American Indians

She had horses who danced in their mothers' arms.
--Joy Harjo

Home Page
Class Schedule
bredin home

Renae Bredin
H 212B, X3742
Office Hours: M 1-2:30, T 11:30-1
rbredin@fullerton.edu
hss.fullerton.edu/womens/bredin

Student Creative Projects

J. Wagenhoffer, Fall From Grace: Black Elk's Tale
N. Bonilla, Photo Essay, Canyon de Chelly
G. Staley, Cambodian Storytelling

Resources

Native American Literature Resources

NY Times articles

Architect of the National Museum of the American Indian

Indigenous Poets

Paula Gunn Allen (J. Hawes)
Jeannette Armstrong
Marilou Awiakta
Jimmy Santiago Baca (M. Miller)
Gloria Bird
Peter Blue Cloud (S. Lewis)
Joseph Bruchac
Chrystos (P. Chavis)
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn
Heid Erdrich
Louise Erdrich (L. Matos)
Joy Harjo (A. Brown)
Geary Hobson
Linda Hogan (K. Campbell)
Maurice Kenny (E. Bender)
Lee Maracle (D. Boyer)
Deborah Miranda (J. Wagenhoffer)
N. Scott Momaday (N. Bonilla)
Marijo Moore (V. Martinez)
Nora Naranjo-Morse (K. Cooper)
Duane Niatum (K. Pandes)
nila northSun (G. Staley)
Simon Ortiz (N. Pillegi)
Carter Revard (J. Siplivy)
Wendy Rose (H. Rigby)
Carol Lee Sanchez
Luci Tapahanso (D. Boyer)
Laura Tohe (L. Manzo)
Mark Turcotte (K. Awad)
James Welch
Elizabeth Woody
Ray A. Young Bear
Ofelia Zepeda (C. Christopher)




site management: renae bredin
Updated: 11/9/06

ENGL 328: Literature of the American Indians
Fall 2006

Course Description

This semester we will read and analyze the literature of Native North American, including both traditional, oral literature, such as myths and songs, and contemporary genres of poetry, fiction, personal narrative, and oratory. We will examine the work of such authors as Louise Erdrich, N. Scott Momaday, James Welch, Leslie Silko, and Joy Harjo. In addition, we will look at issues relevant to the study of Native American literature, issues such as authenticity and orality vs. literacy.

Required Books

Life Among the Piutes, Sarah Winnemuca
Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk & John G. Niehardt
House Made of Dawn, M. Scott Momaday
Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko
Love Medicine, Louise Erdrich
Winter in the Blood, James Welch
Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexie
The Trickster of Liberty, Gerald Vizenor
She Had Some Horses, Joy Harjo

Course Requirements

  • 40 points 2 Creative Projects, 20 pts. each
  • 20 points Poetry Review (replaces Story Versions or Tribal Cosmology Research)
  • 20 points Reading Cards
  • 20 points Participation

Creative Projects

In response to one or more of the readings, produce a creative analysis of the ideas, issues, and aesthetics of the text. You will hand in two creative projects, one by 10/3, and one by 11/14. Check with me before you begin to make sure the project is feasible and appropriate.

Poetry Review

Chose one American Indian poet from the list on the left. Read through their body of work. Choose one poem tht you find representative, and write a review of the poet, their work, the meaning of the poem you have chosen, and how that poem fits into their body of work. Bring the poem, copies of the poem for everyone, and your review of the poem to class. You will have 5 minutes to discuss the poem and your review in class. The review should be 1 page, single spaced, 12 point font. Each student will report on a different poet. Sign up with Dr. Bredin.

Reading Cards

For each reading, prepare a 3 X 5 card with the publication information, an abstract of the work, and the things that are important for you to remember about the work. These cards will be due the week after we discuss the reading. You will hand in cards for 9 books and 1 film. Hand written work is acceptable.

Participation

Participation means contributing to the discussions in class, coming to class prepared (ready and thinking), and talking. This is a discussion-based course, and you will need to be here to keep up with the material. Your contributions to the class will also be critical to our success. See below for separate attendance policy.

Grading

This class will not use plus/minus grading.

Attendance Policy

Because part of your grade is based on participation, you must attend class. Lack of attendance will have a negative impact on your participation grade.

Classroom Expectations

The following list covers expectations for in-class behavior:
  • Turn off all cell phones and beepers [you'll be asked to leave if your phone rings]
  • Arrive on time
  • Do not leave during class except for emergencies
  • Be prepared with all readings
  • All work must be your own. Plagarism will result in a failing grade on the assignment.

Learning Goals and Outcomes

GE III.B.3: Implications, Explorations and Participatory Experience in the Arts and Humanities

  • a: Through readings and essays, students will understand and analyze historical and contemporary texts that are identified as written by people of American Indian heritage and as produced within an American Indian literary and storytelling tradition.
  • a: Through written essays and oral story presentations, to integrate historical, cultural and anthropological models with traditional literary analysis to understand and appreciate the various tribal perspectives and world views.
  • b: In class discussions, and in written class preparations, students will explore the art of living in more than one culture, practiced and in many cases perfected, through the stories, poems, novels, and films of American Indian writers.
  • c: Essays and exams will require that you analyze and assess the philosophical, historical, and sociological implications of the strategies for dealing with cultural and physical genocide that American Indian writers explore in their work.
  • d: Students will produce their own stories modeled on the texts based on oral traditions studied in this course
  • d: We will develop an appreciation of artistic performance and non-Western art forms as we view several films of American Indian storytellers practicing their art, and films made by American Indian filmmakers
Cultural Diversity
  • 1: In written work and in class discussions, students will explore the fundamental components of several American Indian tribal groups through the literature, stories and poems of American Indian writers and storytellers
  • 2. Students will explore the relationship between gender and culture, and then apply their understanding of this relationship, through preparations and class discussions, to the questions of class and ethnicity
  • 3. Through class discussions, and through class preparations, students will be able to read, assess and incorporate an understanding of the simultaneous diversity of the world and the inter-connection that keeps that diversity in balance.
  • 4. Students will be able to recognize and evaluate how their cultural history has influenced their own sense of identity, as they use the models for such analyses explored in class readings and films.