English 475/575: Louisiana Literature Syllabus

English 475/575-V84

Room: Online
Time: Online

Home Page:

http://www2.latech.edu/ ~bmagee

E-Mail:

BMagee@LaTech.Edu

Office:GTM 222
Phone:(318) 805-2326
Hours: 12:30-2:00 M-R
4:00-5:00 M-R
or by appointment

Course Description

ENGL 475: Special Topics.

0-3-3. Seminar with topic to be designated by the instructor. May be repeated once with different topic. (G)

ENGL 575: Special Topics.

0-3-3. Graduate seminar with topic to be designated by instructor. May be repeated twice with change in topics.

Textbooks:

John Kennedy Toole. A Confederacy of Dunces.

Objectives:

To acquaint students with a selection of the works of literature involving Louisiana.
To learn how they reflect Louisiana culture.
To develop critical thinking skills in the discussion of these works.

Grades

Daily Quizzes

50%

Essay Exam 20%

Paper
20%

Class Discussion
10%

Total 100%

Grad Projects

20%

The grading scale is A: 90-100%, B: 80-89%, C: 70-79%, D: 60-69%, F:0-59%.
Graduate students give a presentation in addition to your other work.

Turning in Your Work

Submit your work to the TurnItIn link on Moodle. In online classes, submit your paper through Moodle to TurnItIn. If you have trouble uploading it Moodle, you may email it to me at bmagee@latech.edu. You are responsible for turning in the assignment by the due date, so plan ahead.

Late Work

Your paper is due ON or BEFORE the due date. You can turn it in any time until the due date. After that, the grade drops 5 points per period.

Attendance

In a face-to-face class, I'll take role every period. Your attendance grade is a straight percentage of how much you attended class. For example, if you attend 17 times out of 20 periods, your grade will be 17÷20=85%. An absence may be excused with proper documentation.

Graded Material

In the event of a question regarding an exam grade or final grade, it will be the responsibility of the student to retain and present graded materials which have been returned for student possession during the quarter.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Students needing testing or classroom accommodations based on a disability are encouraged to discuss those needs with me as soon as possible.

Honor Code

"In accordance with the Academic Honor Code, students pledge the following: Being a student of a higher standard, I pledge to embody the principles of academic integrity." If I determine that you have violated the Honor Code or the English Department plagiarism policy, you'll receive a '0' on the assignment, and I may refer you to the Honor Council if I think it appropriate.

The Emergency Notification System

All Louisiana Tech students are strongly encouraged to enroll and update their contact information in the Emergency Notification System. It takes just a few seconds to ensure you're able to receive important text and voice alerts in the event of a campus emergency. For more information on the Emergency Notification System, please visit: http://www.latech.edu/ administration/ ens.shtml.

Graduate Requirements

In addition to meeting the above requirements, graduate students enrolled in the course for graduate credit:

must write a substantially longer research paper than undergraduates. (12-15 pages for graduate students, 8-9 pages for undergraduates.)
may be asked to give presentations to the class.
should show leadership in class discussion.

HOC OPUS, HIC LABOR EST.

Registration Week (March 11-13)

Period 1

Berry. City of a Million Dreams. Chapter 1. Note - When the syllabus lists only the first page of a selection, read the whole selection.
Armstrong. Louisianais. Chap 9. Fort Rosalie.
Lecture: Course Introduction
Lecture: Bring Me the Heads of My Enemies!

Week 1 (March 16-20)

Period 1

Exploration

de Vaca. Journey. Chapters 15-24.

de Biedma. De Soto.
la Salle. 06. Claiming Louisiana.
Lecture

Period 2

Native American Stories

Bushnell. and Pisatuntema. Choctaw Myths.

How Snakes Aquired their Poison.

Judson. Chitimacha Myths.

Dorsey. Traditions of the Caddo.

The Girl Who Married a Star.

Swanton & Judson. Natchez Myths and Tales.

The Origin of Corn.

Judson. Biloxi Myths and Lessons.

Why Opossum Plays Dead.

Lecture

Week 2 (March 23-27)

Period 1

Miro. "The Great Fire of 1788."
The Ursuline Correspondence.
de la Houssaye. "Françoise and Suzanne."

"Alix de Morainville"

Lecture

Period 2

Week 3 (March 30 - April 3)

Period 1

Bras Coupé.

Henry Castellanos. "Bras Coupé." (First section of chapter 13.)
Cable. Bras Coupé — Chapters 28-29 of the Grandissimes.
Magee. “Place d’Armes.”
Bryan Wagner interview.

Séjour. “The Mulatto.” The oldest work of fiction by a black American.
Lecture on Cable and Séjour.

Period 2

Northup, 12 Years a Slave. Chapters 2, 6, 7, 8, 17, 22.
White. "Why 12 Years a Slave will always Matter to Louisiana."
Lecture

Week 4 (April 6-10)

Period 1

Longfellow. Evangeline.
Clemens. Mardi Gras Letter.
Lecture on Evangeline.
Lecture on the Mardi Gras Letter.

Period 2

Tensas. Odd Leaves. (Excerpts)

"The City Physician vs the Swamp Doctor"
"Getting Acquainted with the Medicines"
"The Mississippi Patent Plan for Pulling Teeth"
"First Call in the Swamp"

Thorpe. Hive of the Bee Hunter. (Excerpts)
- "Tom Owen, the Bee-Hunter"
- "The Big Bear of Arkansas"
Lecture.

Week 5 (April 13-17)

Period 1

Reid. The Quadroon. (Excerpts)

Preface.
Chapter 10. Raising the Steam.
Chapter 11. Boat Race.
Chapter 13. Wounded.
Chapter 17. Aurore.
Chapter 18. The Creole and the Quadroon.
Chapter 19. A Louisiana Landscape.
Chapter 25. An Hour of Bliss.
Chapter 27. The Devil's Douche.
Chapter 79. The Crisis.

Whitman. "Louisiana Poems."
Reizenstein. "Lesbian Love."
Lecture.

Period 2

Dawson. Confederate Girl's Diary. (Excerpts).

Beginning thru May 21 (Shopping for shoes.)

Velazquez. The Woman in Battle. (Excerpts)
- Chapter III. Assuming Male Attire.
- Chapter IV. Disguised as a Confederate Officer
- Chapter V. Recruiting
- Chapter VI. A Widow.
- Chapter XI. In Washington
- Chapter XXII. Difficulty with Butler
Custer. Tenting on the Plains. (Chapters 1-4)
de Lisie. "La Marseillaise."
Naudin. "The Black Marseillaise."
Lecture.