Chachere Syllabus Atlantic History Seminar

Miscegenation and the Construction of Race in American Literature and Culture
IDS 121.19 06 Text and Context in Literary Studies
Illinois State University
Instructor: Ms.Karen A. Chachere

Course Description
In 1903, W. E. B. Dubois wrote, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line,…" Historically both, black and white writers have long used the novel of miscegenation (race-mixing) and passing to explore and protest the legal and social color line that separates whites from blacks. In America, we still live with the paradox that white is black, i.e. the one drop rule. Through the lens of miscegenation, we can openly interrogate laws governing the United States, as well as social institutions that insist one must declare whether they are either black or white.

This course is designed so that we may collectively query and discuss both legal and cultural assumptions concerning miscegenation jurisprudence and its "illegal progeny"-the mulatto. We will start the semester reading and analyzing excerpts from Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia along with legal jurisprudence such as: Plessy v. Ferguson, The Rhinelander Case, Loving v. State of Virginia, and Alabama Miscegenation Laws. After we construct a legal framework, we will position four novels along with two films, on miscegenation/passing, within the legal framework, to question how laws and society influence literature, history, and cultural ideologies concerning race.

Required Texts:
Chesnutt, Charles The Marrow of Tradition (Penguin Classics)
Hopkins, Pauline Hagar's Daughter (X-Press)
Larsen, Nella Passing (Penguin Classics)
Sollors, Werner Interracialism: Black-White Intermarriage in American Literature, History, and Law (Oxford University Press)
Twain, Mark Pudd'nhead Wilson, (Norton Critical Edition)

Assignments:
2 Essays 40%
Position Papers and Class Discussion 20%
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 25%
100%

Disabilities: Students with special needs please speak with me immediately

Readings:
Please be advised that 121.19 is reading intensive. Some of the pieces may prove to be difficult and long; therefore, I advise all of you to read ahead and stay abreast of the reading assignments in order to prepare yourselves for class discussions and written work.

One-Page Papers:
The response essays are to be polished papers with titles and are to be no longer than one-single-space page. In the paper, you need to explore in depth some aspect of the work being discussed that week. I do not, however, want you to simply regurgitate or summarize what was discussed in class or perform plot summaries. Instead, your papers could explore some aspect of law, subject positions in the text, and how all of these mitigating factors relate to the "ideal American" community.

Class Discussion/ Etiquette
Class time will be devoted to serious discussions of the readings; I will seldom lecture (except when necessary). To ensure that this class is not only valuable but also productive, please come to class on time, well prepared, and participate as much as possible.

Class discussions should provide a forum for free and open expression of your ideas and opinions concerning the works we have read, their context, and their relevance today. Other students may sometimes discuss views on political and social issues with which you do not agree. Open disagreement is fine and can be extremely productive, as long as it does not disrupt class. Criticism in class must be given in a constructive way that respects the opinions and rights of others, and if it becomes reductive, I will not hesitate to intervene. Although class discussion is student driven, I will not tolerate nor will I condone name-calling, cursing or any other behavior(s) that threaten the atmosphere of the classroom.

Attendance and Tardiness:
Because of the highly participatory nature of the course, your attendance is mandatory. While emergencies do occur, excessive absences will affect your grade. Coming in late to class is rude and disruptive, so please be on time.

Late Work:
Every assignment has a due date. As a rule, I do not accept late assignments or excuses as to why an assignment is incomplete. All assignments are to be handed in to me in class. I will not accept any papers left on/under my office door, or in my mailbox. If you can not be present on a day when one of the essays is due, make arrangements with me to hand it in early. Otherwise, make-up work is not available.

Plagiarism: All papers are to adhere strictly to MLA guidelines. Plagiarism occurs when one appropriates the words or thoughts of another person as their own.

Assignment Schedule

Week 1
Tuesday, January 15 -Course Introduction and Overview
Thursday, January 17
--Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia (handout)
--Video Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings

Week 2
-The History of Miscegenation and the Legal Construction of Race
Tuesday, January 22
-- Interracialism: Introduction 3-19, "Terms from the Oxford English Dictionary" 211-219, "The Beginnings of Miscegenation of the Whites and Blacks" 42-54
Thursday, January 24
--Interracialism "Racial Purity and Interracial Sex in the Law of Colonial and Antebellum Virginia"81-139. Position Paper 1 Due
--Discuss topics for first paper

Week 3
Tuesday, January 29
--Interracialism: "The Miscegenation Issue in the Election of 1864" 219-265, "Interracial
Marriage and the Law" 54-61
Thursday, January 31
--Interracialism: "The Virginia 'Act to Preserve Racial Integrity' of 1924" 21-24, Pace v. State of Alabama1883 24-26, Loving v. Commonwealth of Virginia 1967, 26-34 "The Enforcement of Anti-Miscegenation Laws" 140-161,

Week 4-Issues of Miscegenation and the "Tragic" Mulatto in American Literature and Culture
Tuesday, February 5
--Interracialism: "Representing Miscegenation Laws" 61-81, Plessy V. Ferguson (Handout)
Thursday, February 7
--Interracialism: "American Literary Tradition and the Negro" 269-274, From "Negro as Seen by White Authors" 274-280, "The Mulatto in American Fiction" 280-284, "Miscegenation in the Late Nineteenth-Century Novel" 305-314 Position Paper 2 Due

Week 5
Tuesday, February 12
--Interracialism: "Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson" 326-330,
--Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson, 3-57
Thursday, February 14
--Puddn'head Wilson, 57-99

Week 6
Tuesday, February 19
--Pudd'nhead Wilson, 99-115, Read Edward Wagenknect's essay, "Development of Plot and Character in Pudd'nhead Wilson" 342-346 and Arthur G. Pettit's "The Black and White Curse: Pudd'nhead Wilson 346-360 (Wagenknect and Pettit's essays are located in the Criticism section of the Norton edition of Pudd'nhead Wilson)
Thursday, February 21
--Film: A House Divided
--Paper 1 Due

Week 7
-Miscegenation and the Cult of True Womanhood
Tuesday, February 26
--Interracialism: "Miscegenation" 461-473
Thursday, February 28
--Interracialism: "Victims of Likeness: Quadroons and Octoroons in Southern Fiction"393-407, "Bodily Bonds: The Intersecting Rhetorics of Feminism and Abolition" 408-437
--Discuss topics for final paper
--Position Paper 3 Due

Week 8
Tuesday, March 5
--Lecture: The Hagar Myth; Review and Discussion
--Pauline Hopkin's Hagar's Daughter 1-62

Thursday, March 7 *************Mid Term Exam**************

Week 9
March 12 Spring Break (No Class) and March 14 Spring Break (No Class)

Week 10
Tuesday, March 19
-- Hagar's Daughter 62-145
Thursday, March 21
--Hagar's Daughter 145-188

Week 11
Tuesday, March 26
--Hagar's Daughter 188-222
Thursday March 28
--Hagar's Daughter 222-252
--Position Paper 4 Due

Week 12
-Racial Panic and White (Over) Reaction at the Turn of the Century
Tuesday, April 2
-- http://www.mith.umd.edu/courses/amvirtual/wilmington/waddell1.html: This Website provides historical and first hand accounts of the Wilmington, North Carolina Race riot. Please read the information carefully and take notes for class discussion.
--Charles Chesnutt's The Marrow of Tradition read the introduction-62
Thursday, April 4
--The Marrow of Tradition 63-108

Week 13
Tuesday, April 9
--The Marrow of Tradition 109-195
Thursday, April 11
--The Marrow of Tradition 196-247-

Week 14
Tuesday, April 16
--The Marrow of Tradition 248-329
Thursday, April 18
--Interracialism: "Reading Race, Rhetoric, and the Female Body" 162-177, "Miscegenation Law, Court Cases, and Ideologies of 'Race' in Twentieth-Century America" 178-204
--Position Paper 5 Due

Week 15
-Passing into the Harlem Renaissance
Tuesday, April 23
--Nella Larsen's Passing introduction-47
Thursday, April 25
-- Passing 51-81
Tuesday, April 30
--Passing 85-114
Thursday, May 2
--Final Papers Due
--Discussion of the final Exam

THE EXACT DATE AND TIME OF THE FINALWILL BE GIVEN WHEN AVAILABLE!!!!