TEXTS
William Shakespeare’s King Lear
Bernard Malamud’s The Fixer
Tony Kushner’s Angels in America
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COURSE DESCRIPTION
Our approach to literature in this class will involve reading from a variety
of literary genres (short stories, poetry, essays, one novel, and two plays),
discussing these readings in class, and writing about your own interpretations
of some of these works. As we go along, we will keep in mind a few literary
theories to ground this approach. We will discuss certain defining characteristics
of each genre and try to draw connections between different works and different
genres, and we will work to enhance your reading, writing, and critical thinking
abilities. In doing all of this, one of my underlying hopes is that you’ll
find literature to be an extraordinary opportunity to think about our lives
and the world in which we live.
SPECIFIC COURSE GOALS
-Identify and understand varied characteristics of literature
-Apply several techniques of literary analysis to a variety of texts
-Use literary study to enhance reading and writing skills
-Develop an understanding of the diverse social and historical contexts in
which literary texts have been written and interpreted
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1) Participation (Discussion Leader) 20%
2) 4 Commonplace Book Entries (2 pgs each) 20%
3) 2 Quizzes 20%
4) Final Paper (8-10 pages) 40%
I will talk more about all these requirements in class, and I will give you some specific guidelines for the Commonplace Book Entries and the Final Paper.
ABSENCE POLICY
As this class is largely discussion-based, it obviously relies on your participation
and, therefore, your regular attendance. You may miss three classes during
the semester without penalty—more than three absences will likely lower
your grade. One caveat here: please do not miss a day when you have something
due (i.e. commonplace book entry, quiz, final paper, your day to lead discussion).
Except under extraordinary circumstances, I will not allow you to make up
missed work.
WRITING CENTER
Please take advantage of the Writing Center for all the written work in here.
It’s free (well, you already paid for it, anyway), they’re friendly,
and they’re very helpful. It’s in McIver room 101—more information
will follow.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
WEEK 1:
Introductions, Literary Theories, Sontag, Borges
WEEK 2:
Shakespeare
WEEK 3:
Shakespeare
*First Commonplace Book entry due (Friday)
WEEK 4:
Woolf, Truth, Grimke
WEEK 5:
Marti, Kingston, Chekov,
WEEK 6:
Oates, Moore, Hall
*Second Commonplace Book entry due (Friday)
WEEK 7:
Wright, Godin, Welty
*First Quiz (Friday)
WEEK 8:
Jones, O’Brien, White,
WEEK 9:
O’Connor (2), Sedaris,
*Third Commonplace Book entry due (Friday)
WEEK 10:
Malamud
WEEK 11:
Malamud
WEEK 12:
Frost, Rich, Bishop, Plath
*Fourth Commonplace Book entry due (Friday)
*No Class Monday, Oct. 31—work on Final Paper
WEEK 13:
Szymborska, Ginsburg, Hughes, Neruda
*Draft of Final Paper Due (Friday)
WEEK 14:
Kushner
WEEK 15:
Kushner
*Second Quiz (Friday)
WEEK 16:
Catch up
Papers due during our Final Exam period