University of Texas at Austin

Summer II 2015Gonzlez
E 316K l Masterworks of Literature: American
Instructor: Gonzlez, J.M.
Unique #: 82730
Class Time: M-F 11:30am-1pm
Phone: 512-471-8117
Class Location: PAR 301
Office Hours: TWTH 10am-10:45am
Office Location: PAR 321
Email: jmgonzal@utexas.edu
Prerequisites: E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A; and a passing score on the reading section
of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test.

Description: This course will trace the origins and development of literature in the
United States from the nations founding through the late twentieth century. Given the
radical social changes during this period in gender, racial, and class terms, how did
American literature emerge as both symptom and critique of these conditions? What were
the features of this new national literature, and how did it influence popular culture?
Situating these texts within their social context will be a major feature of this course.
Course Goals: By the end of the semester, you are expected to accomplish the following:
1) Read a diverse range of texts that portray key cultural elements of the American
experience.
2) Identify the historical discussions and debates that these texts both reflect and
supplement.
3) Analyze the formal elements of these texts (figural language, style, genre, etc.)
based upon literary methodologies.
4) Relate the various aspects of these texts to each other in order to comprehend their
lasting influence.
5) Discuss the importance of these texts for our contemporary moment.
Reading List: The following textbook is available at the Campus Coop. It is also on oneday reserve at the Perry-Castaeda Library. Except where noted, all readings can be
found in this textbook. Have the selection read by the start of class discussion about it.
Ed, George McMichael

Concise Anthology of American Literature, 7th ed.

Evaluation: The course grade will consist of: daily participation (20%); four exams
(20% each80% total). Failure to complete all required coursework will result in a
failing course grade. Plus/minus grading will be used for the final course grade.
Teaching Assistant: The TA for the course is Gray Hemstreet. She will grade all
assignments and take daily attendance. For any issues regarding grading, speak with her
first and not the instructor. Ms. Picherit will hold office hours by appointment. Her email
is gray.hemstreet@gmail.com.
Electronic Device Policy: Unless individually authorized by the instructor, no electronic
devices (including but not limited to computers and smart phones) will be permitted in
class due to their disruptive presence.

University of Texas at Austin

Summer II 2015Gonzlez
Academic Integrity: The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning,
discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member
of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust,
fairness, and respect toward peers and community. Academic dishonesty will be handled
according to University policy, including assessment of the stiffest penalty permitted to
the instructor (e.g., a failing grade in the course). Additional sanctions may be imposed
by the University. Cheating in any form will not be tolerated. Any work submitted by a
student in this course for academic credit will be the student's own work. For additional
information on Academic Integrity, see http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acadint.php
Personal Responsibility Statement: Each student will be responsible for the grades that
he or she earns in this course. Except under extraordinary, documented conditions, no
requests for grade modification (including those for a grade of Incomplete) for personal
circumstances outside the purview of the course (e.g., probationary standing, financial aid
eligibility, scholarship status, etc.) will be considered.
Documented Disability Statement: UT Austin provides upon request appropriate
academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. Please provide the TA
with documentation as soon as possible of requirements from Services for Students with
Disabilities. For more information, contact SSD at 471-6259 (voice) or 232-2937 (video
phone) or http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd.
Religious Holy Days: By UT Austin policy, students must notify the instructor of
impending absences at least fourteen (14) days prior to the date of observance of a
religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a
project in order to observe a religious holy day, the instructor will give you an
opportunity to complete the missed work within a week after the absence.
Classroom Expectations: In addition to daily class attendance, students are expected to
come prepared and to complete all course assignments. We will observe civil classroom
behavior at all times. Silence mobile phones during class time and refrain from other
activities that might detract from the learning environment, including texting or surfing
the Internet. If you are so distracted, the TA will mark you as absent for that day.
Attendance Policy: More than three (3) absences will result in a reduction of a full letter
grade in the final course grade (e.g., B to C). More than five (5) absences may result in a
failing grade for the course. Students are responsible for keeping track of their own
absences. While you can be absent at any time for any reason, beware that more than
three (3) absences WILL adversely affect your grade. Habitual lateness will result in
being counted as absent for each occurrence.
Examination Policy: Students must bring their own pens and blue books to all exams.
None of these materials will be provided by the course instructor or teaching assistant,
and examinations written on other paper will not be accepted. Except in the case of true
emergencies or University cancellation of classes, no early or make-up exams will be
allowed. Requests for alternative examination dates must be provided in writing to both

University of Texas at Austin

Summer II 2015Gonzlez
the course instructor at least fourteen (14) days before the scheduled exam date. All
requests must be accompanied by supporting documentation on letterhead from the
appropriate authority.
Recommendations Policy: Since I cannot honestly evaluate a students overall
performance until I have known him or her for at least one complete semester, I will not
write recommendations for anyone until final grades have been turned in. Please note that
your final course grade will be mentioned in my recommendation, along with a frank
evaluation of your overall performance. If you wish to ask for a recommendation after the
end of the semester, then you will need to give me all relevant material (curriculum vita
or resume, statement of purpose, description of position desired, and any other required
documents) at least three (3) weeks before any deadline.
Taping and Duplication Policy: The syllabus, Powerpoint presentations, and lectures of
this course are protected by state law and federal copyright law. Students in the course
are permitted to take one and only one set of class notes as an authorized derivative work.
No one, whether enrolled in the course or not, is authorized to record course lectures in
any form, to provide notes for anyone else, or to make any commercial use of them
without prior written permission from the course instructor.
Canvas: This course uses Canvas, a Web-based course management system in which a
password-protected site is created for each course. Canvas can be used to distribute
course materials, to communicate and collaborate online, to post grades, to submit
assignments, and to take online quizzes and surveys. Students are responsible for
checking the Canvas course site regularly for class work and announcements; email may
also be used for announcements. Notification of any disruptions will be posted on
Canvas. Scheduled downtimes are not an excuse for late work. However, if there is an
unscheduled downtime for a significant period of time, I will make an adjustment if it
occurs close to the due date. Canvas is available at http://courses.utexas.edu.

University of Texas at Austin

Summer II 2015Gonzlez
E316K Schedule

Week 3: Modernism

Week 1: The Enlightenment,

Transcendentalism & Romanticism

July 27- Imagist Poetry:

Pound, In a Station of the Metro;
Stevens, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a
Blackbird;
Williams, 22 or Red Wheelbarrow

July 13- Course Logistics;

Franklin, Information to Those Who
Would Remove to America;
Crevecoeur, Letters from an American
Farmer III & IX

July 28- Fitzgerald, Winter Dreams

July 29- Faulkner, Barn Burning

July 14- Hawthorne, Young Goodman

Brown

July 30- Faulkner, Barn Burning

July 15- Emerson, Self-Reliance

July 31-*Exam 3*

July 16- Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

Week 4:Postmodernism

July 17- *Exam 1*

August 3- Pynchon, Entropy

Week 2: Realism & Naturalism

August 4- Pynchon, Entropy

July 20- Douglass, Selections from

The Narrative of Frederick Douglass &
What to the Slave is the Fourth of
July?

August 5- Oates, How I

Contemplated
August 6- Oates, How I
Contemplated

July 21- Whitman, I Hear America

Singing & Passage to India

August 7-Summer Break

July 22- Crane, The Open Boat

Week 5: Conclusion

July 23- Crane, The Open Boat

August 10- Alexie, Defending Walt

Whitman

July 24-*Exam 2*
August 11- Alexie, Class
August 12- Cisneros, Mericans
(download); Conclusion and Evaluations
August 13- *Exam 4*