Fall 2013 Writing About Literature—“Work and the City” Sections 13,14,15; Bobet Hall 217,219;Comm/Music 303;MWF 8:30-9:20,10:30-11:20,12:30-1:20
Loyola University New Orleans--English T125, J224; Fall 2013 Writing about Literature—“Work and the City” Sections 13,14,15; Bobet Hall 217,219;Comm/Music 303;MWF 8:30-9:20,10:30-11:20,12:30-1:20
C.W.Cannon, PhD Bobet Hall 330, 865-2771 [email protected] Office Hours: MWF 11:30-12:30, and by appt.
Required Texts: David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces Meridel LeSeuer, The Girl
Other required reading will be posted or linked on Blackboard
Course Description The main purpose of the Writing about Literature requirement is to widen and sharpen students’ analytical skills through close attention to works of imaginative literature. To facilitate close, and better informed, engagement, a course like this should target its readings under some kind of umbrella, topical, thematic, or geographic, though the types of texts (genres) should differ enough to broaden students’ analytical tools. In order better to understand authors’ arguments about our thematic focus, we will have to understand the idiom of their medium, which will require attention to literary conventions (plot, character, symbolism, etc).
The thematic focus of our course will be “Work and the City.” We will explore how Americans of different times and places have considered work, in the sense of remunerative employment. In modern literature, city settings have often been the scene of critiques of the modes of labor (types of jobs) and how people have felt about them in industrial capitalist societies. (As an analog, rural “pastoral” settings often hearken back to the modes of labor of pre-industrial times). When it comes to analyzing work, leisure, and values associated with them, certain cities in the United States stand out. We will view American attitudes about work and leisure through the prism of three highly mythologized capitals of American Literature: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. Common nicknames suggest the roles these places play in reference to labor and leisure in the American imaginative landscape: “The City that Works” (Chicago), “The Dream Factory” (L.A, as Hollywood), and “The Big Easy” (our own dear New Orleans). Dating back at least to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906), a muckraking exposé of the brutality of American labor conditions, stories set in Chicago have trained an unflinching eye on how American workers can be exploited. Los Angeles, on the other hand, offers a glimpse at the strange conflation of work and leisure, a melding of apparent opposites, either in “show business,” or in the glamorized squalor of the private detective novel. Finally, rightly or wrongly, New Orleans is perceived as a place that questions the value of work, and finds it fulfillments in leisure instead—this suspicion that leisure, not work, is really the natural realm of human fulfillment, is evident in much of New Orleans literature.
Course Goals and Objectives To develop and reinforce critical reading and thinking skills by analyzing works of literature, by comparing literary texts, and by making critical arguments about literature. This goal relates to A1, A2, A3, A8 and C1 of the Common Curriculum Program Review Rubric. To develop and reinforce critical/analytical writing skills by writing mechanically correct papers, by developing analytical skills in relation to literary conventions, and by developing global revision skills. This goal relates to A1, A2, A3, A8 and C1 of the Program Review Rubric. To develop and reinforce the ability to evaluate and incorporate relevant secondary sources into analysis of target literature. This goal relates to A6 and A8, and C1 of the Common Curriculum Program Review Rubric.
The above goals and objectives relate to the goals of the common curriculum in that they focus on critical reading, thinking, and writing. Through research and evaluation of sources, information literacy skills will also be further developed.
Note about Purpose of Common Curriculum This course also seeks to meet criteria outlined in the Common Curriculum mission here at Loyola University. The Common Curriculum will help students: --Examine the world from different but interconnecting disciplines. --Relate their major to a larger educational context. --Think critically about their world and to act justly in it. --Understand and participate in value-oriented education. --Develop their critical reading, thinking, and writing skills
Assignments and Grading There will be a total of five graded papers, as well as more informal ungraded assignments. There will also be midterm and final exams.
The ungraded work will consist of short literary analyses (in the form of a questionnaire) required for every literary work we read. Students will be divided into groups and each group will analyze a particular element of literature at work in the piece (point of view, setting, symbolism, etc). Students will be required to answer a few germane questions on the days we do this, and students who do not complete these questions prior to the start of class will be marked as absent for the day. These short responses may be handwritten.
The first four graded papers (each about 1000 words) should be close readings of individual works. The first paper will require no other sources. The following papers will all require incorporation of more than one source (drawn from assigned readings). One of the first three papers may be revised for an improved grade. The final paper (about 2000 words), will be a revision, with added material, of the fourth paper, and will require more sophisticated synthesis of multiple sources (at least five sources, one of which must be critical or theoretical, and at least one of which must be located by the student through library/database research). Students will give Prezi presentations on the topics of their final papers in the weeks before it falls due. Students who fail to present a Prezi will have their final paper grade lowered one full letter.
Grade values: Paper 1--15% Paper 2--15% Paper 3--15% Paper 4--15% Final Paper --20% Midterm Exam—10% Final Exam—10%
Grades will be posted in the Blackboard Grade Center as work is completed— generally one week after an assignment is handed in.
Participation While I do not include class participation as an assessed category in the gradebook, I do expect spirited participation in class discussions. Those who participate will get the benefit of the doubt in the event of borderline grade scores at the end of the semester. Remember that, as noted above, students not in possession of required informal response papers will be counted as absent for the day.
Attendance, of course, is required. More than five absences will be considered grounds for automatic failure of the course.
Academic Dishonesty Academic dishonesty includes cheating on tests, completing other students' assignments for them, and plagiarism—unacknowledged copying of previously published or submitted work. All papers submitted to this class will be checked against the SafeAssign database on Blackboard. A first incidence of plagiarism will receive an 'F' (not eligible for amendment). A second case will result in failure of the course and reporting of the offending student(s) to the University for disciplinary action.
Students with Disabilities A student with a disability that qualifies for accommodations should contact Sarah Mead Smith, Director of Disability Services at 865-2990 (Academic Resource Center, Room 405, Monroe Hall). A student wishing to receive test accommodations (e.g., extended test time) should provide the instructor with an official Accommodation Form from Disability Services in advance of the scheduled test date.
Emergency Procedures: In the event that there is an interruption to our course due to the cancellation of classes by the university as a result of an emergency, we will continue our course on Blackboard within 48 hours after cancellation. All students are required to sign on to Blackboard and to keep up with the course assignments within 48 hours of evacuation and routinely check announcements and course materials associated with each class. Class handouts will be posted under course materials. Students should be familiar with their responsibilities during emergencies, including pre-evacuation and post-evacuation for hurricanes. This information is available on the Academic Affairs web site: http://academicaffairs.loyno.edu/students-emergency-responsibilities
Schedule
Wk 1 M 8/26 Intro.
W 8/28 Read Elements of Fiction (VirtuaLit—Bb links)
F 8/30 Read Critical Approaches (VirtuaLit)
Wk 2 M 9/2 Labor Day (think about labor at your leisure)
W 9/4 Read Ernest Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants” (Bb)
F 9/6 Read Herman Melville, “Bartleby the Scrivener” (Bb)
Wk 3 M 9/9 Read Daniel Orozco, “Orientation” (Bb)
W 9/11 Read Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (Bb)
F 9/12 Read Alice Walker, “Nineteen Fifty-five” (Bb)
Wk 4 M 9/16 Due Paper 1 Read Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust
W 9/18 West cont'd.
F 9/20 West cont'd.
Wk 5 M 9/23 West cont'd.
W 9/25 West cont'd.
F 9/27 West cont'd.
Wk 6 M 9/30 Due Paper 2 Read David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross
W 10/2 Mamet, cont’d.
F 10/4 Mamet, cont’d.
Wk 7 M 10/7 Read Tennessee Williams, “A Streetcar Named Desire”
W 10/9 Williams, cont’d.
F 10/11 Williams, cont’d.
Wk 8 M 10/14 Fall Break
W 10/16 Midterm Exam
F 10/18 Read John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces
Wk 9 M 10/21 Toole, cont'd.
W 10/23 Toole, cont'd.
F 10/25 Toole, cont'd.
Wk 10 M 10/28 Toole, cont'd.
W 10/30 Toole, cont'd.
F 11/1 How to Make Prezi Presentations Due Paper 3
Wk 11 M 11/4 Read Meridel LeSeuer, The Girl
W 11/6 LeSeuer, cont’d.
F 11/8 LeSeuer, cont’d.
Wk 12 M 11/11 LeSeuer, cont’d.
W 11/13 Prezi Presentations
F 11/15 Prezis cont’d.
Wk 13 M 11/18 Prezis cont’d. Due Paper 4
W 11/20 Prezis
F 11/22 Prezis
Wk 14 M 11/25 Prezis
W 11/27 Thanksgiving Break
F 11/29 “
Wk 15 M 12/2 Prezis
W 12/4 Prezis
F 12/6 Due Final Synthesis Paper
Exam Week: Final Exam
Section 13: Monday, 12/9, 9:00-11:00 Section 14: Friday, 12/13, 11:30-1:30 Section 15: Wednesday, 12/11, 11:30-1:30