English 266—Literature and Technology
The History and Future of the Book
Winter 2017, TTh 2:30-4:20 (2:35-4:15), CMU 326
Professor Jeffrey Todd Knight ([email protected])
Office hrs.: A-417 Padelford Hall, T 4:20-5:20 or by appointment
iPad and Kindle, cell-phone novels and e-publishing, Amazon and the fate of the American
bookstore. Since the turn of the 21st century, our relationship with the book – and with it,
literature itself – has been transformed. What is this analog device that gave shape to writing and
storytelling for over 1500 years? Where is it going in the new digital era?
This course offers an introduction to “the book” as a literary technology from ancient wax tablets
to today’s tablet PCs. Instead of following the usual arc of literary history in a succession of
authors or periods, we will explore the work of writers and readers – primarily in English – as
imaginative uses of a variety of book-media: papyrus rolls, animal-skin manuscripts, printed
codices, mass-produced periodicals, and e-books, to name a few. Readings will cluster around
four or five sustained case studies and will include at least one very old poem, a Shakespeare
play, a modern novel, an artist’s book, and a piece of cutting-edge digital fiction. Evaluation will
be based on a mix of exams, short writing assignments, in-class exercises, and an “adopt-a-book”
project in Allen Library Special Collections, where we will gain hands-on experience with actual
relics of literary history. Students will leave this introductory course with knowledge of
exemplary works of English literature along with fundamental concepts in the study of media.
ENGL 266 may be taken for optional “W” credit and it may be used to meet the pre-1900
requirement in the English major.
Textbooks:
William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Pelican Shakespeare), ISBN 9780143128540, required
Italo Calvino, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler (Harcourt), 9780156439619, required
Anne Carson, Nox (New Directions), 9780811218702, recommended (available on reserve)
All other readings available in PDF on Canvas
Requirements:
1) Participation—30%: Students are required to access and complete the assigned reading,
to be on time and courteous in class, and to contribute actively (see Policies, below) to
discussion. I tally these elements at the end of every week, sometimes using my notes
from class and sometimes with the help of in-class quizzes or writing assignments, which
check for preparation. I will provide an update on participation scores in week 5.
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2) Adopt-a-Book Assignment—10%: At the start of week 3, each student will be assigned for
“adoption” a rare book from Special Collections. This book will form the basis of a series
of three exercises designed to establish skills in analyzing literary artifacts: (a) description,
(b) comparison and contextualization, and (c) close reading. Students will visit the Special
Collections reading room outside of regular class time to complete a three-part
worksheet, which is due Friday 1/27.
3) Take-home Exam/Paper #1—25%: Students not taking the class for “W” credit will
complete a take-home midterm examination consisting of short answer and short essay
questions covering the readings, lectures, and discussions from units 1 and 2 of the
course. Students taking the class for “W” credit will complete a medium-length essay (5
pages) covering the same material. Exam and prompt will circulate in class on 2/7.
4) Roundtable Contributions (2)—10%: In preparation for class on 1/24 and 3/9, students
will explore an online exhibition of early printing and a cutting-edge piece of born-digital
literature respectively and will come to class prepared to speak about their experience to
the group. Instructions will circulate at least a week in advance of the due date.
5) Take-home Exam/Paper #2—25%: Students not taking the class for “W” credit will
complete a take-home final examination consisting of short answer and short essay
questions covering the readings, lectures, and discussions from unit 3 of the course.
Students taking the class for “W” credit will complete a medium-length essay (5 pages)
covering the same material. Exam and prompt will circulate in class on 3/7.
Policies:
ACADEMIC HONESTY
Work submitted for this course must be written in your own words and constructed on a plan of
your own devising. Work copied or obtained from any source without attribution will be referred
to the college for disciplinary action (see http://depts.washington.edu/pswrite/plag.html).
ACCOMMODATIONS
Students needing accommodations must register with Disability Resources, which will handle the
logistics: http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/. Accommodations cannot be retroactively applied.
“ACTIVE” PARTICIPATION
“Active” participation (see Requirements above) is defined as good citizenship in the intellectual
community, including staying on top of course emails/Canvas, completing in-class activities, and
contributing to discussion. I generally need at least one substantive contribution from you each
week in order to award the participation points (1 week = 2 points, 1 for showing up and being
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attentive; 1 for contributing). Note: it’s okay to be shy, but if I do not have some outward measure
of your participation, I can’t award the points. If you are not talking in class and/or are worried
about your score, please email or speak to me about written alternatives to in-class participation.
ATTENDANCE
This is a seminar, which means our in-class work is collaborative and discussion-based. If you are
not here or arrive late, you cannot participate in that portion of the course, and the missed class
time will have a negative effect on your participation score. I make exceptions for documented
emergencies, events outside your control, and religious holidays negotiated with me in advance.
GRADING SCALE
My courses use the standard grading scale and conversion published in the UW General Catalog
with percentages and letter grades given out for individual assignments (see Appendix).
LAPTOPS AND OTHER MOBILE DEVICES
Studies show that laptop use in class diminishes most forms of learning and can negatively affect
those around the laptop user. Only when tied directly to in-class activities do laptops have proven
benefits. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you not use laptops or tablets in my classes, but I
permit their use for class business on the understanding that I will subtract participation points if
you allow yourself to be distracted. (Note: it is easy for me to tell if you are conducting business
unrelated to class on your device.) Obvious sources of distraction, such as phones, are prohibited.
LATE WORK
The due dates outlined below are non-negotiable except in cases of emergency. Any assignment
arriving after it is due will be graded on a half-point deduction (on a 4.0 scale) for each day late.
Schedule of Assignments:
Introduction
1/3: Hello.
1/5: Marshall McLuhan, from Understanding Media (1964); if you have not already done so,
please visit Amazon Books, University Village (4601 26th Ave NE)
Unit 1: Manuscript
1/10: Plato, from Phaedrus (ca. 370 BCE) and Walter Ong, from Orality and Literacy; field trip to
Special Collections, basement of Allen Library (meet in regular classroom)
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1/12: St. Augustine, Book VIII of The Confessions (397-400 CE) and Christopher De Hamel,
Scribes and Illuminators, ch. 1-2; in class: Write Like a Scribe
1/17: Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue,” from The Canterbury Tales (ca. 13801400), to line 175 (and all intro material); De Hamel, Scribes and Illuminators, ch. 3
1/19: Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue,” line 200 to the end
Unit 2: Print
1/24: Warren Chappell, “Prologue to Discovery” and “Type: Cutting and Casting”; in class:
Roundtable on the Gutenberg Bible, the Aldine Press, and Tottel’s Miscellany
1/26: Meet in Special Collections, Allen Library (advance reading: Elizabeth Eisenstein, “Defining
the Initial Shift” and James Raven, “The Industrial Revolution of the Book”)
Adopt-a-Book assignment due in Canvas by 5pm on Friday, 1/27
1/31: William Shakespeare, Hamlet (1603), Acts 1-2
2/2: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, through to the end of Act 3
2/7: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, to the end of the play.
2/9: Benedict Anderson, from Imagined Communities and Jürgen Habermas, “The Public
Sphere”
Take-home exam/paper #1 due in Canvas by 5pm on Monday, 2/13
Unit 3: Multimedia
2/14: Emily Dickinson, 1276 (1873); Gertrude Stein, “Book” (1914); Octave Uzanne, “The End of
Books” (1894); field trip to Special Collections, Allen Library (meet in regular classroom)
2/16: Jorge Luis Borges, “Library of Babel,” “Garden of Forking Paths” (1941), and “Book of
Sand” (1975); get a start on Italo Calvino, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler (1982)
2/21: Italo Calvino, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, to p. 90
2/23: Italo Calvino, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, to p. 169
2/28: Italo Calvino, In on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, to the end
3/2: Anne Carson, Nox (2010), first 50 “pages” or so
3/7: Anne Carson, Nox, to the end
3/9: Nicholas Carr, from The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains (2011); in class:
Roundtable on Experimental Digital Literature
Take-home exam/paper #2 due in Canvas by 5pm on Thursday, 3/16
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Appendix: Grading Scale
Prof. Knight
Adapted from the UW Student Guide > General Catalog:
http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html
Percent
100-99
98-97
96-95
94-93
92-91
90
89
88
87
86
85
84
83
82
81
80
79
78
77
76
75
74
73
72
71
70
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
59 and x < 59
Numeric
4.0
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.7
2.6
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.0
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.0
Letter
Note
A+
A
A
A
AAB+
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
BBC+
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
CCD+
D
D
D
D
DDE
Superior performance in all aspects of the course or
assignment, with work exemplifying the highest quality.
Superior performance in most aspects of the course or
assignment; high quality work in the remainder.
High quality performance in all or most aspects of the
course or assignment.
High quality performance in some aspects of the course
or assignment, satisfactory work in the remainder.
Satisfactory performance in the course or assignment.
Satisfactory performance in most of the course or
assignment, with the remainder somewhat substandard.
Evidence of some learning, but generally marginal
performance.
Minimal learning and substandard performance
throughout.