English 44 - Fall, 2011

Introductory Topics in Fiction

Topic: California Fiction

Class Information

Instructor: Hsu, Hsuan L.
CRN: 83669
Time: TR 10:30-11:50
Location: 206 Olson

Description

ENL 44 California Fictions TR10:30-11:50
This class will provide you with tools for closely interpreting works of fiction, and with some historical background for thinking about narrative representations of California. Since the US acquired it in 1848 amid the war with Mexico and the Gold Rush, California has been shot through with contradictions. Often represented as a land of promise, California has also been the site of diverse struggles over the rights of workers, women, and racial minorities. Although its associations with Hollywood, suburban landscapes, and rampant capitalism have led critics to disparage California culture, the state has produced some of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. By examining works of popular myth, melodrama, hardboiled crime fiction, fictionalized memoir, satire, and film, we will come to a better understanding of how cultural narratives have helped create and criticize the ways in which Californians understand and represent themselves, their communities, their history, and the places where they live, work, and play.

Grading

5 response papers (1 page each)
short 3-5 page essay (with substantial revisions)
longer essay 5-7pp

Texts

Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, John Rollin Ridge
The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler
The Day of the Locust, Nathaniel West
If He Hollers Let Him Go, Chester Himes
The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
The Tortilla Curtain, T.C. Boyle
The Madonnas of Echo Park, Brando Skyhorse