BLS 490E (LN 8115)

Senior Seminar:

Consumerism and the American Novel

David Goldstein-Shirley, Ph.D.

We can learn a lot about Americans by studying their relationship to purchasing and consuming in this most materialistic nation on Earth. In this senior seminar for American Studies and Culture, Literature, and the Arts students, we will intensively analyze three great American novels to trace out changes and continuities in consumption. We will discuss how authors in different decades of the twentieth century view consumption as a major part of their characters' self-identities, often as a marker of class and social status.

Through class discussion and writing, we will consider the relationships between art, popular culture, and public attitudes, so that we will develop a deeper understanding of America and its literature. We also will analyze a few key films from various periods of the twentieth century to study their treatment of the same theme of consumerism. Film--a quintessential American entertainment medium--is a rich source of evidence concerning popular concerns and attitudes, and will augment our study of literary texts.

This course is especially appropriate for students wishing to leave UWB with a stronger sense of the nation in which they live and the ways in which highly perceptive novelists have interpreted the peculiar lifeways of the American people.

Course texts (available in the UWB Bookstore [save your receipts for a patronage refund] and in library reserve/reference). Note: Click here <http://www.bookstore.washington.edu/ubs/main.taf?area=attribute&page=university&catagory=uw_bothell&nav=on> to order books online (free shipping). Click on "Winter Quarter 2003," then enter the course line number for "UW SLN Code" (leave other spaces blank) and hit 'enter.' All items have been ordered; contact the bookstore if some materials are not listed.

• REQUIRED: DeLillo, Don. White Noise. 1985. New York: Penguin, 1999 (ISBN 0140283307)
• REQUIRED: Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie. 1900. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. (ISBN 0192835742)
• REQUIRED: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Scribner, 1995. (ISBN 0684801523)
• REQUIRED: Lee, Martyn (ed.). The Consumer Society Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999. (ISBN 0631207988) (NO LONGER REQUIRED)
• OPTIONAL (RECOMMENDED): Gibaldi, Joseph. The MLA Handbook, 5th ed. New York: MLA, 1999. (ISBN 0873529758)
• OPTIONAL (RECOMMENDED): Lunsford, Andrea and Robert Connors. The New St. Martin's Handbook, 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001. (ISBN 0312395523)

Grading: Your grade will be based on these assignments, which are described on separate pages online (links will be activated when ready):

A note about grades: I know that students often need to juggle school, work, family, and other obligations. I never second-guess students' priorities, and I never think less of students who choose to devote more time and effort to one of these other obligations rather than to an assignment or the course as a whole. I respect the maturity of students who establish their priorities, make difficult choices, and accept the consequences of those decisions. Also, remember that your grade is based solely on my professional assessment of the quantity and quality of your work, not on your effort or on my opinion of you as an individual.

Final Course Grade Scale:

3.4-4.0: "Late draft" of both papers	2.9-3.3: One "late draft" and one "medium draft"	2.3-2.8: One "late draft" and one "early draft," or two "medium drafts"
1.7-2.2: One "medium draft" and one "early draft"	0.7-1.6: Two "early drafts"	0.0-0.6 Less than two "early drafts" (insufficient quality and quantity of work for passing grade)

The final grade within each category will be determined by the learning portfolio grade (check-plus, check, or check-minus) and class participation grade (A, B, C, D, or F). Please see the document, "Assessment of Student Writing" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/WritingAssess.html>for explanations of "late," "middle," and "early" drafts.

These grades assume the satisfactory completion of a senior seminar portfolio self-assessment. Students who do not submit a satisfactory senior seminar portfolio self-assessment by the last class meeting will receive a grade one half-point below what they otherwise would have earned for the course.

Nota bene: Students must earn a 2.5 or higher in this course in order to meet the Senior Seminar requirement. See <http://www.bothell.washington.edu/IAS/degrees/BLS/requirements.html#graduate> for details.

For an explanation of the University of Washington grading system, see <http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html>.

Schedule (readings listed by author; names in bold refer to novels listed above; author names followed by a single asterisk are listed below under "In Lee"; author names followed by a double asterisk are listed below under "Reserves List"):

*Reserves list (at Library Reserves Desk and, except as noted, online at <http://eres.bothell.washington.edu/courseindex.asp>; password required [announced in class: ____________]):

• Associated Students of UWB. "Maintaining Academic Integrity." Online at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Integrity.html>. ONLINE ONLY. NOT AVAILABLE IN LIBRARY RESERVES.
• Clarke, John. "Dupes and Guerillas: The Dialectics of Cultural Consumption." The Consumer Society Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999. 288-93. Read by Feb. 27.
• Douglas, Mary and Baron Isherwood. "The Uses of Goods." The Consumer Society Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999. 73-83. Read by Jan. 9.
• Featherstone, Mike. "Lifestyle and Consumer Culture." The Consumer Society Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999. 92-105. Read by Jan. 30.
• Fiske, John. "The Commodities of Culture." The Consumer Society Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999. 282-87. Read by Feb. 18.
• Friedman, Monroe. "The Changing Language of a Consumer Society: Brand Name Usage in Popular American Novels in the Postwar Era." Journal of Consumer Research 11 (March 1985): 927-38. Read by Feb. 27.
• Harris, Neil. "The Drama of Consumer Desire." Yankee Enterprise: The Rise of the American System of Manufactures. Ed. Otto Mayr and Robert C. Post. Washington: Smithsonian, 1981. 189-216. Read by Jan. 14.
• McCracken, Grant. "Culture and Consumption: A Theoretical Account of the Structure and Movement of the Cultural Meaning of Consumer Goods." Journal of Consumer Research 13 (June 1986): 71-84. Read by Jan. 18.
• Slater, Don. "Looking Backwards." The Consumer Society Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999. 177-185. Read by Jan. 14.
• Veblen, Thorstein. "Conspicuous Consumption." The Consumer Society Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999. 31-47. Read by Feb. 6.

 

This schedule is subject to change. The most current schedule will always be posted here <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/ConsumerLitSyl.html> for your reference, and changes will be announced in class, by e-mail, or both. This course has no final examination. Instead, final evaluation will be based principally on a learning portfolio.

Keep a copy of all submitted work. No extra credit or paper re-writes will be permitted except as noted, but I will gladly assist you with your work. In-class exercises cannot be made up for any reason because the group interaction is irreproducible. (See below for information on participation.) Late assignments will be accepted only in extenuating circumstances that could not have been anticipated, and only as specified; penalties will apply as specified. Keep all graded materials; you will need them for your graduation portfolio.

In accordance with University policy, I give Incompletes only if you are passing the course and attending class to within two weeks of the end of the quarter, and then only in extenuating circumstances that can be proven.

I will do my best to accommodate all documented disabilities (physical, learning, cognitive, or other). See <http://www.bothell.washington.edu/students/dss/index.html> for information.

I am very strict about deadlines, for two reasons: (1) I have very limited grading time, and late papers make it hard for me to return graded papers in a timely manner; and (2) I want everyone to have exactly the same amount of work time for the sake of fairness. Please do not put me in the position of trying to decide arbitrarily how late is "late." Take responsibility for getting work to me at the beginning of class when it is due, not ten minutes, two hours, or a day later. Rest assured that everyone is being treated equally.

IMPORTANT: I insist on academic integrity. You are responsible for understanding all aspects of University regulations regarding academic integrity. Breaches of academic integrity, including but not limited to cheating (e.g., copying another person's work or obtaining examination answers in a dishonest manner) and plagiarism (i.e., using another person's words or ideas without proper acknowledgment), whether intentional or accidental, will result in a zero for the assignment or examination; additional sanctions may be imposed by the University administration. Note that American rules regarding plagiarism might differ markedly from those in other countries. You can find more information in the University Handbook and in the document, "Avoiding Academic Misconduct" <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Integrity.html>. I will help you any way I can so you can succeed while maintaining academic integrity. I truly want you to do well. Visit my office hours often!

About class communication:

Please carefully read the "Class Communication" document at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Communication.html>, which I consider to be part of this syllabus.

About participation:

Please carefully read the "Class Participation" document at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Partic.html>, which I consider to be part of this syllabus.

Be considerate of your instructors and classmates. Please turn off cell phones, pagers, and watch alarms before entering a classroom. Also, be aware that entering a classroom after class has started distracts your instructor and your classmates. If you must do it, please try to enter through a back door, if possible. That probably will distract your instructor (for which you should later apologize), but at least it will reduce the disruption you cause your classmates.

If you need to drop: You and I both invest a significant amount of time and effort having you in this course, so it is unfortunate when students do not complete a course that they began, especially a course in which other students were denied entry. Sometimes, however, students need to drop a course for good reasons. If that should become the case, I ask, as a favor, that you send me an e-mail message notifying me. Of course, I hope everyone who starts the course can complete it, so your work and time and mine are put to good use!

Welcome to the course!

This page last updated January 28, 2003.

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