What all humans have in common is actually what distinguishes them. How we define ourselves is ultimately not up to us because the thing we use for our self-definition – “identity” – is beyond our control. Exploring a variety of literary genres and forms, we will use the conception of identity as the tool to frame our comprehension and interpretation of the selected readings. We can see the concept of identity and identification change over the course of English and American literary history. What does identity/identification mean in literature that reflects the pre-capitalist era, imperial period, or late-capitalist times? Beginning with this fundamental question of identity, we are going to explore the multiplicity of identities of social subjects or objectified subjects which are socially, nationally, racially, and sexually constructed.

Readings include a film and four novels—A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Fixer Chao by Han Ong, and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Short stories will be selected from Charlie Chan Is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction. One film will be shown for the writing purpose. Additional readings consist of articles by Stuart Hall, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Stanley and Derald W. Sue, and Eleanor Ty. A brief introduction to realism and modernism will be provided in class.

In this course, two learning outcomes have been set up for students: first, the ability to develop a reasonable interpretation of a literary text and to support that interpretation with evidence; second, the ability to develop more sophisticated discussion and composition skills in the interest of being better able to construct and defend their own arguments or interpretations.

As a “W” or writing class, this course will require students to devote effort to writing about literature. Two 1–2-page singled-spaced proposals and two 5–7-page major papers should be completed during the course. Students will get feedback from peer review sessions and the instructor. The writing assignments will additionally include frequent free writing in class. Only the final drafts of both major papers will be graded; but the proposals will be taken into consideration for students’ final grades.

REQUIRED READINGS_________________________________________________________

Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison
Fixer Chao (2001) by Han Ong
The Namesake (2003) by Jhumpa Lahiri
A Single Man (1964) by Christopher Isherwood
Course packet available at the Ave Copy Center (4141 University Way)