E 349S l

Instructor: Houser, H Semester: Fall 2014 Unique #: 35800 Cross-lists: LAH 350

Prerequisites: Six semester hours of upper-division coursework in English.

Description: This course covers the truncated career of David Foster Wallace (1962-2008), one of the most examined and lauded authors of his generation. We will read all of (fasten your seat belts!) along with essays, short stories, and selections from his other two novels, Broom of the System and . The following questions will motivate the course: ⋅ What is Wallace's project for a new fiction? What is Wallace's place in US literary history? ⋅ What are his polemics about 20th-century US culture and media? Can certain kinds of fiction and reading practices intervene in these domains? ⋅ How can fiction penetrate and change our lives?

By the end of the semester, you'll be able to: ⋅ Read analytically across an author's body of work, and craft probing questions that participate in debates about his oeuvre. ⋅ Create compelling written responses to these questions by close reading, conducting careful research (if you choose), and integrating textual evidence. ⋅ Articulate opinions about the state and direction of contemporary fiction based on Wallace's contributions to it. ⋅ Assess and revise your own and classmates' writing through peer review.

Texts: Course Packet All by David Foster Wallace: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men Girl with Curious Hair Infinite Jest The Pale King A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Requirements & Grading:

ACTIVITY DUE POINTS Preparation + Participation Always 150 This is a seminar. It thrives when everyone shows up and exchanges ideas. Here's how you participate fully:

Actively read texts before class. That means: note the language, ⋅ voice, and structure of the text; respond to passages that strike

or trouble you; ask questions.

⋅ Listen to others and contribute ideas and questions. Do in-class writing and lead group work when relevant.

⋅ Once during the semester, introduce the day's reading and facilitate discussion.

Class Blog Throughout 10 posts (250-300 words) required. More invited. semester. See 100 10 comments (at least 100 words) on another's post each time posts are due. schedule Read all posts before coming to class on the day they're due.

2 Short Essays (draft + revision) Paper #1 (1000-1200 words) Draft: Final: 150

Paper #2 (1000-1200 words) Draft: Final: 150 Final Essay (draft + revision) 1. Prospectus (~1 page) 50 2. Essay (3000-3500 words) 300 3. Presentation 100

Attendance and participation are mandatory. Repeated absences and late arrivals will affect your final grade. After 9 absences, you cannot receive credit for the course. If you have an illness or other emergency, contact me immediately.

Schedule: P = Course packet, on Canvas and blog SFT = A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again GCH = Girl with Curious Hair IJ = Infinite Jest BIHM = Brief Interviews with Hideous Men READINGS ASSIGNMENT DUE

TH ⋅ Beginnings: What We Like, What We Are Meet w/ professor this week 8/28 Like & next (optional) Week 1 Information sheet T Review syllabus, 9/2 ⋅ "A Supposedly Fun Thing…" (SFT) assignments

Woods, from Beginning Postmodernism

TH ⋅ (P) Blog 1 9/4

Week 2 ⋅ "Joseph Frank on Dostoevsky" (P)

T "E Unibus Pluram" (SFT) ⋅ Student-led Facilitations 9/9 ⋅ "Interview with DFW," Larry McCaffery (P) begin Week 3 TH ⋅ "Octet" (BIHM) Blog 2 9/11 ⋅ "Lyndon" (GWCH)

T ⋅ *Harry Ransom Center Visit Draft Paper #1 9/16 Meet in Lobby of HRC

TH Peer Letters 9/18 ⋅ Peer Review Workshop Week 4

T "Brief Interview #20" (BIHM) ⋅ Final Paper #1 9/23 ⋅ "Good Old Neon" (P)

TH "How to Read Infinite Jest" (infinitesummer.org/archives/215) ⋅ Blog 3 9/25 ⋅ Infinite Jest (1-68 + notes) Week 5 T

9/30 ⋅ IJ (68-156)

TH Blog 4 ek 6 10/2 ⋅ IJ (157-227, stop after "CV") We

T

10/7 ⋅ IJ (227-317)

TH Draft Paper #2 (independent 10/9 ⋅ IJ (317-379, stop at "…deep") peer review) Week 7

T IJ (380-469) ⋅ Blog 5 10/14 ⋅ optional: "The Intentional Fallacy," Wimsatt & Beardsley (Canvas)

TH IJ (470-549) ⋅ Final Paper #2 10/16

Week 8 ⋅ "Forever Overhead" (BIHM) T *Harry Ransom Center Visit

10/21 Meet in Lobby of HRC

TH Blog 6 10/23 ⋅ IJ (550-638) Week 9 T Final Essay Prospectus 10/28 ⋅ IJ (638-698)

TH Blog 7 10/30 ⋅ IJ (698-769) Week 10 T Blog 8 11/4 ⋅ IJ (769-827)

TH

11/6 ⋅ IJ (827-876) Week 11 T Blog 9 11/11 ⋅ IJ (876-934)

TH

11/13 ⋅ IJ (934-981)

Week 12

⋅ Lipsky, "Lost Years & Last Days of DFW" (P) T Blog 10 11/18 ⋅ D.T. Max, "The Unfinished" (P)

Kenyon College Commencement Address (handout) ⋅ TH Draft Final Essay 11/20 ⋅ The Pale King (5-6, 38-45, 68-87, 156-top 191, 211-mid 248, 539-540)

Week 13

T Peer Letters 11/25 ⋅ Peer Review Workshop

TH Thanksgiving Holiday (No class. Eat well.) 11/27 Week 14 T Presentations

12/2 ⋅

TH Presentations 12/4 ⋅ Week 15

W Final Essay due (5pm, PAR 228) 12/10 Finals

Policies:

SERVICES Documented Disability Support (utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/, SSB 4.206) Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Services for Students with Disabilities online or at 471-6259 or 232-2937 (video phone).

Undergraduate Writing Center (uwc.utexas.edu, FAC 211) offers free, individualized, expert help with writing at any stage of the process. Appointments and walk-ins available.

Harry Ransom Center (hrc.utexas.edu) holds the archive of Wallace's manuscripts, correspondence, and library. Also collects Wallace's contemporaries and predecessors. (Two class visits scheduled.)

TECH DEVICES No phones or laptops allowed. Tablets permitted for taking notes and consulting readings only. I'll ban their use for everyone if I see anyone tweeting, emailing, facebooking, instagramming, shopping, browsing, etc.

HONOR CODE I invite discussion and exchange outside of class, but you must abide by the Honor Code, which reads:

"The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the University is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community."

Plagiarizing and claiming credit for others' work have serious consequences. Plagiarizing means using any words or ideas that are not your own without citing them. I encourage you to go through the library tutorial on plagiarism: www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/learningmodules/plagiarism/index.html.

If you aren't sure what constitutes dishonorable conduct, please ask me or consult the Academic Integrity site: deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php

ABSENCES & LATE WORK Attendance and participation are mandatory. Repeated absences and late arrivals will affect your final grade. After 9 absences, you cannot receive credit for the course. If you have an illness or other emergency, contact me immediately.

If you're struggling with an assignment, request an extension at least two days before the deadline. For every day that an assignment is late, I reduce your grade by 1/3 (a B+ would become a B).

Special note on religious holy days: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least 14 days prior to the date of an observed holy day. If you miss a class or an assignment, you'll be able to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

EMAIL PROTOCOL Email is our primary means of communication outside of class so check it daily for announcements, and I'll respond to your messages in a timely manner in turn. Address emails in a respectful manner. Announcements will also be posted in relevant sections of Blackboard and our blog.

Web Site: Canvas, Blog (https://sites.la.utexas.edu/dfw14fall/)

Instructors: Heather Houser