Literary Cities (Freshman Seminar)

English 012
Literary Cities: New York, Chicago, San Francisco
Prof. Wai Chee Dimock
Fall 2014

Texts:
Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence
Abraham Cahan, Yekl and the Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories
Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lose their Accents
Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Upton Sinclar, The Jungle
Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems
Richard Wright, Native Son
Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift
Frank Norris, McTeague
Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon
Vikram Seth, The Golden Gate
Amy Tan, The Kitchen God’s Wife

Aug 28    INTRODUCTION

OLD SAN FRANCISCO
Sept 2    Frank Norris, McTeague
4 Frank Norris, McTeague

CHICAGO STOCKYARDS
9 Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
11 Upton Sinclair, The Jungle

URBAN POETRY 2
16 Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems

OLD NEW YORK
18 Edith Wharton, Age of Innocence
23 Edith Wharton, Age of Innocence

LOWER EAST SIDE
25 Abraham Cahan, Yekl and the Imported Bridegroom
30 Abraham Cahan, Yekl and the Imported Bridegroom

DETECTIVE GENRE
Oct 2 Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon
7 Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon

BLACK AND WHITE CHICAGO
Oct 9 Richard Wright, Native Son
14 Richard Wright, Native Son
16 Richard Wright, Native Son

CHICAGO/ NEW YORK
Oct 21 Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift
28 Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift
30 Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift

NOVEL IN VERSE 3
Nov. 4 Vikram Seth, The Golden Gate
6 Vikram Seth, The Golden Gate

CHINATOWN
Nov  11 Amy Tan, The Kitchen God’s Wife
13 Amy Tan, The Kitchen God’s Wife

LATINO NEW YORK
Nov  18 Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
20 Julia Alvarez. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

9/11
Dec. 2 Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
4 Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Resources: supported by an open-source platform and a digital lab.

Requirements:
* Class presentation, 5-10 minutes. Please email the outline to Prof. Dimock the night         before.

* Short paper, 5 pp
(Outline due: September 25. Paper due: October 7)

* Long paper, 10-15 pp
(Outline due: November 18. Paper due: December 4)