English 246 – American Literature III
20th Century American Literature: After Revolution
Instructor: Christy Scheuer
E-mail: Christina.scheuer@seattlecolleges.edu
Course Time and Location: 9 a.m., Mon.-Fri.,
Office Hours: Physical Office hours, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
IB 3416
Mon.-Thurs. (and by appointment)
Office: IB 2306 D
Instructor Phone: 206-934-4538
Course Websites
Angel:
http://angel.northseattle.edu/
Faculty web page:
https://people.northseattle.edu/users/cscheuer
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The series of social, political, artistic, and scientific revolutions of the 20th century have
radically changed the way that people think about war, technology, sex, God, patriotism,
community, and the meanings of art and human life. At the beginning of the 20th century,
the poet Ezra Pound urged writers to “Make it new!,” asking them to respond to the
revolutionary changes in the world by challenging old modes of writing and by finding new
forms of expression. How do we write after World War? After Auschwitz? After the Great
Migration? After the invention of the atomic bomb? After Freud? After Vietnam? After the
Civil Rights and Women’s Movements and Stonewall? After the invention of personal
computers and the internet? When the world changes utterly, how do we respond?
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 2006. ISBN: 9780743297332
Morrison, Toni. Jazz. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN: 0452269652.
Okada, John. No-No Boy. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1978.
IBSN: 9780295955254
Foer, Jonathon Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. New York: Mariner Books,
2006. ISBN: 9780618329700
All other readings for this class will be found online at our Angel site. You can find links to
each of the readings by going to the Course Schedule (link on homepage). You will need to
print all of these readings out, so make sure that you have access to a trustworthy
printer. I recommend printing out multiple readings at once and printing the reading long
before they are due. You will also want to have a binder to keep track of all of the reading.
Course Objectives
1. To become acquainted with a range of writing produced in the United States during
the twentieth century.
2. To closely study a selection of works that stand out as artistically excellent or
unusually illuminating of some aspects of American experience.
3. To consider how American literary works express and reflect the outlook and
experience of people of diverse ethnicity, class, gender, and region.
4. To develop our ability to articulate analysis, to support analysis through the
literature itself, and to interpret the works more fully.
DEVELOPING A COMMUNITY OF READERS AND WRITERS
Students come to this class with a broad range of educational, writing, and personal
experiences. This diversity enhances our class by expanding the range of viewpoints
expressed and providing us with new ideas to discuss in class. It is very important that
you are respectful of every student’s work and opinions so that the classroom is an
environment in which everyone feels welcome.
Please communicate with me at any time regarding any concerns or questions you have
about the course. You can come to my office hours or make an appointment if you
would like to talk about your progress in the class, specific assignments, or any other
concerns or questions that arise during the quarter. I’m here to help you, and I enjoy
talking to students throughout the writing process.
GRADES
Your grade will be based on a variety of assignments, discussion posts, and exams,
including ten weekly discussion posts, two exams, a formal paper, a group project, and a
series of in-class Quickwrites based on the reading that you have done for that day.
I encourage all of you to come to my office hours—or e-mail me to set up an alternative
office hour—to discuss the drafts of your papers. You may also schedule an appointment
with me at any time if you have a question about how you are doing in the class or a grade
that you received.
Major Essay (Due Dec. 7)
100 pts
Proposal (Due Nov. 21)
20 pts
Rough Draft and Peer Review (Due Nov. 29)
25 pts
Midterm (Oct. 31)
100 pts
Final (Dec. 13, 8:00 a.m. -10:00 a.m.)
150 pts
Discussion Posts (Best 9 of 10 x 20 points)
180 pts
Awake and Sing! Attendance
10 pts
In-class Quickwrites (10 pts each, best 6 out of 7)
60 pts
Participation (35 pts Midterm + 40 pts Final)
75 pts
Group Project
30 pts
_________________________________________________________________________________
Total:
750 pts
INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS:
Discussion Posts:
We will be discussing the readings for each day both in class and on-line in Angel
discussion boards. These multiple forms of participation open up the room for
different kinds of responses and voices, and the online discussion forums allow for
sustained, thoughtful reading.
These discussion posts will be a way for you to communicate with one another and
work through your ideas about the reading. Therefore, I will act as a “Guide on the
Side” during these posts rather than a judge or facilitator.
For each discussion post, you will post your original response to the discussion
question by Thursday of each week. By the next Monday night, you most post two
in-depth responses to your classmates’ posts. All discussion posts are due by 11:59
p.m. Late posts will be given 0 credit. Additional information on the expectations for
Discussion Posts can be found at “How to Write a Discussion Post.”
Scoring Rubric for Discussion Posts
Original Post
Analysis
Use of Textual Evidence
Style and Mechanics
12 points
4 points
4 points
4 points
Responses
4 points x 2
____________________________________________________________________________
Total
20 points
Essay:
In this course, you will be required to write one full-length synthesis essay that finds
a common thread between two of the texts that we have read for the course. For
this essay, you will be required to write a rough draft and to engage in the peer
review and revision process. As we read, take notes on themes or ideas that echo
throughout multiple texts so that you’ll be prepared for to write the proposal and
essay.
Exams
You will have two exams, a Midterm and a Final, and these exams will ask you to
identify passages of texts that we have read and analyze these passages in a series of
short essay questions.
The final exam will be cumulative, and it will also include a longer essay question.
Quickwrites
You will be given a series of “Quickwrites” or short in-class writing prompts. The
goal of these Quickwrites, which will be unannounced, will be to make sure that you
have read the assigned reading carefully and taken notes of passages that seemed
significant, intriguing, or difficult. You will be able to use your book and your notes
for the Quickwrites.
ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION
Since this is a small, discussion-based course, your regular attendance is imperative. If
you miss a class, it is your responsibility to seek a trustworthy classmate to provide you
with notes on class discussion and lecture material, information about assignments,
handouts, and announcements. Please let me know as soon as possible if chronic health
problems, a personal emergency, or extraordinary circumstances threaten to interfere
with your attendance so that we can discuss the best course of action.
Please come to every class prepared to discuss the assigned reading for that day. This
means that you will have read the assignment carefully and identified any passages that
you would like to discuss—this can include passages that you loved and those that
confused and annoyed you. You will often be asked to do in-class writing about these
passages.
Both your on-line and your in-person participation will be considered in your final
participation grade.
COURSE POLICIES:
 Attend daily. The importance of regular attendance cannot be overestimated. Please
arrive on time and expect to remain until class is over. Your attendance and
participation will figure into your final grade in the form of your participation grade
and points assigned for unannounced in-class Quickwrites. These exercises cannot be
made up. If you arrive late or leave early and miss an in-class exercise, you will not be
permitted to complete the exercise you missed.
 Papers must be typed. All assignments (including drafts) should be typed, doublespaced, using 12 point Times New Roman font.
 Save your work. It is your responsibility to keep a copy of all assignments that you
turn in.
 Submit your work on time. An assignment is counted late if you do not submit it
during class on the date it is due. Discussion Posts, Quickwrites, and and drafts (the
small stuff) will not be accepted late. The major essays may be submitted late, but for
each class period an assignment is late, your grade on that assignment will be reduced
by one letter grade. For example, an A paper that is received one class late will be
reduced to a B; two class periods late, a C; three classes late, a D; and four classes late,
an F. If an assignment is turned in even 1 minute after class time on the day it is due, it
will be counted as one day late.
RESOURCES
Accessibility and Disability Services: My goal is to make the classroom as accessible
as possible to all students. If you require any disability-related accommodations, please
contact me by e-mail, phone, or in person. I would also recommend contacting disability
services. There website can be found here: https://northseattle.edu/disability-services.
To make an appointment, contact the Disability Services office by phone at (206) 5273697, TTY at (206) 526-0079 modem, or e-mail at ds@sccd.ctc.edu.
The Loft Writing Center: Need feedback on your writing? Visit the Loft Writing Center
Plus on the top floor of the library to get help during every stage of the writing process
from brainstorming and outlining through the final polishing phase. You'll find more
information including hours of operation at https://northseattle.edu/loft-writingcenter
Library: The library is a phenomenal resource to use if you have questions about
research or sources—or really questions about anything. You can find useful
information at https://library.northseattle.edu/
E-MAIL
E-mail is usually the most effective way to get a hold of me. Please e-mail me at any time
with any questions that you may have about the course. I will have office hours each
week, but feel free to e-mail me if these hours do not work for you, and we can set up a
different time to meet. We can also arrange e-office hours (over the internet) if it
becomes difficult to meet in person.
I expect both your e-mails and your discussion posts to be written in clear and
communicative prose and proofread for mistakes.
A NOTE ON (AND AGAINST) PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the intentional use of someone else’s words or ideas without giving that
person credit. This includes submitting someone else’s essay in its entirety or in parts
as your own, using any words, phrasing, and/or ideas from a source (this includes the
Internet) without proper citation, having someone else write your paper or assisting so
much that the phrasing and ideas are no longer your own, and re-submitting an essay
previously written for another class. Plagiarism is absolutely prohibited and may result
in receiving a “0” on the paper and/or discipline on the part of the college
administration.
WEATHER-RELATED EMERGENCIES
In the case of a weather-related emergency (such as a snow storm), I will post
information about the status of the class on Angel. We will try to maintain our course
schedule even in the midst of potential cancelations; therefore, if you have an
assignment due on a day when school is canceled, you should e-mail me that
assignment on the day that it’s due.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Our four novels for the class will be The Sun Also Rises (Sun in Schedule), Jazz, No-No Boy
(NNB), and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (ELIC). All other readings will be found on
Angel.
Please note that any HW assigned will be due the next day. Therefore, if HW is assigned on
Wednesday, Sept. 28th it will be due on Thursday, Sept. 29.
Modernist Revolutions
Week 1
Monday, Sept. 26
Introduction to the class and to American Modernism
HW: Make sure that you have access to Angel. If you don’t, please send me an e-mail
immediately! To access Angel, go to http://angel.northseattle.edu/. Your login will
be your 9 digit student ID and your password will be the first five letters of your last
name.
Make a PowerPoint slide (.ppt or .pptx file) that includes an image or a short quote
from a book or song that you feel expresses an interesting part of your personality.
Download this slide to the Dropbox by 6 p.m on Tuesday, Sept. 27th. You can see my
sample Powerpoint file here.
Tuesday, Sept. 27
In class: Modernist Revolutions and the Armory Show
HW: Spend one hour exploring the Armory Show website
(http://xroads.virginia.edu/~museum/armory/armoryshow.html) and jot down a
few things that you find interesting or strange. Read W.B. Yeats, “The Second
Coming.”
Wednesday, Sept. 28
In class: Extended Introductions
HW: Read T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land (“The Burial of the Dead”) for class on
Thursday.
Thursday, Sept. 29
HW: Reread “The Burial of the Dead,” along with “Death by Water” and “What the
Thunder Said,” this time relying on the hypertext of the poem. Read “The Love Song
of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Discussion Post 1 due tonight by 11:59 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 30
HW: Reread “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
Responses to Discussion Post 1 (DP 1) due Monday, Oct. 3 by 11:59 p.m.
Week 2
Monday, Oct. 3
HW: Read “A Brief Guide to Imagism” and selection of poems by William Carlos
Williams, Amy Lowell, and Ezra Pound. Read instructions for DP 2 (DP 2 closes on
Sunday, Oct. 10 by 11:59 p.m.)
Tuesday, Oct. 4
HW: Read selection of poems by H.D.
Wednesday, Oct. 5
HW: Read Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants”
Thursday, Oct. 6
HW: Read Hemingway, Sun (1-42). Discussion Post 2 due tonight by 11:59 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 7
HW: Read Sun, (43-71)
Responses to Discussion Post 2 (DP 2) due by Monday, Oct. 10 by 11:59 p.m.
Week 3
Monday, Oct. 10
HW: Read Sun, Book II (Ch. 1-7). Read instructions for DP 3 (closes on Monday, Oct.
17 by 9 a.m.)
Tuesday, Oct. 11
HW: Read Sun, Ch. 8-Ch. 14 (75-155)
Wednesday, Oct. 12
HW: Read Sun, Ch. 15-Ch. 17 (156-208)
Thursday, Oct. 13
HW: Finish Sun (209-251). Discussion Post 3 due tonight by 11:59 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 14
HW: Read Langston Hughes, Biographical Selections and Poem Selection 1.
Responses to Discussion Post 3 (DP 3) due on Monday, Oct. 17 by 11:59 p.m.
Jazz and Bebop
Week 4
Monday, Oct. 17
HW: Read Langston Hughes, Poem Selection 2 (from Montage of a Dream Deferred).
Read Instructions for DP 4
Tuesday, Oct. 18
HW: Read James Baldwin, “Sonnie’s Blues” and “Sonnie’s Blues Saved My Life”
Wednesday, Oct. 19
HW: Finish “Sonnie’s Blues.” Read selection from Michael Harper.
Thursday, Oct. 20
HW: Read Jazz (1-51). Discussion Post 4 due tonight by 11:59 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 21
Class Canceled. Enjoy! Listen to some Jazz!
Responses to Discussion Post 4 (DP 4) due on Monday, Oct. 24 by 11:59 p.m.
Week 5
Monday, Oct. 24
HW: Read Jazz (52-114). Read Selection from The Warmth of Other Suns.
Tuesday, Oct. 25
HW: Read Jazz (115-162)
Wednesday, Oct. 26
HW: Read Jazz (165-193)
Thursday, Oct. 27
HW: Read Jazz (194-229). Discussion Post 5 due tonight by 11:59 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 28
HW: Prepare for Midterm Exam.
Responses to Discussion Post 5 (DP 5) due Sunday, Oct. 30 by 11:59 p.m.
War: Participation and Protest
Week 6
Monday, Oct. 31
Midterm Exam
Tuesday, Nov. 1
HW: Read “Poetry of WWII” (handout)
Wednesday, Nov. 2
HW: Read No-No Boy
Thursday, Nov. 3
HW: Read No-No Boy. Discussion Post 6 due tonight by 11:59 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 4
HW: Read No-No Boy
Responses to Discussion Post 6 (DP 6) due Monday, Nov. 7 by 11:59 p.m.
**Note** You will need to attend North Seattle Community College’s Fall Production,
Awake and Sing!, between Nov. 4 and Nov. 19. The final schedule for the production
will be posted on the North Seattle website shortly.
Week 7
Monday, Nov. 7
HW: Read No-No Boy
Tuesday, Nov. 8
HW: Read “Poetry of Vietnam” (handout)
Wednesday, Nov. 9
HW: Read excerpts from Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried”
Thursday, Nov. 10
HW: Discussion Post 7 due tonight by 11:59 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 11
Veterans Day. No class.
Responses to Discussion Post 7 (DP 7) due Monday, Nov. 14 by 11:59 p.m.
The Personal is Political: Confession and Memoir
Week 8
Monday, Nov. 14
HW: Read handout on Psychoanalysis and Confessional Poetry. Read selections from
Lowell and Sexton.
Tuesday, Nov. 15
HW: Read selections from Plath
Wednesday, Nov. 16
HW: Read selections from Plath
Thursday, Nov. 17
HW: Read Raymond Carver, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” and
Lorrie Moore, “How to Become a Writer.” Discussion Post 8 due tonight by 11:59
p.m.
Friday, Nov. 18
HW: Proposal for Essay 1 is due Monday, Nov. 21 in class.
Responses to Discussion Post 8 (DP 8) due Sunday, Nov. 20 by 11:59 p.m.
Week 9
Monday, Nov. 21
Read Didion, “The White Album” and “On Keeping a Notebook.”
Tuesday, Nov. 22
Read “The Fourth State of Matter.”
Wednesday, Nov. 23
HW: Read “In the Cemetery Where Al Johnson is Buried” and poetry from Marie
Howe. Discussion Post 9 due tonight by 11:59 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 24
No class. Thanksgiving Holiday
Friday, Nov. 25
No class. Thanksgiving Holiday
Responses to Discussion Post 9 (DP 9) due Monday, Nov. 28 by 11:59 p.m.
Week 10
Monday, Nov. 28
HW: Rough Draft, Essay 1 is due Tuesday, Nov. 29 by 9 a.m. Please upload to
the Rough Draft Dropbox. **Peer Review groups will be open from Tuesday,
Nov. 29, 9 a.m. to Thursday, Dec. 1 at 5 p.m.** You must review two drafts in
this time.
Tuesday, Nov. 29
HW: Read selections from Alexie.
Wednesday, Nov. 30
HW: Read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Thursday, Dec. 1
HW: Read ELIC. Discussion Post 10 due tonight by 11:59 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 2
HW: HW: Read ELIC
Responses to Discussion Post 10 (DP 10) due Monday, Dec. 5 by 11:59 p.m.
Week 11
Monday, Dec. 5
HW: Read ELIC
Tuesday, Dec. 6
Essay 1 due Wednesday, Dec. 7. Deposit to Essay 1 dropbox by 9 a.m. PST.
Wednesday, Dec. 7
Prepare for Presentation
Thursday, Dec. 8
Groups Presentations
Friday, Dec. 9
Group Presentations
Monday, Dec. 12
Group Presentations
Final Exam: Tuesday, Dec. 13 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.