AJ17063 North American Travel Writing

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2013
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
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 12:30–14:05 G22
Prerequisites (in Czech)
( AJ09999 Qualifying Examination || AJ01002 Practical English II ) && AJ04003 Intro. to Literary Studies II && AJ07002 Intro. to American 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 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
AJ17063 North American Travel Writing
Spring 2013, Tue 12.30-2:05 p.m., room G22
Instructor: Kateřina Prajznerová, E-mail: 68450@mail.muni.cz
Office hours: Mon 1-3 p.m. and by appointment (Office G301) Course description
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. Class sessions will include short lectures, audio-visual learning, student presentations, team work, class discussion, and open-book response papers.
Syllabus
  • Course outline
  • Week 1, Feb. 19: Introduction to the course and class policies
  • Didion, Joan. “In Bed.” 689-91.
  • Cook, Christopher. “Full Moon over Bohemia.” 68-75.
  • Week 2, Feb. 26: Walking
  • Berry, Wendell. “An Entrance to the Woods.” 670-79.
  • Hogan, Linda. “Walking.” 102-04.
  • Sanders, Scott Russell. “The Singular First Person.” 383-91.
  • Week 3, Mar. 5: Mapping Place, Mapping Self
  • Van Herk, Places Far from Ellesmere
  • Bassnett, Susan. “Travel Writing and Gender.” 225-41.
  • Week 4, Mar. 12: Traveling through Memory
  • Gayton, Don. “A Schooner of Memory.” 231-50.
  • Halfe, Louise Bernice. “A Honeycomb of Memory.” 119-27.
  • Schwartz, Mimi. “Memoir? Fiction? Where’s the Line?” 399-404.
  • Week 5, Mar. 19: Recording the Changing Landscape I
  • Doig, Ivan. Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America.
  • Hulme, Peter. “Travelling to Write (1940-2000).”
  • Week 6, Mar. 26: Recording the Changing Landscape II
  • Doig, Ivan. Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America.
  • Roort, Robert L., Jr. “Collage, Montage, Mosaic, Vignette, Episode, Segment.” 371-82.
  • Week 7, Apr. 2: Circling the Country I, reading week; no class
  • Least Heat Moon, William. Blue Highways: A Journey into America.
  • Blanton, Casey. “Narrating Self and Other: A Historical Overview.” 1-29.
  • Week 8, Apr. 9: Circling the Country II
  • Least Heat Moon, William. Blue Highways: A Journey into America.
  • Siegel, Kristi. “Introduction: Travel Writing and Travel Theory.” 1-9.
  • Week 9, Apr. 16: Retracing the Flow of Water
  • Dickey, Bronwen. “The Last Wild River.” 32-44.
  • Power, Matthew. “Mississippi Drift.” 104-23.
  • Steinberg, Michael. “Finding the Inner Story in Memoirs and Personal Essays.” 405-08.
  • Week 10, Apr. 23: Travelogue due in elf by noon on Sunday and in hard copy in class
  • Siegel, Kristi, and Toni B. Wulff. “Travel as Spectacle: The Illusion of Knowledge and Sight.” 109-22.
  • Lopate, Phillip. “What Happened to the Personal Essay?” 351-58.
  • Week 11, Apr. 30: Paper proposal and annotated bibliography due by noon on Sunday
  • Campbell, Mary Baine. “Travel Writing and Its Theory.” 261-78.
  • Week 12, May 7: Course review
  • Dillard, Annie. “Seeing.” 693-706.
  • Lott, Bret. “Toward a Definition of Creative Nonfiction.” 359-65.
  • Week 13, May 14: Guest-Lecture
  • Florian Sedlmeier, John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Free University, Berlin
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.
  • Gayton, Don. “A Schooner of Memory.” Luven, ed. 231-50.
  • Lopate, Phillip, ed. The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present. 1994. New York: Anchor, 1995.
  • 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.
  • Schwartz, Mimi. “Memoir? Fiction? Where’s the Line?” Root and Steinberg, eds. 399-404.
  • Sanders, Scott Russell. “The Singular First Person.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 383-91.
  • Lopate, Phillip. “What Happened to the Personal Essay?” Root and Steinberg, eds. 351-58.
  • Dillard, Annie. “Seeing.” Lopate, ed. 693-706.
  • Berry, Wendell. “An Entrance to the Woods.” Lopate, ed. 670-79.
  • Kaplan, Caren. “Questions of Travel: An Introduction.” Questions of Travel: Postmodern Discourses of Displacement. Durham: Duke UP, 1996. 1-26.
  • Yaeger, Patricia. “Introduction: Narrating Space.” The Geography of Identity. Ed. Particia Yaeger. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1996.
  • Luven, Lynne Van. Going Some Place. Regina: Coteau, 2000.
  • Adams, Noah. Far Appalachia: Following the New River North. 2001. New York: Delta, 2002.
  • Glavin, Terry. This Ragged Place: Travels Across the Landscape. Vancouver: New Star, 1996.
  • Steinberg, Michael. “Finding the Inner Story in Memoirs and Personal Essays.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 405-08.
  • Lott, Bret. “Toward a Definition of Creative Nonfiction.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 359-65.
  • Root, Robert L., Jr., and Michael Steinberg, eds. The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of / on Creative Nonfiction. New York: Pearson, 2005.
  • Roort, Robert L., Jr. “Collage, Montage, Mosaic, Vignette, Episode, Segment.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 371-82.
  • Halfe, Louise Bernice. “A Honeycomb of Memory.” Luven, ed. 119-27.
  • Dykeman, Wilma. Explorations. Newport, TN: Wakestone, 1984.
  • Hogan, Linda. “Walking.” Root and Steinberg, eds. 102-04.
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 20%
Oral presentation 20%
Travelogue 20%
Paper proposal and annotated bib. 10%
Final research paper 20%
For partial credit:
Class participation 30%
Open-book response papers 70% Assignment Guidelines

Please note that the topic of your final research paper may (but does not have to) overlap with the topic of your 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 to actively participate in class discussion. If you must miss a class due to serious illness or family emergency, please let me know in advance or e-mail me an explanation soon afterwards.
Please note that in order to facilitate discussion and minimize distraction the use of laptops and other personal electronic devices is not permitted during class, with the exception of e-book readers.
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 two 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 Feb. 19 (mock), Feb. 26, Mar. 5, Mar. 12, Mar. 19, Mar. 26, Apr. 9, Apr. 16, Apr. 23, Apr. 30, May 7.
Oral presentation
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 assigned secondary readings). 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: Please sign up for a week of your choice at the beginning of the semester. Post the presentation outline and list of works cited into the appropriate echo-assignment box in elf by noon on the preceding Sunday.
Travelogue
Purpose: to get a chance to take a trip and record your impressions or to remember/imagine 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: Please post the travelogue into the appropriate echo-assignment box in elf by noon the preceding Sunday, Apr. 21, and also bring a hard copy to class on Apr. 23.

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: Please post the proposal into the appropriate echo-assignment box in elf by noon the preceding Sunday, Apr. 28 and also bring a hard copy to class on Apr. 30.

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 bottom of the page) on Sunday, June 2 by 12 pm or earlier (1st re-sit June 16, 2nd re-sit June 26).
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught each semester.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Spring 2012.
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