ENGL 375-001 Contemporary American Literature Fall 2001 Instructor: Richard Fine About the Course --ENG 375 introduces you to selected works representing major trends in American
literature --It should help you understand the relationship between literature and life in
contemporary --It should help you think, talk and write more effectively about your reading. Books to Buy (Available at the VCU Bookstore or elsewhere) Auster, Paul. New York Trilogy. Requirements and Grading (Percentage of Final Grade) 4-5 page paper due on October 5 20% Reading Responses There will be six or more unannounced short (15 minute) in-class writing assignments, each a response to the assigned reading, given throughout the semester. Only your top five scores will count. There will be no makeups for missed responses. Attendance and Late Work You are expected to make it to every class; in any case, I reserve the right to penalize any student who misses more than five classes. Please try to get your work done on time. To make the classes most productive for us all, it is very important--very important--to do the reading on time. I reserve the right to penalize you for late work. Revisions Papers may be revised and re-submitted. Such revisions should be submitted within one week of my returning the original paper to you. Revisions must be substantial and not just a proofing or editing of the surface errors of the first draft. The final grade for the paper will be the average of the grade for the two drafts. Students With Special Needs Please identify yourself in the first week or so of class if you will require some accommodation because of a disability or other special circumstance. Schedule of Classes and Assignments August 27 Introduction: American Literature Since 1945 29 Introduction: The Beats 31 Gregory Corso, "Marriage" (handout) September 3 Labor Day (no class) 5 Allen Ginsberg, poems in Vintage anthology 7 The Beats (cont.) 10 J. D. Salinger, first 3 stories in Nine Stories 12 Salinger, middle three stories in Nine Stories 14 Salinger, last 3 stories in Nine Stories 17 Salinger, cont. 19 Bellow, Henderson the Rain King 21 Bellow (cont.) 24 Bellow (cont.) 26 Robert Lowell, "For the Union Dead" 28 Lowell (continued) October 1 Lowell (continued) 3 EXAM #1 5 Randall Jarrell, "Next Day" 12 Plath (cont) 15 Anne Sexton, all poems in Vintage anthology 17 Reed, Last Days of Louisiana Red 19 Reed (cont) 22 Poetry--all poems by Michael S. Harper in Vintage anthology 24 Poetry--all poems by Rita Dove in Vintage anthology 26 Poetry--all poems by Dave Smith in Vintage anthology 29 Poetry--continued/catch-up 31 Wolff, "Introduction" and Oates "Where Are You Going" in Vintage November 2 Ann Beattie, "A Vintage Thunderbird" and Jayne Anne Phillips, 5 Raymond Carver, "Cathedral" in Vintage and "The Calm" (handout) 7 Bausch, "All the Way in Flagstaff, Arizona" in Vintage anthology 9 Read Dennis Johnson, "Emergency" in Vintage anthology 12 Read O'Brien, "The Things They Carried" in Vintage anthology 14 Open (Catch-Up) 16 EXAM #2 or PAPER #2 DUE TODAY 19 Reader’s Choice—Stories from Vintage anthology 21 Reader’s Choice—Stories from Vintage anthology 23 Thanksgiving Holiday--no class 26 Mukherjee, Jasmine (Note: read entire novel for this class) 28 Mukherjee, (cont.) 30 Auster, New York Trilogy -- City of Glass December 3 Auster, New York Trilogy -- The Locked Room 5 Auster (cont.) 7 Wrap-Up The final exam will be on Monday, December 10, from 8:30-10:40 in regular meeting room. All students take the final. Half the final will be long essay (750-1000 words) to do at home. It will be distributed on the last day of classes, to be returned on the day of the exam. The in-class portion will be short answer and short essay questions specifically targeted to the reading. Written Work Paper Assignment #1 Due in class on October 15 This is a short critical response paper, based on your own close reading of a particular text. Read all the pieces in either the fiction or poetry lists below (one or the other), then chose one story or poem to write about. Reread it carefully, taking notes as if you were carrying on a conversation with the text. Then think about your response to that piece, perhaps by exploring why you chose it (but be sure to focus on the qualities of the piece itself and not simply compare to others as better or worse). Then return to the piece and your notes to examine how specific features of the story contributed to your response, or how upon further and close reading, you now have questions about your initial response. Finally, write a short essay (about 4-5 typed pages, or about 1000 words), developing these ideas into a coherent essay, as detailed and specific as you can make it. We will also use this paper to work on the crafting of graceful and pertinent quotation. --Fiction (all in Vintage anthology)--Stories by Allison, Ford, Lombreglia and Wideman --Poetry (all in Vintage anthology)--Read all poems by Jorie Graham, Theodore Roethke, Gary Snider, and Marilyn Hacker Examination #1 on October 3 This will be an hour-long written exam. I will ask for short responses to several (most likely 10) questions specifically targeted at the reading. It will test both familiarity with the texts and your ability to comment thoughtfully on them in coherent prose. DO JUST ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TWO OPTIONS Paper #2 Due in class on November 16 Suggest one of the short stories we have not read in the Vintage anthology (those assigned for class or for the first paper) for inclusion on the reading list of this class. In a thoughtful, well-informed persuasive essay, argue the merits of the story. You do not need to address all these questions in your essay, but you might want to ask yourself: What makes it worthy of consideration? To what other readings can you compare/contrast it? What theme(s) that we have discussed in class are located in this text? What new theme(s) introduced? Is the work stylistically or structurally distinctive? OR Exam #2 on November 16 Similar in format to the first. |