ENG-240, Growing Up in America, Spring 2004

Section 2524, Tu/Th 9:45-11:05, 132 Humanities

Professor Unger

OFFICE:  392 Humanities, 518.442.2633

OFFICE  HOURS: Tu/Th 1:00-2:15 & By Appointment

E-MAIL:  DonUnger@hotmail.com

 

We have wrestled with the question of what it means to be American since before the founding of the republic, and every generation wrestles with this question anew, from its own particular angle, from its own unique context. 

We will read a number of kinds of worksBnovels, memoirs, and sociological works among themBby men and women of various ethnic and racial backgrounds, in order to examine the experience of growing up in a multi-ethnic society. Your own words, both written and spoken, will also be key to our working through both the problems and pleasures of diversity in 20th and 21st Century America. 

 

The structure of this course is designed to reinforce a few basic points:

1.  You are not expected to get things perfect on your first attempt. 

2.  You are responsible to each other and to yourselves, as much as (or more than) to me, for how you do in the course.  

3. You have input into how things get done.

 

To these ends:

1.  For the two larger projects, the mid-term and final papers, you are required to work in stages and you will receive feedback on these drafts.  In both cases, the most extensive feedback will be on the rough drafts; for the most part, you will simply receive a grade on the final drafts, unless you request a conference to discuss the papers in greater detail.

2.  Both in the draft process and in other parts of the course, you will be giving each other feedback and working interactively.  This does not mean that I will step out of the process.  It does mean that I will sometimes step back.  Process is more important than product; what you work through collectively is ultimately more important than what you produce.

3.  There are a number of places on the syllabusBthe most obvious being those marked Aopen  topic@ and Acourse analysis@Bthat provide an opportunity for you to provide input into how things are going and to offer suggestions as to how things might be changed; mid-semester, there will also be mid-term conferences, unofficial mid-term grades and an opportunity for you to fill out anonymous  course evaluations.

 

Some Administrative Details:

 

Attendance:  Regular class attendance is expected.  You have two allotted absences, which require no explanation.  Thereafter, unexcused absences will lower your grade (half a grade for each absence).  Coming to class either too late to meaningfully participate or insufficiently prepared to participate counts as an absenceBnote, for example, at the bottom of the grid on page three, that if you come to class on days on which you will be working on rough drafts of your papers, without a complete rough draft of your paper, you will be required to leave the class and that day will count as an unexcused absence.

 

Participation:  As a great deal of class time will be spent in a variety of interactive formats, active participation is essential.  In order to participate meaningfully, it is essential that you do the required work, particularly the reading, and do it on time.  Participation makes up 20% of your final grade (see below for a full breakdown).

Notebooks:  Students are required to keep a notebook, including thoughts on assigned readings, preliminary work on papers and comments or questions generated by class discussion.  Students may be asked to read notebook entries aloud in large or small group discussions, or to use them in a variety of in-class exercises.  Notebooks may be collected at any time during the term; all notebooks will be turned in at the end of the term.  Students who are keeping up with the work should find that they are writing a minimum of five pages per week in their notebooks.

 

Plagiarism:  Any student who plagiarizes, or assists other students in so doing, will fail the course  and be further dealt with according to university guidelines.  A good deal of collaboration is encouraged in and out of class; failing to acknowledge sources or willfully misrepresenting work, however, is not acceptable.  Papers requiring research should follow MLA guidelines in terms of citation.

 

Grades:  Short Assignment grades will be checks, with pluses and minuses.  Grades on the papers and oral presentations will be letter grades, also with pluses and minuses.  Course grades will be letter grades per university guidelines.  While grading should not be competitive, it is reasonable to want larger context for your grades.  For that reason, when I return graded assignments, I will generally give a list (anonymous, of course) of how many grades of each type were given for each assignment.  The following should make clear what is required to attain each grade:

 

A:  Understood the assignment and was able to reinterpret it, adding a high degree of personal style and insight.  Essentially without mechanical flaws. 

 

B:  Understood and was able to reinterpret the assignment.  Went beyond the minimum the assignment called for.  Better than average from a mechanical point of view.

 

C:  Reasonable understanding of the assignment.  Visible effort to fulfill the requirements of the assignment.  Adequate level of mechanical competence.

 

D:  Flawed understanding of the assignment.  Some evidence of a good faith effort to understand and complete the assignment.  High number of mechanical errors. 

F:  Clear that the assignment was not understood.  No serious effort made to understand or complete the assignment.  Very high number of mechanical errors. 

 

NG: On rare occasionsCif a paper shows that work has been done but it doesn=t fit the assignment, for exampleCI will give a ANo Grade,@ which means the assignment must be re-written and re-submitted.

 

Grade Calculation

 

Your final grades will be weighted, as follows:

 

70% Writing assignments

(30% Mid-Term Paper/40% Final Paper)

20% Class Participation

(10% Oral Presentation/10% General Participation and Quizzes)

10% Notebooks

 

Access to the instructor:  You are encouraged to bring any and all questions or problems that you have about or with the class to me.  My office hours, e-mail address, and office phone number are on the first page of this syllabus (email is always bestBand fastest).  Within the first couple of weeks of the term, I will also distribute a phone and e-mail sheet to facilitate communication among members of the class.

 

Growing Up in America, ENG240-2524, Spring 2004

 

 

Date

 

Topic

 

Assignment

 

Th/22 Jan.

 

Course Introduction

 

 

 

Tu/27 Jan.

 

Honky

 

Chaps. 1-8

 

Th/29 Jan.

 

Honky

 

Chaps. 9-Epilog

 

Tu/3 Feb.

 

Race vs. Class

 

Short Assignment #1

 

Thu/5 Feb.

 

How Do We Become American?

 

Short Assignment #2

 

Tu/10 Feb.

 

How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

 

Pgs. 1-149

 

Thu/12 Feb.

 

How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

 

Pgs. 150-290

 

Thu/19 Feb.

 

In-Class Workshop of Mid-Term Papers1

 

Mid-Term Papers, rough draft

 

Tu/24 Feb.

 

Mandatory Conferences to be Scheduled: No Classes2

 

 

 

Thu/26 Feb.

 

Mandatory Conferences to be Scheduled: No Classes2

 

 

 

Tu/2 Mar.

 

Readings from Mid-Term Papers

 

Mid-Term Papers, final draft

 

Thu/4 Mar.

 

Who=s AUs@ and Who=s AThem@?

 

Short Assignment #3

 

Tu/9 Mar.

 

Typical American

 

Pgs. 1-150

 

Thu/11 Mar.

 

Typical American                                          (Middle of Term)

 

Pgs. 151-296  

 

Tu/16 Mar.

 

Under Dead Man=s Skin

 

Chaps. 1-17

 

Thu/18 Mar.

 

Under Dead Man=s Skin

 

Chaps. 18- Epilog

 

Tu/23 Mar.

 

Why Are Americans So Violent?

 

Short Assignment #4

 

Thu/25 Mar.

 

In-Class Workshop of Final Papers1

 

Final Papers, rough draft

 

Tu/30 Mar.

 

Presentations

 

Student Presentations

 

Thu/1 Apr.

 

Open Topic

 

 

 

 

 

SPRING BREAK

 

 

 

Tu/13 Apr.

 

Halving It All

 

Chaps. 1-7

 

Thu/15 Apr.

 

Halving It All

 

Chaps. 8-11

 

Tu/20 Apr.

 

The Changing Role of Fathers

 

Short Assignment #5

 

Thu/22 Apr.

 

What Does AFamily@ Mean?

 

Short Assignment #6

 

Tu/27 Apr.

 

Presentations

 

Student Presentations

 

Thu/29 Apr.

 

Open Topic

 

 

 

Tu/4 May.

 

Course Analysis

 

Final Portfolio

 

1.  On these days, complete, typed rough drafts are due in class.  Those without such drafts will be required to leave class for the day and this will count as an unexcused absence.

 

2.  Missing your conference appointment is the equivalent of missing one week of classes.     

 

Course Requirements

 

Mid-Term Paper (ca. 2500 wds.): Within the framework of either race or class, make a clear, text-based argument about either Honky or How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.

 

Final Paper (ca. 3000 wds.): Choose one of themes that we have discussed in class, and contrast your experience growing up with that of your parents= generation.  Support what you are arguing about the differences using multiple text citations from at least two of the books we=ve read this term.

 

Oral Presentation (10-12 minutes): Topic list and sign-up sheet will be circulated during the first weeks of class.

 

Course Notebook: You should be taking regular notes as you read, jotting down the things that interest you, the things that confuse you, the things that you want to remember.  This should be useful to you as you work toward developing both the mid-term and the final papers.  You should also mark off a section in your notebook for vocabulary.  You will regularly encounter words with which you are not familiar: you are responsible for looking up these words.

 

Quizzes: To encourage you both to do the reading, and to keep up with the vocabulary in the reading, you will be quizzed on an occasional basis.

 

Note on word requirements: The word requirements for the assignments (and the notebook) are given as guidelines and should be treated as such.  If I=ve asked for around 3000 words and you write an excellent 2800 word paper, the fact that you are A200 words short,@ won=t hurt your grade, nor will handing in a mediocre paper that=s padded out to 4200 words raise your grade.  Concentrate on quality; I=m not grading by weight.

 

Short Assignments

 

These assignments should be written in your notebooks and should run two to three pages (that is two to three sides of the page, single spaced).  Consider this Alow stakes@ writing.  I=m not concerned that it be perfect; I=m more interested in content.  Be aware that this is to be considered public writing.  As a matter of grading, for the most part, this is Aall or nothing.@  Do the work and you get a 100% on the assignment; don=t do it and you get a zero.  I=ve assigned the topics below but you may construe them broadly.

 

Short Assignment #1: How do you identify yourself as a matter of social or economic class and what does this identity mean to you?

Short Assignment #2: Do you feel more or less American than your parents or your grandparents?  Why?

Short Assignment #3: What are you permitted to say about a group of which you consider yourself a member, which an outsider is not permitted to say?

Short Assignment #4: When is violence acceptable?  Why?  How would you apply this to children?

Short Assignment #5: Think about your parents, your grandparents and about your peers; how has the image of manhood changed across the generations?  Do you see this change as good or bad?

Short Assignment #6: How do you define family?

 

Texts (available at Book House, in Stuyvesant Plaza)

 

How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Alvarez

Honky, by Dalton Conley

Halving It All: How Shared Parenting Works, by Francine M. Deutsch

Typical American, by Gish Jen

Under Dead Man=s Skin: Discovering the Meaning of Children's Violent Play, by Jane Katch