UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
SCHOOL OF ENGLISH

LEGAL FICTIONS:
The Right to Write in America

Law and Literature
ENGL2165 & LALS3005 & LLAW3226
   Fall 2025
   Location: CPD-LG-10
    Wednesdays 9:00am-11:50pm

                                      
                          
Prof. Kendall JOHNSON
    kjohnson [@] hku.hk
    Office Hours: Wed. 3pm-4pm; or by appt.
   Office: Run Run Shaw Tower 7.43
"The government of the Union rests almost entirely on legal fictions. The Union is an ideal nation that exists only in the mind so to speak;
intelligence alone reveals its extent and its limits."

-Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835
Course Description and Primary Texts| Course Requirements | Learning Outcomes | Schedule | American Studies 1050 |
NOTE: Links jump to points further down on this page
COURSE DESCRIPTION:

In 1776, the idea of self-evidence grounded the philosophical assertion that “all men are created equal.” And yet, political, economic and social equality in the democratic republic of the United States has often proven less of a guarantee and more of a promise. Beginning with Thomas Jefferson’s writing of the “Declaration of Independence,” the recognition of a person as fully human has depended on assumptions regarding race, class and gender. The course examines the changing definition of United States citizenship by putting legal texts (the U.S. Constitution, federal and state laws, Supreme Court decisions) in dialogue with literary writings and film. In this course we will read stories by people whom federal and or state law barred from full citizenship. Through autobiographies, fiction, poetry and speeches, we will examine the cultural legacy of legal terms such as “domestic dependent nation” and “unlawful enemy combatant.” Our goal will be to pay careful attention to the language and genres of the American legislative and judicial system, and conversely to contextualize literature in relation to the legal history through which the U.S. Constitution has been reinterpreted and amended to broaden its terms of equality. We will also consider how different kinds of writing -- legal, scientific, autobiographical and fictional -- employ different rhetorical strategies to reach audiences, affect readers and influence the world.


BOOKS:
ELECTRONIC FILES (.pdf FORMAT):
PDF files are read by a program called Acrobat Reader.
It is standard on most computers.
You can also download it from the Adobe site.
FILM: LEGAL RESOURCES:
  

COURSE ASSESSMENT and REQUIREMENTS:

  1. Attendance and participation in course sessions: Scheduled meeting times will consist of both lectures on and discussions of assigned reading. It is your responsibility to read the material before hand and be able to discussion this material during class. Unexcused absences and being late will affect adversely your final grade.

  2. Posting to the Moodle Group discussion (ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025): Please notice that there is a Moodle Group for this course; you can access it by going to the HKU Portal and logging in. Click on the "My eLearning" tab and it will take you to a page with the link to: Moodle group for ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025

    At points during the semester (at least four times), I will assign a short (approximately 200-400 words) response that you will post on Moodle. This will enable you to read and engage to other students' interpretations of the course materials. These posting will be part of your grade-- they are an excellent way of participating in the discussions (especially if something occurs to you outside of class, or you don't get a chance to say what you wanted during the course time).

  3. Class Presentation: Throughout the course schedule are "Presentations" (see below) on a Supreme Court decision, piece of legislation, or topic. At some point during the semester, you will work individually or with a partner to prepare a short class presentation (10 minutes) in which you provide an overview of your assigned topic. As part of your presentation, please prepare a one-page summary, distribute this summary to members of the class before you speak, and post the summary to Moodle.

  4. Two essays exams as midterm and final: The two essay exams should be 6-8 pages in length. I will provide topics from which you will choose.

    Note: When writing your essays it is important that you acknowledge through proper citation any secondary sources that you use. If you borrow someone else's words or ideas be sure to mention this in the body of the essay or in a footnote. Here is the University definition and policy on plagiarism. In regard to formats for proper academic citation (APA, Chicago, MLA), please consult: Purdue University OWL: Citation Chart

    The weighting of these requirements is: Attendance (required) and Moodle (25%); Presentation (25%); Midterm (25%); Final (25%)

COURSE OBJECTIVES and LEARNING OUTCOMES:

  • Students will be able to convey key concepts and philosophies behind the creation and development of the United States, law, theories of nationalism, and print culture. They will be able to trace in contemporary political events the historical patterns of the national constitution and its development in relation to civil rights, issues of indigenous sovereignty, and protest movements in the United States.

  • The course will foster students' abilities to read closely a variety of media and genres (literature, legal documents, paintings, film) and to connect the form of literature to key cultural and theoretical themes.

  • Demonstrate how consideration of a text's immediate and potential extended audiences are important factors in the interpretation of that text/

  • Exercise skills of interpretation and communication that enable students to think critically, to evaluate arguments and to respond constructively in writing and in speech, and in both formal and informal environments.

  • Establish an awareness of the international context to the foundation and development of US law and literature thus enabling students to evaluate, with historical perspective, contemporary international collaborations and crises.

  • Cultivate the enjoyment of intellectual experience in everyday life and continue to broaden students' visions of the dynamic relationship between literature, history, geography, science, and the arts.

CLASS SCHEDULE:
PART I: FOUNDING DOCUMENTS: What is a nation?
WEEK 1:
Wednesday,
September 3: 		The Founding Documents of the United States and the Aesthetics of Revolution Recommended Reading:
  • Garry Wills, Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence (1978)
  • Jay Fliegelman, Declaring Independence: Jefferson, Natural Language, & the Culture of Performance (1993)
  • Pauline Maier, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (1997)

US Declaration, 1776
image
image 2
image 3



John Adams
(HBO, 2008)
(Clip 1)
Reading



US Constitution, 1787
image
WEEK 2:
Wednesday,
September 10		 Thomas Jefferson, selections from Notes on the State of Virginia (1785)
-- Queries 5, 6, 11, 14, 18, and 19 (pdf selections)

David Walker, Walker's Appeal, in Four Articles, Together with a Preamble to the Colored Citizens of the World, but in Particular and Very Expressly to Those of the United States of America (1829)

 Moodle posting #1:          Moodle group ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025

Consider the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the US Constitution. Choose a news event from the past 100 years that deals with one of these amendments; your news item can be from the United States or anywhere else in the world. In your posting to Moodle, please briefly summarize the event and its relation to a specific amendment. Please include a link to the new article if you can. Your posting should be from 300-500 words.

Please post before Monday, 8 September at 12noon please post a short response at Moodle group ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025.

Recommended Reading:

THE NATURAL BRIDGE, VIRGINIA (1852)
Frederick E. Church
Fralin Museum of Art, Univ. of Virginia

PART II: CIVIL RIGHTS: Slavery and Fugitive Writing

WEEK 3:
Wednesday,
September 17: 		Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of an American Slave (1845)

  • Consider Douglass's reflections on Garrison and the role of "the slave" at Abolitionist events, from "Chapter XXIII: Introduced to the Abolitionists," My Bondage and My Freedom (1855)

  • Fugitive Slave Acts (1850, Commager pdf file)

  • Kendall Johnson, "Revising Escape: Frederick Douglass's Civic Promise of Free Trade and Amitav Ghosh's Global Geography of Imperialism" (2019)
  • Solomon Northrop, Twelve Years a Slave. Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New York, Kidnapped in Washington Ctiy in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation Near the Red River, in Louisiana (1853)
  • Reynold's Political Map of the United States (1856)

    Moodle posting #2:          Moodle group for ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025

    Douglass begins his narrative by telling readers that he does not know his true age. Why does he begin the narrative in this way? (Related alternative prompt: How does Douglass's commentary on this lack of knowledge open to his deeper analysis of the system of slavery?)

    Please post before Monday September 15 at 12noon, via Moodle group for ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025. Please feel free to respond to someone's post instead of posting a new one (or to both post a new one and respond to others too).


    • The Plantation (1825)
    Anon., oil on wood
    The Met., NYC
    WEEK 4:
    Wednesday,
    September 24:         		Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861)

    Moodle posting #3:          Moodle group for ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025

    Compare the ways that Douglass and Jacobs represent literacy. What is one key difference and what significance does this difference have? Please cite a specific passage from Jacobs in responding.

    Please post before Monday September 22 at 12noon via the Moodle group for ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025. Please feel free to respond to someone's post instead of posting a new one (or to both post a new one and respond to others too).


    AMISTAD (1997)
    Steven Spielberg
    WEEK 5:
    Wednesday,
    October 1:         		No class due to National Day

    Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)  |     PDF Vol 1   |   PDF Vol 2   |   serial

    Moodle posting #4:          Moodle group for ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025

    Posting #4: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Founding Documents: Find a conversation or a scene in Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin that deals with an issue related to the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution or a law or judicial ruling of your choosing. (Please cite the novel in your response.) In choosing the scene, you might consider how and why the novel is asking you to think about the rights of citizenship, or federal or state law. Or, you might explain how Stowe is illustrating a crisis regarding the definition of rights.

    Please post before Monday, October 6th at 11:59 pm (midnight) at Moodle group for ENGL2165LALS3005LLAW3226_2025.

    WEEK 6
    Wednesday,
    October 8:         		Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

    Henry David Thoreau, "Resistance to Civil Government" (or, "The Rights and Duties of the Individual in relation to Government" or "Civil Disobedience") (1848; 1849; p. 189-213 in Aesthetic Papers pdf)
    Portraits of
    Abraham Lincoln
    Reading Week:
    Wednesday,
    October 15:         		No class

    Please get started on Herman Melville's "Benito Cereno"
    Week 7:
    Wednesday,
    October 22:         		Herman Meville's "Benito Cereno" (1856)

    Midterm Exam Essay; November 3 (Monday) by 12noon, via email

    MIDTERM: Exam Essay Topics

    Guidelines on creating a good thesis

    Suggestions in regard to film and music-video analysis:

    Spanish flag (1978)
    WEEK 8:
    Wednesday,
    October 29:
         		Herman Melville, "Benito Cereno" in The Piazza Tales (109-270) (1856)   |    Spanish flag

  • Greg Grandin, "Obama, Melville and the Tea Party," New York Times (18 January 2014)
  • Amasa Delano, Narrative of Voyages and Travels in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres(1817)

    		•

    Bamboozled (2000)
    Spike Lee
    Reviews

    PART III: SOVEREIGNTY: Removal, Allotment, Self-Governance, Self-Determination

    WEEK 9:
    Wed,
    November 5:         		James Fenimore Cooper, Last of the Mohicans (1826)   PDF Vol. 1    |    PDF Vol. 2  |   PDF Vol. 3

    Recommended reading:
  • Presentation 11: Johnson & Graham's Lessee v. McIntosh - 21 U.S. 543 (1823; first decision of the Marshall Trilogy)) [Amber & Anni]
  • Presentation 12: The Indian Removal Act (1830) The Library of Congress [Ronald & Sofie]
  • Presentation 13: Cherokee Nation v. Georgia - 30 U.S. 1 (1831; second decision of the Marshall Trilogy) [Amber & Anni]
  • Presentation 13: Worcester v. Georgia - 31 U.S. 515 (1832; third decision of the Marshall Trilogy) [Amber & Anni]
  • Presentation 14: Memorials of the Cherokee to US Congress [Arthur]

    • THE LAST OF
    THE MOHICANS
    (1992)
    Michael Mann



    FALLS OF
    THE KAATERSKILL
    (1826)
    Thomas Cole
    WEEK 10:
    Wednesday,
    November 12:         		Black Hawk, Life of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak (1833)

       US Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1804, from C. Kappler

       Memorials of the Cherokee to the US Congress

     Williams Apess, "An Indian's Looking Glass for the White Man" and "Eulogy for King Philip"

    First editions:

    A Son of the Forest (1829)
    The Experiences of Five Christian Indians of the Pequod Tribe (1833), "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man" (53-60)
    Eulogy on King Philip, as pronounced at the Odeon, in Federal Street, Boston (1836)
  • Presentation 15: The General Allotment Act (1887) [Eileen & Samson]     |     Indian Land Tenure Foundation
  • Presentation 16: Frederick Jackson Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" (1893) [Carrie]
    • BLACK HAWK, or MAKATAIMESHEKIAHIAH
    (Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak)
    Painted by Charles Bird King
    in Thomas McKenney & James Hall's
    History of the Indian Tribes of North America (Philadelphia, 1837-44)
    WEEK 11:
    Wednesday,
    November 19:         		Zitkala-Sa, American Indian Stories (1921)

    "Impressions of an Indian Childhood," "The School Days of an Indian Girl," and "An Indian Teacher Among Indians," from the Atlantic Monthly (January, February, March 1900)

    "Ideals of American" by Woodrow Wilson and "Why I am a Pagan" by Zitkala-Sa, in the Atlantic Monthly (1902)

    Luci Tapahonso
    "Hills Brothers Coffee"

    WEEK 12
    Wednesday,
    DECEMBER 3:

    ****
    Run Run
    Shaw
    TOWER
    Room 7.45
    11am
    ***     		DEC. 3rd, 11am, Run Run Shaw Tower 7.45

    Charles Eastman, From Deep Woods to Civilization (1916):

    Sherman Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993)

    Poems by Joy Harjo, Simon Ortiz, Adrian Louis, Luci Tapahanso (TBA)

    SMOKE
    SIGNALS
    (1998)
    Chris Eyre
    Coda:
    .
    .         		Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water: A Novel (1993)

    Greg Sarris, Watermelon Nights (1999)

    Tommy Orange, There, There (2018)

    Louise Erdrich, The Night Watchman (2021)
    Final Essay due 17 December (Wednesday) 12noon, by email


    Guidelines on creating a good thesis



    SFTL Online Evaluation