ENGL 0622, Advanced Standing Seminar, Winter 2001 

East Meets West: Masala, Won-Ton, and Hamburgers

 Section 5, Tues/Thurs 3:00 – 4:30, SH 411

Instructor Ms. Ansari

 Purpose

 The US Immigration and Naturalization Service statistics for 1996 show that of 915,900 immigrants, 41,728 (4.6 %) are Chinese and 44,859 (4.9 %) are Indians. How are these increasing numbers of Asian Americans influencing and adapting to American culture? In this course we will examine the Asian immigrant experience in America. We will study literary works by Chinese-American, Indian-American and Japanese-American authors and answer such questions as: What is an American? How do Asian Americans perceive the “typical American”? What does it mean to be an American for a first- and second-generation Asian immigrant? And how do specifically Asian-American women define themselves within the American society? In addition to our study of novels, short stories and a biography, we will view a couple of multicultural films such as Mississippi Masala (1991) and East is East (1999).

Required Texts: 

Bharati, Mukherjee. Jasmine. (Novel)
Divakaruni, Chitra. Arranged Marriage. (Short stories)
Gish, Jen. Typical American. (Novel)
Maxine, Kingston. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. (stories)
See, Lisa Lenine. On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family. (Biography)
Shigekuni, Julie. A Bridge Between Us. (Novel)

 You will also be required to read a few essays/articles that give greater depth to the texts listed above. I will photocopy these articles for you before we delve into any particular text.

 Requirements:

 1) Essay Assignments: You are required to write two 5-page essays and a 10-page research paper. All paper assignments will be explained clearly in class -- in discussion and written form. 

·        Format for Assignments: All essays prepared out of class should be written on a computer or your laptop. Please proofread your essay carefully after it is typed and make any necessary corrections. Essays should be formatted using a standard twelve-point font such as Times New Roman. Leave 1 inch margins on the top, bottom and right borders of your text and 1.5 inch margin on the left. Double space your papers.

·        Folder for Assignments: All essays must be submitted in a folder with pockets and with your name on it. Keep your graded essays in the folder and turn the accumulated essays in each time an assignment is due. 

·        Late Assignments: An essay's grade will drop by one-third for the first, second and third day it is late. (An A, for example, will drop to an A- after one day.) After the third day, it will no longer be accepted. 

·        Plagiarism: If you use another writer's words and/or ideas in your paper, acknowledge  it and cite the source in your paper. If you commit plagiarism, you will fail the paper on the first offense and you will fail the course on the second offense. Please read the Guide (p.41) for more details. 

2) Reader Responses: To encourage you to critically think about the material you will be reading, I will ask you to write a one-page informal response to a reading assignment.

4) Attendance: Regular attendance is mandatory. If you miss more than three classes, your grade will be lowered by one full letter grade. (see Guide, p. 57)

5) Conferences: You must schedule at least one conference with me during the quarter. A conference is for the purpose of discussing your writing with me in more detail than class time permits. Besides seeing me at the conference, the more often you visit me during my office hours, the more I will be able to help you individually with your paper assignments. 

 Assignments and Grading: 

Schedule of Readings, Assignments and Activities: