Literature, Power & Difference
English 259A/ Winter 2022
Class meeting time: Tues/Thurs 1:30-3:20
Room: MUS 223
Professor Alys Weinbaum
Office hours: after class on Tues/Thurs and by appointment on zoom
Email: alysw@uw.edu
Office location: 408B Padelford Hall
Zoom link for use when we meet remotely and for remote office hours:
https://washington.zoom.us/j/96176248988
Class will meet on zoom through January.
Schedule after Week 4 TBA.
Course description
This course examines literature and film as cultural sites created by individuals and groups who write (create) and are written by their times. It explores how literature and film (fiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry) are saturated by the forms of social power that create the differences that connect us to and separate us from each other. These include differences of race, gender, and class among many others. Over the course of the quarter we will treat a range of cultural texts that engage differences that have emerged historically and that continue to change over time. Literary and filmic representations of social differences are never socially or politically neutral. Literature and film (and all other cultural texts) are active players in our culture in so far as cultural texts both reflect and shape our individual and collective understanding of who we are and who we have been. Thus, over the course of the quarter we will track how cultural texts reflect and shape our understanding of social differences, and, in so doing, how texts enter into an ongoing and wide-ranging discussions about the meaning of race, gender, and class formations and identities in the past and present.
Course learning goals
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- To read/watch and understand rich and dense cultural texts.
- To be able to talk in class about cultural texts in informed and nuanced ways.
- To write about a range of cultural texts with clarity and nuance.
- To understand how ideas of difference are represented within and across cultural texts.
- To evaluate how cultural texts participate in shaping the meaning of difference and thus social power.
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Course requirements
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- Active participation throughout the quarter 10%
- Weekly Discussion Posts of roughly 200 words each 40%
- Midterm Assessment of 750 words 15%
- Final paper 35%
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Course format
This is lecture and discussion based course. Course lectures and discussions will not be regularly recorded. For this reason, if regular in person participation is not be possible, you should select a different course this quarter.
Preparation for and participation in class meetings
I usually start class with a lecture framing the day’s readings and raise questions about them. You need to actively take notes on lectures and record all questions raised in a dedicated notebook.
The majority of our class time will involve collaborative working through of assigned texts. Consequently, a significant portion of your work for this course is preparation for and participation in class discussion. I expect all students to be prepared to enter the discussion each time we meet.
I do not expect you to have “mastered” the assigned texts prior to arriving in class, but you should have read/viewed and engaged with all materials to the best of your ability and should be prepared to discuss specific passages and ideas that perplexed or intrigued you, and to explore the connections among texts. In short, you don’t need to “get” an entire assigned text in order to be prepared for engagement in our collaborative inquiry.
I assess preparedness and participation in the following three ways:
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- Your preparedness for class discussions: You have completed the readings AND have engaged with them deeply prior to class.
- Your contributions to class discussions: You offer your own ideas, ask questions, respond to me or other students, read passages aloud when given the opportunity, share points of concern or confusion, and offer your own interpretations of texts.
- Your participation in breakout groups/rooms: You have actively contributed to the completion of the assigned group task, taken responsibility for an equitable portion of the intellectual labor, and have generously offered your own questions and insights.
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Be advised: It is not possible to do well in this course without regularly attending class meetings and fully and thoughtfully completing your preparation of assigned texts as they come due. If you do not attend class, it will be exceedingly difficult to submit written work that meets the minimum requirements for this course. Students may miss two class meetings without penalty. More than this may lead to a lesser grade.
Course writing
Discussion posts:
Discussion posts are due each week by 3 pm on Wednesdays. You can post anytime prior to this. I will be reading posts on Monday and Wednesday evenings in preparation for the next day's class.
Your posts must be roughly 200 words in length. They may be in the form of an observation, a comment, an argument, or a question. The more specific, the better—be sure to refer to particular passages, images, scenes, dialogue, etc... (see reader response guidelines). Please note that late responses will not count towards your grade.
Midterm assessment:
Short writing assignment of 750 words (take home) that requires "revision" of ideas and previous writing. This is an ungraded assignment meant to help you process ideas in writing and allow me to see where the class is at.
Final paper:
The prompts for the final paper will be discussed in class in Week 9 and distributed in Week 10. Final papers of 5-6 pages are due on Monday March 14, at 10 am.
General classroom etiquette
This class deals with politicized material. You do not have to agree with everything we read. Our collective goal is to treat new and/or different ideas with respect and interrogate them with critical rigor. It is important that you come to each class with an open mind, a sense of humor, and a willingness to discuss ideas in respectful dialogue with others. If we all prepare thus, we all ensure that this course is a forum in which we can readily learn together. Language or behavior that is sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and so on prevents our open exchange of ideas and will be confronted on the spot.
To facilitate smooth zoom meetings, please adhere to the following standards of etiquette:
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- Leave your video on whenever possible. (I understand that people have varying access to reliable Wi-Fi, webcams, and physical space from which to zoom—if you have any of these issue please let me know before the first week of class).
- Mute your microphone upon entering the meeting; unmute your microphone only when you talk.
- Wear clothes that would be acceptable in a physical classroom space on campus.
- Use the "chat" feature for vital communication only.
- Raise your hand with the raise hand feature in the participants tab.
- Do not text or engage in activities unrelated to class on your computer or otherwise during class.
- If you need to step away from your computer momentarily, mute your microphone, stop your video, and display the “away” button on your screen (available via the participants tab).
- While everyone is expected to attend in person meetings, I understand that this may not be possible due to Covid. Time limited asynchronous participation requires submitting a more substantial contribution to the online discussion board each time you miss class.
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To protect all our privacy, I will not regularly record class meetings. Therefore, should you miss class, I encourage you to communicate with one or more of your classmates in order to get notes. I also encourage you to meet with at least one fellow student virtually (and, if necessary, with me in office hours). It is your responsibility to keep up with the class assignments, lectures, and discussions in a timely fashion.
Course readings
PDFs of all readings are available in “files” on Canvas. All novels have been ordered through the University Bookstore.
I’ve tried to keep the reading to roughly 50-100 pages per week. I’d suggest rather than doing the readings the night prior to class you read throughout the week. This leaves you time to digest what you have read, to write up notes, and thoughtfully post to our discussion board.
Schedule of readings and assignments
Please note, readings are subject to change. It is your responsibility to keep abreast of all changes and to come to each class properly prepared. Changes will be discussed in class and announced on Canvas.
Week 1 [Everyone on Zoom]
Tues, Jan 4: Introduction to the course
POST responses to “Recitatif” on Canvas discussion board by 12-noon, Wed. Jan 5th.
This first response should be in the form of a question about a particular passage in the story.
Thurs, Jan 6: Morrison, “Recitatif”
Week 2 [Everyone on Zoom]
Tues, Jan 11: Michael Omi and Howard Winant, “The Theory of Racial Formation," chapter 4, pages 105-124.
POST responses to Omi and Winant to Canvas discussion board by 12-noon on Wed. Jan 12th.
This reader response should be in the form of a question about a particular concept or passage.
Thurs, Jan 13: Omi and Winant completed
Week 3 [Everyone on Zoom]
Tues, Jan 18: Julie Otsuka, When the Emperor Was Divine, pages 1-48
Wed, Jan 19: Discussion posts due 12 pm
Thurs, Jan 20: Otsuka, pages 49-106
Week 4 [Everyone on Zoom]
Mon, Jan 24: Discussion posts due 6 pm
Tues, Jan 25: Otsuke completed
Thurs, Jan 27: Midterm Assessment--explained in class. Due Friday Jan 28th, 5 pm
Starting in Week 5 we will meet
on Zoom on Tuesdays,
in-person on Thursdays.
It is expected that everyone who is able will attend both
Zoom and in-person class meetings.
If you must miss class on Tuesdays you may email me to request a recording.
If you miss class on Thursdays you can find class notes on Canvas.
Week 5
Lynn Neary Interview with Morrison on A Mercy
Tues, Feb 1: Toni Morrison, A Mercy to page 77 [class meets on Zoom]
Discussion posts are due any time before 3 pm on Wed. Feb. 2nd.
Thurs, Feb 3: A Mercy to page 117 [class meets in person]
Crenshaw Ted Talk on Intersectionality
Week 6
Tues, Feb 8: Complete A Mercy
Discussion posts are due any time before 3 pm on Wed. Feb. 9th.
Thurs, Feb 10: Toni Morrison, "The Sites of Memory"
[NB: this is an additional reading added to the original syllabus]
Week 7
Tues, Feb 15: Octavia Butler, “Bloodchild”
Discussion posts are due any time before 3 pm on Wed. Feb. 16th.
Thurs, Feb 17: “Afterword” to "Bloodchild"
Week 8
Discussion posts are due any time before 3 pm on Monday. Feb. 21rd.
Tues, Feb 22: Zoom class. Watch: Bong Joon-ho dir. Parasite
[NB: The movie is widely available on streaming platforms and through our library. Watch the film in advance of class and take careful notes for use in our discussion]
Thurs, Feb 24: No class meeting
Week 9
Tues, March 1: Claudia Rankine, Citizen pages 1-36
Discussion posts are due any time before 3 pm on Wed. March 2nd.
Thurs, March 3: Citizen pages 41-83
Large group discussion of ideas for final paper prompts
Week 10
Tues, March 8: Rankine, Citizen, completed
Discussion posts are due any time before 3 pm on Wed. March 9th.
Thurs, March 10: Final paper assignment distributed and explained
Course logistics
You need to check your email at 1 pm, prior to each scheduled meeting—I will send an announcement if our course format needs to be temporarily changed on a given day. No announcement, no change in plan.
Change to zoom. We will necessarily be flexible this quarter and prepared to move to zoom as needed. I may decide to move our seminar to zoom to protect the health of the group.
Absence: Should need arise, you should inform me immediately of any changes in your attendance so we can make necessary accommodations. If, by prearrangement, you need to miss your assigned seminar day during a given week, you may attend with the other group that week.
Disability accommodation. If you need accommodation of any sort, please have DRS send me the relevant email and come talk to me by the end of week 2 so we can work out a plan. More information about disability accommodation can be found at: http://www.washington.edu/students/drs/
Religious accommodation. Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious- accommodations-request/).
Plagiarism policy. You are not required to consult outside sources in completing assignments for this class. This noted, if you do consult websites, blogs, academic articles, discussion boards, etc… it is your responsibility to accurately and fully acknowledge these sources. Any failure to do so amounts to plagiarism. For instance, failure to provide citations for quoted or paraphrased formulations and ideas, and submission of a paragraph, sentence, phrase or concept conceived of by someone else without full attribution all constitute plagiarism. Work containing plagiarism, however minor, will be excluded from consideration toward your grade. All instances of plagiarism will be immediately reported to appropriate authorities.
Additional useful information
Writing resources. I encourage you to take advantage of the writing resources available to you at no charge:
The CLUE Writing Center in the Gateway Center of Mary Gates Hall is open Sunday to Thursday from 7pm to midnight. The graduate tutors are adept at helping you develop your claims and improve your essays. You do not need to make an appointment, so arrive early in case there is a wait. You can visit their site here: http://depts.washington.edu/clue/dropintutor_writing.php
The Odegaard Writing and Research Center offers a range of one-on-one appointment times, Sunday to Friday. It provides a research-integrated approach to writing instruction. Make an appointment on the website: www.depts.washington.edu/owrc
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) allows you to browse or search writing related questions. It is also an excellent resource for questions about MLA formatting and citation. You can visit the site here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Ask Betty is a UW-designed grammar resource center for FAQs on common subjects including how to work with instructor feedback on writing. You can find the site here: http://depts.washington.edu/engl/askbetty/
UW Safe Campus. Preventing violence is everyone’s responsibility. If you’re concerned, tell someone. For more information, visit the SafeCampus website at: https://www.washington.edu/safecampus/
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- Always call 911 if you or others may be in danger.
- Call 206-685-SAFE (7233) to report non-urgent threats of violence and for referrals to UW counseling and/or safety resources. TTY or VP callers, please call through your preferred relay service.
- Campus safety guards can walk with you on campus after dark. Call Husky Night Walk 206-685-WALK (9255).
- Stay connected in an emergency with UW Alert. Register your mobile number to receive instant notification of campus emergencies. Sign up online at www.washington.edu/alert.
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My contact and office hours. If you wish to set up office hours or get in touch about any issue pertaining to this course, please contact me by email. I will hold “open” (no appointment needed) office hours directly after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays in my physical office or our classroom, and by appointment on zoom. I try to reply to all emails within 24 hours on week days. Please do not expect response to email over weekends and holidays.
Email: alysw@uw.edu