The American Experience, 1865-1980

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa


Course Syllabus Integrated with the American Studies Crossroads Project
AMS 486, (W)

Course Description:

This is a lecture/discussion class geared towards graduate students, American Studies majors, and American Studies minors; it is designed to give students an overall view of the transitions in American cultural, social, and intellectual history over the past 150 years. In order to do so, it will focus on major themes and transformations of society. These will include the transition from a society based agriculturally to one industrially based, and them to one based in service and information. It will also trace the rise of urbanization, the changing ethnic and institutional composition of American society, and the rise of the consumer culture. In all of these topics, questions of race, gender, and ethnicity will be carefully considered, since these factors are always important in defining the American Experience. We will also consistently ask questions such as which social groups hold power, what kinds of power and influence they have, what means they use to exercise both, and how and to what extent each identifiable social group's ideas, values, behavior, and purposes permeates, dominate, and redirect our culture and society.

Course Requirements:

All students are expected to complete each reading assignment before class, and to come prepared to discuss. Students will also be expected to listen actively, question, and participate in discussion. I will present short mini-lectures on background information only as needed. The class will work best if you draw on yourselves and each other as well as on me and the texts.

Cheating on examinations and intentional plagiarism (copying from others' writings without knowledgment) will result in the grade of "F" being assigned, as well as referral to the academic dean of the student's college.

Undergraduate Grades will be calculated in the following manner:

Because this course carries a "W" for the Core Curriculum, writing proficiency is required for a passing grade. Undergraduates will be expected to write two essays, one before mid-term.

Points to Keep in Mind Re Your Papers

  1. All papers need to be turned in on time unless you make prior arrangements. Contact me AS SOON AS THE PROBLEM COMES UP, NOT AT THE LAST MINUTE. I will be much less grumpy and much more charitable! Papers need to be typed, with standard margins, a clear title, thesis statement, beginning, middle, and conclusion and proper documentation according to current MLA format. Because of the NUMBER of papers, there can be no exceptions to these rules.

  2. The purpose of accurate documentation is to introduce your readers both to the sources of information that have shaped your thought AND to any material they don't know about but which might help their work. Without accuracy, how can the readers go back to the original information if it assists their research?

  3. The point of writing a paper is to take a stand, to integrate your views with the material you have gathered and to use the material to explicate why you believe in your stand. As Kaye put it in Writing Under Pressure, research writing has to be seen "in the context of developing and presenting a more precise yet more comprehensive perspective than we (and perhaps even our readers) had before" (p. 123). In other words, your writing needs a purpose reflected in a thesis statement; it is not an entry in the world's ultimate game of trivial pursuit!

  4. Point 3 (above) is a good example of the proper use of direct quotation. Quote from a source directly only when: a) the exact wording is important because you will explicate the quotation and/or analyze the other implications of the author's word choice (this is most often--but not solely-- used on primary sources) or; b) the author phrases an idea so precisely that you need his/her words to articulate the concept. The rest of the time you will need to incorporate material indirectly, or paraphrase it, and credit the source without direct quotation. While high school term papers may be lots of direct quotations strung together, THESE papers should NOT be! This material should be used not just to show me that you have read everything assigned on the topic, but to support your thesis. Remember Kaye's injunction "An essay that ticks too closely to sources results from the writer's failure to develop a thesis of his or her own to test in the material" (p. 124).

  5. How can you make all this happen, this semester? Two suggestions. First, generate a tentative thesis--in science they are called hypotheses-- and focus your efforts around proving or disproving it, and modify it as you go along. Second, keep in mind the scope of your paper. Remember, you only have a limited time; that means you want to choose a specific example which will reflect larger concerns.

  6. OK, but how do I figure out a hypothesis and scope? Again, two suggestions. First, try FREEWRITING--a technique coined by composition expert Peter Elbow. Sit down with some paper and just write for 1-15 minutes--whatever you think is important, interesting, amusing, stupid, etc.--in whatever order it occurs to you. DON'T EDIT, EITHER BEFORE, DURING, OR AFTER YOUR WRITING!!! Just save your freewriting in one location where you won't lose them. After several sessions, reread all your freewritings. You will discover you know more than you thought, and an hypothesis usually emerges which can direct the rest of you research. Second, if you get blocked try talking about you research with someone. Roommates/significant others will often do this on a quid pro quo basis if you let them know you want their "dumb" questions to clarify your thought, and not just strokes for your ego. (Be sure you mean that when you say it!). I'm also happy to talk with you at any time to help you clarify you thoughts. I can also give you a number of books and techniques to help you with any specific writing problems you may have (even procrastination). What I can't do is tell you how to write an A paper in two days!

  7. After you have completed a first draft of your paper, you will need to turn it into a final draft to turn in to me. I suggest several steps: a) be sure the paper has a thesis statement, and a clear beginning, middle, and conclusion; b) read it over yourself and correct any errors you find; c) have someone else read it over (I do this free of charge or prejudice to your final draft) and tell you what doesn't make sense, then correct it; d) take your "pretend final" draft and read it out loud and change anything that "sounds funny," (word repetitions, etc); e) copy edit the final version (if not working on a word processor) and f) now type it and proofread the typing. If on a word processor, copyedit it at the end. Unless you like bad grades, DON'T use a first draft as a final draft!!!

Required Reading:

We will also be finishing the sections of several of the books Dr. Megraw began in AMS 485-585. These books are:

In most cases we will be reading these books in sections according to topic, rather than straight through. Those of you who did not take 485 last semester should be able to get used copies or share with other students. Please use the schedule at the end of this syllabus to keep track of the reading assignments. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR READING THE CORRECT SECTIONS ON THE CORRECT DAY, AND YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR CLASS!!!

Class Schedule: