English 1301 Course Documents

Sherman Alexie, "I Hated Tonto (Still Do)" ; "What Sacagawea Means to Me" 

"Binding Ties, Song of Self: The Purpose and Power of Language" A student response to Tan & Baldwin--see for how one student links ideas between 2 texts and advances his/her own argument as well. 

James Baldwin, "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me what Is"

Judy Brady (Syfers), "I Want a Wife"

Siri Carpenter, "Buried Prejudice: The Bigot in Your Brain" (Scientific American, 2008)

Chief Seattle's Speech (multiple versions), 1854 

Frederick Douglass, "Learning to Read and Write"

Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nature"

Brian Doyle, "Eating Dirt"

Dagoberto Gilb, "Me Macho, You Jane"

The Good Wife's Guide (From Housekeeping Monthly, 1955; see link, however, that questions the article's authenticity)

Jeff Jacoby, "Who's White? Who's Hispanic? Who Cares?"

Robert Jensen, "White Privilege"

Jamaica Kincaid, "Girl"

Michael Levin, "The Case for Torture"

Barry Lopez,  "A Literature of Place"

Henry Makow, "Burka vs. Bikini - The Debauchery Of American Womanhood"

Aziz Poonawalla, "The Burka and the Bikini"

Perceptions of "Criminals" in Video Games (Newspaper Article: "In Games, Violence Linked to Stereotypes")

Racial Profiling in Texas (Newspaper Article)

Richard Rodriguez, "Remarks of Richard Rodriguez"

Susan Sontag, "A Mature Democracy"

Brent Staples, "Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space"

Deborah Tannen, "Sex, Lies and Conversation; Why Is It So Hard for Men and Women to Talk to Each Other?"

Deborah Tannen,"Marked Women, Unmarked Men"

Henry David Thoreau, "Where I Lived and What I Lived For"  (from Walden)

SHORT STORIES & NOVELS 

Alice Walker, "Everyday Use" 

POEMS

Sherman Alexie, "At Navajo Monument Valley Tribal School"

Maya Angelou, "Africa" ; "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

Elizabeth Bishop, "Filling Station"

Elizabeth Bishop, "One Art"

Raymond Carver, "A Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year"

Randall Jarrell, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"

Langston Hughes, "I, Too, Sing America"; "Harlem"; "Ballad of the Landlord"

Adrian Mitchell, "To Whom It May Concern" ; Watch Mitchell's contemporary (late 60s?) reading of the poem on YouTube ; Watch a more recent reading (2008) on YouTube

Mary Oliver, "Singapore"

Wilfred Owen, "Dulce et Decorum Est"

Linda Pastan, "To a Daughter Leaving Home"

William Carlos Williams, "The Red Wheelbarrow"

Walt Whitman, "I Hear America Singing"

Theodore Roethke, "My Papa's Waltz"

SONG LYRICS

Coolio, "Gangsta's Paradise"

Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Fortunate Son"

Dead Prez, "Hip Hop (Remix)"

Neil Diamond, "America"

Woody Guthrie, "This Land is Your Land"

Gil Scott Heron, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

Lauren Hill, "Forgive Them Father"

Janis Joplin, "Mercedes Benz"

Talib Kwelli, "Get By"

Madonna, "American Life" 

Madonna, "Material World"

John Cougar Mellencamp, "Pink Houses"

Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), soundtrack from the movie Into the Wild (music, lyrics and clips); see/hear the song "Society" for a possible use with America, American society themes

 1301 On-Line Discussions       

Click on the link above for blog discussions related to some of the course themes.  There is also an ongoing section called "Student Suggestions & Comments" that you can use to make suggestions about the course, course assignments, grading, and so on  (and complain, no doubt!).  You can always bring these up in class,  and I hope you will--but use this blog to voice comments anonymously if you wish.  

 Misc. Documents & Links.        

 _{LANGUAGE & CULTUREE}   

"Do You Speak American?" ~ A PBS series with accompanying website that investigates all the varieties of "American English"--and what we think of them.

List of Countries Where Language is a Political Issue (Wikpedia)

Frederick Douglass, "Learning to Read and Write"

James Baldwin, "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me what Is"

"I Has a Dream" ~ A controverisal 1998 New York Times ad about the issue of Ebonics (also called Black English Vernacular or African- American Vernacular English). Click on the link below to read the ad body copy (which is very small), and to read a response from linguists about the ad and the issue in general.

Language and Gender ~ A site devoted to ideas about how we speak and interact (and perhaps very differently) as men and women.

Articles by linguist Deborah Tannen, who frequently writes on issues of language and gender:

"Why Dad's Don't Talk"

"I Heard What You Didn't Say"

"Marked Women, Unmarked Men"

"Sex, Lies and Conversation"

"Language in Politics: The differences Detween the Democrats and the Republicans: An Interview With George Lakoff" ~ Linguist and cultural critic Lakoff describes his theories of the linguistic and rhetorical foundations at the heart of American conservatism and liberalism, and the role of deeply-held American values in U.S. politics.  

 _{NATURE, SPACE & PLACEE}

Henry David Thoreau, Walden ~ See for the complete text of "Where I Lived and What I Lived For"

Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nature"

Chief Seattle's Speech (multiple versions), 1854. 

Barry Lopez, "A Literature of Place"

Brian Doyle, "Eating Dirt"

 _{ADVERTISING & CONSUMER CULTUREE}

Houston: It's Worth It ~ The pseudo ad campaign promoting the merits of Houston--despite the mosquitos, the heat, the traffic--and the flying roaches.

Adbusters Magazine ~ Ironic send-ups of the products, advertisements and admakers in our consumer culture.

 _{IMAGINING AMERICA: VALUES & BELIEFS}      

Janis Joplin, "Mercedes Benz" (1970) 

Susan Sontag, "A Mature Democracy"

 _{CLASS, RACE & ETHNICITY}

Brent Staples~ Portrait and biographical information.

"The Hip-Hop Media: A World Where Crime Really Pays"

Center for the Study of White American Culture: A Multiracial Organization (Website)

Whiteness Studies: Deconstructing (the) Race (Website)

"Who Invented White People?" by Gregory Jay

"White Privilege" by Robert Jensen

"White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh 

White Trash: The Construction of An American Scapegoat (Website exploring class/race issues)

 ON-LINE LITERATURE RESOURCES     

Check here for any literature course readings that might also be used in 1301 and 1302, as well as supplemental readings you may find interesting or useful.

Sherman Alexie Home Page ~ See for all things Alexie, including a full-text version of his "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me"

Donald Barthelme Stories, Full-texts On-line~ See for "Some of Us Have Been Threatening Our Friend Colby" and other short stories.

Kate Chopin, "The Story of an Hour"~ Full text on-line.

Tim O'Brien, "The Things They Carried" ~ (No available full text on-line; see anthologies and the full-length book.) A short analysis of the text w/other readers' comments.

Edgar Allan Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart"~ Full text on-line.

Alice Walker, "Everyday Use"~ Full text on-line. Short analysis of the text and its relation to art and art appreciation.

Critical Essays on "Everyday Use"

David White: "'Everyday Use': Defining African-American Heritage"

Helga Hoel, "Personal Names and Heritage: Alice Walker's 'Everyday Use'"