English 250.96-02 / Asian 220.02: Introduction to Asian American Literature
Hunter College, Fall 2006
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 9:10-10:00, room 522 HW
Instructor: Jaime Cleland
Office #: 1432 HW
Office hours: Tuesdays 5:00-6:00, Fridays 10:00-11:00, and by appointment
Web site: http://wfs.gc.cuny.edu/JCleland/www
E-mail: jaime.cleland@gmail.com
Phone: 212-772-5112
Note: It’s much easier to reach me by e-mail than by telephone. I generally respond to e-mails within 24 hours. I am not a reliable voice mail checker, but you may catch me on the phone on Tuesdays and Fridays between 10-3.

Goals:
This semester we will ask, “What do we mean by the term Asian American literature?” Who writes it, who reads it, what might its major concerns and attitudes be? We will test our definitions by reading both critical formulations of the field and literary works that may test those critical boundaries.

Texts:
Onoto Watanna, Miss Nume of Japan
Sui Sin Far, Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings
C.Y. Lee, The Flower Drum Song
John Okada, No-No Boy
Hisaye Yamamoto, Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories
Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
David Henry Hwang, M. Butterfly
Chang-rae Lee, Aloft

Texts have been ordered from Shakespeare & Company and are on reserve at the library.

Grading:
Two essays: 15%, 20%
The first will be about 3-5 pages and due around midterm, the second about 5-7 and due at the end of the semester. I’m glad to meet with you about drafts during office hours before the due date; please plan ahead so that you have time to revise based on what we talk about in the meeting. Finally and importantly, I DO NOT ACCEPT LATE PAPERS. They are due in class on the due date. Please keep this in mind when you are tempted to procrastinate – inevitably, something will come up, your printer will break, etc. If for some reason you will not be in class on the due date, make arrangements with me beforehand.
Presentation: 5%
You will be responsible for presenting and discussing your final essay at the end of the semester. This will be an opportunity to educate your classmates on a text in which you have developed expertise.
Paragraph responses: 15%
In addition to more formal essays, you will write a number of smaller responses to the reading assignments. (Expect to write at least one per week.) These should generally be from one paragraph to a page in length, typed if possible. These responses let me know that you’ve read and given serious thought to the material for the day, and give us a jumping-off point for class discussion. They may also form the basis for formal writing and exam questions. The responses will be graded on a check, check-plus, check-minus scheme, and they don’t have to be perfect; I just want to see you thinking.
Midterm and final: 20% each
The midterm and final will include both objective and essay sections. You will need to know something of the works’ historical contexts, important passages from each work, and some of the controversies surrounding the texts, and (in the essay section) to provide your own well-thought-out arguments and opinions. The final will be cumulative, but will focus more on the works we cover in the second part of the class.
Class participation: 5%
Class participation encompasses prompt, prepared, regular attendance. Be here, have the texts and all other necessary materials, and have something to say. Attendance is mandatory; when you’re not here, you miss out, and you will be responsible for the work you miss. However, you have up to three “free” absences which I hope you will not feel compelled to take except in emergency circumstances. Subsequent absences will affect your grade. I don’t mind if you eat or drink in class, if you can do it discreetly (nothing too noisy or fragrant), but ringing cell phones are strictly prohibited.

Academic Honesty:
Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The college is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.

Class essays must be submitted electronically to Turnitin.com as well as in hard copy to me in class. Further instructions on doing so will be forthcoming.

In this course, the MINIMUM result of plagiarism or other academic dishonesty is an F for the assignment and 10 additional points off your final course grade, plus a report to the Academic Integrity Official.

Disabilities:
If you have a documented disability which may interfere with your ability to complete the requirements for this course, please talk to me as soon as possible so that we can plan accommodations.

Aug. 30: Introduction to course. What is Asian American literature?
Sept. 1: Angel Island poems (handout)

Sept. 5: Miss Nume of Japan, pp 3-53 (introduction, chapters I-XI)
Sept. 6: NO CLASS (Monday schedule)
Sept. 8: Miss Nume of Japan, pp 54-107 (chapters XII-XXV)

Sept. 12: Miss Nume of Japan, pp 108-155 (chapters XXVI-XL)
Sept. 13: Miss Nume of Japan, pp 156-220 (chapters XLI-LIX)
Sept. 15: Mrs. Spring Fragrance: “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian,” “Sui Sin Far, the Half Chinese Writer, Tells of Her Career,” “The Land of the Free,” “A Plea for the Chinaman,” “In Los Angeles’ Chinatown,” “Chinese in Business Here,” “Chinese Laundry Checking,” “The Chinese in America”

Sept. 19: Mrs. Spring Fragrance: “Mrs. Spring Fragrance,” “The Inferior Woman,” “The Wisdom of the New,” “The Americanizing of Pau Tsu”
Sept. 20: Mrs. Spring Fragrance: “‘Its Wavering Image,’” “In the Land of the Free,” “The Chinese Lily,” “The Smuggling of Tie Co,” “The Prize China Baby,” “Lin John,” “The Sing Song Woman,” “A Chinese Boy-Girl,” “Pat and Pan,” “Who’s Game?”
Sept. 22: NO CLASS (Rosh Hashanah)

Sept. 26: The Flower Drum Song, pp 3-56 (part one, chapters 1-5)
Sept. 27: The Flower Drum Song, pp 57-92 (part one, chapters 6-7)
Sept. 29: The Flower Drum Song, pp 95-150 (part two, chapters 1-3)

Oct. 3: NO CLASS (Monday schedule)
Oct. 4: The Flower Drum Song, pp 150-201 (part two, chapters 4-8)
Oct. 6: The Flower Drum Song, pp 201-244 (part two, chapters 9-12), pp ix-xxi (author’s note, introduction)

Oct. 10: Flower Drum Song (film)
Oct. 11: Flower Drum Song (film)
Oct. 13: Flower Drum Song (film)

Oct. 17: MIDTERM (objective section)
Oct. 18: MIDTERM (essay section)
Oct. 20: Internment camp poems (handout)

Oct. 24: No-No Boy, pp 1-49 (chapters 1-2)
Oct. 25: No-No Boy, pp 51-101 (chapters 3-4)
Oct. 27: No-No Boy, pp 103-143 (chapters 5-6)

Oct. 31: No-No Boy, pp 145-213 (chapters 7-9)
Nov. 1: No-No Boy, pp 215-251 (chapters 10-11)
Nov. 3: Seventeen Syllables: “Seventeen Syllables,” “The Legend of Miss Sasagawara,” “Wilshire Bus,” “The Brown House,” “Yoneko’s Earthquake”

Nov. 7: The Woman Warrior, pp 1-53 (“No Name Woman,” “White Tigers”)
Nov. 8: The Woman Warrior, pp 55-109 (“Shaman”)
Nov. 10: The Woman Warrior, pp 111-160 (“At the Western Palace”)

Nov. 14: The Woman Warrior, pp 161-209 (“A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe”)
Nov. 15: Aiiieeeee!, preface and introduction (handout)
Nov. 17: Asian American Literature, preface (handout), “A Perspective on Chinamerican Literature” (handout)

Nov. 21: M. Butterfly, acts I, II
Nov. 22: M. Butterfly, act III, author’s notes
Nov. 24: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)

Nov. 28: Aloft, pp 1-66 (chapters 1-2)
Nov. 29: Aloft, pp 67-130 (chapters 3-4)
Dec. 1: Aloft, pp 131-207 (chapters 5-7)

Dec. 5: Aloft, pp 208-281 (chapters 8-9)
Dec. 6: Aloft, pp 282-364 (chapters 10-12)
Dec. 8: Presentations

Dec. 12: Presentations
Dec. 13: Presentations

FINAL EXAM: Monday, Dec. 18, 9-11 a.m.