English 110.03
Reading Literature: Selves and Others
Spring 2017, Oddfellows 206, MWF 1:30-2:20
Professor Jennie Votava
Office location: Oddfellows 216
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (814) 332-4334
Office hours: MWF 9-10, MW 2:25-2:55, Th 2-4, and by appointment
Texts
1. Murfin and Ray, The Bedford Glossary of Literary and Critical Terms (Bedford). Required. 1
2. James Baldwin, Another Country (Vintage). Required.
3. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories (Dover). Required.
4. William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Simon and Schuster). Required.2
5. Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Grove). Required.
7. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 8th edition. Recommended.
Course Description
All literature is, in some sense, an encounter with “the other”; the works on this syllabus are particularly concerned with the relationship between self and other, in confrontations and conversations that occur both within and between texts, with stakes that are both personal and political.
Throughout this course, we will explore the literary encounter within and between a variety of
genres, histories, cultures, and geographies, from the exemplary Elizabethan exploration of the
psychology and politics of revenge, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, to James Baldwin’s taboo-breaking
mid-twentieth-century novel, Another Country. While enjoying the pleasures and insights gained
from immersing ourselves in these many varieties of human experience, we will also consider
those experiences from our own perspectives as literary scholars, and examine the techniques
authors use to produce meanings and effects in and on their readers.
1
Terms from this volume for which you will be responsible on both your midterm and final exams are
listed below on the syllabus to accompany your literary readings; it will behoove you to include these
terms in your daily studies. Additional Bedford terms for which you will also be responsible will be assigned over the course of the semester; please attend to both oral and emailed announcements.
2
Other editions may vary significantly; please use ONLY this edition.
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Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete English 110 will:
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Utilize close reading as a primary skill of literary analysis;
Encounter other interpretive methods that build upon the principle of close reading;
Recognize the conventions of different genres;
Develop interpretive arguments both in writing and discussion;
Understand the significance of historically underrepresented perspectives and traditions.
Discern how literature shapes and is shaped by its historical and cultural contexts.
Requirements and Policies
Grading Policy
Your final grade will be calculated as follows:*
10% Participation**
10% Keyword Exercises (2 points), Sakai Posts (5 points), Drafts (10 points), and Writing
Workshops (10 points); graded on apparent effort, completeness, and timeliness. Keyword
Exercises and Sakai Posts submitted late on the day they are due will receive half credit;
after that date they cannot be made up.
10% Writing Exercises (3)
35% Essays (3)
15% Midterm Exam
20% Final Exam
*IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A PASSING GRADE IN THIS COURSE, YOU MUST COMPLETE ALL 3 ESSAYS AND YOUR MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAMS.
**Your participation grade will be determined by the following criteria:
• A for class participation is awarded when students regularly initiate discussion. This
means coming to class thoroughly familiar with the assigned readings and prepared to
raise questions, open discussion, and actively engage other students in discussion. Students who are self-starters and do not rely on the instructor’s questions to set the agenda
for our discussions will earn an A for participation.
• B for class participation is awarded to students who participate regularly and productively
in class discussion, who are prepared, and who are willing to engage.
• C for class participation is awarded to those who participate on a regular but less frequent
basis than the B student. “C” discussants will be prepared for class, but their contributions will indicate that less thought has been given to the assigned material.
• F for class participation is given to those who contribute infrequently to discussion and/or
whose absences are frequent.
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Writing and Speech Consultants
Experienced peer writing and speech consultants in the Learning Commons help writers and
speakers make academically responsible choices and determine strategies for effective communication at any stage in the writing or speaking process, for assignments in any discipline, or for
writing and speaking situations unrelated to coursework (e.g., personal statements, cover letters,
interviews, conference presentations). Both appointments and drop-in sessions are available. To
view the hours of operation, and to make an appointment, visit the Learning Commons website:
http://sites.allegheny.edu/learningcommons/
Attendance Policy
Because life happens — illness, family emergencies, sleeping through your alarm, and so on — I
allow up three unexcused absences without penalty. Each additional unexcused absence will
incur a 5-point deduction from your final exam; frequent absences will also affect your participation grade. Absences will be excused only with written proof of cause (not including your
personal emails to your professor, although these are appreciated). If you need to miss class due
to a religious observance, please let me know in advance so that we can make arrangements to
cover materials from that day. See http://sites.allegheny.edu/religiouslife/religious-holy-days/.
Late Work
All assignments are posted in bold on the course schedule below. Unless you make other
arrangements with your professor at least 48 hours in advance, late written work will be penalized by a third of a letter grade per day (e.g. B- to C+).
Disability Services
Students with disabilities who believe they need accommodations in this class are encouraged to
contact Disability Services at 332-2898. Disability Services is part of the Learning Commons
and is located in Pelletier Library. Please contact that office as soon as possible to insure that
such accommodations are implemented expeditiously.
A Note on Extenuating Circumstances
If you should find yourself in difficult circumstances that significantly interfere with your ability
to prepare for this class and to complete assignments, please inform me immediately so that we
can work something out together. Do not wait until due dates / the last day of class to ask for exceptions to what is stated in this syllabus. In such a situation, you may also find it helpful to contact the campus Counseling Center (332-4368) in 304 Reis Hall,which is open from 8-5 but also
has a 24 hour hotline.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class. Plagiarism includes direct or indirect use of any
words or ideas not your own, including internet sources, without proper acknowledgment; it is
a crime and may result in failure of the assignment or course. All cases of plagiarism are to be
reported to the Honor Committee. Please read the Honor Code in the College Handbook, or at
http://sites.allegheny.edu/deanofstudents/student-conduct-system/academic-conduct/honor-code/.
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Course Schedule
N.B.: The following schedule is subject to change. Please pay attention to announcements regarding any changes in course readings and assignments.
M 1/16 - No Class; MLK Day
W 1/18 - Introductions
Bedford: connotation, denotation, close reading
Part I: Lyric Poetry — Self-Expression; Conversations
F 1/20 - Elizabeth Bishop, “One Art”
Bedford: lyric, villanelle, rhyme (full v. half, masculine v. feminine, identical rhyme)
Keyword Exercise 1 (for full credit - 2 points - post on Sakai by 8 AM)
M 1/23 - William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130 (1609)
Bedford: metaphor, sonnet (Italian sonnet, English sonnet, octave, sestet, quatrain,
couplet), meter (KNOW iambic pentameter)
Internet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blason
Keyword Exercise 2
W 1/25 - Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Love is Not Blind” (1923)
Bedford: enjambment, caesura, alliteration
Keyword Exercise 3
F 1/27 - Joy Katz, “Study of a Friend with One Breast”
Bedford: imagery
Keyword Exercise 4
M 1/30 - Afaa Michael Weaver, “MRT”; “5 Steps” handout
Bedford: free verse
Keyword Exercise 5
W 2/1 – Weaver, “Recognition”
Keyword Exercise 6
*Thursday, February 2, 7 PM: Afaa Michael Weaver, Single Voice Reading in Tillotson Room
of Tippie Alumni Center. REQUIRED; extra credit opportunity TBA*
F 2/3 - Sir Philip Sidney, Sonnet 31 from Astrophil and Stella (1591)
Bedford: apostrophe, personification, pathetic fallacy
Keyword Exercise 7
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M 2/6 - Philip Larkin, “Sad Steps” (1974)
Bedford: diction, allusion, sarcasm
Keyword Exercise 8
*Writing Exercise 1 due on Sakai*
W 2/8 - Writing Workshop 1 – Revision
F 2/10 - John Donne, Holy Sonnet 14
Keyword Exercise 9
M 2/13 - Holy Sonnet 14, cont - SCANSION!
Bedford: rhythm, meter (foot, iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, spondee, pyrrhic,
monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, etc.)
Scansion Exercise 1 (to be done in class)
**Essay 1 Draft due by class-time on Sakai**
W 2/15 - George Herbert, “Prayer I” (1633)
Bedford: rhyme, metaphor
Keyword Exercise 10
F 2/17 - Maya Angelou, “Harlem Hopscotch” (1969)
Bedford: catalexis
Scansion Exercise 2 (DUE in class)
Part II: Prose Fiction — Race, Gender, and Sexuality
M 2/20 - Toni Morrison, “Recitatif” (complete the story)
Bedford: narrator, point of view (first-person, third-person, omniscient, limited), tone
Sakai Post 1 (for full credit - 5 points - Sakai Posts must be up by 8 AM on the date due)
***T 2/21 - Essay 1 (final) due on Sakai by NOON***
W 2/22 - “Recitatif,” continue discussion
Bedford: connotation, denotation,
Sakai Post 2
F 2/24 - Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (complete the story)
Bedford: epistolary novel/story, unreliable narrator
Sakai Post 3
M 2/27 - “The Yellow Wallpaper,” continue discussion
Sakai Post 4
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***W 3/1 - IN-CLASS MIDTERM EXAM - APPLIED TERMS***
F 3/3 - Baldwin, Another Country Book 1, Ch. 1
Sakai Post 5
M 3/6 - Another Country: Book 1, Ch. 2-3
Sakai Post 6
W 3/8 - Another Country: Book 2, Ch. 1
Sakai Post 7
F 3/10 - Another Country Book 2, Ch. 2
*Writing Exercise 2 due on Sakai*
*Thursday, March 9, 7 PM: Jane Hirshfield, Single Voice Reading, Tillotson Room of
Tippie Alumni Center. RECOMMENDED; extra credit opportunity TBA*
M 3/13 - Another Country Book 2, Ch. 3-4
Sakai Post 8
W 3/15 - Another Country Book 3, Ch. 1
Sakai Post 9
F 3/17 - Writing Workshop 2 - Peer Review
**Essay 2 Draft due IN CLASS AND ON SAKAI**
****M 3/20 - F 3/24: No Class; Spring Break***
Part III: Drama — Two “Hamlets”
M 3/27 - William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.1-1.2
Bedford: aside, blank verse, foil, soliloquy, tragedy (including “revenge tragedy”)
Sakai Post 10
W 3/29 - Hamlet, 1.3-1.5; More’s Supplication of Spirits excerpt (Sakai, “Resources”)
Bedford: early modern, Elizabethan age, historicism, new historicism, Renaissance,
Sakai Post 11
F 3/31 - Hamlet, 2.1-2.2
Sakai Post 12
***Essay 2 (final) due on Sakai by 11:59 PM; peer’s Peer Review due IN CLASS***
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M 4/3 - Hamlet, 3.1-3.2; Aquinas and Bacon excerpts (Sakai, “Resources”); Film Versions of
“To be or not to be” (Sakai, “Resources”)
Sakai Post 13
**W 4/5-M 4/10- No Class.**
*M 4/10 - Writing Exercise 3 due on Sakai*
W 4/12 - Hamlet, 3.3
Sakai Post 14
F 4/14 - Hamlet, 3.4; Film Versions of the “Closet Scene” (Sakai, “Resources”)
Bedford: psychoanalytic criticism
Sakai Post 15
M 4/17 - Hamlet, 4.1-4.4; A Portrait of Elizabeth I (Sakai, “Resources”)
Sakai Post 16
W 4/19 - Hamlet, 4.5-4.7
Sakai Post 17
F 4/21 - Hamlet, 5.1-5.2
Sakai Post 18
M 4/24 - Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Act 1
Bedford: the absurd, existentialism
Sakai Post 19
RSEs?
W 4/26 - R and G, Act 2
Sakai Post 20
RSEs?
***Essay 3 due on Sakai at 11:59 PM***
F 4/28 - R and G, Act 3
Sakai Post 21
RSEs?
M 5/1 - Catch-up; Take-home Final Exam distributed and discussed
***F 5/5: TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM (Exam Group F) due ON SAKAI AT 10 PM***
****NO EXCEPTIONS****