American Youth
Cultures
History and Literature 97: Sophomore Tutorial
Spring 2010
Mondays, 1 to 4 pm
Location: Robinson 208
Prof. Robin Bernstein
rbernst@fas.harvard.edu
Office: Boylston 031
617-405-9634
Office Hours: Wednesdays 3-4
Prof. Lauren Brandt
lbrandt@fas.harvard.edu,
617-694-0440
Leverett House Office
Office Hours: Weds 9 – 12
Course Description
This sophomore tutorial introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of the history
and literature of the United States through the lens of twentieth-century youth cultures. This
course does not provide a survey. Instead, we focus on developing foundational skills in close
reading and analysis, conducting research in primary and secondary sources, writing the
argument-driven essay, thinking historically and critically, and developing effective speaking
skills.
To address these goals, students will explore diverse texts created by, for, and about
teenagers and young adults in the United States. We proceed from Joe Austin’s and Michael
Nevin Willard’s concept of age as a “formational process” that is historically constructed
through institutions and policies, and that is always subject to youths’ own renegotiations,
refusals, and daily practices. Our topics include immigration, nativism, juvenile delinquency, the
internment of Japanese-Americans, the Beat generation, the Civil Rights Movement, and student
movements of the 1960s.
Assignments

Sophomore Essay – The essay should be 3,000 to 4,000 words long and will be
graded by both tutors. You will choose a primary source, perform independent research
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(in consultation with your tutors), and work towards a final draft in incremental steps.
These will include the following:
o
Topic formation/finding a research question
o
Prospectus
o
Draft

Class Leadership Assignment

You and a partner will be responsible for creating a list of readings for one
meeting of the course. In addition, you will be expected to guide the discussion of
the class. You should consult with us beforehand about your materials and about
the nature of the assignment.

Argumentative Essay (during week 4)

Oral Exams
o
Each student takes a 30 minute oral exam at the end of the semester. You
should submit a list of texts to your tutors at least two weeks before the week of
the exam. The list must consist of 6 texts from the syllabus, chosen by you with a
suggested theme or central category. It should include both primary and
secondary sources – one or two of the texts must be secondary sources. Texts
from off the syllabus list are not allowed.
o
Students must be prepared to discuss all the texts on the list in a polished
manner, and exhibit a command of specific textual and contextual details. They
should also be able to speak broadly about the texts in relation to their chosen
theme, and to construct an argument or narrative concerning their topic that
attends to both historical change and the relationships between texts.
Course Policies
The tutorial is a collaborative learning space that emphasizes in-class discussion. To that
end, it is crucial that everyone is prepared for class. Class participation requires more than just
reading the assigned texts. You must reflect on them and consider the ways in which the readings
work together.
Regular attendance is required for this course. Except in a major emergency, students are
expected to attend all meetings. Please notify us beforehand if you experience any circumstances
that prevent you from attending class.
Grading:

Class Participation (20% of semester grade)

Student-Led Discussion (20%)

Argumentative Essay (10%)

Prospectus (5%)

Revised Prospectus (5%)

Draft of Sophomore Essay (5%)

Sophomore Essay (25%)

Oral Exam (10%)
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Paper Submission Guidelines
All papers must be typed, double-spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman font with 1-inch
margins. Please number and staple your pages. Please turn in two hard copies of each written
assignment. When a paper is due on a day when the class meets, please hand in your paper at the
beginning of class. When a paper is due on a Friday, please turn it in to our class box in the
History and Literature Office by 3pm on the due date. No e-mailed assignments will be
accepted.
You are responsible for understanding the University’s policies regarding academic
dishonesty, including plagiarism, double-submission, and proper citation. Please see the
Handbook for Students <http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~advising/docs/handbook0910.pdf> for
more details.
Late papers will be penalized one third of a letter grade for each day or portion of a day
overdue.
Required Texts
Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita (1955)
Boy Scouts of America - Handbook for Boys (1911)
Ann Moody – Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968)
Jack Kerouac – On the Road (written 1951, published 1957)
Allen Ginsberg – Howl and Other Poems (1956)
Mine Okubo – Citizen 13660 (1946)
John Okada – No-No Boy (written 1957, published 1978)
Recommended Readings
Grace Palladino, Teenagers: An American History (1997)
Kent Baxter, The Modern Age: Turn-of-the-Century American Culture and the Invention of
Adolescence (2008)
Course Schedule
Jan. 25. What is History? What is Literature? What is Youth? What is Culture?
 E.H. Carr, "The Historian and His Facts" (1961)
 Terry Eagleton, "Introduction: What is Literature?" (1983)
 William Cronon, "A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative" (1992)
 Joe Austin and Michael Nevin Willard, "Introduction: Angels of History, Demons of
Culture" (in Joe Austin and Michael Nevin Willard, eds., Generations of Youth: Youth
Cultures and History in Twentieth-Century America, 1998)
 George Yudice, "Culture," in Keywords for American Cultural Studies, ed. Bruce Burgett
and Glenn Hendler (New York: New York University Press, 2007), pp. 71-76.
Feb. 1 – Boys and Nation-Building
 The Official Handbook for Boys (1911) - Boy Scout Manual
 “The Strenuous Life” - Theodore Roosevelt (1900)
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
Gail Bederman, Chapter 5, “Theodore Roosevelt: Manhood, Nation and ‘Civilization,”
from Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United
States, 1880-1917 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996)
Feb. 8 – New Arrivals: Youth and Immigration
 Mary Antin, The Promised Land
<http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/antin/land/land.html>
 The Story of the ILGWU: A Radio Play in Six Episodes, typescript, no date, Archives
Union File, Box 192, Cornell University, Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Ithaca, New York
<http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/texts/other/radioplay.html>
 Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements: Working-Class Women and Leisure in Turn-of-theCentury New York, “Introduction,” (p. 3-10); “Leisure and Labor” (p. 34-55) and “Dance
Madness (p. 88-114)
Week of February 15: Library Orientation (TBA)
February 22. High School and Juvenile Delinquency
 Clarence Darrow, “Attorney Clarence Darrow’s plea for mercy and Prosecutor Robert E.
Crowe’s demand for the death penalty in the Loeb-Leopold case, the crime of a century”
(1923)
 Reefer Madness (1936), dir. Louis Gasnier
 Victoria Getis, "Experts and Juvenile Delinquency, 1900-1935 (in Generations of Youth,
pp. 21-35)
Feb 26. FRIDAY, 3 pm - Writing Assignment: Argumentative Essay due in Class Mailbox
in History and Literature Office
March 1.STUDENT-LED CLASS. Student-chosen theme and texts: Video Games
 Keith Arem, Jason West, Vince Zampella, Designers. Call of Duty 2. Developer: Infinity
Ward and Aspyr Media (Mac). Publisher: Activision. (2005)
Assorted Commercials
 Halo 3- Believe in a Hero
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQnh7k0
9XBo
l22bE&feature=related
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUeAi
al22bE&feature=related>
GTA: Vice City (2002)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdzja8V
Ltx0
Wii (2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsSKeM
JYrt4
GTA IV (2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVZ8b7
5w6vM&feature=related
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVZ8b
75w6vM&feature=related>
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUPAy
GWKd6c
Nintendogs (2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUeAia
Flower (2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJam5A
uwj1E
4
Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey (2007)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU1Hj2
E8CpE

Grand Theft Childhood Website
<http://www.grandtheftchildhood.com/GTC/Home.html>

“The Gaming of Violence,” in The New York Times published April 30, 1999. Accessible
at http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/30/opinion/the-gaming-ofviolence.html?scp=7&sq=Columbine+%2B+Video+Game&st=nyt
<http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/30/opinion/the-gaming-ofviolence.html?scp=7&sq=Columbine+%2B+Video+Game&st=nyt>

Claudio Fogu, “Digitalizing Historical Consciousness,” History and Theory Issue 47
(May 2009), 103-121

Kiri Miller, “Grove Street Grimm: Grand Theft Auto and Digital Folklore,” Journal of
American Folklore 121 (481): 255-285.

Tanya Krzywinka, Chapter 6, “World Creation and Lore: World of Warcraft as Rich
Text” in Digital Culture, Play and Identity: A World of Warcraft Reader eds. Hilde G.
Corneliussen and Jill Walker Rettberg (Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, 2008) pp. 123143.
March 8. World War II and Internment
 John Okada, No-No Boy (written 1957, published 1978)
 Miné Okubo, Citizen 13660 (1946)
March 12. Friday, 3 pm - Writing Assignment: Prospectus (graded pass/fail) with a
Bibliography due in Class Mailbox in History and Literature Office
Spring Break – March 13 to 21st
March 22: STUDENT-LED CLASS. Student-chosen theme and texts: Memoirs and Eating
Disorders
 Marya Hornbacher, Wasted (1999)
 Sandra G. Boodman, "Eating Disorders: Not Just for Women" The Washington Post.
March 3 2007 and accessible online: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030901870.html
 Jennifer J. Thomas et. al, “Evaluating the Effects of Eating Disorder Memoirs on
Readers’ Eating Attitudes and Behaviors,” International Journal of Eating Disorders,
Issue 39, 2006, pp. 418-425.
March 29 (to be rescheduled)
 Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)
April 5. Beats
 Jack Kerouac, On the Road (written 1951, published 1957)
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

Allen Ginsberg, Howl and Other Poems (1956)
Writing Assignment: Rewrite of Prospectus (graded pass/fail) with a Bibliography due
in class
April 12. Civil Rights
 Coming of Age in Mississippi - Anne Moody (1968)
 “Bigger than a Hamburger” – Ella Baker (1960), from Clayborne Carson et al, eds. The
Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader, (New York: Penguin, 1991), 120-122
April 19. STUDENT-LED CLASS. Student-chosen theme and texts: Questions of Race and
Ethnicity
 American-Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang (2006)
 Excerpts from The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
 Writing Assignment: Draft of Sophomore Essay due in class
April 26. Student Uprisings
 “The Port Huron Statement” – Students for a Democratic Society (1962) from Judith
Clavir Albert and Stewart Edward Albert, The Sixties Papers: Documents of a Rebellious
Decade (Westport, CT and London: Praeger Publishers, 1984)
 "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" - Joan Didion (1968) from Joan Didion, Slouching
Towards Bethlehem (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968, 1990)
 The Making of a Counter-culture, Chapter 1: Technocracy's Children, Theodore Roszak
(1968)
May 8th, Friday - Sophomore Essay due by 3 pm in Class Mailbox in History and
Literature Office
Oral Exam Dates: May 3rd and May 4th, Schedule TBD
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