MISSOURI WESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

School of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism

Dr. Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin      Spring  Semester 2008

ENGLISH 210: LOVE, DEATH, AND THE WEST

Professor:              Dr. Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin

Section 03/80        MWF 10:00-10:50 a.m. 

Classroom:            Spratt 109

Office:                    Honors Department Office ……Spratt 202……..…Phone: 271-4535

Office Hrs:             9:00-9:50 a.m. MWF and by appointment

Email:                      sawin@missouriwestern.edu  This is the easiest way to reach me.

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of English 210 a student should be able to:

1. Recognize the major characteristics of literary genres

2. Discuss literature, orally and in writing, with assurance

3. Appreciate literary works encountered

4. Understand the different ways in which literary theme may be treated in literature.

Means: To reach these goals, the student is expected to:

1. Read poetry, fiction, and view drama or films

2. Investigate various methods of approaching and understanding literature

3. Write papers, including themes and essay examinations

4. Read a variety of literary works in which a chosen theme is dominant.

 

QUESTIONS:

Pre-Contact Lives of American Indians:

  1. What kinds of lives did Native Americans live prior to contact with white Americans? (Fools Crow)
  2. What conflicts exist within and between the value systems of Native and Euro-Americans?
  3. Why and how did Americans displace native peoples? How did native peoples resist or accommodate themselves to the loss of their land? How do indigenous people maintain a cultural identity and way of life?  
  4. What happens when people conditioned by different social, cultural, linguistic and historical circumstances meet each other? (indigenous peoples. Mountaineers, pioneers, cowboys, ranchers, farmers, gold miners, soldiers, missionaries, etc.)

Western Hero:

  1. What problem, challenge or adventure calls to him? Is there any reluctance on his part to get involved?
  2. Does the hero have anyone who helps him see what he must do or supports him in his trial?
  3. What prompts his decision to act? What does he have to confront? How?
  4. What does he gain from the battle? What does he do now? Where does he go?

American Indians:  

  1. Are they seen as racially inferior beings in Westerns whose deaths are to be desired?
  2. As obstacles to progress / competitors for land?
  3. Are they worthy opponents in battles?
  4. Are they represented with any faithfulness to the customs or dress historically appropriate to their tribes?

Violence:

  1. Is the violence you observe in the literature we read or films we see gratuitous (there for its own sake)?
  2. Or is it instrumental (a necessary but unfortunate response to the situation for the community)?
  3. Or identity-defining (a necessary path the “hero” must take)?
  4. Is revenge ever justified? For what? By whom?

Women:  

  1. What is the role of the women in the literature we read or films we see?
  2. Are they there to be saved?  Or to be subjugated? Are they full partners in the needs of the community?
  3. Do they have internal conflicts of their own? Do we see them performing heroic actions?
  4. If they change, what attitudes do they come to in the end?

Value Systems:

  1. What does the literature we read this semester help us to understand about the relationship of the individual to society? How does one come to care for the welfare of others without entire self-sacrifice?
  2. Can a balance be achieved between autonomy vs. mutual dependence, self-assertion vs. respectfulness, fairness vs. sacrifice, efficiency vs. peace of mind, nature as resource vs. nature as home?

 

REQUIRED TEXTS:

    • Fools Crow (historical novel) by James Welch (paperback)
    • Western Wind (poetry text) by David Mason and John Frederick Nims (paperback)
    • Two other paperbacks may be required for this course.
    • We will see films both in and outside of class as well as relevant videos from the historical series How the West Was Lost and The West.
    • You will read another novel (on line or purchase the paperback or check it out from a library) Riders of the Purple Sage and The Virginian can be read ONLINE or downloaded  to your computer at no cost  from PROJECT GUTENBERG The site provides electronic bookmarks so that you can pick up from where you left off. http://www.gutenberg.org

Riders of the Purple Sage                                         Zane Grey (1872-1939)                     EText-No. 1300

The Virginian, Horseman of the Plains                   Owen Wister (1860-1938)                    Etext No. 1298

 

GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:

Paper on  Fools Crow                                                          20%                         80 points

Paper on poetry                                                                    15%                         60 points

Individual Project / Report on Western Films                  15% -20%       60 -80 points      More on this later*

Tests (including the final)                                                   40%                       160 points      

Attendance /In-class Participation                                   10%                         40 points

                                                                                      100%                                400 points

 

*A student can elect to have his or her individual project worth 20% of the course grade by doing more than the minimum work required.  If other students view and report on 2-3 films for 15%; you might choose to see 4 or 5 for 20%. OR if a student chooses to read a novel and then see the film adaptation, credit can be increased based on the length of the novel or movie in question OR by doing research into published criticism of the film.

*Students taking this course for Honors will do additional reading and writing assignments as the semester goes along or expand the individual project to include research and/or creative work. Each student will consult with the instructor.

 

ATTENDANCE / PARTICIPATION POLICY FOR THIS SECTION OF 210:

10% (40 points) of your grade will be assigned to the work you do in class, including almost daily but brief, in-class writings and unannounced quizzes about the assigned readings, videos, or speakers. Most of these writings will receive a plus or minus mark from me, but some will receive points.  You have signed up for a course of instruction and not just an independent study. Coming to class allows you to

  1. learn what goes on in the minds of other people when they read what you have read.
  2. have other human beings listen to what you have to say face to face.
  3. view sections of videos or films selected for this course
  4. receive help for papers you write and research you do                                      
  5. hear me make assignments, introduce texts, and respond to questions

Coming to class regularly is also cost-effective in the short-run (You paid tuition for this class) and useful in the long-run (People with college degrees and communication skills increase lifetime earnings.}  **If you must be absent, it is your responsibility to find out what we did. Make a friend who will pick up handouts for you.

 

DAILY ROSTER: You must Sign your own complete name (no initials) every time you come.

  • If you do not sign the class roster, you will be considered absent.
  • If you come late to class or if you leave early, you may be marked absent. It depends on the circumstances.

Points will be distributed as follows for the whole semester’s effort:

NO absence: 40 pts. =  A        [Perfect attendance ……..with work accomplished in class.] 

1 absence:     37 pts. =  A-       [One absence …………..with work accomplished in class.]

2 absences:    33 pts. = B         [Two absences………….with work accomplished in class.]

3 absences:    29 pts. = C                  “                                                                 “

4 absences:    25 pts.=  D                    “                                                              “

5 absences:    21 pts =  F                     “                                                              “

6 absences:      0 pts   If all these absences occur before midterm, you will be withdrawn from the course.        

7 absences:   -10 pts                             

8 absences or more:   -20 pts   Failure of the course is almost certain.

 

INSTITUTIONAL ATTENDANCE POLICY:   In order to improve student learning as well as to achieve compliance with federal financial aid policies, Western has a mandatory attendance policy for all 100-level and 200-level classes. (Excused absences are those in which the student is serving as a representative of the college and provides written proof of doing so from the faculty/staff supervisor prior to the event.) The maximum number of unexcused absences allowed for this MWF class before the midterm report is 5. With the 6th absence, I must report you to the Registrar’s Office and you will be automatically withdrawn from this class. The Financial Aid Office will then reduce your financial aid as appropriate.

 

CELL PHONES & RESPECT FOR OTHERS:

  • Cell phones must be turned OFF before you walk through the door.  Put them on vibrate or silent and be prepared to answer them AFTER class is over.  They should be OFF. 
  • There will also be NO TEXT MESSAGING once you enter the classroom and NO MP3 PLAYERS or other music. NO HEADPHONES / EARPHONES once you walk through the door. 
  • MWSU requires all students to help us maintain good conditions for teaching and learning.
  • All students will treat their classmates, teachers, student assistants, and guests with civility and respect, both inside and outside the classroom.

 

INSITUTIONAL ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY:    Honesty is required in all academic endeavors.  Violations of academic honesty include any instance of plagiarism, cheating, seeking credit for another’s work, falsifying documents or academic records, or any other fraudulent activity. Violations of academic honesty may result in a failing grade on the assignment, failure for the course, or expulsion from the University. When a student’s grade has been affected, violations of academic honesty will be reported to the Provost or designated representative on the Academic Honesty Violation Report Forms. Please see the 2007-2008 Student Handbook and Calendar for specifics activities identified as violations of this policy and the student due process procedure.  This handbook is also available online at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/handbook/index.pdf

Put simply you are expected to do your own reading and writing in this course.  Any student who submits someone else's work as his or her own will receive no credit (0 points) for that assignment. Faculty are now required to report violations to the Provost.  A second infraction will earn an "F" in this course. Students should be aware that expulsion from the university is possible.

 

DISABLED STUDENT POLICY:   If you have a recognized disability that requires special consideration, please make an appointment to see me during the first week of classes so that we can discuss privately how I might help you to succeed.

 

LATE PAPERS  I will carry with me an envelope to class.  When papers are DUE, I will collect them and put them into the envelope.  If you are not ready to submit the paper at that time, you are LATE. This will automatically entail a 5% reduction in points for each day.  It is your responsibility to ALWAYS IDENTIFY your papers correctly.  This means your full name, English 210 and the date for all in-class work.

 

REQUIRED FORMATTING for out-of-class copy:     

Identify yourself in the upper, right-hand corner:

Name

English 210

Nature of the Assignment 

Date

1. Use regular white paper.   2.  Word-process and check your work for spelling and grammar.  3. One-inch margins on all sides. 4. TIMES NEW ROMAN FONT 10 or 11 point.   5. Single-space within paragraphs.  6.Double-space between paragraphs.   7. Use one staple in the upper left-hand corner.  No folders, ripped dog-eared edges, or pages from spiral notebooks. I’ll usually have a stapler in class.

 

January

14  Introduction to course. Student Survey. Fools Crow Assigned.

16  Read Fools Crow 3-45

For each chapter, write a very brief plot summary (perhaps in pencil at the top of each chapter right in the book).

    • What personal characteristics does White Man’s Dog have?
    • Contrast him to Rides-at-the door, Fast Horse, Running Fisher, and Yellow Kidney
    • What cultural practices and beliefs do the Lone Eaters have?
    • How does the language of James Welch help to create the world of the Blackfeet Indians?

18  Fools Crow 46-97         In-class Video: Interview of James Welch                                                       

21 No Class

23 Fools Crow 98-202       Class Discussion. Plot and Imagery in Fools Crow

25 Fools Crow 207-284                                    

28 Fools Crow 289-391     “                              “              “

30 “Mountain Men” short story by A. B. Guthrie Discussion of mountain men and natives.

February 1  Paper on Fools Crow DUE.