What is an American identity? In this course we will read autobiography, fiction (short stories and full-length works), poetry, and some songs. The texts will provide a foundation for examining different ideas of “American” identity constructions and “American” alienation divisions. We will read work from writers with diverse histories and ethnic identities: African American, American Indian, Asian America, Jewish American, and Latino. We will look at how ethnicity, gender, and sexuality are presented in various forms (often stereotyped). Other topics will require us to examine the notion of America as multicultural (what is “the melting pot”?), immigrant experiences, “othering” in American society, and race and ideology. We will question the ways in which different experiences require negotiation with the identification of the self in the landscape of America. We will also focus on the writing techniques that these writers use to convey life stories and cultural experiences.
Required Texts:
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
Maxine Hong Kingston, Woman Warrior
Art Spiegelman, Maus, volume 1 & 2
Kim Ronyoung, Clay Walls
Leslie Marmon Silko, The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir
Other reading requirements: Selected short stories, poems, and song lyrics will be uploaded to Laulima in PDF format. Authors in this list will include: Sherman Alexie, Gwendolyn Bennett, Junot Diaz, Louis Erdrich, Jessie Fauset, Joy Harjo, Nella Larsen, Don Lee, Jhumpa Lahiri, Andrew Lam, Dorothy West, Richard Wright, Sui Sin Far, Zitkala-Sa, and Tupac Shakur among others.
Course Requirements:
Various in-class writing prompts
Two 2-page reflection papers
Two 4-page papers
A final essay