THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

Course Information: LIT 2331.002 Masterpieces of World Literature Fall 2014, MW, 1:00-2:15 ATC 2.302

Instructor’s Contact Information: Allene Nichols [email protected] Office location Office Hours: MW 12:00-1:00 or by appointment

Course Prerequisites: None

Course Description: LIT 2331 - Masterpieces of World Literature (3 semester hours) A study of selected themes in world literature. This course will serve as a prerequisite for all upper-division literature courses. (3-0) Y

LIT 2331.002 Description: Throughout the twentieth century, marginalized groups struggled for equal rights and to have their voices represented in literature. Many of those struggles have continued in some form. For instance, the Occupy movement’s demand for financial parity reflects early twentieth century concerns for worker rights and criticisms of unbridled capitalism. Other groups that demanded to be heard include women, African Americans, people whose countries were recovering from colonial rule, the lgbt community, and those who oppose war. In this course, we will explore literature written about or by members of these groups in order to understand their literary and cultural legacy. In addition to poems, plays, and short stories, we will read primary documents to help us understand how and why a particular work relates to the period in which it was written even as it remains vital and relevant today.

General Education Core Objectives: Students who successfully complete this course will demonstrate competency in the following core objectives:

Critical thinking skills – Students will engage in creative and/or innovative thinking, and/or inquiry, analysis, evaluation, synthesis of information, organizing concepts and constructing solutions. Communication skills – Students will demonstrate effective written, oral and visual communication. Social responsibility – Students will demonstrate intercultural competency and civic knowledge by engaging effectively in local, regional, national and global communities. Personal responsibility - Students will demonstrate the ability to connect choices, actions and consequence to ethical decision-making.

LIT 2331.002 Course Objectives: Students will learn:

Critical thinking skills; to think critically about the relationship between literature and its historical moment and between writers and their personal histories in order to discuss the nuances of thought in specific works of literature (assessed through analysis papers). Communication skills; to express through writing, discussion, and presentations the analysis of literary works (assessed through individual presentations, class participation, analysis papers, and a final paper or creative project). Social responsibility; to analyze and critically evaluate literary works in the context of culture and society (assessed through the analysis papers and the final project). Personal responsibility; to compare and contrast the literary works with each other in terms of personal ethics and values (assessed through analysis papers).

Required Textbooks and Materials:

*Shaw, Bernard. Arms and the Man. Dover Thrift Editions: Dover Publications, 1990. ISBN-13: 978-0486264769 Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Vintage; Rep Rei edition, 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0679755333 *Boucicault, Dion. The Octoroon. Kessinger Publishing, 2004 ISBN-13: 978-1419175879 *Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. Dover Thrift Editions: 1992. ISBN-13: 978-0486270623 Shange, Ntozake. For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf. Scribner; Reprint edition, 1997. ISBN-13: 978-0684843261 Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. Dramatists Play Service, Inc, 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0822207122 Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Penguin Books, 1976. ISBN-13: 978-0140481341 Kramer, Larry and . The Normal Heart and the Destiny of Me. Grove Press, 2000. ISBN-13: 978-0802136923 * Available electronically online and through UTD library's public domain ebook collection: http://mcdermott.lib.overdrive.com/0658C012-B08C-462A-8B65-56C02A2DC017/10 /1031/en/PublicDomainCollection.htm.

NOTE: I will provide a copy of some poems and other short pieces. Others are available electronically through the above link or on the Web.

Requirements and Assignments: 20%: Participation 20%: One 15-minute presentation 30%: Six analysis papers 30%: Final creative project with an accompanying 2-3-page written component or final research paper of 7-8 pages. Description of Assignments

Participation To ensure that you are prepared for discussion please read all assigned readings before class begins, take notes on anything in the reading that is interesting, strange, confusing, or that just stands out to you, and be prepared to share these ideas with your fellow classmates. Participation will be graded based on attendance and performance on in-class assignments.

You are responsible for all readings listed in the syllabus along with supplemental readings that will be handed out at the beginning of each unit.

Analysis papers Analysis papers will analyze one or more of the works we study for each social movement and demonstrate original thought as well as understanding of the literature. Your grade will be based on focus, the quality and depth of your insights, the use of specific textual evidence as support, and grammar, mechanics and readability. Details for each assignment will be given in class and available via eLearning. The lowest analysis paper grade will be dropped.

Presentation Presentations will introduce the class to a new aspect of the literature we are studying, whether that is in terms of the social movement, major ideas, or genre. Each person will develop a presentation in concert with other students who are presenting on similar topics. The presentation will be fifteen minutes long. The presentation will be graded on the breadth and depth of the material presented, the presenter’s ability to draw conclusions based on the material presented, originality, and creativity, as well as the quality of the presentation and any materials used. Details for the presentations will be provided in class.

Final creative project or research paper If you choose to submit a creative project, your grade will be based on the ability of the created work to communicate the point expressed in your artistic explanation as well as focus, grammar and mechanics of your writing. If you choose to submit a research paper, the grade will be based on on focus, the quality and depth of your insights, the use of specific textual evidence as support, and grammar, mechanics and readability. In both cases, your work will also be graded on the quality of research. I will provide more information on the final project or research paper as we get closer to it.

Tentative Schedule

Tues, Aug 26 Introducton Syllabus Overview Introduction to the Antiwar movement Reading the poem

Thurs, Aug 28 Reading the stage play Reading Introduction to Arms and the Man, Bernard Shaw - Read “There Will Come Soft Rains,” Sarah Teasdale (poem) - Read “In a Surrealist Year,” Lawrence Ferlinghetti (poem)

Tues, Sept 2 Antiwar sentiment in the nineteenth century Reading the short story - “To Make the People Happy,” Victor Hugo (poem) - *Read Arms and the Man, Bernard Shaw (play)

Thurs, Sept 4 Antiwar sentiment in the World Wars Performing a literary analysis Watch Hair - Read “Big Two-Hearted River,” (short story) - Read “Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,” Randall Jarrell (poem)

Tues, Sept 9 The Cold War and Vietnam Watch Hair - Read “The Things they Carried,” Tim O’Brien (short story) - Read “What Were They Like?” Denise Levertov (poem)

Thurs, Sep 11 Introduction to the Civil Rights movement - First analysis paper due.

Tues, Sept 16 Civil rights after slavery - *Read The Octoroon, Dion Boucicault (play) - Read “Sympathy,” “I Wear the Mask,” Dunbar (poems)

Thurs, Sept 18 Civil rights in the Harlem Renaissance - *Read “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” from The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Dubois (essay) - Read “I, Too,” Langston Hughes (poem) Tues, Sept 23 The Black Arts Movement - Read A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry (play) - Read “Black Art,” Baraka (poem) - Read “Seduction,” Nikki Giovanni (poem)

Thurs, Sept 25 Civil Rights after the Sixties Watch “Little Girl” from Direct from Broadway, Whoopi Goldberg (monologue) – on Youtube

Tues, Sept 30 Introduction to the Women’s Rights movement - Second analysis paper due

Thurs, Oct 2 Women’s rights in the nineteenth century - *Read A Doll’s House, (play)

Tues, Oct 7 Second wave feminism - Read “Medea,” and Dario Fo (short monologue) - Read “Myth,” Muriel Rukeyser (poem) - Read “Her Kind,” Anne Sexton (poem) Thurs, Oct 9 Second wave feminism - Read For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide, When the Rainbow Is Enuf, Ntozake Shange (play) Tues, Oct 14 Second wave feminism and later - Read “World Without End,” Holly Hughes (short monologue) - Read “Still I Rise,” Maya Angelou (poem) - Read A Woman Speaks,” Audre Lorde (poem) - Read “Planetarium,” Adrienne Rich (poem) Thurs, Oct 16 Introduction to Colonialism - Third analysis paper due.

Tues, Oct 21 Nineteenth century anticolonial thought - Read Mark Twain on the Philippine-American War (essay)

Thurs, Oct 23 Early twentieth century anti-colonial thought - Read “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell (essay) - Read M. Butterfly, David Hwang (play)

Tues, Oct 28 Later twentieth century anti-colonial thought

Thurs, Oct 30 Later twentieth century anti-colonial thought - Read uMabatha (play) - Read Phantom Palace” Isabel Allende (short story) - Read “The real poetry,” Thomas Bvuma Tues, Nov 4 Introduction to the worker’s rights movement - Fourth analysis paper due.

Thurs, Nov 6 Early Twentieth Century Anti-capitalist/worker’s rights thought - Read Death of a Salesman, (play) - Read “Man with a Hoe,” Edwin Markham (poem) Tues, Nov 11 Early Twentieth Century Anti-capitalist/worker’s rights thought - Read The Visit, Friedrich Durrenmatt (play) - Read “The Matrix,” Amy Lowell (poem) - Read “The Golf Links,” Sarah Cleghorn (poem) - Read “The Leaden-Eyed,” Vachel Lindsay (poem) Thurs, Nov 13 Mid Twentieth Century Anti-capitalist/worker’s rights thought - Read “Waking Up,” Franca Rame and Dario Fo (short monologue) Tues, Nov 18 Mid Twentieth Century Anti-capitalist/worker’s rights thought - Angel City, Sam Shepard (short play) Thurs, Nov 20 Introduction to the LGBT movement - Fifth analysis paper due

Nov 24-28 No class

Tues, Dec 2 Early LGBT literature - Read selections from Pages passed from hand to hand : the hidden tradition of homosexual literature in English from 1748 to 1914, Mitchell, Mark and David Leavitt - Read “When I Heard at the Close of Day,” Walt Whitman (poem) Wed, Dec 3 LGBT - Watch the Harvey Milk section of “Spilt Milk,” Tim Miller (monologue) youtube - Read “Queer,” Frank Bidart (poem) Tues, Dec 9 LGBT - Read The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer (play) - Read “Wearing my Cap Backward,” Cheryl Clarke (poem) - Read “My Lady Ain’t no Lady,” Pat Parker (poem)

Wed, Dec 10 LGBT - Read “Kissing the Witch,” Emma Donoghue (short story) - Read “Woman,” Audre Lorde (poem) - Sixth analysis paper due.

Course Policies

Attendance Participation in class activities is necessary to pass this class. Promptness and regular attendance are essential and will affect your grade. You must arrive, prepared, to class on time and stay for the class period. Attendance is included in your participation grade for the course. However, if you miss more than 2 classes, you will lose points from your final grade for each additional missed class. You will also lose point for repeated tardiness (3 tardies = 1 absence). In cases of proven emergencies, the instructor may reconsider this policy at her discretion. Participation points cannot be made up. You are responsible for your attendance. You must make sure you notify me if you arrive late and after I have taken roll.

Community It is expected that we will respect one another and one another’s ideas. When we are in class, we are present: no laptops, no cell phones, or other forms of electronic communication. Please keep your laptop closed and your cell phone on vibrate. If you need special accommodation and can provide documentation from the Office of AccessAbility, the instructor will work with you.

Please bring any readings from electronic reserves or the internet on paper.

Student AccessAbility Services If you are a student with a disability and would like to see me to discuss special academic accommodations, please contact me after class or during my office hours. For more information about AccessAbility Services, visit the website: http://www.utdallas.edu/studentaccess/ or call 972-883-2098. (see full syllabus for more detailed information)

UT Dallas Syllabus Policies and Procedures http://coursebook.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies/

Decorum, Classroom Citizenship, and Extra-curricular matters: All written work and class discussion for this course must employ gender-neutral, nonsexist language, and rhetorical constructions. Such practice is part of a classroom environment according full respect and opportunity to all participants by all others.

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.