| Dr. Alex E. Blazer | Course Site | Syllabus |
| In Class Activities | Scholarly Criticism | Group Project |
| Exam | Paper 1 | Paper 2 |
Invisible Men and Women Warriors: Coming of Age Fiction
English 335: Literature of American Minorities, Winter 2008
Section 1: MWF 11:00-11:50AM, 227 Lake Superior Hall
Section 2: M 6:00-8:50PM, 1116 AuSable Hall
In order to prepare for the annotated bibliography component of the Group Project, you have read and written a summary paragraph on a journal article explaining Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Today, you will share you annotations with your group. Break into your Hurston criticism groups and complete the following two tasks.
While you developed your short paper from a set of predetermined topics related to the coming-of-age story, the topic for your research paper is open. In order to help to make sure that you are on the right track, we will do an in class activity that allows you to develop and get feedback on your idea.
Today's in class activity will allow us to focus our discussion of this long novel by dividing into break out groups. Each group should discuss its assigned issue, find textual evidence and plot points that illustrate the issue, determine the novel's conflict and/or theme regarding the issue, and then report its findings to the class.
Groups
To prepare for the group presentation, we first learned literary methods at GVSU. Next, we'll practice annotating a scholarly article, available online.
First, read and take notes on the article, paying particular attention to the questions it poses of Hurston's text, the issues it sees in the book, and the interpretive conclusions it makes of the novel. Then, write a 75-100 word annotation of the article that
Bring your written annotation to class so we can work with them.
| Article | Section 01 MWF 11:00AM | Section 02 M 6:00PM |
|---|---|---|
Hattenhauer, "The Death of Janie Crawford: Tragedy and the American Dream in Their Eyes Were Watching God" |
Brittany Lemmon Andrew Schmalz Amy Tran Kathy Tran |
Matthew Chicola Patrick Johnson Kristin Kolehouse Teresa Stillman |
Kaplan, "The Erotics of Talk: 'That Oldest Human Longing' in Their Eyes Were Watching God" |
Ted Booker Jacque Hettel Tyler Olney Tricia Schoenborn Michael Sonneveldt |
Bryan Fonger Vincent Harriger Caitlyn Knapp Jim Munchow Allan Vander Laan |
Kitch, "Gender and Language: Dialect, Silence and the Disruption of Discourse" |
Aaron Carbaugh Christina Le Vey Shannon Lewis Elizabeth Meloche Kelly Ryan |
Katie Bibler Nicole Butcher Kameron Dysert Mindy Kalembkiewicz Aaron Norris |
McGowan, "Liberation and Domination: Their Eyes Were Watching God and the Evolution of Capitalism" |
Shelby Anderson Gerrit Clemence Ashley Larson Kristen Mahal Alison Van Kampen |
Amy Bennett Nicole Kinder Chad Patton James Spray Chad Waite |
Miller, "'Some Other Way to Try': From Defiance to Creative Submission in Their Eyes Were Watching God" |
Ashley Capps Mitch Diep Jake Heaton Josh Meyers Natalie Thomas |
Melissa Ausúa Becky Bronsink Melissa Ferguson Jami Lundburg Daniel Schippers |
Sartwell, "Bits of Broken Glass: Zora Neale Hurston's Conception of Self" |
Brittni Chapman Jessica Dirheimer Andrea Suttner Bobby Tiernan Cristina Walcott |
Sujen Coyle Shavon Doyle Kate Geskus Erika Lynds Greg Shumaker |
The three goals of the presentation is for students to pose tentative readings of a novel, conduct research, and lead class discussion; therefore, groups of 4-5 will write a 2-3 page preliminary analysis of the work that elucidates core conflicts and character developments, an annotated bibliography summarizing scholarly criticism of the work, and discussion and debate questions. They will also deliver this material in a class presentation that introduces key characters, issues, and themes. Note that Blackboard Group Pages affords group discussion board, collaboration, email, and file exchange.
Written Component
Presentation Schedule: Section 1, MWF 11:00-11:50AM
| Novel | Due Date | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Ellison, Invisible Man | M, 2-4 |
Ted Booker Jacque Hettel Tyler Olney Tricia Schoenborn Michael Sonneveldt |
| Morrison, Song of Solomon | M, 2-11 |
Aaron Carbaugh Christina Le Vey Shannon Lewis Elizabeth Meloche Kelly Ryan |
| Thomas, Down These Mean Streets | Shelby Anderson Gerrit Clemence Kristen Mahal Alison Van Kampen |
|
| Cisneros, The House on Mango Street | Ashley Capps Mitch Diep Jake Heaton Josh Meyers Natalie Thomas |
|
| Kingston, The Woman Warrior | Brittni Chapman Jessica Dirheimer Andrea Suttner Bobby Tiernan Cristina Walcott |
|
Alexie, Flight |
M, 4-14 |
Brittany Lemmon Andrew Schmalz Amy Tran Kathy Tran |
Presentation Schedule: Section 02, M 6:00-8:50PM
| Novel | Due Date | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Ellison, Invisible Man | M, 2-4 |
Bryan Fongers Vincent Harriger Caitlyn Knapp Jim Munchow Allan Vander Laan |
| Morrison, Song of Solomon | M, 2-11 |
Nicole Butcher Kameron Dysert Mindy Kalembkiewicz Aaron Norris |
| Thomas, Down These Mean Streets | M, 3-10 |
Amy Bennett Nicole Kinder Chad Patton James Spray |
| Cisneros, The House on Mango Street | Melissa Ausúa Becky Bronsink Jami Lundburg |
|
| Kingston, The Woman Warrior | Sujen Coyle Shavon Doyle Kate Geskus Erika Lynds Greg Shumaker |
|
Alexie, Flight |
M, 4-14 |
Matthew Chicola Patrick Johnson Kristin Kolehouse |
In 5-6 pages, your MLA styled short paper will analyze the artistic, emotional, intellectual, psychological, sexual, social, or spiritual development (or lack thereof) of either Dave, "The Hammer Man" narrator, Janie, John, the Invisible Man, or Milkman. How and why does the protagonist's character and worldview change (or not) from the beginning of the story to the end? Choose one particular aspect of the coming-of-age drama like sexuality, socialization, marginalization, philosophy, or spirituality and analyze how the character progresses, regresses, or stagnates in that area. Obviously, you can bring in other areas of the bildungsroman, but your thesis needs to be focused and your interpretation should be proven with rigorous analysis of textual evidence (quotes).
While the first paper specifically directed you to address a coming-of-age theme, in this paper you can investigate any issue you wish.
Select a text that we've read in class (but not the one on which you wrote your short paper), a text by an author we've read in class, or a text by a minority that we've read in class. See me if you want to pursue a text not covered in class. In a focused, thesis-driven paper, rigorously interpret and analyze that piece using specific textual evidence (i.e., quotes) and literary research (4-5 scholarly journal articles, books, or book chapters) to support your argument. Although this is a research paper, the emphasis should be on your ideas, your way of reading the text. The research is necesary but do not let it overwhelm your voice. I'll be glad to discuss paper topics with you at any time.
The one hour and fifty minute in class cumulative final exam will consist of comparison and contrast essays. You will be given five or six questions from which you will answer three, thus you should prepare to spend approximately 35 minutes on each essay. I will provide a sheet listing the course's novels, short stories, and films as well as their main characters. The one essay topic that you must answer involves the relationship between dominant and marginalized/minority groups in the stories we have read: how does the dominant group achieve its dominance, how does it treat the minority group, and how does the minority group respond. Besides this mandatory issue, probable issues you should prepare to discuss are class, gender, sexuality, family, and of course development of identity.
If I were preparing for this exam, I would create and review a page or two of notes for each author consisting of the following:
I would also compare and contrast the stories in terms of main characters, conflicts, and theme. Although you could simply review your original class notes, I advise composing these set of notes for doing so attunes your thinking and writing process to the cause of the exam in a much more active way than using old notes. Constructing notes is prewriting for the essay exam. Your exam will be accessed on its interpretive and analytical understanding of the stories in terms of character and theme as well as its ability to make connections and distinctions among the stories.