Required Materials
The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, Oscar Zeta Acosta
Borderlands/La Frontera, Gloria Anzaldúa
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
Days of Obligation, Richard Rodriguez
New World Border, Guillermo Gómez-Peña
Always Running, Luis J. Rodriguez
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Course Description
In this course we will be examining the development of Chicano/Chicana identity, as it has been voiced in the latter half of the twentieth century. Though we will examine the development of the Chicano in representations as early as Cabeza de Vaca’s 1542 colonial narrative The Account, our primary focus will be on literature written after the 1960s and the rise of Chicanismo as a defiant social consciousness in the United States. We will be looking at the different ways that writers have used evocations of the land, language, history, and culture to define a distinctive Chicano identity. Along the way we will be exploring questions and controversies that have surrounded the term "Chicano." What, if anything, for example distinguishes the Chicano from the Mexican-American? How does Chicano culture and identity intersect or contrast with other Latino identities in the United States? Do questions of gender or sexuality complicate or suggest alternatives to a standardized notion of what it means to be Chicano or Chicana?  In addition to the texts, we will be examining other cultural works--films such as The Cisco Kid, and recordings of corrido ballads, websites, etc.--to help contextualize the works and concepts we will be reading in class.

Course Requirements
Response papers 45%
Midterm 15%
Final 15%
Quizzes 5%
Participation 10%
Group Presentation 10%

Response Papers
    Personal Autobiography
    Response One
    Response Two
    Response Three
    Response Four

There are five response papers, one due about every  three weeks.  About every three weeks you will receive a response question handout with questions taken from the upcoming reading assignments. You are to respond to any one day’s questions from the list. Response questions must be typed, double-spaced and turned in on the day that you have selected.  For example, answers to questions from February 18th's reading must be turned in class on that day.

Papers are due in class on the assigned date. Late papers will be subject to a reduction in grade.  If you feel you have a good reason for requiring an extension, please come talk to me about it beforehand. However, after-due date extensions, except in the case of emergencies, will be difficult to obtain.

Avoid plagiarism (stealing the exact words or ideas of another) like the plague. In this class acts of plagiarism incur a zero and could also result in course failure.

Presentation
At some point early in the semester I will divide the class up into four groups.  Each group will then be given the task of putting together an oral presentation, due at several-week intervals throughout the semester.  These presentations are intended to provide the class with helpful background material on Chicano culture and history in the United States.  Each presentation will be devoted to  a specific topic.  (See the Calendar for specific topics)  Each presentation should be at least 10 minutes (and last no more than 15 minutes) and must include at least one handout to be given to the class as a whole.  (You must also turn in a written bibliography of your sources to me.) Beyond the handout and the bibliography, the materials and format of the presentations are only limited by the group's imagination and may include use of a variety of media.

Exams
In addition to a mid-term and final exam, there will be three short surprise quizzes given throughout the semester. These are intended merely to give friendly encouragement to keep up with the assigned reading in class.

Participation
Regular attendance of classes is absolutely expected for this course. Three or more unexcused absences will lower your participation grade significantly.

Calendar
Week 1
January 27: Introduction.

January 29: Introduction.

 Week 2
February 3: Personal autobiography due.  The corrido (handout)

February 5: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, The Account (selections, handout)

Week 3
February 10: Oscar Zeta Acosta, The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (read to pg.121, Chapter 10)

February 12: Oscar Zeta Acosta, The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo

Week 4
February 17: Oral Presentation: Chicano Movement
Oscar Zeta Acosta, The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (read to end)

February 19:  Oscar Zeta Acosta, The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo/ Hunter S. Thomson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Week 5
February 24: Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/ La Frontera (read to Chapter Five, pg. 53)

Student Response:  Borderlands/ La Frontera

February 26: Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/ La Frontera (read to the end of part one, pg. 98)
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Week 6
March 2: Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/ La Frontera

March 4: Contested histories:  The Alamo

Week 7
March 9: Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (read to pg. 62, "Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water")

March 11: Oral Presentation: The Debate on Bilingual Education in the US
Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (read to the end)

Week 8
March 16:Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street

March 18: mid-term

Week 9
March 24-28: Spring Break
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Week 10
March 30: poems

April 1:  Richard Rodriguez, Days of Obligation (read the Introduction and Chapter 1)

Week 11
April 6: Oral Presentation: The Idea of Aztlan
Richard Rodriguez, Days of Obligation (Read Chapter 3)

April 8: Richard Rodriguez, Days of Obligation (read Chapters 8 and 10)

Student Response:  The Passing of Ancestral Cultures in Days of Obligation

Week 12
April 13:Richard Rodriguez, Brown

April 15: Guillermo Gómez-Peña, New World Border (read to pg. 48)

Student Response: The Hybridity and The New World Border

Student Response: Gomez-Peña as Unique Chicano Author

Week 13
April 20: Guillermo Gómez-Peña, New World Border (read pg. 77-127)

April 22: Guillermo Gómez-Peña, New World Border (read pg. 127-180)
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Week 14
April 27: "Cyber Pochos"
 Pocho.com

April 29:Oral Presentation: Chicano Literature in the Curriculum
Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running

Week 15
May 4: Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running

May 6: Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running

Week 16
May 11:Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running

May 13: TBA

Final Exam Week
Final exam:
 

Some Useful Links
Beginning Library Research on Chicano/Latino Studies
Chicano Literature Links
Chicano/Latino Electronic Network (CLNET)
The Chicana Feminist Homepage
Chicano and Chicana Space
The Virtual Varrio
Plaza de la Raza
Cyber Barrio
Chicano! PBS Series homepage
The Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Project

Illustration:  Self-Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States, Frida Kahlo, 1932