English 258.04 Literature of Western Civilization II Spring 1999 (be sure to see Useful Links at end of this page)

11:00-12:15pm T-TH UCC 305

Office: 125 Brink Hall

Hours: T-TH 9:30-10:30, 12:15-1:00 & by appt.

E-mail: sflores@uidaho.edu

885-7419; 885-6156

Required Texts:

Literature of the Western World, II, 4th ed. Eds. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. (Prentice Hall, 1997).

Kushner, Tony. Angels in America, Part One: Millenium Approaches, (Theatre Communications Group, 1992). Note: this winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for best drama contains rather "raw" language and provocative material.

Course Description:

The course introduces you to the critical interpretation of literature--primarily in the Western tradition--through selected drama, fiction, and poetry from the late 17th century to the present. We shall explore the social, sexual, political, and formal (language, structure, style) issues and relations that these texts represent, through class discussion, small group work, films, written assignments (critical responses, essays, weekly journal entries, final exam), and attending the UI production of Angels in America, Part One in late April.

Requirements:

1. Four critical responses (on selected works, each response 450 words, single-spaced, titled, on one page) that prompt you to identify and to address interpretive and critical issues that these texts present. You may choose a study question to suggest a topic or problem to explore in your response, or you may develop your own topic or approach to the work in question. Your observations and analyses should be succinct and sharply focused, with potential for substantial further development. On days that these are due, please bring an extra copy to class, one for me and one to share with your group.

2. Participation in class and group discussion (including informal weekly writing). Please take advantage of the opportunity small groups may provide to discuss your reactions, share your insights and research, and to listen and reply to others' ideas. I shall call regularly upon groups to facilitate class discussion, with each group leading off discussion (10 minutes) on specific texts at least once during the term. On these days I expect the group scheduled for that day to be prepared to lead off our discussion by presenting their positions on the material (with some brief summary, focus on key points in the reading, perhaps some incorporation of secondary criticism or historical research), and by suggesting further issues the class might consider. For plays, groups may even stage or block a scene, and suggest its significance through performance, or a group could organize a debate over a conflict in the text. I hope this strategy will enable you to move the class in directions you find most useful, give you opportunities to develop critical skills through collaboration, and help to establish a mutual responsibility to engage productively with the class texts and with one another while also enabling me to share my perspectives with you.

3. Two double-spaced essays, each 5-6 pp. More on these later, but in general these essays enable you to explore an interpretive/contextual problem, try out a critical approach/hypothesis, and help to express ideas prompted by your reading (and viewing) of a work from our syllabus and by our discussion. I am interested in seeing the ways that you select, define, and engage questions and contradictions, and I attend to the clarity, imagination, and grace that you demonstrate in presenting your topic, thesis, and argument. I do not always expect an essay to conclude by "solving" such problems or by "proving" your thesis; I do hope that you address an interesting topic in thoughtful and useful ways. Please feel invited to confer with me during the writing process.

4. Final exam (May 12, in-class)--two essay questions on selected works.

5. Due dates: All required work is due at the beginning of class on the due date--work turned in later will be marked late and graded accordingly. All required graded written work will be downgraded one notch (for example, B+ to B, converted to points for each assignment) for each weekday late (not just days classes meet but counting just one day for a weekend). Work more than a week late will not be accepted. I will grant short extensions for medical and family emergencies--but talk with me as soon as possible to request an extension. ALWAYS KEEP EXTRA COPIES OF YOUR WORK.

6. Attendance is required--your participation is a crucial part of a collective learning experience. Excellent attendance and participation is rewarded; poor attendance is penalized. If you have no absences by the term's end (excused or not), you will receive three bonus points; with one absence, you will receive two bonus points. But four absences will lower your semester total by 12 points with five point reductions for each additional absence (for example, five absences=minus 17 points and so on). Almost all absences will be counted--excused or not--if something extraordinary occurs, talk to me.

7. Grades: Four Critical Responses (#1 and #3, 20 points each, #2 and #4, 25 pts. each); Two Essays (100 pts. each); Final Exam (50 pts.) These required assignments add up to a maximum of 340 points. Thus 306-340 points equals an A, 272-305 equals a B, 238-271 equals a C, 204-237 equals a D, and anything below 204 merits an F. I shall also reserve a potential five bonus points based on my perceptions of the strength of your participation and efforts over the semester.

8. Office hours. I encourage you to confer with me--especially before assignments are due--to talk about your interests, intentions, and writing strategies. My office is not accessible to the handicapped, so please let me know if you need to meet me elsewhere. If you cannot make my regular hours, we can usually arrange another time. I also welcome communicating with you by e-mail (sflores@uidaho.edu).

SYLLABUS for English 258.04

1/12 Molière, Tartuffe, including film excerpts

1/14 Tartuffe

1/19 Tartuffe

1/21 La Fayette, The Princess de Clèves (Part One)

1/26 The Princess de Clèves (Part Two)

1/28 The Princess de Clèves (Part Three)

2/02 Critical Response #1 on Tartuffe or The Princess de Clèves due; Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience, esp. "The Little Black Boy," "The Chimney Sweeper," "Holy Thursday," "The Human Abstract," "The Angel," "The Tyger"

2/04 Blake's "London," "The Clod & the Pebble," "My Pretty Rose Tree," "Garden of Love," "A Poison Tree"; recommended: The Book of Thel and Visions of the Daughters of Albion

2/09 Shelley, Frankenstein

2/11 Frankenstein

2/16 Frankenstein

2/18 Critical Response #2 due on Frankenstein

2/23 Browning, "My Last Duchess"; Dickinson's poems, film (see study questions and handout of additional poems)

2/25 Dickinson

3/02 Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground (Part I)

3/04 Peer-edit Essay 1 (bring substantial, word-processsed draft to share); Notes from Underground (Part II)

3/09 Essay 1 due; Dinesen, "Babette's Feast"; film excerpt

3/11 "Babette's Feast"

3/23 Freud, from Dora: Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria--

3/25 Dora

3/30 Critical Response #3 due on Dickinson or Dinesen or Dostoevsky or Freud or Faulkner; Faulkner, "An Odor of Verbena"

4/01 Brecht, The Good Woman of Setzuan

4/06 The Good Woman of Setzuan

4/08 Camus, "The Adulterous Woman"; film on Kushner

4/13 Kushner, Angels in America, Part One: Millenium Approaches

4/15 Angels in America, Part One

4/20 Critical Response #4 on Kushner or Brecht due; Angels in America, Part One

4/22 Kincaid, Annie John

4/27 Annie John

4/29 Baldwin, "Sonny's Blues"; recommended: Wright, "Big Boy Leaves Home"

5/04 Ozick, "The Shawl"

5/06 Essay 2 due; Calvino, "Under the Jaguar Sun"; Beckett,Krapp's Last Tape

5/12 Final Exam, Wednesday 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (two essay questions)

 


Useful Links:

Assignment for Critical Response #1

Questions on Tartuffe

Professor Paul Brians's Study Guide to The Princess of Cleves

Evaluating Internet Information

MLA Style (Authoritative information about citing sources, including electronic sources)

The following links to pages on Blake and Shelley were originally compiled by Jack Lynch, and can be found on his Eighteenth-Century Resources website.

The Blake Archive (Morris Eaves, Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi; Virginia) -- The most important (and impressive) Blake resource on the Web. Superb reproductions of Blake's engravings and careful transcriptions of his text, with new works and copies of works added regularly.

The Digital Blake Project (Nelson Hilton, Univ. of Georgia) -- A graphics-intensive hypertext edition of the Songs, along with the complete Erdman text of Blake's poems.

The Blake Multimedia Project (Steve Marx, CalPoly) -- Limited demonstration of "a hypertext interactive edition that displays the plates on a monitor or projects them on a screen. It allows the user to call up glossaries, critical intepretations, explications and magnifications of details, comparisons to other plates, and teaching exercises in print and audio modes."

Blake Timeline (Charles Beauvais, Conn. College) -- A handy year-by-year chronology of Blake's life.

The Tyger Page (Randall Hughes) -- A Web study of Blake's "The Tyger." Mostly links to other Blake resources. Requires a frames-compatible browser.

  • Annotated bibliographies:

    Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Chronology & Resource Site (Shanon Lawson, Delaware; Romantic Circles) -- Thorough and accurate timeline, along with the texts of early reviews and a short secondary bibliography.

    Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (K. W. Bridge) -- Biographical sketch, bibliographies, account of Frankenstein's composition, and several commentaries (e.g., "Frankenstein is considered to be the greatest Gothic Romantic Novel. It is also generally thought of as the first science fiction novel. I have always been impressed and amazed by the fact that Mary wrote this novel when she was eighteen years old. What experiences and powers of imagination led to such an innovative and disturbing work?")

    Professor Paul Brians's Study Guide to Notes from Underground

    Study Questions and Other Resources on Kushner's Angels in America

    Go to Stephan Flores' Home Page.