Course Outline
English 38 "Lift Every Voice”:
Ethnicity, Gender and Class in the United States
Merritt College, Spring 1999 Mondays 6:00-9:00 p.m.
Teacher: Kim Bancroft
Most reading assignments listed below come from the anthology Rereading America (ed. Gary
Colombo, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle). Other articles will be made available in class. The readings must
be completed by the class time assigned. Please plan ahead to meet deadlines for all assignments.
WEEK 1 Jan. 25
Topic: Introduction to the course. Education.
Introduction to the course.
Handout: “Education of Children,” by Ohiyesa (Sioux).
WEEK 2 Feb.1
Topic: Education.
Anthology, Ch. 1, "The Myth of Education and Empowerment"
Specific topics addressed in this unit include: an overview of the history of education in the United
States; the ways in which racism and sexism have delimited opportunities for many American youth; and
models for positive educational experiences.
1) Read the introduction to the chapter (16-19).
2) Read Anyon “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” (45-60)
3) Choose at least three of the following essays to read.
Rose “I Just Wanna Be Average” (33-44)
Rodriguez “The Achievement of Desire” (61-73)
Malcolm X “Learning to Read” (77-85)
the Sadkers “Higher Education: Colder by Degrees” (86-109)
Hong Kingston “Silence” (110-114)
Wood “Secondary Schools, Primary Lessons” (121-134)
4) Essay #1 Topic: Analysis of "The Myth of Education and Empowerment"
Analyzing at least one essay you read and your own experience, evaluate the opportunities or deficits
inherent in our educational system, focusing specifically on how ethnicity, class and/or gender are involved.
In your own experience, did you feel hindered or encouraged? Explain.
Be sure to focus on a specific point of comparison and analysis with one of the writers you have
studied.
Approximately 750 words (at least 3 pages double spaced typed). [100 points. Note: I will ask you
to rewrite this essay, due for Week 4, to regain full credit and to practice rewriting.]
WEEK 3 Feb. 8
Topic: Family.
Anthology, Ch. 2 "Harmony at Home: The Myth of the Model Family."
Issues addressed in this unit include: the power dynamics in the configuration of the stereotypical
American family; the ways in which real families deviate from the norm -- for better and for worse; and, the
conflicts arising within families and within our society from the tension between the myth and the reality.
Read the following 5 articles in the Anthology, Ch.2 and choose 3 for Reading Responses. See the handout
on how to do Reading Responses.
Soto “Looking for Work” (145-149)
Hochman “Growing Pains: Beyond ‘One Big Happy Family’” (150-157)
Campbell “Envy” (182-194)
Collins “Black Women and Motherhood” (195-209)
Coontz “We Always Stood on Our Own Two Feet: Self-reliance and the American Family” (212-223)
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Note: No class Monday, February 15 Washington’s Birthday
WEEK 4 Feb. 22 Topic: Gender and Culture.
Anthology, Ch. 3 "Women and Men in Relationship: Myths of Gender."
How are sex roles socially constructed and thus vary from culture to culture? Using historical,
anthropological and psychological perspectives, we will examine the ways in which sexism and heterosexism
oppress both women and men.
1) Read the following articles in the Anthology, Ch.3 and choose 3 for Reading Responses.
Kincaid “Girl” (241-243)
Devor “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender” (244-252)
Kimmel “Clarence, William, Iron Mike, Tailhook, Senator Packwood, Spur Posse, Magic, ... and Us”
(259-269)
hooks “Sexism and Misogyny: Who Takes the Rap?” (270-277)
Weinrich & Williams “Strange Customs, Familiar Lives: Homosexualities in Other Cultures” (296-310)
Allen “Where I Come from Is Like This” (312-318).
2) Rewrite Essay #1.
WEEK 5
March 1 Topic: Gender and Culture Through Stories
1) Read the following 3 stories and 2) write a Reading Response for each.
Gloria Naylor “The Two” in Chapter 3 of the anthology (p. 319-327)
Maxine Hong Kingston “White Tigers” from Woman Warrior (p.19-53) (handout)
Sandra Cisneros “Woman Hollering Creek” (from book by same title) (p.43-56) (handout)
WEEK 6
March 8 Topic: Gender and Culture
Film in class: Rosie the Riveter
1) Read the selected poetry provided on handouts.
2) Essay #2: Write a 750 word minimum analysis of the "myths of gender," focused on at least one of the
short stories and using any other material we have read as reference, as well as any stories from your own
experience or that of someone you know. [100 points]
WEEK 7 March 15 Topic: Ethnicity, Prejudice & Identity
Anthology, Ch. 4 "Created Equal: The Myth of the Melting Pot."
This unit examines how race has been socially constructed in order to serve the socio-economic interests of
the dominant class. What expectations has the myth of the melting pot created, and what is the reality?
What are the legacies of the historical efforts to control and annihilate people of color in this country? We’ll
examine institutional and interpersonal racism, and how ethnic identity is interpreted depending on one's own
ethnic blend and cross-cultural experience.
1) Read one of the following selections and do 1 Reading Response.
Omi & Winant “Racial Formation”(356-364)
Parillo “Causes of Prejudice” (376-387)
2) Also read all of the following and choose 2 for Reading Responses.
Equiano from The Life of Olauday Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African (74-84)
(handout)
Douglass from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (77-87)
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(handout)
Terkel “C.P. Ellis,” an oral history (anthology 388-398)
Steele “I’m Black, You’re White, Who’s Innocent?” (anthology 411-420)
*Film in class: Ethnic Notions.
WEEK 8 March 22 Topic: Ethnicity, Prejudice and Identity.
Anthology, Ch.4 "Created Equal: The Myth of the Melting Pot"
1) Read the following 2 selections. The first is a handout. Do a Reading Response for each.
McIntosh “White Privilege and Male Privilege” (70-81) (handout)
Takaki from A Different Mirror (332-349)
2) Choose two of the following and do 1 Reading Response.
Rich "Split at the Root: On Jewish Identity" (365-375)
Anzaldua "La conciencia de la mestiza/Towards a New Consciousness" (434-443)
George “Gray Boys, Funky Aztecs, and Honorary Homegirls” (422-434)
Week of March 29 Spring Break
WEEK 9
April 5
Topic: Ethnicity, Prejudice and Identity
1) Essay #3 on Ethnicity, Prejudice and Identity (approximately 500 words or more).
Using references to at least three of the selections you have read on this topic and your own
experience, write your analysis of “the myth of the melting pot.” (You do not have to do a point-by-point
comparison essay; simply use at least three of the essays you read as part of your discussion.) Be sure to
articulate a position and weave the views of other writers into your analysis to support points you are making.
750 word minimum [100 points]
2) Start The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson, Ch. I-VII (p.1-48).
WEEK 10
April 12 Topic: Ethnicity, Prejudice and Identity
1) Finish The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Ch. VIII-XI (p.49-100). Do one long Reading
Response (worth 2).
WEEK 11 April 19 Topic: Money & Success.
Anthology, Ch. 5 "Money & Success: The Myth of Individual Opportunity."
While the myth circulates that Americans can pull themselves up by their bootstraps, the reality is
often quite different for those born into lower socioeconomic conditions. How do poverty and scarcity
combine with issues of education, gender and ethnicity to determine the opportunities available to all
Americans?
1) In the Anthology, Ch. 5 read the following essays and write 3 Reading Response Journals.
Mantsios “Rewards and Opportunities: The Politics and Economics of Class in the
U.S.” (465-480)
Bambara “The Lesson” (482-488)
Chang “Streets of Gold: The Myth of the Model Minority” (513-520)
Terkel “Stephen Cruz,” an oral history (460-464)
Cose “Tiptoeing Around the Truth” (522-536)
2) Work on Essay #4.
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WEEK 12
April 26
Topic: Lifting Our Voices, Making Changes
1) Essay #4: Report on Interview with a Community Figure regarding the Myths of Success and Progress.
Find out about your interviewee's path to success (however he or she defines that success) and the obstacles
he or she faced. Be specific in asking about issues of ethnicity, class, and gender. 750 word minimum. In
class you will report on your work. [100 points]
2) We will also begin reading together Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (p.1-18) in class, so please bring
the book with you. (You are not supposed to have started it already. Just focus on getting a good interview
and writing a good essay for this week.)
WEEK 13
May 3
Topic: Synthesis through Storytelling.
Read Ceremony pp.18-108.
WEEK 14
May 10 Topic: Topic: Synthesis through Storytelling
Read Ceremony pp.108-201.
WEEK 15
May 17 Topic: Synthesis through Storytelling.
Read Ceremony pp.201-262 (the end).
> Essay #5: Final project on Ceremony. You can either write an essay on the novel, choosing your own
topic (which you must check out with me), or you can do an audio or visual project that shows depth of
analysis and understanding regarding the book’s themes. (You should also discuss your project with me
beforehand.) You will present your final work in class. [100 points]
WEEK 16
May 24 Final Class
Topic: Synthesis through Storytelling.
Essay #6: Final Project
Your final project must be typed, at least 5 pages double-spaced (1250 words). [200 points] Choose
one of the following:
1) Write a Short Story using the theme of healing, transformation, and the hero's mythic journey. In lieu of a
final exam, you will talk about and/or read from your story.
2) Write a grant proposal for a project that you would like to see funded one day, either real or imagined.
You will need to do research to support your analysis of why this project is necessary and how it will
serve the community, especially in terms of ameliorating iniquities relating to ethnicity, class and/or
gender. You will report on your proposal in class.
Engl038syllabus.doc
Kb/jh 10/13/03
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