Summer 2007

E s344L • Gender, Class, and Ethnicity in American Literature and Film

Course Description

In this course, we will examine the ways in which authors and filmmakers construct gender, class, and ethnicity in each of their texts. Our discussions will focus, for instance, on constructions of hypermasculinity, the "working class," white-ness, Indian-ness, etc. in film and literature. We will begin by considering the way in which European American authors and filmmakers use archetypes, national mythology, and gender construction, for example, to produce dominative narratives that inform our views of gender, class, and ethnicity in the United States. Once we have established a context for these prevailing narratives, we will then discuss how Chicana/o, African American, Native American, and European American authors and filmmakers resist, revise, and affirm our assumptions about these issues.

Grading Policy

Essay 25%
Film Review 25%
Mid-term 20%
Final 30%

Attendance: Regular attendance is a requirement for this course. Excessive absences will result in a lower overall grade and can cause a student to be dropped from or fail the course

Texts

Alexie, Sherman, Indian Killer
Benshoff, Harry M. and Sean Griffin, America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies
Hemingway, Ernest, In Our Time
Morrison, Toni, The Bluest Eye
Urrea, Luis Alberto, In Search of Snow

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