ENGL 3033 Dodwell
English 3033
American Literature after 1945
University of Texas-San Antonio 1604
Fall 2008
HSS 3.04.26
MWF 11:00 – 11:50 a.m.
Karen Dodwell, Ph.D.
Office: MB 2.248M
karen.dodwell@utsa.edu
830 460 1502
Course Description in UTSA Catalogue
3-0 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core
Curriculum requirement in literature written in the
United States since 1945.
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Course Objectives
Develop an informed and flexible outlook by
reading a sampling of poetry, prose, and drama
in American Literature after 1945
Understand the perspectives and accomplishments of the past by viewing postwar American
literature as part of a continuum of literary
development
Understand intellectual and cultural pluralism in
modern society by studying literature and
criticism written in American after 1945
Become intellectually adaptable by exploring the
intersections of gender, ethnicity, race, religion,
and politics in postwar American literature within
the context of contemporary theory and criticism
Explore the influences of popular culture on
literary production
Develop a scholarly vocabulary and voice for
classroom discussions and informal and formal
papers
Develop the ability to read critical texts and
integrate scholarly debate into one’s own
exploration of texts and scholarly writing
Skillfully write substantial scholarly argumentative
papers, using MLA style and secondary sources
Acquire skills in close reading, synthesizing
information, textual analysis, research, and
bibliography that will advance a professional
career
Texts
The Norton Anthology of American Literature,
Seventh Edition, Volume E, Literature since 1945 –
Nina Baym, General Editor
A Concise Companion to Postwar American
Literature and Culture – Josephine G. Hendin, Editor
Blackwell Publising, 2004
Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut
1
Course Policies
 Attendance is mandatory. Roll will be taken in
every class. Avoid the habit of walking in late
and disrupting the class. If you are consistently
late, make adjustments to your routine of driving,
parking, walking, etc.
 Class participation is an essential part of the
learning experience in the course. Good
attendance and consistent pro-active
participation move a borderline final grade up.
 Dropping the course by the specified UTSA
deadline is the responsibility of the student.
Failure to drop by the drop date may result in a
grade of “F” in the course.
 Support services, including registration
assistance and equipment, are available to
students with documented disabilities through the
Office of Disabled Student Services (DSS), MS
2.03.18. Students are encouraged to contact that
office at 458-4157 early in the semester to make
arrangements.
 Plagiarism of any sort will, of course, not be
tolerated. Please consult the University web-page
on plagiarism:
http://www.utsa.edu/tlc/weblinks/plagiarism.htm.
Students may not incorporate research
information and writing prepared for another
course into the papers required for this course.
 Written responses and papers are due in
class on the due date. It is the student’s
responsibility to format papers in MLA style and
print them out on 8 ½ x 11 paper. Written work
may be submitted electronically only in rare
cases with the permission of the instructor.
 Late papers #1, #2 and #3 are excused from
point penalties if a student can verify an
incapacitating physical illness or death in the
family. Students who will be absent for religious
reasons or to conduct official University business
should make arrangements with the instructor
before the absence in order to avoid late point
penalties.
 Unexcused late paper #1 and #2 receive the
following point penalties:
1 class period late
= 10 point deduction
2 class periods late
= 20 point deduction
3 + class periods late = 25 point deduction
 Unexcused late paper #3 will receive a 25
point deduction if it is submitted after the due
date, the last day of class.
Include a separate cover sheet on a late paper
that includes the following: student’s name,
course title, paper due date, date of submission,
and number of class periods late.
Do not expect a late paper to be returned in the
same grading cycle as on-time papers. Most
likely a late paper will be returned to the student
much later than on-time papers.
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The last possible moment to submit a late
paper is during the scheduled time for the final
exam. When the instructor leaves the class room
on the day of the final exam, the course is over
and late work is not accepted.
Quizzes cannot be made up and written
responses cannot be turned in late because
the content is discussed in class on the due date.
Students will be allowed to drop two of the
grades, i.e., one quiz grade and one response
grade; or two quiz grades; or two written
response grades.
Grades
Letter grades will be assigned as follows:
A = 90 – 100 points
B = 80 – 89 points
C = 70 – 79 points
D = 60 – 69 points
F = Below 60 points
ENGL 3033 Dodwell
page length = 5 pages. Paper #3 page length = 8
pages.
More extensive guidelines will be provided on a
separate handout.
The final exam will contain brief identification,
multiple choice, short essays and long essays. The
final will be comprehensive.
Reading Schedule
Aug 27, Wed – Course introduction
Aug 29, Frid Anthology – Jack Kerouac, Big Sur,
Chapters 8-14
Sep 1, Mon – Labor Day Holiday
Sep 3, Wed - Anthology - Allen Ginsberg, Howl
Course Requirements
Written responses & quizzes
20%
Paper #1
5%
Paper #2
15%
Paper #3
30%
Final Exam
30%
Sep 5, Fri – Companion - The Fifties and After: An
Ambiguous Culture by Frederick R. Karl
Written responses are completed as homework
outside of class. Students write two pages in an
exploratory style in response to prompts that will
stimulate close readings of assigned texts. The
prompts are provided the class period before they are
due.
Sep 10, Wed – Anthology – Tennessee Williams,
Introduction
A Streetcar Named Desire, Scenes 1-2
Companion – American Drama in the Postwar
Period, John Bell, pp. 110-117
Quizzes are scheduled on the course calendar and
additional quizzes may be unannounced. They may
contain true/false questions, multiple choice, short
identification and short essays.
Paper #1 will be a formal argumentative paper that
presents a clear thesis and support. Students will
develop topics from lectures, class discussion, written
responses, and critical essays assigned in A Concise
Companion to Postwar American Literature and
Culture. Information from A Concise Companion
must be documented using MLA style in-text citations
and a works cited page. Page length = 3 pages
Papers # 2 and #3 will be formal argumentative
papers that present a clear thesis and support.
Students will develop topics from lectures, class
discussion, written responses, critical essays
assigned in A Concise Companion to Postwar
American Literature and Culture, and other critical
essays that the students locate through research.
Secondary sources are required, and information
from sources must be documented using MLA style
in-text citations and a works cited page. Paper #2
2
Sep 8, Mon – Written response due
Companion – The Beat Generation is Now About
Everything, Regina Weinreich
Sep 12, Fri – Anthology - A Streetcar Named Desire,
Scenes 3-7
Sep 15, Mon – Written response due
Anthology - A Streetcar Named Desire, Scenes 8-end
Sep 17, Wed – Anthology - Flannery O’Connor – The
Life You Save May Be Your Own; Good Country
People
Sep 19, Fri – Anthology - John Cheever, The
Swimmer
John Updike - Separating
Sep 22, Mon – Paper #1 due
Anthology
Robert Penn Warren - Bearded Oaks, Mortal Limit
George Oppen - Workman, Psalm
Elizabeth Bishop - The Fish, The Armadillo, Sestina,
the Moose, One Art
Sep 24, Wed – Anthology – Theodore Roethke, read
all poems, pp. 2134-2146
Sep 26, Fri – Anthology – Robert Hayden, Middle
Passage
James Dickey, Falling
Sep 29, Mon – Quiz
Anthology – Ronal Sukenick – Innovative
Fiction/Innovative Criteria
Donald Barthlome- The Balloon
Oct 1, Wed – Anthology - Postmodern Manifestos
Charles Olson – From Projective Verse
Frank O’Hara – From Personism: A Manifesto
A. R. Ammons – From A Poem is Not a Walk,
Corson’s Inlet, From Garbage
Oct 3, Fri – Anthology
Raymond Carver - Cathedral
Oct 6, Mon – Paper #2 due
No reading assignment
Oct 8, Wed – Online - Read the entry on
“postmodernism” in The Stanford Encyclopedia
online and discover the big topics and issues
Oct 10, Fri – Companion
Postmodern Fictions by David Mikics
Oct 13, Mon – Anthology - Ishmael Reed – From The
Last Days of Louisiana Red
ENGL 3033 Dodwell 3
Nov 7, Fri – Companion - Fire and Romance: African
American Literature, Sterling Lecater Bland, Jr.
Nov 10, Mon – Quiz
Anthology - Rudolpho A. Anaya, from Bless Me
Ultima
Nov 12, Wed – Anthology
Sandra Cisneros – Woman Hollering Creek
Nov 14, Fri – Anthology
Gloria Anzaldua – entire section
Nov 17, Mon – Written response due
Anthology - Julia Alvarez – Yo!
Nov 19, Wed – Companion - Emergent Ethnic
Literatures, Cyrus R. K. Patell
Nov 21, Fri – Anthology - N. Scott Momaday – From
The Way to Rainy Mountain
Nov 24, Mon - Quiz
Anthology - Leslie Marmon Silko - Lullaby
Oct 15, Wed – Slaughterhouse-Five – Chapters 1-3
Nov 26, Wed – Anthology
George Vizenor – Almost Browne
Sherman Alexie – all poems in section
Oct 17, Fri – Slaughterhouse-Five – Chapters 4-5
Nov 28, Fri – No class, Thanksgiving
Oct 20, Mon – Written response due
Slaughter House Five – Chapter 6-10
Dec 1, Mon – Anthology
Amy Tan from The Joy Luck Club
Oct 22, Wed – Anthology
Philip Roth – Defender of the Faith
Randall Jarrell – Second Air Force
Dec 3, Wed – Anthology
Cathy Song – all poems
Li-Young Lee – all poems
Oct 24, Fri – Companion
The Beauty and Destructiveness of War: A Literary
Portrait of the Vietnam Conflict by Pat C Hoy II
Anthology – Denise Levertov – What Were They
Like?
Dec 5, Fri – Paper #3 due
Review for final exam
No reading assignment
Oct 27, Mon – Quiz
Anthology – Writing in a Time of Terror: September
11, 2001, pp. 3205-3219
Dec 15, Mon - Final Exam
1:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Oct 29, Wed – Anthology – Ralph Ellison, From
Invisible Man
Oct 31, Fri – Anthology – Rita Dove – all poems
Nov 3, Mon – Written response due
Anthology - Toni Morrison, Recitatif Alice Walker –
Everyday Use
Nov 5, Wed – Toni Cade Bambara - Medley
Dec 8, Mon – No class, study day