Prof. T. Chakkalakal
\nENGL\/AFRS 2582
\nSpring 2018
\nM\/W 10-11:25
\nHubbard 022
\nOffice Hours: Tuesday 10-1, Adams 213 (or by appointment)
\nEmail: tchakkal@bowdoin.edu<\/p>\n
Reading Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin (and its Responses)<\/p>\n
While living on Federal Street in Brunswick, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the most famous novel in American history: Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin <\/em>(1852). This course explores the production, reception, and influence of Stowe\u2019s novel by engaging with the long history of responses to the novel. The course begins with a close and intensive reading of the novel paired with an overview of the contemporary response it engendered upon its initial serial publication in the National Era<\/em>. From our reading of the novel we will turn to particular works of African American literature that were influenced or inspired by Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin <\/em>in one form or another. Most of these responses take the form of long fiction, but we will also engage poems, plays, and films.<\/p>\n Students should be prepared to keep up with the somewhat lengthy reading assignments. I have tried to divide the reading assignments as evenly as possible, allowing for longer reading assignments over the weekend and spring break. But given the constraints of the course schedule, this is not always possible. If you have trouble keeping up with the reading, please let me know and we can devise some reading strategies to help you keep up.<\/p>\n Required Texts for purchase in Chegg<\/p>\n Course Requirements:<\/p>\n Attendance is not optional, and neither is the reading. Final course grades will be based upon quality of class participation as well as performance on oral presentation and assigned essays, so it\u2019s in your own interest to show up in both body and mind. (You will be marked down for any more than two absences.) Students will be responsible for several small assignments in conjunction with your participation grade, one oral presentation (20%), two critical essays (40%), and a collaborative response paper (30%), that will be composed in pairs. This course involves a few \u201cfield\u201d trips. At least 2 to special collections and 1 to the Stowe House, where the novel was written, on Federal Street.<\/p>\n The reading, oral, and written assignments are designed to enable students to develop their communicative skills, deepen their ability to read complex texts and to develop interpretive methods that are essential to pursuing careers in various fields such as marketing, technology, and print culture.<\/p>\n Course Schedule:<\/p>\n M Jan 22 Introduction to the course and read Chapter 1, Stowe, Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin <\/em>collectively<\/p>\n W Jan 24 Stowe, Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin<\/em>, Chapters 2-8<\/p>\n M Jan 29 Stowe, Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin, <\/em>Chapters 9-15 (Visit to Stowe House<\/strong>)?<\/p>\n W Jan 31 Stowe, Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin, <\/em>Chapters 16-20<\/p>\n M Feb 5 Stowe, Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin, <\/em>Chapters 21-34 \u2013 PRESENTATION: Jared Cole<\/p>\n W Feb 7 Stowe, Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin, <\/em>Chapters 35-37 \u2013 PRESENTATION: Rachel Musante<\/p>\n M Feb 12 \u2013 Complete Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin<\/em> (Visit to Special Collections) \u2013 Critical Response Essay Due in Class<\/strong><\/p>\n W Feb 14 Douglass, \u201cThe Heroic Slave\u201d (pts. 1 & 2) \u2013 PRESENTATION: Melissa Cusanello<\/p>\n M Feb 19 Douglass, \u201cThe Heroic Slave\u201d (pt. 3) and Douglass \u201cA Black Hero\u201d (p.138): PRESENTATION: Ivy Elganen<\/p>\n\n