ENGL 427: Literary Representations of Disability
Fall 2014 Syllabus
Tu/Th 10:30 a.m. – 12:10 p.m., Welles 216
Prof. Gillian Paku
[email protected]
Office: Welles 218b office tel. 245-5272
Office hours: Tu/Th 12:30-2:30 and many Wednesdays prior to 2:00. Other times will
be available. Please make an appointment for a specific time to avoid waiting.
Literary Representations in Disability is a course focusing on a specific topic in Disability
Studies. This particular section will ask you to focus on how disabilities that affect
communication – here, autism spectrum disorders, Tourette’s Syndrome, and stuttering –
are represented in literary texts, but also on how these disabilities reveal and sometimes
challenge the conventions of typical narrative. We will consider, amongst other theories,
Michael Bérubé’s definition of a “disabled narrative,” in which conventional narrative
functions of time, causality, description, and detail become disabled; Lisa Zunshine’s
claim that theory of mind, debated in studies of autism, is the reason we read fiction;
Ronald Schleifer’s claim that poetry and Tourette’s stem from the same place in the
brain, and Gilles Deleuze’s vocabulary of speech impediments to characterize written
excellence. Alongside two novels and several excerpted works of fiction, readings will be
drawn from Disability Studies theory and narrative theory. This 400-level English
Literature course will also devote considerable attention to high-level writing skills and
scholarly oral presentations.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate:
1. an understanding of how texts are related to the social and cultural categories of
(dis)ability
2. an in-depth understanding of the narrowly-defined topic of communicative
disabilities and literary narrative
3. the ability to read texts closely
4. the ability to write clear and effective English prose in accordance with
conventions of standard English
5. the ability to write analytically about texts in accordance with the conventions of
textual criticism; i.e. the ability to write sustained, coherent, and persuasive
arguments on significant issues that arise from the content at hand
6. the ability to "join the conversation" that is always ongoing among critics and
scholars regarding texts, authors, and topics by engaging with secondary sources
7. the ability to work both independently and collaboratively on intellectual projects
8. the ability to present academic work orally in accordance with professional
conventions of English literature
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College Policies of Note
SUNY Geneseo will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented
physical, emotional, or cognitive disabilities. Accommodations will be made for medical
conditions related to pregnancy or parenting. Students should contact Dean BuggieHunt in the Office of Disability Services ([email protected] or 585-245-5112) and
their faculty to discuss needed accommodations as early as possible in the semester.
Website: http://www.geneseo.edu/dean_office/disability_services
It is essential to give credit to sources of any ideas that are not your own, as plagiarism is a
serious offense with severe consequences. Each student is responsible for knowing what
constitutes plagiarism and for understanding the college’s policy and procedures for
academic dishonesty, defined in detail the Undergraduate Bulletin and on this Milne Library
website: http://library.geneseo.edu/research/plagiarism.shtml
You should familiarize yourself with the resources available to you at The Writing
Learning Center in Milne Library, Room 218: schedule an appointment at
wlc.geneseo.edu. Their philosophy is my philosophy (I’m the WLC Director).
I have taken part in Rape Crisis Faculty Training and I strongly support Geneseo’s
Stand^Up Pledge to make Geneseo an inclusive, positive, civil, and respectful
community: http://www.geneseo.edu/standup. Report - and be! - a “positive” today.
Required Texts:
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. (1813) Ed. James Kinsley. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1990.
(Other scholarly editions are acceptable)
Lethem, Jonathan. Motherless Brooklyn. (1999) New York: Vintage, 2000.
Many other texts will be available via myCourses or as handouts or on reserve at Milne
Library. You might like to purchase Lisa Genova, Love Anthony (New York: Gallery, 2012).
Schedule of Meetings:
Tues 08/26
Syllabus and assignments; TS/IS “I Take your Point”; intro to Disability
Studies: in-class work on Susan Wendell, “The Social Construction of
Disability,” TS/IS “Art of Summarizing.”
Thurs 08/28 Read in advance: Michael Bérubé, “Disability and Narrative” and Oliver
Sacks, “The President’s Speech.” Prepare a comment on an intriguing
claim in Bérubé, summarized in light of his larger argument (focused
summary).
In class: aphasia, another president’s speech; reading and reporting body
language; autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
Tues 09/02
Read in advance: Laura Schreibman, “Are there Core Deficits in
Autism?”; Virginia Woolf, excerpt from Mrs. Dalloway.
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In class: Theory of Mind (ToM); ToM tests; close reading and the
analytical formula; prepare and submit a 1- to 2-page close reading of the
Woolf passage (you’ll need your laptop).
Thurs 09/04 Read in advance: Lisa Zunshine, “Attributing Minds.” Prepare a focused
summary of it.
In class: group work applying and presenting Zunshine’s claims to texts
from the 2013 New School study.
Tues 09/09
Read in advance: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
Response paper #1: apply Zunshine’s claims to Pride and
Prejudice, 5%.
In class: discuss P&P.
Thurs 09/11 Read in advance: your assigned section of Phyllis Ferguson Bottomer, So
Odd a Mixture. Prepare comments to share.
In class: discuss P&P and Brad Pasanek on zombies. Refresher on
analytical essays.
Tues 09/16
In-class analytical essay on P&P.
Thurs 09/18 Read in advance: Anthony D. Baker, “Recognizing Jake;” Polly Morrice,
“Autism as Metaphor;” David T. Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder,
“Narrative Prosthesis and the Materiality of Metaphor.” Prepare a focused
summary of Mitchell and Snyder.
In class: discuss excerpts from Mark Haddon, Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-time.
Tues 09/23
Read in advance: excerpts from Lisa Genova, Love Anthony.
Response paper #2: apply Mitchell and Snyder’s claims to Love
Anthony, 5%.
In class: I’ll discuss the mock essay and focus on integrating research.
Temple Grandin TED talk or possible written exercise on applicability of
autism as a social metaphor (you’ll need your laptop).
Thurs 09/25 Read in advance: Tobin Siebers, “Realism with a Human Face.”
In class: group work on the idea of autism: Morrice, “Autism as
Metaphor;” Urban Dictionary entries; Joseph Straus, “Claiming Autism”
and “Writing Autism;” Tao Lin websites; “My prestigious literary novel.”
Tao Lin: casual blog - http://www.altlitgossip.com/post/15483316835/its-official-taolin-autism-report Tao Lin – bookworm interview: http://www.kcrw.com/newsculture/shows/bookworm/tao-lin-taipei Tao Lin: excerpt http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw/bw130801tao_lin_taipei/excerpt/
My literary novel: http://the-toast.net/2014/06/19/prestigious-literary-novel/
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Tues 09/30
Individual meetings with intro paragraph and outline.
Thurs 10/02 Individual meetings with intro paragraph and outline.
Tues 10/07
Representations of autism in a film: White Frog or Adam.
Thurs 10/09 Read in advance: Oliver Sacks, “Witty Ticcy Ray;” Lennard J. Davis,
“Dr. Johnson, Amelia, and the Discourse of Disability in the Eighteenth
Century.”
In class: discuss visual representations of Johnson and group work on
Laura Davies, “Samuel Johnson and the Frailties of Speech.”
Essay # 1 due, 10%
Tues 10/14
No class: Fall Break - read Jonathan Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn
Thurs 10/16 Read in advance: Marco Roth, “The Rise of the Neuronovel” at
https://nplusonemag.com/issue-8/essays/the-rise-of-the-neuronovel/
Response paper #3: apply Roth’s claims to Motherless
Brooklyn, 5%.
In class: discuss Motherless Brooklyn
Tues 10/21
Read in advance: Ronald Schleifer, “The Poetics of Tourette’s
Syndrome.”
In class: discuss examples of poetry.
Thurs 10/23 Read in advance: Joshua St. Pierre, “Locating Stuttering in Disability
Studies.”
In class: discuss portrayals of stuttering in fiction and Jeffrey Johnson,
“The Visualization of the Twisted Tongue.”
Tues 10/28 Compulsory meetings to discuss revision to essay
Thurs 10/30 Compulsory meetings to discuss revision to essay
Tues 11/04
Representations of stuttering in a film: A Fish Called Wanda (or popular
choice).
Revision of essay due 20%
Thurs 11/06 Read in advance: Gilles Deleuze, “He Stuttered;” excerpts from Marc
Shell, Stutter.
In class: presentations on Shell’s 3 case studies: Moses, Hamlet, Marilyn
Monroe.
Tues 11/11
In advance: choose essay topic for final essay.
Individual meetings with intro paragraph and outline.
Thurs 11/13 Individual meetings with intro paragraph and outline.
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Tues 11/18 Movie (by popular vote – King’s Speech = 120 minutes)
Thurs 11/20 Movie (by popular vote – Rainman = 135 minutes)
Tues 11/25
Final paper presentation x 5: General essay on disability studies (Lennard
Davis). In-class written reflective exercise: hand in.
Conference-style Presentation: 15%
Thurs 11/27 No class: Thanksgiving Break
Tues 12/02
Final paper presentation x 5: General essay on disability studies (Tobin
Siebers). In-class written reflective exercise: blog. Maybe read for “disabled
narratives” (Bérubé).
Thurs 12/04 Final paper presentation x 5: General essay on disability studies (or sign
language? Or echolalia – Susskind/Disney? Or autist/artist – Sacks?). Inclass written reflective exercise: summary and blog.
Final paper due 25% (optional: for feedback)
Monday, Dec. 08 is the last day of classes; Final paper due Tuesday, Dec. 16
during exam period if not already submitted: 25% Final paper presentation x 15
Assignments:
3 response papers x 5% = 15%
In-class written exercises and prepared comments 5%
First essay 10%
Essay revision 20%
Final essay 20%
Conference-style presentation 15%
Class participation 15%
The in-class written exercises and prepared comments, which often take the form
of a focused summary, can approach the assigned text from any angle that interests YOU
– e.g. a connection to your personal life, your major, your life plans, your other classes,
another work of literature or news article or YouTube clip you’ve been thinking about, a
literary approach you’re interested in (feminism, deconstruction, ecocriticsm), another
theory from a different part of this course. Balance your own interest with what the article
or text is discussing: guidelines for producing a focused summary are found in They Say / I
Say, posted on myCourses; guidelines for close reading are on myCourses, too. The
written exercises should be roughly 1-2 pages, double-spaced. Unless you are asked to
write the exercise during class time, I expect you to bring it to class in a legible hard copy.
These exercises aren’t graded because the point is to allow you to practice certain
academic skills and to receive feedback from me. You should be coming to see me during
office hours to discuss my comments. The 5% awarded for these written exercises is
SAT/UNSAT: if you don’t have the written work prepared when I call for it, you will
receive no credit for that 5%. You will receive the full 5% simply for handing it in.
The response papers ask you to do something more specific: apply the insights
and/or methodology of a particular theoretical work to a specific work of fiction. The
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response papers are 2.5-3.5 pages, double-spaced, word-processed, and will be submitted
in hard copy, stapled. They are graded.
The primary texts for both your major essays will not be texts we discuss as a class
(Pride and Prejudice, Love Anthony, Motherless Brooklyn, Hamlet, the short stories by Munro,
DeLillo, or Gilb, etc). You should be making running notes about ideas you would like to
pursue, and texts you would like to write on.
Essays must be typed, double-spaced, in a 12-point font, and follow the standard
MLA format and citation style. No cover pages, please. The page limits are firm, since
part of what you are learning is how to convey an argument of appropriate scope.
You must ask for an extension on any paper BEFORE it is due, and you must
keep in contact with me about your progress. Late assignments without requests or
documentation will drop a grade for each day they are late, e.g. a B grade will drop to a
B-. My grading policies and expectations are those outlined by SUNY. Any questions or
clarifications are welcome – it is a major goal of this course that you should understand
what is expected of you, and be able to discuss your work with your instructor.
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