ENG 490:
Louise Erdrich
Dr. Sheila Hassell Hughes
Fall
2007
class meetings: T-Th
office
hours: T-Th
phone/e-mail: 229-4285 (HM); 229-4290 (
quickplace: http://quickplace.udayton.edu/QuickPlace/erdrich490/Main.nsf
Description
Since
her first book, Love Medicine, won the National Book Critic’s Circle
Award in 1984, Louise Erdrich has emerged as the most
prolific and widely-read American Indian writer today. She is best known for the saga now known as
the “Matchimanitou” or “Little No Horse” series of
novels. In these, Erdrich crafts a fictional world
overflowing with complex characters whose fates and families intertwine over the
better part of a century in the imagined town of
Students
may earn credit toward the Women’s and Gender Studies major or minor for this
course. Consult the instructor for more
information.
Texts
Louise
Erdrich. Love
Medicine (1984). Revised and Expanded Edition (1993).*
---. Tracks (1988)
---. The
---. The Last Report on the
Miracles at Little No Horse (2001)
---. The Master Butcher’s
Singing Club (2003)
---. The Painted Drum (2005)
Peter Beidler and Gay Barton. A Reader’s Guide to the Novels of Louise Erdrich.
Revised
and
Expanded Edition (2006).*
*Students
MUST use the new editions of these texts.
NOTE:
Each student will be required to read one additional book by Erdrich in addition to the course list. Options include the novels The Beet Queen (1986), The Crown of Columbus (with Michael Dorris, 1991), Tales
of Burning Love (1996), The Antelope
Wife (1998), and Four Souls
(2004); the memoirs The Blue Jays Dance:
A Birth Year (1995) and Books and
Islands in Ojibwe Country (2003); and the poetry
collections Jacklight (1984), Baptism of Desire (1989), and Original Fire: New and Selected Poems
(2004). Each student will make her or
his selection mid-way through the term, in consultation with the instructor.
Requirements
The
following requirements are tentative and open to negotiation:
20% thorough preparation and active
participation in seminar discussion
20% five informal query papers of 2-3 pages each (1 on each
novel, with one “pass” allowed). Because these short papers are meant to serve
as preparation and prompts for discussion, they are due at the beginning of
class on the date scheduled and will not be accepted late.
10% a “close reading” paper, of 4-5
pages, on a passage from one novel or one poem
5% an original review, of 2-4 pages,
of an additional Erdrich book, selected in
consultation with the
instructor. The review should situate the book in
relation to Erdrich’s opus, identify and comment upon
its particular points of strength or interest, and incorporate your own
personal but informed response to the book.
Reviews will be shared with the class and we will discuss the reviews
and the chosen texts in class together.
15% a formal presentation, introducing the class to a contextual
issue relevant to Erdrich’s writing. Presentations
should be at least 15 and no more than 30 minutes long. They should be based on research in
disciplines outside of purely literary studies (e.g. history, sociology, health
studies, or interdisciplinary American Indian studies) and should incorporate
American Indian sources and perspectives.
The presentation may be used as partial groundwork for the research
paper, if relevant. Suggested topics/issues
are identified in the syllabus schedule, but other topics/issues will be
considered and, if approved, scheduled at appropriate points in the semester.
30% a formal research paper, presenting an original argument
about some aspect of Erdrich’s work. The paper may be
primarily a researched literary analysis, presenting an interpretive argument
about one or more of Erdrich’s works, or it may be
more interdisciplinary in approach. In any case, however, it should demonstrate
sufficient understanding of the socio-historical issues that impinge upon the
text and are most relevant to the writer’s interpretation. Several preliminary deadlines are identified
on the course schedule. These are requirements, not suggestions. Note that an annotated
list of works consulted must accompany the paper.
Details
for all assignments will be distributed in class or posted to QuickPlace well in advance.
I
expect deadlines to be respected, and late papers will typically be penalized
by 1/3 letter grade (+/-) per day. Extensions
on some assignments MAY be granted under extentuating
circumstances, but I make no promises on this. Students should consult with me
in advance if they anticipate a problem meeting a particular deadline.
Plagiarism
will not be tolerated in any form. At
minimum, plagiarism will result in failure of the assignment in question. An egregious case of academic dishonesty
(e.g. presenting a professional book review or other piece authored by another
as one’s own composition) will result in failure of the course.
The
following reading schedule is meant as a guideline and is subject to revision
throughout the semester. Additional
short readings – poems, interviews, critical articles, etc.—will also be
assigned throughout the semester to supplement the novels listed below.
|
|
Date |
Assigned |
Assignments Due |
|
T |
Aug 21 |
Introductions to each other, to the course, and
to Erdrich as an American Indian and “mixed-blood”
writer |
|
|
Th |
Aug 23 |
Tracks ch. 1-3 |
|
|
T |
Aug 28 |
Tracks ch.
4-6 |
query paper #1 |
|
Th |
Aug 30 |
Tracks ch.
7-9 |
|
|
T |
Sep 4 |
Tracks cont. Hughes, Sheila Hassell. “Tongue-Tied:
Rhetoric and Relation in Louise Erdrich's
Tracks.” MELUS 25.3-4 (Fall-Winter 2000): 87-116. (MLA on-line) Gross, Anishinaabe
Reading of Louise Erdrich's Tracks..” Studies in American
Indian Literatures 17.3 (2005): 48-66. (MLA on-line) |
|
|
Th |
Sep 6 |
Love Medicine (through “The
Beads”) |
|
|
T |
Sep 11 |
Love Medicine (through “The
Red Convertible”) The Failing State of Native American Women’s
Health (QP) Childhood Abuse Linked to Alcholism
(QP) Chemistry and the Rez
(QP) |
query paper #2 |
|
Th |
Sep 13 |
Love Medicine (through
“Resurrection”) |
|
|
T |
Sep 18 |
Love Medicine (to the end) |
|
|
Th |
Sep 20 |
Love Medicine Circle of Stories
(QP link) Ojibwe
Oral Tradition @ Waasa Inaabidaa
(QP) Wong, Hertha D.
Sweet. “Louise Erdrich’s
Love Medicine: Narrative Communities and the Short Story Cycle” (QP) Treuer,
David. “Smartberries” (excerpt from Native
American Fiction: A User’s Guide) (QP) |
|
|
T |
Sep 25 |
The |
|
|
Th |
Sep 27 |
The Pasquaretta,
Paul. “Sacred Chance: Gambling and the Contemporary Native American Indian
Novel.” MELUS 21.2 (Summer 1996): 21-33. (MLA on-line) Casinos: Is Gaming the
New Indian Gaming News (QP) |
query paper #3 |
|
T |
Oct 2 |
The The Cultural Conservancy (QP) |
|
|
Th |
Oct 4 |
The |
Close Reading Paper |
|
T |
Oct 9 |
Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse Prologue & Part I Connie Jacobs, “A History of the Turtle Mountain
Band of Chippewa Indians” (handout) |
|
|
Th |
Oct
11 |
Fall Break |
|
|
T |
Oct 16 |
Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse Part II Erdrich,
“Christ’s Twin” & “Fooling God” (poems / handout) |
query paper #4 |
|
Th |
Oct 18 |
Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse Part III Presentation: Indigenous
Traditions of Gender and Sexual Diversity |
Presentation : Shelley |
|
T |
Oct 23 |
Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse Part
IV, Epilogue & Endnotes. Erdrich,
“The Seven Sleepers” (poem / handout) |
|
|
Th |
Oct 25 |
Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse Presentation: Missionization
and Conversion of American Indians |
Presentation: Kevin |
|
T |
Oct 30 |
The Master Butcher’s Singing Club ch. 1-4 |
|
|
Th |
Nov 1 |
The Master Butcher’s Singing Club ch.
5-8 |
query paper #5 |
|
T |
Nov 6 |
The Master Butcher’s Singing Club ch. 9-12 |
Research Paper (RP)Topic |
|
W |
Nov 7 |
Marilou Awiakta – [other Native
American Awareness Week events TBA as well] |
|
|
Th |
Nov 8 |
The
Master Butcher’s Singing Club ch. 13-16 Erdrich, “The Butcher’s Wife” (poems / handout) |
|
|
T |
Nov 13 |
The Painted Drum Part I |
query paper #6 |
|
Th |
Nov 15 |
The Painted Drum
Part II A Line in the Sand (QP) Who Owns Native Culture (QP) Indian Wannabes (Blue Corn Comics /
QP) |
Preliminary list of works to be consulted for RP |
|
T |
Nov 20 |
& The Painted Drum Part III & IV Thanksgiving: A National Day of
Mourning for Indians (QP) |
|
|
Th |
Nov 22 |
Thanksgiving Break |
|
|
T |
Nov 27 |
The Painted Drum |
|
|
Th |
Nov 29 |
Book review discussion. |
Book reviews |
|
T |
Dec 4 |
Wrap-up & course evaluations |
draft
of RP & annotated list of works consulted |
|
Th |
Dec 6 |
Individual Conferences on Research Paper Draft |
|
|
T |
Dec 11 |
No final exam |
Final Research Paper & annoted
list of works consulted – due in my mailbox by |