Course Syllabus
Course Description:
The glitz and glamour of the 1920s are often associated with the
exciting new jazz music based on the principle of improvisation or spontaneously creating
something new from the materials at hand. This idea of improvisation can also be applied to
the literature of the period as writers and their characters explore new lifestyles and invent
new kinds of writing to investigate the unprecedented possibilities (or anxieties) of their
post-Victorian worlds. Our reading selections are taken from multiple
genres (nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama) with special attention given to 1920s jazz, its
relationship to literature, and its association with the Harlem Renaissance.
Required Texts:
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, Babylon Revisited and Other Stories (Scribner 1996).
- William L. Andrews, ed., Classic Fiction of the Harlem Renaissance (Oxford UP 1994).
- Louis Armstrong, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (Da Capo 1986).
- T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land and Other Poems (Signet Classics 1998).
- Angela Davis, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith,
and Billie Holiday (Knopf 1999)
- Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (HarperCollins 2006).
- August Wilson, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: A Play (Plume 1985).
- Toni Morrison, Jazz (Vintage 2004).
The above will be supplemented by online texts and hand-outs of poetry by Millay,
H.D., Hughes, Brown, and others (see online Reading Schedule).
We will also be listening to some actual jazz/blues available online and from your instructor's
CD collection.
Grading:
- Two shorter papers (on Armstrong and on a short story)--10% each. See
paper directions (online).
- Research Paper (on Jazz Age Culture and Literature)--20%. See
paper directions (online).
- Three take-home essay exams--20% each.
Note: All major assignments must be completed to pass the course.
Late Papers/Exams Policy:
Late papers will be graded down one letter grade for each day they are late.
Missed exams must be made up just as soon as possible. See me immediately when you return to
class.
Extra Credit:
Extra credit (added on to your final grade) can be earned either by watching one or
more jazz
films (see instructor for a list of films) and/or by attending one or more PSU jazz
performances. In both cases, you will need to fill out the online
Cultural Events
Report Form. Up to 5 points (1 pt. per event) may be earned, with 5 points equaling a half-letter grade.
The reports are due the week following the scheduled date of the event. If you learn about other
jazz events, check with your instructor about getting them approved for extra credit.
Aside from grades, I urge all students
to expand your understanding of jazz literature and culture by sampling
at least some of the extra credit events.
NOTE: The reports must be sufficiently detailed and
thoughtful to merit the extra credit.
Class Participation:
A successful class depends on your participation--your questions and observations and
willingness to explore new ideas in relation to the assigned readings. Therefore, it is crucial that
you keep up with the reading assignments. When you get in there and
respond to what you have read, literature comes alive.
Attendance:
Attendance is required. Everyone has four pre-excused absences to cover
official school business or those difficult
times in life that interfere with class attendance, so you do not need to clear absences with
me. However, it is a good idea to check with me (or a classmate) to make sure an assignment was
not changed while you were gone.
Students who miss more than four classes may be dropped from the roster for
"excessive absences."
Plagiarism Policy:
Academic honesty is expected of all students. I support the stated policies of the
University and the English Department on penalties for plagiarism. Passing off anyone else's
work (whether your roommate's or a published article) as your own may result in an F for that
paper or an F for the course--or worse for the most egregious cases.
NOTE: I am always willing to help students who are making
good faith efforts to do their own work.
Class Web Pages:
The class syllabus and research/writing assignments can be accessed online in the
following ways:
- Nichols Home Page:
http://members.cox.net/academia/nichols.html--scroll
down to the link for our class. You can also "search" for my home page on the PSU page by
typing in "Nichols Home Page."
- Jazz Age Literature and Culture Syllabus:
http://faculty.pittstate.edu/~knichols/jazzlit.html
--click on the links in the left-column of this page or at the bottom of this page to access the daily "Reading Schedule"
and other class pages. Click the BACK BUTTON (top-left corner) one or more times to return to
your starting page.
The assumption is that the online assignments will be done in the Computer Classroom
downstairs (Grubbs Hall 101) or elsewhere on campus, although you can probably do some of the
assignments on your personal computer if you wish.
Some of the links on my web pages go to other pages I have created; you can recognize
my pages by checking at the top or the bottom of the page for my email address. Other links go
to pages created by other people. If their links do not work or their pages have been removed,
there is nothing I can do about it (unfortunately), but check with me. Sometimes we can find an
alternate address to use.
Painting, top-left:
Aaron Douglas, "Song of the Towers"
Web page designed by knichols
