Writing and Sexual Politics: what’s love got to do with it? | ENGL 1105

Goldwin Smith Hall 283 | MWF 1:25pm to 2:15pm Katie Thorsteinson | [email protected] Office hours by appointment

“My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love” (1990) might be the most famous graffiti painting that appears in Berlin’s — a nearly mile-long stretch of the remaining Berlin Wall. The kiss may seem like satire, but artist Dmitri Vrubel simply replicated a 1979 photograph of Soviet leader and East German President which was taken in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of the German Democratic Republic–. Fraternal kisses among socialist leaders were not unusual, even if these dictators seem slightly more enthusiastic than most. While graffiti totally covered the West side wall throughout its three-decade existence, the East side was forbidden from access and thus left entirely blank. After the Berlin Wall’s fall in 1989 signaled an end to the Cold War, Vrubel painted this graffiti on the East side to celebrate German reunification and taunt the old communist order. His was only one among hundreds of paintings to appear on the East Side Gallery during that period, but something about the kiss has infatuated people around the world and it continues to signify politically today— sometimes to ironize the nepotism of government officials, or to emasculate political leaders, and now even to fight for LGBTQ rights. The image is, indeed, both true to life and open to interpretation. On the one hand, it is a reminder that power often functions through love. The Cold War was decided by economic and diplomatic factors, but the opposition between capitalism and communism can really be understood as different models of love (collectivist/individualist, duty- bound/freedom-bound, and so forth). On the other hand, the image is an example of the power of love to change the political present. After all, this is how the labor of love we call “art” works its magic upon us. Throughout this course, we will be pursuing this question: what’s love got to do with it? Is it constraint or salvation? What are its forms and how do they function differently? How might desire complicate our theories of power? And why do we turn to art, literature, music, and cinema to answer these questions about love? We will read feminist arguments about how romance enables gender oppression, Black civil rights debates about religious love and forgiveness, as well as queer critiques of the nuclear family along with their celebrations of friendship and sexual desire.

Learning objectives and outcomes:

In essays and other required writing, you should develop and demonstrate competency in the following areas:

• an ability to debate and discuss ideas in an open and creative manner with colleagues. • an ability to formulate theses and supporting arguments effectively, organize ideas clearly, use evidence appropriately, understand correct register and genre to meet reader expectations, as well as apply proper diction and mechanics (proofreading). • an understanding of the strengths/limitations of different reading approaches and types of argument. • an ability to interpret, summarize, extend, critique, and reclaim different cultural/literary theories. • an appropriate use of primary and secondary sources; proficiency and creativity with research methods. • a consistent application of MLA formatting and style. • an ability to use preparatory writing strategies such as drafting, revision, and peer review. • an ability to critically analyze the literary or formal qualities of different texts and media: e.g., themes, motifs, narrative structure, style, mediation, and other audio/visual techniques; Such analysis will form the basis for essay topics.

Texts:

You will be asked to read an average of 40 pages every Monday and every Friday (a total of 80 pages per week). For those weeks that you are asked to watch/listen to other media, your readings may be reduced.

*Required: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Book of Salt by Monique Truong

*Blackboard: Many readings will be posted on our course Blackboard site. You are responsible for reading these texts and bringing annotated copies to class.

*Note about films: In this course you will watch many films in addition to your readings. These will all be available through the library system and online through Blackboard. I suggest watching these at home where you can pause or rewind your viewing and enlarge images. But if you wish to coordinate a group viewing amongst yourselves outside of class time, I can help you make these arrangements. If you choose this latter option and request my help, please give me considerable notice.

Grading guidelines:

*80% Portfolio

What is the portfolio?

Your portfolio is the collection of all written material you produce this semester. You may notice there are a greater number of assignments in this course than other FWS sections. Please note this is because several of the assignments are very short (1 or 2 pages). I have split them up this way to give you more chances to improve with feedback and preparation, but the total number of pages you write will be

2 of 8 equivalent to that in other FWS sections. The weight of each assignment in your portfolio is broken down roughly as follows:

#1 (ungraded) Diagnostic essay [2-3 pages] #2 (5%) Summary [3 pages] #3 (10%) Reparative reading [4-5 pages] #4 (5%) Creative writing [3-4 pages] #5 (5%) Proposal [1 page] #6 (5%) Annotated bibliography and counter argument [2 pages] #7 (10%) Close reading [5 pages] #8 (15%) Comparative reading [7 pages] #9 (5%) Peer review [1-2 pages] #10 (10%) Final project [with 2-3 pages] #11 (10%) Weekly blog reflections [5-10 pages]

Assignments 3, 7, and 8 can be revised as many times as you like to improve your grade, all others receive a fixed grade unless I say otherwise in my feedback. This means that 35% of your final grade can be improved through revision. Many of the assignments you will be doing this semester build off one another as a sequence and thus revision will be one of the most important components in my grading. Before submitting revisions, you must arrange to meet with me for an in-person review.

Why are we being graded this way?

Because assignments are sequenced, you have more time to fully develop your thoughts and write more rigorous and polished pieces of scholarship. By delaying the finality of your grades for the two weightiest assignments, there is less pressure for you to perfect each before submitting them to me. My focus in reading your papers will thus be to engage with your ideas and to provide constructive feedback rather than to evaluate your work as though it were a finished product. This method of evaluation also enables me to “grade between the lines” since I will be witness to all the behind-the-scenes work of discussion, planning, revision, and editing. Ultimately, I will be grading your performance as a student more holistically. I will be evaluating how you navigate the writing process, not merely what you submit as the finished product.

*10% Class participation

This portion of your final grade will be determined by a combination of your class attendance and punctuality, as well as your engagement in class exercises and individual conferences. I also expect you to post reading responses on our class blog every other week. These preparatory discussions are crucial for ensuring that we can put our different readings together meaningfully in class and will also familiarize you with a different writing medium.

All too often, theory and practice remain distinct forms of political engagement. It can be difficult to create spaces for social activism in the University, but I will acknowledge evidence of praxis in the grading of your class participation. If this applies to you, please make time to discuss with me what you are doing and what your work involves. I will ask you to write a very short and informal reflection on your work at the end of the semester and will credit you for a portion of your participation grade.

*10% Presentations

You will each be responsible for planning and instructing two classes this semester in small groups. Your tasks will consist of the following: assign brief readings, design teaching plans, lead exercises or discussions, and write de-briefs. Each of these student-led classes will fall on a different Wednesday throughout the term. Through consultation with me, your groups will organize the content and approach to these classes. The purpose of these "presentations" is 1) to extend more responsibility and agency to you over your own learning, 2) to encourage peer instruction and active engagement with course content, and 3) to introduce you to other genres of writing and activities in the discipline.

Grading contract:

Assignments 2, 5, 6, and 9 are graded according to the rubrics available on our Blackboard page. My guarantee: if you complete all assignments on time, if your work adequately responds to the instructions provided, and if you meet all other requirements included in this syllabus, then you will achieve a B or better in this course.

Other guidelines:

* Content: This course includes material that is graphic and that touches directly on topics such as colonial oppression, criminal and state violence, sexuality and gender, race and racism, bodily and intellectual ability, and religion. If you are ill at ease with any of these topics, I very much hope that you will nonetheless remain in this course to discuss and learn in a welcoming intellectual environment. If you have concerns about the course or your ability to fulfill classroom requirements, please find time to speak with me as soon as possible. Please consider providing trigger warnings for any such images if you plan to use them in presentations or discussions. There is a zero-tolerance policy for any abuse or discrimination in this class.

* Attendance and participation: You are allowed two absences from this class. After the second absence, your final grade will drop one third of a letter and will continue to do so after every subsequent class missed (e.g. A to A-, A- to B+, and so forth). If you have some emergency, let me know. To be considered present for a class, you must be on time and ready to participate with all the assigned readings, materials, and written work for the day. If you are more than five minutes late then you will be marked down as tardy— three tardies count as one absence. If you are more than ten minutes late, you will be marked as absent. Since this course is a seminar, its success depends on the regular and sustained contribution of all its members. This does not only mean showing up and doing the readings— it means coming to class ready to share ideas and being eager to hear what everyone else has to say. In general, you should try to contribute to every class discussion, but I understand there are many ways to “contribute.” For those who are anxious about public-speaking or non-native English speakers, please reflect on other ways you might contribute to our intellectual community. The class participation portion of your grade will reflect your contributions to class and blog discussions, small group work, and private conferences. Being respectful of the ideas and feelings of your fellow classmates is of the utmost importance— this means listening, engaging, and remaining tolerant. Students engaging in anti-social or distracting behavior will be asked to leave and will be marked as absent from the class. If you have any concerns about these expectations, please email me or come to see me during office hours.

4 of 8 * Technology: Do not use cell phones in class. Laptops and other electronic devices should only be used during class when appropriate.

*Conferences: You will be expected to meet with me for at least two conference sessions throughout the term to discuss your progress, raise any concerns, and answer questions. You may schedule a meeting with me at a time of mutual convenience. There is no minimum length for these conferences, but it is necessary that each session be productive. Fulfilling this conference session requirement is an important part of your participation grade and a requirement of the Knight Institute.

*Submitting papers: All papers must be turned in before class on the day they are due unless you have made alternative arrangements with me at least forty-eight hours in advance of deadline. I grant extensions after consultation, but do not accept late papers otherwise. All papers should be submitted through Blackboard unless otherwise assigned. All papers should be word-processed in double-spaced 12-point, Times New Roman font, using one-inch margins. Your name, the assignment (e.g., Essay #1), the class number, and the date should appear in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. The title of your paper should be centered at the top of the first page and pages should be numbered.

*The public domain: All of the writing produced in this class will be considered eligible for public use. Your work may be read and shared with your class, future classes, the Knight Institute, and/or my colleagues for pedagogical purposes.

*University policies: I respect and uphold University policies and regulations pertaining to the observation of religious holidays; assistance available to the physically handicapped, visually- and/or hearing-impaired student; plagiarism; sexual harassment; and racial or ethnic discrimination. All students are advised to become familiar with the respective University regulations and are encouraged to bring any questions or concerns to my attention.

*Note to students with disabilities: Please let me know if you have a disability-related need for reasonable academic adjustments in this course. Students are expected to give at least two weeks’ notice of the need for accommodations. For immediate accommodations or physical access, please arrange to meet with me within the first two class meetings.

*Academic integrity: All work you submit must have been written only for this course and must originate with you. All contributory sources must be fully and specifically acknowledged. In this course, the typical penalty for a violation of the integrity code ranges from an “F” on the assignment in question to an “F” for the entire term. Collaborative work of the following kinds may be authorized in this course: peer review and, when specifically approved by me, collaborative projects. Please see me if you have further questions on this issue.

Course Calendar:

“Love and Happiness”

Date Reading Due Writing Due In Class Fri. Aug. 24th Martin Luther King, Jr., “The Meaning of Submit 1) Welcome to the class! ‘Love’” [2] questionnaire 2) Literary/film/theory terms Extract from The Autobiography of Malcolm X [1] Frederick Douglass, Chapter One from Narrative of the Life [5] Sa-Roc, "Heaven on Earth" Pages Matam, "Black Joy, Uninterrupted" Mon. Aug. 27th José Esteban Muñoz, “Introduction: Feeling Submit diagnostic 1) Close Readings: Utopia” [18] 2) Improvise a close reading Killer of Sheep (1978) Wed. Aug. 29th Love Actually (2003) 1) What is summary? 2) What is critique? Fri. Aug. 31st Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, “Paranoid Reading and 1) What is summary? Reparative Reading; or, You're so Paranoid You 2) What is critique? Probably Think this Essay is About You" [28] Mon. Sept. 3rd Labor Day — NO CLASSES

“It’s tough love”

Date Reading Due Writing Due In Class Wed. Sept. 5th Robert Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays” Submit creative 1) Thesis statements Elizabeth Bishop, “One Art” writing Irving Layton, “Berry Picking” Sapho, “Like the very gods…” Fri. Sept. 7th Lauren Berlant, “Introduction: Affect in the 1) Peer review thesis Present” [22] statements Sophie’s Choice (1982) OR Bastard out of 2) Writing proposals Carolina (1996) Mon. Sept. 10th Shulamith Firestone, “Love” [18] 1) Overcoming writer's Raymond Carver, “What We Talk About When block We Talk About Love” [17] Wed. Sept. 12th Submit summary Presentation

“Well, when two people love each other very much…”

Date Reading Due Writing Due In Class Fri. Sept. 14th Shulamith Firestone, “The Culture of Romance” Bring proposal 1) Writing proposals [8] 2) Peer review proposals The Notebook (2004) OR Titanic (1997) Mon. Sept. 17th Cathy Cohen, “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare 1) Primary and secondary Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer sources Politics?” [26] 2) Scholarly sources Moonlight (2016)

6 of 8 Wed. Sept. 19th Submit proposal Presentation Fri. Sept. 21st Adrienne Rich, “Twenty-One Love Poems” 1) Evidence and reasoning Sharon Olds, “Sex Without Love” 2) Research methods Li-Young Lee, "This Room and Everything in It" Immanuel Kant, "Duties towards the Body in Respect of Sexual Impulse" [4]

“We’re just good friends”

Date Reading Due Writing Due In Class Mon. Sept. 24th Donna Haraway, “Species of Friendship” Bring annotated 1) Peer review annotated Babe (1995) bibliography and bibliographies and counter counter argument arguments 2) Integrating research Wed. Sept. 26th Submit annotated Presentation bibliography and counter argument Fri. Sept. 28th When Harry Met Sally (1989) 1) Outlines/getting started 2) Introductions and conclusions Mon. Oct. 1st Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) OR Thelma and 1) Overcoming writer's Louise (1991) OR Withnail and I (1987) block Frank O’Hara, “Having a Coke with You” Wed. Oct. 3rd Presentation

“Won't somebody please think of the children?!”

Date Reading Due Writing Due In Class Fri. Oct. 5th Lee Edelman, “The Future is Kid Stuff”; OR 1) Structure and organization Shulamith Firestone, “Down with Childhood” 2) Topic sentences Mon. Oct. 8th Fall Break — NO CLASSES Wed. Oct. 10th Presentation Fri. Oct. 12th Christina Sharpe, “Black Studies: In the Wake” Submit close 1) Ambiguity and vagueness Pariah (2011) reading 2) Tone and register Mon. Oct. 15th Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only 1) Revision and editing Fruit 2) Logical connectors 3) Transitions Wed. Oct. 17th Presentation Fri. Oct. 19th Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Comparative readings Fruit Mon. Oct. 22nd Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Comparative readings Fruit Wed. Oct 24th Bring comparative The love of writing reading

“All is family in love and war”

Date Reading Due Writing Due In Class Fri. Oct. 26th Paris Is Burning (1991) Peer review comparative Roderick Ferguson, Introduction from readings

Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique [30] Mon. Oct 29th Toni Morrison, Beloved Submit comparative Writing peer reviews reading

Wed. Oct. 31st Presentation Fri. Nov. 2nd Toni Morrison, Beloved Mon. Nov. 5th Toni Morrison, Beloved Wed. Nov. 7th Submit peer review Revision and editing

Fri. Nov. 9th Toni Morrison, Beloved Return to reparative readings Mon. Nov. 12th A League of Their Own (1992) OR Submit revisions Return to reparative readings Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) OR The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Wed. Nov. 14th Presentation

“For the love of self and country”

Date Reading Due Writing Due In Class Fri. Nov. 16th Gayatri Gopinath, "Impossible Desires: An Submit reparative Introduction" [30] OR Jasbir Puar, "Introduction: reading homonationalism and biopolitics" [36] Mon. Nov. 19th Monique Truong, The Book of Salt Wed. Nov. 21st Thanksgiving Break — NO CLASSES Fri. Nov. 23rd Thanksgiving Break — NO CLASSES Mon. Nov. 26th Monique Truong, The Book of Salt Wed. Nov. 28th Bring final drafts Peer review final drafts Fri. Nov. 30th Monique Truong, The Book of Salt Bring final drafts Peer review final drafts Mon. Dec. 3rd Li-Young Lee, "The Cleaving" Bring final drafts Peer review final drafts TBD (Dec 8th → Submit final project 15th)

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