This course examines the intersection between literature and public life by exploring whether writing can be considered a form of activism. Students will analyze contemporary nonfiction works and write critically and creatively about their themes and how they relate to American culture. The class meets twice a week and offers a service learning track involving 25 hours of community volunteering. Assignments include participation, two writing assignments, and a final paper or portfolio. Required texts include Nickel and Dimed, The Laramie Project, and Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. Students are expected to contribute respectfully to class discussions and adhere to formatting guidelines for written work.

1. EngL1501W Section 06: Literature of Public Life
Spring 2010
WF 10:10 am–12:05 pm
LindH 302
Instructor: Sheena K. Fallon
Office Hours: WF 12:10-1:10pm
Office: 26 Lind
Email: fall0081@umn.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Is Writing Activism?
In order to explore the intersection between literature and public life, we will examine the writer’s impulse
in the context of the activist’s impulse – that is, whether writing a book is a type of activism. As part of this
interrogation, we will write creatively and critically, connecting these texts to the larger discussion of the texts’
themes in American culture and public life.
This course offers a Service Learning track. This option involves volunteering at a community
organization for a minimum of 25 hours. Service Learning is a practice and a belief that our work in the classroom
can and should be applied to actual community issues, that your community volunteering can and should promote
engagement with scholarship and learning, and that our fundamental responsibility as college-educated citizens is to
prepare ourselves for lives of active citizenship. Service Learning is a way to directly connect your liberal arts
education to the “real world.” More information on service-learning opportunities will be available during the
second class meeting.
This is a writing intensive course. Assignments #1 and #3 will have a peer-review component.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1) To learn how to discuss and analyze contemporary nonfiction literature and its role in public life through
the writing process.
2) To think critically about public life and write clear, compelling arguments that reflect this critical thinking.
3) To interrogate our own positions as citizens and participants in American culture and society.
4) To prepare ourselves for our own active participation in American culture and society.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Title Author Publisher ISBN
Nickel and Dimed: On
(Not) Getting By in
America
Barbara Ehrenreich Henry Holt & Company 9780805088380
Twilight: Los Angeles,
1992
Anna Deavere Smith Doubleday & Company 0-385-47376-1
The Laramie Project Moises Kaufman Vintage 9780375727191
Telling: A Memoir of
Rape and Recovery
Patricia Weaver
Francisco
HarperCollins
Publishers
0060930764
Brother, I'm Dying Edwidge Danticat Knopf Publishing 1400034302
Another Bullshit Night
In Suck City
Nick Flynn W. W. Norton 978-0393329407
Roger and Me and American Movie will be screened in class. PDFs of short readings will be available for download
from the class website. Be prepared to print these readings and bring them to class.
DISCUSSION
Many of the issues we will discuss in class are sensitive topics, and I will do my best to encourage discussion,
dissention, and debate. Take the utmost care to remain calm when participating in discussion. Above all, you must
be respectful of your peers. Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

2. COURSE BREAKDOWN
This is a two-track course – standard and service learning. The first three items apply to all students. Each track has
different options for completing the course. The standard track involves more traditional literary analysis and
exams. Service Learning students participate in at least 25 hours of volunteer community service and complete a
portfolio detailing this experience. The Service Learning portfolio includes a creative option. Service Learning
students do not attend class on the days of the midterm and final.
ALL STUDENTS (50% / 500 points)
• Participation 10% (100 points)
o Contributing to class discussion
o Reading quizzes
o In-class writing
o Participation in group work or peer reviews
o General preparedness
• Writing Assignment #1 20% (200 pts)
• Writing Assignment #2 20% (200 pts)
---------------------- PLUS ------------------------
STANDARD TRACK 50% (500 pts)
• Midterm and Final 30% (300 pts)
• Final Paper 20% (200 pts)
----------------------- OR ---------------------------
SERVICE LEARNING TRACK 50% (500 pts)
• Service Learning Journals 30% (300 pts)
• Final Portfolio 20% (200 pts)
ESSAY FORMAT
• All assignments should be handed in as hard copies. I will not accept or grade email attachments.
• Hard copies must be stapled or bound with a paper clip.
• Include your last name and the page number as a header in the top right-hand corner of the page.
• All assignments must be typed in Times or Times New Roman 12 Point Font.
• Papers must be double-spaced with 1” margins.
• Use the following heading:
Name
EngL1501W – Fallon
Assignment
Date
Email
• All papers must have a title that reflects content (not “Assignment #1”).
• All cited work must be in MLA format. See OWL Purdue’s website for an MLA style guide
(http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/).
You will lose 5% for any assignment that does not adhere to these formatting guidelines.
MOODLE
There is a moodle site for this course available at moodle.umn.edu. All assignments, PowerPoints, and handouts
(including this syllabus) will be available on the moodle site. I will not print out assignments or handouts unless
they are requested in class or via email. Please let me know immediately if you have trouble accessing this site.

3. ATTENDANCE POLICY
You are allowed TWO unexcused absences without penalty. Official excused absences include illness verified
by a doctor's note and family emergency or death. Excused absences do not include vacations, transportation
problems, or employment. In case of an excused absence, you must notify me of your excuse as soon as possible. It
is your responsibility to provide a doctor’s note or other proof when you return to class – I will not ask you for it.
Do not come to class if you are sick, even if you are not planning to go to the doctor.
If you miss 3 or more class meetings with unexcused absences, your final grade will be lowered 5% (50 pts) for each
unexcused absence above 2. If a student misses 6 classes (the equivalent of three weeks), he or she may fail the
course. Arriving 15 or more minutes late to class 3 times will be marked as an absence.
If you are absent for any reason, you are responsible for all material covered in class. Ask a fellow student what you
missed, or come visit me in office hours. I will not reply to “what happened in class?” emails.
LATE POLICY
All assignments must be submitted during class on the stated date. Assignments will only be accepted in person as
hard copies during class time or office hours unless other arrangements are made beforehand. I will not accept
assignments via email. Without an approved excuse—such as serious illness or family emergency—late
assignments will be penalized 5% for each day late and will receive no comments or feedback. The weekend counts
as one day. Difficulties should be brought to my attention before the paper’s due date via email.
EMAIL
I will do my best to return emails within 48 hours. Please address your email (no “hey” or missing salutations) and
sign it with your first and last name. This is not a text message, so please use standard written English with proper
capitalization. Do not email me the night before an assignment is due expecting an answer.
OFFICE HOURS
Office hours are immediately after class. If you cannot attend during this time, please email me to make an
appointment. I am happy to read drafts of work if it is emailed to me 12 hours beforehand.
PLAGIARISM
According to the University, plagiarism occurs when written work 1) fails to cite quotations and borrowed ideas
from outside sources, including the World Wide Web and other student work, 2) fails to enclose borrowed language
in quotation marks, and 3) fails to put summaries and paraphrases in the writer's own words. Please do not try to
pass off someone else’s work as your own – instead, speak to me about difficulties completing an assignment. All
instances of plagiarism will be treated with severity and result in zero credit for the assignment.
DISIBILITY SERVICES
The University of Minnesota is committed to providing all students equal access to learning opportunities. Disability
Services is the campus office that works with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable
accommodations. Students registered with Disability Services, who have a letter requesting accommodations, are
encouraged to contact the instructor early in the semester. Students who have, or think they may have, a disability
(e.g. psychiatric, attentional, learning, vision, hearing, physical, or systemic), are invited to contact Disability
Services for a confidential discussion at 612-626-1333 (V/TTY) or ds@umn.edu. Additional information is
available at the DS website http://ds.umn.edu.
WRITING CENTER
Student Writing Support (SWS) offers free writing instruction for all University of Minnesota students—graduate
and undergraduate—at all stages of the writing process. Take advantage of it! Consulting is available by
appointment online and in Nicholson Hall, and on a walk-in basis in Appleby Hall. For more information, go to
writing.umn.edu/sws or call 612-625-1893.

4. SCHEDULE
WEEK DATE IN CLASS DUE
Week 1 W 1/20 Introduction to the course / “Kenyon
Commencement Speech” by David Foster
Wallace (handout)
F 1/22 Service Learning Panel / Ehrenreich pp 1-10
(Intro)
Week 2 W 1/27 Ehrenreich pp 11-49, 122-191 (“Serving” &
“Selling”)
Syllabus Quiz
F 1/29 Ehrenreich pp 193-221 (“Evaluation”)
Peer Review Assignment #1 (All)
Draft of Assignment #1 (All)
Week 3 W 2/3 Roger & Me (Screening in Class)
F 2/5 Roger & Me
Week 4 W 2/10 Deveare Smith (pp TBD)
F 2/12 Deveare Smith (pp TBD) Assignment #1 Due (All)
Week 5 W 2/17 Deveare Smith (pp TBD)
F 2/19 Political Poetry (PDF) Journal #1 Due (SL)
Week 6 W 2/24 Political Poetry (PDF)
F 2/26 NO CLASS – WRITING BREAK AND
OPTIONAL CONFERENCES
Week 7 W 3/3 Kaufman pp 1-72 (Act I & II)
F 3/5 Kaufman pp 73-101 (Act III)
Week 8 W 3/10 10:10-11am Service Learning Session
11:10am – 12:05pm Midterm Review
F 3/12 MIDTERM EXAM (Standard) Journal #2 Due (SL)
Week 9 SPRING BREAK– NO CLASS
Week 10 W 3/24 Weaver Francisco pp xi-152
F 3/26 Weaver Francisco pp 153-222 Assignment #2 Due (All)
Week 11 W 3/31 Danticat pp 1-123 (“Part One”)
F 4/2 Danticat pp 124-192 (“Part Two” – 1st
half)
Week 12 W 4/7 Danticat pp193-269 (“Part Two” – 2nd
half) Journal #3 Due (SL)
Assignment #3 Thesis
(Standard)
F 4/9 NO CLASS – WRITING BREAK
Week 13 W 4/14 Peer Review (Assignment #3 or Service
Learning Portfolio)
Service Learning Presentations
Outline/Draft of Assignment #3
or Service Learning Portfolio
F 4/16 Flynn pp 3-164 (“one” & “two”)
Service Learning Presentations
Week 14 W 4/21 Flynn pp 165-269 (“three” & “four”)
Service Learning Presentations
F 4/23 Flynn pp 270-347 (“five” & “six”)
Week 15 W 4/28 American Movie
F 4/30 American Movie Assignment #3 Due (Standard)
EXTRA CREDIT DUE (All)
Week 16 W 5/5 Course Wrap-Up
F 5/7 FINAL EXAM (Standard) Portfolio Due (SL)
**THIS SCHEDULE AND ANYTHING ON THIS SYLLABUS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.**