American Storyscape

The purpose of these Blogs is to put the texts we’re reading and the ideas we’re discussing in dialogue with the larger American cultural narratives that we inhabit, transform, quarrel with, believe in, struggle against, and try to come to terms with on an everyday basis, as embodied in typical American activities, artifacts, and places.  These narratives could include “the American dream,” or what the scholar Richard Slotkin has called “regeneration through violence,” or the idea of America as a “city on a hill,” or even some of the narratives through which the United States became, simply, “America.”  (It hasn’t always been that way).  The possibilities in terms of narratives and approaches are endless, but all of the blogs should try to satisfy the criteria outlined in the rubric posted on Blackboard.  Furthermore, they should each be exactly 600 words in length—no more, no less.  (You can check the length in your word processor, where you should always save your work before attempting to submit anything online).  And three of the blogs should deal with places you’re visiting, or activities you’re engaging in, with the express purpose of writing about them.  (Thus one of the blogs could deal with a place that you have visited in the past).  For example, you could apply some of Tim O’Brien’s thoughts on the Vietnam War to an experience you had at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.  Or you could attend a Native American powwow and compare the dancers’ incorporation of modern “white” materials in their costumes with the healer and visionary Betonie’s use, in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony, of telephone books and other contemporary artifacts in his rituals.  Or go on a whale-watching trip and compare Melville’s representations of right whales (or members of another species, if, for instance, you’re lucky enough to go to somewhere like Hawaii or Alaska over spring break) with the actual whales you encounter in the ocean, discussing how our narrative visions of the ocean, and whales, have impacted our treatment of cetaceans.  Each place blog should a) correctly apply a critical concept to a narrative as embodied in a place, activity, or artifact; b) analyze the place (etc.) in a nuanced and intelligent manner; c) incorporate plenty of concrete evidence, including direct evidence from a primary text; d) clearly demonstrate the literary and cultural relevance of its arguments; and e) employ an original and interesting style along with correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and so on.