English 177 - Spring, 2018

Study of an Individual Author

Topic: Leslie Marmon Silko

Class Information

Instructor: Clearwater, Michael
CRN: 61805
Time: MWF 3:10-4:00
Location: 1283 Grove

Description

A key figure in the Native American Renaissance, Leslie Marmon Silko has written the stories of the Laguna Pueblo people into contemporary American fiction. Silko‘s novels, poetry, and essays give voice to those who have lived their lives on the borders and in the margins of American life. Silko, who grew up on the Laguna Pueblo reservation, insists that stories “aren’t just entertainment. They are all we have to fight off illness and death. You don’t have anything if you don’t have stories.”

In this course we will consider the stories Silko has to tell, including her novels Ceremony (1977) and Almanac of the Dead (1991).

Grading

In this course you will be evaluated on your class participation, a midterm and a final exam, and two essays (one shorter and one longer).

Texts

Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko
Storyteller, Leslie Marmon Silko
Almanac of the Dead, Leslie Marmon Silko