The purpose of this course is to make literature approachable and enjoyable by examining it from a variety of perspectives. We will read and discuss poetry, short fiction, drama, and essays by (mostly) British and American writers. The choice and arrangement of texts in this course will allow us to see how different writers, working from different cultural and time perspectives and in different genres, have approached and reshaped stories that other writers before them have already told. By virtue of their shared themes and issues, these stories have proven themselves to have the kind of universal appeal and significance that will allow us to see their relevance to our lives.
Because this is a writing intensive course, you will be using writing as a way to discover and express your own response to the literature that we read.
My goals for this semester are to teach you to:
• Identify and understand the characteristics of four literary genres: fiction, non-fiction prose, poetry, and drama.
• Apply techniques of literary analysis to each of these genres.
• Enhance your understanding of a given literary work by seeing it in relation to other texts.
• Write about literature clearly, coherently, and effectively, especially after revising your work in response to feedback from other readers.

Required text:
Retellings: A Thematic Literature Anthology, Edited by M.B. Clarke and A.G. Clarke. (McGraw Hill)

Requirements, Activities, and Grading:
You are responsible for studying the texts assigned for each day, and for coming to class prepared to discuss and/or ask questions about the material. Here are the components of your final grade:

Paper #1: 1000-word (approx.) analysis, with required revision 20%
Paper #2: 1000-word narrative essay, with required revision 20%
Paper #3: 750-1000 word argument paper on Oedipus Rex 15%
Paper #4: 750-1000 word paper linking Oedipus and Darker Face 15%
Paper #5: 750-1000 word response to A Tempest 15%
(Note: You will have the option of revising 2 out of the last 3 papers)
Aggregate of all informal writing assignments 5%
Group oral report on The Darker Face of the Earth 5%
Final project: poem 5%

Attendance and Class participation will be the deciding factors that move you up or down a portion of a grade (for example, from a B+ to an A- or from a B to a B-) if your final average is near a border line.

Three absences are permitted (for whatever reason) without penalty; four-five absences
will affect your grade; six absences will probably get you dropped from the class.

“Class participation” includes almost anything you do to show interest in the class -- such as getting there on time, contributing to class discussions and group activities, coming in for conferences, visiting the Writing Center, and the like.

The Writing Center, located in 101 McIver, is a good place to go for reliable feedback on drafts and answers to questions you may have about writing. If you want to give yourself an edge when you are writing for this class or any other one, you should check it out. It’s open Sunday evenings, 5 - 8 p.m.; Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.; and Fridays 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. You can call 334-3125 for an appointment, or just drop in. For more information, visit www.uncg.edu/eng/writingcenter

How to find me: My office is in 103 McIver Building. I will announce regular office hours soon, but I am also happy for you to drop by or make an appointment to talk with me about the course anytime. Office phone: 334-3282; Home phone: 272-4996: email klmeyers@uncg.edu

The Academic Integrity Policy is fully explained at http://studentconduct.uncg.edu/policy/academicintegrity/ Read all about it, paying particular attention to the section on plagiarism, since it is the most pertinent to this class. You need to write and sign the pledge (“I have abided by the UNCG Academic Integrity Policy on this assignment”) on all your papers.

Important Advice from Miss Manners: 1) Get to class on time. 2) Stay until the bitter end. 3) If you carry a cell phone, pager, I-Pod, or any other electrical device, please TURN IT OFF before entering the classroom!

Fall 2004 ENGLISH 104-05: TENTATIVE SCHEDULE K. Meyers

M 8/16 Introduction
Assignment for 8/18: Read introduction to Chap. 1 (Telling and Retelling Stories), p. 3
and 1 of 3 versions of Cinderella. You’ll be assigned to the Disney version, pp. 3-5; or Grimm, pp. 5-10; or Yeh-hsien with commentary, pp. 10-13.

W 8/18 Comparing versions of Cinderella and the significance of their differences.
Assignment for 8/20: Read pp. 73-83, but skip the Exercises.

TALES OF LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS
F 8/20 Discuss “The Story of an Hour” and the elements of fiction.
Assignment for 8/23: Skim pp. 149- top of 154 and 156-163. Study Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress” and write your own annotations/reactions on the sheet I give you. Look up “coy (a)” and “mistress (n)” in the Oxford English Dictionary (available online – go to Jackson Library Databases). Keeping in mind that the poem was published in 1681, copy (on the back of your sheet) some meanings of both words that you think are important to understanding the poem.

M 8/23 Discuss “To His Coy Mistress” and your first paper assignment.
Assignment for 8/25: Read Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (527-38) and handout

W 8/25 Discuss “The Yellow Wallpaer” and possible paper topics.
Assignment for 8/27: Read Chekhov, “The Lady With the Pet Dog” (437-48) and sample
student paper (461-464).

F 8/27 Discuss Chekhov story and possible paper topics, and ways of improving sample paper.
Assignment for 8/30: Read Oates, “The Lady With the Pet Dog” (449-60).

M 8/30 Discuss Oates story, its relation to Chekhov’s, and possible paper topics
Assignment for 9/1: Study these poems: Petrarch, “Sonnet 126” (424); Shakespeare, “My Mistress’ eyes . . . ” (425); Li Po, “Song of Chang-Kan” (434-5); Pound, “The River-Merchant’s Wife. . . ”(435-6); Hirsch, “The River Merchant. . . ” (436-7).

W 9/1 Discuss intertextuality of assigned poems and possible paper topics.
Assignment for 9/3: Read pp. 166-72 and these poems: Marlowe, “The Passionate
Shepherd . . .” (428-9); Raleigh, “The Nymph’s Reply. . .” (429); Lewis, “Song” (431); Nash, “Love Under the Republicans. . .” (432-3).

F 9/3 Discuss assigned poems and final questions about your papers.
Assignment for Wednesday, 9/8: PAPER #1 DUE. Also study these poems: Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays” (426); Frost, “Birches” (774-6); Heaney, “Mid-Term Break” (777-8); Lawrence, “Piano” (777); Lee, “I Ask My Mother to Sing” (778).

M 9/6 Labor Day – classes cancelled

TALES OF LIFE PASSAGES
W 9/8 Discuss theme of Life Passages and assigned poems.
Assignment for 9/10: Read McCarthy, “A Tin Butterfly” (820-36).

F 9/10 Discuss essay by McCarthy and your narrative essay assignment (Paper #2). Brainstorm topics for your essay.
Assignment for 9/13: Read White, “Once More to the Lake” (837-41). E.B. White is known for his elegant writing style. Choose one passage (at least a few sentences in length) that you find especially effective. Copy it, word for word, on a piece of paper. Then write a paragraph reacting to the passage you have chosen – What does White do with language that makes that passage so striking?
M 9/13 Discuss the style and substance of White’s essay. Brainstorm topics for yours.
Assignment for 9/15: Read short stories by Joyce, “Araby” (547-51) and Updike, “A&P” (407-12).

W 9/15 Discuss stories and their themes. Brainstorming topics for your essay.
Assignment for 9/17: REVISION OF PAPER #1 DUE. Also, read Bambara, “The Lesson” (783-88); and Walker, “Everyday Use” (564-70).

F 9/17 Discuss stories and their themes. Brainstorming topics for your essay.
Assignment for 9/20: Read Ellison, “Battle Royal” (802-11).

M 9/20 Discuss story and its themes. Talk about process for writing your essay.
Assignment for 9/22: Study these poems: Randall, “Ballad of Birmingham” (885-6); Patterson, “Birmingham 1963” (886-7); Hughes, “Birmingham Sunday (888-9); Merton, “And the Children. . .” (890-91).

CLUSTERED STORIES
W 9/22 Discuss Birmingham church bombing and poems about it.
Assignment for 9/24: ESSAY DUE (Paper #2)

F 9/24 See film, Four Little Girls
Assignment for 9/27: Study poems about the fall of Icarus: Ovid, “The Story of Daedalus and Icarus” (855-7); Auden, “Musee des Beaux Arts” (859); Williams, “Landscape. . .” (860).

M 9/27 Discuss treatments of the Icarus myth in paintings and poems.
Assignment for 9/29: Study more Icarus poems: Sexton, “To a Friend . . .” (861);
Rukeyser, “Waiting for Icarus” (861-2); Hayden, “O Daedalus. . .” (862-3).

W 9/29 Discuss the directions taken by assigned poems from the central myth. Background on story
of Odysseus.
Assignment for 10/1: Study introduction (p. 255) and poems about the return of Odysseus: Homer, from The Odyssey (256-7); Tennyson, “Ulysses” (257-9); Cavafy, “Ithaka” (259-60).

F 10/1 Discuss themes of heroism and loyalty in poems about Odysseus.
Assignment for 10/4: Study poems by Howard, “Ithaca: The Palace . . .” (261-3);
Parker, “Penelope” (263); Pastan, “Rereading the Odyssey. . .” (264).

M 10/4 Discuss Penelope’s perspective, as imagined by poets.
Assignment for 10/6: ESSAY REVISION DUE. Also read Gluck, “Telmachus’ Fantasy” (267-8).

W 10/6 Discuss depictions of Telemachus in Homer, Tennyson, and Gluck.
In-class essay question on clustered poems.

F 10/8 Catch-up day or early Fall Break

FALL BREAK Mon-Tue, October 11-12

Assignment for Wednesday, October 13: Sophocles, Oedipus Rex: read Intro (1060-62) and at least as far as top of p. 1071, entrance of Tiresias.