Rubinstein & Larson, Eds., Worlds of Fiction

In this course, we will listen to other voices and visit other cultures not as tourists but as fellow citizens. As we travel into unfamiliar cities and villages, we will witness other cultures not through the distancing lenses of cameras and binoculars but through the poetry and fiction of the people who live and work in them. As we unfold the cultural realities of an increasingly pluralist world (just look around campus and witness it coming into being), we will take into account as much as possible the historical and cultural contexts in which literary works are produced. Because discussions will often focus on selfhood and the creation of identity in an alien world, keep the following questions in mind as you read:

• what does it mean to be a minority, that is, what does it feel like to live in a world defined for us by culturally different and dominant others who use terms and language we cannot control;
• what individual and/or community values get traded off when we either defend or abandon our own cultural values;
• even if a member of one culture to "pass over" into the perspective of another culture, is it possible?

• 2 papers, 4-6 pages, plus Works Cited page (MLA style); papers are due at the beginning of class on the date they are due; late papers will be graded down. Academic honesty is required.
• 2 exams, midterm and final
• Oral Reports: On the first day of class, the class will be divided into groups for collaborative presentations. Topics will be assigned (they are listed on the schedule of readings) and you will meet with your group outside of class to prepare the in-class presentation. More details about this project will be given in class.
• Frequent unannounced quizzes. No quizzes can be made up, but your lowest quiz grade will be dropped.
• Participation and attendance: careful preparation of reading material, consistent attendance, active engagement in discussion. Because you cannot participate if you are not present, one point will be deducted from your final grade for each unexplained absence. I can be reached by office phone and e-mail 24 hours a day, and at reasonable hours at home if you must miss class for any reason.
• Please be on time for class; it is rude and disruptive to enter class late. I take attendance every day and if you miss it, you will be counted as absent.
• Note extra credit assignments on syllabus.
• Here is how I will calculate your grade:

Schedule of Readings (subject to change):

Oral Report Schedule:

Jan 20: Salvador Allende, President of Chile until 1973
Jan 27: Harlem Renaissance
Feb 10: Tadeus Borowski
Feb 20: Leslie Marmon Silko
Mar 13: California Immigration Law, Proposition , Pros and Cons;
Mar 24: Chinese Cultural Revolution
Apr 7: French-Algerian War
Apr 10: Apartheid, 1975 to present
Apr 17: Biafran-Nigerian War

Mar. 17 - Isabel Allende, "The Road North"

18 - Carlos Fuentes, "The Doll Queen"

20 - Octavio Paz, "The Blue Bouquet"

24 - Oral Report on Chinese Cultural Revolution; Wang Ping, "Lipstick" and "Lotus"

25 - Kingston, "No-Name Woman"

27 - Easter Holiday

31 - Kingston;

Apr. 1 - Catherine Lim, "Or Else, the Lightning God"

3 - Katherine Min, "The One Who Goes Farthest Away"

7 - Oral Report on French-Algerian War: Albert Camus, "The Guest"

Extra Credit: Guest lecture by Marjorie Agosin, Chilean poet and expert in the work of Chilean peasant women artists, in the La Salle Chapel, 3:30-5:30. Submit a one-paragraph synopsis of the lecture on Thursday, April 10

8 - Camus

10 - Oral Report on Apartheid, 1975 to present; Nadine Gordimer, "Town and Country Lovers"

14 - Gordimer

15 - Bessie Head, "The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses"

17 - Oral Report on Biafran-Nigerian War; Chinua Achebe, "Girls at War"

21 - Es’Kia Mphahlele, "Mrs. Plum"

22 - Mphahlele

23 - Conclusions

Here is how I will calculate your grade:

2 papers @ 15% & 20% 35% A/A-=95/92

2 exams @ 20% 40% B=84-91

Oral Report @ 15% 15% C=76-83

Quizzes @10% 10% D = 68-75

Total 100% F = 0-67