ENL3-020 Introduction to Literature
Fall 2009
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
“Little Gidding” in Four Quartets
By T.S. Eliot
Required Texts: Neuromancer by William Gibson, M Butterfly by David Henry Hwang, The Transition to College Writing by Keith Hjortshoj, and other texts will be available online.
Prerequisite: You must have already completed the “Subject A” requirement to take English 3.
Course Description and Objectives:
The quote from T.S. Eliot’s poem above is provocatively paradoxical. If we shall not cease from exploration, how can there be an end? And what does it mean that we’ll know this familiar place for the first time? I chose this literary excerpt as a way of prefacing the course because it sets the tone for this quarter of studying literature as something quite complicated that requires ongoing and rigorous exploration to reveal new perspectives. To consider just how complicated literature is, see if you can, without consulting a dictionary, articulate a concise definition of literature. Can you tell me how to know when I am reading a work of literature as opposed to something else? Is Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight literature—and why or why not?? Is literature a means of escape and enjoyment, a way to engage with ideas, a way to encounter beauty, a combination of these, or something else entirely? Furthermore, consider why reading literature is valued by individuals, society, and as part of a university degree. And, underlying these questions is the matter of whether literature still matters in our present moment of online social networking and other developments in communication, art, and culture.
These are all difficult questions to answer, and this quarter is for you about working hard toward being able to express positions on them as well as other crucial issues regarding literature. To help you achieve this objective, the course is designed to introduce you to advanced analysis of literary form, technique, genre, content, and socio-historical contexts. There is a strong emphasis on literary form and technique in this class because attention to these issues can greatly enrich our understanding and enjoyment of literature and make even the most challenging poetry accessible.
This class embraces these ideas and takes as its main objective teaching a core set of skills required to analyze, appreciate, and enjoy works of literature with an interest in content, form, and context. You will develop these skills through close reading a wide range of literary works in a variety of genres, and by writing responses, including formal pieces, about the works that pique your interest.
Throughout this quarter, you should strive to obtain and cultivate the following abilities:
• Develop a thoughtful, informed, and sophisticated perspective on the notion of literature in general and on any given literary text.
• Situate your perspective in the context of the university, the field, and/or the conversation at hand.
• Communicate your perspective clearly through writing to appropriate audiences.
Cultivating these habits of mind is our aim this quarter, so let’s peel open poetry, gnaw on a novel, and digest some drama!
Course Assignments:
Blog Writings and Projects
You will create and maintain a blog for this course. There will be regular writing assignments and/or projects to be completed and posted on your blog by the deadlines indicated in each assignment. These writings contribute to the 6000-word writing requirement for this course, range from informal to formal style, and will be evaluated on assignment-specific requirements.
Reading Quizzes, Attendance, and Participation
There will be regular short reading quizzes at the beginning of class meetings. These quizzes will be given at the start of class meetings, so be prompt in order to give yourself the full time to complete them. Also, you are expected to attend class regularly and having completed the reading. Significant absences or late arrivals will lower this portion of your grade.
Formal Papers and Draft Workshops:
You will write two evidence-based, thesis-driven essays this quarter. Your essays will go through draft workshops aimed at helping you revise the final versions. Attendance is required at the workshops—failure to attend or failure to bring a substantial draft will result in an automatic 1/3 reduction of your grade for that paper (i.e. a B becomes a B-). These assignments will be handed out well in advance of the due dates so you can start planning and drafting early.
Final Exam:
The midterm exam will be on Friday, December 11th, 6-8pm.
Grading/Evaluation Policies:
Blog 25%
Reading Quizzes/Part./Att.: 10%
Formal Essays 50% (Poetry 20%, Fiction 30%)
Final Exam: 15%
Submitting Your Essays:
Your essays must be submitted to me on the assigned dates. DO NOT submit any papers to the English or University Writing Program department offices. They do no accept student papers. In case of medical or other emergency, contact me before the due date to discuss an extension; extensions are granted only under exceptional circumstances. Late papers will receive a 1/3 grade reduction for each day past the due date, and no papers are accepted after the final exam.
Office Hours:
You are greatly encouraged to visit me in my office hours early and often! I have found office hour meetings significantly beneficial to students, whether in the brainstorming phases of pre-writing, working through a challenging text or idea, or in the midst of final essay revisions. If your schedule precludes you from coming to my scheduled office hours, I am willing to make an appointment. I do not accept drafts over email, so do stop by to see me.
Course Requirements and Policies:
ENL3 has a 6000-word requirement. You must complete every graded written assignment, including the final exam, in order to fulfill the requirement and pass the course. If you are missing any formal assignment at the end of the quarter, I cannot pass you.
You must earn a C- or better in order to pass, even if you have turned in all the work.
Academic Honesty:
With regard to plagiarism, don’t do it! Submitting the work of others is a serious academic offense that you will do well to avoid. Suspect papers will be submitted to the UC Davis Student Judicial Affairs to follow university procedures regarding academic honesty. I am happy to help you avoid this issue, so bring any questions to class or office hours before the assignment is due. A complete outline of university policies and guidelines for avoiding plagiarism can be found at http://sja.ucdavis.edu.
Disclosures:
If you require any accommodation in the course due to a disability, please acquire formal documentation of the disability from the UC Davis Disability Resources Center. You may then notify me by providing the documentation so I can make arrangements to meet your needs.
Modifications:
Course schedule subject to change with advance notification from instructor. Course policies will be modified only if absolutely necessary.
ENL 3: Introduction to Literature: Fall 2009
Schedule of Reading and Writing Assignments
You are expected to complete assignments for the day on which they are listed. You will be notified of any changes to this schedule well in advance, both in class and electronically.
Thu., Sep. 24 Course Introduction
Tue., Sep. 28 First reading and writing. Establishing our blogs.
Key Concepts: Defining “Literature” and How & Why to Write About it
Thu., Oct. 1 “What is Poetry?”
Read Shakespeare “That time of year thou mayst in me behold”, Wordsworth “Nuns Fret Not”, Brooks "First Fight. Then Fiddle", “Sonnet” by Christina Rosetti
Key Concepts: Line, Stanza, Rhyme, Rhythm, Metre, The Sonnet form
Writing: Evidence and Claims 1
Tue., Oct. 6 “A dimpled spider, fat and white”
Read Keats “This Living Hand”, Frost “Design”, Hemans “Casabianca”, Rich “Diving into the Wreck” and Hjortshoj: 5-15, 20-28
Key Concepts: Imagery and Symbolism
Writing: Evidence and Claims 2
Thu., Oct. 8 “Form and Content, Form versus Content, Form as Content”
Read Emily Dickinson “I dwell in Possibility”, Pound “In a Station on the Metro”, Blake “The Tyger”, Ted Hughes “Crow’s Theology”, Brautigan “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace”; Hjortshoj:30-39,45-52
Key Concepts: Couplet, Ambiguity, the Dash—
Writing: Introductions—making a first impression
Tue., Oct. 13 “It Gathers to a Greatness”
Read Hopkins “God’s Grandeur” and select poems by Rita Wong
Key Concepts: Pace, Texture, Punctuation, Repetition, and Play
Writing: Formulating your thesis
Thu., Oct. 15 Poetic Form and Writing about Literature
Hjortshoj: 56-77, 107-130
Draft Workshop: Poetry essay
Tue., Oct. 20 “Poet on the Peaks: Gary Snyder in Context”
Read Poetry Handout of Snyder’s poems
Key Concepts: Reading poems in the context of the author and his/her historical/social/cultural contexts. Conclude poetry segment.
Thu., Oct. 22 “What is Narrative?”
Read Bierce “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, Poe “The Cask of Amontillado”
Thu., Oct. 22(cont) Key Concepts: Basic Structures of Story & Plot—Fabula & Syuzhet
Poetry Essay Due in class
Tue., Oct. 27 “There are no longer problems of the spirit.”
Read Faulkner “A Rose for Emily” and Nobel Prize Banquet Speech
Key Concepts: Narrative persona, characterization, revelation-suggestion-suppression
Writing: Conclusions
Thu., Oct 29 “The sky above the port…”
Read Neuromancer: 1-39
Key concepts: Beginnings and motifs, cyberpunk generic conventions
Writing: Organization—at the local and global levels of your writing
Tue., Nov. 3 “Toggling Subjectivities”
Read Neuromancer: 40-118
Key Concepts: Focalization, POV, Multi-layered/Nested narratives,
Writing: Development—extending your ideas into longer writings
Thu., Nov. 5 “The recorded blue of a Cannes sky”
Read Neuromancer: 119-158
Key Concepts: Settings and the Cyber/Real, Nonhuman characters
Writing: Technology and Academic Writing
Tue., Nov. 10 “The Chinese Virus was Unfolding around Them”
Read Neuromancer: 159-222
Key Concepts: Technology and narrative, race and ethnicity in literature
Thu., Nov. 12 “…it’ll change something”
Read Neuromancer: 223-261
Conclude Narrative Segment
Tue., Nov. 17 “What is Drama?”
Read Sophocles Oedipus the King lines 1-708
version
Key Concepts: Acts, Scenes, Lines, Stage Directions
Writing: Revisions: strategies and priorities
Thu., Nov. 19 “You all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus”
Read Oedipus the King lines 709-1584
< http://www.bartleby.com> version
Key Concepts: Drama & Genre, History of Drama
Writing: Process and Product—thinking through the portfolio
Tue., Nov. 24 “Yes, I am. I am your Butterfly.”
Read M Butterfly, Through Act 2, Scene 7 (1-63)
Tue., Nov. 24(cont) Key Concepts: Social drama—race and gender
Writing: In-Class Draft Workshop on Fiction Essay
Tue. Dec. 1 “I have a vision…”
Finish reading M Butterfly
Film Screening & Discussion
Thu., Dec. 3 “Of Last Things”
Review for Final Exam
Fiction Essay Due in class
Friday, Dec. 11 Final Exam: 6-8pm
