English 250

Black Britain

Spring 2006

Jeffrey W. Timmons, Ph.D.

Graybeal Hall G6

jtimmons@vwc.edu

www.vwc.edu/~jtimmons

757.455. 3390.

Office Hours:  Monday and T, 2-430pm, and by appointment. 

 

Course Description:  This course focuses on contemporary writers, most living in Britain, who have Asian, African, and Caribbean ancestry, and who use provocative themes, controversial issues, and creative writing in the representation of multicultural modernity.  We’ll start by considering the very definition of British literature and what it means to add the descriptor black to it.  Although some would prefer a distinction between Black and Asian writing, Mark Stein argues that the “intertextual connections across cultural and ethnic enclosures” are an important feature of much contemporary writing in Britain.  We’ll explore that idea and how writers respond to it in works of poetry, essays, plays, online articles, and several novels.  Writers we’ll read, analyze, discuss, and write about include Hanif Kureishi, Zadie Smith, Caryl Phillips, and Abdulrazzak Gurnah.  We’ll consider some of the historical background of Black British people as part of an Atlantic Diaspora, but we’ll mainly focus on late twentieth century migration and second-generation writers.  This is also a W course, and requires 20 pages of competent college-level writing. 

 

Required Texts: All texts should be available in the campus bookstore.  Each student is expected to have a copy of every text, which should also be brought to every class, as specified in the reading schedule below.   

 

            Gurnah, Abdulrazzak.  Admiring Silence.  The New Press: New York, 1996.

            Selvon, Samuel.  The Lonely Londoners.  Longman Publishing Group: New York, 2001.

            Smith, Zadie.  White Teeth.  Vintage International: New York, 2001. 

            Phillips, Caryll.  New World Order.  Vintage International: New York 2002.

            Kureishi, Hanif.  Collected Screenplays 1.  Faber and Faber: London, 2002.

           

Course Requirements:          

Essays                                                  700pts

            3 @ 200pts

            1 @ 100pts

Presentations                                        100pts

Short Writing Assignment(s)                  50pts

Attendance                                           50pts

Participation/Contributions                    50pts

Quizzes                                                50pts

 

Revision: Since this is a Writing course, you are encouraged to revise your essays for higher grades.  Late essays are ineligible for revision.  See Late Work policy.

 

Attendance: You cannot miss more than SIX classes for any reason and pass this course.  Chronic lateness and/or early departures can constitute absences.  Your attendance grade is determined by the total number of classes missed: B = 1, C = 2, D = 3, D = 4, and F = 5 or more missed classes.  The student is responsible for any material and/or assignments missed during an absence. 

 

Quizzes: These are given during the first five minutes of class to those students who are present in class.  They can not be made up nor are they given to students who arrive late to class.  Also, since we are reading some longer works, the first day of a reading assignment will cover at least and approximately one-third of the assigned reading.

 

Grading Scale for Final Grades: A = 950pts; A‑ = 900; B+ = 875; B = 850; B‑ = 800; C+ = 775; C = 750; C‑ = 600; D+ = 675; D = 650; D‑ = 500; and F = anything below the D‑ grade. 

 

Late Work/On Time:  All assignments are due at the beginning of class, according the schedule below.  Assignments submitted late suffer stiff penalties, and they are not guaranteed to be read or graded, nor do they qualify for revisions.  Unless there are serious, legitimate, and verifiable reasons why an assignment is late, you are always expected to have assignments completed on time.  

 

Make-Up Exams: All exams must be completed on the day and time they are scheduled.  Unless arrangements are made in advance of a scheduled exam, no make-up exams are given. 

 

Completion: All assignments must be completed to pass this course.

 

Course Policies:  Students are responsible for knowing the course policies and responsibilities as they are stated in this syllabus.  The instructor reserves the right to revise the policies, schedules, and assignments contained herein.  Any changes are announced in advance, and with timely notice.

 

Honor Code/Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: You are also expected to be familiar with and abide by the VWC Honor Code found in the Student Handbook and Catalog. Any sort of academic dishonesty, especially plagiarism, can constitute grounds for failing this course.

 

Accommodations: Any student needing accommodations should speak with Fayne Pearson in the Learning Resource Center.  Accommodations must be arranged in advance.

 

January

25        Introduction

            Presentation Assignment          

            Short Writing Assignment

            Essay #1 Assignment

27        Packet: “BSA Anti-Racist Language: Guidance for Good Practice,” “Race and                                      Ethnicity,” “Immigration,” “Whitey Blighty,” “The Great Asian Invasion,”                            “Young, Gifted, Black...and Very Confused.”

 

30        Selvon, The Lonely Londoners: 23-142

February

1          Selvon, The Lonely Londoners

            Short Writing Assignment Due

3          Selvon, The Lonely Londoners

            Ranchand, “An Introduction to this Novel”: 3-20

            Essay #2 Assignment

 

6          Kureishi, “Introduction: Sex and Secularity”: vii-xi

            My Beautiful Laundrette: 1-90

8          Kureishi

10        Kureishi

            Essay #1 Due

 

13        Kureishi, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid: 93-176

15        Kureishi

17        Kureishi

           

20        Kureishi, My Son the Fanatic: 281-385

22        Kureishi

24        Kureishi

            Essay #3 Assignment

 

27        Kureishi on Film

March

1          Kureishi on Film

3          Kureishi on Film

 

6          Smith, White Teeth: 1-102

8          Smith, White Teeth

10        Smith, White Teeth

           

13        Smith, White Teeth: 105-217

15        Smith, White Teeth

17        Smith, White Teeth

            Essay #2 Due

 

27        Smith, White Teeth: 221-339

29        Smith, White Teeth

31        Smith, White Teeth

 

April

3          Smith, White Teeth: 343-448

5          Smith, White Teeth

7          Smith, White Teeth

            Essay #4 Assignment

           

10        Phillips, A New World Order: 1-6, 129-143, 232-309

12        Phillips, A New World Order

 

19        Phillips, A New World Order: 75-85, 89-93, 152-171

21        Phillips, A New World Order

            Essay #3 Due

 

24        Gurnah, Admiring Silence: 1-99

26        Gurnah, Admiring Silence

28        Gurnah, Admiring Silence

 

May

1          Gurnah, Admiring Silence: 101-217

3          Gurnah, Admiring Silence

 

9          Final Exam/Essay: Tuesday, 1200noon.

 

 

Presentation/Discussion Schedule

 

Jan 30: The Lonely Londoners

Hocker, Cory:23-67

 

Feb 6: My Beautiful Laundrette

Alkhalifa, Ali: 1-44

Beckett, Damara: 45-90

 

Feb 13: Sammy and Rosie Get Laid

Garlough, Jonathan: 93-132

Gibbs, Jason: 133-176

 

Feb 20: My Son the Fanatic

Bucholz, Elliot: 281-330

Crisp, Nicholas: 331-385

 

Mar 6: White Teeth

Ryan, William:1-55

Seller, Daniel: 57-102

 

Mar 13: White Teeth

Sledd, Michael: 105-161

Hocker, Cory: 161-217

 

Mar 27: White Teeth

Alkhalifa, Ali: 221-280

Beckett, Damara: 281-339

 

Apr 3: White Teeth

Garlough, Jonathan: 343-385

Gibbs, Jason: 387-448

 

Apr 10: A New World Order

Bucholz, Elliot: 1-6, 129-143, 232-263

Crisp, Nicholas: 264-309

 

Apr 24: Admiring Silence

Ryan, William: 1-54

Seller, Daniel: 55-99

 

May 1: Admiring Silence

Sledd, Michael: 101-146