English 114: Religion in America

Monday and Wednesday 11.35-12.50

Dr. Briallen Hopper
briallen.hopper@yale.edu
Office: 35 Broadway, #207M
Office hours: Tuesday 10-12
What is the role of religion in American life? How does religion affect American art,
politics, and popular culture? In answering these questions, we will read and write
about religion in America from the beginning to the present. We will analyze 19thcentury memoir and contemporary fiction, as well as academic articles by scholars
working in history, sociology, gender studies, film studies, and politics. And we will
write in a variety of academic genres, from the short textual analysis to the
research essay.
This class is designed to prepare you for college writing in all classes and
departments. The assignments will teach you how to read closely, state a claim,
assemble and interpret evidence, and pursue research questions at the library. We
will also spend a lot of time on revision, and (as in all sections of 114) you will
rewrite everything you write. Like religion, writing is a social practice: we write for
others, and we depend on trusted readers to help us improve our work. You will be
reading and commenting on your colleagues writing throughout the semester. By
the end of the class, you will be equipped for the range of writing that college will
bring.
Required Texts
Available at the Yale Bookstore:
Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in
Academic
Writing. 2nd edition. Norton.
We will read and apply all of They Say/I Say over the course of the semester.
You will use the extensive lists of templates throughout your college career.
Clark, Roy Peter. Writing Tools.
We will use Writing Tools for in-class writing exercises. I will also direct you to
relevant passages about grammar or style in my marginal comments on your
essays.
All other readings will be posted on Classes as links or PDFs. You are responsible
for bringing the readings with you to class. In most cases bringing a laptop or
tablet and reading them on the screen is fine, but if you are reading electronically
make sure you are annotating the readings electronically as well. In a few cases
(noted on the syllabus) I will require you to print out the readings so we can
annotate the hard copies together in class.

We will watch Spike Lees documentary Four Little Girls (1997) together outside of
class time. It is also available to view at the Film Studies Center, and you can also
stream it online: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3302971953362876297
Essays, Exercises, and Drafts
You will write four essays in this class. Before writing the revised version of an
essay, you will submit writing exercises and a complete draft. Exercises and drafts
are important aspects of your work in the class, and the more you invest in them,
the better your revised version will be.
When you submit your essays (both drafts and revisions) you should include a cover
letter to me in which you:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

begin with a greeting;

summarize your essay in a sentence or two, including your main claim;
describe an aspect of your essay that works well;
describe an aspect of your essay that still needs work;
conclude, and sign your name.

You should be able to accomplish all this in a paragraph or so, though you are
welcome to write more.
Always double-space your work and use 12-point font, 1-inch margins, and
numbered pages. Cite using the MLA format. All drafts and revisions must be
submitted both electronically and in hard copy. Submit the electronic copies
of your essays via email in doc or docx format, and name your file as follows:
[lastname][essay#][D for draft or R for revision]. For example, my draft for the
second assignment would be named Hopper2D.docx. Bring hard copies of essays to
class. The hard copies of essays not due on class days should be delivered to the
dropbox outside the English department office in Linsly-Chittenden.
Workshops
In a spirit of friendship and fellowship, you will discuss your classmates drafts in
class, give them spoken and written feedback, and learn to be a good editor of
others work as well as of your own.
An important note: Editing does not mean proofreading. Proofreading means
correcting spelling and grammar. Editing means offering substantive suggestions to
clarify an authors ideas and their expression. You are expected to read your
classmates essays with an attentive, sympathetic, and skeptical editorial eye.
Youre more than welcome to proofread their prose as well, but youre not required
to. (Note: not all of your classmates corrections will be correct, so double-check!)
Everyone will have a draft discussed during a class workshop once. The workshop
dates will be scheduled by September 3. In the week of your workshop, I will post
your essay on Classes for your classmates to read.
Regardless of whether your workshop is being held that week or not, you will
prepare for workshop days by reading all the essays being discussed, and writing a
brief letter to each essays author in which you:

1) greet the author;

2) summarize her essay in a sentence or two, including the claim;
3) praise an admirable aspect of her essay, and cite a specific example to
illustrate your praise;
4) explain one aspect of the essay that requires revision, and give a specific
example of how this revision might work;
5) conclude with warmth, and sign your name.
You should be able to accomplish all this in a paragraph or so, though you are
welcome to write more. Email me a copy of your letters at least one hour before
class. (I will read them in preparation for class.) Email the author a copy of the
letter directly after the workshop and cc me. These letters are not individually
graded, but they are required, and they count as part of your class participation.
Help
You are required to meet with me on Monday or Tuesday the week of October 8 to
discuss your research topic. You are welcome to come to office hours any time. You
should also make use of the extraordinary Yale writing tutors, who can help you at
any stage of the writing process. You can meet with them either in your residential
college or at the Writing Center. See www.yale.edu/writing for details. Students
who see a tutor before the paper deadline will receive a 24-hour extension on a
draft or revision. Simply send me an email before the deadline saying who you met
with, when and where you met with them, and what you discussed. (You cannot use
this extension for your draft the week you are being workshopped.)
Academic Honesty
You must give appropriate credit when you use someone elses words or ideas.
When in doubt, cite. The Purdue Online Writing Lab has a good summary of MLA
style: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Plagiarism could result in very serious consequences including failing the class and
further disciplinary action. You can find further information and links at
http://www.yale.edu/yalecol/publications/transfer/academics/honesty.html.
If you have any questions about this, please come talk with me.
Grading
Come to class prepared to discuss the readings and participate in activities and
workshops. You cant make up in-class work, so attendance is necessary. You may
miss one class during the semester for any reason (as long as it is not one of
the workshop days): simply email me in advance to let me know you are using
your free absence. Beyond that, absences require a Deans Excuse. An unexcused
absence will lower your participation grade.
Late drafts and revisions will lower the final assignment grade one-third of a letter
grade per each day late. Late work will not receive written feedback. If you need
more time, use the automatic tutoring extension (see above under Help). Other

extensions require a Deans Excuse. You must turn in all the assignments to receive
credit for the class.
Essay 1 (close reading, 4-5 pages)
Essay 2 (comparative analysis, 6-7 pages)
25%
Essay 3 (researched argument, 8-10 pages)
Essay 4 (public writing, 2-3 pages)
20%
Participation (attendance, workshops, presentation, etc.)

10%
30%
15%

Course Calendar
This syllabus is subject to change. All changes will be emailed to the class and
posted in the email archive on Classes. You are responsible for keeping track of
them.
Essay 1
Religion and Race:
The Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham
Week 1

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Wednesday
August 28

Introductions and
Icons,
Timelines and Maps
Introducing Essay 1:
Religious Rhetoric

n/a

n/a

Martin Luther King,

Jr., Letter from
Birmingham Jail
PRINT THIS!

n/a

Friday
August 30

[Handout:
Elements of the
Academic Essay]

Diane McWhorter,
Carry Me Home
(excerpt)
Ch. 11 of TS/IS,
Entering Class
Discussions (this
chapter only posted
online for shoppers
waiting to buy the
book)

FOUR LITTLE GIRLS WILL BE SCREENED TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 4 at 7.

Week 2

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Sept 2
Wednesday
Sept 4

LABOR DAY
NO SCHOOL
Documenting the
Civil Rights
Movement:
Four Little Girls

LABOR DAY
NO SCHOOL
Spike Lee, Four Little
Girls

LABOR DAY
NO SCHOOL
n/a

Ch. 1 of TS/IS,
Starting With What
Others are Saying

Essay 1 Draft Due Friday by 3.45 pm

Week 3

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Sept 9

WORKSHOP

Letters to your
colleagues

Wednesday
Sept 11

Documenting the
Civil Rights
Movement:
A Time for Burning

Your colleagues
essays
&
Ch. 2 of TS/IS,
The Art of
Summarizing
Ch. 3 of TS/IS,
The Art of Quoting

n/a

Essay 2
Religious Tolerance, Religious Liberty:
Mormons, Muslims, and Others
Week 4

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Sept 16

Introducing Essay 2:
Comparative Religion

Will Herberg,
Protestant Catholic
Jew (excerpt)

Essay 1 Revision

Robert Wuthnow,
America and the
Challenges of
Religious Diversity
(excerpt)

Wednesday
Sept 18

Mormons

Ch. 4 of TS/IS,
Three Ways to
Respond
Joanna Brooks,
The Book of Mormon
Girl (excerpt)

n/a

Adam Gopnik, I,
Nephi: Mormonism
and its Meanings
Ch. 5 of TS/IS,
Distinguishing What
You Say from What
They Say
Week 5

Class Content

Readings DUE

Assignments DUE

Monday
Sept 23

Muslims

Asma Gull Hasan,

Red, White, and
Muslim
(excerpt)

n/a

Paul M. Barrett,
American Islam
(excerpt)

Wednesday
Sept 25

Ch. 6 of TS/IS,
Planting a Naysayer
in Your Text
Jess Row,
Amritsar

Others

n/a

Ch. 7 of TS/IS,
Saying Why It
Matters
Week 6

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Sept 30

Structure

Essay 2 Draft

Wednesday
Oct 2

WORKSHOP

Ch. 8 of TS/IS,
Connecting the
Parts
Ch. 9 of TS/IS,
Academic Writing
Doesnt Always Mean
Setting Aside Your
Own Voice

Letters to your
colleagues

Essay 3
Researching Religion
FIELD TRIP: BY NOVEMBER 14 YOU ARE REQUIRED TO VISIT A PLACE IN NEW HAVEN
ASSOCIATED WITH THE RELIGIOUS TRADITION YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT.
Week 7

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Oct 7

Introducing Essay 3:
Varieties of Religious
Research

William James,
Varieties of Religious
Experience (excerpt)

n/a

[Handout]

R. Marie Griffith,
American Religions
(excerpt)
Ch. 10 of TS/IS,
The Art of
Metacommentary

Wednesday
Oct 9

NO CLASS
Remember to sign
up for individual
meetings on
Monday or
Tuesday instead!

NO CLASS

Essay 2 Revision
(turn in the hard
copy to the dropbox
in LC)

Week 8

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Oct 14
Wednesday
Oct 16

LIBRARY DAY
(meet at Bass)
From Topic to
Question Research
Proposal Workshop

n/a

n/a

Wayne Booth, From

Topic to Question,
The Craft of
Research

Essay 3 Research
Proposal

Ch. 12 of TS/IS,
Reading for the
Conversation
Week 9

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Oct 21

Making the Most of

your Sources

2 sources for your

essay; one must be a
library book (if a
source is articlelength or less, read it
all; if it is booklength, read the intro
or a relevant chapter
and quickly skim the
rest)
BRING TO CLASS!

Essay 3 Annotated
Bibliography

Wednesday
Oct 23

NO CLASS
FALL BREAK

Ch. 14 of TS/IS,
Writing in the Social
Sciences
NO CLASS
FALL BREAK

Week 10

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
October 28

Textual Studies

Judith Weisenfeld,
Hollywood Be Thy
Name (excerpt)

n/a

[Handout:
A Short Guide to
Writing About Film]

NO CLASS
FALL BREAK

Wednesday
October 30

Cultural Studies

Kathryn Lofton, The

Gospel of O (excerpt)

Essay 3 Draft

Week 12

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Nov 4
Wednesday
Nov 6

WORKSHOP
Social Sciences

Your colleagues
essays
Mark D. Jordan,
Recruiting Young
Love

Letters to your
colleagues
n/a

Week 14

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Nov 11

History

Leigh Schmidt,
Restless Souls
(excerpt)

n/a

Wednesday
Nov 13

Lived Religion:
Field Trip
Presentations

[Field trip must be

completed by this
date]
n/a

Essay 3 Revision

Essay 4
Religion in Person, Religion in Public
Week 15

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Nov 18

Public Writing:
The Personal Essay

Michael Warner,
Tongues Untied:
Memoirs of a
Pentecostal
Boyhood

n/a

Wednesday
Nov 20

Public Writing:
The Op-Ed

Ashley Makar,
Communion on
Chemo
3 op-eds on religion
in America written
this year
PRINT THEM!

n/a

NO SCHOOL THANKSGIVING BREAK NOVEMBER 25-29

Week 15

Class Content

Readings DUE

Writing DUE

Monday
Dec 2

Public Writing:
Theories of Religious
Discourse

Jeffrey Stout,
excerpts from
Democracy and
Tradition and Blessed
are the Organized

n/a

Wednesday
Dec 4

Public Reading

Visit from Killing the

Buddha editor Ashley
Makar
n/a

Essay 4 Revision due Monday December 6

Essay 4 Draft (to

read aloud from, not
to turn in)