Readings (from Cohen & Dillingham, if not marked otherwise)
Reserve readings require Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you have trouble opening a reading or if lines are missing, you will need to download and install the latest (free) version of Reader from Adobe.

Film Screenings: You may see the film on reserve or attend the screening. We will discuss a film in the next class after the screening.

The Idea of the Frontier, a Theory of Humor, and The Picaresque

No pleasure but meanness. --The Misfit, "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Week of Jan. 10:

T Jan. 11: Orientation, logistics, introductions

Th Jan. 13: bring your critical question to class to prompt discussion every day, beginning today.

Cohen & Dillingham, introduction
Spirit of the Southern Frontier, introduction
Byrd's Secret History and Diary
"Emigrants on the Frontier"
Stewart, "Tidewater and Frontier"
O'Connor, "The Grotesque in Southern Fiction" (hand out in class)
Olmsted, "Old Willy" N.B. provided for contrast; not a Southern piece

Big Bears, Big Rivers: The "Ring-tailed Roarers" of the Southern Wilderness

You can go to hell -- I'm going to Texas. --Davy Crockett

Week of Jan. 17:

T:
 Thorpe, "The Big Bear of Arkansas"
Crockett, "Bear Hunting in Tennessee," "A Useful Coon Skin"
Strickland, Joe Jr., "Procklaymashum" hint: read aloud!
Defoe, "Orpheus in Kentucky"
Spinning Bait, "Shooting at the Devil"

W: "The Alamo," 9pm, Adams Auditorium

TH:
Anon. "Davy Crockett's Last"
Longstreet, "The Fight"
Anon. "The Kentucky Rencontre"
Anon. "An Affray"
Kirkman, "Jones' Fight"
Anon. "A Narrow Escape"
Thorpe, "The Disgraced Scalp-Lock"
Field, "Death of Mike Fink"
Anon. "Old Singletire: The Man That was not Annexed"

Civilization Arrives: Politicians, Preachers, and Pianos

It is good to be shifty in a new country. --Capt. Simon Suggs

Week of Jan. 24:

T: Micki & Alicia
Longstreet, "The Horse Swap," & "Darby the Politician"
Barr, "Mission to the Alabama"
Pike, "Letters from Arkansas"
Anon. "A Story About Banvard"
Hooper, "Simon Plays the 'Snatch' Game," "Simon Gets a 'Soft Snap' " & "Simon Becomes Captain"

TH:Margaret & Jenni
Porter, "Going to Bed Before a Young Lady"
Anon. "A Race for a Wife"
Spirit of the Southern Frontier: all articles under the "Women on the Frontier" topic
Thorpe, "A Piano in 'Arkansaw' "
Hooper, "The Elephant in La Fayette"

"A Natural Born Durned Fool" and other Tricksters

Yu go tu hell, mistopher; yu bothers me. --Sut Lovingood

Week of Jan. 31:

T: Matt S. & Sarah
Wilson, "Sut Lovingood"
Harris, "Sut Lovingood's Daddy, Acting Horse"
Harris, "Parson John Bullins' Lizards" + (image link)

W: Coens, dir. O Brother, Where Art Thou? 9pm, Adams Auditorium

TH: Emily W. & Becky
Harris, "Blown up with Soda," "Sicily Burns' Wedding," and "Miss. Yardley's Quilting"

From Reconstruction to Tin Lizzy

Nobody with a good car needs to be justified. --Hazel "Haze" Motes, Wiseblood

Week of Feb. 7: Matt B.

Holman, "Laughter in the South"
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Class canceled Th, Feb. 10 (I will be at a conference)

Week of Feb. 14:

T: Emily C.
Hooper, "The Captain Attends a Camp Meeting"
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

TH: Allison
Twelve Southerners, " Introduction: A Statement of Principles"
Lytle, "The Hind Tit"
Mencken, "The Sahara of the Bozart"
Welty, "Death of a Traveling Salesman"

Week of Feb. 21: Brittany & Micki

Jacobs, "Humor of Tobacco Road"
Caldwell, Tobacco Road

Week of Feb. 28: Alicia & Margaret

Faulkner, As I Lay Dying

Midterm paper and prospectus for final project due no later than Th, March 3

March 5-13: Lug along A Confederacy of Dunces for Spring Break, especially if you are heading anywhere near New Orleans.
Applying and Subverting a Tradition

Every asylum in this nation is filled with poor souls who simply cannot stand lanolin, cellophane, plastic, television, and subdivisions. --Ignatius J. Riley, A Confederacy of Dunces

Week of March 14: Jenni & Sarah

Faulkner, The Hamlet

Week of March 21: Becky & Emily W.

T:
O'Connor, Wise Blood,

W: Laughton, dir. Night of the Hunter 9pm, Adams Auditorium

TH: Meet in Jepson 103
"A Good Man is Hard to Find," "Good Country People," "The Life You Save Might be Your Own," "The Artificial Nigger"

Week of March 28: Matt B. & Emily C.

Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces.

Week of April 4: Allison & Brittany

T:
Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

W: Kazan, dir. Baby Doll 9pm,Adams Auditorium

TH:
Williams, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton

Week of April 11: Micki & Alicia

Johnson, Middle Passage

W: Thornton, dir. Sling Blade 9pm, Adams Auditorium

TH: Meet in Jepson 103

Johnson, Middle Passage

Week of April 18:

Presentations of Final Projects

Main Page | Midterm Essay | Seminar Paper