Week 1

Jan. 4

1:

Reading

• Jamaica Kincaid, "Girl," The New Yorker (1978; study guide)
• Jamaica Kincaid, "A Small Place" (1988)
• Deborah Treisman, "Edwidge Danticat Reads Jamaica Kincaid," The New Yorker (2013; Danticat reads Kincaid's "Girl" and "Wingless" and talks to Treisman about Kincaid's work; audio clip, 36:41 min)
  

2: 

Reading

• William Carlos Williams, "Portrait of a Lady" (1920; study guide)
• On "Portrait of a Lady," Modern American Poetry
  

No class (Intervarsity Games: January 11–15, 2016)

No class (Intervarsity Games: January 11–15, 2016)

3:
Reading

• Sherman Alexie, "Indian Education," The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993; study guide)
  
• Sherman Alexie, "Introduction," The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993)

4:
Reading

• Sherman Alexie, "Indian Education," The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993; study guide)
• Howard Zinn, "Columbus and Western Civilization" (1992)
  
• Howard Zinn, The People's History of the United States (1980)
• Chapter 1: "Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress"
• Chapter 19: "Surprises" (the latter third focuses on Native Americans)

5: 

Reading

• John Milton, Sonnet 19 ("When I consider how my light is spent"; c. 1655; study guide)
• King James Bible (1611)
• Matthew 25:14–30 (The Parable of the Talents)
• Matthew 20:1–14 (The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard)
  
• Gavin Alexander, "Why Milton Matters," John Milton 400th Anniversary Celebrations (2008)
• John Rogers, "Lecture 3: Credible Employment," Yale University (transcript, audio, video, 50 min.)
  

6: 

Reading

• John Milton, Sonnet 19 ("When I consider how my light is spent"; c. 1655; study guide)

7: 

Reading

• Vladimir Nabokov, "Terra Incognita" (1931, 1963; study guide)
• D. Graham Burnett, "'It Is Impossible to Make a Step without the Indians': Nineteenth-Century Geographical Exploration and the Amerindians of British Guiana," Ethnohistory 49.1 (2002)
  

8: 

Reading

• Vladimir Nabokov, "Terra Incognita" (1931, 1963; study guide)
• Herbert Gold, "Vladimir Nabokov," The Art of Fiction No. 40, The Paris Review 41 (1967 interview)
• Vladimir Nabokov, "Good Readers and Good Writers," Lectures on Literature (1948)

9: Contextual Considerations I: Eyes of the Time

Reading

• William Shakespeare, The Tempest act 1 scene 2 (c. 1611; Caliban's first appearance; study guide)
• John Dover Wilson, "The Tempest" (introduction to the play)
  

10: Contextual Considerations II: Changing Eyes

Reading

• Aimé Césaire, A Tempest act 1 scene 2 (1969; Caliban's first appearance; study guide)
• "Production History: A Tempest," St. Olaf College
  
• Tim Crouch, I, Caliban (2003)
• "What Is 'Postcolonial'?," The Postcolonial and Postimperial Web
• The Stanford Prison Experiment, dir. Kim Duke, BBC (video clip, 29:00 min.)
  

11:

Reading

• Brian Friel, Molly Sweeney act 1 (1995; study guide)
• Harold Krents, "Darkness at Noon," The New York Times (1976)
• Helen Keller, "Three Days to See," The Atlantic (1933)

Weekly 6

*Reading response 2 due (Choose a character in one of the works. What does "learning" mean to him or her? For example: What does Molly's sight mean to Frank?, What does insight mean to Milton's Sonnet 19 speaker?, What does exploring the unknown mean to Vallier, or What does Caliban's education mean to Prospero?)

12:
Reading

• Brian Friel, Molly Sweeney act 2 (1995; study guide)
• Oliver Sacks, "To See and Not See," The New Yorker (1993)

No class (Magha Puja Day)

Reading

• Brian Friel, Molly Sweeney (1995; study guide)

• Jeff Lunden, "One-Man Show Casts 'Brilliant' Light on Realities of Suicide, Depression," NPR (2015; audio clip, 5:50 min.)
• Ben Brantley, "Raindrops on Roses, for the Potentially Suicidal," The New York Times (2014)
  

(Midterm Week: February 29–March 4, 2016)
*Test 1: You will have one hour and twenty minutes (11:00 a.m.–12:20 p.m.) to complete the test which covers the poems and short stories we have read this first half of the semester. There are two parts. Part 1 is a short answer in which you will choose to analyze one set of quotes of three available sets. See practice test below. In Part 2 you will be writing an essay in response to a prompt that asks you to consider at least two works on the syllabus from the beginning of the semester excluding the plays; they will have their own test on Thursday, March 3, 2016. Read instructions carefully and follow them. The essay prompt may consist of several questions but what the entire prompt does is give you a topic with a scope. You should formulate a thesis in response to the prompt that enables you to discuss and elaborate on the topic within that scope for the works involved effectively. Structure your essay around that thesis or argument, citing specific elements, scenes, lines, words or information to illustrate and support the points you are making. Again, you do not need to answer every single question in the prompt cluster in order and separately because then the structure will not necessarily be appropriate to your discussion. Rather, your writing should be designed as a coherent unified piece, not unconnected answers to different questions strung together or a bulleted list. The multiple questions are there to help you brainstorm on the topic and to spark critical engagement with it. You should draw on your own close reading of the material, your notes, your discussion about it in and outside of class, and relevant reading and research you have done. Think critically about the material we have encountered and be prepared to think critically on the topic prompted by the test questions as well. Though you should focus on core readings, you do not have to limit yourself to them. Where relevant and useful, you may refer to supplementary texts in the course packet or online. When writing, follow academic conventions and try to be as legible, clear, effective, and compelling as you can. Rest well, eat clean good food, stay safe, arrive at least fifteen minutes before class time in case of venue change and other contingencies, and make sure your watch and writing implements are in order. Good luck!

• Preparation
• How to Read a Poem
• Guidelines for Poetry Analysis (with example poems and analyses)
  
• Writing about Poetry
• Thesis Statements (with examples and discussion)
  
• Essay Exam Tips
• Writing Exam Essays
• Pointers for Taking Essay Tests
• Writing Essay Exams (pdf file)
• Essay Exam Preparation (pdf file)
• Review literary terms
• Sample Test Questions and Response
• Discussion of Sample Test Questions and Responses
• Practice Test
  
• Sample Responses
  
• Past Midterm Week Test Questions
• Discuss two literary works in which the use of point or view creates irony. What purpose does this point of view serve in the pieces you have chosen? How does the point of view affect your reading of the works?
• Choose two works and discuss how the authors’ engagement with prior texts and/or readers’ knowledge of relevant contexts (such as history, culture, biography, form, convention) enrich their understanding of the works.
• Though readers tend to focus on humans or animate things in a literary work, nonliving components are often also very important. Discuss the function of inanimate elements in two works. Give specific examples of lifeless objects and show how they play a significant role in the texts.
• Choose one work in which time is especially worth noticing. Examine the treatment of time or kinds of time, and show how it shapes the work (ex. how time affects our understanding of the protagonist(s), the main conflict, the pace, tone, or direction of the work). What, if any, is the relationship between different time frames, the past, present, and future?
• Choose one work in which interior life is especially worth noticing. Examine the treatment of dreams, illusions, fantasies, or imagination, and show how it shapes the work (ex. how a character’s internal dimensions affect our understanding of him or her, how inner life influences the conflict, pace, tone, direction, structure or form of the work). What, if any, is the relationship between such mental life/perception and reality?
  
• Sample Midterm & Answers (the gothic experience)
• Example of Strong Responses (Romantic literature)
• Sample Midterm Questions (pdf file)
• Sample Midterm Essay Response

(Midterm Week: February 29–March 4, 2016)

*Test 2: Like on Monday, you will have one hour and twenty minutes (8:00–9:20 a.m.) to complete the second test. Also like the first, there are two parts: the short answer that asks you to analyze a common characteristic in a set of quotes, and the essay. This test covers the three Tempest plays and Molly Sweeney.

• Preparation
• Drama Analysis (text and theater, information flow, structure, space, time, characters, types of utterance, types of stage)
• Drama (What is drama and how do you write about it?)
• Summary: Using It Wisely (Why is it so tempting to stick with summary and skip analysis?, How do I know if I'm summarizing?, What strategies can help me avoid excessive summary?)
  

14: Observing and Telling

Reading

• Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, ed. Thomas H. Johnson (1960)
  
• "There's a certain Slant of light" (study guide)
  
• "On 258 ("There's a certain Slant of light)," Modern American Poetry
  
• "I cried at  Pity—not at Pain—" (study guide)
  
• "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—" (study guide)
• "On 1129 ("Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—")," Modern American Poetry
  
• "About Dickinson's Use of the Dash," Modern American Poetry
• Thomas Wentworth Higginson, "Emily Dickinson's Letters," The Atlantic (1891)
• "Guide to Emily Dickinson's Collected Poems," Academy of American Poets
  

15: Observing and Telling

Reading

• Seamus Heaney, Death of a Naturalist (1966)
  
• "Digging" (study guide)
  
• "Death of a Naturalist" (study guide)

Weekly 7

Practice Writing 1: (30 minutes)  Heaney has remarked in an interview that “A moving poem doesn’t just mean that it touches you, it means it has to move itself along as a going linguistic concern.” Choose a poem and discuss how it moves. 

16: Family and World

Reading

• Petina Gappah, "Something Nice from London," Per Contra (2006; study guide)

Weekly 8

Practice Writing 2: (30 minutes) Examine the ideas of life and death in a literary work. What does life mean? What does death entail? In what manner and through what devices are they portrayed? What roles do they play in the work and how are they significant in it?    

17: Family and World

Reading

• Petina Gappah, "Something Nice from London," Per Contra (2006; study guide)

Practice Writing 3: (30 minutes) "We can find no scar, / But internal difference," writes Dickinson, contrasting outer and inner perception. Examine the external and internal connection (or disconnection) in two works. How do the works use the outside world versus the inside? Outside what, and inside where? What is outwardly apparent, and how is it different from an inner reality? 

Signup Sheets: five-minute Literature Spot  and final paper consultation

18: Biography of a Poem

Reading

• T. S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Poetry (1915; study guide)
• Alan Yentob, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," BBC Radio 4 (2015; audio clip, 42:03 min.; "To mark the centenary of its publication, Alan meets others who have found meaning in the poem")
• "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," The Modernism Lab, Yale University
• T. S. Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent" (1919)
• Pericles Lewis, "Tradition and the Individual Talent," The Modernism Lab, Yale University

Weekly 9

Literature Spot:
1:

2: Sumitra, Eminem rap song

3: Wethita, Undertale: When Literature Meets Game

19: Biography of a Poem

Reading

• T. S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Poetry (1915; study guide)
• "On 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,'" Modern American Poetry

20:

Reading

• Rattawut Lapcharoensap, "Priscilla the Cambodian," Sightseeing (2005; study guide)
• Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Whiting Awards
• W. D. Ehrhart, "Soldier-Poets of the Vietnam War," VQR (1987)
• Adam Gilbert, "'And the fire still burns': Vietnam War Poetry, Moral Witness, and Winning Hearts and Minds," War, Literature and the Arts 25.1 (2013)
  
• Arundhati Roy, "What Shall We Love?," Outlook India (2015)

21: 

Reading

• Rattawut Lapcharoensap, "Priscilla the Cambodian," Sightseeing (2005; study guide)
• S. P. Somtow, "Who Am I?: A Short Course in Reinventing Oneself as a Southeast Asian Writer," Opus 50 (2006)
• Howard Zinn, "The Impossible Victory: Vietnam," A People's History of the United States (2005)

Weekly 10

Course Guest: Captain William S. Whorton, U.S. Marine Corps

Literature Spot:
7:

8: 
9:

22:
Reading

• George Orwell, Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (1945; study guide) chapters 1–2
• "Study Guide for Animal Farm," Glencoe Literature Library
• Russell Baker, "Preface" and C. M. Woodhouse, "Introduction," Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (1996)
• George Orwell, "The Freedom of the Press" (1945; preface for the 1947 Ukranian edition of Animal Farm)
  

23:

Reading

• George Orwell, Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (1945; study guide) chapters 3–4
• George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language," Horizon (1946)
  

Final paper draft due (optional)

 
Literature Spot:
14: Natta
15: Kornrawee

16: Pimpith

17: Apisorn

24:
Reading

• George Orwell, Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (1945; study guide) chapters 5–6
• George Orwell, "Why I Write" (1946)
  

No class (Songkran Day)

25: 

Reading

• George Orwell, Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (1945; study guide) chapters 7–10 (end)
  

26: Review

Reading

• Course packet
  
• George Orwell, Animal Farm (1945; study guide)

Forum

• If you are planning to use PowerPoint, make sure it is compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint 2007. Also embed or include files of any nonstandard fonts that are in your presentation.

• Let me know of any other audiovisual needs by 4 p.m. Friday, April 22, 2016.

• 5-minute individual presentation (15 minutes per panel) followed by

• 10-minute question and answer session

• Guidelines (includes consultation sign-up, suggested topics, and review checklist)
  

• Tentative Schedule (download program pdf)
  

  
  

  1: Variations on Love
  11:00–11:25 a.m.
  Presiding: Orrachat Natsatith
  Speakers: 
  1. “From Beginning to End: A Change in Dickinson’s Perspective on Love throughout Life,” Natnaree Suasakul
  2. “The Post-Mortem of Self-Pity J. Alfred Prufrock,” Natta Phaochindamuk
  3. “The Love Song for J. Alfred Prufrock,” Adamas Lertpun
  Respondent 1: Pimpith Lertrattanakul
  Respondent 2: Intira Pooncharoen
  Respondent 3: Wannakarn Opassatien
  
  2: Variations on Authoritarianism
  11:30–11:55 a.m.
  Presiding: Intira Pooncharoen
  Speakers: 
  1. “Animalitarianism,” Jitratiwat Dachopalanont
  2. “Animal Education,” Tanaporn Khongtamwong
  3. “Written Work and Abuse of Power in Animal Farm,” Thananya Jansulai
  Respondent 1: Supitsara Langbubpha
  Respondent 2: Sadanun Somachriyakul
  Respondent 3: Auttasit Viriyasakulkarn
  
  3: Variations on Communication
  12:00–12:25 a.m.
  Presiding: Natnaree Suasakul
  Speakers: 
  1. “Means of Communication,” Apisorn Iamsriraksa
  2. “Silence of the Pigs before Napoleon,” Kornrawee Panyasuppakun
  3. “Stories in ‘Fairyland,’” Naruchon Kritsadasima
  Respondent 1: Wethita Layamanuman
  Respondent 2: Adamas  Lertpun
  Respondent 3: Sumitra Oki
  

Forum

8:00–9:25 a.m.
Theme potluck breakfast hosted by section 1. Currently the menu includes: Napoleon Grill, dishes from an Irish garden, frogspawn rainbow, "the marmalade, the tea," yellow-smoked morning sandwiches.

Tentative Schedule (download program pdf)

4. Odd Ones Out
8:00–8:25 a.m.
Presiding: Sadanun Somachriyakul
Speakers: 
1. “Natives and Newcomers: What Differences Determine Their Relationships?,” Pimpith Lertrattanakul
2. “Priscilla the Cambodian: Rats and the Trap,” Orrachat Nasatith
3. “The Otherness,” Supitsara Langbubpha
Respondent 1: Apisorn Iamsriraksa
Respondent 2: Thananya Jansulai
Respondent 3: Tanaporn Khongtamwong


5. Out of Status
8:30–8:55 a.m.
Presiding: Jitratiwat Dachopalanont
Speakers: 
1. “The Youth and Adult Worlds in Priscilla the Cambodian,” Sadanun Somachriyakul
2. “Young Sight's Seeing,” Intira Pooncharoen
3. “The Role of Reputation in ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,’” Wethita Layamanuman
Respondent 1: Sirimada Phannapanukul
Respondent 2: Natta Phaochindamuk
Respondent 3: Naruchon Kritsadasima
 

 
6. Following the Rainbow
9:00–9:25 a.m.
Presiding: Apisorn Iamsriraksa
Speakers: 
1. “Something Unexpected from London,” Sumitra Oki 
2. “Animal Farm and Old Major's Dream: The Beginning, the Development, the Result and the End,” Auttasit Viriyasakulkarn
3. “To Be Pigs and Not to Be Pork,” Wannakarn Opassatien
4. “Title,” Student Name
Respondent 1: Natnaree Suasakul
Respondent 2: Jitratiwat Dachopalanont
Respondent 3: Orrachat Nasatith
Respondent 4: Kornrawee Panyasuppakun

Final Exam: (8:30–11:30 a.m.) The final exam consists of three essay-type prompts, two on poems and short stories and one on Animal Farm. 

BRK 309 (section 5) and 404 (sections 1–4)

• Preparation

  • Writing Exam Essays

  • Pointers for Taking Essay Tests

  • Writing Essay Exams (pdf file)

  • Essay Exam Preparation (pdf file)

• Review

• Discussion of test 1 and test 2
  
• Class discussion and study guide pages of
• Emily Dickinson, "There's a certain Slant of light," "I cried at  Pity—not at Pain—" and "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—"
  
• Seamus Heaney, "Digging" and "Death of a Naturalist"
  
• Petina Gappah, "Something Nice from London" (2006)
• T. S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915)
  
• Rattawut Lapcharoensap, "Priscilla the Cambodian" (2005)
• George Orwell, Animal Farm (1945)
• Literary terms
• Sample exam questions and responses
• Practice final exam
  
• Student suggested final exam prompts
• Different points of view produce different voices in stories. The perspective an author uses has an impact on how we interpret a story or a poem. What is the difference between using individual and collective points of view? What do the voices that the author uses represent? What are their functions? Compare the use of points of view in two works in the second half of the semester.
• Equality in the seventh commandment, "All animals are equal," means that every animal in the farm has the same rights and opportunities and that there is no higher or lower status. In the story, is there any inequality among animals on the farm? Choose some characters to explain. If so, what are the causes for the inequality?
• There are two generations mentioned in the works, the elder and the younger one. How do you think each is influenced by the other? Give an example of what you have observed in two works, then, discuss what impact generational difference has in the two stories.
• “Time, as it grows old, teaches all things,” said Aeschylus. Choose two works and explain what the speaker or character has learned as time passes. What evidence supports your explanation? How significant is time for him or her? 
  

• Sample Responses

  • Sample Poetry Question on Kvlividze's poem "In the Metro" (with sample responses)

  • Example of an 'A' Response to an Exam on Wordsworth's "The world is too much with us"

  • Sample Exam Answer

• Reading Strategies

  • TP-CASTT (brief), Poetry Analysis: TP-CASTT (more detailed)

  • Tone and Detailed Explanation of DIDLS

  • S.O.A.P.S. Document Analysis

  • Reading Strategies and LIE

  • PDIDLS

*Final paper due

• 3–5 pp.

• MLA format

  • MLA Formatting and Style

  • Citation Styles Handbook: MLA

  • MLA Citation Examples

  • MLA Citation Style

  • Everything You Could Possibly Want to Know about Citing MLA Style

  • MLA Documentation Guidelines

• Some writing guidelines:

  • "Some Matters of Form" by Yale University (writing guidelines; pdf file)

  • Writing Prose (handbook on college writing, Yale University; pdf file)

  • Sources and Citation at Dartmouth College (pdf file)

  • Writing about Literature

  • Writing Papers for English and Literature: A Word of Advice (also A Few Things to Remember)

  • The Craft of a Literature Paper

  • Writing a Literature Paper: Guidelines, Suggestions, Strategies

  • What Makes a Good Literature Paper?

  • Guide to Essay Writing (helpful reference, where to start, evidence, argument, what is a good essay)

  • Writing about Literature (elements of the essay, the writing process, the research essay, documentation)

  • Developing an Outline (pdf file)

  • How to Write an Outline

• Some sample papers:

  • "To Know Well" by Jane Smith (on Shakespeare's sonnet 129: "Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame"; Word file)

  • "The Value of Restraint" by Amy Skerry (on Raymond Carver's short story "Cathedral"; Word file)