Syllabus switcheroo

I read once (and I hope it's true because I keep repeating the factoid) that Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God appears on more college syllabi than any other American novel, and I can see why: I've taught it in African-American Lit, Concepts of Gender, Concepts of Nature, and American Novel, and I can't imagine teaching a Florida Literature course without including Their Eyes Were Watching God.

But I don't want my students to keep re-reading the same novel in several different classes, so I'm careful: how many of the English majors on this fall's American Novel roster were in the Nature class three years ago when I last taught the novel? American Novel focuses on innovative modes of narration and TYWWG offers wonderful examples of free indirect discourse and also fills a chronological hole in the syllabus, so I'm likely to keep it in the lineup--but then I'd better not include it in the Florida Lit class next spring.

I'm still struggling with some other potential overlaps. Did I assign Annie Dillard's weasel essay in the summer nature writing class last year, or did I use the one about the eclipse? Is there any overlap in enrollment? Will students encountering James Wright's "A Blessing" for the second time even remember what we did with the poem last spring? 

What about Sara Orne Jewett's "A White Heron"? I teach it every spring in American Lit Survey, which is required for all English majors, but it's included in the new edition of the anthology for the Concepts of Nature course, a general education course that often has a handful of English majors on the roster. Do I want my majors to read the same (wonderful) story in two different classes?

What if we're reading the same story in two different ways? In American Lit Survey, "A White Heron" comes in the part of the course when we're focusing on characteristics of realism, naturalism, and literary impressionism, while the Concepts of Nature course will focus on how the story characterizes the relationship between people and nature. Is that enough difference to justify teaching the story twice?


And why did the anthology's editors have to delete my favorite pieces and replace them with works I teach in other classes? It's hard to avoid overlap when the same works pop up in so many different anthologies!

And finally, why am I devoting so much time and attention to the finer points of syllabus construction in the middle of July? I'll bet my students don't waste a nanosecond worrying about syllabus overlap in July. 

They're the smart ones. Trying to switch out works and create effective syllabi threatens to make my brain overheat, especially in triple-digit weather. It's time to do something cool and calming, preferably in air-conditioned comfort. 

Better put the syllabi away for now. Wouldn't want them to get wet.