Native American Literature
ENGL 3070
A Writing and Oral Intensive Course
Dr. Michael Cody
Office: Burleson Hall 206
Office Hours: TR 9:30-11:00 & other times by appt.
Office Telephone: 439-6676
English Department: 439-4339
ETSU Honors House: 439-4312
E-mail: codym@etsu.edu
http://faculty.etsu.edu/codym/
Purpose & Objectives: This course is designed to introduce students to the literature and the literary history of Native Americans. Students will become familiar with the oral tradition with which Native American literature begins and then follow the literature's development to the poetry and prose of the past thirty years, a period that has recently been referred to as the "Native American Renaissance." Study of these materials should provide students with a greater understanding of what is often a hidden part of our nation's history—the plight of the tribal peoples within the borders of the United States—and a greater awareness of the conditions of Native Americans in 21st-century American culture.
Major Topics: Native American oratory in creation myths, trickster tales, and narratives of contact with Europeans; 19th-century Indian removal and the contest over the American West; literature of the "Native American Renaissance" in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Readings: selections from the Native American oral tradition and 19th-century protest writings (handouts & on the web);
Alexie, Sherman. Indian Killer. New York: Warner, 1998.
Carr, A.A. Eye Killers. Norman, OK: U of Oklahoma P, 1995.
Nothing but the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature. Ed. John Purdy and James Ruppert. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2001.
Power, Susan. Grass Dancer. New York: Berkley, 1994.
Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. New York: Penguin, 1977.
Explanation of Major Assignments: Students will read four novels and a number of shorter selections from an anthology. They will make one oral presentation of 5 to 7 minutes on a topic such as a particular author’s poetics or images of the “rez” in a written or cinematic work. Another oral presentation of 10 to 12 minutes will analyze a particular Native American tribe and its links to a writer or writers. Students will write three 5-page papers.
Method of Assigning Grades
50% three essays
25% oral presentations
10% reading quizzes and short writings
15% participation
Late papers will be accepted, but a penalty of ½ letter grade will be assessed for each class period a given paper is late. Missed quizzes may be made up by e-mailing me; these make-up quizzes will be in a format different from the ones administered in class.
You are expected to attend every class meeting. Attendance affects your ability to perform on required assignments; it also affects your class participation grade. For this class, you may miss up to two (2) classes with little or no affect on your final participation grade; each absence beyond this number lowers this portion of your grade. IMPORTANT: It is Department of English policy that no absences are identified as either “excused” or “unexcused”; therefore, absences should be conserved for necessity. REALLY IMPORTANT: It is Department of English policy for a class meeting Tuesday and Thursday that more than six (6) absences—again, there are no excused/unexcused distinctions—results in automatic failure of the course.
Opportunities for extra credit will be offered through out-of-class experiences with Native American films and music, as well as attendance at any content-related events that might take place locally during the session.
Schedule of Meetings & Readings: (All selections from Nothing But the Truth unless otherwise indicated)
August
T28—Introduction to each other and to the course
R30— Brian Swann 172-89; Paula Gunn Allen 62-81
September
T04— "Timeline" 620-32; handout featuring creation stories, trickster tales and the poetry and prose of encounter and coexistence
R06—N. Scott Momaday 82-93; Leslie Marmon Silko "An Old-Time Indian Attack . . ." 166-71; Charles Eastman Ohiyesa 54-61
T11—Vine DeLoria Jr. 39-53; Simon J. Ortiz 120-25; Kimberly Blaeser 412-15; Momaday 510-15; Wendy Rose 531-34; James Welsh 560-63
R13—Louis Owens "Fiction" 190-93; D'Arcy McNickle 305-12
T18—Zitkala-Sa 406-11; E. Pauline Johnson 282-88; Joy Harjo 474-86; Ortiz 515-20
R20—Ortiz 321-25; Leslie Marmon Silko 535-52, 159-65 & 358-74
T25—Paper One due; Leslie Marmon Silko Ceremony
R27—Silko Ceremony (cont.); first oral presentations begin
October
Oral presentations continue
T02—Susan Pérez Castillo 15-22; Louise Erdrich 232-39, 464-74
R04—Gunn Allen 430-35, 255-62; Linda Hogan 487-500, 266-81
Oral presentations continue
T09—Elizabeth Cook-Lynn 23-38; Mary Tallmountain 375-90, 553-56; Blaeser 435-41
T11—Maurice Kenny 500-09; Gordon Henry 263-65; Thomas King 289-304
T16—Fall Break
R18—A. A. Carr Eye Killers
Paper Two assigned
T23—A. A. Carr Eye Killers (cont.)
T25—Anna Lee Walters 396-405; Owens 326-32
T30—Sherman Alexie 416-30; 194-211
November
R01— Sherman Alexie Indian Killer
T06—Sherman Alexie Indian Killer (cont.)
R08— Paper Two due; Greg Sarris 141-58 & 345-57; Carter Revard 126-40, 333-44, 520-30
T13—Luci Tapahonso 556-60; 391-95; Peter Blue Cloud 442-56
R15—Eric Gansworth 240-49; Beth Brant 212-17; Chrystos 462; Nora Dauenhaur 463; Joyce carlEtta Mandrake 510; Roberta Hill Whiteman 563-65
T20—Gerald Vizenor 591-619
R22—Thanksgiving
T27—Susan Power The Grass Dancer
R29—Susan Power The Grass Dancer (cont.); second oral presentations begin
December
T04—oral presentations
R06—oral presentations
Finals Week: Paper 3 due by 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 11 December