DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk (Dover, 1996).

Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings, ed. Vicente Carretta (Penguin, 1995).

James, Henry. The Beast in the Jungle and Other Stories (Dover Thrift Editions, 1993).

Melville, Herman. Billy Budd and Other Stories (Signet, 1986).

Ng, Fae Myenne. Bone (Harper Collins, 1993).

Twain, Mark. Puddn’head Wilson and Other Tales: Those Extraordinary Twins, the Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, R.D. Gooder, ed. (Oxford, 1998).

Smith, Anna Deavere. Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (New York: Anchor Books, 1994).

Hacker, Diane. The Bedford Handbook for Writers. Boston: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.

MLA Handbook.

Benjamin, Walter. "Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century" (1955, trans. 1978).

Thomas, Brook. "Frederick Jackson Turner, José Martí and Finding a Home on the Range"(1998)

films (available at Barnard/Butler Media Center):

Walt Disney. Pocahantas (I and II) (1996), Slam (1998), ...And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1984)

Examinations (20%): There will be a midterm (identifications and short essay) and a take-home final.

Class Participation (5%): I will provide historical and literary frames for our discussion of these texts; however, this is not a lecture class. It is essential that you will complete and think about the reading assignments before coming to class. I expect everyone to participate regularly in class discussion.

Quizzes (5%) and Extra Credit: We will periodically have brief quizzes or written responses to the content of the day’s reading. Students may volunteer to recite assigned poetry or a dramatic monologue from memory in order to raise their lowest short essay grade by one step (from B+ to A-).

Presentations (10%): Each student will sign-up to give two brief (5 min) presentations about one of the assigned texts. These presentations will have an oral and a written email component. Two days prior to the date of the presentation, the student submits a question or two based on a close reading of the text and a one to two paragraph response. These questions and your answer will be distributed to the class via email. Other students are encouraged to respond via email. Your presentation should explain how or why the text raises your question. The questions may address the text’s audience, the social context, or the implications encoded in some formal device or metaphor (for example: "how does Ng’s title, Bone, illuminate the experiences of her charcters or of immigrants to America in general?"). Serving as a point of departure for discussion and perhaps your essay, the presentation should be an imaginative close reading, and not simply a plot summary or biography of the author.

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory, and will affect your final grade. If you have to miss a class for a compelling reason (illness, personal or family emergency, religious holiday observance), you must let me know (in advance when possible). In keeping with University policy, more than four absences result in a failing grade; more than two unexcused absences will lower your grade. Three late arrivals (of more than fifteen minutes) together will constitute an unexcused absence.

Conferences: There are two required meetings with me, one prior to mid-terms and one toward the end of the session. We can use these meetings to discuss an idea for an essay, comments on past essays, or concerns about the reading. When you come to the meetings, bring all assignments and papers that I have returned to you. If you are unable to attend a meeting, please call the Composition Office at 854-3886 to let me know.

Academic Honesty: I expect you to hand in original work only. Plagiarism in any form is one of the most serious offenses that a student can commit at Columbia, and can result in dismissal from the University. If you have further questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please ask me or consult the Columbia University Bulletin.