English 490-003: All the King’s Men (Senior Seminar)

Fall 2007: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-1:45

Anderson House, Room 101

Professor Bryant Mangum

I. Book List: Books will be available through the Virginia Book Company (900 W. Franklin)

All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren (New York: Harcourt, 1946). The edition we will use is the Harcourt Harvest Edition, Second edition, 1996.

Optional Texts:
All the King’s Men (Restored Edition; established by Noel Polk). This is also a Harcourt Harvest Edition, 2002). The Virginia Book Company will order a limited number of these. We’ll discuss this in class. Others: to be announced.

II. Reserve and Reference Books: Much of your individual work will be done using the books on reserve in the library. (You can find a full list of the reserve books for our class by going to this web address and following the prompts: http://www.library.vcu.edu/reserves/).

III. Course Description and Objectives

Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize winning All the King’s Men (1946)--based loosely on the life of mythic Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long (“the Kingfish”)-- is one of the most influential novels of our time.  Warren is one of the leading voices of the New Criticism, and All the King’s Men is his masterpiece.  In this seminar we will closely examine the complex world of All the King’s Men, focusing first on careful reading and re-reading of the novel and then on the social, cultural, and political context of Depression-era Louisiana, from which Willie Stark, the novel’s main character, emerges. Among the topics to be examined through seminar presentations are these:  the historical, biographical, and autobiographical underpinnings of the novel—particularly the life of Long, who is the prototype for Willie Stark and who was the subject of five other novels written between 1934 and 1946; the contemporary critical reception of the novel, as well as its current reputation; the various versions of the novel, including the recently published “restored edition”; the novel’s place in American popular culture, including a look at dramatic productions and film adaptations, one of which won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress in 1949--and the 2006 film version with Sean Penn, Jude Law, and Kate Winslett.  Each member of the class will give [two] seminar presentation[s] and will write [one] short paper as well as a longer paper that will be due at the end of the semester.  

IV. Assignments
A. Assigned readings, including All the King’s Men, assigned background readings, and participation in seminar discussions of readings.  5%

B. Seminar Presentation: a 15-minute oral report on the topic you have selected for your presentation. (In many cases, though not all, the research for this will find its way into your final paper.) Given on dates assigned.  10% of course grade.

C. Chapter Annotations:  You will annotate one of the chapters in All the King’s Men.  We will discuss the guidelines for the annotations (and they will be uploaded to our website—both the guidelines and annotations).  You will also give a brief summary of your chapter annotations in class. 15% of course grade (5% for oral presentation; 10% for written annotations).

D. A short paper (3-5 pages) in which you confront or address some issue (a “problem” or question) in the text,  research previous scholarly work done on this issue, and support your position through a documented, thesis-support paper.  You might wish to take this issue from the chapter you are annotating, though you need not restrict your topic to one in this chapter.  10%

E. One close reading test: 15%

F. 10 substantive Blackboard postings (50 or more words each—see Blackboard for weighting of Blackboard postings): 10%

G. Final paper and bibliography (approximately 12-15 pages).  I will hand out guidelines for this final paper. this paper will deal with some original problem (biographical, bibliographical, or critical) including a complete check of existing treatments of the problem by other scholars. This is a documented, thesis-support paper. 35% of course grade.

V. Seminar Topics
Robert Penn Warren as fugitive-agrarian; contemporary critical reception of All the King’s Men, the composition of the novel; biographical underpinnings of the novel; At Heaven’s Gate, OR Band of Angels, OR The Circus in the Attic and Other Stories; Warren’s early poetry; Warren’s late poetry, Warren as Southern writer; Louisiana social culture during the depression; Louisiana political culture; Huey Long; other novels based on Huey Long; the Cass Mastern material, the stage versions of All the King’s Men; the 1949 film version; 1996 film version; contemporary reputation of the novel.

VI. Seminar Participation and Attendance: Much of our seminar will consist of discussion of the works we are reading. You are encouraged to contribute to seminar discussions. Seminar participation will be factored into your final grade. If you miss more than four classes for any reason other than a death in the immediate family or serious illness you will receive a grade of F for the course. Please develop from the beginning of class the habit of getting to class on time. The final day to withdraw from the course with a grade of W is Friday, 2 November.

VII. VCU Honor System:  "Virginia Commonwealth University recognizes that honesty, truth, and integrity are values central to its mission as an institution of higher education."  This class will be conducted in strict adherence to VCU's Honor System policies. In essence, you should not use another student’s work. You should not falsely present source material as your own. Whenever you use material from another source, you must credit this source clearly, whether you are quoting directly, summarizing, or paraphrasing. Conscious and uncorrected acts of plagiarism (either from another student's work or from an academic source) will result in a failing course grade. In other words, respect the work of others and in no way present it as your own. If you have additional questions about academic integrity and plagiarism consult VCU's policy at the following web address: http://www.students.vcu.edu/rg/policies/rg7honor.html

VIII. Students with Disabilities: “Virginia Commonwealth University is committed to providing students with disabilities equal opportunities to benefit from all programs, services and activities offered.” Students with disabilities should identify to the instructor at the beginning of the course the services that they will need.

IX. A Note on Computers: Much of the work in this course will depend on regular use of Blackboard and on email sent to and from your VCU email address. If you do not have a user ID and password that will allow you to access Blackboard and your VCU email, be sure to get one before the second class meeting. You will be able to access all of the course materials by going to http://blackboard.vcu.edu. If you do not have a computer ID number and password you can get one by following the steps listed at the following web address: http://www.vcucard.com/

X. Online Information: The address for my website is http://www.people.vcu.edu/~bmangum/

We will also have a website for our course. It will contain links and online materials for the course. I’ll announce details and web address for this in class.

XI. What to Know and Do To Be Prepared for Emergencies at VCU:

1. Sign up to receive VCU text messaging alerts (http://www.vcu.edu/alert/notify).

Keep your information up-to date.

2. Know the safe evacuation route from each of your classrooms. Emergency evacuation routes are posted in on-campus classrooms.

3. Listen for and follow instructions from VCU or other designated authorities.

4. Know where to go for additional emergency information (http://www.vcu.edu/alert)

5. Know the emergency phone number for the VCU Police (828-1234). Report suspicious activities and objects.

X. Daily Assignment Sheet to Follow: I will upload a copy of the basic assignment sheet to Blackboard and our course website. This will be updated periodically on blackboard, which will contain the most recent modifications.