Swansea University

AM-113: Introduction to
American Literature and
Culture
Module Handbook 2016
Module Convener – Dr. Dan Mattingly
Office Hours – Tuesday 1pm-2pm and Thursday 3pm-4pm,
JC216
 AM113: Introduction to American Literature and Culture

Dr. Dan Mattingly, Lecturer, American Studies

Books for purchase:

Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher and other Stories (Penguin)
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Oxford University Press)
Willa Cather, My Ãntonia (Oxford University Press)
John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer (Penguin)
Don DeLillo, White Noise (Macmillan)

These texts are available from John Smith’s bookshop as a value bundle. We will also
discuss a range of poetry, which can be downloaded from Blackboard (go to ‘Course
Documents’ and then ‘Seminar Reading’).

I have also ordered in to the book shop some critical books relating to certain aspects
of the module. These aren’t compulsory purchases, but you may find them useful to
refer to. If I were to recommend purchasing just one for an overview that touches upon
most of the authors, works, and historical contexts covered on the module, Catherine
Morley’s Modern American Literature (2012), is probably the most comprehensive.

Module Description:

This module offers an interdisciplinary survey of American literature and culture from
the nineteenth century to the present day, examining the construction of a specifically
American identity in relation to the sweeping social, technological and economic
changes which characterise the American experience. The first half of the course
explores the historical development of America’s search for self; writers such as Emily
Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe are studied in the
context of America’s need to break from Europe, the motif of the wilderness, the
expansion of psychological and spiritual boundaries, and issues of race, gender and
politics. The second half of the module then explores the fate of the American Self in
the twentieth century, a self confronted by the anonymity of the city, the dehumanizing
forces of world war and the promises (and perils) of consumerism and mass culture.
Using examples drawn from fields as diverse as fiction, poetry, music, film and visual
culture, this part of the course explores the key concepts of modernity and
postmodernity, grounding each notion in specific aspects of American culture. The
module as a whole explores American culture and literature in a lively and
interdisciplinary manner, reading the search for an American Self as an attempt to
come to terms with the bewildering transformation of the world, and the position of the
individual within it.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module the student is expected to:

 analyse the peculiarly American nature of this literature

 acquire a critical understanding of Modernism and Postmodernism
 appreciate a wide range of cultural artifacts from literature to film to music to
fine art
 analyse course texts in an imaginative and intellectually stimulating manner
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  relate formal, artistic movements to key events in 19th and 20th Century
American social history
 debate the relationship between technology and American society
 employ interdisciplinary skills in order to investigate nineteenth and twentieth
Century America
 communicate fluently on paper and in tutorials
 understand the historical and cultural context of nineteenth and twentieth
century American literary production

Transferable Skills:

 development of oral and written expression

 library and research skills
 development of analytical skills
 evaluation of different positions and arguments
 ability to analyse visual material

Assessment:

Assessment of this module will be continuous assessment. You will write two essays
of 1,750-2,000 words. Each essay counts for 50% of your final mark. Essay questions
are available on Blackboard under ‘Assignments’. The first essay is due on Thursday
17 March 2016 by 4pm, and the second essay should be submitted by 4pm on
Thursday 12 May 2016. Essays should be submitted via Blackboard to turnitin.

Obligations of the student:

Attendance is compulsory – you are responsible for signing in on the lecture and
seminar registers. Please bring along a copy of the relevant text to the seminars for
close reading and for your own reference. Non-submission of coursework means
that, without exception, you will fail this module.

Lectures:

Attendance at lectures, which begin w/c 1 February, is compulsory. Your attendance

will be monitored, and students with prolific nonattendance will have their personal
tutors notified.

If you are unable to attend a lecture, you should email me or your seminar tutor in
advance of the class.

Monday 16:00 – 17:00 Glyndwr ‘D’

Monday 17:00 – 18:00 Glyndwr ‘D’

Seminars:

Attendance at seminars is also compulsory. As with lectures, your attendance will be

monitored, and students with prolific nonattendance without good reason will be
referred to their personal tutors. Likewise, if you are unable to attend a seminar, you
should email me or your seminar tutor in advance of the class.

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There is a compulsory WEEKLY seminar for this module. Seminars begin in week 2
(w/c 8 February). A list of seminar groups has been posted on Blackboard under ‘AM-
113 Seminars (TB2)’. Each group is limited to 20 students. If you have a timetable
clash or work commitments that make it impossible for you to attend your assigned
group, you should go to the College of Arts and Humanities Office or send an email to
coahattendancemonitoring@[Link] so that you can be moved to another
group. Please also contact the office if your name does not appear on the list.

Seminars are student led and active participation from each student is expected. You
must read all texts in advance of the sessions, and come prepared to share your
views. Students learn most when they reflect on the topic before coming to class.
Essentially, you get out of the seminars what you put in, so it is in everyone’s interest
to contribute. To facilitate such learning, I have provided seminar questions for each
session (you can find the questions in the ‘assignments’ folder on blackboard). It is
expected that you will think about these topics (and other aspects of the text that
interest you) before the seminar. It is a good idea to get into the habit of making
detailed notes (I recommend that you use a small notebook, or learning journal, to jot
down your ideas and any additional stuff that you read). In particular, make a note of
particular passages that relate to the seminar questions (which you will find on pages
14-20), critical terms and arguments, and historical contexts that are covered.

As a matter of courtesy, and to ensure you get the most out of the sessions, you
should not be fiddling around on phones or computers during seminar sessions,
unless you are taking notes. No texting, taking/making calls, Snapchat, Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, Vines, Tinder, funny cat videos, etc., please.

Contact Details:

I have booked a room and time slot for weekly office hours: Tuesdays, 1pm-2pm,
and Thursdays 3pm-4pm, in the James Callaghan Building, Room 216. If you are
unable to make this office hour, you can contact me, and we can arrange to meet at a
more convenient time.

My staff email is [Link]@[Link]. Please do not hesitate to contact me

if you have any queries about the module. Dr. Heidi Yeandle, Helen Snaith, and Lucy
Jeffrey will be working alongside me as seminar tutors for AM-113 this term.

Their email addresses are:

628054@[Link] (Lucy Jeffrey)

438497@[Link] (Helen Snaith)

[Link]@[Link] (Dr. Heidi Yeandle)

All of us can be contacted at throughout the term to discuss specific subjects, lectures,
etc. as well as any issues that arise during the term. We can generally discuss your
ideas for your work, and encourage you to run ideas past us. However, please note
that but we can only look at rough plans and outlines for your essays, and that we
are not allowed to look at complete essay drafts.

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Teaching Schedule:

Week 1 – Beginnings

MONDAY 1 FEB Writing America

MONDAY 1 FEB Visualising the West

NO SEMINARS IN THE FIRST WEEK – USE FREE TIME TO READ/PREPARE

Week 2 – Writing America

MONDAY 8 FEB Edgar Allan Poe

MONDAY 8 FEB Transcendentalism

Seminar: ‘Writing America’ – extracts to be distributed in lectures (the extracts are

also available on Blackboard – go to ‘Course Documents’ and ‘Seminar Reading’)

Week 3 – Challenging Conventions

MONDAY 15 FEB Nineteenth-Century American Poetry: Walt Whitman

MONDAY 15 FEB Nineteenth-Century Poetry: Emily Dickinson

Seminar: Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher and other Stories
(Penguin)

You should concentrate on the following stories: ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’*,
‘The Black Cat’*, ‘The Purloined Letter’, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, ‘Ligeia’ and ‘The
Murders in the Rue Morgue’*

Week 4 – Slavery and its Legacies

MONDAY 22 FEB Mark Twain

MONDAY 22 FEB Writing and Picturing the South

Seminar: Poetry by Emily Dickinson (you can download a copy of the poems from
Blackboard – go to ‘Course Documents’ and then ‘Seminar Reading’)

We will concentrate on the following poems: ‘The soul selects her own society’ (303);
‘After great pain’ (341); ‘Much madness is divinest sense’ (435); ‘I Heard a fly buzz’
(465); ‘Because I could not stop for Death’ (712); ‘My life had stood – a loaded gun’
(754); ‘Tell all the truth’ (1129)

Week 5 – Modernism

MONDAY 29 FEB ‘The Shock of the New’: American City, American Century
MONDAY 29 FEB Modernism

Seminar: Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn

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Week 6 – Modernisms II

MONDAY 7 MAR Willa Cather

MONDAY 7 MAR T.S. Eliot

Seminar: Workshop on essay writing.

Prepare a brief outline of your first essay to discuss in the seminar (please include
your ideas, research, and resources used). You will find a questionnaire to complete in
the document named ‘seminar questions’ under ‘assignments’.

Week 7 – the Modern City

MONDAY 14 MAR The Invention of Cinema

MONDAY 14 MAR Picturing the Modern City

Seminar: Willa Cather, My Ãntonia

EASTER VACATION:
21/03/16 – 08/04/16

Week 8 – African American Modernity

MONDAY 11 APR Jazz & Blues

MONDAY 11 APR The Harlem Renaissance

Seminar: John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer

Week 9 – Immigration and its Cultural Legacies

MONDAY 18 APR C20th American Photography

MONDAY 18 APR Immigration and its Cultural Legacies

Seminar: Harlem Renaissance poetry (available on blackboard)

Week 10 – Postmodernism

MONDAY 25 APR Lost in the Mall: The Experience of Postmodernity

MONDAY 25 APR America & the Hyper-Real: Postmodernity II

Seminar: American photography (slides available on blackboard)

Week 11 – Postmodernism continued…

MONDAY 2 JUNE There are no lectures this week.

Seminar: Don DeLillo, White Noise

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 Secondary Reading

Secondary reading is essential for helping you to develop your understanding of

particular topics, themes, works, authors, and literary movements, and is also
essential for your essays. Try to read additional critical material relating to each
author/topic/context as we progress through the module, in order to aid your study.

The Library has specific subject librarians for English and American Studies, who will
be willing to help you and guide you with finding sources and resource. Just ask in the
library, and they will be more than happy to help you.

ACADEMIC JOURNALS

There is a substantial body of work on American Literature and Culture. What follows
is only indicative; you should research the area for yourselves. This bibliography is
intended as a basic guide to some of the material in the field. I would recommend that
you make use of journals. You will find the following journals particularly useful:

 African American Review

 American Literary History
 American Literature
 American Quarterly
 Comparative American Studies
 Critique: Studies in American Fiction
 Journal of American Studies.

ONLINE RESOURCES

Links to select online resources are available on the AM-113 Blackboard page under
Web Links. These include documentaries, audio clips, interviews, and more.

Make use of online academic journal repositories such as JSTOR, Literature Online
and MLA International Bibliography, which can be accessed via the iFind research
button on the library homepage, for further relevant sources. Google Scholar can also
be a useful back-up way of searching for papers, if you have a title or author to work
with.

The following websites may also be useful for secondary source essays, secondary
reading on specific writers, and additional information on American history and
literature:

 African American Perspectives - Library of Congress Daniel P. Murray

Collection, 1818-1907: [Link]
 MAPS / Modern American Poetry: [Link]
 Modernist Journals Project: [Link]
 New York City Timeline: [Link]
 Perspectives in American Literature:
[Link]
 The Academy of American Poets: [Link]

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 GENERAL

Literature
Blasing, Mutlu K., American Poetry: The Rhetoric of its Forms (New Haven: Yale UP,
1987)
Bradbury, Malcolm, Modern American Novel (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1992)
M. Bradbury & J. MacFarlane, eds., Modernism (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976)
Bradbury, Malcolm & Ruland, Richard. From Puritanism to Postmodernism: A History
of American Literature. (New York: Penguin, 1993)
Cunliffe, Marcus, The Literature of the United States (Harmondsworth: Penguin, rev.
ed., 1982)
Cunliffe, Marcus, ed., American Literature Since 1900 (London: Sphere, 1975)
Conn, Peter, The Divided Mind: Ideology and the Imagination in America, 1898-1917
(Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1983)
McHale, Brian, Postmodernist Fiction (London: Methuen, 1987)
Miller, Perry, The American Transcendentalists
Morrison, Toni, Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1992)
Nichol, Bran, The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction (Cambridge, New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
Scott, Bonnie Kime, ed., The Gender of Modernism: A Critical Anthology
(Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990)
Showalter, Elaine, ed., New Feminist Criticism (London: Virago, 1986)
Tanner, Tony, The American Mystery: American Literature from Emerson to DeLillo
(Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000)

Culture and History

Baudrillard, Jean The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures (London: SAGE,
1998)
Baudrillard, Jean, Simulacra and Simulation, trans. Sheila Faria Glaser (Ann Arbor:
Michigan UP, 1994)
Boorstin, Daniel, The Americans: The Democratic Experience (NY: Vintage, 1974)
Borshuk, Michael, Swinging the Vernacular: Jazz and African American Modernist
Literature (London: Routledge, 2006)
Brogan, Hugh, The Penguin History of the United States (Harmondsworth: Penguin,
1986)
Brookeman, Christopher, American Culture and Society since the 1930s (London:
Methuen, 1984)
Carroll, Peter & Noble, David, The Free and the Unfree (Harmondsworth: Penguin,
1992)
Clarke, Graham ed., The American City: Literary and Cultural Perspectives (London:
Vision P, 1988)
Degler, Carl, Out of Our Past: The Forces that Shaped Modern America (1959; NY:
Harper, 1984)
Doss, Erika, Twentieth-Century American Art (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002)
Douglas, Ann, Terrible Honesty: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s (Basingstoke:
Papermac, 1997)
Duncan, Russel & Goddard, Joseph, Contemporary America (Basingstoke: Palgrave,
2003)
Franklin, John Hope, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans (6th
ed., NY: Oxford UP, 1988)

8
Genovese, Eugene, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (NY: Random
House, 1974)
Gidley, Mick ed., Modern American Culture: An Introduction (London & NY: Longman,
1993).
Gidley, Mick, Photography and the USA (London: Reaktion, 2011)
Mick Gidley and Robert M. Lawson-Peebles, Views of American Landscapes
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)
Gilroy, Paul, The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (London:
Verso, 1993)
David Holloway and John Beck, eds., American Visual Cultures (London: Continuum,
2005)
Hughes, Robert, The Shock of the New: Art and the Century of Change (London:
Thames & Hudson, 1991)
Jameson, Frederic, Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (London:
Verso, 1991)
Levine, Lawrence, Black Culture and Black Consciousness (NY & Oxford: Oxford UP,
1971)
Marx, Leo, the Machine in the Garden (NY: Oxford UP, 1964)
Jeremy Mitchell & Richard Maidment, eds., The United States in the Twentieth
Century: Culture (London: Hodder & Stoughton in association with the Open
University, 1994)
Nye, David E., American Technological Sublime (Cambridge, MA: MIT P, 1994)
Nye, David E., Narratives and Spaces (Exeter: U of Exeter P, 1997)
Orvell, Miles, The Real Thing: Imitation and Authenticity in American Culture, 1880-
1940 (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1989)
Reynolds, David S., Beneath the American Renaissance: The Subversive Imagination
in the Age of Emerson and Melville (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1989)
Schama, Simon, Landscape and Memory (London: HarperCollins, 1995)
Susman, Warren, Culture as History (NY: Pantheon, 1985)
Tallack, Douglas, Twentieth-Century America: The Cultural and Intellectual Context
(London: Longman, 1991)
Howard Temperley, and Christopher Bigsby (eds.), A New Introduction to American
Studies (Pearson/Longman, 2006)
Trachtenberg, Alan, Reading American Photography: Images as History, Mathew
Brady to Walker Evans (New York: Hill and Wang, 1990)

SET TEXTS

Edgar Allan Poe

Coviello, Peter, ‘Poe in Love: Paedophilia, Morbidity, and the Logic of Slavery’, ELH
70:3 (2003): 875-901
Dudley, Dudley, ‘Dead or Alive: the Booby-Trapped Narrator of Poe’s ‘Masque of the
Red Death’, Studies in the Short Fiction, 30:2 (Spring 1993), 169-73
Kennedy, J. Gerald and Liliane Weissberg, Romancing the Shadow: Poe and Race
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)
Reynolds, David S., Beneath the American Renaissance: The Subversive Imagination
in the Age of Emerson and Melville (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1989)
Smith, Andrew, Gothic Radicialism: Literature, Philosophy and Psychoanalysis in the
Nineteenth Century (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000)

9
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Arac, Jonathan, 'Putting the River on New Maps: Nation, Race, and beyond in
Reading Huckleberry Finn', American Literary History, 8:1 (Spring 1996), pp. 110-
129
Baldanza, Frank, 'The Structure of Huckleberry Finn', American Literature, 27:3 (Nov.,
1955), pp. 347-355
Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African-American Voices
(Oxford: Oxford UP, 1993)
Graff, Gerald and James Phelan, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Case Study in
Critical Controversy (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1995)
Gavin Jones, Strange Talk: the Politics of Dialect Literature in Gilded Age America
(Berkeley: University of California Press, c1999)
Lemke, Sieglinde, The Vernacular Matters of American Literature (New York:
Palgrave, 2009)
Margolis, Stacey, 'Huckleberry Finn; Or, Consequences’, PMLA, 116:2 (March 2001),
pp. 329-343
Sundquist, Eric J., Mark Twain: A Collection of Critical Essays (Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice Hall, 1994)

Poetry
Aspiz, Harold, Walt Whitman and the Body Beautiful (Urbana: U of Illinois Press,
1980)
Baker, Houston, Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance (Chicago: U of Chicago P,
1987)
Bell, Michael, Literature, Modernism and Myth (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997)
Clive Bloom & Brian Docherty, eds., American Poetry: The Modernist Ideal
(Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1995)
Emig, Rainer, Modernism in Poetry: Motivations, Structures and Limits (Harlow:
Longman, 1996)
Fussell, Paul, Poetic Meter and Poetic Form (NY: McGraw Hill, 1965)
Greenspan, Ezra ed., The Cambridge Companion to Walt Whitman (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1995)
Gray, Richard, American Poetry of the Twentieth Century (London: Longman, 1990)
Larrissy, Ed, Reading Twentieth-century Poetry: The Language of Gender and
Objects (Oxford: Blackwell, 1990)
Martin, Wendy ed., The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2002)
Nicholls, Peter, Modernisms: A Literary Guide (London: Macmillan, 1995)
Perkins, David, A History of Modern Poetry, 2 vols. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap P of
Harvard UP, 1976 & 1987)
Scully, James, ed., Modern Poets on Modern Poetry (various eds.)
Silkin, Jon, The Life of Metrical and Free Verse in Twentieth-Century Poetry
(Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997)
Wynn Thomas, M., The Lunar Light of Whitman’s Poetry (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1987)
---, Transatlantic Connections: Whitman U.S., Whitman U.K (Iowa City: University of
Iowa Press, 2005)
Vendler, Helen, The Given and the Made: Recent American Poets (London: Faber &
Faber, 1995)
Vendler, Helen, Part of Nature, Part of Us: Modern American Poets (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard UP, 1980)

10
Vendler, Helen, Soul Says: On Recent Poetry (Cambridge, MA: Belknap P of Harvard
UP, 1995)
Zweig, Paul, Walt Whitman: The Making of the Poet (New York: Basic Books, 1984)

John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer

Brevda, William, 'The Lively Art of Manhattan Transfer', Texas Studies in Literature
and Language 38:1 (Spring 1996), 79-114.
Fisher Fishkin, Shelley, From Fact to Fiction: Journalism and Imaginative Writing in
America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985)
Geyh, Paula E., ‘From cities of things to cities of signs: Urban Spaces and Urban
Subjects in Sister Carrie and Manhattan Transfer’, Twentieth Century Literature
52:4 (2006), 413-42
Maine, Barry, Dos Passos, the Critical Heritage (London: Routledge, 1988)
Marshall, Kate, ‘Furnace, Air Shaft, Media: Modernity Behind the Walls in Native Son
and Manhattan Transfer’, Studies in American Fiction 37:1 (Spring 2010), 55-80.
Rhodes, Chip, Structures of the Jazz Age: Mass Culture, Progressive Education, and
Racial Discourse in American Modernism (New York: Verso, 1998)
Spindler, Michael, 'John Dos Passos and the Visual Arts', Journal of American Studies
15 (1981), 391-405
Trombold, John, ‘From the Future to the Past: the Disillusionment of John Dos
Passos’, Studies in American Fiction 26:2 (1998), 237-56

Willa Cather, My Ántonia

Butler, Judith, '‘Dangerous Crossing’: Willa Cather's Masculine Names,' in Butler,
Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex' (London: Routledge, 1993)
Lee, Hermione, Willa Cather: A Life Saved Up (London: Virago, 1989)
Lindemann, Marilee, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Willa Cather (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2005)
O'Brien, Sharon, Willa Cather: The Emerging Voice (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987)
Rosowski, Susan J. The Voyage Perilous: Willa Cather's Romanticism (Lincoln: U of
Nebraska P, 1986)
Goldberg, Jonathan, Willa Cather and Others (Durham: Duke UP, 2001)

Modernism – Literature, Poetry and Critical Theory

Davis, Alex, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Modernist Poetry (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2007)
Eliot, T.S., ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’ (1919), in Modernism: An Anthology,
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005), pp.152-156
Kalaidjian, Walter, ed., The Cambridge Companion to American Modernism
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001)
Levenson, Michael, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Modernism, Second Edition
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011)
Morley, Catherine. Modern American Literature (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 2012)
Pound, Ezra, ‘Imagisme’ (1912), in Modernism: An Anthology, (Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing, 2005), pp.94-95

The Harlem Renaissance

Anderson, Paul Allen, Deep River: Music and Memory in Harlem Renaissance
Thought (Durham: Duke University Press, 2001)
Baker, Houston, Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance. (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1987)
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Edwards, Brent Hayes, The Practice of Diaspora: Literature, Translation, and the Rise
of Black Internationalism (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003)
Du Bois, W.E.B., ‘Of Our Spiritual Strivings’ from The Souls of Black Folk (1903),
Henry Louis Gates and Nellie Y. McKay, The Norton Anthology of African
American Literature, Second Edition, pp.693-699
Du Bois, W.E.B., ‘Criteria of Negro Art’ (1926), in Henry Louis Gates and Nellie Y.
McKay, The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Second Edition, pp.
777-784
Hughes, Langston, ‘The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain’ (1926), in Henry Louis
Gates and Nellie Y. McKay, The Norton Anthology of African American Literature,
Second Edition, pp. 1311-1315
Hughes, Langston, ‘When the Negro was in Vogue’ (1940), in Henry Louis Gates and
Nellie Y. McKay, The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Second
Edition, pp. 1325-1331
Hutchinson, George, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Harlem Renaissance
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007)
Levering Lewis, David, When Harlem Was in Vogue. (New York: Knopf, 1981)
Locke, Alain, ‘The New Negro’ (1925), in Henry Louis Gates and Nellie Y. McKay, The
Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Second Edition, pp. 984-993
Patton, Venetria K. and Honey, Maureen, Double-Take: A Revisionist Harlem
Renaissance Anthology (New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 2001)
Sanders, Mark A., Afro-modernist Aesthetics and the Poetry of Sterling A. Brown
(Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1999)
Schomburg, Arthur A., ‘The Negro Digs Up His Past’ (1925), in Henry Louis Gates and
Nellie Y. McKay, The Norton Anthology of African American Literature,
Second Edition, pp.963-967
Tracy, Steven C., Langston Hughes and the Blues (Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 2001)
Various Artists, Rhapsodies in Black: Music and Words from the Harlem
Renaissance (Los Angeles: Rhino, 2000) [Audio Recordings]
Wright, Richard, ‘Blueprint for Negro Writing’ (1937), in Henry Louis Gates and Nellie
Y. McKay, The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Second Edition,
pp.1403-1410

Postmodernism – Literature, Theory, and Culture

Foster, Hal, ed., Postmodern Culture (London: Pluto, 1985)
Jameson, Frederic, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism
(London: Verso, 1991)
Lyotard, Jean-Francois, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge
(Manchester: Manchester UP, 1984)
McLuhan, Marshall, The Medium is the Massage (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1967)
Nichol, Bran, ed. Postmodernism and the Contemporary Novel. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 2002)
Nichol, Bran. The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2009)
O’Donnell, Patrick. The American Novel Now: Reading Contemporary American
Fiction Since 1980. (New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
Tabbi, Joseph, The Postmodern Sublime: Technology and American Writing from
Mailer to Cyberpunk. (New York: Cornell University Press, 1996)
Woods, Tim. Beginning Postmodernism, Second Edition. (Manchester: Manchester
University Press, 2010)

12
Don DeLillo, White Noise
Barrett, Laura, ‘How the Dead Speak to the Living: Intertextuality and the Postmodern
Sublime in White Noise’, Journal of Modern Literature 25:2 (2001-2002 Winter),
97-113
Brauner, David, Chapter 1 – ‘The space reserved for irony’: Irony and Paradox in Don
DeLillo’s White Noise, Paul Auster’s City of Glass and Bret Easton Ellis’s American
Psycho, in Contemporary American Fiction (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 2010)
Baudrillard, Jean, America, trans. Chris Turner (London: Verso, 1988)
Baudrillard, Jean, Selected Writings (Cambridge: Polity, 1988)
Bilton, Alan, An Introduction to Contemporary American Fiction (Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 2002)
Boxall, Peter, Don DeLillo: The Possibilities of Fiction (London, New York: Routledge,
2006)
Cowart, David, Don DeLillo: The Physics of Language. (Athens, GA: University of
Georgia Press, 2002)
Duvall, John N., ‘The (super)market of images as unmediated mediation in DeLillo’s
White Noise’, Arizona Quarterly, 50 (3), Autumn, pp. 127-53
Duvall, John N., ed., The Cambridge Companion to Don DeLillo (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2008)
Laist, Randy, Technology and Postmodern Subjectivity in Don DeLillo’s Novels. (New
York: Peter Lang, 2010) [online access only]
LeClair, Tom, In the Loop: Don DeLillo and the Systems Novel (Urbana: U of Illinois P,
1987)
Lentricchia, Frank, ed., Introducing Don DeLillo (Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1991)
Lentricchia, Frank, ed., New Essays on White Noise (Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
1991)
Orr, Leonard, Don DeLillo’s White Noise: a Reader’s Guide (New York, London:
Continuum, 2003)
Osteen, Mark, American Magic and Dread: Don DeLillo’s Dialogue with Culture
(Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 2000)
Saltzman, Arthur, ‘The figure in the static: White Noise’, Modern Fiction Studies 40
(10, 1994, pp.807-26
Weekes, Karen ‘Consuming and Dying: Meaning and the Marketplace in White Noise’,
Literature Interpretation Theory 18:4 (2007 Oct-Dec), 285-302
Leonard Wilcox, ‘Baudrillard, Don DeLillo’s White Noise, and the End of Heroic
Narrative’, Contemporary Literature 32:3 (1991 Fall): 346-65.

13
 Seminar Questions

Week 2 – Beginnings

Please read the extracts included in the document ‘Writing America documents for
seminar’ in preparation for the first seminar. These poems and prose poems all
attempt to write America, to capture something distinctive about American cultural
identity. Please come to class ready to discuss your responses to the texts. You might
find it useful to answer the following general questions:

1) What kind of American identity does each text construct? What aspects of
American society/culture are emphasised? Why?

2) What do you notice the style and form of each text?

3) Can you find any connections between style and content? Do these authors
choose a particular style to highlight their particular version of American identity?

Week 3 – Edgar Allan Poe

In the seminars, we will focus on the following stories: ‘The Fall of the House of
Usher’, ‘The Black Cat’, ‘The Purloined Letter’, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, ‘Ligeia’ and
‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’.

‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ and ‘The Purloined Letter’

1) Poe called these stories his ‘tales of ratiocination’, and with them he established
the conventions of the detective story. What formulaic elements do his stories
introduce? You might focus on the following topics:

a) Detective/sick-kick
b) Puzzling nature of crime, e.g. windows
c) Nature, role, and solution of crime
d) Setting
e) Depiction of police

2) What kind of language is used to describe violence in ‘The Murders in the Rue
Morgue’? How could you relate this to the context of slavery?

‘The Black Cat’

1) What’s the effect of the confiding narrative voice here?

2) How do you interpret the relationship between the narrator and his black cat?
[Critics have used various critical approaches: Freudian, historical context etc.]

3) How do you account for the extremity of violence in this tale?

14
‘The Fall of the House of Usher’

1) What do you notice about Poe’s writing style?

2) In what ways is this story an allegory for the collapse of the mind?

3) What is the significance of the Usher twins in this story?

General questions

1) How are women portrayed in Poe’s stories? Are they just foils for men, or
troublesome Others?

2) What is the significance of the ‘other-worldly’?

3) How do you account for the extremity of violence in Poe’s short fiction?

Week 4 – Poetry by Emily Dickinson

Please read the following poems in preparation for the seminar. You can access a pdf
that includes these poems from ‘course documents’ on blackboard.

‘The soul selects her own society’ (303),

‘After great pain’ (341),
‘Much madness is divinest sense’ (435),
‘I Heard a fly buzz’ (465),
‘Because I could not stop for Death’ (712),
‘My life had stood – a loaded gun’ (754),
‘Tell all the truth’ (1129)

1) Dickinson uses a rather unconventional poetic style. For one thing, she abandons
conventional punctuation in favour of the dash. What’s the effect of this? How does
it impact on your reading of the poems?

2) What kind of ‘self’ does Dickinson construct in her poetry?

3) In what ways is Dickinson’s poetry shaped by her experiences as a middle-class

American woman whose life was restricted to the domestic sphere? To what extent
does she use her poetry to subvert expectations about gender?

4) Dickinson seems to be fascinated by enclosed spaces, including burial grounds,

houses, gardens etc. What do you notice about Dickinson’s portrayal of real and
imagined space?

5) How would you characterise Dickinson’s representation of death?

6) What is the significance of religious imagery in Dickinson’s poetry?

7) Can you make any connections between Dickinson and the Transcendentalists?

15
Week 5 – Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1) Mark Twain is famous for introducing a vernacular style to American literature.

What techniques does he use to create the sound of Huck speaking? You could begin
by looking at the novel’s opening.

2) What strikes you about Twain’s representation of the South?

3) The Mississippi river is a powerful symbol in this novel. What does it represent?

4) How would you characterise the relationship between Huck and Jim?

5) How do you interpret the ending of the novel? Is it hopeful, or pessimistic?

6) What do you notice about the representation of women in the novel?

Week 6 – Workshop on Essay Writing

Prepare a brief outline of your first essay to discuss in the seminar (please include
your ideas, research and resources used). Answer the questions below, and be ready
to discuss your responses with the group.

General

1. What question have you chosen?

2. What novels/poems/stories from the course have you drawn upon?

Context

3. What do your resources tell you? How do they assist in answering your
question?

4. How does your text represent the cultural and social climate at the time of its
production?

5. What cultural and historical context can you provide to help illuminate the text?

6. Does the essay contain any broad, sweeping generalizations?

Argument**

7. What is your argument in the essay?

8. Do you have a clear sense of what the focus of the essay is, and why it’s
important to think about the text or texts in question in these terms?

9. Where will you explain what your argument is? (This should be clearly stated at
the start, not left for the reader to work out).

16
Research

10. What independent research and sources have you used to support your
argument?

11. How have they aided/hindered the development of your argument?

12. Which resources have referred to in the essay? Are your quotes referenced?

13. Have you constructed your bibliography?

Problems

14. What problems have you encountered while writing the essay?

15. Are you confident in presentation/referencing etc.?

Week 7 - Willa Cather, My Ãntonia

1) Memory is one of Cather’s primary preoccupations in this novel. How does

memory function in Cather’s fictional world?

2) My Antonia is famous for its vivid descriptions of the Nebraska landscape. Look at
some of these descriptions in detail. How does Cather represent the landscape?
[You might find it helpful to think about Simon Schama’s argument in Landscape
and Memory: ‘Before it can ever be a repose for the senses, landscape is a work
of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from the strata of memory as from
layers of rock’ (Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory, pp. 6-7).

3) What is the significance of the formal structure that Cather chooses for her novel?
Pay particular attention to the preface and the various stories Cather incorporates
into her narrative, e.g. Pavel/Peter’s tale about the wolves.

Week 8 - John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer

1) Dos Passos brings a filmic technique and cinematic sensibility to the modern
novel. Can you identify filmic elements in Manhattan Transfer? What is the effect of
such techniques?

2) How does Dos Passos represent the city?

3) Can you identify some of the features that help us define Manhattan Transfer as a
modernist novel?

4) Dos Passos seems to be implying that C20th technology altered the way in which
individuals related to one another in the modern world. What strikes you about Dos
Passos’s representation of technology?

17
Week 9 – The Harlem Renaissance

We will read the following poems (available on blackboard):

Jean Toomer, ‘Georgia Dusk’

Langston Hughes, ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’
Langston Hughes, ‘Dream Variations’
Langston Hughes, ‘The Weary Blues’
Langston Hughes, ‘Po’ Boy Blues’
Langston Hughes, ‘Mulatto’
Sterling A. Brown, ‘Ma Rainey’

1) What techniques do Hughes and Brown use to create the sound of jazz and blues
music on the page?

2) Are there any differences between blues poetry and lyrics? If so, what are they?

3) To what extent does this poetry subvert cultural hierarchies of high/low,

oral/written?

4) How do these poems represent African American identity?

Week 10 – Reading American Photography

I have posted on blackboard a number of twentieth-century American photographs for

discussion in class. These photos are of particular interest for their representation of
class and ethnicity. Please study the pictures carefully, and be prepared to speak
about your responses to each image. The following questions might help you to focus
on specifics:

1) How do these photographs intersect with some of the key themes of twentieth-
century American history, such as immigration, the city, race and racism?

2) Select one photograph. Find out about the photographer, the construction of the
photograph and its first use. What does this knowledge add to your interpretation
of the image?

3) What kind of visual referencing is at work in these images? What associations and
symbols come into play as we interpret each image?

4) Pay close attention to each photographer’s technical choices. How has the shot
been framed? How does the photographer use space (note, for instance, the
impact of the distance between the photographer and the photographed in Jacob
Riis’s ‘Mullen’s Alley’). You should also consider the use of close-up and long-view,
light and shade etc.

18
Week 11 - Don DeLillo, White Noise

1) Don DeLillo is fascinated by the commodification of American culture. With this in

mind, what strikes you about his representation of the supermarket in White
Noise?

2) In what ways does TV become an emblem of American culture in the novel?

3) What is the role of technology in DeLillo’s fictional world?

4) How is the family portrayed in White Noise?

5) In what ways could you describe White Noise as a postmodern novel? (The
account of Murray and Jack’s trip to the ‘most photographed barn in America’ is a
good place to start).

6) What is the significance of ‘death’ in the novel?

19
 Writing an Essay

Footnotes and Endnotes

Your essays must include references to acknowledge the ideas and views of authors
whose works you have used. You may present references as footnotes (at the bottom
of each page) or as endnotes (all the references at the end of your essay).

American Studies favours the following system of referencing, whether in footnotes or

endnotes:-

Book (single author)

1
Maxine Berg, The Age of Manufactures, 1720-1820 (London, 1985), 97.
Later references would contract this to Berg, Age of Manufactures, 97.

Book (multiple authors)

2
E. Gordon and E. Breitenbach (eds.), The World is Ill-Divided: Women’s Work in the
Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Edinburgh, 1990), 22-35.
Later references would contract this to Gordon and Breitenbach, Women's Work, 22.
Article in Academic Journal
3
James C. Cobb, “An Epitaph for the North: Reflections on the Politics of Regional
and National Identity at the Millenium,” Journal of Southern History, 66 (February
2000), 3-24.
Later references would be Cobb, “Epitaph for the North,” 15.

Article in Edited Collection

4
John C. Inscoe, “All Manner of Defeated, Shiftless, Shifty, Pathetic, and Interesting
Good People: Autobiographical Encounters with Southern Poverty,” in Richard
Godden and Martin Crawford (eds.), Reading Southern Poverty between the Wars,
1918-1939 (Athens, Ga., 2006), 145-162.
Later reference would be Inscoe, “All Manner of . . . People,” 155.

The important thing is to be consistent. Once you have adopted one system of
referencing, make sure you adhere to it; if not you will be penalized, i.e. lose marks.

Bibliographies
All books and articles consulted should be listed in a bibliography at the end of the
essay. The following advice about the formatting of bibliographies is similar to the style
noted above regarding footnotes or endnotes except that you do not provide page
numbers, and the author’s surname is provided before the forename. Bibliographies
should be in alphabetical order (see following examples).

Book (single author)

Ayers, Edward L., The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction (New
York, Oxford University Press, 1992).

Book (multiple authors)

Ayers, Edward L., and John C. Willis, (eds.), The Edge of the South: Life in
Nineteenth-Century Virginia (Charlottesville, University of Virginia Press, 1991).

Poppenheim, Mary B., et al. The History of the United Daughters of the Confederacy,
1894-1955 (Raleigh, North Carolina, Edwards and Broughton, 1956).
20
Article in Edited Collection
Donald, David Herbert, “A Generation of Defeat,” in Walter J. Fraser, Jr. and Winfred
B. Moore, Jr., (eds.), From the Old South to the New: Essays on the Transitional
South (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1981), 3-20.

Article in Academic Journal

Hall, Jacquelyn D., “Open Secrets: Memory, Imagination, and the Refashioning of
Southern Identity,” American Quarterly, 50 (March 1998), 109-124.

MARKING SCALE

FIRST CLASS UPPER SECOND (60- LOWER SECOND THIRD CLASS (40-
(70+) 69) (50-59) 49)

Work engages Work that shows an Work displays some Work displays only
closely with the understanding of the understanding of the a minimal
question set, and question set, and question set, but understanding of
1. FOCUS

shows a mature shows an appreciation may lack a the question. The

appreciation of its of some of its wider sustained focus and focus is intermittent
wider implications implications. may show only a and demonstrates
modest only a minimal
understanding of the understanding of
question’s wider the question’s
implications. implications.
The structure of The structure of the The structure of the The structure of the
the answer will answer will facilitate a answer may be answer may be
2. STRUCT-URE

facilitate a clear, clear development of heavily influenced by underdeveloped,

coherent, and the writer’s argument, the material at the incomplete and/or
compelling although an analytical writer’s disposal haphazard, but not
development of approach may not be rather than the to the point that the
the writer’s sustained throughout. requirements of the argument is
argument question set. Ideas entirely obscured.
may be stated rather
than developed.
Descriptive Descriptive material Descriptive material Some descriptive
material and and factual evidence and factual evidence material and
factual evidence will be deployed will be deployed, but factual evidence
will be deployed in relevantly. Towards the not necessarily with will be deployed,
order to support lower end of this mark the kind of critical but with only
3. EVID-ENCE

and develop the band candidates may reflections minimal critical

writer’s argument, not always bring out the characteristic of reflection on its
and will be full implications of answers in the significance and
deployed with a evidence cited. higher mark bands. relevance.
vigorous sense of
relevance and an
appropriate
economy of
expression.

21
 The writing will be The writing will be clear The writing will be The writing will
clear, stylish and and generally accurate, sufficiently accurate generally be
accurate. The and will demonstrate an to convey the grammatical, but
range of appreciation of the writer’s meaning, but may lack the
vocabulary and technical and advanced it may lack fluency sophistication of
4. PROSE

linguistic idioms vocabulary used by and command of the vocabulary or

will be appropriate historians. kinds of scholarly construction to
to the case being idioms used by sustain a historical
developed. professional argument of any
historians. In places complexity. In
expression might be places the writing
clumsy. may lack clarity
and felicity of
expression.
Relevant Knowledge is Knowledge will be There will be some
knowledge is both extensive, but might be significant, but may limited and patchy
broad and deep. uneven. Demonstrated be limited and knowledge. There
This will include knowledge will include patchy. There may may be some
5. KNOWLEDGE

knowledge of reference to relevant be some inaccuracy, inaccuracy, but

contemporary contemporary and but basic knowledge sufficient basic
sources, historiographical will be sound. The knowledge will be
historiography, sources. The range of range of reading present to frame a
and secondary reading implied by the implied by the basic answer to the
literature. The answer will be answer will be question. The
range of reading considerable. limited. range of relevant
implied by the reading implied by
answer will be the answer will be
extensive. slight.
The writer will The writer will show an The answer may The answer may
show an ability to ability to move between either be too either be
move between generalisation and generalised, with excessively
generalisation and detailed discussion, little close or generalised,
6. ANALYSIS

detailed although there may be particular analysis, without any

discussion, and a tendency towards or it may focus on reference to
will be able to either over-generalised specific details specific supporting
synthesise as well or over-particularised without appropriate details, or it may be
as particularise. response. generalisation. excessively
descriptive, with
little or no attempt
at analysis.

FIRST CLASS UPPER SECOND (60- LOWER SECOND THIRD CLASS (40-
(70+) 69) (50-59) 49)

The answer may Although the answer The answer shows The answer shows
develop ideas may not demonstrate little or no originality little or no
7. ORIGINALITY

which are original real originality, the of approach or originality of

and may make writer will present ideas argument, but may approach, but may
unexpected with a degree of demonstrate some demonstrate some
connections and a originality and reflection on material minimal reflection
degree of demonstrate the ability used. on material used.
originality will be to reflect on the past
evident. and its interpretations.

22
[Link] The answer will The answer will deploy The answer will The will be only
go well beyond other historians’ ideas show some minimal
the effective and seek to move understanding of appreciation of the
paraphrasing of beyond them. The historians' ideas, but problematic or
other historians’ answer will also show may not reflect contested nature of
ideas, and an appreciation of the critically upon them. historical
demonstrate a extent to which The problematic explanations.
conceptual historical explanations nature of historical
command of the are contested. explanations may be
historical (and, imperfectly
where understood.
appropriate,
historiographical)
issues at stake.
Writers will show Writers will reflect on Information may be Information will be
an ability to nature and status of used rather used uncritically,
evaluate the information at their uncritically, without as if always self-
9. SOURCES

nature and status disposal, and will seek serious attempts to explanatory, any
of information at to use it critically. evaluate its status may be sufficient
their disposal, and and significance. only to launch but
where necessary not to sustain a full
identify answer.
contradiction and
attempt a
resolution.
This answer will The answer will show The answer shows The answer shows
show a an ability interrogate some awareness of little consistent
10. INTERDISCIPLINARITY

sophisticated and synthesise a interdisciplinary engagement with

ability to variety of perspectives but any
interrogate and interdisciplinary does not engage interdisciplinary
synthesize a sources and sufficiently with perspectives,
variety of incorporate multiple methodology or
interdisciplinary methodology and interdisciplinary sources.
sources and to approaches from more sources,
incorporate than one disciplinary methodology or
methodology and perspective. perspectives.
approaches from
more than one
disciplinary
perspective.

 Poor and shoddy work that barely tackles the question but shows some
FAIL understanding of the issues, texts and themes involved.
35-39  Thin and unstructured
 Cursory glance of basic information; some of it inaccurate.
 No references.
 Work that is totally unacceptable.
0-34  Does not address the question at all.
 Shows no evidence of reading of set texts or any understanding of how to
conduct a critical argument.

23
 +70 MARKING CRITERIA

Mark 80+: Distinction (Starred)

An outstanding and memorable performance in which all, or virtually all, the qualities
deemed to constitute first-class work are present to a remarkable degree. The work should
be well researched and genuinely original, bearing in mind that originality has many
dimensions: it may reside, for instance, in the thesis defended; or in the way a known
thesis is presented and defended.

Work of this calibre is either of publishable quality in a reputable, peer-reviewed journal, or

attains the professional standards expected for the discipline without the need for
substantive revision. Work demonstrates the ability to plan, organize and execute a project
independently to the highest professional standards, showing an outstanding standard of
accuracy, expression and presentation.

Work at this level will show originality in conceptual understanding; critical insight;
hypotheses, use of methodology or application of knowledge. It will show subtlety of
interpretation; power of critical analysis, an acute comprehension of current research and
of applicable research methodology and its implications as well as mastery of a significant
body of data.

Mark 75-79: Distinction / Exceptional/ Middle First

Work which is excellent / exceptional both in the range and in the command of the material
and in the argument and analysis that it brings to bear. The examiner would expect clear
elements of originality – which may consist in putting together material in novel ways –
although originality alone would not guarantee marks in this range. Work in this class will
generally meet the following criteria: the argument may be sophisticated or incisive; there
may be a wealth of relevant information, showing exceptional knowledge and
understanding of the issues involved; the approach may be unorthodox in the best sense,
suggesting new and worthwhile ways of considering material. The submitted work may
display evidence of extensive research, imaginatively and convincingly deployed. Work
which receives a mark of 75 and above will be deemed to have achieved a Distinction
(High First).

Work which shows an excellent/exceptional understanding of the issues and

methodologies and which demonstrates potentially publishable ideas, arguments or
syntheses.
Original, independent thinking informs an answer based upon rigorous argument
accurately supported by evidence derived from a wide range of source material.

Work shows a broad and deep knowledge of the topic and an awareness of current
research; is clearly structured and well argued, provides clear references to the research
material; engages critically and discursively with the existing literature and is well written
and perceptive.

Work which displays clear evidence of independence of thought. The approach may be
unorthodox in the best sense, suggesting new and worthwhile ways of considering
material.

A first class mark maybe awarded on more than one set of criteria and many first class
performances will combine many of the following characteristics: sophisticated, incisive
argument showing flair, and demonstrating mastery of a wealth of relevant information as

24
 well as exceptional knowledge and understanding of the issues involved.

70-74: Excellent/Lower First

Work that displays an excellent understanding and presentation of appropriate material,
excellent quality of argument and a degree of critical and original thought in the context of
the task. However, these qualities are not sustained throughout.

Work displays original, independent and relevant thought and argument, convincingly
presented with its limitations and restrictions recognized. Argument is well evidenced with
relevant primary and secondary material used selectively to support it and imaginatively
analysed. A clear awareness of the academic debate surrounding the subject is shown;
the work is lucid, well-structured and concise, displaying a competent use of vocabulary,
grammar and methodology. Formal requirements (including footnotes and a complete
bibliography) are met.

Plagiarism
(Excerpt from UG Handbook)

Plagiarism is ... “any act whereby a person may obtain for him/herself or for another,
an un-permitted advantage.

Plagiarism is the use, without acknowledgement, of another person’s work and

submitting it for assessment as though it were your own work.

This applies whether candidates act alone or in conjunction with another/others.

Actions shall be deemed to fall within this definition whether occurring during, or in
relation to, a formal examination, a piece of coursework, or any form of assessment
undertaken in pursuit of an academic or professional qualification at Swansea
University.

Penalties for Plagiarism

11.1 Allegations of plagiarism or unfair practice shall be subject to the procedures
of the University.
11.3 If a student is found to have plagiarised work or used unfair practice in any
assessment on the course, then the University may determine in its absolute
discretion that
 the marks for all modules on the course shall be cancelled

or that

 a student shall fail the whole course and not be allowed to re-sit the course at
the University or such other penalty as may be appropriate in the
circumstances. In making its determination the University will normally follow
the guidance or requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority or in the
absence of any such guidance or requirements then the procedures and
penalties of the University shall apply.”

What follows is taken from: Clare Saunders, David Mossley, George MacDonald
Ross, Danielle Lamb, with Julie Closs, Doing Philosophy. A Practical Guide for
25
Students. 2nd ed. (London: Bloomsbury, 2013), 153-155. (Emphasis added)

So the key to avoiding plagiarism is to be honest about your sources and to maximize
instances of your own thinking. If you have not done much independent thinking, then
your honesty will make it obvious that your essay is little more than rehashed lecture
notes and passages cobbled together from secondary sources. So how do you find a
balance between making use of course materials and secondary literature, and
demonstrating your own thinking? The answer is to write in such a way that, instead of
using the writings of others as a substitute for your own thinking, you use them as the
raw material on which you exercise your thinking.

If you merely quote an author, or describe what the author says, you are taking up
space which you could otherwise use for impressing the reader with your philosophical
ability.

So the golden rule is not to quote unless you are going to discuss the author’s precise
words. For example, you might argue about how a passage is to be interpreted, or you
might give arguments for or against the position you find in it.

Again, if you simply quote from a secondary text, you are borrowing someone else’s
interpretations or criticisms; but your examiners want to assess your reasoning skills.
So you need to use such texts as material for comment. You might give reasons for
agreeing or disagreeing with what is said, or you might identify two or more secondary
texts which disagree with each other, and say which you prefer and why. This way,
your essay will be argumentative through and through, and it will be evident to the
reader that it is all your own work.

Let us look at an example. Suppose you included the following in an essay on

Leibniz:

Leibniz defined a ‘necessary’ truth as one which could not have been otherwise, in
that its opposite would imply a contradiction. So, it is necessary that a triangle has
three sides, since the idea of a non-three-sided, three-sided figure is self-
contradictory. By a ‘contingent’ truth, he meant one that could have been otherwise, in
that its opposite would be non-contradictory, or logically possible.

This would be plagiarism, since it is an unacknowledged, word- for-word copy of a

paragraph on p. 59 of G. MacDonald Ross (1984), Leibniz. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

Suppose then that you add a reference:

Leibniz defined a ‘necessary’ truth as one which could not have been otherwise, in
that its opposite would imply a contradiction. So, it is necessary that a triangle has
three sides, since the idea of a non-three-sided, three-sided figure is self-
contradictory. By a ‘contingent’ truth, he meant one that could have been otherwise, in
that its opposite would be non-contradictory, or logically possible. (MacDonald Ross,
1984, p. 59).

This is still inadequate, since you have not specified which are MacDonald Ross’s
actual words.

26
Suppose you paraphrased the passage:

Leibniz's definition of a 'necessary' proposition was one which could not have been
false, because its negation would involve a logical impossibility. So it is a necessary
proposition that a triangle has three angles, because the concept of a three-angled
figure which doesn't have three angles is a logical impossibility. By a 'contingent'
proposition Leibniz meant one that could have been false, since its falsehood wouldn't
involve a contradiction or logical impossibility.

This would be no better, because unacknowledged paraphrasing still counts as

plagiarism.

What you need to do is to specify precisely which words are MacDonald Ross’s by
using quotation marks or indentation:

According to MacDonald Ross (1984, p.59): ‘Leibniz defined a “necessary” truth as

one which could not have been otherwise, in that its opposite would imply a
contradiction. So, it is necessary that a triangle has three sides, since the idea of a
non-three-sided, three-sided figure is self-contradictory. By a “contingent” truth, he
meant one that could have been otherwise, in that its opposite would be non-
contradictory, or logically possible.’

It is still derivative to quote MacDonald Ross instead of finding a passage in Leibniz’s

own writings which makes it clear how he defines a necessary truth. But you could
enhance your discussion by criticizing MacDonald Ross’s interpretation - for example
by contrasting it with a passage from a commentator who believes that Leibniz defined
necessity as truth in all possible worlds.
Paraphrasing a Text

Source: Stephen J. Finn, Chris Case, Bob Underwood and Jesse Zuck, The
Philosophy Skills Book (London: Continuum, 2012), 132-137. (Reformatted and
emphasis added)

The skill that we discuss in this chapter is paraphrasing a text. To paraphrase is to

restate the ideas of a particular text or passage in one’s own words. Accurate
paraphrasing of a text is essential if you have been tasked with evaluating a
philosophical position since you ought to present an accurate interpretation before
criticizing it. Otherwise, you may be guilty of an error in reasoning known as the straw
man fallacy.

This chapter will break the skill of paraphrasing into three components: accuracy, use
of one’s own words and full representation of the essential elements of the original text
or argument.
When paraphrasing a text, your first goal should be to accurately restate the author’s
ideas. Of course, this requires a proper understanding of the text itself, which may
require you to refer to secondary texts in addition to the primary text in which you find
the argument. Essentially, accurately restating someone else’s argument means
nothing more than representing the actual position that an author states in his writing.

Next, an effective paraphrase must capture all of and only the essential elements of
the argument, that is, it must be complete. Rarely will you find a text that only includes
essential elements of the author’s argument, so you must strip away the nonessential
27
portions in your paraphrase. You must take care not to omit those parts of the
argument that are critical to providing justification for the ultimate conclusion of the
argument. See Chapter 19 for advice regarding how to find an argument in a text.

However, your goal is not only to present an accurate and complete restatement of the
author’s ideas, but to show that you understand the ideas and state them in your own
words. Therefore, you must try to avoid relying on the writer’s specific words, gram-
matical structure or syntax. If you simply substitute synonyms from the original text,
without changing the structure of the sentences, you are not demonstrating your grasp
of the concepts.

For example, in the following pair of sentences, the latter is not a good paraphrase of
the former:

Euthanasia does violence to this natural goal of survival.1

Euthanasia does damage to this natural end of persistence.

Likewise, your true understanding is not revealed if you stick too closely to the
terminology of the original source, even if you change the sentence structure.

For example, the second sentence below sticks too closely to the terminology of the
original text.

Euthanasia defeats these subtle mechanisms in a way that, in a particular case,

disease and injury might not.2
These subtle mechanisms may be defeated by euthanasia in ways that even
disease or injury might not.

To properly paraphrase, then, there needs to be substantial change in the terminology

and structure of the original. For example, the second of each of these pairs makes a
substantial change to the original:
Euthanasia does violence to this natural goal of survival.'

Euthanasia opposes our natural purpose to stay alive.

Or,
Euthanasia defeats these subtle mechanisms in a way that, in a particular case,
disease and injury might not.4
Euthanasia is unlike disease and injury insofar as the latter do not destroy
these processes.

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 Study Skills, Essay Writing, and General Advice

‘Studying for a degree’ is also called ‘reading for a degree’ – and for good reason. The
primary and most important method of learning at university is the reading you
undertake, independently, for each module on which you are enrolled.

Reading
Lectures are only an introduction to the topics covered on this module. Reading forms
the foundation of your learning at university. The reading list provides both core and
supplementary reading. You must read the core reading for each week. You are also
strongly encouraged to read at least one item on a relevant topic that you have
chosen yourself. If you complete this reading each week, you’ll have a sound grasp of
the concepts, approaches and topics covered on the course, so that you’re well-
placed to write the essays.

Taking Notes in Lectures

Lectures are designed to introduce a particular topic or way of thinking about an issue
and to raise questions for consideration and provide guidance for further independent
study. They are not meant to provide you with all of the information you will need in
order to complete the assignments. You should think of them as a starting point and
guide from which to develop your reading and seminar participation. Lectures should
not just be a passive experience. Try to actively engage with the ideas and debates
being discussed.

PowerPoint slides will be posted on Blackboard after the lectures each week. These
notes are not intended to replace attendance at lectures. They are provided so that
you can follow the arguments put forth in the lectures more easily.

You should not aim to write down everything that is said in the lecture. Write down
important points, and jot down your own ideas and questions in the margin, or in a
different colour. McMillan and Weyers (2006: 112, 171-6) offer a variety of different
note-taking models, such as concept-mapping (spider diagrams), flow charts,
timelines, keywords, and a herringbone map (shaped like the skeleton of a fish, and
used for comparing two perspectives, case studies, etc.). Find one that works for you.

Reading Groups
You are strongly encouraged to form weekly or fortnightly reading groups (like informal
seminars) in order to discuss the lectures and readings. Reading Group meetings can
be held anywhere – in a café, in the pub, or at someone’s house. You can use the
seminar questions to kick-start discussion, and can bring in any issues raised by your
further reading

Seminar Participation
Seminars are 50-minute classes in smaller groups, during which students have an
opportunity to discuss and debate with each other the ideas they have formed from
their reading and research. Your participation in seminars is a crucial part of your own
and others’ learning. You should use seminars to ask questions and clarify
uncertainties from your reading, debate the issues and controversies at hand, and
develop your own knowledge of and position on the subject concerned.

Seminars should be a vibrant, lively and enjoyable experience. However, they require
the participation of all students in order to make them effective learning environments.
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It is essential that all students complete the required reading before class in order to
participate fully in seminar discussions. Seminars also provide you with an opportunity
to ask questions and clarify points. Remember to allow and encourage others to
participate as well, by listening respectfully to their points of view and by engaging with
their contributions.

Writing Essays
Writing is an important aspect of your studies, and particularly of your assessed work,
at university, and the skills you are being asked to develop in your writing are essential
in most careers. These include:

 critical analysis (deciding what is relevant, valid and worthy of inclusion);

 organisation (how to structure this information);
 synthesis (bringing together a variety of sources to support your argument);
 conciseness (writing within the word limit);
 literacy (writing clearly and comprehensibly).

The most important thing to remember is that you must answer the question. This
means providing an argument, not merely describing things, summarising the notes
you have made from your reading, or presenting factual information.

Referencing
All academics rely on other people’s research, whether for theoretical frameworks,
examples of other case studies, statistical information, normative arguments, or to
engage with critiques of their own work. What is original about academic research and
analysis is the way in which the information from a wide variety of sources is
combined in a particular argument, to answer a question or to explore a hypothesis.
Academics cite other scholars in their written work in order to give due credit to the
authors who originally conducted the research, made the argument or used those
particular case studies. Citations are also a useful resource for the reader who wishes
to pursue a line of argument or analysis further.

We will be using the APA referencing system for the coursework essays to be
submitted for this module. There will be an essay writing seminar session about
halfway through the module, and additional guidance and support will be available on
the module Blackboard page, and through the Academic Success Program.

Please note that lecture notes are not an acceptable source to be cited in essays
for this module. Similarly, websites such as Wikipedia, Shmoop, Gradesaver,
[Link], SparkNotes, your mate Crazy Dave’s blog, etc. are all not
acceptable online sources for use at this level.

Skills Workshops
The Swansea University Academic Success Program (ASP) offers various weekly
run studies skills courses that you can book onto via: [Link]
Courses start running from 01/02/2016, and topics include writing skills, essay writing,
academic language, and critical thinking. The ASP also offers one-to-one
appointments with support tutors to discuss aspects of your work and offer
constructive feedback. As with the skills courses, these can be booked via the ASP
MyUni page.

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