English 5, Section 302 -- Writing about the Novel Asian American Identity and Literature

Instructor: Erika Lin
Email: elin@english.upenn.edu
Office: 4th floor Bennett Hall, cubicle A5
Office Hours: by appointment
Mailbox: 4th floor Bennett Hall, near cubicle A1
Course listserv: lin5@english.upenn.edu
Course home page: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~elin/eng5.html

Last updated: 12/10/98

Course Description

By the end of this semester, I hope you'll have a good understanding of the various issues involved in what it means to be an Asian American. More importantly, however, I'd like to give you a sense of how your own lives, your own identities relate to large societal structures and issues. To this end, in discussing how Asian American writing relates to Asian American identity, I hope you'll come to a better understanding of what it means for you to be a writer and how your writing relates to who you are both personally and in society at large. We'll be focusing on two major genres of writing, the personal narrative and the critical essay, but we'll also "dabble" in other forms of writing to give you a taste of the different circumstances in which you may encounter writing in your future life and what those circumstances may ask of you. I'll be asking you to think of writing as a process, and we'll be exploring what the steps of that process are. However, most importantly, I hope that, by the end of this semester, you'll develop more of a sense of ownership over your own writing, a sense of confidence in your own abilities as a writer. I hope that you'll be able to develop a personal relationship to your writing, so that not only can you respond well to any writing situation you're placed in, but you'll also be able to feel writing as something powerful, empowering, and even spiritual.

Texts

Books

• Chan, Sucheng. The Asian Americans: An Interpretive History. New York: Twayne, 1991.
• Sone, Monica. Nisei Daughter. Seattle: U. of Washington Press, 1953.
• Kingston, Maxine Hong. Woman Warrior. New York: Vintage, 1975.
• Lee, Chang Rae. Native Speaker. New York: Riverhead, 1995.
• Jen, Gish. Mona in the Promised Land. New York: Vintage, 1996.
• Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Boston: Shambhala, 1986.
• Aaron, Jane E. The Little, Brown Compact Handbook. 3rd ed. New York: Longman, 1998.

Bulkpack

Bulkpack Contents:

• Wong, Sau-ling Cynthia. Excerpt from Reading Asian American Literature: From Necessity to Extravagance. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993.
• Kim, Elaine H. Excerpt from Preface and Ch. 1. Asian American Literature: An Introduction to the Writings and Their Social Context. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1982.
• Singer, Natalia Rachel. "Nonfiction in First Person, Without Apology." The Best Writing on Writing. Ed. Jack Heffron. Cincinnati: Story Press, 1994. 140-149.
• Elbow, Peter. "Freewriting." The Writer's Home Companion: An Anthology of the World's Best Writing Advice, From Keats to Kunitz. Ed. Joan Bolker. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997. 46-55.
• Santos, Bienvenido N. "Immigration Blues" and "Scent of Apples." Scent of Apples. Seattle: U. of Washington Press, 1979.
• Elbow, Peter. "Options for Getting Feedback." The Writer's Home Companion: An Anthology of the World's Best Writing Advice, From Keats to Kunitz. Ed. Joan Bolker. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997. 117-128.
• Okada, John. Ch. 1 of No-No Boy. Seattle: U. of Washington Press, 1976.
• Weinstein, Lawrence. "Model Train of Thought No. 1." The Writer's Home Companion: An Anthology of the World's Best Writing Advice, From Keats to Kunitz. Ed. Joan Bolker. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997. 67-73.
• Livesy, Margot. "How to Tell a True Story." The Best Writing on Writing. Ed. Jack Heffron. Cincinnati: Story Press, 1994. 72-84.
• Howard, V. A., and J. H. Barton. Excerpt from Thinking on Paper. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1986.
• Lanham, Richard A. "The Official Style." Revising Prose. New York: Scribner, 1979.
• Bolker, Joan. "Teaching Griselda to Write." The Writer's Home Companion: An Anthology of the World's Best Writing Advice, From Keats to Kunitz. Ed. Joan Bolker. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997. 168-173.
• Friedman, Bonnie. "Your Mother's Passions, Your Sister's Woes: Writing About the Living." The Best Writing on Writing. Ed. Jack Heffron. Cincinnati: Story Press, 1994. 37-57.
• Mara, Rachna. "Market Analysis" and "Muni." Of Customs and Excise. Toronto: Second Story Press, 1991.
• Lam, Andrew. "Grandma's Tales." Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose. Ed. Barbara Tran, Monique T. D. Truong, and Luu Truong Khoi. New York: Asian American Writers' Workshop, 1998.
• Lam, Andrew. "Love, Money, Prison, Sin, Revenge." Once Upon a Dream: The Vietnamese American Experience. Ed. De Tran, Andrew Lam, and Hai Dai Nguyen. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1995.
• Linmark, R. Zamora. "Blame It on Chachi" and "Kalihi in Farrah." Rolling the R's. New York: Kaya Production, 1995.
• Wat, Eric. C. "Preserving the Paradox: Stories from a gay-loh." Amerasia Journal 20.1 (1994): 149-160.
• Takagi, Dana Y. "Maiden Voyage: Excursion into Sexuality and Identity Politics in Asian America." Amerasia Journal 20.1 (1994): 1-17.
• Aguilar-San Juan, Karin. "Linking the Issues: From Identity to Activism." The State of Asian America: Activism and Resistance in the 1990s. Ed. Karin Aguilar-San Juan. Boston: South End Press, 1994.
• Dove, Rita. "To Make a Prairie." The Writer's Home Companion: An Anthology of the World's Best Writing Advice, From Keats to Kunitz. Ed. Joan Bolker. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997. 154-163.

Resources

Peer Writing Advisors (http://www.english.upenn.edu/Writing/WATU/advisors.html): peer advising online at writeme@english.upenn.edu or in-person at the Writers House, Hill House, and McClelland Hall.

Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide (http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jlynch/Grammar): fast, online advice about style (grammar and mechanics) from former Penn English grad student Jack Lynch.

Writers House (http://www.english.upenn.edu/~wh): hosts many fun events for readers and writers. For more info, check out their website or call 573-WRIT.

Writing Program Home Page (http://www.english.upenn.edu/Writing): general guide to writing resources at Penn.

Tutoring and Learning Resources: Help with all kinds of study skills from time management to reading a lot very quickly. Call 57-EXCEL (573-9235) for an appointment, email them at learning@dolphin.upenn.edu, or drop by during walk-in hours from 12-3 PM daily, Suite 110, High Rise East (3820 Locust Walk).

Greenfield Intercultural CenterAll sorts of support and resources relating to diversity, multiculturalism, and pluralism including advocacy, educational programs, and a video library. Call 898-3357 or stop by 3708 Chestnut Street Monday - Thursday 9 AM - 11 PM, Friday 9 AM - 5 PM, or Sunday Noon to 10 PM.

Counseling and Psychological Services: Confidential and free individual counseling, support groups (including an Asian American forum), workshops (on such topics as stress management, eating issues, test anxiety, and relationship issues), and walk-in crisis counseling--all to help you develop greater understanding about yourself and others and to enhance your personal well-being and academic performance. Call 898 - 7021 or stop by their office 133 South 36th Street (near Sansom), 2nd Floor Mellon Building, between 9 AM and 5 PM, Monday - Friday.

Schedule

Assignments

Listserv (Tu 9/15): How does the reading assignment change your view of what it means to be Asian American? Pick at least one specific example to talk about.

Listserv (Th 9/17): Pick one thing that interests you about the reading, and talk about what struck you as suprising or odd and why.

Listserv (Tu 9/22): How does the history text reading affect how you read the Santos stories or vice versa?

Listserv (Th 9/24): Respond to any one of the three reading assignments for Thurs., 9/24. What aspect affected you the most, and why?

Listserv (Tu 9/29 & Th 10/1): How do you identify yourself ethnically, and do you think that accurately describes who you are? Why or why not?

Listserv (Tu 10/6): Respond to the selection from No-No Boy. How does it compare to Nisei Daughter? What do you think those differences or similarities might mean?

Listserv (Th 10/8): Respond to the selection from Woman Warrior. What issue(s) interested you the most? How do you think language relates to the(se) issues?

Listserv (Tu 10/13): Respond to the part of Woman Warrior you are reading for today. What interested you most about it and why?

Listserv (Tu 10/20): Respond to the part of Woman Warrior you are reading for today. What interested you most about it and why?

Listserv (Th 10/22): Compare this first section of Native Speaker to Woman Warrior. In what ways are they similar or different?

Listserv (Tu 10/27): Make up a question re: what the author is doing in this section of Native Speaker, and then try to answer it or speculate on an answer.

Listserv (Th 10/29): Make up a question re: what the author is doing in this section of Native Speaker, and then try to answer it or speculate on an answer.

Listserv (Tu 11/3): Pick one passage that you found interesting in this part of Native Speaker. Discuss what interested you and how that relates to the rest of the book.

Listserv (Th 11/5): Pick one passage that you found interesting in this part of Native Speaker. Discuss what interested you and how that relates to the rest of the book.

Listserv (Th 11/12): Think about the style of Mona in the Promised Land. Give an example that characterizes that style, and explain what you think Gish Jen is trying to do by using this style.

Listserv (Tu 11/17): Contrast Mona in the Promised Land to the other novels we've read for this class. How does it differ, and how does this difference relate to whatever statement Gish Jen is trying to make about society at large?

Listserv (Th 11/19): What interests you about this section of Mona in the Promised Land, and why?

Listserv (Tu 11/24): What statement do you think Gish Jen is trying to make about society in general by writing Mona in the Promised Land?

Listserv (Th 12/3): How does race complicate our understanding of sexuality? Be specific, and give examples from the reading.

Listserv (Tu 12/8): Relate the reading that you did for Weekly Assignment #8 to the Karin Aguilar-San Juan article.

Listserv (Th 12/10): Think about our discussion about theory and practice, about the differences between identity and activism. How can what you've learned this semester be applied as "activism"?

Weekly Writing Assignment #1 (F 9/18): 1) Do a 20-minute freewriting in preparation for the following. 2) Write a 2-3 page personal narrative. You do not have to write about something having to do with Asian American identity or literature, but you should write about something that matters deeply to you, something that you really care about, and you should be sure that your narrative has an ultimate point that you are trying to convey. Be sure to stay specific and concrete throughout. Bring in 4 copies for your peer review group.

Weekly Writing Assignment #2 (M 9/28): 1) Do a 20-minute freewriting in preparation for the following. 2) Write 2 pages about a loss that has affected you emotionally. As Natalie Goldberg says on p. 21 of Bones, "Don't be abstract. Write the real stuff. Be honest and detailed." See also pp. 41-47 of Bones re: detail. Do not rationalize. Instead, describe what it felt/feels like.

Weekly Writing Assignment #3 (M 10/5): 1) Do a 20-minute freewriting in preparation for the following. 2) Write a 2-page personal narrative serving a particular purpose that is not directly personal (e.g. as testimony in a court case, in a history text trying to prove a certain poiint, in a letter to a Congressperson).

Weekly Writing Assignment #4 (M 10/12): Pick a word in Nisei Daughter, No-No Boy, or Woman Warrior. Look it up in the Oxford English Dictionary (the OED) at http://oed.library.upenn.edu, and in 2 pages discuss how the various meanings of the word reflect or enable what it is that the text is trying to say. (No freewriting is due with this assignment, though you're welcome to do it anyway.) Use the "single term searching" option, not just the "definition only" option. Look at the various definitions, but also the examples of usage. You might consider also the dates when various usages were common and the etymology of the word.

Weekly Writing Assignment #5 (M 10/26): Interview an older member of your family about his/her experiences as an Asian American (or as an Asian in America if that's how s/he identifies him or herself). Pick one especially interesting element as a focus, and write 2 pages either (1) analyzing this interview in terms of larger societal issues or (2) about the experience of doing the interview itself. If you choose (1), it will sound more objective, more like a newspaper column (not the factual ones, but rather the "in-depth" articles that analyze a situation). If you choose (2), it will be more like a personal narrative. (See the Natalia Rachel Singer article.)

Weekly Writing Assignment #6 (M 11/2): Write a 1.5-2 page parody of a critical essay.

Weekly Writing Assignment #7 (M 11/16): Give me a working thesis for Essay #3. You should go through the process we did in class together to revise your thesis a number of times before turning it in. If you want to work on Mona, start reading soon!

Weekly Writing Assignment #8 (M 12/7): (1) Pick a topic/issue relating to Asian Americans that is of interest to you (e.g. Filipino American women's issues, job discrimination against recent immigrants in Silicon Valley, etc.). (2) Go to the Penn Library Homepage at http://www.library.upenn.edu and start up LEXIS/NEXIS (located under databases from the main homepage). (3) Select the "General News" category, and find any articles on your subject in what LEXIS/NEXIS considers "major newspapers" in the last six months. (4) Compile a bibliography of the articles that you find (eliminate duplicates due to the same article appearing in different editions of the same newspaper). Make sure to use MLA format to cite your articles. (5) Select three articles to read (and make them significant or important ones; don't make them cheesy little teeny ones). (6) Find the address of your congressperson, and write a 1.5-2 page (double-spaced) letter to that person about this issue. Be sure to have a "thesis" (a focus, a point) to your letter. (I.e. make sure it's clear to the congressperson what the purpose of your letter is.) (7) Print up a single-spaced version of the letter, and mail it.

Essay #1 (F 10/2, 4pm): Starting from scratch, take the best element in Weekly Assignment #1 and use that as your starting point to write a 2-3 page personal narrative. Turn in Assignment #1 with Essay #1. What I'm asking you to do is reconceptualize Assignment #1. This is a "revision" in the sense of revisionging: rethinking the fundamental assumptions, goals, organizational principles, etc. behind Assignment #1 to make large conceptual leaps rather than merely minor changes.

Essay #2 (F 10/23, 4pm): Write a 3-4 page critical essay on Nisei Daughter or Woman Warrior. (If you want to work on No-No Boy, you must see me first and get it approved.) By "critical essay," I mean do a literary "close reading" of the text. (Your "research" here is your close analysis of the text.) Turn in a 20-minute freewriting and 1 copy of your essay to me. You'll also need 3 or 4 copies (depending on how large your peer review group is) for the other members of your peer review group, due the following Tues., 10/27.

Essay #3 (F 11/20, 4pm): Write a 5-page critical essay on either Native Speaker or Mona in the Promised Land. See Weekly Writing Assignment #7. Remember to do a 20-minute freewriting beforehand, and you'll need 3 or 4 copies for your peer review group, due the following Tuesday.

Requirements

Reading Preparation

• Read the assigned texts (or viewing the assigned film) at least once and be prepared to discuss them in class
• Read all of the listserv postings and be prepared to respond to them in class

Class Participation

Email Listserv Postings

Reading Journal

Weekly Writing Assignments

Workshop Writing Assignments

Peer Review

Essays

Portfolio

Individual Conferences

Policies

Grading

• Letter-graded written work 50%
• Other written assignments 25%
• Participation and preparation 25%

Reading preparation and class participation constitute the "Participation and Preparation" part of your grade.

Email listserv postings, your reading journal, your weekly writing assignments, your workshop writing assignments, and your peer reviews of others people's papers are all a part of the "Other written assignments" grade. These assignments are graded on a done/note done basis, rather than given a letter grade. (If you don't do them, though, your grade will suffer.)

To determine the portion of your grade devoted to letter-graded written work, I'll be averaging the first and last versions of each of your essays to get a "final" grade for each of the essays. Then I'll be averaging all of these "final" grades together to arrive at your overall grade for this portion of your grade for the course. In determining this portion of your final course grade, I'll also be taking into account your improvement over the course of the semester. (So, for example, if your initial grades on Essays #1, 2 and 3 are C+, B, and A-, respectively, and the grades on the last versions of each of those essays are B, B+, and A, respectively, then the "final" averaged grade would be B- for Essay #1, B/B+ for Essay #2, and A-/A for Essay #3. These "final" grades for each essay would then be averaged together to determine the portion of your course grade devoted to letter-graded written work. B-, B/B+, and A-/A would average out to somewhere between a B/B+ and a B+. Taking improvement into account, I'd bump it up to a B+.)

Attendance

Late Papers

Collaborative Writing/Plagiarism

Bibliography

Below is a list of other texts you may be interested in reading on your own time at some point in the future. This list is provided for your reference only and is not meant to be a comprehensive list. You are not required to read these for this class.

• Carlos Bulosan,America Is in the Heart
• Lan Cao,Monkey Bridge
• Theresa Cha,DICTEE
• Ed. Juliana Chang,Quiet Fire: A Historical Anthology of Asian American Poetry, 1892-1970
• Ed. Jeffrey Paul Chan, Frank Chin, Lawson Fusao Inada, and Shawn Wong,The Big AIIIEEEEE! An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature
• Leonard Chang,The Fruit 'N Food: A Novel
• Frank Chin,"The Chickencoop Chinaman" and "The Year of the Dragon": Two Plays
• Frank Chin,Donald Duk : A Novel
• Louis Chu,Eat a Bowl of Tea
• Philip Kan Gotanda,Ballad of Yachiyo
• Philip Kan Gotanda,Fish Head Soup and Other Plays
• Philip Kan Gotanda,Yankee Dawg You Die
• Ed. Jessica Hagedorn,Charlie Chan is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction
• Le Ly Hayslip,When Heaven & Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace
• Garrett Hongo,The Open Boat: Poems from Asian America
• Ed. Velina Hasu Houston,But Still, Like Air, I'll Rise : New Asian American Plays
• David Henry Hwang,The Dance and the Railroad
• David Henry Hwang,FOB
• David Henry Hwang,M. Butterfly
• Gish Jen,Typical American
• Ronyoung Kim,Clay Walls
• Maxine Hong Kingston,China Men
• Maxine Hong Kingston,Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book
• Joy Kogawa,Obasan
• R. Zamora Linmark,Rolling the R's
• Catherine Liu,Oriental Girls Desire Romance
• Rachna Mara,Of Customs and Excise: Short Fiction
• Bharati Mukherjee,Jasmine
• Bharati Mukherjee,The Middleman and Other Stories
• Milton Murayama,All I Asking For Is My Body
• John Okada,No-No Boy
• Bienvenido N. Santos,Scent of Apples: A Collection of Stories
• Ed. Barbara Tran, Monique T. D. Truong, and Luu Truong Khoi,Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry & Prose
• Ed. De Tran, Andrew Lam, and Hai Dai Nguyen,Once Upon a Dream-- the Vietnamese-American Experience
• Ed. Roberta Uno,Contemporary Plays by Women of Color: An Anthology
• Jade Snow Wong,Fifth Chinese Daughter
• Hisaye Yamamoto,Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories
• Lois-Ann Yamanaka,Saturday Night at the Pahala Theater