ENGL 3846.001 Mexican American Non- Fiction and Criticism Mon/Wed 1:30pm 2:50pm Curry 323 Fall 2012 University of North Texas Professor Ybarra Email: priscilla.ybarra@unt.edu Phone: 940/565.4793 Office Hours: W 3pm - 6 pm, OBA; Office: Language 407E Course Description This course explores a number of non- fiction essays, criticism, and memoirs in order to ground students in the critical background of Mexican American writing in the twentieth and twenty- first centuries. Issues of identity, folkloric culture, nationality, gender and sexuality circulate across these works and introduce students to Mexican American intellectual history influenced by developments in the United States, Mexico, and to some extent from other sources. Course Purpose This course serves to enhance student knowledge of multicultural literatures for a representative education in American literatures overall. Students will gain a familiarity with the development of Mexican American and Chicana/o literature and culture from 1848 to the present. Assignments and discussions in this course provide a forum for articulating an understanding of foundational works and themes in Chicana/o literature and culture. In pursuing these goals, students will write two literary analysis essays, two close-reading analyses, complete daily reading quizzes, complete inclass writing assignments, complete an historical newspaper presentation, and participate in classroom discussion. Required Texts: --check class website regularly: pybarra.weebly.com password: estrella --subscribe to LatinoUSA podcast: --Moraga, Cherríe. The Last Generation: Prose www.latinousa.org and Poetry. 1993. -- González, Jovita. Life along the Border. 1930, --Preciado Martin, Patricia, ed. Songs My 2006. Mother Sang to Me: An Oral History of Mexican -- Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera: American Women. 1992. The New Mestiza. 1987. -- Essays and book chapters available on our --Cabeza de Baca, Fabiola. We Fed Them class website: pybarra.weebly.com; click on tab Cactus. 1954. for 3846 --Moraga, Cherríe. Loving in the War Years: lo ***REQUIRED: PRINT PDFs, READ PDFs, que nunca pasó por sus labios. 1983. AND BRING PDFs TO CLASS*** Expected Learning Outcomes Discuss key issues in the development of Chicana/o literature the literature of a distinctive culture of the United States Integrate a discussion of contemporary Chicana/o issues with an array of past and contemporary Chicana/o literature, verbally and in writing Identify the varieties of Chicana/o identity demonstrated in Chicana/o cultural production Explain the historical context of Chicana/o essays and memoirs Identify major authors in the genre of Chicana/o criticism and memoir 1
These expected learning outcomes will be measured by means of the assignments listed below, including grade percentages for each assignment: (20%) Two 500-word Essays (25%) Reading Quizzes (drop 3 lowest grades) (15%) Regular participation in class discussion; including attendance, asking questions, responding to questions, and responding to other students comments (10%) Hispanic American Newspapers Project & Presentation (15%) Midterm Essay (1000 words) (15%) Final Essay (1500 words) Special Notes ATTENDANCE Students should endeavor to attend every class. Roll will be taken at every meeting. Up to two absences are permitted. I do not accept notes or explanations. Use your absences wisely. After two absences, the student begins lose one letter grade on his or her existing participation grade. Six absences result in an F for the entire course. Academic Honesty Students caught cheating or plagiarizing will receive a "0" for that particular assignment or exam. Additionally, the incident will be reported to the Dean of Students, who may impose further penalty. According to the UNT catalog, the term "cheating" includes, but is not limited to: a. use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations; b. dependence upon the aid of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments; c. the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a faculty or staff member of the university; d. dual submission of a paper or project, or resubmission of a paper or project to a different class without express permission from the instructor(s); or e. any other act designed to give a student an unfair advantage. The term "plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to: a. the knowing or negligent use by paraphrase or direct quotation of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment; and b. the knowing or negligent unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials. ADA STATEMENT The University of North Texas makes reasonable academic accommodation for students with disabilities. Students seeking accommodation must first register with the Office of Disability Accommodation (ODA) to verify their eligibility. If a disability is verified, the ODA will provide you with an accommodation letter to be delivered to faculty to begin a private discussion regarding your specific needs in a course. You may request accommodations at any time, however, ODA notices of accommodation should be provided as early as possible in the semester to avoid any delay in implementation. Note that students must obtain a new letter of accommodation for every semester and must meet with each faculty member prior to implementation in each class. For additional information see the Office of Disability Accommodation website at http://www.unt.edu/oda. You may also contact them by phone at 940.565.4323. The University Writing Lab, UNT s Writing Lab offers free face-to-face and online tutoring to all UNT students (from incoming first year students to graduate students). Their website offers schedules of workshops; information about tutoring services; and games and other resources for grammar, punctuation, punctuation, and more. Contact them by phone (940-565-2563); e-mail (writinglab@unt.edu); or in person (Room 105, Auditorium Building). Their website is located at http://www.unt.edu/writinglab/. 2
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS (subject to adjustment; come to class every meeting to find out) UNIT A: U.S.-Mexico Borderlands Writings, 1930s to the Present Week One W 08/29 Course description, goals, schedule of assignments, introductions Read a folktale together: The Mocking Bird by Jovita González Week Two W 09/05 Life Along the Border by Jovita González Preface Introduction A Woman of the Borderlands: Social Life in Cameron, Starr, and Zapata Counties and the Origins of Borderlands Discourse by María Eugenia Cotera Part II (in its entirety) Week Three M 09/10 DUE: 500-word response González reading and discussion Selections from With His Pistol in His Hand (online) Mexican & Mexican American history discussion W 09/12 Selections from With His Pistol in His Hand (online) Week Four M 09/17 Folktales by Jovita González (online) W 09/19 Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldúa (Preface to the First Edition to end of 2. Moviemientos de rebeldia y las culturas que traicionan) Week Five M 09/24 DUE: Explication (500 words) Borderlands/La Frontera (3. Entering Into the Serpent to end of How to 6. Tlilli, Tlapalli/The Path of the Red and Black Ink) W 09/26 Borderlands/La Frontera (7. La conciencia de la mestiza/towards a New Consciousness to end of I. Mas antes en los ranchos) 3
Week Six M 10/01 Borderlands/La Frontera (II. La Pérdida to end of book) W 10/03 Limón, José, Nations and Critical Regions in Mid-Nineteenth Century Texas: History, Women and the Novel (online) Attend Professor Limón s lecture, Friday Oct. 5, 3:30pm, Willis Library Forum, Hispanic Self-Fashioning: The Making of a Mexican American Middle Class Identity Week Seven M 10/08 Watch Señorita Extraviada W 10/10 Selections from Terrorizing Women: Feminicide in the Américas (online) Week Eight M 10/15 Midterm Essay Writing (see assignment sheet) W 10/17 Midterm Essay Writing (see assignment sheet) UNIT B: New Mexico Colonial/Imperial History and the Early Twentieth Century Week Nine M 10/22 Gutiérrez, Ramón A., When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500-1846, selections (online) W 10/24 When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500-1846, selections (online) Week Ten M 10/29 Cabeza de Baca, Fabiola; We Fed Them Cactus (1-110) W 10/31 Cabeza de Baca, Fabiola; We Fed Them Cactus (111-178) 4
UNIT C: Feminist Journalism, Memoir, and Oral History Week Eleven: M 11/5 Enriqueta Vasquez and the Chicano Movement: Writings from El Grito Del Norte, selections (online) W 11/7 (no class; spend class time reading articles on Hispanic American Newspapers database) Week Twelve M 11/12 Oral Presentations on HAN articles/portfolio W 11/14 Oral Presentations on HAN articles/portfolio Week Thirteen M 11/19 Moraga, Cherríe. Loving in the War Years (entire text) W 11/21 (no class; TG break) Week Fourteen M 11/26 Moraga, Cherríe. The Last Generation (1-131) W 11/28 The Last Generation (136-192) Week Fifteen M 12/3 Martin, Patricia Preciado, Songs My Mother Sang to Me (Foreword, Preface, and 1-50) W 12/5 Martin, Patricia Preciado, Songs My Mother Sang to Me (selections TBA) FINAL ESSAY DUE at LANG 407E: Wednesday 12/12; 10:30AM 12:30PM 5