Prof. Michael Gavin
English 207
Office hours: 8-9 am MWF and by appointment, Office M3069
email: gavinmh@pgcc.edu
Phone: (301) 322-0577
American Literature Since 1865
We will examine literature by looking both at the literary periods and the political, social,
and technological changes that occurred in the time surrounding the eras in which it was
written. Through the study of Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, thee Harlem
Renaissance, and contemporary literature, we will attempt to define how literature affects
society, and vice versa. In the process we will seek to answer the following questions:
Course Outcomes:
1. Identify major authors and works of the period from 1880 to the present and explain
their contexts
2. Identify and describe important literary movements and place specific works in their
contexts.
3. Explain how the social and intellectual climate has influenced the themes of recent
American literature.
4. Explain how literature reflects basic themes in American cultural history.
5. Apply at least one critical approach to reading and analyzing a text with documented
sources.
6. Identify important literary forms in American literature.
Questions Driving the Course
How does literature help us to understand the concept of “America,” a single country?
How does our identity become formed? Does it relate to the era in which we live, things
we read, watch or do?
What is the function of literature? Does it have value beyond itself? Does literature
shape our society or sense of history, or vise versa?
What is the “real world” and how do authors attempt to render that real world through
their use of rhetorical strategy or characterization?
Required Texts
The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Houghton Mifflin. Fourth Edition.
VOLUMES C, D, AND E. (This should be sold to you in a wrapped package).
Alexie, Sherman. Indian Killer. Time Warner Books, 1996.
McDermott, Alice. That Night. Delta Fiction. 1987.
Class Format and Grading Criterion:
Class participation, which encompasses writing, reading, and discussion is 10% of your
final grade. You are required to share your insights from the readings with us. If you do
not, you are robbing the class of potential ideas and thereby limiting classmates’
progression in writing and critical thinking. Therefore, you must come to class prepared
to discuss and/or write about each assignment.
A note about all participation:
One of the hardest things to do is to learn how to stay within the bounds of academic
discussion--and not resort to personal attacks--when you disagree strongly with a member
of a classroom. However, this is a skill we all must learn. You don’t have to agree with
a member of our classroom, but you must respect that individual. Personal attacks will
not be tolerated, in the classroom or through peer response. Additionally, please do not
mistake quantity of participation with quality. Lastly, any extra-curricular discussion in
class will not be tolerated.
Attendance: The Department of English stipulates that absence from one fourth of the
classes, for whatever reason, is grounds for failure. Tardiness or leaving early will be
counted as absences. If you miss class or if you are late, you did not participate in the
fullest capacity. Hence, absences will directly affect your participation grade. Beyond
that, any absence over three will result in a lowering of the grade by one-third (A to an A). Five absences, despite the reason behind them, results in failure of the class. It is your
responsibility to keep track of your absences.
You are responsible for material covered and disseminated in class. Therefore, it may be
helpful to exchange phone numbers with members in the class to insure you can get the
information you missed. If you know you will be late or absent for a class, please let me
know ahead of time.
Code of Conduct: The Prince George's Community College Code of Conduct defines
the rights and responsibilities of students and establishes a system of procedures for
dealing with students charged with violations of the code and other rules and regulations
of the college. A student enrolling in the college assumes an obligation to conduct
himself/herself in a manner compatible with the college's function as an educational
institution. Refer to the 2005-2006 Student Handbook, beginning on page 41, for a
complete explanation of the code of conduct, including the Code of Academic Integrity
and the procedure for dealing with disruptive student behavior.
Code of Academic Integrity: The college is an institution of higher learning that holds
academic integrity as its highest principle. In the pursuit of knowledge, the college
community expects that all students, faculty, and staff will share responsibility for
adhering to the values of honesty and unquestionable integrity. To support a community
committed to academic achievement and scholarship, the Code of Academic Integrity
advances the principle of honest representation in the work that is produced by students
seeking to engage fully in the learning process. The complete text of the Code of
Academic Integrity is in the 2005-2006 Student Handbook (pages 42-45) and posted on
the college's handbook.
Late Papers and assignments: The pace of this course is fast. To keep up, you must
turn all papers and assignments on the date they are listed on the syllabus. Papers are due
the minute class begins, no exceptions. If a paper is late, it will receive a grade of zero
and affect your grade immensely. You may hand in a first draft of any or all papers prior
to handing in a final draft. I will make comments accordingly. However, the final papers
may not be rewritten. To pass the class, all work listed on the syllabus must be
submitted.
Typing: All final drafts of essays must be typed. One-inch margins are required, in a
font that is reasonable--Times, Helvetica, or Geneva, 12 point--and double-spaced.
Handwritten work does not have to be double spaced and follow MLA style--I find
chapter 29 beginning on page 752 a helpful and quick reference of how to set up a paper.
Disabilities: Students requesting academic accommodations are required to contact the
Disability Support Services Office (M-1042) or call (301) 322-0838 (voice) or (301) 3220122 (TTY) to establish eligibility for services and accommodations. Students with
documented disabilities should discuss the matter privately with their instructor at the
beginning of the semester and provide a copy of their Student/Faculty Accommodation
Form.
List of Assignments
All of the assignments will be explained in-depth through the use of an assignment sheet.
Name of Assignment
In-Class Discussion/written responses
Paper # 1--Textual Analysis
Paper #2--Textual Analysis
Paper on the novel(s)
Research paper****
Min. Length
3 pages
3 pages
4 pages
8 pages
Grade Weight
15%
10%
15%
10%
20%
Presentation on an author and/or a piece
we have not read
Final Exam
10 minutes
Take home
10%
15%
You may not write a paper on the DuBois, Washington, or Hughes essays.
Final notes: All grades in this course are non-negotiable. All assignments must be
completed and turned in for you to pass the class.
Please, please, please, come to my office hours, feel free to approach me about this class
or any other topic, and be kind enough to disable all cell phones and pagers before
entering the class.
January 23:
Introduction to classmates and class.
January 25:
History of Literature up to 1865, using European literature as
a means to discuss it. Romanticism, genre, pastorals.
January 27:
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, Gettysburg
Address
(Handouts)
January 30:
Begin Realism Section-Mark Twain
“The War Prayer” (104-6)
February 1:
William Dean Howells
“Editha” (269-279)
February 3:
Naturalism
Stephen Crane, poetry
“God Lay Dead in Heaven” (521-524)
“Do Not Weep Maiden, For War is Kind”
“A Man Said to the Universe”
“Chant You Loud of Punishments”
“The Impact of a Dollar Upon the Heart”
February 6:
Abraham Cahan
“Yekl” (770-775)
February 8:
Begin Modernism section, history of the Gothic
February 10:
Jean Toomer
Cane
(1502-20)
All of the sections on Cane--this is a lot of reading, so
plan ahead
February 13:
T.S. Eliot
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1280-83)
“The Wasteland” (1292-1306)
February 15:
Robert Frost
“The Road Not Taken” (1061)
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (1067)
Paper #1 Due
February 17:
William Faulkner
“Barn Burning” (1464-1475)
February 20:
No School President’s Day
February 22:
Begin section on Harlem Renaissance
Booker T. Washington
“Up from Slavery” (870-875; 887-891)
W.E.B. DuBois
“Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others” (902-910)
February 24:
Paul Lawrence Dunbar
“We Wear the Mask” (182)
“An Ante-Bellum Sermon” (180-1)
William Dean Howells
“Paul Lawrence Dunbar” (265-267)
February 27:
Countee Cullen
“Incident” (1551)
“Yet Do I Marvel” (1552)
“From the Dark Tower” (1661)
March 1:
Langston Hughes
“The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” (1537-40)
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1519)
“Negro
“The Weary Blues”
“Harlem”
March 3:
James Weldon Johnson
“The Auto-Biography of an Ex-Colored Man” (923-38)
March 6:
Paper #2 Due
Tillie Olson
“Tell Me a Riddle” (1972-1998)
March 8:
Joyce Carol Oates
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” (2622-2633)
March 10:
Catch up day
March 13:
Tim O’Brien
“In the Field”
(2392-2399)
March 15:
Sherman Alexie
Indian Killer, pages announced in class
March 17:
Sherman Alexie
Indian Killer, pages announced in class
March 20:
Sherman Alexie
Indian Killer, pages announced in class
March 22:
Sherman Alexie
Indian Killer, pages announced in class
March 24:
Sherman Alexie
Indian Killer, pages announced in class
March 27:
Movie
March 29:
Movie
March 31:
Movie
April 3:
Alice McDermott,
That Night, section one, (not chapter one, section one)
April 5:
Alice McDermott,
That Night
April 7:
Sylvia Plath
All poems (2330)
April 10-16:
Spring Break
April 17:
Gwendolyn Brooks
“We Real Cool” (2148)
“A Bronzville Mother…” (2149)
“The Last Quatrian…” (2152-3
April 19:
Li-Young Lee (3064)
All poems
April 21:
Adrienne Rich (2323-2330)
“Frame”
“Diving into the Wreck”
“Power”
“Coast to Coast
April 24:
Louise Erdrich
“Love Medicine” (3090)
Research Paper due/Take home distributed
April 26:
Flannery O’Connor
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” (2114)
April 28:
Raymond Carver
“A Small, Good Thing” (2586)
May 1:
Donald Hall (handout)
May 3:
Mark Strand (handout)
May 5:
Take homes due
May 8:
TBA
May 15:
Presentations given
Textual Analysis, Formalist Criticism
Papers #1 and #2
Writing Objectives:
1) To demonstrate mastery of the textual analysis genre
2) To learn to distinguish between evidence and summary
3) To think critically about a text
4) To examine an author’s purpose and to develop an argument about that purpose
The Assignment:
Please write a textual analysis of one of the texts we have read. A textual
analysis makes an argument about what the author’s purpose was in writing the
novel, story, or play. Thus, early in your essay, state your thesis about
what you think the author’s goal was in writing his/her story. Use the remainder
of the paper to prove your point. Remember, a textual analysis does not
summarize the text.
In writing your textual analysis you will need to do three things:
1) Identify and describe what you think the author wrote the text you are examining for.
The way to do this is to focus on one or a few elements of the text, as we have done in
class: irony, symbols, character, form, rhyme scheme, setting, theme, etc.
2) Explain in detail that (or those) element’s function(s) in the text.
3) Make your argument give us a better understanding of the text--what is the text
saying about reality? In short, you are giving your reading of the story through the lens
of a single element.
Paper Requirements & Criteria:

Three pages.

This paper will have an assertive thesis. You will need to hold that thesis
throughout the entire paper and prove it through evidence you use from the text.

You will also need to analyze and explain the textual evidence you offer so
that your reader understands why you have included it.

Pay attention to the placement and purpose of all paragraphs. Make sure each
paragraph has a strong topic sentence and that you prove that topic sentence.

‘A’ papers will say something true and interesting about the story; be
well-organized; and conform to the genre.
Feel free to contact me at any time! Good luck!
Textual Analysis with Theory
(Research Paper)
Writing Objectives:
1) To demonstrate mastery of theory and its application to literature
2) To learn to distinguish between evidence and summary
3) To think critically about a text
4) To examine an author’s purpose and to develop an argument about that purpose
5) To incorporate historical, sociological, etc. texts to propel an argument about a text
The Assignment:
Please write a textual analysis of one of the texts we have read. In doing this, you must
establish yourself as a scholar not only of the text, but also of literature in general. As a
result, you will need to choose one of the theoretical approaches to literature we have
discussed in class--biographical, autobiographical, psychological, historical or new
criticism. You will then need to do some research that associates with the text and the
theoretical approach you take. In the end, you want to be sure that you offer evidence
about the author, text, or time period that helps you prove your argument. Thus, you
must 1) form and argument and 2) distinguish between evidence that is related to
the argument and evidence that is related to the topic. See below:
Some tips:

Do some research on the time period or the theme on which you are writing. Be
sure that you research the actual theme. For instance, if you choose to write on Langston
Hughes' poetry and you wanted to make an argument about jazz’s significance in
America, it would be best to examine the Harlem Renaissance and, of course, jazz.

Think seriously about how knowing information about the time period or
theme helps you understand the poem or story you are working with.

Cite, in text, at least three sources other than any found in our book
that help you to prove your point about why the author wrote the
text you are analyzing. Be sure to use the sources to support, not
overtake, the argument.

In short, you are using the same rhetorical strategies you used for
the last paper, but connecting the context in which the author writes with the
text--think of it as giving the justifying the author’s decisions to reader
of your paper.

Be certain that all the research you include helps the argument. For
instance, if your argument is about jazz and the Harlem Renaissance, research done on
Hughes’ life will most likely not be too helpful to you. This is where the theoretical
approach you take becomes helpful to you. If you choose an historical approach, then
research the time period; if you choose a biographical approach, you will most likely
want to show how Hughes’ life is reflected in the poetry.
Paper Requirements & Criteria:

Eight pages.

This paper will have an assertive thesis. You will need to hold that thesis
throughout the entire paper and prove it through evidence you use from the
text.

You will also need to analyze and explain the textual evidence you offer so
that your reader understands why you have included it.

Pay attention to the placement and purpose of all paragraphs. Make sure each
paragraph has a strong topic sentence and that you prove that topic sentence.

‘A’ papers will say something true and interesting about the story; be
well-organized; and conform to the genre.

All sources must be cited in MLA format. Review notes from 101, or ask for
help it needed

Feel free to contact me at any time! Good luck!
Paper on the Novel(s)
For this paper, please create an argument about the text. This need not be a close analysis
of the text, but it must show some in-depth thought about the text. What does it mean?
Do you agree with O’Brien’s/McDermott’s portrayal of love? Of life? Of politics? Of the
suburbs? Is there a symbol that can help us better understand the text’s meaning? A
character? A theme?
What I am looking for is two things:
1) That you have firmly grasped the novel, its meaning, and its characters.
A majority of the paper’s grade will be reflected here.
2) That you can make a coherent argument based on your reaction to the novel.
Please do not argue about what you think happened in the novel, but why you think
O’Brien/McDermott wrote the novel the way he did.
This paper is meant to help you in your thinking of the novel and to illustrate that you are
capable of forming a solid argument about a major work. Thus, the parameters for the
topic are wide. You can do some research on the author’s life and see if facets of it
appear in the novel. You can react to Tim Wade, Tony Carbo, Sheryl, anybody as long
as you are focusing on justifying the author’s portrayal of that character. Anything that
you can think of that creates an argument and that demonstrates a full understanding of
the novel is fine. You may also create an argument about how the two novels are similar
or dissimilar and how this helps us to understand reality better.
To be clear:
The parameters are loose here and the grading will be more flexible than with any of the
other papers. If mastery of the text’s meaning is demonstrated, you will do well.
Presentations
For your presentation, please analyze a song, piece of art, scene from a movie or
television show and tell us how it relates to a theme that we have studied in class. To do
this, you must articulate three things:
1) Which text(s) does this piece you have chosen most closely resemble?
2) How, specifically does your selection resemble the text we studied. In order to
answer this question, you will need to quote from the text we read in class and
draw our attention to similar materials that are present in the piece you have
chosen.
3) Explain to us the significance of the connection(s) you have made.
4) Related to #3, how does what you have found help us to understand the world
better?
5) You will have to bring the song, art piece, or scene into class. As well, please let
me know well in advance what AV equipment we will have to have in the class
(VCR, radio, CD player).
6) The presentation must last at least ten minutes and be well-prepared. Index cards
are fine, but reading from your notes is not. For each minute under ten that the
presentation lasts, the grade will be knocked down a full letter. Also, lack of
preparation will directly affect your grade.
Some tips:
Be sure to state your argument about how the issues you are highlighting are similar to
one another. Then, for each point you want to make, just as you would in a paper,
explain how textual support is present in both the text we read and the one you have.
Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new
nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so
conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that
war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who
here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we
should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow
this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far
above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember,
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who
fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the
great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased
devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we
here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the
people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth.
Second Inaugural Address
Fellow countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office,
there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a
statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now,
at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly
called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention
and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The
progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public
as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high
hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously
directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it-- all sought to avert it. While the
inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the
Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war-seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated
war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other
would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over
the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and
powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To
strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents
would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more
than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.
Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already
attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even
before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result
less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God;
and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare
to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces;
but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered-that of neither has been answered fully.
The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it
must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If
we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence
of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he
now wills to remove, and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the
woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from
those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly
do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass
away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two
hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood
drawn by the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three
thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and
righteous altogether."
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us
to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's
wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his
orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among
ourselves, and with all nations.