This course will survey some of the legends, tall tales, and popular stories that have both grown out of and shaped American life and culture. From the early days of the Republic through recent turbulent politics, Americans have told stories to make sense of their experiences, and these stories often follow deeply rooted and sometimes little-understood American characteristics, optimism, practicality, and a genial disregard for rules prominent among them. The current American passport will be examined as one among several attempts to idealize and re-invent a nation demoralized by the events of September 11, 2001. We will examine such figures as Davy Crockett, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind, Johnny Appleseed, and John Bunyan as well as relatively recent re-creations of the gangster as a folk hero in Damon Runyon's Guys and Dolls and in the figure of Tony Soprano from the hit series The Sopranos. Popular images of marriage and the family in at least one popular TV show, "I Love Lucy," and in the well-known primary school series "Dick and Jane" will be explored. We will hear Vietnam-era and civil rights movement protests from the legendary folkssingers Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez. Students are encouraged to suggest aspects of American life and culture that they would like to have discussed. I may be reached at Sigmund@panix.com A reader will be made available, but students should purchase the following through the bookstore or an internet source: American Tall Tales, by Mary Pope Osborne (Alfred A. Knopf) A Treasury of Great American Scandals: Tantalizing True Tales of Historic Misbehavior by the Founding Fathers and Others Who Let Freedom Swing by Michael Farquhar (Penguin) |
