ENG 525: Contemporary American Literature: American Apocalypse

ENG 525 : Contemporary American Literature:
American Apocalypse

Joseph T. Thomas, Jr.
email: jtthomas@mail.sdsu.edu

W.S. Burroughs

Class Meetings: Tuesdays & Thursdays 12:30PM - 1:45PM, COM-206
Office: AL-255
Phone: 619.594.8430
Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:00-12:00 (and by appointment)

!!!! IMPORTANT: Online Schedule !!!!

(This schedule is tentative. Check back often for changes and updates)

This is a course in contemporary American literature--with a twist. The literary scene since 1960 is complicated and contested. It has produced more wonderful writers producing more wonderful works than you could read in a lifetime. Thus, I have eschewed the coverage model. For how could we "cover" such a field? Even if we read those writers now deemed most "important," those canonized by their own peers, how could we know that those writers would be deemed most important in fifty years, in a hundred years? Indeed, given the topic of this course, how could we know that America (or the United States, more properly) would even be here in fifty years, in a hundred? So, instead, I have taken a broader view, and, rather than selecting safely from the canon, such as it is, I have chosen a wide array of books from various traditions, prose, poetry, visual literature, which engage what it means to be American, and, in particular, what it means to be an American in times of crisis, when, as Art Spiegelman seems to feel in In the Shadow of No Towers, the world as we know it has ended. Some say that we should be judged not by how we behave in times of plenty, but by how we behave in the worst of times, in times of crisis. So. We'll be the judge. Of America, and contemporary American literature.

WARNING/TEASER: Many of the contemporary works that we will be studying do not shy away from confronting, sometimes in problematic and offensive ways, subjects and concerns that many of us are rightly sensitive about. Thus, be aware that we will be discussing race, class, sexuality, politics, terrorism, violence, love and other touchy subjects, along with more conventional literary topics such as aesthetic value and form. If you believe that discussing these issues in a rigorous, intellectual fashion might be too much for you, then consider taking another course this semester. However, you might also consider staying in the course and confronting/interrogating these issues alongside your sensitivities and their ideological and cultural roots. Regardless, if you ever feel that our discussions are needlessly offensive and/or unsettling, please come to my office hours and voice your concerns, especially if you feel that I or your classmates are not treating the issues with the sensitivity they deserve.

Texts (required):

ANDERSON, M.T. -- FEED
BURROUGHS, W.S. -- THE WESTERN LANDS
DELILLO, DON -- WHITE NOISE
DINH, LINH -- JAM ALERTS
GINSBERG, ALLEN-- THE FALL OF AMERICA : POEMS OF THESE STATES 1965 - 1971
GOLDSMITH, KENNY -- THE WEATHER
HARVEY, MATTHEA -- MODERN LIFE
NUFER, DOUG -- NEGATIVELAND
SPAHR, JULIANA -- THIS CONNECTION OF EVERYONE WITH LUNGS : POEMS
SPIEGELMAN, ART -- IN THE SHADOW OF NO TOWERS

Late Work:

Work will be turned in on the date due or not at all. We all have schedules, and it is imperative that we keep to them. However, I am not completely draconian. In extreme cases I may accept late work, but don't count on it.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is taking someone else's words, idea, or argument and claiming it as your own. Don't do it unless you have a interesting and rigorous intellectual or aesthetical reason. Cite all your sources unless you discuss your appropriation with me first. Instances of plagiarism designed to avoid intellectual work will earn you an F for the course, and, in egregious cases, may result in expulsion from the university. Please familiarize yourself with SDSU plagiarism policies, discussed in your handbook. Throughout the syllabus and my links page are links to many useful web sources. Do not take the words or ideas from any of these sources without providing the appropriate citations unless, again, you discuss your aims with me first. This goes for oral presentations as well as written work.

Assignments/Grade Distribution:

20%: Notebook (collected periodically)
20%: Group Presentation
20%: Participation & Attendance
20%: Midterm Paper
20%: Final Paper or Project

Notebook: (20%)

In addition to the whatever notebook you use to take notes, I would like you to buy a small notebook to use exclusively for this assignment. In this notebook, keep track of your responses to the reading and our in-class discussions. Date your entries, keeping track of where and when you're writing.

I want at least TWO entries for each week: one written before we discuss the assigned material, and a second written after we discuss the assigned materials.

I will not collect your notebooks every week. Instead, I will divide you into groups A, B, C, D, and E. Each week I will collect the notebooks from a different group (see syllabus for the dates when your notebooks are due). Nevertheless, I want you to bring your Notebook to class every day, as I will often ask you to write in your notebooks during class.

Taken from one of Charles Bernstein's online syllabi, the bulleted list below will give you some ideas of the kinds of things you might include in your notebook. (More on Bernstein, a fine poet, teacher, and critic, can be found here.) I've adapted and revised the list to fit our class more closely. Of course, you probably won't address each (or even most!) of these issues every week.

•What is your favorite part of the assigned text for this week? Why?
•Is there a part of the text you liked least? Why?
•How do you feel about the work as a whole?
•What is your criteria for deciding the quality of the assigned text? Can texts that you don't like or understand still be good? Discuss.
•How does the assigned text compare to other texts in its genre (that is, if the text is a novel, how does it compare to other novels you've read)? Consider differences and similarities. How did it live up to your expectations? Where did these expectations come from?

•Pick one part of the assigned text (a sentence, a poetic line, a paragraph, a chapter). Describe (or catalog) its features. What kind of vocabulary do you find in your selection? What kind of diction or syntax is used? What is the mood of your selection? What is its most unusual feature? What does your selection sound like - give some examples of sound patterns. Detail any literary "devices" used.
•Compare passages to other, similar or dissimilar passages in the text assigned (or, alternatively, in other works of a similar or dissimilar genre). Consider these oppositions in your comparison: continuity (hypotactic) / discontinuity (paratactic); fragmentated / unified; symmetrical / asymmetrical, smooth flowing / jerky or abrupt movement.
•Detail the connection between the elements of the assigned text: expository (a discursive argument), narrative (temporal sequence of beginning, middle end), associative, surreal or dream-like, disjunctive, etc. If the text is a collection of poems, consider any relationships between individual poems. If a novel, between any chapters or paragraphs.
•How does the text assigned for this week differ from the text from last week?
•What structural issues (i.e., how a text is made) are brought up by this week's assignment. What were some of the issues raised along this line in last week's class discussion?
•[Try this one sometime after mid-semester] Looking back on your previous responses, have you changed your opinions about any of the assigned readings. How?

It is not necessary, or practical, for you to comment on every section or issue or theme in a given reading.

Also, feel free to engage with the text through "experimental" engagements. For example, construct your response using only sentences appropriated from the assigned text, or limit yourself to the vocabulary found on the back cover of the book. For an exhaustive list of possible experiments, click here and here. And if you're inclined towards the visual arts (and even if you're not) click here for some more inventions. Try to relate these to contemporary literature.

•Try imitating the style of the assigned text, or try parodying it [then explain what works in your imitation or parody, and what exactly you're imitating (line-length, vocabulary, rhythm, etc.)]
•To become more involved with the readings, try typing out [or copying by hand] some passages from the assigned text and include your reactions to that process. Read sections aloud to friends, relatives, or whomever, and report on your and their reactions. Write a poem in response to one of the novels, or a novel in response to a poem.
•Keep a running account of your reaction to the class as whole - what's working, what's interesting, what's not. After each class, perhaps write a paragraph describing your reactions to the discussions that took place.
•Include the contexts in which you are reading or writing in your notebook. What's your mood, what's on your mind. How do the poems affect or interact with that, if at all.
•Include, if you like, "diary" material about your life or general or poetic observations, interspersed with comments about the readings. Don't be afraid to go off on tangents, associated thoughts. Include shopping lists, dreams, travel notes, etc.

In addition to the general responses discussed above, over the course of the semester, your notebook should include these four elements:
1. Write about some works not discussed in class.
2. Try to do at least two or three writing experiments during the semester. Be sure to comment on each of your experiments.
3. Pick one text from the readings and keep a running commentary on it - that is, write about this same text several times over the course of the term.
4. At least once in the semester, compare or contrast texts by two different authors and two by the same author (from the assigned readings--this applies mainly to the poetry. That is, you might compare and contrast two poems in the same book. You might also try comparing and contrasting two passages from the same novel). This should be at least several pages long. Of course, you may wish to do this several times in the course of the term.

Participation & Attendance: (20%)

Because the success of the class depends upon your discussion and interpretations of the various texts we encounter, you should attend every class session. This course is designed to facilitate your learning; thus, we will spend a large amount of our time discussing and interrogating what you find interesting and compelling about the works I assign. Of course, I will lead our analysis, playing, at times, devil's advocate, providing you with various and sometimes contentious readings of the literature. You will be evaluated on how actively you participate in and extend our classroom discussions, so please come to class with something to say. I may give reading quizzes if it seems that the class is consistently unprepared.

Group Presentation: (20%)

In a group of four or five, you will select a book from our reading list and prepare a 15 to 20 minute report on it and the author. You will also prepare a one page handout outlining important information. The form of your presentation and of your handout is up to you. Ideally, your presentation will help us segue into our discussion of the work at hand.

Remember, you need to have at least fifteen minutes of discussion planned. You can go over, but I'd like you to stay between 15 and 20 minutes if possible. So rehearse and plan. These should be tight, well planned, and to the point.

Here are some sources that may help (but don't simply plagiarize... what can YOU add?): Modern American Poetry, Electronic Poetry Center, and Academy of American Poets. Use print sources as well. You should go above and beyond material easily found on, say, Wikipedia. The library is a wonderful place.

Mid-term Paper: (20%)

For your mid-term paper you will respond to one of several prompts I provide. No outside sources will be necessary. These papers will be 3-5 pages (750-1250) words. This paper will be due on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

Final Paper or Project: (20%)

Your final project will probably involve an extended, researched exploration of the work of a single author and text. Final papers in this fashion should be thesis-driven, and around six to eight pages (1,500 to 2,000 words). Graduate students will prepare longer papers of publishable quality.

I also allow students the flexibility to craft their own final projects. If so, you need to prepare a written proposal, explaining the academic and creative worth of the project and how it relates to the subject matter we've been exploring all semester.