English 461
Studies in Native American Fiction
Dr. Annette Trefzer
Office: Bondurant C 133; 915-7685
Office hours: T/R 10:30 – noon,
and by appointment
Email: atrefzer@olemiss.edu
Spring Semester 2012
Tuesday / Thursday 2:30 – 3:45 pm
Brevard, Room 235
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Course Description
This course focuses on the Native American South in the myths, stories, novels, and
poems by writers whose tribal affiliations make them “Native” but also “Southern.”
In our readings we will explore both modernist and postmodernist literary modes,
challenge notions of identity and authenticity, nation and region, and raise questions
about history and the environment. Many of the texts we will study call upon the reader
to develop a new historical consciousness and a deeper cultural and ecological awareness.
Readings will include texts by Linda Hogan (Chickasaw), LeAnne Howe (Choctaw),
Diane Glancy (Cherokee), Blake Hausman, and other major writers. In addition to
fiction, students will read essays on Native American literary history, critical theory,
environmental criticism and ecology. This capstone course is cross-listed with
Environmental Studies.
Required Texts
Glancy, Diane (Cherokee) Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the Trail of Tears. NY:
Harcourt Brace, 1996.
Hausman, Blake M. Riding the Trail of Tears. University of Nebraska Press, 2011.
Hogan, Linda. (Chickasaw) Mean Spirit. NY: Ballantine Books, 1992.
Hogan, Linda. Dwellings: A Spiritual History. Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Howe, LeAnne (Choctaw) Shell Shaker. San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute, 2001.
Perdue, Theda and Michael Green. The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with
Documents. NY: Bedford, 2005.
Recommended:
Garrard, Greg. Ecocriticism. NY: Routledge, 2008.
Additional Resources:
Duncan, Barbara R. Living Stories of the Cherokee. Chapel Hill, U NC P: 1998.
Justice, Daniel Heath. Our Fire Survives the Storm: A Cherokee Literary History.
Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2006.
Adamson, Joni. American Indian Literature, Environmental Justice, and Ecocriticism.
Tucson: U of Arizona Press, 2001.
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Arnold, Ellen L. and Wm. Joseph Thomas, eds. Special Issue on American Indian
Literatures and Cultures in the South. Mississippi Quarterly (60.2).
Benson, Melanie. Reconstructing the Native South. Athens: U of Georgia P, 2012.
Schweninger, Lee. Listening to the Land: Native American literary responses to the
Landscape. Athens: U of Georgia P, 2008.
Instructional Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Students will study fiction by writers from different Native American cultures to
become informed readers of these texts and the cultural backgrounds that they
represent.
Students will identify Native American themes, central concerns, questions and
mythologies.
Students will identify patterns of narration and style, including aspects of the oral
tradition, as well as modernist and postmodernist genres.
Students will understand Native American fiction as embedded within the cultural
and environmental contexts of particular historical moments and places.
Students will consult criticism and study American Indian literatures in ecocritical
contexts.
Course Requirements
Attendance: I expect each student to attend class regularly and punctually, read all the
assigned materials on time, and participate in class discussion. Students are entitled to no
more than three absences. If you have more than three, I will either encourage you to
withdraw from class or lower your final grade. If you must be absent, it is your
responsibility to get notes and information about missed materials.
Reading and Discussion: The reading schedule includes due dates of all assigned
readings to be completed before class on the days they are scheduled. Since this is an
upper-level class, I don’t have to remind you to bring your books to class every day and
read what is assigned before class so that you can participate in discussion; you know that
active class participation is expected and essential to successfully completing this course.
Response Papers: Students will write 3 three-page response essays. Two of the response
papers have to be turned in before spring break, one of them after the break. You may
determine for what novels you wish to write a response paper.
Typed, printed, and stapled response papers are due at the beginning of class and will not
be accepted late (not 15 minutes, not an hour, not a day). Make sure your printer works.
The essay should be double-spaced, have page numbers, and follow MLA documentation
format to attribute properly the ideas and words and lines that you borrow from the
source material.
Goal: Response papers give you an opportunity to engage with a text as a reader. I’m
interested in your perspective, thoughts, opinions, questions, reading skills, and honest
reactions to each poem. It is not necessary for you to consult outside sources for your
3
responses. At their best, these reading responses will initiate a productive class discussion
and conversation.
Group Presentations: The goal of this assignment is to supplement with related
materials what you are learning from reading the novels. Consult useful books on history
and culture addressed in the novels, or some secondary critical sources, This presentation
puts you, not me, in command of some interesting information. The presentations should
be approximately 20 - 30 minutes long and include a hand-out.
Seminar Paper: As part of the capstone experience, students will write a 15 page
seminar paper due at the end of the semester. The paper will be a critical reading of any
one or two of the novels we are studying; it must include research and relevant secondary
sources. The topic must be approved by me in advance.
Here is how I calculate the final grade:
3 Response Papers (15 % each) = 45%
Seminar Paper
= 40%
Final Exam
= 15%
_____________________________________
Semester Grade
= 100%
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is essential to all the values upon which the university is founded.
Students must therefore embody academic honesty in all aspects of their work. A student
with a documented case of plagiarism or academic cheating in this course will receive an
F for the course and the possibility of being dismissed from the university.
ADA Compliance Policy
Any student needing special accommodations due to a physical, mental, or learning
disability should contact the Office of Disability Services in Martindale 234 or call
extension x 5972.
READING SCHEDULE
Jan
Jan
24
26
Introduction
N. Scott Momaday: “Man Made of Words” (hand-out, Blackboard = B)
SPACE, PLACE, AND DWELLINGS
Jan
31
Ecocriticism: chapter on “Wilderness” (59 - 84, B)
Carter Revard: “Herbs of Healing” (B)
Feb
02
Schweninger: “The Ethic Land Stereotype” 16 – 36 (B)
4
Linda Hogan: Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World
Response Paper Option 1
Feb
Feb
07
09
Dwellings cont
Dwellings cont
Ecocriticism: chapter on “Dwelling” (108 – 135, B)
Group I: criticism on Hogan’s Dwellings
Presenters: _______________________________
INDIAN REMOVAL: ETHICS, ECOLOGY, AND GENDER
Feb
14
Feb
16
Diane Glancy: Pushing the Bear: A Story of the Trail of Tears
Response Paper Option 2
Pushing the Bear cont.
Feb
Feb
21
23
no class
The Trail of Tears (video)
Feb
28
Pushing the Bear cont.
Group II: Criticism on Glancy’s Pushing the Bear
Presenters: _______________________________
Mar
01
Blake Hausman: Riding the Trail of Tears
Response Paper Option 3
Mar
Mar
06
08
Riding the Trail cont.
Riding the Trail cont.
Group III: reviews of Riding the Trail
Presenters: _______________________________
Mar
Mar
13
15
Spring Break
Spring Break
HAUNTED SOUTHERN HOMELANDS
Mar
20
Mar
22
Mar
27
Mar
29
Apr
03
LeAnne Howe: Shell Shaker
Response Paper Option 4
Shell Shaker cont.
Shell Shaker cont.
Group IV: Criticism on Shell Shaker
Presenters: ______________________________
no class
LeAnne Howe: Spiral of Fire (Video)
Final Paper Proposal due
5
ECOLOGICAL EXPLOITATION AND DISASTER
Apr
05
Linda Hogan: Mean Spirit
Response Paper Option 5
Apr
Apr
10
12
Mean Spirit cont.
Mean Spirit cont.
Group V: Criticism on Mean Spirit
Presenters: ______________________________
Apr
Apr
17
19
Presentation of Research
Presentation of Research
Apr
Apr
24
26
Presentation of Research
Draft workshop
May
May
01
03
Final Papers due
Course Summary
Final Exam: Tuesday, May 08 at 4:00 pm