Winter in the Blood, last half

Feb 5--Film: Thunderheart (based on real events, 118 min.)
Feb 7--"Borders" (Thomas King) and "What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" (Sherman Alexie)

Feb 12--"Tony's Story" (Silko) and "The Killing of a State Cop" (Simon Ortiz)
Feb 14--Film: Powwow Highway (90 min., based on a book by David Seals--film begins at 1pm.)

Feb 19--"Towards a National Indian Literature" (Ortiz) and "Indian Humor" (Vine Deloria)
Feb 21--Film: Smoke Signals (88 min., based on a book by Sherman Alexie)

Feb 26--"Yellow Woman" and "The Man to Send Rain Clouds" (Silko)
Feb 28--Love Medicine (Louise Erdrich), first third

Mar 4-- Love Medicine (Louise Erdrich), second third
Mar 6--No class--individual conferences to discuss first paper

Mar 11--Love Medicine, final third
Mar 13--"Postmodernism, Native American Literature and the Real: The Silko-Erdrich Controversy" (Susan Perez Castillo); DUE: FIRST PAPER

SPRING BREAK (no class March 18-20)

Mar 25--"The Possibilities of a Native Poetics," plus poems "Living History," "Rewriting Your Life," "Rituals, Yours--and Mine," and "Where I was That Day" (Kimberly Blaeser)
Mar 27--"The Woman Who Fell From the Sky," "She Had Some Horses" (Joy Harjo); "Angle of Geese," "The Bear," "The Eagle Feather Fan," "At Risk," "December 29, 1890" (Momaday)

Apr 1--GROUP 1 ROUNDTABLE
Apr 3--"Dear John Wayne" (Erdrich), "The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window" (Harjo), and "The New Apartment, Minneapolis" (Linda Hogan)

Apr 8--GROUP 2 ROUNDTABLE
Apr 10--"The Old Man's Lazy," "Rattle," "To-ta Ti-om," "Drum" (Peter Blue Cloud), "Above the Line" (Joseph Bruchac), "They Tell Me I am Lost," "Wild Strawberry" (Maurice Kenny), "The First Dimension of Skunk" (Ray A. Young Bear)

Apr 15--No class--individual conferences to discuss paper
Apr 17--GROUP 3 ROUNDTABLE

Apr 22--Wrap-up; DUE: SECOND PAPER

FINAL EXAM "CONFERENCE": THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 10:15-12:15

Plath Country