Summer 2021 - ENGL 349 D100
Studies in American Literature since 1900 (4)
Class Number: 3811
Delivery Method: Remote
Overview
-
Course Times + Location:
May 12 – Aug 9, 2021: Tue, Thu, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
Burnaby -
Exam Times + Location:
Aug 11, 2021
Wed, 5:00–5:00 p.m.
Burnaby
-
Instructor:
Jon Smith
jsa106@sfu.ca
-
Prerequisites:
Two 100 division English courses and two 200 division English courses.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Addresses issues in American literature. May be organized by various critical issues or approaches.
COURSE DETAILS:
African American Literature of the Black Lives Matter Moment
Faced with yet another period of staggering racist backlash, over the past decade African American writers have forged what is widely considered the most inspiring and formally innovative body of literature in contemporary North America. However, just as the racial situation that has helped spur that work is the result of more than four centuries of North American, European, and African history, the present literary moment grows from a literary history nearly as complex. We’ll put it in that literary-historical context, with special attention to the emerging African American critical concepts of “black patience,” “black time,” and “plantation modernity,” along with attendant attention to (among other dominant and emergent critical terms) Afrofuturism, Afrosurrealism, a “blues epistemology,” and other generic and critical constructs, to understand where we are and how we got here. We’ll also ask some basic but difficult questions: what is, or was, African American literature? How variously does such literature position itself in regional, national, and diasporic contexts? Who’s the audience? How much of one’s poetic, novelistic, or essayistic voice does one decide to bring from Black culture, how much from other wellsprings?
Grading
- Attendance, Participation, and Discussion Questions 17%
- First Paper (5-6pp) 17%
- Midterm Exam 16%
- Final Paper 25%
- Final Exam 25%
NOTES:
Note: Kiese Laymon's new novel Baize is due out "Summer 2021." If it appears in time, we'll study it. If not, we'll read its prequel, Long Division. As a result, I haven't yet listed either on the list of required texts.
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
ISBN: 978-0812993547
Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing
ISBN: 978-1501126079
Claudia Rankine, Citizen
ISBN: 978-1555976903
Jericho Brown, The Tradition
ISBN: 978-1556594861
Terrance Hayes, American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin
ISBN: 978-0143133186
Department Undergraduate Notes:
IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.
For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
TEACHING AT SFU IN SUMMER 2021
Teaching at SFU in summer 2021 will be conducted primarily through remote methods, but we will continue to have in-person experiential activities for a selection of courses. Such course components will be clearly identified at registration, as will course components that will be “live” (synchronous) vs. at your own pace (asynchronous). Enrollment acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes. To ensure you can access all course materials, we recommend you have access to a computer with a microphone and camera, and the internet. In some cases your instructor may use Zoom or other means requiring a camera and microphone to invigilate exams. If proctoring software will be used, this will be confirmed in the first week of class.
Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112).