G262: ENG THE ART OF LITERATURE SPRING 2008 Syllabus
Instructor: Room: Email: Office: Office Hours:
Kristen Bennett W1062 [e-mail] W06040 T/Th 9:4510:15 & by appointment
Course Description: In this course, we will explore and examine the world of literature the imagination as it finds creative expression in language. Why do we call some writing "literature"? What makes us label something "art"? How is a writer's craft similar to and different from a painter's brushstroke, a dancer's pose or leap, a musician's combination of notes? We will familiarize ourselves with literary devices and terminology such as genre, narrative voice and diction, and understand how our awareness of those elements contributes to our appreciation of what we read. You will learn to talk and write about literature and be able to articulate your opinion of what is and is not literary, what is and is not art, and why a piece of writing "works" for you and why it does not. About the Intermediate Seminar Program: Intermediate Seminars offer students with 30 or more credits the opportunity to work on essential university capabilities in smallsized courses that are often thematic or problemoriented and interdisciplinary in nature. Designed in part to help students prepare for the Writing Proficiency Requirement, Intermediate Seminars put special emphasis on critical reading, thinking, and writing. They focus on other essential capabilities as appropriate to the course and might therefore include attention to library research and information technology, collaborative learning, oral presentation, and academic selfassessment. Students who practiced reading, writing, and critical thinking in a First Year Seminar at UMass Boston will practice them at a more advanced level in the Intermediate Seminar. Only ONE Intermediate Seminar may be taken for credit. If you have taken another G200 level course in any department at UMB, you cannot receive credit for this one. Prerequisites: English 101, English 102, First Year Seminar (or waiver), and 30 credits. The First Year Seminar is automatically waived for students who enter UMB with 30 or more transfer credits. Because these are intensive reading and writing courses, some students may find it helpful to enroll in CRW 221 to further develop their skills with collegelevel writing before taking an Intermediate Seminar. Discuss your situation with the instructor if you have any questions Eng 262G * The Art of Literature Bennett * Spring 2008
1
about these prerequisites or your readiness for the work in this course. The Writing Proficiency Requirement: Students from the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Mathematics, and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences complete the University's Writing Proficiency Requirement through the Writing Proficiency Evaluation (WPE). The Writing Proficiency Requirement is not the same as the writing placement test you may have taken when you entered UMass Boston. The WPE can be met through either an examination or a takehome essay submitted along with a portfolio of papers written for UMB courses. See the WPR website (www.umb.edu/academics/wpr) for more details about the exam and portfolio options and dates. Students who have not already satisfied the WPR should arrange to take the exam or submit a portfolio shortly after completing this course. Support services for Intermediate Seminar students: The Academic Support Office offers both individual tutoring and dropin workshops for students who need help with the critical reading, thinking and writing skills necessary for success in General Education courses such as this one. More information on their programs is available online at www.academicsupport.umb.edu/rwsscenter.html, or at their Campus Center office (CC11300). The Ross Center for Disability Services (CC22010) provides accommodations and educational resources for students with demonstrated needs, as outlined on their website (www.rosscenter.umb.edu). Should you be eligible for these services, you should contact the Ross Center right away so that their staff can help you identify appropriate accommodations in this and other courses. Finally, if it appears that you might not pass this Intermediate Seminar and if the instructor cannot figure out how to support your success in the course, the instructor might inform the Director of the Student Referral Program in the University Advising Center. This strictly confidential program is part of an early warning system designed to help students address personal and academic difficulties that may interfere with their progress in the University. Assessment of these courses: In addition to course evaluation forms that are routinely administered at the end of each course at UMass Boston, Intermediate Seminar students are asked to complete a selfassessment questionnaire addressing their progress as critical thinkers and writers. Each term an assessment committee will look at randomly chosen student writing from a small sample of Intermediate Seminars. Please save all your writing in this course so that, if you are chosen, you will have your work available. The purpose of this evaluation is to improve the program and to improve particular courses as necessary, not to evaluate individual students. You may remove your name from your papers if you prefer to submit them anonymously. Student plagiarism and classroom behavior: Students are expected to abide by the University's Code of Student Conduct in all their classes at UMass Boston (www.umb.edu/student_affairs/programs/judicial/csc.html). Plagiarism is a particularly serious violation, as outlined in the Academic Honesty section of the code (section VI), and will not be tolerated. Offensive and insulting behavior undermines the sense of community that the Intermediate Seminars strive to build. Class discussion and group projects can be productive only in a climate of respect for the opinions and beliefs of all. A healthy exchange about issues may Eng 262G * The Art of Literature Bennett * Spring 2008
2
include disagreement about ideas, but it must not demean the character or background of the individuals holding those ideas. NOTE: Plagiarism: "The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft" (Oxford English Dictionary). The unacknowledged use of another person's work, research, ideas and/or thoughts will not be tolerated in this class. Plagiarized papers will automatically FAIL, and may also result in a failing grade for the course. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please see me.
Eng 262G * The Art of Literature Bennett * Spring 2008
3
Required Texts:
Living Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. John C. Brereton.
(Available in Bookstore, or on www.half.com)
The Awakening. Kate Chopin. (Penguin edition available in bookstore; or order online) A Midsummer Night's Dream. William Shakespeare (Signet edition available in bookstore;
or order online)
Tompkins, Jane P. "The Awakening": An Evaluation (available on JSTOR) **Note: A number of additional REQUIRED READINGS will be available only on E
reserve through Healey Library. Please see the handout for instructions on accessing documents through Healey Library's Ereserve (ERES).** YOU MUST BRING HARD COPIES OF ALL EReserve MATERIALS TO CLASS!!!!
YouTube:
ENG 262 YouTube LINK: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?
p=3EB06175613C37E3 I have started an ENG262G YouTube playlist. As we move through the semester we will be expanding on this, but always feel free to go find new things to bring to class! 262G Playlist Please send submissions to my email address: [e-mail]
Note: You may submit your own videos of the literature we are studying to the ENG
Course Grade Determination: Paper #1 & Rough Draft: 20% Paper #2 & Rough Draft: 25% Final Project/Exhibition: 15% Journal Assignments: 25% Participation/Homework/Inclass Activities: 15%
Journal Assignments, Paper Assignments, and Final Project Assignments will be handed out per the syllabus. The final project/exhibition will be a 10 minute oral presentation at the end of term. There will be no midterm, or final examinations, so completing these assignments in an effective and timely manner is key to your success in this course. Attendance: Attending class and arriving on time is crucial to your success in this course and to the success of the course in general. If you miss class, you are responsible for making up the work and finding out what you missed by contacting me or a classmate. Two tardies become an absence. You may not miss more than 5 class sessions and pass the course. Missing more than three classes will negatively affect your grade. Any student who misses more than three classes by the April 10th withdrawl deadline will be recommended to drop the course. Participation: This course has been designed as an academic forum where all ideas and opinions must be valued, respected, and seen as crucial to the process of appreciating literature's full depth and complexity. All students must come to class on time and prepared to participate Eng 262G * The Art of Literature Bennett * Spring 2008
4
actively in small group, individual, and classwide activities and/or discussions. Every person should display tolerance and respect for one another, and for the class discussions. Everyone must bring the required texts to class starting Thursday, January 31! Journal Assignments: You will receive a handout for each of the journal assignments the Thursday before they are due. If you miss class, and do not receive the assignment, you must contact me via email and I will make sure you get it in a timely manner. There are no excuses for missing an assignment. Journals must be typed and should adhere to MLA format when appropriate. Journals are generally 12 page reflections on a given topic, due at the beginning of class on the date noted. If you choose to develop your own journal assignment, you must obtain instructor approval in advance. You may make your requests via email, or in person, in a timely manner. Journals are marked both on the quality of your writing, as well as the degree to which you demonstrate your critical, and reflective engagement with the material. Late journals will be accepted until 8 AM the following day and will receive an automatic two point deduction from a scale of 110. Following this deadline, no journals will be accepted. Formal Papers: Comprehensive paper assignments will be handed out in a timely manner before their due date. Papers are due at the beginning of class on the date noted on the syllabus. If you will not be in class on the day the paper is due, you may email me your paper by the start of class deadline on the due date. Any late papers will receive grade deduction if they are turned in (via email, in person, or in my mailbox) before 9AM the following day, and one full grade deduction for each day following. Disabilities: If you have a disability and need accommodations in order to complete course requirements, please contact the Ross Center for Disability Services at 617.287.7430 (CC2 2010). ERES & JSTOR Access: Please see attached instructions for accessing EReserve & JSTOR through Healey the Library Website. You will need a barcode from Healey Library to access JSTOR from your home comuputer! A final note on the Intermediate Seminar: Supervising the Intermediate Seminar English courses is Dr. Cheryl Nixon, Associate Dean of the English Department. Please expect occasional visits from Dr. Nixon, as well as other Intermediate Seminar Instructors. CLASS SCHEDULE WEEK 1: The Art of Literature TU 1/29: Introductions, Review Syllabus. Classwork: Group discussion of: "The Hare & the Tortoise" (1213); Anne Sexton "Cinderella" (Xerox packet)
Eng 262G * The Art of Literature Bennett * Spring 2008
5
TH 1/31: Reading Due: Xerox packet. Classwork: Group Discussion of: Wallace Stegner: A Note on Technique (p. 107109); Margaret Atwood "Happy Endings" (Xerox packet) Inclass writing exercise. WEEK 2: Liberating Identities, and Songs of Ourselves TU 2/5: (Add/drop Deadline) Reading Due: Intro to Poetry Section (p. 719727); Allen Ginsberg: "A Supermarket in California" (p. 1087 + Ginsberg video on youtube.com); Walt Whitman: "I Hear America Singing" (p. 870); Langston Hughes: "I, Too Sing America" (handout). Classwork: Discussion of Tone, Images, and Imagery. TH 2/7: Reading Due: Intro to Poetic Language: (p. 741745); Intro to Form (p. 770775); Walt Whitman: "Song of Myself" (p. 835850 focus on ch. 1, 2 & 5) Classwork: Discuss "Song of Myself" on youtube.com (see the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U50DFKQfZ7Q&feature=related) Inclass practice of "explication," or techniques for analyzing poetry. WEEK 3: What is love? TU 2/12 Assignments Due: Journal #1; Reading: Billy Collins "Sonnet" (774); Elizabeth Barrett Browning "My Letters! All dead paper..." (ERES); Shakespeare: Sonnet 18 "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" (942); Edmund Spenser "One day I wrote her name upon the strand" (791) Classwork: Deducting the components of the sonnet. Introduction to conventions of Petrarchan & Shakespearean sonnets. TH 2/14 Assignments Due: Write a sonnet!! Also: Come to class with two possible pairings of poems that you are interested in exploring in Paper Assignment #1. Reading: Shakespeare: Sonnet 116 "Let me not to the marriage of two minds" (944); Sonnet 130 "My Mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" (944); Sonnet 138 "When my love swears..." (946). Edmund Spenser "The Maske of Cupid" (from The Faerie Queene) (ERES) BRING HARD COPY OF ERES TO CLASS!!. Classwork: Share sonnets with the class. Film excerpt: "Shakespeare's Sonnets." Small group work analyzing sonnets. Large group discussion of the possible permutations within the theme of "love." WEEK 4: "Do we define ourselves by what we are, or what we are not?" TU 2/19 Assignments Due: 1st Draft Paper #1 Classwork: Peer Review of drafts; questions, concerns, etc. TH 2/21 Reading Due: Sherman Alexie's "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" (p. 683); Stuart Dybek's "We Didn't" (p. 688). Eng 262G * The Art of Literature Bennett * Spring 2008
6
Classwork: Group discussion of the stories focusing on four points of character analysis, and elements of short stories. WEEK 5: Storytelling & Secret Sin TU 2/26 Assignments Due: Final Draft Paper #1 Reading: Hawthorne "A Fiction Writer in Depth" (139178); Poe's review of Hawthorne (ERES) BRING HARD COPY OF E RES TO CLASS!! Classwork: Inclass group work identifying Poe's criteria for a good story, debate re: plagiarism TH 2/28 Reading Due: Hawthorne "The Minister's Black Veil," (ERES); Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart (510). Classwork: Group discussion of spooky stories. WEEK 6: Crises of Selfhood TU 3/4 Assignments Due: Journal #2. Reading: Goodman "Iddings Clark" and Gilman's "Yellow Wallpaper" (ERES), BRING HARD COPY OF ERES TO CLASS!! Classwork: Discuss forms of madness/hysteria in Goodman & Gilman TH 3/6 Reading Due: Emerson's "SelfReliance" (p. 1& 2) (available on www.rwe.org) BRING HARD COPY OF ERES TO CLASS!! Classwork: Film: "Emerson: The Ideal in America"; discussion of 19th century philosophical ideals. WEEK 7: "Si tu Savais" Awakening TU 3/11 Assignments Due: Journal #3. Reading: Review "SelfReliance;" Chopin The Awakening Ch. 18. Classwork: Peer journal reading & discussion of "SelfReliance." Introduction to The Awakening. TH 3/13 Assignment Due: Study guide questions for Ch. 116 of The Awakening Reading Due: Chopin: The Awakening 816 Classwork: Distribute paper Assignments. Review JSTOR protocol. Discuss initial impressions of The Awakening, focusing on Chopin's contextual representation of Edna Pontellier, and the implications for her identity. WEEK 8: SPRING BREAK NO CLASSES WEEK 9: Critical Responses to "The Awakening"
Eng 262G * The Art of Literature Bennett * Spring 2008
7
TU 3/25 Assignments Due: Journal #4. [I suggest you also use the extra time over break to start thinking about your paper topic & find your second scholarly article on JSTOR] Reading: Finish The Awakening. Classwork: Peer reading of Journals; Group discussion of emergent themes in The Awakening TH: 3/27 Reading Due: Tompkins, Jane P. "The Awakening": An Evaluation (available on JSTOR) Classwork: Group discussion of the Tompkins article in context with The Awakening; Peer Review of Scholarly Articles WEEK 10: More Critical Responses to "The Awakening" TU 4/1 Assignments Due: Journal #5 (Paper topic & abstract of independently chosen scholarly article including MLA citation!) Classwork: Paired discussion of paper topics: Propositions & Counter Propositions. Informal presentations of article abstracts. TH 4/3 NO CLASS WORK ON YOUR PAPER DRAFTS!! WEEK 11: Papers, papers, papers! TU 4/8 Assignments Due: First Draft Paper #2 Classwork: Peer Review Paper #2 TH 4/10 NO CLASS: INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS WEEK 12: Dreams deferred? TU 4/15 Assignments Due: Final Revision Paper #2. Reading: Hansberry: "A Raisin in the Sun"; Langston Hughes "A Dream Deferred" (handout) Classwork: Film: "A Raisin in the Sun" TH: 4/17 Reading Due: Finish "A Raisin in the Sun" WEEK 13: Sources of "Love" in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" TU: 4/22 Assignments Due: Journal #6. Watch a film version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Reading: Apuleius' version of the myth of Cupid & Psyche; Plot Summary of A Midsummer Night's Dream(ERES) BRING HARD COPY TO CLASS!!!! Classwork: Responses to MND on film. Small group work with the myth of Cupid & Psyche.
Eng 262G * The Art of Literature Benne...