Welcome to the Home Page of

English 235: American Literature from 1900 to the Present

Dr. Bob Headley, Professor of English

Southern State Community College, Wilmington, Ohio

This course is linked to Blackboard, but it does not use Blackboard in any other way.

You can also link to this course through my faculty website.

All aspects of this online course are subject to change throughout the term. If change is necessary,

students will be notified.

GETTING STARTED

This single page contains all the information you need to complete this course. From time to time,

I will provide lectures, notes, and other materials. They will arrive as email attachments.

FIRST, YOU MUST SEND ME AN EMAIL IMMEDIATELY. STUDENTS WHO WAIT TOO LONG TO

CONTACT ME RISK BEING DROPPED FROM THE COURSE. EITHER EMAIL ADDRESS WILL WORK:

English@sscc.edu or bheadley@sscc.edu

Second, carefully review this page and the course outline (see below). Make certain

you pay particular attention to comments about graded assignments and due dates. If you

have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Third, make certain that you have a valid LRC account. I often assign online films that require

an SSCC Library ID code.

GRADING

Grading in this course follows the policy detailed in the College Catalog.

Written work & Participation = 90% of the final grade

Final Examination Project = 10% of the final grade

POLICIES & PROCEDURES

If you miss a deadline, you have 24 hours to get the assignment to me. However, the highest

possible grade you can earn is C. After 24 hours, the grade is an F.

Computer problems are not a legitimate excuse for missing deadlines. The best advice I can

give you is to submit your work early. That way, if I have a problem downloading your paper,

I can contact you with the opportunity to try to solve the problem. If I can’t open the email

attachment, it’s counted as a missed deadline.

All written work must be submitted as WORD document attachments to emails.

PLAGIARISM & OTHER FORMS OF CHEATING

If you plagiarize or engage in any other form of cheating, you receive an F for the course.

Please read the College Catalog Academic Honesty policy. Plagiarism is defined. In addition,

The following link will take you to a site that thoroughly explains and examines plagiarism.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/

WRITING PAPERS

English 101 is prerequisite for this course, so all students should have mastered, to some

degree, the college essay.

For this class, focus on analysis and interpretation. When you discuss the poems, stories, and

drama assignments, don’t waste time summarizing what you have read. Doing so merely lowers

your grade. Also, don’t fill your paper with biographical information about the writers. Focus

on analysis and interpretation.

Use formal English. Write in correct sentences and paragraphs. Avoid overuse of first person

references. Except in direct quotations, using “you” and “your” will AUTOMATICALLY lower

your grade. Use 12 pt. Times New Roman font.

Don’t fill your paper with direct quotations—again, I am interested in your analysis and

interpretation, not what others have to say about these works of art.

Proofread carefully. I can overlook an occasional typographical error, but, at the college-level,

there is just no excuse for spelling errors. I take off considerably for such mistakes.

PARTICIPATION

Simply stated, I expect to hear from all of you—questions, comments, complaints—throughout

the term. These are complex works we are considering. You will simply have to have questions

to ask and statements to make, if you are reading carefully. If I think it appropriate, I will share

your ideas and questions with the other students.

REQUIRED TEXT: The Harper Single Volume American Literature, 3^rd edition.

COURSE OUTLINE

WEEK ONE & WEEK TWO

Reading assignments in the textbook:

All poems by Robert Frost, pp. 1903-1912

All poems by Wallace Stevens, pp. 1941-1950

Poems by Ezra Pound, pp. 1971-1975 only

Poems by T. S. Eliot, pp. 1996-2001 and pp. 2021-2024 only

All poems by E. E. Cummings, pp. 2120-2125

Reading assignments online:

Comments about Modern American Literature

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/8intro.html

Comments about the elements of poetry

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/AXF.HTML

The following information is also contained in your textbook, if you would rather

read the author profiles preceding each selection of readings.

Comments about Robert Frost

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/life.htm

http://www.online-literature.com/frost/

Comments about Wallace Stevens

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/stevens/bio.htm

Comments about Ezra Pound

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/pound/bio.htm

Comments about T. S. Eliot

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/eliot/bio.htm

Comments about E. E. Cummings

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cummings/cummings_life.htm

GRADED ASSIGNMENT:

LENGTH: 1000 words minimum; more is fine.

FORMAT: Typed; double-spaced; formal English. No use of “you” and “your.” Correct English paragraphs.

Minimal use of direct quotes. Proper documentation, if research material is used.

CONTENT: You are to discuss all of the poets assigned, and your comments should address every poem assigned.

However, you are free to focus on several specific poems, if you choose. Again, though, every poet

and every poem is to be addressed in some way.

Be careful not to tell me what I already know. Summarizing a poem or a story will actually lower your

grade. Your task is analysis and interpretation, not summary. While you may try to make connections

between the writer’s life and his or her work, I am most interested in your understanding and your

interpretation of these works of art.

DUE: Before midnight on Saturday, January 23

WEEK THREE & WEEK FOUR

Reading assignments in the textbook:

“Blood-Burning Moon” from Cane, pp. 2075-2078

“The Harlem Renaissance,” pp. 2079-2117

Reading assignments online (much of this information is NOT in your textbook):

Comments about the Harlem Renaissance

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap9/9intro.html

Comments about Jean Toomer

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/toomer/life.htm

Comments about James Weldon Johnson

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/johnson/life.htm

Comments about Langston Hughes

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/life.htm

Comments about Sterling Brown

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brown/life.htm

Comments about Countee Cullen

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cullen/life.htm

Comments about Georgia Douglas Brown

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/douglas-johnson/life.htm

Graded Assignment:

Follow the same instructions as listed above for Week One-Week Two paper.

Comment on all of the writers and their works assigned for Week Three and Week Four.

DUE DATE: Before midnight on Saturday, February 6

WEEK FIVE & WEEK SIX

Reading assignments in the textbook:

“The Egg,” pp. 1928-1934

“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” pp. 2049-2055

“The Gilded Six-Bits,” pp. 2057-2064

“Winter Dreams,” pp. 2129-2143

“Barn Burning,” pp. 2170-2182

“Soldier’s Home,” pp. 2218-2222

“Why I Live at the P.O.,” pp. 2251-2259

Reading assignments online (meant to supplement biographical material in the textbook):

Comments about Sherwood Anderson

www.kirjasto.sci.fi/shanders.htm

http://sherwoodandersonfoundation.org

Comments about Katherine Anne Porter

www.kirjasto.sci.fi/kaporter.htm

Comments about Zora Neale Hurston

http://www.zoranealehurston.com

Comments about F. Scott Fitzgerald

http://sc.edu/fitzgerald/

Comments about William Faulkner

http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/index.html

Comments about Ernest Hemingway

http://hemingwaysociety.org/#welcome.asp

Comments about Eudora Welty

www.eudorawelty.org

WRITING ASSIGNMENT DUE: Before midnight on Saturday, February 27.

Follow instructions given for first graded assignment in this outline. Comment

on all the authors and works assigned for Week Five and Week Six.

WEEK SEVEN

Reading assignments in the textbook:

Read the biographical sketches and all poems by the following poet:

Theodore Roethke Elizabeth Bishop

Gwendolyn Brooks Richard Wilbur

James Wright Anne Sexton

Adrienne Rich Mary Oliver

WEEK EIGHT

Reading assignments in the textbook (includes biographical sketches):

“I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, pp. 2343-2350

“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, pp. 2407-2429

“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor, pp. 2432-2444

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, pp. 2590-2602

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver, pp. 2604-2612

“Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason, pp. 2612-2622

“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, pp. 2842-2844

WRITING ASSIGNMENT DUE: BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3. DISCUSS

ALL AUTHORS AND WORKS ASSIGNED FOR WEEK SEVEN AND WEEK EIGHT. Follow instructions

for earlier papers.

WEEK NINE

Reading assignment in the textbook (includes biographical sketch):

Read Tennessee Williams’s play, The Glass Menagerie, pp. 2290-2338.

WEEK TEN

GRADED PROJECT DUE THIS WEEK:

Study Questions due for The Glass Menagerie. These will be provided at a later date.

The work must be submitted before midnight on Friday, March 12.

WEEK ELEVEN

Final exam essay—topic to be announced—is due before midnight on Wednesday, March 17