| EngLit 0560 Children and Culture Spring 2006 |
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Course Description
This course traces the evolution of the figure of the child in American culture from the seventeenth century to the present. More specifically, we will analyze how the image of childhood shifts in response to historical crises like the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights Movement. Besides studying children’s literature and movies, we will also focus our attention on textbooks, television shows, paintings, advertising campaigns, and novels aimed at adults.
It’s crucial to keep in mind that we will not be discussing what children are “actually like” in this class. Rather, we will be analyzing how authors and artists portray children. As you study the assigned images, fictions, and films, ask yourself: What image of the child emerges from this work? Why does the author choose to portray young people in this particular way? And why do we—as a culture—find certain images of childhood more appealing than others? Another question that we will engage with throughout this course is, how and why does American history get rewritten for children, and what are the consequences of such revisions?
Goals
My goals for this course are to help you develop your ability to…
- Recognize the extent to which childhood is culturally constructed
- Understand and e 1/18/08 our ability to analyze cultural artifacts like books and movies
- Construct controversial yet persuasive arguments about such artifacts, supported by lots of textual evidence and nuanced close reading
- Experience such searching analysis as a pleasure enhancer (not a joy killer!)
Required Texts
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. New York: Random House, 1999.
Erdrich, Louise. The Birchbark House. New York: Hyperion, 1999.
Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me. New York, Simon & Schuster,1995.
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Penguin, 1993.
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie. New York: HarperTrophy, 1971.
All books are available at the Pitt University Book Center.
Schedule of Meetings
January
M 9 Introduction: Children and Culture
- Powerpoint presentation will be shown in lecture
- FYI: All powerpoints will be posted on the Courseweb site
M 16 NO LECTURE: HAPPY MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY!
- Recitations will meet on Tuesday, though, to discuss:
- James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me (1995), pp 11-74
M 23 Manifest Destiny
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie (1935), pp. 1-146
- Please complete all reading assignments for Monday lecture (and bring your books to lecture)
M 30 Separate Spheres
- Little House on the Prairie, pp. 147-end
February
M 6 More Lies!
- Lies My Teacher Told Me, pp. 75-136
- Guest lecture by Dr. John Myers from the School of Education
- In-Class Evidence Exam will be given during the Tuesday recitation that follows this lecture
- No make-ups allowed except in case of documented medical or family emergency
M 13 Rewriting Wilder
- Louise Erdrich, The Birchbark House (1999), pp. 1-139
- Close Reading Assignment distributed
M 20 Matters of Style
- The Birchbark House, pp. 140-239
M 27 The Plantation Myth and the Cult of the Child
- This is an extra-important lecture: do not miss it!
- No reading assignment
March
F 3 Close Reading Assignment Due in your recitation instructor’s mailbox by 4 P.M.
M 6 NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK!
M 13 Representing the Civil War
- Lies My Teacher Told Me, pp. 137-199
- The Littlest Rebel (1935) directed by David Butler and starring Shirley Temple, will be shown in class
M 20 Easy Street
- Lies My Teacher Told Me, pp. 200-237
- Plus you might want to get a head start on reading Bud, Not Buddy for next week
- Annie (1981), directed by John Huston, starring Aileen Quinn and Albert Finney, will be shown in class
- Final paper assignment distributed
M 27 Rewriting Annie?
- Christopher Paul Curtis, Bud, Not Buddy (1999)
April
M 3 Another Great Depression Story
- Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, pp. 1-109
- Part 1 of final paper assignment due in Tuesday recitation
M 10 The Bluest Eye, pp. 109-end
M 17 The Way We Never Were
- Lies My Teacher Told Me, pp.238-253
- Color Adjustment (1991), directed by Marlon Riggs, will be shown in class
H 20 Final papers are due today, Thursday April 20th, in your recitation instructor’s mailbox by 4 P.M.
FINAL EXAM
The Final Exam for this course is currently scheduled for Thursday April 27th from 12-1:50 PM.
- No excuses will be accepted for missing the final exam. No make-up exams can be given. If you present evidence of a medical or family emergency, you will be asked to write a paper rather than take an exam.
Course Requirements
15% Attendance and Class Participation
15% The Evidence Exam
15% The Close Reading Assignment
30% Final Paper
25% Final Exam
Attendance
In order to do well in this course, you must regularly attend both lecture and recitation. If you miss lectures, you will miss crucial material that will be discussed in recitations and appear on exams. With a class of eighty students, we cannot go over what you missed with you individually. If you must miss lecture, your best bet is to ask a friend to share his or her notes with you. Your recitation instructor will have her own general attendance policy, to be outlined on the first day of class. But two rules hold true for all sections. 1) Missing five or more recitations—excused or unexcused—will result in a failing grade for the course. 2) Except in case of documented medical or family emergencies, there is no way to make up missed exams.
Class Participation
This is a course in which your participation is greatly valued. You are invited to ask questions during lecture, and expected to participate fully in recitations, not only by answering queries posed by your recitation instructor, but also by bringing to class your own comments and questions about the texts we will be reading (as well as the material covered in lecture). Just attending recitation is not enough; in order to earn a good grade for “Attendance and Class Participation,” you must contribute to the ongoing conversations.
Plagiarism
If you use material from a website (or any other source) in your written assignments without citing where you got it, and we catch you doing it, you will receive a failing grade for the assignment. If you are unsure of what constitutes plagiarism, check out the English Department website on “Avoiding Plagiarism”:
Disability Information
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact me and the Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890, (412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.
Course Website
We have set up a Blackboard course website for this class, so that you can download copies of handouts and assignments, as well as review the Powerpoint presentations shown in class. To find it, go to the CourseWeb login page at http://courseweb.pitt.edu and log in using your university computer account username and password. If you are registered for this course, you’ll see a place to click on “Children and Culture,” which will lead you to our website. If you have trouble with this or any other aspect of the course website, call the help desk at (412) 624-HELP.