Domino R. Perez

Instructor:  Perez, D            Areas:  -- / A

Unique #:  35055            Flags:  Cultural Diversity; Writing

Semester:  Fall 2013            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  MAS 314            Computer Instruction:  No

Prerequisites: E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A.

Description: This course is a general introduction to the literature written by and about Mexican Americans. Students should expect to develop some understanding of the specific cultural, historical, and political contexts that inform the literature. Knowledge of these contexts will enhance our understanding of these authors’ politics and aesthetics, in addition to their views of issues such as race, gender, and class.

Throughout the semester, we will discuss such topics as Pre-Columbian thought and art, the Spanish Conquest, la Virgen de Guadalupe, and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo to consider critically the impact these events had in the formation of a Mexican American identity. Later, we will address contemporary issues like the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, border politics, immigration, Tejano music, and Mexican Americans in film. Our goal will be to see these cultural productions as embedded in specific contexts that must be explored in order to understand, as much as possible, the cultural and political nuances of the texts.

Texts: Martínez, Domingo. The Boy Kings of Texas (2012); Martínez, Nina Marie. ¡Caramba! A Tale Told in Turns of the Card (2004); Villarreal, José Antonio, Pocho
 (1959); Viramontes, Helena Maria, The Moths and Other Stories
 (1985); Handouts--poetry and essays.

Requirements and Grading: Short (2-page) papers every other week (a total of 5), 30%; One final (5-7-page) paper, 30%; Short writing/research assignments (4), 20%; Reading quizzes, 20%.

Instructor:  Perez, D            Areas:  V / U

Unique #:  35470            Flags:  n/a

Semester:  Spring 2013            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  MAS 374            Computer Instruction:  No

Prerequisites: C L 315, E 603B, 316K, or T C 603B.

Description: This course will focus on young-adult fiction (also known as young adult literature) that has broad critical and/or popular appeal beyond its intended audience. Specifically, we will examine books that have been adapted or are slated to be adapted into film. This refined focus will allow us to consider how, or even if, these cinematic translations contribute to the popularity of these novels and their protagonists. As an additional critical component of the course, we will augment the readings with books inclusive of diverse experiences and interests but that do have not have the benefit of popular or commercial appeal. While conversations about YA fiction generally focus on the protagonist’s coming-of-age or strategies for incorporating these works into the classroom, our discussions of the works will be framed by critical approaches such as feminist, cultural, ethnic, and gender, as well as genre and film, studies. One major goal is to consider how these works speak to global social and political concerns.

Required Texts: Rowling, J.K.  Harry Potter The Sorcerer’s Stone (1998)

Snickett, Lemony. The Bad Beginning (1999), A Series of Unfortunate Events

Cabot, Meg. The Princess Diaries (2000)

Riordon, Rick. The Lightning Thief (2005), Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Selznik, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)

Clare, Cassandra. City of Bones (2007), The Mortal Instrument Series

Collins, Suzanne. Hunger Games (2008)

Garcia, Kami and Margaret Stohl. Beautiful Creatures (2009)

Condie, Alie. Matched (2010)

Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2011)

•NOTE: Students will supplement the required reading list with works that reflect their own critical, generic, or thematic interests. For MAS 374 students, of the books selected to supplement the reading list, all must demonstrate a significant Mexican American component, such as the following:

Alegria, Malin. Estrella’s Quinceañera (2006)

Alvarado, Lisa, Ann Cardinal, and Jane Coralin, Sister Chicas (2006)


Anaya, Rudolfo. The Curse of the ChupaCabra (2006)

Cisneros, Sandra. House on Mango Street (2004)

Jimenz, Francisco. The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (1997)

Martinez, Manuel. Drift (2003)

Martinez, Claudia Guadalupe. The Smell of Old Lady Perfume (2008)

Ryan, Pam Muñoz. Esperanza Rising (2000)

Sáenz, Benjamin Alire. Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood (2004)

Sanchez, Alex. Rainbow Boys (2001); Rainbow High (2003); So Hard to Say (2004); Rainbow Road (2005); Getting It (2006); The God Box (2007); Bait (2009); Boyfriends with Girlfriends (2011)

Serros, Michelle. Honey Blonde Chica (2007); ¡Scandelosa! (2007)

Soto, Gary. Jesse (1994); Nickel and Dime (2000); Poetry Lover (2001); The Afterlife (2003); Buried Onions (2003); Local News (2003); Amnesia in a Republican County, (2003); The Afterlife (2005); Accidental Love (2006); When Dad Came Back (2011).

Requirements & Grading: Group presentation, 30%; Annotated bibliography (15 books), 30%; Comparative analysis—Novel and Film (5-6 pp.), 30%; Participation, 10%.

Instructor:  Perez, D            Areas:  -- / B

Unique #:  34995-35040            Flags:  n/a

Semester:  Fall 2012            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  n/a            Computer Instruction:  No

Prerequisites: Completion of at least thirty semester hours of coursework, including E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A, and a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test.

Description: Literature, Culture, and Identity--

This course is a historically arranged survey of American literature that includes voices and perspectives spanning the 17th through the 21st centuries. Novels by Ernest Hemingway and Toni Morrison will serve as focal points for our discussions about culture and identity (for example, national, ethnic, or gendered) at different historical moments. Our goal will be to see these works as embedded in specific contexts that must be explored in order to understand, as much as possible, the particularized expressions of American identity offered in each.

Texts: Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises; Morrison, Toni. Sula; Course Packet from IT Copy on MLK.

Requirements & Grading: Grades will be based on four exams (20% each), and reading responses/quizzes, attendance, and participation (20%).

Discussion sections are mandatory. In addition to the assigned reading responses, the TA in your discussion section has the option of giving short quizzes or writing assignments. More than one absence from your discussion section could adversely affect your final average.

Mexican American Fiction

Course Description:

Writers Rudolfo Anaya, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, Tomas Rivera, Gary Soto, and especially Sandra Cisneros helped usher Mexican American literature into the American cultural mainstream. These authors, along with notable others, introduced readers to the social and cultural contexts that characterize Mexican American cultural identity in literature. The inclusion of these authors' works in literary anthologies and on course syllabi across disciplines at all grade levels serves as evidence of the impact and influence of their work not only in the field of Mexican American but also American literature, as well. The emphasis placed on these authors and a few of their works overshadows, at times, emerging voices or new perspectives in Mexican American literature. Therefore, the texts in this course represent publications of both new and established Mexican American authors, whose works reflect the changing social, political, and cultural concerns of Mexican Americans.

Reading List:

Anaya, Rudolfo, Bless Me, Ultima

Arias, Ron, The Road to Tamazunchale

Chavez, Denise, Loving Pedro Infante

Castillo, Ana, So Far From God

González, Jovita and Eve Raleigh, Caballero

Islas, Arturo, The Rain God

Lemus, Felicia Luna, Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties

Rivera, Tomas, and the earth did not devour him/y no se lo trago la tierra

Villarreal, José Antonio, Pocho

Viramontes, Helena Maria, The Moth and Other Stories

Short stories, including Americo Paredes, Oscar Casares, and Sandra Cisneros

Prerequisites: Comparative Literature 315, English 603B, 316K, or Tutorial Course 603B.

Description: In this course, we will examine the ways in which authors and filmmakers construct gender, class, and ethnicity in each of their texts. 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 Mexican American, American Indian, African American, and European American authors and filmmakers resist, revise, and affirm our assumptions about these issues. 

Texts: REQUIRED TEXTS -- Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises; Chavez, Denise. Loving Pedro Infante; Welch, James. Winter in the Blood.

Benshoff, Harry M. and Sean Griffin. America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies.

Requirements & Grading: Two Film Reviews (20% each; 2 pages): 40%; Reading/Viewing Quizzes: 25%; Final, including essay (4-5 pages): 25%; Participation/Attendance: 10%.

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.

E316K: Masterworks of American Literature

34565, 34570, 34580, 34585, 34595, 34600, 34605, 34610, 34615, 34620

Dr. Domino Perez  /  Fall 2009  /  Office Hours: TTh 9:30-10:30; Parlin 117           

Phone: 232-7853  /  E-mail: drperez@mail.utexas.edu  /  Meeting: TTh 8-9:30; BUR 106

Teaching Assistants:

Course Description: Literature, Culture, and Identity

This course is a historically arranged survey of American literature that includes voices and perspectives spanning the 17th through the 21st centuries. Novels by Hannah Webster Foster, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Sherman Alexie and a play by August Wilson will serve as focal points for our discussions about culture and identity (for example, national, ethnic, or gendered) at different historical moments. Our goal will be to see these works as embedded in specific contexts that must be explored in order to understand, as much as possible, the particularized expressions of American identity offered in each.

Required Texts

• Alexie, Sherman. Flight           
• Urrea, Luis Alberto. In Search of Snow.
• Foster, Hannah.  The Coquette.           
• Wilson, August.  Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
• Course Packet from IT Copy on MLK

Grading Policy

• Four Unit Exams: 20% each
• Reading Notebook/Attendance/Participation in Discussion Section: 20%

Students with Disabilities:

Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259.