Review:
The title of the course is a bit misleading. More than a general study of Realism in American Literature, this is a class of multi-racial multi-ethnic multi-cultural turn of the century America, viewed through Realism literature written by authors of color (black, chicana, Asian American, native American, eastern-European authors/works are covered), female authors, and gay authors. The material is very interesting, but don't expect to learn much about "realism" or about the texts as works of literature-- this class is more about America's history of "otherness," system of privilege, construction of whiteness, social movements, and activism through the medium of published texts and literature. Very informative and often eye-opening. I only wish Ammons was more supportive of student participation-- I rarely felt welcome to add my opinion to the discussion, and often the opinions of students who just repeated her words were those that she valued most.

Workload:
Lots of reading-- be prepared for some late nights. Wish more classes could be spent on each text-- the pace was very fast. Papers were alright, although the last was a bit confusing-- I was discredited for doing too good of a job in the task of imitating an author's writing! Be prepared to ask for clarification on assignments.

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