Anthology

Asian American Literature Survey
ENGL-211-01 CRN: 41341
TR 9:15-10:20am KA 263
Valerie Lo
This course will examine long term and emergent issues in different genres of
Asian American literature. We will read fiction, memoirs, graphic novels,
poetry, essays, literary criticism, court cases, and also watch narrative,
documentary, and short films. Themes such as dislocation, displacement,
migration, nation, home, race, mixed race, assimilation, cultural conflicts,
violence, trauma, family, class, gender, and sexuality will be considered. We
will read the following texts: Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior,
Milton Murayama’s All I asking for is my body, and Don Lee’s Yellow, and
Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. We will also read excerpts from Carlos
Bulosan’s America is in the Heart, G.B. Tran’s Vietnamerica, Wei Ming Dariotis
and Laura Kina’s War Baby/Love Child, and Min Zhou and J.V. Gatewood’s
Contemporary Asian America. Films shown in class may include, Picture Bride, The
Namesake, The Split Horn, Daughter from Danang, The Slanted Screen, How to Make
Kimchi According to my Kun-Uma, and Lilo and Me. Writing assignments will
include in class free-write exercises, journal reflections and responses, a
research paper, and an autobiographical project.
Applies to Core, C1
Meets Core CD Requirement.
Meets the Minority Issues Requirement for the English Department.
Intro. to Chicano/a Literature Survey
ENGL-212-01 CRN: 41342
TR 12:45-2:30pm KA 267
Christina Garcia Lopez
Across a spectrum of genres, including fiction, drama, poetry, and essay, U.S.
writers of Mexican descent have directly countered the absences, silences, and
‘invisibility’ of Mexican American experience in dominant U.S. narratives. This
survey course will provide an overview of the literary works of a cross-section of
these writers, as well as cultural texts (i.e. letters, political documents, films, visual
arts) through which we can contextualize their works. Students will learn to utilize
formal, historical, and cultural approaches to analyzing literary texts, while exploring
the development of a politicized sense of self amongst Mexican American writers.
We will trace a historical context starting from the colonial period, moving through
Anglo colonization of the Southwest, and most centrally focusing on the
development of the Chicano movement and Chicana feminism, in addition to more
contemporary contexts. Further, the lenses of gender, race, and class will be central
throughout each of the following units: Conquest & Colonization;
Literary Chicanismo; Chicana Feminist Voices; and Borderlands & Boundaries. Most
fundamentally, by the end of this course, students will have knowledge of literary
terms and devices, as well as experience in literary analysis.
Applies to 10 Core, C1
Meets Core CD Requirement.
Meets the Minority Issues Requirement for the English Department.