FYS 16: Liberation
Rick Griffiths
8/15/10
Earth Sciences 306, 542-5355
[email protected]
Office hours: Tues. 2-4 & Fri. 10-12
Frederick Douglass
* = text in reading notes packet
℮ = streaming video under E-reserves on CMS page
OSB = Oxford Study Bible
Slavers
Sept. 7
*Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,
Written by Himself (1845), through chapter VI
Sept. 9
* Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, finish
Sept. 14
*Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), chapter 23;
*Richard Wright, “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch”
(1937)
Sept. 16
*The History of Mary Prince, a West-Indian Slave (1831);
 Sept. 19 (Sunday): 1st essay (ungraded), on Douglass and Wright
due electronically by 5:00 PM. Editorial conferences Sept. 16-18.
FYS 16: Liberation
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Monsters
Odysseus and the Cyclops
Sept. 21
Homer, Odyssey 1-4 (7th-8th century BCE)
Sept. 23
Odyssey 5-9
Sept. 28
Odyssey 10-16
Sept. 30
℮ James Cameron (dir.) “Aliens” (1979)
Oct. 5
Odyssey 17-21
Oct. 7
Odyssey 22-24
Oct. 12: Fall Break
Sigourney Weaver in “Aliens”
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Aravind Adiga
Monsters
(continued)
Oct. 14
Rough draft workshop
 Oct. 17 (Sunday): 2nd essay, on the Odyssey, due electronically by 5:00 PM
noon. Editorial conferences Oct. 15-16.
Oct. 19
Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (2008) to p. 78
Oct. 21
The White Tiger to p. 166; Declaration of Independence (1776)
Oct. 26
The White Tiger, finish; Declaration of Sentiments (1848); Genesis 1-5
Signing of Declaration of Independence
FYS 16: Liberation
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
at Seneca Falls
3
Moses with the tablets
Covenants
Oct. 28
Genesis 6-25:18; Richard Friedman, “Torah and Covenant,” OSB, pp. *
154-163; David L. Petersen, “The Social World of the Old Testament,”
OSB, pp. *68-78.
Nov. 2
Exodus 1-20 and 31.18-35.33; Numbers 20.1-12; Deuteronomy 32.48-52 & 34;
Nov. 4
Isaiah 11, 40, 52.13-53.12; Matthew 1-10, 16.13-28.20.
Nov. 9
Acts of the Apostles 1-2, 6-9;
Book of Revelation 1-2;
Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987) to p. 33 Vintage (p. 27 Plume)
St. John writing Revelation
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Toni Morrison
Love
Nov. 11
Beloved to p. 75 Vintage (p. 63 Plume);
*The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831)
 Nov. 14 (Sunday): 3rd essay, on scripture due electronically by 5:00
PM. Editorial conferences Nov. 11-13.
Nov. 16
Beloved to p. 138 Vintage (p. 117 Plume)
Nov. 18
Beloved to end of Part 1
[Thanksgiving]
Nov. 30
Beloved, Part Two;
℮ Lars von Tier, “Medea”
Dec. 2
Beloved, Part Three
 Dec. 5 (Sunday): 4th essay, on Beloved, due electronically by 5:00 PM.
Editorial conferences Dec. 2-4.
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Manuel Puig
Love (continued)
Dec. 7
Manuel Puig, Kiss of the Spider Woman (1976), chap. 1-3
Dec. 9
Kiss, chap. 4-10; *Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist
Manifesto
Dec. 14
Kiss, finish
 Dec. 18 (Saturday): 5th essay (short), on Kiss of the Spider Woman, due
electronically by 5:00 PM. Editorial conferences Dec. 15-17.
Readings from The Elements of Style will be made on an ongoing basis.
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Requirements:
Students write one ungraded short essay and four formal essays, ranging
from 1000 to 1500 words, with editorial conferences as the essays are
being written. The course relies on faithful attendance and productive
participation by all students as contributors and listeners.
Goals and Methods: This seminar aims to develop skills of critical reading and analytical
writing by active participation in class discussion, as informed by
questions/comments submitted before class, and by consultation with the
instructor in the writing of the five essays.
The five essays should provide original interpretation that goes beyond
class discussion. Assignment sheets with suggested topic areas will be
distributed more than week before the deadline, and students should
sign up for editorial conferences (times posted on the CMS page) in the
days before the deadline. These conferences work best if the writer sends
in advance a whole or partial rough draft. Analysis in the essays may
range from straightforward interpretation to theoretical approaches.
Academic Honesty:
Please review the webpage on Academic Honesty
https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/deanstudents/acadhonesty,
including Amherst’s Statement on Intellectual Responsibility, and the
page on academic honesty on the FYS 16 site. The essay
assignments do not require or encourage the use of secondary sources,
and any sources used should be cited, other than the reading notes and
class discussions. When in doubt, please ask.
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The following texts are available at Amherst Books:
Adiga, Aravind, The White Tiger (Free Press) 1416562605
Homer, The Odyssey, trans. Richmond Lattimore (Harper) 00609044798
Morrison, Toni, Beloved (Vintage) 1400033416.
Puig, Manuel, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Vintage) 0679724494
Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White, The Elements of Style (4th edition) (Longman)
020530902X
Suggs, M. Jack, ed., The Oxford Study Bible (Oxford) 0195290003
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