You must complete a research-based essay on a topic too advanced to complete in regular coursework, requiring research beyond the normal course assignments (the topic is not covered in the class, but it must have connection with some topics related to the class), and representing critical thinking and analysis at a level not required in regular course work. The proposal can, for example, help to refine the topic by formulating a research question, suggesting possible sources, and mapping the parameters of the project.
The minimum length requirement is about 2500 words (10 pages, double-spaced). Citations from at least five academically accepted sources are required. For example, you can used citations from Wikipedia, but they will not count toward the required five sources. When using material from the internet, the date when the source was accessed should be indicated together with the URL. All quotations and borrowed words should be put in quotation marks with documentation that could be in any of the standard formats, such as the MLA parenthetical citation, footnotes, or end notes. Borrowed ideas presented in your own words should also be acknowledged.
After evaluation by the instructor, honors papers go to the department chair by the due date. The chair may review the paper to make sure that it fulfills the criteria specified above.
The first draft of the project or at least an outline with the list of sources to be used should be e-mailed to me.
Course Organization
For an overview of the course, we will start with a very interesting short novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist. After you have mastered its contents, we will start reading the course’s main textbook, The Promise, Reality, and Potential of America: Evidence from Literature and Film. Its Unit 1, “The American Cultural Mosaic,” examines the concept of the American dream and how it has impacted major American cultural groups. We will investigate why the American dream so far has remained just a great idea yet to be realized and why USA is still a nation-in-the making. Also covered throughout the course with help from the book’s different Units will be the commonalities and differences in the patterns of challenges faced by each group and their coping mechanisms and achievements. What makes someone an American and an ideal American will be another related topic to be addressed. A look at the unit topics of the course listed below will give you an idea of the course content. We cover these topics with the help of outstanding literary selections and movies, all of which are included in the book.
1. Introduction to the American Cultural Mosaic, focusing on the American dream
2. The colonization of America and Parts of Oceania
3. Immigrants: Connections and Disconnects
4. Prejudice and Fences
5. Racial Stereotypes
6. Intersecting Identities
7. Struggle for Reconciliation and Embracing Diversity
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course a student will be able to use literature and film to:
1. Apply literary and film terminology used in aesthetic evaluation and cultural criticism.
2. Analyze via film and literature how the concept of the American dream has impacted major cultural groups, focusing on the idea, reality, and potential of the United States of America.
3. Assess literary and cinematic representations of the colonization, conquest, and expansion of America.
4. Compare and contrast the experiences of various immigrant groups through literature and film.
5. Examine patterns of prejudice and ethnic stereotypes in American literature and film, with an emphasis on the theme of “us” versus “them” when defining an American.
6. Evaluate the intersectionality of race/ethnicity, culture, gender, class, sexual orientation, and looks as interlinking and multiple bases of oppression and privilege, as depicted in American literature and film.
7. Evaluate important steps and symbols in the national struggle for reconciliation and the embracing of cultural diversity, noting the contributions of various groups as depicted in literature and film.
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