English 398 Boston: A City in Fiction

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GOALS, TEXTS, SCHEDULE, GRADING, JOURNALS AND RESPONSES, MIDTERM PAPER, FINAL PAPER, AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS OF FICTION SET IN BOSTON (under construction),

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English 398 Boston: A City in Fiction TTh 10:00-11:15 Sawyer 321 Fall 2015 4 Credits

Prerequisite: Any 200-level English course

Course description: Boston in novels from its beginning to the present: plan of the city, architecture, population, social classes, politics and human problems. Hawthorne, James, Howells, Jean Stafford, Edwin O'Connor, Dorothy West, and others.

COURSE GOALS & LEARNING OBJECTIVES

GOALS
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to know/understand:		 OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:		 ASSESSMENT
How the student will be assessed on these learning objectives:
the history and images of Boston presented in fiction from the 18th to the 21st century abstract and contextualize the images of Boston in fiction from the 18th to the 21st century weekly journals and responses to journals of classmates, midterm paper, semester project, and final exam
the historical context and literary value of some important works of fiction set in Boston use historical and literary knowledge to analyze fiction set in Boston weekly journals and responses to journals of classmates, midterm paper, semester project, and final exam

In addition to reading novels, short stories, broadsides, and a few poems, the main resources for the course will be this syllabus and the online platform Blackboard, accessed through MySuffolk at <https://prod.campuscruiser.com/mysuffolk/>. To access Blackboard, you must turn off Pop-Up Blockers.

John Winthrop, City upon a Hill, 1630

Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke and to provide for our posterity is to followe the Counsell of Micah, to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke humbly with our God, for this end, wee must be knitt together in this worke as one man, wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion, wee must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities, wee must uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekenes, gentlenes, patience and liberallity, wee must delight in eache other, make others Condicions our owne rejoyce together, mourne together, labour, and suffer together, allwayes haveing before our eyes our Commission and Community in the worke, our Community as members of the same body, soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as his owne people and will commaund a blessing upon us in all our wayes, soe that wee shall see much more of his wisdome power goodnes and truthe then formerly wee have beene acquainted with, wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us, when tenn of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantacions: the lord make it like that of New England: for wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us; soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdrawe his present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a byword through the world, wee shall open the mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the wayes of god and all professours for Gods sake; wee shall shame the faces of many of gods worthy servants, and cause theire prayers to be turned into Cursses upon us till wee be consumed out of the good land whether wee are going: And to shutt upp this discourse with that exhortacion of Moses that faithfull servant of the Lord in his last farewell to Israell Deut. 30. Beloved there is now sett before us life, and good, deathe and evill in that wee are Commaunded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another to walke in his wayes and to keepe his Commaundements and his Ordinance, and his lawes, and the Articles of our Covenant with him that wee may live and be multiplyed, and that the Lord our God may blesse us in the land whether wee goe to possesse it: But if our heartes shall turne away soe that wee will not obey, but shall be seduced and worshipp other Gods our pleasures, and proffitts, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, wee shall surely perishe out of the good Land whether wee passe over this vast Sea to possesse it;

Therefore lett us choose life,
that wee, and our Seede,
may live; by obeyeing his
voyce, and cleaveing to him,
for hee is our life, and
our prosperity.

(Vincent Ferraro, Mt. Holyoke C.)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Boston," 1861

This town of Boston has a history. It is not an accident, not a windmill, or a railroad station, or cross-roads tavern, or an army-barracks grown up by time and luck to a place of wealth; but a seat of humanity, of men of principle, obeying a sentiment and marching loyally whither that should lead them; so that its annals are great historical lines, inextricably national; part of the history of political liberty. I do not speak with any fondness, but the language of coldest history, when I say that Boston commands attention as the town which was appointed in the destiny of nations to lead the civilization of North America.

A True Bostonian

Annonymous c. 1900

A soul from Earth to Heaven went
To whom the Saint as he drew near
Said, "Sir, what claims do you present,
To us to be admitted here?"
"In Boston I was born and bred,
And in her schools was educated;
I afterwards at Harvard read,
And was with honors graduated.
In Trinity a pew I owned
Where Brooks is held in such respect;
And the society is known
To be the cream of the select.
In fair Nahant a charming spot,
I own a villa, lawn, arcades,
And last a handsome burial lot
In dead Mount Auburn's hallowed shades."
St. Peter mused, and shook his head,
Then as a gentle sigh he drew,
"Go back to Boston, friend," he said,
"Heaven isn't good enough for you."

Quoted in Susan Wilson, Literary Trail of Greater Boston (Houghton Mifflin, 2000): 116.

Texts: Reference

Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. A Pocket Style Manual. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2015. Print. ISBN: 1-4576-4232-6 or the 6th ed. Available in Suffolk University Bookstore.

In responding to your formal papers, I will refer you to this book by page and section numbers or by the abbreviations and symbols keyed to "Revision Symbols," page 331.

Texts: Multi-Century

Robert J. Allison. A Short History of Boston. Berverly, MA: Commonwealth Editions, 2004. Print. ISBN: 1-889833-47-9 Available in Suffolk University Bookstore.

Texts: Puritan and Revolutionary Boston

Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Howe's Masquerade: A Legend of the Province House." 1838. Legends of the Province House and Other Twice-Told Tales. Boston and New York:

Houghton Mifflin, 1900. Ed. Jeff Kelley. Kellscraft Studio. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

---. "My Kinsman, Major Molineux." 1832. The Complete Novels and Selected Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Ed. Norman Holmes Pearson. New York:

Modern Library, 1937. 1209-23. Electronic Text Center, U of Virginia Lib. and Internet Archive. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

---. The Scarlet Letter. 1850. 2nd. ed. Ed. Brian Harding and Cindy Weinstein. New York: Oxford World’s Classics, 2007. ebrary. Print or Web.

27 Aug. 2015. ISBN: 978-0-199=53780-8 Available in hard copy from Suffolk University Bookstore.

Texts: Nineteenth-Century Boston

Edward Bellamy. Looking Backward. 1887. Ed. Matthew Beaumont. New York: Oxford World Classics, 2007. Print or Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

ISBN: 978-0-199-55257-3 Available in hard copy from Suffolk University Bookstore.

The Female Marine and Related Works. 1815-18. Ed. Daniel A. Cohen. Amherst: U of Massachusetts P, 1997. Google Books. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

Charles W. Frothingham. The Convent's Doom: A Tale of Charlestown in 1834; And, The Haunted Convent. 1834. 5th ed. Boston: Graves and Weston, 1854. American Catholic

Research Center and University Archives. Catholic U of America. Web. 1 Oct. 2015: 5-19 [Images 7-21].

There is also a .pdf copy in Course Documents.

William Dean Howells. The Rise of Silas Lapham. 1884. Boston: Ticknor, 1885. Google Books. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

Henry James, The Bostonians. 1886. New York: Macmillan, 1921. Internet Archive. Web. 27 Aug. 2015. Vol. I and Vol. II.

Robert Lowell, "For the Union Dead." 1960. Ed. Sarah Luria, Holy Cross C. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

J.W. Page. Uncle Robin in his Cabin in Virginia and Tom Without One in Boston. Richmond, VA: J. W. Randolph, 1853. Wright

American Fiction 1851-1875, Indiana U. 2002. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

George Thompson [pseud. Greenhorn]. Venus in Boston. New York: For the Publisher, 1850. Internet Archive. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

Texts: Twentieth-Century Boston

Robert Lowell, "For the Union Dead." 1960. Ed. Sarah Luria, Holy Cross C. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

Edwin O'Connor. The Last Hurrah. Boston: Little, Brown, 1956. Print. Out of print. Not available in Suffolk University Bookstore.

Available online for borrowing from the Open Library (3 ebooks)

Jean Stafford, Boston Adventure. 1944. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1983. Print. Out of print. Not available in Suffolk University Bookstore.

Available online for borrowing from the Open Library (2 ebooks).

Dorothy West, The Living Is Easy. 1948. New York: The Feminist Press, 1982. Print. ISBN: 978-1-558-61147-4 Available in Suffolk University Bookstore.

Available online for borrowing from the Open Library (1 ebook)

Texts: Twenty-First Century Boston

David Alexander Smith, ed. Future Boston. New York: Tor, 1994. Out of Print. Not available in Suffolk University Bookstore. See Future Boston.

Internet Wayback Machine, 8 Aug. 2011. Web. 27 Aug. 2015. Available online for borrowing from the Open Library (2 ebooks)

Ken Tangvik. Don't Mess with Tanya: Stories from Boston's Barrios. Albion: Aberdeen Bay, 2011. Print. ISBN: 978-1-608-30054-9 Available in Suffolk University Bookstore.-

Films and Television Shows

Several films and television shows will be used to analyze Boston in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. See Movies with Boston Sets and Scenes (BU Libraries) and Television Shows Set in Boston (BU Libraries).

Schedule

The schedule, policies, procedures, and assignments in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, by mutual agreement, and/or to ensure better student learning.

In the event that the university cancels classes, such as for severe weather, students are expected to continue with readings as originally scheduled. Any assignments scheduled for those missed classes, should be posted as usual to Discussion Board in Blackboard. In general, I will produce podcasts to replace the lectures for canceled classes.

DATE READINGS WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
September 10 Introduction: Physical and Visual History

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Intro Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 10:03:21 AM.

September 15 Puritan Boston--No class today; in place of class, view the podcasts linked below AFTER completing the readings and posting Journal 1 to Dicussion Board.

Before viewing podcasts, read

  • Robert Allison, A Short History of Boston, pp. 6-22,

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, "Custom House," pp. 9-10 and 27, and Chapters I-XII.

Post Journal 1 to Discussion Board.

View these podcasts:

Before viewing podcasts, post to Discussion Board Journal 1.
September 17 Read The Scarlet Letter, Chapters XIII-XXIV.

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: End of SL Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 9:53:23 AM.

 Post to Discussion Board Response 1
September 22 Revolutionary Boston--Before class, read

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Revolution Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 9:56:18 AM.

 Journal 2
September 24 Boston in the Early Republic: Gender, Class, Race, and Religion--Before class, read

  • selections from "Lucy Brewer": The Female Marine and Related Works. 1815-18.
    15-19, 28-31, 61-71, 82-85, 90-97, 137-47.

    See Course Documents--if necessary, use the Rotate button to turn the image on the screen.

  • William Cooper Nell's account of George Middleton confronting white mob, pp. 24-27, and of
    Big Dick (often called King of the Negroes), pp. 27-28, of The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution.

    Boston: Robert F. Walcutt, 1855. Google Books. Web. 28 Aug. 2014.

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Revolution to 1815 Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 9:57:03 AM.

Response 2
September 29 Before class, look carefully at two anonymous racist broadsides and one counter-attack in the same style (but only skim the text--don't get bogged down in the language):

  • Grand Bobalition of Slavery. Broadside. 1819?. Brown U Library. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
    See Course Documents for an easy to read text version.

  • "Reply to Bobalition". Shane White, "'It Was a Proud Day': African Americans, Festivals, and Parades in the
    North, 1741-1834." The Journal of American History 81.1 (1994): 37. JSTOR. Web. 26 Sep.
    2015. ("a broadside in the genre of 'Bobalition'. . . defend[s] Boston's African-American celebration.
    July 17, 1821").

    See Course Documents for White's analysis and the Library of Congress's summary account
    of the Bobalition broadsides.

  • Dreadful Riot on Negro Hill! Boston: 1827. Broadside. American Memory. Library of Congress. Web.
    31 Aug. 2013.

    See Dreadful Riot on Negro Hill! for a text version.

and read carefully

  • Harry Hazel (pseudonym of Justin Jones), Big Dick, The King of the Negoes: Or, Virtue and Vice Contrasted:
    A Romance of High & Low Life in Boston. Boston: The Star Spangled Banner: Office, 1846. Chapter X:
    57-67 An Account of the 'Negro Hill Riot,' together with many incidents connected with that memorable
    affair, which are now given to the public for the first time.

    See Course Documents--if necessary, use the Rotate button to turn the image on the screen.

    See pages 27-34 of Alan Thomas Lipke's dissertation "The Strange Life and Stranger Afterlife of King Dick . . ." Diss. U of Southern Florida. 2013. Academic Commons, U of Southern Florida. Web 19 Sep. 2014, for a good summary and discussion that provides a context for Chapter X.

  • Charles W. Frothingham. The Convent's Doom: A Tale of Charlestown in 1834; And, The Haunted Convent: 5-19
    [Images 7-21].

    There is also a .pdf copy in Course Documents.

Here is a link to the podcst of this class: Early Republic--Race, Class, Religion Tuesday, September 29, 2015 at 10:02:48 AM.

Journal 3
September 29 September 29 is the last day students can withdraw from a course without receiving a grade of W. The course will be completely removed from the student's transcript. Students may do this online via MySuffolk.
October 1 Before class, read

George Thompson [pseud. Greenhorn], Venus in Boston (1849)

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Early Republic Continued Thursday, October 01, 2015 at 9:57:39 AM

 Response 3
October 6-8 Reform in Nineteenth-Century Boston--Before class, read

Here is a link to the podcast of Tuesday's class: Civil War I Tuesday, October 06, 2015 at 9:59:01 AM.

Here is a link to the podcast of Thursday's class: Civil War II Thursday, October 08, 2015 at 9:56:58 AM.

Journal 4
Response 4
October 13 Before class, read

Henry James, The Bostonians. 1886. Vol. I. Book First, chapters I-XII.

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Bostonians I Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 9:58:24 AM

 Journal 5
October 15 Before class, read

Henry James, The Bostonians. 1886. Vol. I. Book First, chapters XII-XX, and Book Second, chapters XXI-XXIII.

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Bostonians II Thursday, October 15, 2015 at 9:55:47 AM

 Response 5
October 20 Before class, read

Henry James, The Bostonians. 1886. Vol. II. Book Second, chapters XXIV-XXXIV

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: James Bostonians III Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 9:56:05 AM.

Journal 6
October 22 Before class, read

  • Henry James, The Bostonians. 1886. Vol. II. Book Third, chapters XXXV-XLII.

  • If you have time after finishing Henry James' novel, read the excerpts from "Another Chapter of 'The Bostonians'" (1887), written by Henrietta James (pseud. of Celia B. Whitehead), Treacherous Texts: U.S. Suffrage Literature, 1846-1946, Mary Chapman and Angela Mills, eds. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers U P, 2011. 100-107. Web. 6 Sep. 2015.

    Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Bostonians IV Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 9:59:13 AM.

 Response 6
October 27 Class in Nineteenth-Century Boston--Before class, read
  • Robert Allison, A Short History of Boston, pp. 68-74

  • William Dean Howells, The Rise of Silas Lapham (1884): Chapters I-XIII.

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Bostonians - Silas Lapham Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 10:00:59 AM.

Midterm Paper
Otober 29 Before class, read

William Dean Howells, The Rise of Silas Lapham (1884): Chapters XIV-XXVII.

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Silas Lapham End Thursday, October 29, 2015 at 9:58:11 AM.

November 3 Class Struggle in Nineteenth-Century Boston--Before class, read

Edward Bellamy. Looking Backward (1887): Editor's Introduction (2000), Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 26, 28, and Postscript

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Looking Backward Tuesday, November 03, 2015 at 9:58:24 AM,

 Journal 7
November 5 November 5 is the last day students can withdraw from a course without receiving a grade of F. They will receive a W on their transcript instead. Students may do this online via MySuffolk. After November 5, students may not withdraw from courses unless they have serious extenuating circumstances and documentation. Students should email the Student Affairs Office to request a late course withdrawal.
November 5 African-American Boston--before class, read

  • Robert Allison, A Short History of Boston, pp. 39, 56-67, 99-103

  • Dorothy West, The Living Is Easy (1948): Part One, Chapters 1-10

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: LB-LIE Thursday, November 05, 2015 at 9:51:37 AM

 Response 7
November 10 Before class, read

    Dorothy West, The Living Is Easy (1948): Part One, Chapters 11-21

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: LIE II Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 9:53:20 AM.

 Journal 8
November 12 Before class, read

Dorothy West, The Living Is Easy (1948): Part One, Chapters 22-27, and Part Two, Chapters 28-35

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: LIE III Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 9:54:49 AM.

Response 8
November 17 Irish Boston--Before class, read

  • Robert Allison, A Short History of Boston, pp. 52-54,73-80, 83-89, 90

  • Edwin O'Connor, The Last Hurrah (1956): Part I, chapter One-Part II, chapter Eight (up to page 211)

    Here is a link to the podcast of this class: LIE-Hurrah Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 10:00:56 AM.

 Journal 9
November 19 Edwin O'Connor, The Last Hurrah (1956): Part II, chapters Eight (bottom of page 211)-Ten, Part III, chapters Eleven-Twelve,
and Part IV, chapters Thirteen-Fourteen

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: LIE-End Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 9:56:58 AM.

Response 9
November 24 Catch up on reading The Last Hurrah. We'll start discussing the novel in class.

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Last Hurrah I Tuesday, November 24, 2015 at 9:55:20 AM.

 No journal this week.
November 26 Thanksgiving Day
December 1 We'll finish discussing The Last Hurrah.

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Hurrah End I Tuesday, December 01, 2015 at 10:04:03 AM.

Journal 10
December 3 End of the The Last Hurrah

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Hurrah End II Thursday, December 03, 2015 at 10:05:07 AM

 Response 10
December 8 Boston 1945-20??--Before class, read

  • Robert Allison, A Short History of Boston, pp. 77, 80-81, 86, 89-91

  • A. J. Deutsch, "A Subway Named Mobius". Astounding Science Fiction 46.4 (Dec. 1950): 72-.

  • Ken Tangvik. Don't Mess with Tanya: Stories from Boston's Barrios. Albion: Aberdeen Bay, 2011. Print.

Here is a link to the podcast of this class: Wrap up Tuesday, December 08, 2015 at 9:54:00 AM.
December 10 Wrap up and student presentations
Thursday December 17 Final Exam Sawyer 321 2:00-4:30

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADES

Education requires active participation of the whole class. We all have the obligation to contribute to the education of others in the class as well as our own. The only way to accomplish this is to attend class regularly, read texts carefully before class, complete assignments on time, bring readings to class, and contribute to the discussion.

Before each class, you will be required to post to Blackboard a 300-500 word Journal or Response. Journals and Responses are designed to provoke discussion and to provide practice in written analysis. These writings will be graded mainly for insight, originality, and supporting evidence.

A Midterm Paper (750-1250 words, not including Works Cited), a semester project, and an in-class essay Final Exam will provide the opportunity to develop topics in more detail.

Academic Support and Student Success

The Center for Learning and Academic Success (CLAS) is a free on-campus resource offering peer and professional tutoring in Math and English, as well as a wide range of business, science, and liberal arts courses. Students may join study groups, participate in drop in help, or make appointments with tutors to reinforce course content and encourage effective study habits. The CLAS is conveniently located inside of the Sawyer Library on the 3rd floor. Go to this office for writing help (tutoring) and other study and learning skill help and improvement.

The Early Alert Project

This class participates in Suffolk’s Early Alert Project. Around week 3, I will notify the Center for Learning and Academic Success (CLAS) if you have struggled with writing or language skills, excessive absences, incomplete work, or difficulty with the course content. This warning is not an official grade, yet it indicates concerns about your progress that need to be addressed immediately. If you receive an Early Alert, please visit me during my office hours so we may talk about strategies for how you can be successful in this class.

Counseling Resources and Physical/Emotional Health

As a student, you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, health issues, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating, lack of motivation, or feeling ill. These concerns or other stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or may reduce your ability to participate in daily activities. Suffolk University services are available to assist you in addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. You can learn more about the broad range of medical services and confidential mental health services available on campus at the following website: www.suffolk.edu/health.

Office of Health, Wellness, and Counseling Center

Counseling Center

Stahl Building, 73 Tremont St, 5th Floor. Tel. 617.573.8260

Students with Disabilities

Office of Disability Services

If you anticipate issues with the format or requirements of this course, please meet with me—I would like to discuss ways to ensure your full participation in my classroom. If you determine that you need formal, disability-related accommodations, it is very important that you register with the Office of Disability Services (located at 73 Tremont Street, 7th floor; 617.994.6820) and notify me of your eligibility for reasonable accommodations. We can then plan how best to implement your accommodations.