English 250.

01 TR 9:30-10:45 AM

Introduction to Literature Spring Semester 2014

Instructor: Tamara Yohannes
Office Hours: Mailbox: Humanities 315 Phone: 852-3049 E-mail: tamara.yohannes@louisville.edu Class Description: This general education meets the HUMANITIES requirement and will focus on literature as a reading experience, using Italo Calvinos experimental novel as a guide to the various approaches to reading and understanding literature of a variety of genres. Strategically, this course requires each student to read, think, and write about the assigned literature daily and to come to class ready to discuss the important issues raised by the literature with the students team and with the whole class. Teams will be assigned during the first week of class and will remain functioning throughout the semester. GOALS: My hope is that, by the end of this course, you will: 1. deepen your experience and enjoyment of reading literature, both in this class and beyond; 2. gain confidence in developing your own readings of literature, both in this class and beyond; 3. develop your collaborative skills in synthesizing, analyzing, and interpreting primary texts;

4. Communicate an understanding of vocabulary, concepts, materials, techniques, and methods of intellectual inquiry within the arts and/or humanities; 5. Describe and evaluate texts using primary and secondary materials; 6. Analyze and synthesize texts, recognizing the diversity of cultures and historical contexts.
Textbooks: Baym, Nina, Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. E. 8th Ed. NY: WW Norton, 2012. Calvino, Italo. If on a winters night a traveler. [1979]. Trans. William Weaver. NY: Harcourt, 1981. BRING THE TEXTBOOK IN WHICH YOU HAVE HAD AN ASSIGNED READING TO CLASS EACH DAY!!!!! ALSO CHECK THE SYLLABUS TO SEE IF THERE IS A READING ON BLACKBOARD OR A NOTE TO BRING THE ANTHOLOGY TO CLASS AS WELL. This course uses the Blackboard electronic system. All course materials, including tutorial information and announcements about any changes to the syllabus, will be posted onto the system. Whenever I post new material, I will alert you by e-mail, using your university e-mail account, which is included as part of the Blackboard system. Course Schedule: The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the syllabus when necessary to meet learning objectives, to compensate for missed classes, or for similar reasons. 1/7 Introductions

1/9 METAFICTION excerpts from Slaughterhouse-Five in Anthology 375-385. Response Paper Prompt List three questions this text raises for you. 1/14 LITERARY ALLUSION -- Calvino Chapters 1 and If on a winters night a traveler. Response Paper Prompt List all the texts, movies, TV shows, etc., that these chapters remind you of in one way or another. 1/16 CHARACTERIZATION -- Calvino Chapters 2 and Outside the town of Malbork. Prompt describe as clearly and thoroughly as you can the character of the reader and at least one character in Outside the town of Malbork. Bring Calvino and Anthology to class. 1/21 STORY RETELLING -- Calvino chapters 3 and Leaning from the steep slope. Prompt In what ways does Leaning from the steep slope retell Outside the town of Malbork? Point to specifics in each story. Bring Anthology to class. 1/23 SOCIAL/POLITICAL CRITIQUE -- Calvino chapters 4 and Without fear of wind or vertigo. Prompt What political or social critique does Without fear of wind or vertigo seem to be making and what makes you think that? 1/28 AUTHORIAL BIOGRAPHY and INTENTION -- Calvino chapters 5 and Looks down in the gathering shadow. Prompt How would you answer Cavedagnas question, What does the name of an author on the jacket matter? Bring Calvino and Anthology to class. 1/30 MAGICAL REALISM -- Calvino pp 115-118 and Louise Erdrichs Fleur Anthology pp. 1143-1152. Bring both texts to class. Prompt the literary method used by Erdrich and described by Calvino is called Magical Realism. List five qualities of Magical Realism you deduce from todays reading. 2/4 READER QUESTIONNING -- Calvino chapters 6 and In a network of lines that enlace. Prompt What is your response to these two chapters? your reactions, questions, insights, etc. 2/6 SYMBOLISM/ALLEGORY -- Calvino chapters 7 and In a network of lines that intersect. Prompt List 10 possible symbolic qualities for the Kaleidoscope think about a kaleidoscope generally and also about what a kaleidoscope might symbolize particularly in the novel. Bring Calvino and Anthology to class. 2/11 DESIRE -- Calvino chapters 8 and On the carpet of leaves illuminated by the moon. Prompt We often talk about desire in literature here Calvino describes sexual desire and also the various desires of both the reader and the author. What do you make of his presentation of desire your reactions, questions, insights? Bring anthology to class teams will select a text NOT READ THUS FAR AND NOT OTHERWISE ASSIGNED ANYWHERE IN THIS SYLLABUS to work with in writing the mid-term exam. 2/13 DECONSTRUCTION -- Calvino chapters 9 and Around an empty grave. Prompt We often talk about ways that a text deconstructs itself through presentation of opposites or binaries. In this section Calvino plays with the idea of binaries so pick two opposites presented in these chapters, opposites like banned and allowed mentioned in the first pages, and consider 5 ways each side of the opposites is affirmed and 5 ways challenged in these chapters.

2/18 READERS RESPONSE CRITICISM -- Calvino chapter 10 through the end of the novel. Prompt Who is the ideal reader for this novel? How are you like and unlike the ideal reader? 2/20 Individual TYPED take-home essay due at the beginning of class and in-class team exam. BE ON TIME only those students seated in class when the instructor gives out the team prompt will be allowed to participate in the team portion of the exam. Anyone arriving after the prompt is handed out or anyone needing a make-up exam will be given an individual question on Calvinos novel to answer instead of the team prompt. Take home essay prompt In about 4 TYPED pages or less, discuss your teams chosen text from at least 8 of the 12 reading perspectives we have used in reading Calvinos novel. Teams will work with your chosen text for the team portion of the exam during class, so bring your Anthology to class. 2/25 OTHER WAYS OF READING A TEXT -- POETRY IS NOT A LUXURY Audre Lorde pp. 417-418 and 687-690. Prompt choose one Lordes poems and consider what she means about poetrys not being a luxury in light of that poem. 2/27 READING HISTORY -- Hunter S. Thompson pp. 407-408 and Adrienne Rich Diving into the Wreck pp. 573-575. Prompt In what ways do Thompson and Rich agree and disagree about history? 3/4 READING CULTURAL HISTORY Maxine Hong Kingston pp. 791-801. Prompt List 5 ways Kingstons presentation of her own cultural history does or does not resonate with your own experience. 3/6 READING RACE Toni Morrison pp. 609-623. Prompt what race is each of the main characters in this story? What evidence do you have for your conclusions? LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW 3/11 and 13 NO CLASS SPRING BREAK 3/18 READING YOUTH OR GENDER -- a song in the front yard and We Real Cool Gwendolyn Brooks pp. 324-326. Prompt List 7 assumptions Brooks presents about the gender and age of the young people described in these poems. 3/20 Poetry as the most physical of the arts Robert Pinsky pp. 806-815 and A.R. Ammons 415-417. Prompt -- List 3 reasons why you might agree and 3 reasons why you might disagree with Pinsky who has said that Poetry is the most physical of the arts. 3/25 HOW PERSONAL NEED LITERATURE BE? Joan Didion pp. 1194-1198, Sylvia Plath pp. 629-631 and Frank OHara pp. 410-412. Prompt How personal need literature be and how do you respond to the very personal in the works assigned for today? 3/27 Creative Writing Prompt bring in your favorite poem and a brief discussion of why that poem is a favorite. 4/1 MAKING READING VISIBLE -- DRAMATIC READING Allen Ginsbergs HOWL pp. 492-500. Prompt What are your thoughts, questions, and concerns about this poem?

4/3 DRAMA A Streetcar Named Desire. Pp. 93-155 cast in at least 3 of the roles in this play and why? 4/8

Prompt who would you

Preparing to watch the UofL production of: Gem of the Ocean, by August Wilson, tells the story of Aunt Ester, a 285-year-old matriarch who welcomes a former slave, a former criminal and others into her home as she guides them through a spiritual awakening, April 9 13, The Playhouse. Read Course Document on Blackboard Gem of the Ocean and Background for the Play. Prompt: List 5 expectations you have for the UofL production of this play.
4/10 NO CLASS instead, attend the play at The Playhouse. Bring in your ticket stub on 4/15 for in-class participation credit for attending the play. 4/15 Gem of the Ocean Prompt What point or reading of the Wilson text did the director and actors seem to be making in presenting UofLs production and how did they make that point? 4/17 Preparation for Final. Prompt List three questions remaining for you about the process of reading literature. M 4/28 FINAL EXAM 8-10:30 AM

Requirements: RESPONSE PAPERS 20 points (1 point for each paper). Goals 1, 2. You are required to hand in a 1-2 page typed response to each days prompt. These TYPED papers are due at the beginning of class on the day the readings are assigned. NO E-MAILED PAPERS OR LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR ANY REASON. If you know ahead that you need to be absent for any reason you may, of course, hand in papers early. Only 20 papers are due for a course in which we will discuss readings for 23 class sessions. That gives you some leeway and explains the no-late paper policy. EXAMINATIONS 10 individual points and 10 team points possible for each of the two exams. Goals 1,2,3. In-Class assignments 20 points (one point for participation in each assignment). Goals 1,2,3. TEAM PARTICIPATION POINTS 20 points each team will develop criteria for evaluating team members on participation in the team and assessment will be conducted during the final exam period. Goals 1, 2, 3. HOW GRADING WILL WORK: There are 100 possible points available for this course. Your grade will depend on how many points you accumulate through the semester. A+ = 97-100 A = 90-96 B+ = 87-89 B = 80-86 C+ = 77-79 C = 70-76 D+ = 67-69 D = 60-66 59 and below = F GRADING CRITERIA are as follows: The exams will be graded on the accuracy, insightfulness, and precision of the answers.

Response papers are graded pass/fail based on whether or not the instructor can be confident that the writer has engaged with the text and the prompt. In-class assignments are graded pass/fail based on whether or not the team engaged fully with the text and the prompt. Team Participation points will be assessed by each students fellow team members, and criteria for assessing Team Participation points will be developed by the class. POLICIES: Cancellation of Class: In the unlikely event that class is cancelled, we will keep to the syllabus, but you can turn in a response paper for the cancelled class on the day class resumes. Plagiarism and Recycling: Plagiarism means representing as your own work any part of another writers work, be it a direct, unacknowledged quotation or a paraphrase from part or all of another persons writing. Were reading some difficult texts over which many people have written and published, so the temptation to plagiarize is out there. Rest assured, though I value YOUR THOUGHTS YOUR WRITING YOUR VOICE. If youre having difficulty understanding anything feel free to see me, feel free to write about your difficulties. I dont expect you to be an expert on any given text or author I do expect you to read and reflect on these authors and to write what you think about them. If you want to use outside sources to supplement your own thought thats appropriate, but cite those sources. No plagiarized paper will be accepted. I reserve the right to grant a student submitting a plagiarized paper a failure for the course. Be advised that the policy of the English Department is that every case of plagiarism MUST BE REPORTED to the Dean of Arts and Sciences for review and for further action. By recycling I mean handing in as a paper for this course something you have written for another context. Because this is a reading course, and emphasis is on your reading and interaction with the texts in this college-level context, no recycled paper can be accepted. Policy on Instructional Modifications: Students who have a disability or condition which may impair their ability to complete assignments or otherwise satisfy course criteria are encouraged to meet with the instructor to identify, discuss and document any feasible instructional modifications or accommodations. The student should notify the instructor no later than the end of the second week of class or when such a disability or condition is diagnosed, whichever occurs earliest. The student may contact the Disabilities Resource Center (x6937) for information and auxiliary aid.