ENG 363 Frost / Spring 2019 1

Ursula’s Ansible Single Author Study, NJCU, Spring 2019

Course number: ENG 363 (1596) Credits: 3 Days and Times: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:10 PM – 3:25 PM Classroom: TBA Website: leguin2019.wordpress.com Instructor: Corey Frost Email: [email protected] Office: Karnoutsos 334 Office hours: by appointment, M 12-2 PM or T/Th 3:30–4:30 PM

The artist deals in what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words. —Ursula Le Guin

Course Description From the academic catalog: In ENGL 363, Single Author Study, students examine in depth one author's body of work and place within literary history. Each section of Single Author Study will focus on the literary career, influences, and impact of one author of major literary historical significance. In Spring 2019, ENGL 363 focuses on the work of Ursula K. Le Guin, an iconic American author of novels, short stories, poetry, and essays, whose writing career began in the early 1960s and ended with her death early in 2018. In class you’ll learn some context for the work: we’ll discuss the history of speculative fiction, feminism, anthropology, anarchism, Taoism, eco-criticism, and revolution, among other ideas. We’ll talk about the thinkers and writers who influenced Le Guin and those that she influenced herself. We’ll also talk, of course, about the books, reading them closely and vigorously. Your main responsibility as a student in the course will be to read the texts and to allow your mind to become temporarily untethered from the world you know. Le Guin’s fiction is vivid and imaginative, but you will find too that when you come back to your own world you will understand it a little better. Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be expected to have demonstrated the ability to: • read literary texts carefully and closely with attention to form, style, and rhetoric • analyze and interpret literary texts in relation to one another with attention to their common authorship and their historical specificity, • think critically in evaluating texts and relating them to cultural and social phenomena, • write clear, cogent, and effective critical texts that reference other scholars, • orally present a critical interpretation of a literary text, and • define and apply a wide range of literary terms and concepts related to issues of authorship in literary history, theory, and criticism (e.g. literary tradition, influence, intertextuality, etc.).

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Grade Breakdown 20% Presence and Participation This includes 10% for attendance and 10% for in-class participation. Basically, come to every scheduled meeting on time, and respond in class when I ask questions, or raise your hand and comment, demonstrating that you’ve done the reading. 20% Reading Journal While you read for this course you will keep a reading journal (an actual, paper journal) in which you write short entries consisting of observations, questions, connections, quotations. A few times during the semester I will ask you to submit your journal so I can read your notes. 20% Novella Presentation In addition to the readings on the schedule below, the last two weeks are reserved for each of you to present another short text of your choice (possibilities range from short stories to novellas to short novels; see below). This is a chance for you to expand your experience of Le Guin’s work and to use our discussions as a model in generating your own critical reading of a text. 20% Scholarly paper The first paper you write for this class will engage with other literary scholars who have written about Ursula Le Guin. It can discuss any number of works or authors, but it should focus on one of the works on this syllabus (including the “novellas” list) and must explicitly respond to at least one scholarly article about Le Guin’s work. 8-10 pages. 20% Creative response Your final assignment for this class is a text inspired by Le Guin: it could be a science fiction story set in the Hainish universe, a short history of Orsinia, an argument for or against anarchist society, or a short ethnography of our English department. Fiction, poetry, essay, whatever you like, 5-25 pages—but draw on what you’ve learned from Le Guin. General Expectations Website: Required readings (besides the books) will be available via our course website, leguin2019.wordpress.com, as will the syllabus and assignment details. I will post occasional announcements, and you may post comments and questions. Check the website before every class to stay informed. We will not use Blackboard in this course. Email: Check your NJCU email address every day during the week, because I may use it to contact you between classes. Please always use the same address—if you use other addresses, I won’t find your messages when I search for them. When you email me, put “ENG 363” in the header followed by the actual subject (eg., “question about the novel”). I’ll try to respond as quickly as I can, and if I don’t respond within 48 hours please assume I didn’t get your email and write to me again. If I need to contact you in emergency situations (like a last-minute cancellation), I’ll use the app Remind. Please sign up for it by texting “@eng363” to 81010. Punctuality: Please arrive in class on time, or a few minutes early. Lateness of more than ten minutes equals half an absence. Every day we will be discussing the work you’ve been reading and writing. If you get there before I do, start without me! Attendance: Sometimes an emergency or illness may get in the way of coming to class, so I will forgive up to three absences, no questions asked. Don’t waste these, because you never know when you will need them. Being absent more than three times will mean points off. Notebook: You should of course take notes during class on our discussions and on requests, suggestions, or deadlines that I may mention. You’ll also need a separate notebook specifically for use a reading journal, which you will submit to me periodically over a weekend. ENG 363 Frost / Spring 2019 3

Paper: In general, we will use paper and pens in class, and digital media outside class. That means you must have paper copies of the assigned readings with you in class. You don’t need to submit anything to me on paper, though (you will submit your work via the course website). Personal Tech: When you’re in class, please silence your phone, your music, your tablet, etc., and leave it in your bag or your pocket. I will not allow computer use in class (though I might use one!) because studies have shown that students learn better without digital distractions. Deadlines: Unless otherwise indicated, your assignment submissions must be uploaded, via the link on the website, by midnight on the due date. Please ensure that your assignment is ready on time, but if it is not, upload what you have anyway, or else write me an email explaining the problem. I do not grant extensions, but I do always allow for revisions. Policies and Suggestions Academic Integrity: I expect that you will do the work required of you for this course in good faith. It is dishonest to present someone else’s work (ideas, research, writing) as your own. That is called plagiarism, and it has serious consequences. NJCU’s policy is strict: plagiarism on an assignment in this or any course will result in dismissal from the course and an automatic F, and the incident will be reported to the Dean of Students. All I ask is that you are honest with me and with yourself about the work you are doing. If you have doubts, please talk to me. Writing Center: Every student should consider visiting the Writing Center at the Hub for help with writing difficulties—anything from basic structural issues like grammar and punctuation to finding a good work rhythm. You can sign up for an appointment by calling (201-200-3513) or emailing ([email protected]) or dropping by—the Hub is on the first floor of the Library. Accommodations: If you have—or think you may have—mobility, vision, hearing, learning, or other disabilities that require accommodations, please contact the Office of Specialized Services in Karnoutsos 102 (www.njcu.edu/oss/), and talk to me about what you need. Counseling: I’m here to help you with the demands of the course, but you may need to get advice on, or just talk about, non-academic problems, too. I encourage you to visit the Counseling Center in the Gilligan Student Union Building (www.njcu.edu/campus-life/counseling-center). Illness: You can miss up to three classes whenever necessary, so don’t worry if you catch the flu. I do not require any documentation. If a more serious medical issue causes you to miss more than that, in some circumstances it may be possible to make up the work. Otherwise, a medical withdrawal will be the best option. Please tell me if you think you will be out for more than a week. Respect: In this class, no one will be anonymous. We’ll share ideas and opinions that are sure to be diverse, you’ll get to know your classmates, and they’ll get to know you. It is of the utmost importance that we demonstrate respect for each other. That means listening and responding with an open mind, not letting prejudices cloud our honest evaluation of what our colleagues have to say. It means using each other’s names and identifiers of choice and not using labels or terms that dehumanize or disparage. At the risk of stating the obvious: please remember that we are all more than our appearance or origins or race or gender or any other single trait. Commitment: What guarantees your success in your studies is personal commitment. Read the syllabus and think about how to accomplish the assignments ahead of time. Do the reading and take notes. If you are diligent, organized, and engaged, you can expect to benefit from and do well in this course. If you have difficulties or concerns, let me know. I’ll be happy to see you in my office for any reason, and my email inbox is open 24 hours a day. If you're worried that you’re falling behind, don’t wait until the end of semester. Talk to me. We’ll get you back on track. Important Dates: 01/28 Last day to drop a course with full refund 02/19 Last day to withdraw from a course with “W” grade and 50% refund 03/12 Midterm grades 04/01 Last day to withdraw from a course with “W” grade ENG 363 Frost / Spring 2019 4

Schedule (Subject to change — check the website for updates and details.) 1 01/22: Introductions, “Omelas” 01/24: “Rule of Names,” “She Unnames Them,” Tao Te Ching 2 01/29: Tombs of Atuan (first half) 01/31: Tombs of Atuan 3 02/05: Tombs of Atuan (second half) 02/07: Tombs of Atuan Submit journals. 4 02/12: Ishi in Two Worlds (excerpts) 02/14: “Matter of Seggri” 5 02/19: “Author of the Acacia Seeds” 02/21: “New Atlantis” 6 02/26: Always Coming Home (excerpts) 02/28: “Day Before the Revolution” “Anarchism” 7 03/05: “Lady of Moge,” “Imaginary Countries,” “Week in the Country” 03/07: “Two Delays on the Northern Line,” Unlocking the Air” Recess 03/12: No class Submit topic and sources for paper. 03/14: No class 8 03/19: The Left Hand of Darkness (first half) 03/21: The Left Hand of Darkness Submit journals. 9 03/26: The Left Hand of Darkness (second half) 03/28: The Left Hand of Darkness 10 04/02: The Left Hand of Darkness 04/04: The Aeneid (excerpts) 11 04/09: Lavinia Scholarly paper due. 04/11: Lavinia 12 04/16: Lavinia 04/18: Lavinia 13 04/23: Novellas 04/25: Novellas Submit journals 14 04/30: Novellas 05/02: Last day of class Creative response due.

05/09: Conferences (optional) 05/16: Final deadline for rewrites.

Assignments (See the website for full descriptions and details.) Reading Journal (1-2 pages per week) — submitted 02/07, 03/21, and 04/25. Scholarly Paper (8-10 pages) — topic due 03/12, complete draft due 04/09 Creative Response (5-25 pages) — due 05/02 Presentation (~5 minutes lecture, ~5 minutes discussion) — 04/23, 04/25, 04/30

Required Texts (These five books will be at the bookstore, though you can probably get them cheaper elsewhere. The Collected Novellas is not strictly required, but you will need to read at least two of the stories collected in it.)

Le Guin, Ursula K. The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas. NY: Saga Press, 2016. (ISBN 9781481451406) ———. Lavinia. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. (ISBN 9780156033688) ———. The Left Hand of Darkness. NY: Ace Books, 1969. (ISBN 9780441478125) ———. The Tombs of Atuan. NY: Atheneum Books, 1971. (ISBN 9781442459915) Lao Tsu. Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way. Trans. Ursula K Le Guin. Boston: Shambala Publications, 1997. (ISBN 9781570623950)

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(The additional readings below will be provided as links or PDFs on the website.)

Goldman, Emma. “Anarchism: What It Really Stands For.” 1917 Kroeber, Theodora. Ishi in Two Worlds (excerpts). Berkeley: UC Press, 1961. Le Guin, Ursula K. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” (8 pp) 1973 “The Rule of Names.” (12 pp) 1964 “She Unnames Them.” (3 pp) 1985 “The Matter of Seggri.” (48 pp) 1994 “The Author of the Acacia Seeds...” (10 pp) 1974 “The New Atlantis.” (33 pp) 1975 “The Day Before the Revolution.” (10 pp) 1974 “The Lady of Moge.” (12 pp) 1976 “Imaginary Countries.” (9 pp) 1973 “A Week in the Country.” (21 pp) 1976 “Two Delays on the Northern Line.” (14 pp) 1979 “Unlocking the Air.” (12 pp) 1990 Always Coming Home. (excerpts) 1985 Virgil. The Aeneid (excerpts). 29-19 BC

Novella List

For the class presentation you will choose one story from this list—preferably, everyone will present on a different story. The first twelve are in the Collected Novellas (as is “The Matter of Seggri,” which we’ll be reading in the fourth week). The next six can be found in short-story collections, and the last two were published as stand-alone books.

“Vaster than Empires and More Slow” (33 pp) 1971 “Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight” (34 pp) 1987 “Hernes” (78 pp) 1991 “A Fisherman of the Inland Sea” (44 pp) 1994 “Forgiveness Day” (62 pp) 1995 “A Man of the People” (56 pp) 1995 “A Woman’s Liberation” (69 pp) 1995 “Old Music and the Slave Women” (59 pp) 1999 “The Finder” (101 pp) 2001 “On the High Marsh” (32 pp) 2001 “Dragonfly” (66 pp) 1998 “Paradises Lost” (112 pp) 2002

“Winter’s King” (32 pp) 1969 “The Birthday of the World” (36 pp) 2000 “Solitude” (34 pp) 1994 “Half Past Four” (38 pp) 1987 “The Shobies’ Story” (30 pp) 1990 “Nine Lives” (32 pp) 1969

The Word for World is Forest (180 pp) 1972 The Lathe of Heaven (184 pp) 1971