ENGL 200 A: Reading Literary Forms

South Jackson Street, Seattle, Washington (ca. 1920)

ENGL 200 A: Reading Literary Forms (Spring 2025)
“Bad Asian American Modernisms: Orientalism and Counter-Orientalism in Early Asian American Literature”
MW 9:30-11:20 AM; Smith 305

Instructor Info

Janine “Nina” Hsiao Sobers
蕭佳寧
(she/her)
jsobers@uw.edu
Office hours: Mon. 12-2 PM or by appt.
Location: PDL B-37

Course Description

The overall goal of ENGL 200 is to develop skills in the analysis and interpretation of literary texts across multiple genres. For course subject matter, each instructor brings in their own expertise based on their unique interests and backgrounds, leading to a variety of special topics across ENGL 200 sections. Our specific course focuses on Asian American literary production of the modern period, which runs approximately from the late 19th century to the World War II era. Historically, the modern period is known as a time of immense social and technological change; it also parallels the beginnings of Asian American literature, which fully coheres as a distinct literary tradition at the start of the late twentieth century. This class centers the precursors to this contemporary movement, specifically writers and artists whose work has challenged, complicated, and problematized stereotypical and/or mainstream notions of Asianness, Americanness, and Asian Americanness. Genres include (but are not limited to) fiction, such as novels and short stories; non-fiction, such as autobiography and journalism; poetry; drama; and film. As the Pacific Northwest has been an important place in Asian American history, a number of the writers on the curriculum have ties to our region—one is even a University of Washington alumnus from time past!

Course Materials

There are no books or readers that you need to purchase for this class. Text-based readings will be uploaded to the “Files” tab of our Canvas page, and films will be available for streaming through readily accessible means.

Course Assessment

The grade breakdown for the class is as follows:

• 6% Monday In-Class Solo Write-Ups (6 total, 1% each)
• 6% Wednesday In-Class Group Write-Ups (6 total, 1% each)
• 12% Friday At-Home Small Writing Assignments (4 total, 3% each)
• 12% Canvas Weekly Discussion Threads
• 6% Discussion Thread Questions (3 total, 2% each)
• 6% Discussion Thread Responses (3 total, 2% each)
• 28% Midterm Paper
• 36% Final Paper

Monday In-Class Solo Write-Ups (6% total, 6 x 1%)

Submitted in class, written on notebook paper. Graded by completion. For each Monday meeting, at the end of class, I’ll display a short answer question on the board about the assigned readings for that day. These questions will be shorter, informal, and/or free response, but they will require familiarity with the readings to answer. On your own, you’ll have the last 15 minutes of class to write your responses, but expect them to take no more than 10 minutes at the most. There will be 8 total solo write-ups offered throughout the quarter and 6 are required, so two Mondays can be skipped without impacting this part of the grade. Submitted solo write-ups that exceed the required 6 will be converted to extra credit.

Wednesday In-Class Group Write-Ups (6% total, 6 x 1%)

Submitted in-class via Canvas, in the “Assignments” tab. Graded by completion. In Week 2, the class will be divided into 10 groups of 4 students each. These will be your work groups for the quarter. For each Wednesday meeting, at the start of class, I’ll display a short answer question about the assigned texts for that day. In your groups, you’ll then have the first part of class to compose a write-up response to these questions together, with your resources combined. Expect these write-ups to take no more than 15 minutes at most to answer, but you’ll have the first 20 minutes or so of class to submit them.

Note that if a student fails to participate in the group write-up response process for two consecutive Wednesdays, this will result in a 1% deduction to this part of the grade for that specific student. Subsequent consecutive Wednesdays with missing contributions thereafter will result in an additional 1% deduction. To keep track of contributions, attendance will be taken every Wednesday. Monday classes are not factored into this part of the course.

Friday At-Home Small Writing Assignments (12% total, 4 x 3%)

Submitted at home via Canvas, in the “Assignments” and/or “Quizzes” tab. Graded by completion. Periodically throughout the quarter, I’ll assign small writing assignments on Canvas, which you’ll do outside of class on your own. Typically, these small assignments will involve exercises to help you along with the two long papers, and will be due on Fridays at midnight. Details on these small assignments will be given as the quarter progresses.

Canvas Discussion Thread Questions (12% total, 3 questions x 2%, 3 responses x 2%)

In the “Discussions” tab on Canvas, there is a thread for each week of the quarter from Week 1 onward. In these threads, students will take turns posting discussion questions (3 total, 2% each) about the readings for that given week, then writing responses (3 total, 2% each) to those discussion questions. The schedule is:

Weeks 1-5:

• Question writers: students last name A–M
• Response writers: students last name N–Z

Weeks 6-10:

• Question writers: students last name N–Z
• Response writers: students last name A–M

For Weeks 1-5, students last name A–M post at least one discussion question per week about the scheduled readings. There will be 5 weeks total for these students to post questions and 3 weeks are required, so two weekly questions can be skipped.

Meanwhile, students last name N–Z will write a response to at least one of these discussion questions per week. Out of these 5 weeks, 3 weeks are also required, so two weekly responses can be skipped.

In Weeks 6–10, the roles reverse: students last name N–Z write the discussion questions, and students last name A–M write responses. Like before, both question and response writers must participate for 3 weeks minimum.

For question writers, questions should be posted to the appropriate thread by the end of the week Friday, 11:59 PM. For response writers, responses should be posted to the thread by the following Monday, 11:59 PM.

Discussion questions can pertain to any aspect of the text (e.g. key passage, theme, character, technique, and so on), just as long as it prompts conversation on the implicit significance of the text. Questions and responses may be mentioned in class for learning purposes.

Long Papers (2 total, 28% & 36%)

There are two long papers that you’ll write for this class: a midterm paper and a final paper. The first, the midterm paper, is due at the end of Week 5 (Sunday, May 4, 11:59 PM). The second, the final paper, is due at the end of Week 10 (Sunday, June 8, 11:59 PM). These papers are in essence close reading-based argumentative essays written in response to a chosen prompt, with some research elements. Details for these papers will be given as the quarter progresses.

Extra Credit

There is an extra credit opportunity available, which involves a visit to the Wing Luke Museum in the International District. See the handout in the “Files” tab for further information. Due at midnight on the Sunday of the last week of instruction. Worth 3% added to the final grade.

Late Work Policy

In cases of extenuating circumstances, a student may request one extension per major paper, the exact submission date to be proposed by the student, then mutually agreed upon by both instructor and student. (There is no need to disclose particulars, but clear and timely communication to the instructor is necessary.) This new submission date then becomes final. In other words, after this submission date, the option to make up the work has passed, and whatever material is submitted will be graded as is.

PERCENT TO GPA SCALE

COURSE POLICIES

• Electronics: on Mondays, laptops are not permitted; only notebooks or tablets may be used. On Wednesdays, laptops are permitted for the first half of class; for the second half of class, only notebooks or tablets may be used. Phone use is strongly discouraged. Those with the appropriate DRS accommodations are exempt.
• Group work: as group work is necessary to succeed in the course, students are strongly encouraged to maintain clear communication channels with their assigned group throughout the quarter, notifying group-mates of absences or emergencies when they interfere with coursework. There is no need to notify the instructor.
• In-class questions: asking questions in class is very strongly encouraged, but questions that pertain just to you (e.g. “I’m going on vacation next week, what will I miss?”) should wait for after class or email
• Slurs: slurs that appear in readings should not be verbalized.

Academic Integrity Clause

“Plagiarism, or academic dishonesty, is presenting someone else's ideas or writing as your own. In your writing for this class, you are encouraged to refer to other people's thoughts and writing—as long as you cite them. As a matter of policy, any student found to have plagiarized any piece of writing in this class will be immediately reported to the College of Arts and Sciences for review.”

All papers in this course will be screened for plagiarism upon submission.

On AI writing: because the focus of the writing exercises is the development of critical thinking and analytical skills, the use of AI writing is here considered a violation of academic integrity.

Note that violations of academic integrity can result in an automatic zero for the assignment.

Religious Accommodation Clause

“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/).”

Course Calendar (First Month of the Quarter)