English 2275

Tu & Th 11:00-12:20
Denney 214

Blake Wilder
wilder.75@osu.edu
Denney 513
Office Hours: Tu & Wed 9-11am

Southern Literature from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement
What is the South?
Where is the South?
What makes someone a Southerner?
When did the South even become the South?
What is the relationship between the South and America as whole?
These questions move from apparently simple to increasingly complex, and they should suggest
that the South as a place and as a space is a more complicated concept than is often
acknowledged in mainstream discourse. Not surprisingly, the literature produced in the South,
about the South, and by Southern authors also offers a rich field of overlapping and conflicting
perspectives, identities, and values.
In this course, we will explore the field of Southern Literature from the Civil War to the
Civil Rights Movement. These temporally boundaries are in part logistical: a course that
surveyed all of Southern Literature would be forced to sacrifice depth for breadth. However, the
roughly hundred years that this course will cover also offers a particularly concentrated period of
dynamic cultural transformations.
Although slave narratives and other texts about slavery have a foundational place in the
canon of Southern Literature, we will begin with the emergence of the New South in the
decades following the Civil War. While texts that deal explicitly with slavery have not been
included, the legacy of slavery is a significant factor in many of the texts that are included. The
fate of newly freed slaves, early twentieth century migration patterns, and the long struggle for
civil rights will all be recurring topics we discuss how the course texts address race. The
changing role of women in the home and the workplace will also be recurring theme. Moreover,
the time period covered by this course also saw a dramatic rise in urbanization and
modernization. Trends that inflect issues of class and also produced romanticized versions of an
agrarian past. Looking at a range of genres and format including poetry, drama, and several
modes of fiction we will consider how the writers of the South used their literature to respond
to and attempt to shape a world of great cultural change.

Students with disabilities that have been certified by the Office for
Disability Services will be appropriately accommodated, and
should inform the instructor as soon as possible of their needs.
The Office for Disability Services is located in 150 Pomerene Hall,
1760 Neil Avenue; telephone 292-3307, TDD 292-0901; OSU
Office for Disability Services.
1

Goal and Objectives:

GOALS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR THE GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM
2. Breadth: C. Arts and Humanities
Goals:
Students evaluate significant writing and works of art. Such studies develop capacities for aesthetic and historical
response and judgment; interpretation and evaluation; critical listening, reading, seeing, thinking, and writing; and
experiencing the arts and reflecting on that experience.
Expected Learning Outcomes:
1. Students develop abilities to be informed observers of, or active participants in, the visual, spatial, performing,
spoken, or literary arts.
2. Students develop an understanding of the foundations of human beliefs, the nature of reality, and the norms that
guide human behavior.
3. Students examine and interpret how the human condition and human values are explored through works of art and
humanistic writings.
(1) Literature Expected Learning Outcomes:
1. Students learn to analyze, appreciate, and interpret significant literary works.
2. Through reading, discussing, and writing about literature, students learn to understand and evaluate the personal
and social values of their own and other cultures.

The following four goals are specific to the special topic of Southern Literature.
They should not be thought of as additional goals or extra work on top of the GEC
requirements. Rather, they should add clarity with regard to the specific content
and assignments of this course. They are designed to help you better identify what
you are expected to learn in this course.
Goal: Students will appreciate and be able to describe Southern Literature as a distinct sub-genre of American
Literature
Expected Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to...
name major authors and works associated with Southern Literature
describe the formal and aesthetic qualities of those authors/works
recognize themes and motifs that might identify a work as Southern Literature
Goal: Students will understand the historical and cultural contexts that shape the literature of the South
Expected Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to...
relate features of a text to historical events or cultural values of the South
understand when and how an author's or character's perspective is shaped by Southern culture/history
imaginatively inhabit such points-of-view even if they don't agree with them
Goal: Students will gain familiarity with various theoretical and critical methodologies of literary analysis
Expected Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to...
recognize when a given critical approach would be productive
employ the basic terms and strategies of various critical approaches
interpret the meaning of text through such critical strategies
construct an original argument about a text in conversation with broader trends of literary analysis
Goal: Students will gain confidence in articulating and communicating their ideas
Expected Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to...
participate in collaborative conversations about subjective interpretations
discuss ideas openly, orally, and clearly
research and support interpretations with existing scholarship
organize, compose, and revise sophisticated arguments
present arguments in multiple modes of communicatio

Grading Scale

Required Texts:
Course Pack
Cane (1923)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940)
Inherit the Wind (1955)
Blues for Mister Charlie (1964)
Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968)
Southern Local Color (2002 anthology)

Assignments:
Participation
Oral Research Presentation
Close-reading Paper
Visualizing Southern Perspectives
Coverage Exam
Final Paper

15%
10%
15%
15%
20%
25%

Grade From

To

93

100

A-

90

92

B+

87

89

83

86

B-

80

82

C+

77

79

73

76

C-

70

72

D+

67

69

60

66

59

Participation
Students will be responsible for all the assigned reading materials and will be expected to come
to class prepared to contribute to collaborative discussions. Additionally, there will be three
formal quizzes (these are already listed on the schedule). These quizzes are designed to measure
your active engagement with reading and class discussion. They will make up at least half of
your participation grade. However, they are also designed to prepare you for the types of
questions and information that will be included on the Coverage Exam.
Oral Research Presentation
The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture is an excellent resource for the study of Southern
Literature. Throughout the semesters, students will signup to go read particularly relevant entries
and report back to the class (specific entries not yet listed). Students will make a 5-10 minute
oral report summarizing the contents of their assigned entry and then relate it to a specific
portion of the daily assigned reading.
Close-reading Paper
Students will choose a small section of one the course texts (no more than a page in length) and
write a short paper (3-5 pages) that explains how that passage relates to the meaning of the text
as whole and/or reveals the author's cultural perspective. Students should copy out the chosen
passage and include it as an appendix to their paper. Papers should have a central claim, an
organized structure, and specific evidence as support.
Visualizing Southern Perspectives
Students will produce an image, a digital composition that visually depicts their understanding of
certain areas of the content covered in class.
Option 1: Students will present an entire novel as a magazine cover. The image should relate a
main feature of the text and short blurbs should reveal sub-plots or themes.
Option 2: Students will choose a character from one of the course texts and create a fake online
profile (facebook, linkedin, okcupid). The type of profile chosen and the information
included should reflect the student's understanding of that character.
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Coverage Exam
The coverage exam will cover all the material in the first six units of the course. Through
multiple-choice, passage-identification, and short answer questions students will demonstrate
their knowledge of the major authors and works of Southern Literature as well as the
fundamental approaches to literary analysis.
Final Paper
Students will write a 6-8 page paper on a text of their choice. Final papers should demonstrate
the close-reading skills already developed in the course as well as awareness of some of the
major themes of Southern culture. Final paper should include research from at least two
independently researched scholarly sources.

Writing Resources:
The Writing Center (located in 458 Mendenhall Lab; phone 614-688-5883) provides one-on-one
tutorials, writing resources, and handouts to help students improve their writing.
The Digital Media Project (located in Denney 324) can provide assistance and equipment for digital
assignments associated with English department classes. They also maintain a staffed lab for a
limited numbers of hours a week where students can work on projects and ask for program
assistance.

Policies:
Attendance: You are expected to attend every class period, both physically and mentally. This class will
depend heavily upon class discussion and participation. Frequent ans If an absence is
unavoidable, you are still responsible for all the material covered during class time. Make-up
quizzes will only be made available if you contact me prior to the class period of the quiz or if
your absence is for an excused reason. Excused absence includes participation in a universitysponsored event, observed religious holidays, or documented illness.
Tardiness is disruptive to the classroom environment and prevents you from fully participating in group
activities. Excessive tardiness will affect your participation grade
Class cancellation: In the unlikely event of class cancellation due to emergency, I will contact you via email and request that a note on be placed on the door of the classroom. In addition, I will contact
you as soon as possible following the cancellation to let you know what will be expected of you
for our next class meeting.
Student work: All written student work should include a header in the upper-right hand corner of the
page that includes Your Name, the Date the assignment is due, English 2275 or Southern
Literature,,and the Assignment designation. Written work should be double-spaced, in Times
New Roman 12-point or equivalent font, and include page numbers. Late work will be penalized
one-third of a letter grade for each day that it is late. Specific digital designations for the
Visualizing Southern Perspectives assignment will be included on a later assignment prompt.
Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct is the representation of anothers works or ideas as ones own; it
includes the unacknowledged word for word use and/or paraphrasing of another persons work,
and/or the unacknowledged use of another persons ideas. It is the responsibility of the
Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish procedures for the investigation
of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term academic misconduct includes
all forms of student academic misconduct wherever committed; illustrated by, but not limited to,
cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with examinations. Instructors shall
report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the committee (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487).
For additional information, see the Code of Student Conduct. Academic Misconduct (rule 333531-02) is defined as any activity which tends to compromise the academic integrity of the
institution, or subvert the educational process. Please refer to rule 3335-31-02 in the student
code of conduct for examples of academic misconduct.

Course Schedule:
Day 1
What is the South?
Reading:
the syllabus

Unit One: Reconstruction, Redemption, and Race

Day 2
Recovering from Civil War Continuing Racial Violence
Reading:
Mark Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, ch. 15-18 (course pack)
Thomas Dixon: The Leopards Spots, ch. 14-23 (course pack)
C. Vann Woodward (ed.): Mary Chesnutts Civil War, selections (course pack)
Day 3
Frame Narratives Dialect and the Power of Language
Reading:
Introduction to Southern Local Color (@50 pages)
Mark Twain: A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It (SLC)
Paul Laurence Dunbar: We Wear the Mask and selected dialect poems (course pack)
Day 4
Stereotypes and Subversion Critical Race Theory
Reading:
Joel Chandler Harris: Uncle Remus stories (SLC)
Charles Chesnutt: The Goophered Grape Vine & Daves Neckliss (SLC)
Po Sandy (course pack)
Paul Laurence Dunbar: Nelse Hattons Vengence (SLC)

Unit Two: Lynching and the Rise of Jim Crow

Day 5
Violence and the Black Body Ritual and Community Ida B. Wells
Reading:
Joel Chandler Harris: Wheres Duncan? (SLC)
Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Lynching of Jube Benson (SLC)
Day 6
The North and the South Formal Unity
Reading:
Jean Toomer: Cane (1923), parts I & II
Day 7
Drama and Speaking Out Mary Turner
Reading:
Jean Toomer: Cane, part III

Quiz on Units One & Two

Unit Three: Gender Politics and the Tragic Mulatto

Day 8
Female Desire The Tragic Mulatto
Reading:
Kate Chopin: Dsires Baby & The Storm (SLC)
Day 9
Womens work Oppressive Patterns
Reading:
Zora Neale Hurston: Sweat (course pack)
Eudora Welty: A Worn Path (course pack)
Day 10
Frame Narratives Narrative Focalization
Reading:
Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Day 11
The Modern Tragic Mulatto Feminist Theory
Reading:
Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Day 12
Female Empowerment Feminist Theory
Reading:
Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Quiz on Unit Three

Unit Four: Southern Gothic and the Grotesque

Day 13
Race, Class, Gender Disability Studies
Reading:
Carson McCullers: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Day 14
Race and Labor Systemic Violence
Reading:
Carson McCullers: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Photoshop Tutorial

Day 15
The Grotesque
Reading:
Carson McCullers: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Close-reading Paper Due

Day 16
Select Option & Text/Character for VSA
Southern Gothic The Grotesque
Reading:
Ursula Brumm: William Faulkner and The Southern Renaissance (course pack)
William Faulkner: That Evening Sun (course Pack)
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Day 17
Quiz on Unit Four
Southern Gothic The Grotesque Communal Voices
Reading:
William Faulkner: Dry September & A Rose for Emily (course pack)

Unit Five: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Responsibility

Day 18
Salvation and Southern Ethics
Reading:
Flannery OConnor: A Good Man is Hard to Find, Everything that Rises Must
Converge, and Good Country People. (course pack)
Day 19
in-class workshop time for VSP
Entrenched Values Judicial Spectacles
Reading:
Jerome Lawrence & Robert Edwin Lee: Inherit the Wind
Day 20
Visualizing Southern Perspectives Due
Traditional Values in a Modern World
Reading:
Jerome Lawrence & Robert Edwin Lee: Inherit the Wind

Unit Six: Fugitive Poets, Southern Agrarians, and New Critics

Day 21
The Fugitive Poets An Idealized Agrarian Past Birth of a Nation Gone with the Wind
Reading:
Allan Tate: Ode to the Confederate Dead (course pack)
John Crowe Ransom: Antique Harvester (course pack)
Robert Penn Warren: Mortmain (course pack)
Day 22
New Criticism The Origins of close-reading The Importance of Critical Approaches
Reading:
Allen Tate: The Southern Mode of the Imagination (course pack)
Robert Penn Warren: The Briar Patch (course pack)

Day 23

Coverage Exam

Unit Seven: Protest Fiction and The Civil Rights Movement

Day 24
Protest Fiction Responding to Violence
Reading:
James Baldwin: Going to Meet the Man (course pack)
Eudora Welty: Where is the Voice Coming From? (course pack)
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Day 25
Emmett Till Dramatic Gestures
Reading:
James Baldwin: Blues for Mister Charlie
Day 26
A Jim Crow Childhood
Reading:
Ann Moody: Coming of Age in Mississippi
Day 27
Education as Escape
Reading:
Ann Moody: Coming of Age in Mississippi
Day 28
Working Toward Civil Rights
Reading:
Ann Moody: Coming of Age in Mississippi
Exam Week

Final Paper Due