ENGL480
AMERICA IN
THE 1960S
WINTER 2006
Joan DelFattore
Class hours: TR 2-6 p.m.
302-831-2987 (office)
E-mail: jdel@udel.edu
302-737-7124 (home and fax)
Homepage:www.english.udel.edu/jdel
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Participants in this course will:
* Analyze representative literary works from the 1960s, including fiction,
poetry,
speeches, non-fiction, and
drama
* Identify the characteristics of each literary genre and the kinds
of creative expression
it facilitates
* Analyze the literature in conjunction with other forms of creative
expression,
particularly music, film,
and television programs
* Place the literature in the context of related public events, such
as Civil Rights
marches, protests against
the Vietnam War, and landmark Supreme Court decisions
* Compare and contrast American literary works with 1960s literature
written elsewhere
* Compare and contrast literary, non-literary, and hybrid treatments
of particular topics
in order to consider the
nature and definition of literature
* Prepare oral and written presentations of independent research
into the social, cultural,
artistic, or political movements
of the 1960s
* Prepare oral and written presentations of independent analysis of
literary works not
read in class
TEXTS IN THE ORDER USED IN CLASS
All students will read the following texts:
Margaret Walker, Jubilee
Harlan Ellison, Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman
Joseph Heller, Catch 22
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five
Norman Mailer, Armies of the Night
NOTE: The bookstore returns unsold books at the end of the drop/add
period. Please be sure to purchase all the books for this course in
the first week. If you wait, you’ll find that the books aren’t available,
and you won’t have time to order them online.
Print out the following materials from the Internet. If the url provided
is no longer working, just google the title. Hot links are provided
on my homepage, www.english.udel.edu/jdel, scroll down to this course.
“Ka’Ba,” by Amiri Baraka
http://www.ctadams.com/amiribaraka4.html
“Civil Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Thoreau/CivilDisobedience.html
“I Am a Rock,” by Simon and Garfunkel
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/simon-and-garfunkel/124809.html
“Eleanor Rigby,” by the Beatles
http://www.stevesbeatles.com/songs/eleanor_rigby.asp
“i sing of olaf,” by e.e. cummings
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/eecummings/11930
TECHNOLOGY
Students must have an active e-mail account and check it regularly.
You will also be expected to access information online and print it out.
Students who do not have your own computers, printers, and Internet access
are welcome to use any of the equipment on site. If any student does
not know how to do Internet research, please see me. Questions about
activating e-mail accounts or gaining access to the UD library databases
from off-campus should be addressed to the computer hotline at 302-831-6000.
You may also find the information you need at www.udel.edu/help.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Short Version: If I’m here, you’re here.
Missing a single class meeting is equivalent to missing more than an entire
week of classes in a regular course, and absences will be excused only in
cases of serious illness or family emergencies. Car trouble, arguments
with significant others, hangovers, social events, ennui, the need to catch
up on work or sleep, appearances on the Jerry Springer Show, or abduction
by creatures from another planet are not justifications for excused absences.
(Students may argue that the last two are redundant.) Arriving late
and leaving early are not options except under unusual circumstances.
Students will lose three points from the class participation grade (see below)
for each unexcused absence. In addition, students who miss class on
a day when an oral report was due may earn no more than half the points for
the assignment by handing in a written report. Students who miss a
five-point quiz because of an unexcused absence may earn no more than three
points for a make-up quiz.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
The university’s academic honesty policy, which appears at http://www.udel.edu/stuguide/04-05/code.html#honesty,
will be enforced in this course. If any student plagiarizes all or
part of any assignment from online or print sources or from another student’s
work, it will be reported to the Office of Judicial Affairs; see http://www.udel.edu/judicialaffairs/
for the procedure.
ADA STATEMENT
Students with disabilities should contact the University of Delaware’s Office
of the ADA for information regarding possible accommodations. See the
ADA Policy at http://www.udel.edu/ADA/Stu/stu.html for more information.
It is the student’s responsibility to contact the ADA office to receive support.
GRADING
Five quizzes @ 5 points each:
25 points
Short paper on a novel read independently:
10 points
Final paper:
30 points
Class participation:
35 points
Note: Students will lose three points from the class participation
grade for each unexcused absence (see the attendance policy above).
Students who are repeatedly unprepared for class discussion will be warned
if additional points are about to be deducted. Otherwise, students
who come to class and are prepared for the discussion may assume that you
will receive the full 35 points.
Final grade: 95-100 = A, 90-94.5 = A-, 87-89.5 = B+, 83-86 = B, 80-82.5
= B-, 77-79.5 = C+, 73-76.5 = C, 70-72.5 = C-, 67-69.5 = D+, 63-66.5 = D,
60-62.5 = D-, 0-59.5 = F
COMMUNICATION OF GRADES
E-mail may sometimes be the fastest way to communicate
grades or comments on student work, but if you do not wish to receive such
information on e-mail, please let me know. If you ask a question on
e-mail, I will assume that you expect a reply in the same medium.
SCHEDULE
NOTE: The discussion questions included in the syllabus are intended
to provide guidance in the reading and to facilitate class discussion.
They do not represent all that will be covered with respect to each work.
Tues., Jan. 3: Introduction to the course
Introduction to the Civil Rights movement
Videotape: short documentary on the Civil Rights movement
Preliminary lecture/discussion of the violent and non-violent aspects of
the Civil Rights movement and their representation in 1960s
literature
Videotape: Martin Luther King “I Have a Dream” speech
Videotape: Malcolm X “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech
Comparison and contrast of the style, imagery, and political content of
the two speeches
Brief lecture on the use of the history of slavery as an image/icon in
1960s literature dealing with race relations
Assignment due Tues. Jan. 10: Read Margaret Walker, Jubilee
Discussion questions: What relationship do you see between the
slavery period depicted in the novel and the Civil Rights movement that
was in progress when it was written? Moving beyond the plot to the
larger issues it raises, what kinds of situations or people are represented
in the novel by Miss Lillian, Innis Brown, Randall Ware, and Vyry’s
Jim? How do the tensions between Innis and Randall and between Innis
and Jim represent the challenges facing African American males?
Print out “Ka’Ba,” by Amiri Baraka
http://www.ctadams.com/amiribaraka4.html.
It is not necessary to read
it in preparation for class; we’ll do
a close reading in class.
Thurs., Jan. 5: Discussion of Simon and Garfunkel’s “He Was My Brother”
(played in
class)
In-class reading and discussion of “Ka’Ba,” by Amiri Baraka
Lecture on Jim Crow, segregation, Brown v. Board of Education
Audiotape: excerpts from the Supreme Court oral argument in Cooper
v. Aaron
Videotape: Ten Years After Brown
Assignment: See Tues., Jan. 3.
Tues., Jan. 10: Discussion of Jubilee
Introduction to the Vietnam War and anti-war protests
Lecture on the use of absurdist humor, fantasy and the supernatural, and
manipulations of time to convey anti-authority themes
Video: Monty Python’s Dead Parrot skit
Video: John Belushi’s Saturday Night Live Samurai deli clerk
skit
Assignment for Thurs., Jan. 12: Read Repent, Harlequin, Said
the
Ticktockman, by Harlan Ellison, including the author’s introduction.
Discussion questions: What does Ellison mean when he talks about
being
dismayed by his rebellious soul? How does time function in the
story?
Identify absurdist elements in the story. How does Ellison’s
use of the
absurd help to make his point? What is his point?
Print out Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Thoreau/CivilDisobedience.html;
“I Am a Rock,” by Simon and Garfunkel
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/simon-and-garfunkel/124809.html
“Eleanor Rigby,” by the Beatles
http://www.stevesbeatles.com/songs/eleanor_rigby.asp
“i sing of olaf,” by e.e. cummings
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/eecummings/11930
and bring these items to class for in-class reading and discussion.
If you
already have a copy, feel free to bring that; any edition is fine.
There’s no
need to read any of this before class; we’ll listen to the songs and
do close
readings of the poem and selections from the essay in class.
Assignment for Tues., Jan. 17: Read Catch-22, by Joseph
Heller.
Discussion questions: What is Catch-22? Why does its meaning
change
throughout the novel? How does Heller use absurdist
elements to make
his point? What is his point? Why does time jump around as it
does in
the novel -- is there any logic to the time shifts? What is the symbolic
significance of the soldier in white, the dead man in Yossarian’s tent, and
Yossarian’s references to the snows of yesteryear? Why is Yossarian
naked in the tree and on parade to receive his medal? Compare and
contrast the military-capitalistic establishment in Catch-22 with
the reign
of the Ticktockman.
.
Thurs., Jan. 12: Discussion of Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman
Close reading of passages from “Civil Disobedience”
In-class reading and discussion of “i sing of olaf”
Lecture/discussion on the themes of isolation and existentialism in 60s lit
Discussion of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” (played in class)
Discussion of Simon and Garfunkel’s “I Am a Rock” (played in class)
Assignment: See Tues., Jan. 10
Tues., Jan. 17: Discussion of Catch 22
Video: M*A*S*H episode
Video: Excerpts from the Woodstock concert: Joan Baez, “Joe Hill”;
Country Joe McDonald and the Fish, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die
Rag”; Jimi Hendrix, “Voodoo Chile”
Assignment for Tues., Jan. 24: Read Slaughterhouse Five,
by Kurt Vonnegut.
Discussion questions: Compare and contrast the images of war
in this
novel with those in Catch-22. Compare and contrast the
depiction of
authority and the use of absurdist elements in this work with those
in the
other works we’ve read so far. Compare and contrast the nonlinear
presentation of time in this novel with the use of time in Catch-22
and in
Repent, Harlequin. What is the symbolic significance of
the bombing of
Dresden and of the cage on Trafalmagore? Why does Vonnegut
introduce Trafalmagore at all? What does that contribute to the
novel?
Thurs., Jan. 19: Film: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Discussion of the film
Discussion of the final papers
Sign up to read a segment of Armies of the Night (due Tues., Jan.
31):
Book I, Parts 1 and 2 (pp. 3-79)
Book I, Part 3 (pp. 81-131) and part of Part 4 (pp. 133-159)
Book I, Part 4 continued (pp. 146-216)
Book 2 (pp. 219-288)
Assignment: See Tues., Jan. 17.
Tues., Jan. 24: Discussion of Slaugherhouse Five
Lecture on gonzo journalism and the March on the Pentagon
Assignment for Thurs., Jan. 26: Go to
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/vietnam/vietnamwar.htm
and click on
the links for the timeline of the war, its causes, the photo essay, the
domestic course of the war, and the anti-war movement. Read the
material you find there.
Assignment for Tues., Jan. 31: Read the section of The
Armies of the Night, by
Norman Mailer, for which you signed up (see Thurs., Jan. 19).
Bring in notes for a discussion of the following questions in class:
* What are the main external events of the section you read?
* What are some of Mailer’s thoughts in the section you read?
* In the section you read, does Mailer’s focus on his personal
experiences and perceptions contribute to or detract
from an
understanding of the larger public events he is
describing?
* How does the section you read fit in with the other literary
works
we’ve studied in this course and with the culture
of the 60s?
Assignment for Thurs., Feb. 2: Write the final paper.
Thurs., Jan. 26: Film: The Graduate
Discussion of the film
Discussion of the final paper
Tues., Jan. 31: Small-group work to prepare presentations on the various
sections of
Armies of the Night
Panel presentations and discussion of Armies of the Night
Thurs., Feb. 2: Peer editing of final papers
RESEARCH
PAPER TOPICS
Papers should be about ten pages long, double-spaced in 12-point font.
Please use the MLA style sheet at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html.
A Works Cited page should be attached.
OPTION ONE: Research a relevant Supreme Court case; a few examples
are listed below.
Brown v. Board of Education (racial desegregation of public schools)
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S. (racial desegregation of public accommodations)
Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Board (civil rights of Communist
Party members in the U.S.)
New York Times Company v. U.S. (Nixon administration’s attempt to
block publication of the Pentagon Papers, dealing with U.S. involvement in
Vietnam)
All the decisions in each case (trial, appeals,
Supreme Court) are available through Lexis/Nexis, as are news articles and
law review articles. Lexis/Nexis may be accessed through a university
or university-linked computer by going to the UD homepage and clicking on
Libraries, then Databases, then Lexis/Nexis. Please note that the most
detailed explanations of the facts of each case are likely to be found not
in the Supreme Court decision but in the lower court decisions, particularly
that of the trial court. To find out more about what led to the lawsuit,
you may also wish to use Lexis/Nexis to access news stories, editorials,
and letters to the editor. One research suggestion, in case you have
not done this type of investigation before: it is not a good idea to
use the title of the case as the search keywords for news articles, since
few newspapers mention lawsuits by their titles. Instead, use the names
of the principal parties, the town, or the basic
ideas in the lawsuit – words that you would expect to find in a newspaper
story. Finally, you can use Lexis/Nexis (Legal Research, then Law Reviews)
to access law review articles about the case.
OPTION TWO: Choose one of the literary works we read in this
course and look up at least five critical articles in scholarly journals
or chapters in books of literary criticism that offer interpretations of
this work. Provide a synopsis of the major ideas in these articles
and add your own opinions. The best approach would be to
select a particular issue relevant to the book -- e.g., why Vonnegut chose
to include an alien planet in Slaughterhouse Five -- and make your
paper a discussion of what critics have said about this issue and what you
think of it. The best way to start would be to go to the reference
room of the library and do an OCLC search (the librarian can show you how
to do it if you don’t already know) for articles about your chosen author
and/or book. You can tell from the titles of the articles what the
main point is, and that will help you choose the group of articles you want
to read.
OPTION THREE: Do research on one of the historical or political
topics mentioned in the course and relate the new information you find to
the works discussed in class. Among the many possibilities are the
McCarthy/HUAC era or any incident within it; the Chicago Seven; the march
on Selma or any other major event of the Civil Rights movement; the influence
of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP on the Civil Rights movement; the assassination
of Martin Luther King; the feminist movement or any of its leaders, such
as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan; the genesis of the “Beat Generation”;
the anti-war music of the artist of your choice, analyzed either as poetry
or in terms of its political uses; the obscenity trial of Allen Ginsberg’s
“Howl”; the racial desegregation battles in Delaware (for a list of the materials
available in Special Collections in Morris Library, see http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/deseg.htm);
or a particular event in the Vietnam War, such as the fall of Saigon.
Be careful to limit your topic: for instance, the march on Selma rather
than the whole Civil Rights movement, the fall of Saigon rather than the
whole Vietnam War.
OPTION FOUR: Choose any of the 1960s authors whose works we
read in class, research the author’s life, and write a paper about the ways
in which his/her personal experiences influenced his/her writing. It
is not necessary to go into detail about irrelevant matters -- for instance,
if the elementary school the person attended has nothing to do with his/her
writing, there’s no need to include it. Similarly, don’t take up a
lot of space with lists of publications and awards. That approach is
a “data dump” rather than a thoughtful, critical paper. The point is
to ferret out from the biographical material those facts you consider most
relevant to the person’s writing and concentrate on those.
OPTION FIVE: Read one of the following works and write a paper
interpreting and analyzing it as we interpreted and analyzed other works
in the course. In particular, be sure to discuss its symbolism, themes,
tone, and character development, and to explain how they fit in with other
works we have read.
The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Player Piano, by Kurt Vonnegut
OPTION SIX: If none of these ideas appeals to you, write a paper
on any relevant topic that meets the following criteria:
1. The paper must entail the gathering of new information or
the use of a fresh
approach to interpretation; it cannot consist primarily of further traditional
analysis or
evaluation of works we have already read and discussed.
2. The paper must show how the new material fits into the larger
picture of
intellectual freedom issues as evidenced by the works we discussed.
3. The topic must be approved in advance by the instructor.
Criteria for Paper Grading
In accord with the instructions handed out earlier in the semester, the papers
should:
* summarize new information acquired by original
research (online or print
sources, interviews, etc.);
* relate the new information to one or more of the
specific works discussed in
class;
* reflect conclusions, evaluations, or other evidence
of sentient thought on the
part of the writer, particularly with
regard to the larger themes of the course;
* employ correct word choice, sentence structure,
punctuation, spelling, etc.; or
at least be expressed in something
that is recognizably English.
Here are some questions to consider in reviewing your own paper, offering
advice to other students, and talking with me about whether you might want
to make revisions:
1. If the paper responds to one of the topics on
the list I provided, does it include all the necessary elements?
2. If the writer adapted one of the suggested topics
or constructed his/her own, is it perfectly clear what the topic of the paper
is?
3. What new information is provided in the paper?
Is it explained in a way that is clear to someone who was not already familiar
with it?
4. Is the new information provided in the paper
relevant? For instance, if the writer spends most of a page listing
all the poems Robert Lowell ever wrote – why? It’s perfectly sensible
to provide a few facts that aren’t directly relevant to the argument just
for the sake of background, but the paper shouldn’t be an undifferentiated
data dump from which the readers are expected to extract the few kernels
of relevant information.
5. Are there any big gaps in the information – i.e., unanswered questions
that you consider central to the paper? As an example, if someone wrote
a paper about the relevance of Joseph Heller’s life to Catch-22 but
never mentioned his war experience, it would be reasonable to ask, “Wasn’t
Heller in the war?”
6. There’s no need to be obsessive about the correct
forms of documenting information, but is it clear where the facts cited in
the paper came from?
7. There is no fixed number of sources to be used in these papers because
that will have to vary depending on the topic. Nevertheless, if most
of the factual material seems to come from one source, so that the informational
part of the paper is largely a summary of a single work, it would be a good
idea to suggest that the writer look for additional material.
8. Unless you happen to know something about the
topic of the papers you’re reading during the peer editing class, you won’t
be able to say whether the information provided is accurate. If something
seems implausible or contradictory, though, you might suggest that the writer
double-check the sources.
9. How well does the writer connect the new information to the course
reading(s) he or she is using? Is any obvious comparison or contrast
missing? Are there redundancies? Is it clear what the writer
is saying?
10. Does the paper include a well-reasoned and substantial discussion
of how the new material relates to at least one of the larger topics covered
in the course – e.g., existentialism, alienation, anti-war sentiment, civil
rights and social justice, the influence of the past on the present, the
existence (or not) of free will, the nature of literature, or the impact
of external events on literary work?
11. In connecting the new information with the material we studied
in the course – both specific works and general course themes – does the
writer go beyond merely making simple one-to-one comparisons? For instance,
if you found out that Vonnegut’s dog’s name was “Pilgrim” and pointed out
that that’s the name of the main character of the book, this would be true
but not at all impressive. Why is it important? (For the record,
I have no idea what Vonnegut’s dog’s name was or even if he had a blasted
dog. I’m just making up examples here.)
12. Are there spelling, punctuation, or usage errors? Are there
one-sentence paragraphs or paragraphs that cover a page and a half?
Are there places where the paper seems to jump from one topic to another
without adequate transition?
I Am a Rock
A winter’s day
In a deep and dark december;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
Don’t talk of love,
But I’ve heard the words before;
It’s sleeping in my memory.
I won’t disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.
-- Simon and Garfunkel
Eleanor Rigby
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice
in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face
that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Father McKenzie, writing the words
of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working, darning his socks
in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby, died in the church
and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt
from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
-- The Beatles
i sing of Olaf glad and big
i sing of Olaf glad and big
whose warmest heart recoiled at war:
a conscientious object-or
his wellbelov'd colonel(trig
westpointer most succinctly bred)
took erring Olaf soon in hand;
but--though an host of overjoyed
noncoms(first knocking on the head
him)do through icy waters roll
that helplessness which others stroke
with brushes recently employed
anent this muddy toiletbowl,
while kindred intellects evoke
allegiance per blunt instruments--
Olaf(being to all intents
a corpse and wanting any rag
upon what God unto him gave)
responds,without getting annoyed
"I will not kiss your fucking flag"
straightway the silver bird looked grave
(departing hurriedly to shave)
but--though all kinds of officers
(a yearning nation's blueeyed pride)
their passive prey did kick and curse
until for wear their clarion
voices and boots were much the worse,
and egged the firstclassprivates on
his rectum wickedly to tease
by means of skilfully applied
bayonets roasted hot with heat--
Olaf(upon what were once knees)
does almost ceaselessly repeat
"there is some shit I will not eat"
our president,being of which
assertions duly notified
threw the yellowsonofabitch
into a dungeon,where he died
Christ(of His mercy infinite)
i pray to see;and Olaf,too
preponderatingly because
unless statistics lie he was
more brave than me:more blond than you.
-- e.e. cummings
Ka'Ba
"A closed window looks down
on a dirty courtyard, and Black people
call across or scream across or walk across
defying physics in the stream of their will.
Our world is full of sound
Our world is more lovely than anyone's
tho we suffer, and kill each other
and sometimes fail to walk the air.
We are beautiful people
With African imaginations
full of masks and dances and swelling chants
with African eyes, and noses, and arms
tho we sprawl in gray chains in a place
full of winters, when what we want is sun.
We have been captured,
and we labor to make our getaway, into
the ancient image; into a new
Correspondence with ourselves
and our Black family. We need magic
now we need the spells, to raise up
return, destroy,and create. What will be
the sacred word?
-- Amiri Baraka
Sounds of Silence
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left it’s seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
’neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence.
Fools said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper’d in the sounds of silence.
-- Simon and Garfunkel