ENG 2423: Literature of Texas and the Southwest
“I’m sure I know more about the art of telling a tale, and I am not sure
that a good tale isn’t better for human beings than most of what passes
for social science. I don’t know; at the same time I am sure that The Rime
of the Ancient Mariner has done more good than all discourses on
omniscience that Samuel Taylor Coleridge ever uttered. ...And now,
listening ‘like a three years’ child,’ we are in the land of the blessed.
J. Frank Dobie
Dr. Linda Woodson
Office: MB 2.306B
Office Phone: 458-5344
Office Hours: TR 11:00-12:30 p.m.
Others by appointment
E-mail: Linda.Woodson@utsa.edu
Course Goals:
1. Gaining a broader
understanding and
appreciation of
literature
2. Learning to
analyze and critically
evaluate ideas,
arguments, and
points of view
Course Purpose: This course is a core curriculum course in literature. We will be reading a variety of
genres. This course satisfies the literary studies component of the Core. In addition, it satisfies lowerdivision English credit requirements or electives.
Texts:
Lone Star Literature: An Anthology, Don Graham. ed.
George Washington Gomez, Americo Paredes
Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko
All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy
Several other short readings will be provided as handouts.
Class Organization: The class will combine lecture, discussion, and some group activities.
Requirements: Your grade will be determined as follows:
Unannounced daily quizzes
10%
Three short examinations
20% each
Final examination (including essay) 30%
Policies: Class attendance is mandatory, as well as prompt arrival and no early departure. .
Excessive absences (more than 3) may cause a lowering of your grade by one letter, and lack of
participation (more than 6 absences) may cause you to fail the course. If you decide to stop coming to
class, be sure to take care of a withdrawal online or by telephone. If you are still on my roster at the end of
the semester, I am required to assign an F.
October 30 is the last day for Sophomores and above to withdraw from an individual course and
receive an automatic grade of W. December 3 is the last day for Freshmen.
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.
I will not report grades by telephone, fax, or email, nor will the ECP office staff.
University Academic Dishonesty Policy: Any student who commits an act of scholastic dishonesty is
subject to discipline. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the
submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person,
taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the
attempt to commit such acts.
I reserve the right to change assignments occasionally as the semester progresses.
Aug.
28
Sept.
2
4
Sept.
9
11
16
Introduction to course
18
23
25
30
Oct. 2
Oct. 7
9
14
16
21
Ceremony
First Short Examination
“The Last Running”—John Graves; “ “Bogged Shadows”—J. Frank Dobie
All the Pretty Horses
All the Pretty Horses
All the Pretty Horses
All the Pretty Horses
All the Pretty Horses
Second Short Examination
“The Grave”—Katherine Anne Porter; “Hold Autumn in Your Hand”—
George Sessions Perry
Poems by Teresa Palomo Acosta—a handout; “The Hammon and the
Beans”—Américo Paredes; “Exile”--Benjamin Alire Sáenz; “The Portrait”-Tomás Rivera
“The Gulf Oil-Can Santa Claus”—Rolando Hinojosa-Smith; “La Fabulosa” A
Texas Operetta”—Sandra Cisneros”; poetry of Pat Mora—handout
George Washington Gomez; Last Day for W, Sophomores and above
George Washington Gomez
23
28
30
Nov.
4
Nov.
6
11
13
18
20
25
27
Dec.
2
3
4
8-9
Dec.
10
“The Origin Myth of Acoma”—a handout; “High Horse’s Courting”—a
handout
Ceremony
Ceremony
Handouts
Ceremony
Ceremony; poems by Simon Ortiz and others
108-160
161-213;
poems, handout
214-end
1-54
55-108
143; 126
3-59
59-137
137-202
202-252
252-end
177; 185
Handout; 272;
278; 350
355; 407;
handout
9-63
63-118
George Washington Gomez
118-175
George Washington Gomez
George Washington Gomez
Third Short Examination
“Tomorrow We Smile”—Naomi Shihab Nye; “The Battle of the Alamo”—
Rafael Castillo;
“A Train to Catch”—Clay Reynolds; “The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy”—
Aaron Latham
Thanksgiving
177-228
228-end
Readings from Larry McMurtry
handout
Last Day for W, Freshmen
Review Day
Study Days
Final Examination, 10:30-1:00
589; 505
563; 645