Week 2 – Feb. 3 & 5

Week 2 – Feb. 3 & 5

 

Monday: Kahlil Gibran: The Prophet

READ: Each student will prepare one part of the book The Prophet. Read it aloud in front of the class and tell us what this passage means to you.

Watch Film at Home: Roger Allers; The Prophet (2015, 86 min.) with Salma Hayek & Liam Neeson.

 

Wednesday: Discussion of Film and Readings

READ: “Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet: Why is it so loved?” By Shoku Amirani & Stephanie Hegarty BBC World Service https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17997163 or on Blackboard

Blog Entry 2: After reading and hearing passages from The Prophet and watching the film, write a reflection on Kahlil Gibran and his poetry. Choose one or more of the chapters in the book that you like the most and explain why you like those? What significance do they have to your life? Would you send those to family and friends to read? On what occasions and why? Elaborate! Your entry MUST be at least 300 words in length. Add a word count in parenthesis at the end of your entry. Blog is due on Wednesday, Feb. 5 by midnight.

Week 1 – Jan. 27 & 29

Week 1 – Jan. 27 & 29

Tuesday: Introduction of Course and Material
Film: History of Arab-American (For more info, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Americans)

Thursday: Arab-American Literature
READ: Lisa Suhair Majaj “Arab-American Literature: Origins & Developments” (Blackboard)

Blog Entry 1: Why did you choose this class? What are you hoping to accomplish in the course? What do you know about the Arab American community? Have you ever read any books by Arab or Muslim Americans? Elaborate! Your entry MUST be at least 300 words in length. Add a word count in parenthesis at the end of your entry. Blog is due on Wednesday, January 29 by midnight.

Welocme to ARB 2113: Arab-American Literature

Course Description: An overview of literary writing by authors of Arab descent in the USA from the early 20^th century until today. Through texts by Kahlil Gibran, Suheir Hammad, Diana Abu Jaber, Naomi Shihab Nye, Susan Muaddi Daraj, Randa Jarar, Etaf Rum, Hala Alyan, and others, we will explore among other themes such as immigration, gender issues, human rights, identity, notion of home, cross-cultural encounters, the situation of Arab and Muslim Americans before and after 9/11. McDaniel Plan: Textual Analysis (TA) and Multicultural (M)

Learning Objectives: By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• gain a deeper understanding of contemporary issues shaping Arab-American history, culture and literature
• develop the skills needed for analyzing literary texts in multicultural contexts.
• discuss and write about various literary styles and genres in Arab-American literature.
• interpret meaning in literary texts by paying close attention to an author’s choices of details, vocabulary, and style.
  

Required Books:

• Abu-Jaber, Diana. Crescent. New York and London: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc. 2003
• Abu-Jaber, Diana. Fencing with the King. New York and London: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc. 2022
• Jarrar, Randa. A Map of Home A Novel. London: Penguin Publishing Group 2009
• Muaddi Darraj, Susan. The Inheritance of Exile. Stories from South Philly. Notre Dame, IN University of Notre Dame Press. 2007
• Rum, Etaf. A Woman is No Man. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019
• Gibran, Kahlil. The Prophet. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1923/1968 (on Blackboard under Course Documents)
  
• Hammad, Suheir. Born Palestinian, Born Black and the Gaza Suite. Brooklyn, NY: UpSet Press, 1996/2010 (on Blackboard under Course Documents)
• Various other readings and articles are posted on Blackboard under Course Documents.