His. 330, Sec. 2: The History of Mississippi
Instructor:
Office & Office Hours:
Fall 2012
Jack Carey (tjcarey@olemiss.edu)
Old Athletics 104, hours by appointment
Course Overview: This course examines the history of Mississippi from early settlements through the present. Students will read several books,
several articles, and several short stories. In addition to completing reading assignments, students will participate in class discussions, take in-class
quizzes, write three papers, and take two essay-exams.
Papers and Readings: Each student will write a total of three papers. Every student will complete the first paper assignment, which deals with William
Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! Every student will also complete the final paper assignment, which deals with Curtis Wilkie’s Dixie and W. Ralph
Eubanks’s Ever Is a Long Time. Of the middle three paper assignments, each student will write one of the papers. The papers are not long; the first two
will be 2-3 pages, and the third will be 3-4 pages. Paper assignments and guidelines will be available on Blackboard well in advance of the due dates.
Each student may turn in one late paper during the course. A late paper will receive a letter-grade deduction, and no late papers will be accepted after
the final exam. Each student will be responsible for the content of all of the readings.
Texts:
William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!
William Alexander Percy, Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter’s Son
Eudora Welty, Delta Wedding
Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
Curtis Wilkie, Dixie: A Personal Odyssey through the Events that Shaped the Modern South
W. Ralph Eubanks, Ever Is a Long Time: A Journey into Mississippi’s Dark Past
Additional excerpts, documents, articles, and short stories will be available on Blackboard under the course content tab.
Materials: Each student will need to turn in two unmarked, full-size bluebooks in advance of the first exam.
Grading: This class will not use the plus/minus grading scale. We will use the traditional A/B/C/D/F grading scale. Students will earn their grades based
upon their in-class participation, their exams, and their papers:
Three papers:
45% (15% each)
Two exams:
50% (25% each)
Participation:
5%
Attendance: You need to be in class. After two unexcused absences, each additional absence will drop your quiz/participation grade by a point. If you
miss a quiz or a class discussion with an unexcused absence, you will receive a zero for the quiz and for that day’s discussion.
Academic Honesty: Any form of academic dishonesty will earn you an F for the class.
Course Schedule: (Note: All dates are subject to change.)
Aug. 20 (M)
Introduction
Aug. 22 (W)
First Impressions and Key Questions
Reading: Walker Percy, “Mississippi: The Fallen Paradise”
Aug. 27 (M)
Choctaws and Chickasaws
Begin reading Absalom, Absalom!
Aug. 29 (W)
Flush Times?
Reading: Selections from the Carter Family Letters
Sep. 5 (W)
The Peculiar Institution
Reading: Michael Wayne, “An Old South Morality Play”
Sep. 10 (M)
The Design of Antebellum Mississippi
Reading: William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!
Sep. 12 (W)
The Impending Crisis
*Absalom, Absalom! paper due (Note: this is a required paper.)
Sep. 17 (M)
Secession
Reading: Documents from the secession crisis
Sep. 19 (W)
War
Reading: Documents on the Civil War in Mississippi
Sep. 24 (M)
MID-TERM EXAM
Sep. 26 (W)
The Vanquished and the Freed
Reading: Eudora Welty, “The Burning”
Oct. 1 (M)
Reconstruction
Begin reading Lanterns on the Levee
Oct. 3 (W)
Redemption
Oct. 8 (M)
The Un-redeemed Farmer
Oct. 10 (W)
The Bottom Rail on Top
Reading: William Alexander Percy, Lanterns on the Levee
Oct. 15 (M)
Origins of Jim Crow
Reading: J. Todd Moye, “At the Hands of Parties Known”
Begin reading Delta Wedding
Lanterns on the Levee paper due (Note: this is one of three optional papers.)
Oct. 17 (W)
Jim Crow
Oct. 22 (M)
Families, Men, and Women
Reading: Eudora Welty, Delta Wedding
Oct. 24 (W)
Depression
Reading: Eudora Wetly, “The Whistle”
Delta Wedding paper due (Note: this is one of three optional papers.)
Oct. 29 (M)
Migration
Begin reading Coming of Age in Mississippi
Oct. 31 (W)
Stirrings
Nov. 5 (M)
Never
Reading: J. Todd Moye, “Organized Aggression Must Be Met by Organized Resistance”
Nov. 7 (W)
Freedom Summer and After
Reading: Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
Nov. 12 (M)
A New Mississippi?
Coming of Age in Mississippi paper due (Note: This is one of three optional papers.)
Nov. 14 (W)
Personal Odysseys I
Reading: Curtis Wilkie, Dixie
Nov. 26 (M)
Personal Odysseys II
Reading: W. Ralph Eubanks, Ever Is a Long Time
Nov. 28 (W)
Mississippi
Reading: Willie Morris, “At Ole Miss: Echoes of a Civil War’s Last Battle”
Reading: Eudora Welty, “Where Is the Voice Coming From?”
Dixie and Ever Is a Long Time paper due (Note: This is a required paper.)
Dec. 6 (R) FINAL EXAM, 4 PM