ENGL 265-01/02, Special Topics: Becoming American:Citizenship and Identity in Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, Spring 2010

Abstract

What does it mean to be “American”? This question of who belongs and when will be at the heart of our inquiry this semester. Part of America's legacy as a colony is an anxiety about belonging that has informed our country's literary tradition from its very inception. A narrative of American citizenship and belonging also shapes our country's legal record. If equal protection under the law is the basic measure of citizenship, its evolving definition and application can be discerned in the ever-changing relationship between “American” and “alien” in the legal and artistic discourses of this nation. During the semester, we will read legal and historical documents alongside fictional works from an array of authors like William Wells Brown, Chang Rae-Lee, Carlos Bulosan, Leslie Marmon Silko, Julia Alvarez, and Toni Morrison, in order to trace the development of themes of citizenship, identity, struggle, and belonging in twentieth century ethnic American literature. As this is a writing intensive English course, we will also discuss the practice and process of discussing, analyzing, and writing papers about literature. We will attend to the elements of fiction, the skills of close reading and analysis as well as issues of mechanics, style, organization, and argument appropriate to literary studies. By the end of the course, I hope that you will have gained an appreciation for this body of work, developed a facility with the basic principles of literary studies, and received valuable practice in thinking and writing about literature.