The
Popular Arts and American History
Syllabus
and Survival Guide
History
477 – Spring 2013
Tuesday
7:00 pm – 9:45 pm, Sierra Hall 288
Instructor
Dr. Thomas Devine
Phone: (818) 677-3550 Email: tom.devine@csun.edu
Office Hours: Sierra Tower 624, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30-3:30 pm and
by appointment gladly given.
Required
Reading
The following books – listed in the
order in which we will read them – are available at the Matador Bookstore. All
other readings will be provided in class or available on the web syllabus.
To subvert the system and to save
yourself some money, you should consider buying used copies of the books. You are likely to find used or discounted
copies at significantly lower prices at the following websites:
www.bookfinder.com; www.half.com; www.amazon.com; www.campusi.com
Spirit
of the Course
This semester we will be exploring
19th and 20th century U. S. history through the lens of the popular arts. We
will examine primary sources such as novels, theatrical productions, paintings,
movies, songs, speeches, and autobiographies. We will also read historians’
analyses of popular art forms and critique and evaluate their interpretations.
In the process, we will consider the power of the popular arts to influence
politics, cultural mores, social movements, and international relations – the
“stuff” more traditionally associated with U. S. history.
Throughout the course, you will be learning not simply more history, but a different way of
understanding history and, in tandem, sharpening your own skills as a “cultural
critic” – skills that can be applied both historically and contemporarily. In
short, the course seeks to increase not only your knowledge but also your
critical and interpretive abilities, to help you learn not only answers but
better ways of asking questions.
Themes
Though the
material may seem rather eclectic to you – What do P.T. Barnum, the Bowery B’hoys, Tarzan, Rudolph Valentino, Elvis, and Allen
Ginsberg have to do with each other? – there are certain themes that we will be revisiting during
the course of the semester:
Reflecting on the material we cover
with these larger themes in mind will allow you to see the connections between
seemingly unrelated materials.
Grading
Class Participation/Quizzes--20%
1st Paper--15%
CLICK HERE FOR PAPER ONE, OPTION
A PROMPT
CLICK HERE FOR PAPER ONE, OPTION B
PROMPT
2nd Paper--15% [Due May 4th]
Movie Review--10% [Due April 16th]
CLICK HERE FOR MOVIE REVIEW ASSIGNMENT
Semester Project--20% [Due April 28th]
Final Exam--20% [14 May – 8:00 pm
-10:00 pm]
All grading is based on 100 points
and will be done on the +/ – system.
Any
assignment not turned in will receive a grade of ZERO in the calculation
of the final grade.
Beyond the above requirements, Graduate students will complete a third
1500-word analytical essay.
Explanation of Requirements
Class
Participation
Though
this course will include some lectures, it is not a “lecture course” – the
emphasis will be on discussion and classroom interaction rather than listening to
the professor. Class participation is important. Have the reading done BEFORE you come to class and be ready
to comment on it. Generally, the more informed participation there is in
discussion, the more students enjoy the class, so do your part to make this a
positive experience for everyone. You will find that the key to success in this
class is attending every session and participating in the discussion. If you do
those two things, everything else will become easier.
Quizzes
There will be occasional short
quizzes throughout the semester. The purpose of the quizzes is to provide an
incentive for completing the reading and to ascertain who has read and who
hasn’t. If you have done all the reading – or even most of it – you should have
no difficulty doing well on the quizzes.
Papers
The two paper assignments will focus
on the material covered in the assigned readings and during class discussion.
If you wish, you may do both first paper options and I will count the higher
grade. Likewise, you may do both of the second paper options and I will again
count the higher grade. You must, however, do one of the first two assignments
and one of the second two assignments. There will be a choice of topics which
will be handed out well before the due date. Papers must be at least 1500 words. Grades will be based on the
quality of your ideas and how effectively you present them. Keep your graded
papers and refer back to my corrections and suggestions so you do not make the
same mistakes again. You should
not hesitate to ask me for assistance. I
have extensive experience in teaching writing skills and am willing to work
with you on an individual basis to improve your essays.
Movie Review
Around the
middle of the semester we will be looking at 1930s film comedies. You will
write an informed review of one of the following movies: Duck Soup, 42nd
Street, Modern Times, She Done Him Wrong. As part of the
review, you will draw on both your own and other critics’ insights. I will
provide more detailed instructions as we get closer to the assignment due date.
Semester Project
The semester project will allow you
to explore in detail some aspect of the popular arts and American history
during the period covered by the course (1840-1980). I will consult with you
individually on your selection of a topic. So as to prevent you from putting
this assignment off until the last moment, I will ask for a written proposal
and annotated bibliography around the mid-point of the semester. You should
expect to write an essay of approximately 2500 words.
Final
Exam
The final examination will consist
of 5-7 short answer questions and 2 long essays. You will have a choice of topics for the long
essay. Exam questions will be drawn verbatim from a study guide I will
distribute before the date of the final.
The exam will be cumulative, but the emphasis will be on material
covered in the second half of the course.
Surviving History 477…
Getting
the Reading Done
This class will require extensive
reading, some of which you may find challenging, some of which you’ll find more
entertaining. It will serve you well if you figure out approximately how many
pages you can read in an hour and then calculate how many hours it will take you
to read each assignment. Most History majors read scholarly books and articles
at about 20-30 pages an hour. Novels generally take less time. If you know
ahead of time how long it will take to get through an assignment, you can
manage your time more realistically. Don’t read every word of the first third
of an assignment but nothing thereafter because you ran out of time. To help
insure you get the reading done, make a commitment to reading 10 pages of the
next assignment as soon as you get home from class. Once you’re into an
assignment, it will be easier to keep going. Each day you put off beginning an
assignment makes it less likely you’ll be able to finish it in time for class.
If it’s clear you won’t have enough time to complete an assignment, use the
study questions to guide your reading. Skim through the book or articles until
you come across material that is covered in the questions and then jot down
your answers. (This will help when it comes time to write the papers and review
for the final exam.) Since the study
questions focus on the most important parts of the reading, if you are able to
answer them, you will arrive in class better prepared to participate in the
discussion.
Attendance
Since this class meets only once a week
and its success depends on active student participation, it is important – and
it is expected – that you will be at every session. I
do take attendance before and after the break. If you are a person who
rarely comes to class and relies on copying notes from a friend, this is not the course for you. I
understand that inevitably an occasion may arise when you are unable to
attend. Out of fairness to your
classmates who do attend every week, however, each absence past the first two
will reduce your final grade. More
than four absences over the course of the semester will put in you in jeopardy
of failing the class, regardless of your grades on the written assignments.
Laptop
Policy
Since “multi-tasking” is a constant
temptation, laptops and tablets end up being more of a distraction than an aid.
I do not allow you to use them in my classroom unless you have a medical note
stating that you must have one.
Common Courtesy
You are at a university among professional people so you
should try to act like you belong here. Do not embarrass yourself by behaving
badly. Arrive on time and do not walk out in the middle of class unless it is
an emergency or you have spoken to me about it ahead of time. Don’t speak while
others are speaking. Turn off and put away all cell phones and other electronic
gadgets while you are in class. Texting or constantly playing with your phone
during class is rude. I’m not that blind; even if I don’t say anything to you,
I can see you, and such behavior is very distracting. Beyond that, it makes you
look foolish, and other people – like me – will judge you accordingly. In
short, act courteously and professionally. Try to show some class. It’s part of
being an educated person.
Academic
Honesty
Do not lie to me about why you missed class or failed to
turn in an assignment. It is unnecessary and it insults my intelligence. Do not
cheat on the quizzes or exams. I will catch you and you will receive an
automatic zero for the assignment. Do not plagiarize from written sources or
from the web. Since plagiarism is always
obvious and easily caught (I know how to use Google too), it is better to hand
in your own work and get a C than someone else’s and get an F. All plagiarized
assignments will receive a grade of zero. Beyond that, your name will be
circulated among other faculty as someone who lacks integrity and you risk
being expelled from the University. If you are unsure what plagiarism is,
please consult with me BEFORE you hand in an assignment.
Problems
I appreciate that many CSUN students are stretching
themselves quite thin, often working full time while taking a full load of
classes. If you are feeling overwhelmed,
find yourself falling behind, or are having any problems outside of class that are
adversely affecting your performance in class, either come to see me or send an
email as soon as a problem arises and we can work something out. Do not wait
until the end of the semester when it will be too late. I am more than willing to work with you to
insure you “survive,” but I need to know you are having difficulties. If you
are struggling academically, I will gladly give you extra help.
Schedule of Topics & Assignments
22 Jan. Introduction: An explanation of
course objectives, mechanics, and procedures.
Film: P.T. Barnum: The World’s Greatest
Showman
29 Jan. P. T. Barnum and the Rise of “Democratic Amusements”
Reading: Barnum, The Autobiography of P.T.
Barnum Written by Himself
Neil Harris, Humbug: The Art of P.T. Barnum, Chapters
3, 8
For a virtual
tour of Barnum’s Museum, click HERE
Barnum-related web sites:
“In
Business for Myself:” P. T. Barnum and the Management of Spectacle
Thomas
Augst, “Finding Barnum on the Internet”
5 Feb. “Shakespeare in the Bowery” – Antebellum Theatre and
American Class Conflict
Reading: Lawrence
Levine, “William Shakespeare and the American People”
Nigel
Cliff, “A Night at the Opera, and Another in Hell”
Richard Butsch, The Making of American Audiences From Stage to Television,
1750-1990, Chapters 3-4
Film: The Gangs
of New York
To listen to radio a documentary on the Astor Place Riot
click HERE
12 Feb. “Jumping Jim Crow” – The Rise of Blackface Minstrelsy
Reading: Robert C. Toll, “The Evolution of the
Minstrel Show”
Robert C. Toll, “Images of Negroes
in Antebellum Minstrelsy”
John W. Finson, The Voices that are Gone: Themes in 19th-Century
Popular Song, Chapter 5
Film: Spike Lee, Bamboozled
The American Experience, Stephen
Foster
For
contemporary images and reviews and to listen to minstrel songs, click HERE
19
Feb. Buffalo Bill Cody and the
Reconstruction of American Memory
Reading: Joy S. Kasson, Buffalo Bill's Wild West:
Celebrity, Memory, and Popular History, Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 3,
Chapter 4 (only pp. 123-141), Chapter 5, Chapter 6 (only pp. 221-236),
Conclusion
Film: The American
Experience, Buffalo Bill
American Experience
Buffalo Bill Companion Site
Electronic “Smart Text” of Pudd’nhead Wilson
[This web site contains the
entire text of the novel, but also allows you to follow various themes – race,
law, economics, gender, politics, ancestry – using
hypertext links.]
Historical context
and related primary documents available HERE
Browse through some
of the contemporary reviews of Pudd’nhead Wilson HERE
Bibliography of Pudd’nhead Wilson criticism available HERE
For articles on the
continuing legacy of the “one drop” rule, click HERE
For links to further
information on Mark Twain, click HERE
5
Mar. “Nudity and
Prudery:” Domesticating the Female Body
Reading: Joy S. Kasson, Marble
Queens and Captives, Chapter 3
Janet Davis, The Circus Age,
Chapter 4
More on “The
Greek Slave” available HERE and HERE
12 Mar. “Coney Island Babies”
– The Emergence of Mass Culture
Reading: John F. Kasson, Amusing
the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century
Film: American Experience, Coney Island
For more on the
history of Coney Island, click HERE
Joseph
Stella, “Battle of Lights”
Reginald Marsh, “George C. Tilyou’s
Steeplechase Park”
“No
Longer Sodom-by-the-Sea: Coney Island Made Respectable by Brooklyn Police”
“Coney
Swept by $1,500,000 Fire!”
19 Mar. “Gone Primitive” –
Tarzan and the Crisis of American Masculinity
Reading: Edgar Rice Burroughs,
Tarzan of the Apes
John Higham, “The
Reorientation of American Culture in the 1890s”
Gail Bederman,
“Tarzan and After”
“Reading Tarzan of the Apes with a Critical Eye”
26 Mar. “From Vaudeville to
Valentino” – The New Man, The New Woman, and the
Decline of Victorian Culture
Reading: Gaylyn
Studlar, “‘The Perfect
Lover’? Valentino and Ethnic Masculinity in the 1920s
Robert C. Toll, On
With The Show!,
Chapter 10
Robert
W. Syndor, The Voice of the
City, Chapter 7
Optional
Reading: Morris Dickstein, “The Gangster and
the Showgirl: From Cagney to Berkeley”
[Discusses 42nd
Street]
Thomas Doherty,
“Comic Timing: Cracking Wise and Wising Up”
[Discusses She Done Him Wrong]
Gerard Molyneaux, “Modern
Times and the American Culture of the 1930’s”
[Discusses Modern Times]
Films: Duck Soup (1933), starring the Marx Brothers;
Modern Times (1936), directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin;
42nd Street (1933), directed by Busby Berkeley;
She Done Him Wrong (1933), starring Mae West and Cary Grant;
(All of these films are available on DVD
through Netflix or on reserve at Oviatt Library.
Please try to view at least one of them before coming to class.)
Reading: Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon
Film: The Maltese Falcon (1941), directed by John
Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart
23 Apr.
“Race,
Rock, and Elvis” – Rock’n’Roll and the Blurring of
the Color Line
Reading: Robert Pielke, “Elvis and
the Negation of the Fifties”
Michael
T. Bertrand, “The King of Rock as Hillbilly Cat”
Films: Elvis 1956;
The American Experience,
That Rhythm, Those Blues
30 Apr.
CLASS CANCELLED
7
May “Beats, Hipsters, and
‘Sick’ Satire” – Challenges to the Cold War Consensus
Reading: Robert Holton, “‘The Sordid
Hipsters of America’: Beat Culture and the Folds of Heterogeneity”
Stephen Kircher, “Comic
Revenge: Parodic Revelry and ‘Sick’ Humor in the
1950s Satiric Underground”
Gerald Nachman,
“Sing a Song of Strychnine: Tom Lehrer”
