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Literature Courses: American Lit, PostColonial
Lit, Women's Studies, Media Studies and Creative Writing
Syllabi
These are all "dream courses." However, I have
taught only the survey of American Lit course; the rest are proposed.
- Survey
of American Literature: Call & Response of the American Canon:
Major authors from Colonial to Contemporary period. Sophomore
seminar. Can be adapted for upper division courses. Approaches
canonical & "minor" texts and the idea that all
literature has a "call" and "response" format,
adapting this African American literary trope for broader conversations
about what makes a canon. Taught at LSUS in Fall 2007.
- Studies in American
Literature II: The African-American Novel: a course
from the 19th-Century to the contemporary era featuring novels
written by African-American writers. For graduate or upper division
students.
- Periods in American Literature:
Women Naturalists & the 20th Century Novel: why is it
that women writers are rarely mentioned as using Literary Naturalism?
Is Naturalism a "dead" genre, or is it possibly a branch
of realism specifically suited to addressing the consequences
of women's unequal lives? This is a 16 week course of 8 women
novelists of the 20th-Century who use either explicit Naturalism
or Naturalistic elements in their writing. It does begin with
a few Nineteenth-Century texts, but we will argue that those
writers were a bit ahead of their time.
- Women & Science Fiction: Tiptree
Authors: Special Topics, upper division or graduate course
featuring women authors who have won or been "listed"
for the James Tiptree award.
- Women's Coming of Age novels:
A graduate or senior level seminar on the contemporary women's
bildungsroman in English.
- Major American Authors: Zora Neale Hurston:
"Genius of the South." A graduate level seminar on
one major author whose influence is felt in many places. Hurston
was a folklorist, novelist, memoirist and character of the Harlem
Renaissance.
- Studies in the 20th Century/Major American
Poet: E.E. Cummings: A graduate level seminar on the
poetry and memoir of Cummings. Analyzes form, themes, and influence
of Cummings' unconventional style on contemporary poetry.
- PostColonial Literature
in English: Contemporary Literature of Africa, India,
and the Caribbean. Major world authors.
- Intro to Contemporary American
Poetry: Major American Poets from Walt Whitman to the 21st
century.
- 20th Century Literature in
English: World War 1 to Cyberpunk and the Future: This class
is intended as an introduction both to English-language literature
of the 20th century, and also to the criticism of 20th-century
lit—that is, to the ways that scholars have thought and
talked about literary and cultural movements of the past hundred
years. Features major American & British writers.
- The Post Feminist(?)
Era: Issues in Contemporary Women’s Writing: This
course uses a Third Wave feminist rhetoric deeply grounded in
Second Wave Feminism and Theory. We read nonfiction, fiction,
poetry, memoir/diary/letters and personal interviews. We
will begin with a grounding in traditional women’s theory
on gender as “made” not “born”.
- From
Reaganomics to Nirvana: Media studies/Reading Film as Literature;
a genre-based look at the movies of the 1980s as a way of understanding
the way the era’s youth, who would come to be known as Generation
X, defined their identities amidst the turbulent political climate
of the 1980s.
- Images of Masculinity in
Contemporary Cinema. Media Studies/Reading Film as Literature.
Like femininity, masculinity operates politically at different
levels. At one level, it is a form of identity, a means of self-understanding
that structures personal attitudes and behaviors. At another,
distinct but related level, masculinity can be seen as a form
of ideology, in that it presents a set of cultural ideals that
define appropriate roles, values and expectations for and of
men.
- Creative Writing: A course
in creative writing. Workshop oriented, it features the "shapes"
and "patterns" of the short story as a mold. Includes
a class creative "blog". Could be adapted from introductory
level to graduate.
Power Point Presentations
These are several of my best Power Point presentations, which
I use as both lecture and study tool. Students can download the
presentations as study guides. They include major thematic points,
biography of the author, and, occasionally, close-reading strategies
for the text. Entire canon of Power Points available on request.
- Walt Whitman:
Features a look at the way Whitman developed his persona as "The
American Bard."
- Henry David
Thoreau: Specifically designed to feature the way the concept
of Civil Disobedience has developed.
- Emily Dickinson & Sarah
Orne Jewett: Features the two authors' biography and themes
for reading. Especially focuses on teaching close-reading.
- Kate Chopin: Brush With
Magic Realism in "An Egyptian Cigarette". Reads
the 1897 Vogue story as a text that experiments with a
new form. Part of a paper presentation. The full paper is here.
- Robert Frost:
One of my favorite presentations, develops the concept of the
wall as "Isolation" vs. "Protection." Includes
readings of Pink Floyd & the Beatles.
- E.E. Cummings: HiM. A reading
of predominant biographical themes in the work of the poet.
- Sandra
Cisneros: Especially focuses on how an understanding of La
Llorona & La Gritona enhances "Woman Hollering
Creek."
- Anne Sexton, "Her Kind" and
Self Image: Discusses suicidal self-image for the poet Anne
Sexton. Can also be used for women's studies, Modernism or Post
Modernism, and/or confessional poetry. Used in Comp II class,
Fall 2007; Spring 2008.
- William Butler Yeats
& The Tarot: A reading of Yeats' use of Tarot symbolism
in his poetry. Argues that an understanding of Tarot meanings
is crucial to a true understanding of Yeats' work, and not a
mere trivia piece. Includes graphics of the Rider-Waite Tarot
deck, the main deck of the Society of the Golden Dawn, to which
Yeats was an initiate.
- Zora Neale
Hurston: Emphasizes criticisms of Hurston leveled at her
by some of the other Harlem Renaissance (male) writers, her work
in folklore, and her rediscovery by Alice Walker.
- Flannery
O'Connor: Special emphasis on the South as setting and the
religious gothic in her short stories.
- Maxine
Hong Kingston: Emphasis on "No Name Woman"-- critical
themes, close-reading, and memoir as fiction.
- Gary
Snyder: Structure & Nature in his poetry. Snyder as the
Beat "Thoreau".
- Feminists for the NRA: Sci Fi Chicks
with Guns: A presentation given at a conference in 2002.
Reads the movies Tank Girl, Cherry 2000, and Night
of the Comet from a Third Wave Feminist perspective. The
paper.
Intro to Composition
Skills that this course focused on included: recognizing formal
arguments and how one uses rhetoric to convince an audience;
formulating a thesis (central idea/argument); developing one's
thesis in an orderly way; forming clear and effective paragraphs
and sentences; using an appropriate collegiate vocabulary; applying
the grammatical and mechanical conventions of standard written
English; applying critical reading skills to one's own writing
and to the writing of others; revising and reviewing arguments
and writing; applying students' new skills in interpreting and
recognizing argument to the world around them.
Power Point Presentations
Sample Handouts/Assignments/Lesson Plans
- A
Rose For Emily: William Faulkner: A Lesson plan where students
in a Lit class read William Faulkner's short story and then hold
a mock "trial" for Emily, based on the faux newspaper
article I print out for them. They have to split into "defense,"
"prosecution" and "witnesses." This lesson
plan gets students very involved, they really enjoy it, and teaches
them to close read the story very carefully so they can "win"
the case. Requires Adobe PDF.
- You,
The Expert: A formal essay assignment wherein students wrote
a "how to" paper using their expertise.
- Cultural
Practices Research: students are given an essay wherein they
must do research on a cultural practice from a culture other
than their own. This is a sample handout that demonstrates the
kind of handout they are expected to create as part of their
visual aids for their formal presentation at the end of the semester.
- Proposal
Sample: This handout would be paired with the above sample.
This is a sample given to students of a research proposal, including
an annotated bibliography. This sample research project is presented
as one that a fellow student might have made in the past, and
they are given an idea of expectations for their research project--
appearance, content, and tone.
- Logical
Fallacies: Students are expected to be familiar with logical
fallacies and how to avoid using them in their own arguments.
This handout is a two-day lesson plan wherein we discuss the
fallacies and they have to find examples of them in publications
they are given.
- How
to Begin an Essay: Students are given this handout as a lesson
plan wherein we discuss good strategies for opening a formal
essay.
- Paraphrasing,
Summarizing & Quoting: Students are given this handout
during the formal research paper project. They are encouraged
to use research, but guided as to how to use it ethically and
correctly.
Samples of Student Work
- Japanese
Fashion: A Powerpoint presentation created for the oral presentation
part of the above assignment on cultural practices. Fall 2007.
- Joyce Carol Oates' "Shopping":
An Powerpoint presentation created for an oral presentation in
my ENG 115 course. The student argued that this theme within
the short story "Shopping" is important to understanding
Oates' work as a whole. Fall 2007.
- White
Elephants in Hemingway: A Powerpoint presentation created
for the oral presentation in my ENG 115 course. Students are
expected to illustrate a theme that appears within an author's
work by studying the author's overall body of work, plus biography.
Fall 2007.
Technical Writing
This course was a three-credit course that fulfills Texas State
University's Technical Writing Requirement. It was designed to
help students develop an effective method of planning and completing
writing tasks to meet professional writing demands. In the professional
world, most (if not all) technical professionals write on a daily
basis. Because succeeding in the professional world requires
not only technical knowledge but also effective writing skills,
we focused on the writing skills necessary for advanced academic
and professional writing, tailored specifically to academic and
career work as professionals in a technical field. The most important
concept was that successful technical communicators know how
to organize and present complex information so that the ideas
are understandable to many readers, viewers, and listeners.
- Syllabus
- Handout
on Graphics:This handout was designed as an in-class assignment
to familiarize students with Adobe Photoshop.
- Handout
on Memos: Designed as the first formal assignment in the
course.
- Student
Work: A sample of a presentation created by one of the students.
This was to show the class the basics of their final project,
a "how-to" manual. This presentation shows that although
the students have a lot of fun with the project (they are allowed
to choose any subject they are an "expert" on) they
also use strong technical skills and create interesting and well-thought
out projects.
- Student Work: A manual on personal computer
installation. Requires Microsoft Publisher.
- Student
Work: Another manual on goat-farming. The presentation shows
how diverse the students' expertise is, and how, when one gives
them an assignment on that expertise, how well they can apply
their new technical skills.
My Grading Rubric
I find that students who are challenged with the idea that essay-writing
is not always quantitative (science & math types) can really
grasp the writing process when they are given this rubric before,
during, and after their various essay projects. This rubric tells
them what my expectations for each project will be, and as part
of the grading process, I give them a copy for each essay with
circled values for how they did on each section. The rubric is
modified for each individual class' goals.
My Dissertation Abstract
This is the official abstract for my dissertation.
Vitae
This online version has links to available online versions of
papers.
Poetry
& Fiction
I am also a creative writer. Here
is a small collection of my current poetry from my Women Writers
site. I also have some
fiction published online.
I would very much like to teach creative writing to undergraduates,
as well. |