Texts:
Chopin, _The Awakening_, ed. Margaret Culley (Norton Critical Ed.) Crane, _The Portable Stephen Crane_, ed. Joseph Katz Dickinson, _Final Harvest: Emily Dickinson's Poems_, ed. Thomas Johnson James, _Daisy Miller & Other Stories_, ed. Michael Swan Course Pack at Fast Copy Center for other stories
Course content and objectives:
This course will trace the rise of realism and the beginnings of modernism in the works of four major American artists: Emily Dickinson, Stephen Crane, Henry James and Kate Chopin. The last class period devoted to each writer will be reserved for twenty-minute student presentations (approximately two-three per author); these same students will also provide the class with annotated bibliographies of recent criticism. We will explore representative poetry, short stories, and novellas by these writers as we observe American literature's transition from a nineteenth to a twentieth century world view.
Schedule of readings:
May 31 Introduction to course; conferences
June 1 Dickinson: #4, 23, 40, 46, 87, 96, 106, 108, 116, 118, 126, 172, 201, 236, 243, 262, 331, 389, 403, 427, 498, 508, 533, 544.
June 5 Dickinson: #85, 91, 95, 98, 142, 177, 207, 258, 270, 285, 288, 296, 317, 329, 431, 487.
June 6 Dickinson: #7, 11, 21, 29, 44, 54, 55, 58, 61, 66, 78, 93, 110, 119, 122, 149, 184, 224, 290, 310, 415, 422, 424, 563.
June 7 Dickinson presentations: #10, 34, 39, 60, 112, 114, 141, 154, 162, 168, 265, 412.
June 8 Crane:
June 12 Crane:
June 13 Crane: "The Open Boat," pp. 329, 33142, 360-86.
June 14 Crane presentations: Plus "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," 391 - 402.
June 15 James, "The Real Thing"
June 19 James, Daisy Miller
June 20 James, Daisy Miller
June 21 James, "The Beast in the Jungle"
June 22 James presentations: Plus "The Pupil"
June 26 Chopin, _The Awakening_
June 27 Chopin, _The Awakening_
June 28 Chopin, "Desiree's Baby, "A Respectable Woman," "The Story of an Hour," "Regret," "Athenaise." Major papers due. Take-home finals given.
June 29 No class: writing day
July 3 Chopin presentations: Plus review and synthesis
July 4 Holiday - no class
July 5 Presentation of papers; evaluation of class
July 6 Final exams due: 1 pm (606 Carlisle Hall)
Assignments:
Reading responses: For each class period, you are responsible for a written response to the material, which can take the form of several thoughtful, non-phoney discussion questions; a paragraph or two responding to an issue or idea, a specific passage, theme, image pattern, or the like; or a combination of the two. You are not obliged to cover all the material assigned for that day; in fact, in most cases, that would not be practical. Focus in on something you are particularly intrigued by, something you might like the class to discuss.
I will use these, in varying degrees, as the basis for the second half of class discussions. They will not be graded individually. I will keep them in a folder and consider them as a whole when I assign you a class participation grade at the end of the term. E'cceptions: the second discussion days of novellas (e.g., 6/20 & 6/27), the date your bibliography is due and the day of your oral presentation.
Bibliographies: Compile an annotated bibliography for your author and distribute it to the class on the first discussion date of that artist. These will be graded along with your major paper.
Oral presentation: On your assigned day, you will lead the class in a 20 minute discussion of your artist. There are several possible ways to proceed. You may consult criticism and give the class brief (1 page) abstracts of one or two critical approaches to the work, you may focus on another work or works (poetry lends itself to this more than short stories) and explicate it/them for the class, or do a combination of the two. It would be optimal for you to co-ordinate with the other student(s) who have chosen this author, both to avoid duplication and to maximize the benefit for the class. The objective of this assignment is to expand upon the assigned material in some fashion.
Major paper: Write a 12 - 15 pp. (typed, double-spaced) paper on one of the four writers, focusing in on a specific work (or works, if short) and discussing it from a specific critical perspective. Use a minimum of ~5 critical sources, but only to buttress or expand upon your interpretation. This is not to be a compendium of critics' responses, verbally scotch taped together. Think of it as the basis for a paper which you can expand into article length at a later date.
Final exam: take-home; comprehensive. No longer than 1518 typed pages.
Grading. policies. and other such matters:
Grading:
100 points, class participation & daily responses
100 points, oral presentation and bibliography
200 points, major paper
200 points, final exam
600 points
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