Helena Woodard

Instructor:  Woodard, H            Areas:  I / H

Unique #:  35510            Flags:  Cultural diversity; Writing

Semester:  Spring 2013            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  AFR 372E; WGS 345            Computer Instruction:  No

Only one of the following may be counted: E 349S (Topic 5), 376M (Topic: The Novels of Toni Morrison), 379S (embedded topic: The Novels of Toni Morrison).

Prerequisites: Six semester hours of upper-division coursework in English.

Description: This course examines select novels by Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Toni Morrison. The novels thematize womanism as theory, which incorporates race, gender, and culture in experiences uniquely shared by women--particularly women of color--across class and regional boundaries. Collectively, Morrison's characters confront a wide range of challenging crises: infanticide, male-female relations, familial conflict, socio-economical, cultural survival, etc. Morrison's novels are a gloss on the African-American literary tradition, deeply rooted in the American literary tradition.

Required Reading: The Bluest Eye, 1970; Sula, 1973; Song of Solomon, 1977; Beloved, 1987; Jazz, 1992; A Mercy, 2008; Home; COURSE PACK (purchase at Speedway; Dobie).

Audio-Visual Aids: Toni Morrison with Bill Moyers, History of Ideas Series; Toni Morrison on Beloved; Jazz and the Harlem Renaissance; Toni Morrison on Oprah Winfrey (Song of Solomon); The Margaret Garner Opera (documentary).

Requirements & Grading: .50 Two Critical essays TBA (5 pages each; typed, ds); .30 A Reading Notebook (12-page minimum; typed, ds; see separate instruction sheet); .20 Presentations (TBA) / quizzes / class participation.

ATTENDANCE: Regular attendance is required. More than four absences will be sufficient grounds for failure in the course. Penalties may range from a reduction in overall course grade to failure of the course itself. I reserve the right to make decisions on a case-by-case basis. The four allowed absences will include illness, deaths of relatives, and other emergencies. If you are more than five minues late or leave before class ends (without permission), you will be counted absent for that class. You are responsible for all work covered in your absence. Read each novel completely by the first day of discussion for that book. No makeup for quizzes is permitted. Course pack articles are required reading.

GRADING SCALE: Final grades will be determined on the basis of the following rubric. Please note that to ensure fairness, all numbers are absolute, and will not be rounded up or down at any stage. Thus, a B- will be inclusive of all scores of 80.000 through 83.999. The University does not recognize the grade of A+.

A (94-100); A- (90-93); B+ (87-89); B (84-86); B- (80-83); C+ (77-79); C (74-76); C- (70-73); D+ (67-69); D (64-66); D- (60-63); F (0-59).

Plus/minus grades will be assigned for the final grade. This is a writing-intensive course. No final exam is given.

Instructor:  Woodard, H            Areas:  III / G

Unique #:  35665            Flags:  Cultural diversity, Writing

Semester:  Fall 2012            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  AFR 374F; WGS 340            Computer Instruction:  n/a

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: This course proposes two primary objectives rooted in past and present literary representations of slavery. Thematizing “the trope of the talking book,” (Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s The Signifying Monkey), the course first examines seminal slave narratives, e.g. the literature of the enslaved as discursive strategies, from self-actualization and resistance to early formations of a black literary discourse. The course then explores how slavery is (re)written, controversially in a presentist context by contemporary authors, particularly in historical fiction or neo-slave narratives that seek to restore agency and reclaim subjectivity for enslaved individuals. Ultimately, the course engages larger issues about the different venues that writings about slavery offer for academic disciplines, literary instruction and/or pedagogy.

Required Readings: Elizabeth Alexander, The Venus Hottentot: Poems; Saidiya Hartman, Lose Your Mother; Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Classic Slave Narratives; Charles Chesnutt, The Marrow of Tradition; Suzan-Lori Parks, The America Play and Other Works; Marlene Nourbise Philip, Zong!; Fred D’Aguiar, Feeding the Ghosts; Edward P. Jones, The Known World; Course Pak (Speedway on Dobie).

Requirements & Grading: .75: Three critical essays (25% each; 4-5 pages per essay, typed, double spaced) and one major rewrite of essay I or II (includes peer evaluation; see revision instruction handout); .15: Response papers based on course reading (1-2 pages), reading quizzes, class participation; .10: Oral group presentations, accompanied by one-page written report

Attendance: Regular attendance is required. More than four absences will be sufficient grounds for failure in the course. The four allowed absences will include illness, deaths of relatives, and other emergencies. If you are more than five minutes late or leave before class ends (without permission), you will be counted absent for that class. You are responsible for all work covered in your absence.

A (94-100); A- (90-93); B+ (87-89); B (84-86); B- (80-83); C+ (77-79); C (74-76); C- (70-73); D+ (67-69); D (64-66); D- (60-63); F (0-59).

Plus/minus grades will be assigned for the final grade. This is a writing-intensive course. No final exam is given.

This course examines select novels by Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Toni Morrison. The novels thematize womanism as theory in experiences uniquely shared by women across ethnic, class, and regional boundaries. Collectively, Morrison's characters confront a wide range of challenging crises: infanticide, familial relationships and conflict, cultural survival, etc. Morrison's novels are a gloss on the African-American literary tradition, deeply rooted in the American literary tradition. 

Texts: Required Reading

The Bluest Eye, 1970.

Sula, 1973.

Song of Solomon, 1977.

Tar Baby, 1981.

Beloved, 1987.

Jazz, 1992.

A Mercy, 2008. 

Instructor:  Woodard, H            Areas:  I / H

Unique #:  35345            Flags:  Cultural diversity; Writing

Semester:  Spring 2012            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  AFR 374F; WGS 340            Computer Instruction:  No

Only one of the following may be counted: E 349S (Topic 5), 376M (Topic: The Novels of Toni Morrison), 379S (embedded topic: The Novels of Toni Morrison).

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: This course examines select novels by Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Toni Morrison. The novels thematize womanism as theory, which incorporates race, gender, and culture in experiences uniquely shared by women--particularly women of color--across class and regional boundaries. Collectively, Morrison's characters confront a wide range of challenging crises: infanticide, male-female relations, familial conflict, socio-economical, cultural survival, etc. Morrison's novels are a gloss on the African-American literary tradition, deeply rooted in the American literary tradition.

Required Reading: The Bluest Eye, 1970; Sula, 1973; Song of Solomon, 1977; Beloved, 1987; Jazz, 1992; A Mercy, 2008; Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination; COURSE PACK (purchase at Speedway; Dobie).

Audio-Visual Aids: Toni Morrison with Bill Moyers, History of Ideas Series; Toni Morrison on Beloved; Jazz and the Harlem Renaissance; Toni Morrison on Oprah Winfrey (Song of Solomon); The Margaret Garner Opera (documentary).

Requirements & Grading: .50 Two Critical essays TBA (5 pages each; typed, ds); .30 A Reading Notebook (12-page minimum; typed, ds; see separate instruction sheet); .20 Presentations(TBA)/quizzes/class participation. 

ATTENDANCE: Regular attendance is required.  More than four absences will be sufficient grounds for failure in the course. Penalties may range from a reduction in overall course grade to failure of the course itself. I reserve the right to make decisions on a case-by-case basis. The four allowed absences will include illness, deaths of relatives, and other emergencies. If you are more than five minues late or leave before class ends (without permission), you will be counted absent for that class. You are responsible for all work covered in your absence. Read each novel completely by the first day of discussion for that book.  No makeup for quizzes is permitted. Course pack articles are required reading.

GRADING SCALE: Final grades will be determined on the basis of the following rubric. Please note that to ensure fairness, all numbers are absolute, and will not be rounded up or down at any stage. Thus, a B- will be inclusive of all scores of 80.000 through 83.999. The University does not recognize the grade of A+.

A (94-100); A- (90-93); B+ (87-89); B (84-86); B- (80-83); C+ (77-79); C (74-76); C- (70-73); D+ (67-69); D (64-66); D- (60-63); F (0-59).

Plus/minus grades will be assigned for the final grade.   This is a writing-intensive course.  No final exam is given.

Instructor:  Woodard, H            Areas:  III / G

Unique #:  35480            Flags:  Writing, Cultural diversity

Semester:  Spring 2012            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  AFR 374F; WGS 340            Computer Instruction:  n/a

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: This course proposes two primary objectives rooted in past and present literary representations of slavery. Thematizing “the trope of the talking book,” (Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s The Signifying Monkey), the course first examines seminal slave narratives, e.g. the literature of the enslaved as discursive strategies, from self-actualization and resistance to early formations of a black literary discourse. The course then explores how slavery is (re)written, controversially in a presentist context by contemporary authors, particularly in historical fiction or neo-slave narratives that seek to restore agency and reclaim subjectivity for enslaved individuals. Ultimately, the course engages larger issues about the different venues that writings about slavery offer for academic disciplines, literary instruction and/or pedagogy.

Texts: REQUIRED READINGS: Elizabeth Alexander, The Venus Hottentot: Poems; Saidiya Hartman, Lose Your Mother; Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Classic Slave Narratives; Suzan-Lori Parks, The America Play and Other Works; Toni Morrison, A Mercy; Fred D’Aguiar, Feeding the Ghosts; Edward P. Jones, The Known World; Course Pak (Speedway on Dobie).

Requirements & Grading: .75: Three critical essays (25% each; 4-5 pages per essay, typed, double spaced) and one major rewrite of essay I or II (includes peer evaluation; see revision instruction handout); .15: Response papers based on course reading (1-2 pages), reading quizzes, class participation; .10: Oral group presentations, accompanied by one-page written report.

Attendance: Regular attendance is required. More than four absences will be sufficient grounds for failure in the course. The four allowed absences will include illness, deaths of relatives, and other emergencies. If you are more than five minutes late or leave before class ends (without permission), you will be counted absent for that class. You are responsible for all work covered in your absence.

A (94-100); A- (90-93); B+ (87-89); B (84-86); B- (80-83); C+ (77-79); C (74-76); C- (70-73); D+ (67-69); D (64-66); D- (60-63); F (0-59). Plus/minus grades will be assigned for the final grade. This is a writing-intensive course. No final exam is given.