FF:AJ17063 North American Travel Writing - Course Information

AJ17063 North American Travel Writing

Extent and Intensity

0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).

Teacher(s)

Mgr. et Mgr. Kateřina Prajznerová, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek

Timetable of Seminar Groups

AJ17063/A: Tue 8:20–9:55 G22, K. Prajznerová
AJ17063/B: Tue 10:00–11:35 G22, K. Prajznerová

Prerequisites (in Czech)

AJ09999 Qualifying Examination && AJ04003 Intro. to Literary Studies II

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

This course focuses on contemporary travel writing that negotiates the interplay of the cultural and natural geographies and histories of North America. We will examine the formal transmutations of travel writing as a genre, while at the same time interrogating the diversity of the authors’ personal experiences of various (not only) North American places. In particular, the readings all straddle the border between autobiography and travelogue, and they all struggle with the theme of location / dislocation, comprising a mosaic that encapsulates as well as complicates the character of North America.

Syllabus

• Course outline:
• Week 1, Sept. 21: Orientation (no class)
• Week 2, Sept. 29: Introduction to the course and class policies Didion, Joan. “In Bed.” Lopate, ed. 689-91.
• Week 3, Oct. 6: Traveling through Memory (RP) Gayton, Don. “A Schooner of Memory.” Luven, ed. 231-50. Halfe, Louise Bernice. “A Honeycomb of Memory.” Luven, ed. 119-27. Sanders, Scott Russell. “The Singular First Person.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 383-91. Schwartz, Mimi. “Memoir? Fiction? Where’s the Line?” Root and Steinberg, eds. 399-404.
• Week 4, Oct. 13: Retracing the Flow of Water (RP) Adams, Noah. Far Appalachia: Following the New River North. 2001. New York: Delta, 2002. Hulme, Peter. “Travelling to Write (1940-2000).” The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Youngs. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. 87-101.
• Week 5, Oct. 20: Recording the Changing Landscape I (RP) Doig, Ivan. Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America. San Diego: Harcourt, 1980. Steinberg, Michael. “Finding the Inner Story in Memoirs and Personal Essays.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 405-08. Roort, Robert L., Jr. “Collage, Montage, Mosaic, Vignette, Episode, Segment.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 371-82.
• Week 6, Oct. 27: Recording the Changing Landscape II (RP) Doig, Ivan. Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America. San Diego: Harcourt, 1980. Siegel, Kristi. “Introduction: Travel Writing and Travel Theory.” Issues in Travel Writing: Empire, Spectacle, and Displacement. Ed. Kristi Siegel. New York: Lang, 2002. 1-9. Siegel, Kristi, and Toni B. Wulff. “Travel as Spectacle: The Illusion of Knowledge and Sight.” Issues in Travel Writing: Empire, Spectacle, and Displacement. Ed. Kristi Siegel. New York: Lang, 2002. 109-22.
• Week 7, Nov. 3: Mapping a Life I (RP) Dykeman, Wilma. Explorations. Newport, TN: Wakestone, 1984. Bassnett, Susan. “Travel Writing and Gender.” The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Youngs. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. 225-41. Lopate, Phillip. “What Happened to the Personal Essay?” Root and Steinberg, eds. 351-58.
• Week 8, Nov. 10: Mapping a Life II (RP) Dykeman, Wilma. Explorations. Newport, TN: Wakestone, 1984. Blanton, Casey. “Narrating Self and Other: A Historical Overview.” Travel Writing: The Self and the World. New York: Twayne, 1997. 1-29.
• Week 9, Nov. 17: reading week; no class
• Week 10, Nov. 24: Walking (RP) Berry, Wendell. “An Entrance to the Woods.” Lopate, ed. 670-79. Hogan, Linda. “Walking.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 102-04. Paper proposal and annotated bibliography due
• Week 11, Dec. 1: Student conferences
• Week 12, Dec. 8: Staying Awake (RP) Dillard, Annie. “Seeing.” Lopate, ed. 693-706. Travelogue due
• Week 13, Dec. 15: Lott, Bret. “Toward a Definition of Creative Nonfiction.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 359-65. Campbell, Mary Baine. Travel Writing and Its Theory.” The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Youngs. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. 261-78. Conclusion, course evaluations

Literature

• Siegel, Kristi. “Introduction: Travel Writing and Travel Theory.” Issues in Travel Writing: Empire, Spectacle, and Displacement. Ed. Kristi Siegel. New York: Lang, 2002. 1-9.
• Hogan, Linda. “Walking.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 102-04.
• Halfe, Louise Bernice. “A Honeycomb of Memory.” Luven, ed. 119-27.
• Dillard, Annie. “Seeing.” Lopate, ed. 693-706.
• Steinberg, Michael. “Finding the Inner Story in Memoirs and Personal Essays.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 405-08.
• Lopate, Phillip. “What Happened to the Personal Essay?” Root and Steinberg, eds. 351-58.
• Yaeger, Patricia. “Introduction: Narrating Space.” The Geography of Identity. Ed. Particia Yaeger. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1996.
• Sanders, Scott Russell. “The Singular First Person.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 383-91.
• Lott, Bret. “Toward a Definition of Creative Nonfiction.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 359-65.
• Glavin, Terry. This Ragged Place: Travels Across the Landscape. Vancouver: New Star, 1996.
• Adams, Noah. Far Appalachia: Following the New River North. 2001. New York: Delta, 2002.
• Gayton, Don. “A Schooner of Memory.” Luven, ed. 231-50.
• Luven, Lynne Van. Going Some Place. Regina: Coteau, 2000.
• Schwartz, Mimi. “Memoir? Fiction? Where’s the Line?” Root and Steinberg, eds. 399-404.
• Berry, Wendell. “An Entrance to the Woods.” Lopate, ed. 670-79.
• Dykeman, Wilma. Explorations. Newport, TN: Wakestone, 1984.
• Roort, Robert L., Jr. “Collage, Montage, Mosaic, Vignette, Episode, Segment.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 371-82.
• Siegel, Kristi, and Toni B. Wulff. “Travel as Spectacle: The Illusion of Knowledge and Sight.” Issues in Travel Writing: Empire, Spectacle, and Displacement. Ed. Kristi Siegel. New York: Lang, 2002. 109-22.
• Lopate, Phillip, ed. The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present. 1994. New York: Anchor, 1995.
• Root, Robert L., Jr., and Michael Steinberg, eds. The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of / on Creative Nonfiction. New York: Pearson, 2005.
• Kaplan, Caren. “Questions of Travel: An Introduction.” Questions of Travel: Postmodern Discourses of Displacement. Durham: Duke UP, 1996. 1-26.

Teaching methods

Class sessions will include short lectures, audio-visual learning, student presentations, team work, class discussion, and open-book response papers.

Assessment methods

Assessment: For full credit: Class participation 10% Open-book response papers 30% Oral presentation / travelogue 20% Paper proposal and annotated bib. 10% Final research paper 30% For partial credit: Class participation 30% Open-book response papers 70% Assignment Guidelines Please note that the focus of the final research paper may (but does not have to) coincide with the focus of the presentation / travelogue / some of the response papers. Ideally, you will pursue a particular direction and develop a research topic of your choice over the course of the semester. I will accept late assignments only in cases of serious and documented emergencies. Participation You are expected to attend all class sessions, to have read the assigned readings for each week, and actively participate in class discussion. If you must miss a class, please let me know in advance or e-mail me an explanation soon afterwards. Open-book response papers Purpose: to read critically, notice details, make connections, return to key passages, gain a deeper appreciation of the assigned texts, take notes and gradually build up a course portfolio, clearly formulate one’s own thoughts in writing, get personalized feedback from the instructor, be prepared to participate in class discussion, practice writing about cultural studies topics in preparation for the state exam. Form: you can answer one of the three questions suggested by me or write on a topic/issue of your choice, ideally, you will also come up with a creative title for your mini-essay. Content: no research, “only” your own creative / critical thoughts, discoveries and opinions based on the primary reading(s), analytic mini-essays rather than records of personal impressions, narrow focus (particular themes, images, narrative techniques, characters, relationships, issues, contexts, and so on). Style: clear argumentation, logical organization (introduction, main body, conclusion), a coherent paragraph written in complete sentences, integrated citations, academic language. Due dates: at the end of class on Oct. 6, Oct. 13, Oct. 20, Oct. 27, Nov. 3, Nov. 10, Nov. 24, Dec. 8. Oral presentation (optional) Purpose: to orally yet clearly articulate complex arguments, use a variety of audiovisual aids, lead a discussion, respond to comments. Form: fifteen minutes of being in charge of the class, written outline (including a title) and bibliography, additional materials pertinent to the topic (optional). Content: your own creative / critical thoughts and discoveries and opinions based on the primary reading and supported by/in dialogue with two or three secondary sources (you may use the supplementary essays). Style: easy to follow argumentation, logical organization (preview, introduction of the thesis and secondary sources, main points, supporting evidence, conclusion, discussion), appropriate pacing, variety of presentation strategies (textual examples and audiovisual aids), interaction with the audience (eye-contact, gestures, rhetorical questions, check-up questions, discussion questions), use of spoken discourse markers (pauses, repetitions and restatements, sign posting and transitions, short sentences, simple words, loud voice, clear articulation), you may refer to your notes occasionally but do not read. Due date: If you choose to give a presentation, please sign up for a week of your choice at the beginning of the semester. Drop a hard copy of your outline into the essay box or e-mail it to me by noon on the preceding Monday. Paper proposal and annotated bibliography Purpose: to organize your materials and your ideas in preparation for the first research paper, to receive feedback on your research before you start writing. Form: title, a full paragraph or a detailed outline, an annotated list of sources, MLA format, double-spaced. Content: a concise introduction to your topic, a list of your research questions, a preliminary version of your main argument, an outline of structure, a list of the primary as well as secondary sources you have consulted so far and plan to integrate into your paper, a five-sentence summary of each source highlighting why it is useful to you. Style: precise, academic language, careful and complete bibliographic information. Due date: at the end of class on Nov. 24. Travelogue (optional) Purpose: to get a chance to take a trip and record your impressions or to remember a journey and write about it. Form: three pages of written text, MLA format, title, visual elements may be included. Content: open (but somehow related to the course). Style: can be more personal and / or informal than is usual in academic discourse. Due date: If you choose to write a travelogue, please turn in a hard copy at the end of class on Dec. 8. Final research paper Purpose: to examine some aspect of North American travel writing that interests you, to develop your ideas with the help of a variety of sources, to formulate an argument and support it by convincing evidence, to pursue a research project over the course of the semester which will develop into a short first paper and then get reworked into a longer final paper. Content: preferably, your paper will focus on one (or two or three) of the works we have studied. You may also discuss an author whose work we have not looked at but who is in some way connected to the issues we have covered. I especially welcome interdisciplinary perspectives that in some way connect culture and travel. You are encouraged to draw on the themes that emerged (and re-emerged) in class discussions, in your response papers, and/or your presentation / travelogue. Form: five to six pages (excluding the works cited page), MLA format, use endnotes or footnotes only for informative/explanatory notes. Style: strong argument, clear organization, coherent paragraphs, integrated citations and references, academic language. Due date: upload your paper into ELF (the echo-assignment titled “final research paper” at the top of the page) on Tuesday, Jan. 12 by 12 pm or earlier (1st re-sit Jan. 26, 2nd re-sit Feb. 9).

Language of instruction

English

Further Comments

Study Materials
The course is taught each semester.

• Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2009, recent)
  
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