8G:9 American Lives (Humanities)
“What does it mean to be American?” Using a list of works ranging from the revolutionary period to current fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama, this course explores how different people have asked and answered this question. Each section of American Lives explores some aspect of American identity through literature. Whether you choose to take a course that focuses on the definition of the American Dream, the impact of literary celebrities on American culture, the contested figure of the drug user, or another theme, you will examine how literature both maintains and challenges national myths of Americanness.
Specific Course Description and texts used in recent versions of this course
- Section One
- Section Two
- Section Three
- Section Four
- Section Five
- Section Six
Texts that have been used in recent years for this course. (This is a comprehensive list. During any particular semester, only a few of these texts or similar ones will be used for each specific section of 8G:9)
Pre-Twentieth Century
- Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the Unknown
Interior of America (University of New Mexico Press)*
- Thoreau, Walden (Princeton University
Press)
- Franklin, Autobiography & Other Writings (Houghton
Mifflin)
- Whitman, Leaves of Grass (Penguin)*
- Classic Slave Narratives (Harriet
Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, Mary Prince, and Equiano), ed. Gates Jr. (NAL)
- The Puritans in America: A Narrative Anthology (Harvard
University Press)*
- Muir, Travels In Alaska (Sierra)*
- Twain, Roughing It (NAL)
- Schlissel, Women's Diaries of the Westward
Journey (Schocken)*
- The Maimie Papers, ed. Rosen
and Davidson (Feminist Press)*
- Alcott, Hospital Sketches (Applewood)**
- Sisters of the Spirit: Three Black Women's
Autobiographies of the 19th century, ed. Andrews (Indiana
University Press)*
First Half of the Twentieth Century
- Wright, Black Boy (Harper Collins)
- Bird, Solidarity Forever: An Oral History
of the I. W. W. (Lake View Press)*
- Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (NAL)
- Goldman, Living My Life, V. I (Dover)
- Mountain Wolf Woman ed. Lurie (University
of Michigan Press)*
- Niehardt, Black Elk Speaks (University
of Nebraska Press)
- Smedley, Daughter of Earth (Feminist
Press)*
- Roth, Call It Sleep (Farrar, Straus, & Giroux)*
- Yezierska, Open Cage: An Anzia Yezierska Collection (Persea
Books)**
- Wells, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells (University
of Chicago Press)**
- Hurston, I Love Myself When I am Laughing (Feminist
Press)
- Locke, New Negro (Macmillan)**
- Olsen, Yonnondio (Delacorte)
- McCarthy, Memories of a Catholic Girlhood (Harcourt
Press)
- Williams, The Doctor Stories (New
Directions)*
Second Half of the Twentieth Century
- Marshall, Brown Girl. Brownstones (Feminist
Press)
- Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi (Dell)*
- Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Harper
Collins)*
- Maclean, A River Runs Through It & Other Stories (Univ.
of Chicago Press)
- Kerouac, On the Road (Penguin)
- Abbott, In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison (Random
House)**
- Gaines, Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (Bantam)
- Silko, Storyteller (Arcade Pub. Inc.)**
- Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues (Penguin)
- Kingston, China Men (Random House)
- Malcolm X, Autobiography of Malcolm X (Ballantine)
- Rich, Adrienne Rich's Poetry and Prose (Norton)
- Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory (Bantam)*
- Wideman, Brothers and Keepers (Random
House)
- Moraga, Last Generation: Poetry & Prose (South
End Press)
- Lorna Cervantes, Emplumada (University
of Pittsburgh Press)
- Espada, Rebellion is the Circle of a Lover's Hand (Curbstone
Press)**
- Morales, Getting Home Alive (Firebrand
Books)
- Valdez, Zoot Suit & Other Plays (Arte
Publico)
- Wojnarowicz, Close to the Knives: A Memoir of
Disintegration (Random House)*
- Lorde, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (Crossing Press)**
- Monette, Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story (Harper SF)**
- Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina (NAL)**
- Shilts, The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life & Times
of Harvey Milk (St. Martin's Pr.)
- Hayslip, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's
Journey from War to Peace (NAL)**
- M. Crow Dog, LakotaWoman (Harper Collins)**
- Kahn, Boys of Summer (Harper Collins)*
- P. Roth, Patrimony: A True Story (Simon & Schuster
Trade)*
- Seale, Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party & Huey
P. Newton (Black Classic Press)**
- Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son (Beacon
Press)*
- Davis, Angela Davis: An Autobiography (International Publishers
Co. )**
- Carter, Reflections of an Affirmative
Action Baby (Basic Books)*
- Wolff, This Boy's Life: A Memoir (Harper
Collins)
- O'Brien, Things They Carried (Penguin)**
- Momaday, Way to Rainy Mountain (University of New Mexico Press)**
- Augenbraum & Stavans, Growing Up Latino: Memoirs & Stories (Houghton
Mifflin)*
- Klepfisz, A Few Words in the Mother Tongue: Poems.
Selected & New (Eighth Mount Pr.)
- Houston, Farewell to Manzanar (Bantam)
- Murayama, All I Asking for Is My Body (University
of Hawaii Press)*
- J.F. Lee, Asian-Americans: Oral Histories (New Press New York)**
- M.P. Lee, Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman
in America (Univ. of Washington Pr. )*
- Thompson, Why Can't Sharon Kowalski Come Home? (Spinsters
Ink)*
- I Tell You Now: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers, ed.
Swann and Krupat (University of Nebraska Press)**
- Charters, Portable Beat Reader (Penguin)*
- Different Mothers: Sons & Daughters of Lesbians Talk about Their
Lives, ed. Rafkin (Cleis Press)**
- Forbidden Stitch: An Asian-American Women's
Anthology, ed. Lim (Calyx Books)
- Puerto Rican Writers at Home in the U.S.A:
An Anthology, intro. Turner (Open Hand Publishing Inc.)*
- Jordan, Technical Difficulties: African-American Notes on the State
of the Union (Random House)**
Anthology
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