COURSE UNIT TITLE

: AMERICAN DILEMMAS

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
AKE 3007 AMERICAN DILEMMAS ELECTIVE 3 0 0 5

Offered By

American Culture and Literature (English)

Level of Course Unit

First Cycle Programmes (Bachelor's Degree)

Course Coordinator

PROFESSOR DOCTOR NILSEN GÖKÇEN ULUK

Offered to

American Culture and Literature (English)

Course Objective

Although every culture has its own share of dichotomies and incongruities, American culture is said particularly to be marked by contradictions and dilemmas. This course is designed to study some of these dichotomies as they unfold in American history and are revealed in literature. The aim of this course is to be able to discern and discuss the historical, cultural and economic backgrounds that lie behind these dilemmas.
The particular dilemma chosen for the semester is related to race and racism in America, one of the most controversial issues that have marked the American history, and its most intriguing revelation called passing. We will study the historical background of race relations and their inevitable connection to slavery and focus on passing as one of these relations most fascinating results in US.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Realize that culture and history are composed of different and often conflicting and challenging narratives,
2   Gain knowledge about the construction, development and peculiar cases of race relations, one of the most conflicting and paradoxical issues in American history,
3   Grasp the relationship between race and other related categories such as gender, class and religion,
4   Discern similar controversial and paradoxical issues in American history and culture and develop multiple points of view,
5   Be able to detect multiple narratives in other literature, cultural studies, and history texts,
6   Develop sensibilities towards discrimination of all sorts by transferring her/his learning and acquisition from this course to other courses and life experiences.

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Introductions: The Case of Susie Guillory Phipps. Lecture and Discussion
2 A Different Mirror, Part I: "Foundations"; The Passing Figure, Chps 1, 2. Lecture, Discussion and Text Analysis
3 Neither Black Nor White Yet Both, Chp 9: "Passing; or Sacrificing a Parvenu"; Black Skin, White Masks, Chp 5: "The Fact of Blackness"; Student Presentation on: "Desirée's Baby" Lecture, Discussion and Text Analysis
4 Black Skin, White Masks, Chp 2: "The Woman of Color and the White Man"; Student Presentation on: The House Behind the Cedars, read the first third. Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
5 Mulatto America, Chp 3: "The Mulatto Flag: Interracial Love in Antebellum America"; Student Presentation on: The House Behind the Cedars, read the second third Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
6 Neither Black Nor White Yet Both, Chp 8: "Excursus on the 'Tragic Mulatto'; or, The Fate of a Stereotype; Student Presentation on: The House Behind the Cedars, finish the novel Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
7 The Politics of Color in the Fiction of Jessie Fauset and Nella Larsen, Chps. 1, 2, 6. Student Presentation on: Passing, read half. Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
8 Mulatto America, Chp 5: "Memorizing Shakespeare: The Black Elite"; Student Presentation on: Passing, finish the novel. Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
9 Neither Black Nor White Yet Both, Chp: 3: éThe Curse of Ham; or, From `Generation to `Race'"Chp 10: Incest and Miscegenation"; Student Presentation on: Passing For White: Race, Religion and the Healy Family, read the first third. Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
10 Black Skin, White Masks, Chp 3: "The Man of Color and the White Woman"; Student Presentation on: Passing For White: Race, Religion and the Healy Family, read the second third. Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
11 Crossing the Line, Chp.1: "Racial Negotiations in Passing Narratives"; Student Presentation on: Passing For White: Race, Religion and the Healy Family, finish the book. Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
12 Crossing the Line, Chp. 4: "Postpassing Narratives in Black Culture"; Epilogue. Student Presentation on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
13 Crossing the Line, Chp. 4: "Postpassing Narratives in Black Culture"; Epilogue. Student Presentation on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Lecture, Discussion, Text Analysis and Student Presentation
14 General Evaluation

Recomended or Required Reading

History and Theory
Ronald Takaki, A Different Mirror: A Study of Multicultural America
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks.
Stephan Talty, Mulatto America.
Werner Sollors, Neither Black Nor White Yet Both.
Jacquelin Y. McLendon, The Politics of Color in the Fiction of Jessie Fauset and Nella Larsen.
Juda Bennett, The Passing Figure: Racial Confusion in Modern American Literature.
Gayle Wald, Crossing the Line.
Elaine K. Ginsberg, Ed., Passing and the Fictions of Identity.

Fiction and Biography (for Presentations)
Kate Chopin, "Desiree's Baby."
Charles W. Chessnutt, The House Behind the Cedars.
Nella Larsen, Passing.
James M. O Toole, Passing For White: Race, Religion and the Healy Family.
James Weldon Johnson, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Lecture
Discussion
Text Analysis
Student Presentations

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MTE MIDTERM EXAM
2 FIN FINAL EXAM
3 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE * 0.40 + FIN * 0.60
4 RST RESIT
5 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE * 0.40 + RST * 0.60


Further Notes About Assessment Methods

Since the assessment methods below have not been entered to the system yet, a closest method from among the existing ones have been selected.
Midterm: 30 %
Quizzes: 10 %
Presentations: 30 %
Final Exam: 30 %

Assessment Criteria

If one of the exams in this course will involves writing a research paper, the minimum criteria in the evaluation of this assignment will be the sensibleness and coherence of the argument, fluency of the development of ideas and thoughts, the quality and range of research, the intellectual level of the analyses and syntheses of the sources, their integration to the main idea, and the success in the accuracy, fluency in the idiomatic usage of language.
The minimum criteria for the in-class exam with essay type questions include the logical associations with the question, coherence and consistency in the unfolding and development of the idea(s), and the accurate and fluent usage of language.
In the quizzes, the questions are tailored to evaluate the student s class preparation for the day; therefore, they will be based on facts, rather than interpretations of the assigned materials.
In all sorts of exams, personal interpretations must be supported by facts and fact-based knowledge on the part of the student.
The grade from class participation will be earned based on the intellectual level of the student s class participation in discussions.
In the presentations the minimum criteria for evaluation include an overall command of material, clarity and succinctness of verbal expression, organization of thoughts and ideas, timing, and the knowledgeableness of the presenting student in answering questions in the ensuing discussion.

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

This course involves both lectures and class discussions. While the instructor will provide most of the historical and theoretical background in lectures, the students are required to read and analyze the assigned texts for the week, which will be elucidated further in class discussions. In order to be able to follow class discussions and lectures, each student is thus expected to be ready to participate in an intellectually stimulating discussion of the texts. In addition, s/he is expected to establish ties between the present and previously introduced material in order to be able to develop

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

Office phone: 232 301 8678
E-mail: gokcenils@yahoo.com

Office Hours

By appointment

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 12 3 36
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 12 6 72
Preparation for midterm exam 1 4 4
Preparation for final exam 1 5 5
Preparation for quiz etc. 2 1 2
Preparing assignments 1 7 7
Preparing presentations 1 5 5
Final 1 2 2
Midterm 1 2 2
Quiz etc. 2 0,5 1
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 136

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13PO.14
LO.155555
LO.25555555553
LO.345554
LO.455555555555545
LO.55555545
LO.6555555