TRENT OSHAWA
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
ENGL3301H: American Literature: Poverty, Wealth, and Expendability
Fall 2012
Instructor:
Sara Humphreys
Email:
sarahumphreys@trentu.ca
Telephone:
905-435-5102 ext. 5027
Campus: Oshawa (room 103)
Office Location: 157
Office Hours:
Mondays and
Thursdays 11am to
1pm
Course Description:
“One percent of the nation owns a third of the wealth. The rest of the wealth is
distributed in such a way as to turn those in the 99% against one another: small
property owners against the propertyless, black against white, native born against
foreign born, intellectuals and professionals against uneducated and unskilled.
These groups have resented one another and warred against one another with such
vehemence and violence as to obscure their common position as sharers of
leftovers in a very wealthy country”
Howard Zinn
The topics for this course are wealth, poverty, and expendability. We will explore American
literature as a platform upon which dynamic communities have debated issues of economic
stratification, which is inextricably linked to American identity. We will start with the concept
of chattel slavery as a means to think through the idea of people as commodities. Famed
American Studies scholar Houston Baker called for teachers, students, and researchers to
consider slavery in economic terms rather than the conventional focus on race in order to
illuminate the fact that economic and racial disparity are interdependent in the U.S. Slave
narratives shed light on how American capitalism reduces people to expendable
commodities on the balance sheet of the nation. We will then move into the twentieth
century and look at the rise of the popular western, not as one of the most durable of
American literary genres (it is), but as a form of economic treatise. Diverse authors have
used the western as a means to rethink American capitalism. We will study one of the great
social protest novels - and, in many ways, socialist novels of the 20th century - John
Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and, as well, delve into the caustic, satirical poetry of
Gwendolyn Brooks in order to consider the ways in which economic ideologies have
influenced concepts of the U.S. This will be an eye-opening course that will change the way
you read, think, and write about stories and nation.
Course Format:
Type
Day
Time
Location
Interactive Lecture
Workshops, Team Meetings
Mondays
Mondays
2:10 to 3:30
3:45 to 5:00
Rm 103
Rm 103 (or the
computer lab)
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course a successful student will have:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
gained critical and abstract thinking skills
learned key concepts that continue to inform the construction of the United States
obtained advanced research skills
produced a scholarly edition, thereby gaining skills in editing practices
learned how to use digital tools as a means to express and share ideas
a greater ability to read analytically, think creatively, and express the aforementioned
skills with precision, coherence, and clarity
Course Evaluation:
Normally at least 25% of the grade in a half-year course offered in the regular academic
session must be determined and made available by the deadline, which is November 6th, for
withdrawal without academic penalty.
Type of Assignment
Response Paper
Proposal
Editing Project
Final Project
Participation (10% wiki 5% attendance)
Take Home Exam
Weighting
15%
10%
20%
20%
15%
20%
Due Date
Oct 12
Oct 29
Nov 19
Dec 3
weekly
Dec 8
University Policies
Academic Integrity:
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious
academic offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an assignment to
expulsion from the University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with
plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You
have a responsibility to educate yourself – unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse.
You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s Academic Integrity website to learn more:
www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity.
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Access to Instruction:
It is Trent University's intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a
student has a disability and/or health consideration and feels that he/she may need
accommodations to succeed in this course, the student should contact the
Disability Services Office (BH Suite 132, 748 1281disabilityservices@trentu.ca).
for Trent University in Oshawa Disability Services office contact 905-435-5100.
Complete text can be found under Access to Instruction in the Academic
Calendar.
Required Texts:
Please note that you are responsible for using the correct editions. Any works listed as “Blackboard” are to be
found in the appropriate unit on Blackboard (aka learningSystem). This course follows Trent’s official
copyright policy, the full text of which can be found here http://guides.lib.trentu.ca/copyright. You are
expected to be logged into the website where the work is located, and/or print out the work for use in class.
Please be sure to bring the appropriate texts to class.
Gwendolyn Brooks “The Lovers of the Poor” and “Kitchenette Building” (Blackboard)
Marge Piercy “For The Young Who Want To” (Blackboard)
Walt Whitman “Democratic Vistas” (Blackboard)
Sara Humphreys ““Truer ’n Hell”: Lies, Capitalism, and Cultural Imperialism in Owen Wister’s The
Virginian, B. M. Bower’s The Happy Family, and Mourning Dove’s Cogewea” (Blackboard)
William Carlos Williams “To Elsie” (Blackboard)
Countee Cullen “Saturday’s Child” (Blackboard)
Adrienne Rich “What Kind of Times Are These” (Blackboard)
Kenneth Burke “The Economics of Life” (Blackboard)
Houston Baker “Figurations for a New Literary History” (Blackboard)
Mourning Dove Cogewea (bookstore)
Owen Wister The Virginian (bookstore)
Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (ed. Kwame Appiah) (bookstore)
Edward Bellamy Looking Backward (bookstore)
Frank Miller The Dark Knight Returns (bookstore)
John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath (bookstore)
Rebecca Skloot The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (bookstore)
Recommended Texts:
The Little, Brown Handbook Ramsey Fowler et al


The Secret to Effective Documentation (Trent University: Academic Skills Centre -http://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/documentation/, 13 July 2011). Note: Citations in this
course must be in the MLA format.
Resources for Essay Writing (Trent University: Academic Skills Centre -http://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/online_arts.php , 13 July 2011).
learningSystem/Blackboard:
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You must log into Blackboard regularly and check the course site. All assignments are to be
handed in online without exception. This digital classroom should be an excellent resource
for you as we journey through the course.
Week-by-week schedule:
(subject to change with as much notice as possible)
Note: please pay careful attention to the topics we will cover each week. You are responsible for understanding
the topics and terms we discuss in class and these will appear on the final exam.
Lecture 1 September 10
Readings: Syllabus
Topics: Course overview, expectations explained and so forth.
UNIT ONE: Brands of Identity
Lecture 2 September 17
Readings: Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (be sure to read Lydia Marie
Child’s Introduction); Houston Baker “Figuration for a New Literary History”
Topics: slavery as economic system; the print culture of slave narratives or the “business” of
abolition; “ghettoizing” literatures; explanation of assignments
Lecture 3 September 24
Readings: Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Topics: biopolitics as economic indicator; the cult of true womanhood or sentimental
materialism
Lecture 4 October 1
Readings: Edward Bellamy Looking Backward; Walt Whitman “Democratic Vistas”; Owen
Wister’s The Virginian (intro and first few chapters)
Topics: American socialism and democracy; the Frontier Club, the Cheyenne Club, Bellamy
Clubs: national collectivity and gentlemen’s clubs
Workshop: Scholarly editing project; using wikis; assignment expectations; discussion of
manuscript
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Lecture 5 October 8 – cancelled for Thanksgiving!
ASSIGNMENT DUE Oct 12- Response Paper
UNIT TWO: Economic Frontiers
Lecture 6 October 15
Readings: Owen Wister’s The Virginian and Mourning Dove’s Cogewea
Topics: The nations within the nation; print culture, textual production and race
Workshop: Editing meeting
October 24th – Reading Week!
Lecture 7 October 29
Readings: Owen Wister’s The Virginian and Mourning Dove’s Cogewea; Sara Humphreys
Truer ’n Hell”: Lies, Capitalism, and Cultural Imperialism in Owen Wister’s The Virginian,
B. M. Bower’s The Happy Family, and Mourning Dove’s Cogewea
Topics: Indigenizing capitalism; ideologies of whiteness and national belonging;
management and workers
Assignment Due: proposal
Workshop: Editing meetings
Lecture 8 November 5
Readings: John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath; William Carlos Williams “To Elsie”
Topics: the Jeffersonian ideology of farms and farming; Okie`s and American regionalism
Workshop: Editing meetings
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UNIT THREE: Hard Times, Resistance, and The Status Quo
Lecture 9 November 12
Readings: John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath; Kenneth Burke “The Economics of Life”;
Countee Cullen “Saturday’s Child”
Topics: Free market capitalism, “silver spoons” and “racoons;” man-on-the-make vs. civic
duty: the rhetoric of America
Workshop: Final editing meeting – printed copies of edited manuscripts brought to class
Lecture 10 November 19
Readings: Rebecca Skloot The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks; Gwendolyn Brooks “The
Lovers of the Poor” and “Kitchenette Building”
Topics: Language and ideology; science and faith; sentimental capitalism
Assignment Due: editing project
Lecture 11 November 26
Readings: Rebecca Skloot The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (first half of class); Frank
Miller The Dark Knight Returns; Marge Piercy “For The Young Who Want To”
Topics: neoliberalism and Reaganonmics; hope and privilege
Lecture 12 December 3
Readings: Frank Miller The Dark Knight Returns;Christopher Nolan’s Batman films
Adrienne Rich “What Kind of Times Are These”
Topics: Unfettered capitalism; neoliberal legacies; 21st century robber barons and rebels
Workshop: course review and take home exam provided
Department and/or Course Policies:
Course Policies
Late Policy: Extensions are granted on a case-by-case basis, and no extensions will be negotiated
after the due date. Any papers without an approved extension will be penalized 5% per day
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including weekends. After seven days, I will not accept the assignment without a formal meeting with
the student and, if required, an academic advisor and/or counsellor.
Attendance: The course policy regarding attendance is clear and unambiguous: it is your
responsibility to show up for class fully prepared. I will take attendance and if you miss more than
three classes without proper documentation or notification, you will receive a “0” for the attendance
portion of the participation grade. Further, it is your responsibility to read this syllabus carefully and
understand the course expectations and deadlines.
E-mail: I return email within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays.
Electronic Devices: I allow and encourage students to take notes using tablets, laptops, and even
smartphones; however, please be advised that during films and slideshows, you will be asked to
close your devices out of respect for your classmates. Abuse of electronic devices is not permitted;
for example, if your classmates complain that you are disturbing them, you will be asked to shut
down your device in class. Remember that people beside you and behind you can see what you are
doing, who you are talking to, and what you are posting.
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