Fall 2004

E 342 • Life and Literature of the Southwest

Course Description

This course examines how Texas authors dramatize and explore the diversity and complexity of a state too often seen in terms of myth and caricature. We will also see two documentary films dealing with Texas culture.

Grading Policy

Sixteen pages of prose on written texts and films 90%
Attendance, participation, & short answer exams 10%

Texts

We will read fiction from three traditions:

Southern (East Texas)—
Katherine Anne Porter, The Old Order
George Sessions Perry, Hold Autumn in Your Hand

Western—
Larry McMurtry, Horseman, Pass by
Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses

Hispanic—
Américo Paredes, George Washington Gómez

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