English 536: American Captivities

American Captivities
English 536: American Literature before 1900
Lockard
Spring A 2016




The Indians delivering up the English captives to Colonel Bouquet near his camp at the forks of Muskingum in North America in Novr. 1764. – Pierre Charles Canot [Philadelphia: 1766] Courtesy Library of Congress

Introduction
The literature of captivity, slavery and imprisonment is central to early American literature. Puritans and Africans, revolutionaries and seamen, women and men – all wrote narratives of their capture and the duress of life without freedom. These are

narratives of trauma, resistance, hope, and survival. Once treated as minor or peripheral to the literary canon, contemporary scholarship understands such narratives to embody themes of religious redemption, freedom, indigenous identity, and social transformation that dominate early American literature.
Early American captivity narratives were popular reading throughout the latter 17th through early 19th centuries. This course ranges from the 18th to 20th centuries. Our readings include a late 17th-century narrative of a Massachusetts Puritan woman's capture by Narragansett Indians. In the following weeks of this course we will engage with African American slave narratives, the largest sub-genre of American captivity narratives. Readings include the transatlantic story of Olaudah Equiano and his religious conversion; Josiah Henson's influential antebellum autobiography; and Harriet Jacobs' account of servitude, motherhood, self-concealment, and escape from slavery. We will then read Charlotte Perkins Gilman's semi-autobiographical account and consider how the captivity tradition informs American literature. Finally, we will consider a neo-slave novel by Octavia Butler as a contemporary descendent of captivity narratives in order to ask how we witness these histories.


Content
The course comprises six texts, seven video talks, six short five-page papers (30 pages total), and reading quizzes.
Texts
Mary Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God (New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 1997) [$16.85]
Olaudah Equiano, Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (New York: Penguin, 2003) [$11.52]
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (New York: Dover, 2001) [$3.33]
Josiah Henson, Uncle Tom's Story of His Life: An Autobiography of the Reverend Josiah Henson (Durham: University of North Carolina Press, 2011) [$23.40]
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings (New York: Modern Library, 2000) [$9.92]
Octavia Butler, Kindred (Boston: Beacon, 2004) [$11.44]
It is strongly recommended to purchase the texts in these editions. However, if for some reason you cannot get these editions, reliable online scholarly editions are listed below for some of these texts (see Detailed Schedule section).

Requirements

This is a graduate-level course with work expectations appropriate for this level.

Watch course videos
Accomplish all readings
Write five weekly four-page papers [75 percent of grade]; one 10-page final paper [25 percent]; 30 pages total writing.

All papers must be submitted for a passing grade. If a paper is not submitted, the course grade will be E.


Schedule

Class begins: January 11, 2016
Class ends: March 1, 2016

Papers due on January 17, 24, 31; February 7, 14; March 1.


Substitutions and Changes

A syllabus is a work plan, not a contract. Depending on circumstances, changes may be made in the syllabus. They will be announced in a timely manner. Usually there are minor changes during a course; occasionally there is a major change.


Course Electronics

There is a myASU course-site. Course materials will be posted there regularly. Consult the English 353 Blackboard site regularly, accessible via your myASU homepage.

E-mail instructions: All class e-mail from the instructor will be generated from the course site, and both myASU and Blackboard send e-mail to university addresses. Since e-mail will not be delivered to non-university addresses, please check your university e-mail regularly and correspond with the instructor from that same address. I cannot accept responsibility for ensuring e-mail receipt at non-university addresses.


Writing

Your writing is a crucial element of your success in this course. I am available during weekdays to discuss paper ideas, and to read and comment on paper drafts. I will be making only brief comment on papers and will do no substantive editorial work or proofing. At the graduate level your competence as a writer is assumed. For in-depth editorial work on your writing, online writing tutorials are available via http://studentsuccess.asu.edu/writingcenters

High rates of plagiarism have been noticeable recently. Plagiarism violates the ASU Student Code of Conduct, available online at: http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/sta/sta104-01.html. I treat plagiarism with utmost seriousness and follow university procedures to resolve such problems. Paper assignments are formulated to reduce possibilities for plagiarism and better guarantee a fair opportunity to all students.


Grades

Grades are an archaic form of evaluation, and better forms of evaluation can be employed. However, your instructor appreciates having a salary and this course gives honest grades using clear criteria. Those criteria appear in every assignment. Median course grades normally fall around the B level. Grades of A are less common; A+ grades almost do not happen.

You have the right to query or challenge any grade given during this course, without concern for making the request. Write me an e-mail explaining why you believe a better grade is merited, attaching a copy of the paper. Upon receiving a grade query, I will either raise or confirm the grade. A good number of grade queries accompanied by a substantive reason do receive a positive response. Please remember that a grade constitutes an evaluation of the work, not of the person.

Occasionally, at my discretion, I may decline to grade work and return it to a student if the grade would be a failure. In this event, the student will be requested to re-submit an improved version of the work within a specified brief period. This policy is in place because the instructor prefers not to give failing grades. Where necessary, however, I give E grades and sleep well afterwards.

Caution: At the beginning of the course, please read this syllabus carefully and consider the workload in light of your work schedule and personal situation. Prospective course workload is a very important issue that should not be overlooked. If this course represents too heavy a load, withdraw quickly from the course. This helps avoid administrative withdrawals in mid-course and loss of tuition monies. Each credit hour for a 3-credit English course currently costs $480. Do not waste tuition money for which you or someone else worked hard.

Accommodations

If you have a learning variation that makes class-work or assignments difficult, please let me know and we will arrange for an accommodation. Such accommodation requests should be made at the beginning of the semester.



Detailed Schedule

Papers due on January 17, 24, 31; February 7, 14; March 1.


Unit 1: Introduction " Mary Rowlandson
January 11-17

Watch: Introduction & Rowlandson videos

Read: Mary Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God. Available at http://mith.umd.edu/eada/html/display.php?docs=rowlandson_narrative.xml

Write: Paper 1, due Sunday, January 17, 11:59pm


Unit 2: Olaudah Equiano
January 18-24

Watch: Equiano video

Read: Olaudah Equiano, Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Available at http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/equiano1/menu.html

Write: Paper 2, due Sunday, January 24, 11:59pm




Unit 3: Harriet Jacobs
January 25-31

Watch: Jacobs video

Read: Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Available online at http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/jacobs/jacobs.html


Write: Paper 3, due Sunday, January 31, 11:59pm


Unit 4: Josiah Henson
February 1-7

Watch: Henson video

Read: Josiah Henson, Uncle Tom's Story of His Life: An Autobiography of the Reverend Josiah Henson. Available at http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/henson/henson.html (1876 edition)

Write: Paper 4, due Sunday, February 7, 11:59pm


Unit 5: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
February 8-14

Watch: Gilman video

Read: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings. Available at http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=newe;cc=newe;rgn=full%20text;idno=newe0011-5;didno=newe0011-5;view=image;seq=0655;node=newe0011-5%3A12

Write: Paper 5, due Sunday, February 14, 11:59pm


Unit 6: Octavia Butler
February 15-March 1

Watch: Butler video

Read: Octavia Butler, Kindred

Write: Paper 6, due Tuesday, March 1, 11:59pm

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