Joshua Mann
joshmann@stanford.edu
Office Hours: TTh 12:30-2
Reading 1939: American Culture Between Depression and War
WISE / Winter 2016
TTh 9:30-11:20
Course Description: This course zooms in historically and close-reads an eclectic mix of
American literary and cinematic objects produced in 1939, a year situated just after the economic
depression’s worst ravages and witness to the onset of World War II. Keeping an eye on how our
conceptions of modernism and postmodernism shift when interpreted through this cultural
moment’s various genres, themes, and forms, we will read Nathanael West’s The Day of the
Locust, Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, engage in an extended reading of John Steinbeck’s
The Grapes of Wrath, and then investigate the films The Wizard of Oz and Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington. Throughout the course and culminating in their own original research, students will
be encouraged to make contemporary social, political, and literary connections, all while
analyzing the specific ways we engage in historical literary criticism.
Primary Texts:
1. Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust (1939)
2. Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep (1939)
3. John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
4. Dir. John Ford, Stagecoach (1939)
5. Dir. Frank Capra, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Secondary Texts:
1. Clement Greenberg, “Avant-Garde and Kitsch” (1939)
2. Dorothea Lange and Paul Schuster Taylor, An American Exodus: A Record of Human
Erosion (1939) (excerpts)
3. Lewis Jacobs, The Rise of the American Film: A Critical History (1939) (excerpts)
4. Carey McWilliams, Factories in the Field (1939) (excerpts)
5. Michael Szalay, New Deal Modernism (2000) (excerpts)
6. Sean McCann, Gumshoe America: Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction and the Rise and Fall of
New Deal Liberalism (2000) (excerpts)
7. Michael North, Reading 1922: A Return to the Scene of the Modern (1999) (excerpts)
8. A selection of historical documents and art objects, including: Billie Holiday, “Strange
Fruit” (1939); Lead Belly, “The Bourgeois Blues” (1939); Edward Hopper, “New York
Movie” (1939)
*All secondary material will be available on Coursework
Editions: Books are available at the Stanford Bookstore. The films will be on reserve at the
Green library and will be screened prior to class.
The Day of the Locust (New Directions, June 23, 2009)) [ISBN-10: 0811218228]
The Big Sleep (Vintage; Reprint edition (June 11, 2002)) [ISBN- 1604445181]
The Grapes of Wrath (Penguin Classics, March 28, 2006) [ISBN-10: 0143039431]
Assignments
1. Weekly one-page response to assigned reading and class material.
2. A short paper (3-5 pages) that focuses on one textual detail––a short passage, a
recurring trope, or a formal oddity––in West’s The Day of the Locust or Chandler’s The
Big Sleep that stages an argument concerning the novel’s relationship with its historical
moment.
3. An Annotated Bibliography / Research Proposal (3-5 pages)
4. Final Research Paper (12-15 pages) and in-class presentation
Learning Goals
1.
Development of close-reading skills for literary, cinematic, and critical texts.
2.
An understanding of the various genres, modes, and styles that characterize American
interwar literature and literary modernism.
3.
An increased ability to explicate and appropriate theories and thematics from multiple
disciplines for use within literary studies.
4.
Experience planning, researching, and writing an original work of literary criticism that
utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach.
Attendance and Participation:
Because the class is small and participatory in nature, attendance is essential. Your ability to
complete weekly writing assignments is integral to your participation grade. If you must miss a
class you are required to let the instructor know as far in advance as possible to arrange the
make-up of any missed work. When dilemmas arise, please remember to stay in contact with me.
Full credit for participation will not be granted solely on the grounds of good attendance, but
must include active and regular participation in the discussions (aim for quality, not necessary
quantity), weekly writing assignments and workshops taking place in the classroom.
Deadlines and Late Papers:
Legitimate requests for extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and should be
submitted at least 48 hours before the assignment’s deadline. Late papers will be penalized 1/3 of
a letter grade per day. For example, a strong paper that is submitted on time may receive the
grade of an A-. The same paper submitted a day late would receive a B.
Grades:
In determining your course grade, assignments will be weighted as follows:
Participation
First Paper
Annotated Bibliography
Final Paper
15%
25%
25%
35%
We’ll discuss evaluation criteria and your personal writing goals throughout the quarter. Below,
however, are general grading guidelines that apply across assignments:
A range: The submitted work is outstanding in form and content. It is original, or it
expands in a new way on ideas presented in the course. The evidence presented in
support of the claims is carefully chosen and fully considered. The analysis or
interpretation is not only unified and coherent, but also complex and nuanced.
B range: The submitted work meets the requirements for the assignment, is clear and
coherent and presents evidence in support of its points. It shows comprehension of the
material and manifests critical thinking about the issues raised in the course. It does not
demonstrate the complexity, the insight, or the integrated structure of A-range work.
C range: The submitted work has some, but not all of the basic components required; for
example, it may offer an argument but it presents no evidence to support the argument; or
it may repeat concepts presented in seminars without demonstrating understanding or
expanding on them.
D range or below: The submitted work lacks more than one of the basic required
components.
Week 1
Tuesday, Jan. 5
Introductions; In-Class writing
Thursday, Jan. 7
NO CLASS
Week 2
Tuesday, Jan. 12
The Day of the Locust
W.H. Auden, “West’s Disease”
Thursday, Jan. 14
The Day of the Locust
West, “Burn the Cities”
Clement Greenberg, “Avant-Garde and Kitsch” (1939)
Week 3
Tuesday, Jan. 19
The Big Sleep
Sean McCann, Gumshoe America (excerpts)
Thursday, Jan. 21
The Big Sleep
Michael North, Reading 1922: A Return to the Scene of the Modern (1999) (excerpts)
1st paper workshop
Week 4
PAPER 1 DUE: Monday, Jan. 25 by 5pm
Tuesday, Jan. 26
Intro: Steinbeck and The Grapes of Wrath
Thursday, Jan. 28
The Grapes of Wrath
Week 5
Tuesday, Feb. 2
The Grapes of Wrath
Dorothea Lange and Paul Schuster Taylor, An American Exodus: A Record of Human
Erosion (1939) (excerpts)
Thursday, Feb. 4
The Grapes of Wrath
Michael Szalay, New Deal Modernism (2000) (excerpts)
Week 6
Tuesday, Feb. 9
The Grapes of Wrath
Carey McWilliams, Factories in the Field (1939) (excerpts)
Thursday, Feb. 11
Finish Grapes
Week 7
Tuesday, Feb. 16
Film Intro
Pare Lorentz, The River and The Plow That Broke the Plains
Grapes of Wrath (film) Director, John Ford
Lewis Jacobs, The Rise of the American Film: A Critical History (1939) (excerpts)
Thursday, Feb. 18
Stagecoach
Week 8
Tuesday, Feb. 23
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Thursday, Feb. 25
Research Lecture
PAPER 2 DUE: Friday, February 26 by 5pm
Week 9
Tuesday, Mar. 1
Criticism Review
Critical modes and moves
Thursday, Mar. 3
Writing Workshop
Week 10
Tuesday, Mar. 8
Peer Review
Conclusions
Thursday, Mar. 10
In-Class Presentations
Final Paper Due: Saturday, March 12, 5pm
Students with Disabilities:
Students with Documented Disabilities: Students who may need an academic accommodation
based on the impact of a disability must initiate the request with the Office of Accessible
Education (OAE). Professional staff will evaluate the request with required documentation,
recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty
dated in the current quarter in which the request is made. Students should contact the OAE as
soon as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is
located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (phone: 723-1066, URL: http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/oae).
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism:
Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with and following the University’s Honor
Code (http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/communitystandards/policy/honor-code). Violations of
the Honor Code, even when unintentional, constitute serious offenses that are subject to action
by the Stanford Office of Community Standards. Violations of the Honor Code include but are
not limited to receiving or giving unpermitted aid in class work, unpermitted collaboration,
representing someone else’s work as your own, and plagiarism. The Office of Community
Standards defines plagiarism as “the use, without giving reasonable and appropriate credit to or
acknowledging the author or source, of another person's original work, whether such work is
made up of code, formulas, ideas, language, research, strategies, writing or other form(s).” If you
are not sure about whether something constitutes plagiarism, consult your instructor. See also for
detailed examples: Lunsford, Andrea. Easy Writer. 3rd ed. Bedford: St. Martins Press, 2006. 187,
190-192.