Washington State University–English/American Studies/History/Women Studies 216x

3 Semester
Credit Hours

American Culture
English/American Studies/
History/Women Studies 216x

Developed by
Erika Kuhlman
1996

Revised by
Penny Hall
1997

NOTE: Revision pending for fall 2004.

Introduction	Textbooks	Course Content	Course Outline
Registration Information	General Information/ Procedures	WSU Academic Regulations	Online Writing Lab
Library Support	Submitting Course Work

WSU

DDP

INTRODUCTION

3 semester credit hours
8 lessons and assignments
2 examinations: 1 midterm and 1 non-comprehensive final

Introduction to the Course

American Culture 216x is an interdisciplinary course, drawing ideas and skills from the disciplines of American Studies, English, History, and Women Studies. Some of the lessons are more history-based, while others deal more with literary works, and still others address concepts from the study of women's experiences in American society.

The course is designed to explore the cultural significance and meanings of social movements in United States history from the slave protests of the nineteenth century, to the women's movement in the 1960s and 1970s. You will be looking primarily at how racial and gender differences have shaped these movements as seen in the literature they inspired. The biographies and autobiographies that comprise much of your readings will allow you to view social movements through the experiences of those whose lives were touched by them. You will discover how the creative efforts produced in response to social protest were shaped by, and in turn, reshaped American culture.

You will be reading about people engaged in social protest. the term "social protest" means a group of people who organize and actively resist some aspect of society with which they disagree. examples include slaves who protested the system of slavery, abolitionists in the north who also protested slavery, and women who fought for the right to vote. Generally speaking, those active in social protest perceive an injustice with regard to how power is distributed in American society. For example, slaves protested the power slaveholders held over them, and women protested the power men, and the governments they formed, wielded over them.

TEXTBOOKS

Joanne Grant, Ed., Black Protest: 350 Years of History, Documents, and Analysis. Ballantine Books, 1996. (Referred to as Black Protest) (ISBN: 0-449-91223-x)
Black Protest, which will serve as the main text for much of the course, contains documents and commentary on African American history from the period of slavery to the 1960s.
Houston A. Baker, Jr., Ed., Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Viking Press, Inc., 1982. (Referred to as Narrative) (ISBN: 0-14-039012-x)
Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Harvard University Press, 1987. (Referred to as Incidents) (ISBN: 0-674-44746-8)
English/American Studies/History/Women Studies 216x DDP course guide (NOTE: This Web page is the introductory material from the course guide, not the complete course guide.)

The course begins with these two nineteenth-century autobiographies of former slaves Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. Reading both of these narratives will help you understand the experiences of men and women slaves, and how some managed to escape to freedom. Until recently, Frederick Douglass' narrative has been considered the most important and most representative of all the slave narratives written (about 1,000). But when Jean Fagin Yellin rediscovered Harriet Jacobs' narrative in the 1980s, scholars took note of the differences in the experiences of male and female slaves.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper. The Feminist Press, 1996. (ISBN: 1-55861-158-4)
The Yellow Wallpaper is an exposure to the gender-related expectations of nineteenth-century white, middle-, and upper-class women. The narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper could not accept the roles "respectable" women were to play in society. her husband's compliance with the social standards of the day aided her descent into eventual madness.
Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era. Basic Books, 1988. (Referred to as Homeward Bound) (ISBN: 0-465-03055-6)
Homeward Bound, a book on the culture of the Cold War, will help you understand the importance of the aftermath of World War II on american family life during the 1950s. Far from the happy, contented affluence depicted on television during the 50s, this decade incubated the seeds of cultural protest which marked the 1960s and 1970s.
Ronald Takaki, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Little, Brown, And Company, 1993. (Referred to as A Different Mirror) (ISBN: 0-316-83111-5)
A Different Mirror will also be used throughout a large portion of the course. Takaki presents a comprehensive multicultural history of American culture from the seventeenth century through the twentieth century.

COURSE CONTENT

Overview Sections

Each lesson in this course guide includes an overview which is designed to give you direction—to point you toward the relevant information found in the texts. Be aware, however, that the Overview section is not a thorough representation of the lesson. in order to fully and accurately understand the lesson content and answer the written assignment questions, you must consider all of the assigned study materials.

A suggested procedure is to review the overview section of a lesson, read the assigned text material for the lesson, highlighting important parts, and then reread the overview section to reinforce what you have just read.

Identification Items

Some lessons include a list of identification items which are designed to help you pick out the important people, places, or events within each lesson. You should be able to identify the item by answering (1) who or what the item is, and (2) why the item is relevant to American culture. (An example is provided in Lesson 4.) Identification terms selected from the lessons will be included in each of the two exams. You might find it helpful to write out your identification responses, but do not submit them for grading.

Written Assignments

The essay questions at the end of each lesson are intended to enhance your understanding of the relevant information concerning American culture. Many lessons offer two questions from which you choose one to answer. By completing the required reading you should be able to provide thorough responses to each of these questions.

The written assignments should be typed, double-spaced, and approximately five pages in length. the completed written assignments should be submitted to the office of Distance Degree Programs by mail, fax, or e-mail as indicated at the end of each lesson. for additional information about submitting assignments, refer to pages iii and iv of the "General Information and Procedures" material that is sent with your text order.

Submitting Course Work

In an effort to provide you with the most convenient and reliable ways to submit your assignments, Distance Degree Programs continually improves its submission processes. Please refer to the “Table of Contents” on the Distance Degree Programs for the most current submission instructions or to the “Flexible Enrollment Courses General Information & Procedures” pages you received with your textbook order from Students Book Corporation (the “Bookie”). If neither of these methods succeeds, you may also call DDP (800-222-4978) to request that a copy of the pages be mailed to you. Make copies of all work submitted to guard against loss of originals in transit. Keep all copies and graded/returned work until a grade has been posted for the course.

Examinations

There will be two examinations in this course, a midterm and a final. You must pass both examinations in order to pass the course. The first section of the examinations will consist of a brief identification of several terms, concepts, places, and individuals. This section will constitute one third of the exam grade. The second section will consist of three short essay questions of which you must answer two. This section will constitute one third of the examination grade. The third section will consist of one broad essay question and will constitute the final one third of the examination grade. You will have three hours to complete each examination. If you complete the written assignments, you should have no problem completing the examinations successfully.

GRADING SCALE

8 Written Assignments	33 1/ 3%
Midterm Exam	33 1/ 3%
Final Exam	33 1/ 3%
Total	100%

In Order To Receive A Passing Grade In This Course You Must Pass Both Of The Proctored Examinations.

A Note on Academic Integrity/Plagiarism

There are two forms of plagiarism. One is unintentional or careless when you use other writers’ words and ideas as though they were your own. If you commit this kind of plagiarism, your instructor may ask you to rewrite part or all of your paper so that your sources are properly acknowledged.

In the second form of plagiarism, you turn in a paper written by someone else and claim it as your own, or copy sections of a book or article without proper documentation even though you understand how to document. You have cheated and thus have violated WSU’s academic integrity policies which appear in the WSU Student Handbook. The Student Handbook references the appropriate sections of the Washington Administrative Code.

WSU adheres to the plagiarism policy stated in the Washington Administrative Code. “Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, and fabrication in the process of completing academic work. The University expects that student organizations will accept these standards and that their members will conduct themselves as responsible members of the academic community. These standards should be interpreted by students as general notice of prohibited conduct. They should be read broadly, and are not designed to define misconduct in exhaustive forms.” (WAS 504-25-015)

“All clear instances of academic dishonesty shall be reported to the Office of Student Affairs. The first reported instance at WSU of academic dishonesty by a student will be treated as purely an academic matter unless, in the judgement of the responsible instructor, more serious action should be taken through the disciplinary process. Any allegation of subsequent academic dishonesty will be treated as a matter to be referred to the Office of Student Affairs.” (WAC504-25-315)

COURSE OUTLINE

Lesson	Topics	Reading/Written Assignment
1	Enslaved: The Experiences Of Frederick Douglass And Native Americans	Narrative Black Protest, Pp. 11–16; 46–60 A Different Mirror, Pp. 24–50 Written Assignment #1
3	Women In The Late Nineteenth Century	The Yellow Wallpaper A Different Mirror, Pp. 154–160; 209–215; 247–251; 293–298 Written Assignment #3
4	Migration To The North In The Early Twentieth Century	Black Protest, Pp. 165–202 A Different Mirror, Pp. 311–339 Written Assignment #4
5	The Harlem Renaissance And The Urban North: 1915–1930	Poems (In The Lesson) A Different Mirror, Pp. 340–369 Written Assignment #5
Midterm Examination (Covers Lessons 1–5)
6	World War II And The American Family	Homeward Bound, Chs. 1–6 A Different Mirror, Pp. 378–399 Written Assignment #6
7	Governmental Support For The Cold War Baby Boom	Homeward Bound, Chs. 7–9 Written Assignment #7
8	The African American Civil Rights Movement: 1954–1972	Black Protest, Pp. 237–299; 345–379; 435–441; 483–495 Written Assignment #8
*Final Examination (Covers Lesson 6–8)*

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

Online Writing Lab

Washington State University has created an online writing lab. This is a service organized by students and for students. You can log onto the online writing lab from the World Wide Web and receive feedback on your writing. Although this course is not one in writing instruction, your ability to express yourself on the page forms the basis of each assignment and exam and will serve you well in many other endeavors. Please feel free to take advantage of this service as a way to improve your writing. The Internet address for the lab is owl.wsu.edu.
Library Services

All students enrolled in WSU distance courses can use the WSU Libraries online databases (accessible at griffin@wsu.edu) and receive reference and research assistance from the Distance Degree Library Services (DDLS). You can also borrow books and other circulating material and receive photocopies of journal articles. For logon assistance and additional information about library support, call DDLS at 1-800-435-5832 or e-mail edplib@wsu.edu or check out the DDLS Web page; many courses have specific information and resources available (see the list of courses under “Find Your Course”). If you leave a message or send an e-mail, please include as many details as possible, including how to get in touch with you.
Disability Accomodations

Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. If you need to request an accomodation, contact DDP about how to proceed. All accommodations must be approved through Washington State University’s Disability Resource Center (DRC).

Last Updated: 2/18/00
By: Lamont Brush
Comments or Suggestions: DDP

Last modified : Sunday, August 15, 2004 Help Webmaster: distance@wsu.edu