E-mail Discussion Office Hours   Books   Coursework   Grading   Attendance   Late Papers   Plagiarism   Reading Schedule

English 395: Literature of the  Vietnam War Dr. Susan Farrell 11 Glebe Street, #302  Phone: 953-5785  e-mail me at: farrells@cofc.edu

A Short Essay on Vietnam War Literature This course examines a wide variety of artistic responses to the Vietnam War.  We will read and discuss memoirs, novels, short stories, and poetry arising out of the war.   We will also watch and analyze four Vietnam Warfilms. We'll examine these works in both the historical context of the warand in the literary and aesthetic context of late twentieth century America.

• MWF 11-12
• TR 3-4
• and by appointment

Books:

• Philip Caputo, A Rumor of War
• Michael Herr, Dispatches
• Le Ly Hayslip, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places
• Yusef Komunyakaa, Dien Cai Dau
• Tim O'Brien, Going After Cacciato
• Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
• Tim O'Brien, In The Lake of the Woods
• Robert Olen Butler, Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
• Bobbie Ann Mason, In Country
• Packet of readings available at library reserve and on electronic reserve

Coursework:
Required work for the course includes careful reading of all assigned literature,attentive watching of the four assigned films, attendance at at least three outside events during the semester, and active participation in class discussions and class bulletin board.  Please come to class prepared with questions and comments about the assigned reading or discussion topic for each day--the success of the course depends on your involvement.

• E-Mail Discussion

Our in-class discussion of the works we read and the films we watch this semester will be supplemented by an e-mail discussion.  Attached to this syllabus you'll find a list of 15 questions, with due dates for each.  You must respond, via the e-mail discussion group, to 10 of these questions during the course of the semester.  You choose which 10 to respond to and which 5 to skip. Each response you submit must be at least 200 words long to receive credit.  Each must be submitted before class on the date it is due.  No late responses will be accepted.  You may respond either to the question itself or, even better, to a comment made by another student concerning the question. The point of this discussion is to get classmates to talk to each other about the works we are reading, not to have simply a question-and-answer session with me.

Twice during the semester, you will be required to read your e-mail response out loud in class as a way to provoke class discussion.  You will sign up for days to do this at the beginning of the semester.
 

• Papers

You will write two formal papers in the course.  The first paper will be a fairly short (3-4 page) close reading of a specific portion of a work.  You will not use outside sources for this paper.  The second paper will be a longer (8-10 page) analysis of a work which uses outside sources.  I will give you more information about each paper well before they are due.
 
• Exams:

There will be a mid-term and a final exam. I will give you more information about the exams before you take them.

Grading:

Your final grade will be determined according to these percentages:

• 15%---E-mail Discussion
•  5%--Reading E-mail to Class
• 15%---Close Reading Paper
• 25%---Research Paper
• 20%---Mid-Term
• 20%---Final Exam

• A+/98, A/95, A-/92

 
• B+/88, B/85, B-/82

 
• C+/78, C/75, C-/72

 
• D+/68, D/65, D-/62

 
• F = 50 Paper not turned in = 0

Attendance:

Regular attendance and participation are requirements to pass the course. You may take 3 absences without being penalized (although I don't recommend it--it's best for you to be in class every meeting). I don't distinguish between excused and unexcused absences, so you should save your absences for when you're really sick or out of town. For each absence over 3 (for any reason--excused or unexcused), I will automatically subtract 3 points from your final course average. You are responsible for all work covered during your absence. Don't come to my office and ask what you missed. Find out from a fellow student. 

Late Papers:

Late papers will be penalized five points for each day or fraction of a day they are late.  Late e-mail responses will not be accepted.

Make-up exams will not be given except in rare circumstances when the student has documentation to prove a serious accident or illness. If at all possible, you must notify me in advance when a make-up exam is necessary. 

Plagiarism:

All work submitted must be your own. You may discuss writing assignments and prepare for tests with your classmates (in fact, I strongly encourage you to do so), but all that you write should be yours. Incorporating others' words or ideas in your essays without proper acknowledgment, or any other form of academic dishonesty, will result in an "F" for the entire course. 

Reading Schedule:

Read  at least the portions of the books listed before coming to class on the dates below.
 

January
10 Th.	Course Introduction
Historic and Literary Background
15 Tu.	The Norton Book of Modern War	"Vietnam"
	George Herring	"America and Vietnam: The Unending War"
17 Th.	Tobey Herzog	"Thematic Contexts" (from Vietnam War Stories: Innocence Lost)
Eyewitness Accounts
22 Tu.	Philip Caputo	A Rumor of War (Prologue and Part One)
24 Th.	Philip Caputo	A Rumor of War (Parts Two, Three, and Epilogue)
29 Tu.	Michael Herr	Dispatches, ("Breathing In" and "Hell Sucks")
31 Th.	Michael Herr	Dispatches, ("Khe Sanh" and "Illumination Rounds")
February
5 Tu.	Michael Herr	Dispatches, ("Colleagues" and "Breathing Out")
	Michael Cimino (director)	The Deer Hunter (film)
7 Th.	Le Ly Hayslip	When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (Chapters 1-5)
12 Tu.	Le Ly Hayslip	When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (Chapters 6-end)
Finding a Form
14 Th.	Yusef Komunyakaa	Dien Cai Dau (Through "Tu Do Street")
19 Tu.	Yusef Komunyakaa	Dien Cai Dau (finish the book)
21 Th.	Francis Ford Coppola (director)	Apocalypse Now (film)
26 Tu.	Tim O'Brien	Going After Cacciato (Chapters 1-15)
28 Th.	Tim O'Brien	Going After Cacciato (Chapters 16-36)
March
5 Tu.	Spring Break
7 Th.	Spring Break
12 Tu.	Tim O'Brien	Going After Cacciato (finish book)
14 Th.	Mid-Term Exam
19 Tu.	Tim O'Brien	The Things They Carried (through "The Dentist")
21 Th.	Tim O'Brien	The Things They Carried (through "Good Form")
26 Tu.	Tim O'Brien	The Things They Carried (finish book)
War's Aftermath
28 Th.	Tim O'Brien	In the Lake of the Woods (Chapters 1-16)
April
2 Tu.	Tim O'Brien	In the Lake of the Woods (Chapters 17-end)
4 Th.	Robert Olen Butler	A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (through "In the Clearing")
9 Tu.	Robert Olen Butler	A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (finish book)
11 Th.	Oliver Stone (director)	Platoon (film)
16 Tu.	Bobbie Ann Mason	In Country (through Chapter 17)
18 Th.	Bobbie Ann Mason	In Country (finish book)
23 Tu.	Stanley Kubrick (director)	Full Metal Jacket (film)
May
2 Th.	Final Exam, 8-11 a.m.