AmLit is keeping it real...real American

I'm about to set upon you all a great revelation!

I think I may hate my American Literature II class.

No...hate isn't the right word. I dread going to it. I get majorly bored sitting in the class listening to my teacher drone on (then the brief moments of silence when he asks a question and no one feels like answering).

Also, the reading? Extra, extra dry.

What's irritating me most though, is an extreme lack of diversity in the writing.

I was looking through my Norton anthology and in the beginning there's a lot of Native American works. Towards the end there's a lot too. I look at my syllabus and wonder why we're not covering these hymns, chants, and stories, as well as authors like Ambrose Bierce (whose Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge trumps Huck Finn so hard I can't stand it). I look at the syllabus and for the first time, a little numbly, I note the authors.

Mark Twain. Henry Adams. Henry James. Kate Chopin. Jack London. William Faulkner. John Steinbeck.

What did you notice about all those.

...

Yeah? Yeah. They're all white. I threw in Kate Chopin to fuck with you. Make no mistake that we do cover some black authors suck as Booker T Washington & Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison.

But actually, you know what, add those names to the list and take out Chopin's. NOW what do you see? That's right, all male. Seriously, the whole syllabus looks like that, and in reality we're not even covering that much literature. I know, it's the second part of the course, but please tell me there's a THIRD.

Now for the beginning of the anthologies there's actually a pretty good reason for that make up, being that for a long time most writers in America were wealthy white males. Then they were wealthy white females. Then they were just white folks. Then blacks, and all those other wonderful minorities. We know this, and I can understand that pretty well. Except this class goes from Civil War to past the 60s, so I'm a bit perplexed as to why there isn't an increasing diversity of writers in our set out little time line.

Like, really confused, because this anthology and my Heath anthology contain a great diversity of writers for us to pick and choose from. Hell-o, professor, 'sup? Is there something you want to...tell the class?

I actually don't think my class cares. Goodness knows I barely do, and if I were another plain-jane complacent person with more time on my hands, I don't think I would. I'm keeping these books, it's just one class, I'll read what the fuck I want as long as I get them grades.

STILL

It rather bothers the hell out of me that this class seems to be content just to study a really superficial, I think, sampling of American authors. This is kind of ironic because I originally wanted to take Euro Lit, which would have probably been mucho màs blanco. But since I'm here I might as well improve my condition I guess.

So why? The simple answer is that we only have four months in a MWF class to cover the span of American Literature, so *shrug* I suppose. Pick out all the important ones, which makes sense. Too bad we don't like simple answers though, right?

I'd also like to mention that this list, strictly in academic terms, is boring as hell. It may have to due with aforementioned lack of diversity, but seriously. WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS. I aim to ask the teacher about it one of these days, I just wish I'd realized this sooner.

And I suppose my laundry's done. You know how it goes, it all comes out in the wash.