Week 1

Jan. 7

2: Medium and Meaning

Reading

• Carina Finn, "," Styleite (2014)
• Review of Finn and Berger's The Grey Bird, Diagram, vol. 14, no. 4
• The poem in Apple iOS 12.1 emoji set
  
• Stephanie Berger, "Don't mess with me I have been congratulating myself all morning," Styleite (2014)
• Jamaica Kincaid, "Girl," The New Yorker (1978; study guide)
• William Carlos Williams, "This Is Just to Say" (1934; study guide)
  
• Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1936)
• Jerome Rothenberg, "American Sign Language as a Medium for Poetry," Jacket 2 (2015)
  

3: Text and Versions

Reading

• Lewis Carroll, "Jabberwocky," Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)
• Martin Gardner, "Jabberwocky" Notes, The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition (2000)
• Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Netflix (2018 TV series episode)
• "Featurette: Consumer" (2019; video clip, 2:54 min.)
• "Scene" (2019; video clip, 2:46 min.)

Discussion: Text variation; versions and editions; primary and secondary texts in reading and analyzing literature; where does meaning in a text come from?; sound, sense, nonsense and interpretation; parody; themes; self-reflexivity; text and interactivity

4: Text and Reproductions

Reading

• William Blake, "A Poison Tree," Songs of Experience (1794; study guide)
• "A Poison Tree by William Blake," BBC (overview, themes, interpretations; form, structure, and language; comparison, context)
• "A Poison Tree," The William Blake Archive (plate of the poem)

Discussion: Unique texts and reproductions; Blake's illuminated texts; variations on allegory, repetition and reproduction; the function of meter and rhyme in the poem's narrative

Writing: (40 minutes): For a poem that Blake initially called “Christian Forbearance,” “A Poison Tree” teems with verbs and fervent action. Likewise contrastingly, the illustration depicts significantly barren branches for a tree that is so encouraged to grow and bear fruit. Are these discrepancies? Explain.

5: Experiments
Reading

• E. E. Cummings, "l(a," 95 Poems (1958)
• E. E. Cummings, "The New Art" (1915)
• E. E. Cummings, "Commentary on Life and Art," Modern American Poetry
• Adam Kirsch, "The Rebellion of E. E. Cummings," Harvard Magazine (2005)
• Billy Collins, "Is That a Poem?," Slate (2005)
• Ann L. Itical, "One Is the Loneliest Number: The Structures of Solitude in E. E. Cummings' 'l(a,'" Kansas State University (2000; sample student essay)

6: Experiments
Reading

• Aimee Bender, "Tiger Mending," Black Book (2004)
• Amy Cutler, Tiger Mending (2003)
• Aimee Bender, "Inside 'Tiger Mending': One Question Leads to Another," You Must Be This Tall to Ride (2009)
• Alex Behr, "Talking Tiger Fur: Amy Cutler and Aimee Bender," Propeller Quarterly, vol. 3, no. 1 (2011)
  
• James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, "Slipstream, the Genre That Isn't," Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology (2006)
• Eve Ensler, The Vagina Monologues (1996, 2001; video clip of the HBO movie of the play, 1 hr. 16:14 min.)
  

What Does a Text Do?

7: Banned Books

Reading

• Walt Whitman, "I Hear America Singing," Leaves of Grass (1860, 1881)
• "On 'I Hear America Singing,'" Modern American Poetry
• "Challenged and Banned Books," American Library Association
  

8: Challenged Books

Reading

• Sherman Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993)
• "Introduction"
• "Indian Education" (study guide)
• Howard Zinn
• "Columbus and Western Civilization," You Are Still Being Lied To (2009) excerpt
• 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
• Smoke Signals, directed by Chris Eyre (1998 film; watch at MCS Learning Commons)
• The People Speak, directed by Anthony Arnove, Chris Moore, and Howard Zinn (2009 film of live readings; watch at MCS Learning Commons)
• "Top Ten Most Challenged Books Lists," American Library Association
  

9: Required Reading

Reading

• Alfred Tennyson, "Ulysses" (1833, 1842)

10: Changing Canons

Reading

• Sharon Olds, "The Promise," The New Yorker (1990)
  
• Carol Ann Duffy, "Valentine," Mean Time (1993; study guide)
• Roger McGough, "40—Love" (1971)
  

12: Danger

Reading

• Martin McDonagh, The Pillowman (2003; study guide)
  

13: Benefit

Reading

• Martin McDonagh, The Pillowman (2003; study guide)
  

Test 1 (Midterm week: March 4–8, 2019)

(10 minutes for planning, 1 hour for writing; 25 points) In test 1 you will be given an essay-type prompt on material before the midterm except The Pillowman.

Test 2 (Midterm week: March 4–8, 2019)

(10 minutes for planning, 1 hour for writing; 25 points) Test 2 is on The Pillowman.

Who Reads a Text and How?

15: Time
Reading

• David Harvey, "Money, Time, Space, and the City," Consciousness and the Urban Experience excerpt (1985)
• Ted Chiang, "Story of Your Life" (1998; study guide)

16: Time

Reading

• Ted Chiang, "Story of Your Life" (1998; study guide)

17: Place

Reading

• David Ives
• "Preface," All in the Timing
• The Philadelphia, All in the Timing: Fourteen Plays (1995; study guide)
  
• "Preface," Time Flies
• Time Flies, Time Flies and Other Short Plays (2001)
  

Discussion: perspective; comedy (vs. tragedy); humor; plot; irony

Performance: Ten Ways to Read/Perform The Philadelphia: What is the Philadelphia? What constitutes a place? Are heptapods and humans in the same universe? Are Mark, Al and the waitress in the same place? Ten pairs of students will, through their acting, explore what place means. Where the segment calls for it, pairs will invite another classmate to play the waitress. Panuwat plays twice, in segments 5 and 7. Partners and lines are given below:

• 1: Arpawan and Thammasil: Beginning (p. 69) – "So be it. (WAITRESS exits)" (p. 70)
  
• 2: Kulatida and Nopparuj: (MARK enters, looking shaken and bedraggled.) – "Wow..." (p. 71)
  
• 3: Kaewsakul and Pattanun: "And that's the kind of weird thing" (p. 71) – "You're in a Philadelphia. That's all." (p. 72)
  
• 4: Pimlada and Prapa: "But I'm in—" (p. 72) – "you're only gonna get hurt, babe" (p. 73)
  
• 5: Pimdarin and Panuwat: "So what do I do?" (p. 73) – "Olympic-sized." (p. 73)
  
• 6: Puthita and Marisa: "But your job?" (p. 74) – "Uh-huh." (p. 75)
  
• 7: Panuwat and Pornchewa: "So. Would you like a Bud?" (p. 75) – "Okay, what'll you have? (Takes out her pad.)" (p. 75)
  
• 8: Kanidarpa and Kritsana: "Excellent." (p. 76) – "Gimme a Bud!" (p. 77)
  
• 9: Chonlada and Piengfa: "(To MARK) Anything to eat?" (p. 77) – "They're practically the same." (p. 78)
  
• 10: Pitchpisit and Panas: "(WAITRESS enters with a glass)" (p. 78) – "(Leans across the table with a smile.) So." (p. 79)
  

Creative Writing: The Bangkok: If a Philadelphia is where "you can't get what you ask for" (74), a Los Angeles is where "life is beautiful" (73) and a Cleveland is "like death, without the advantages" (79), what is a Bangkok like? Write a two-minute play that explores the experiences of this, our City of Angels. What is life like in a Bangkok, and how might one thrive there? Post your creation using your etymological pseudonym as a reply to the blog post on Roundtable Conversation.

18: Place

Reading

• "Biographical Note"
• Katherine Mansfield, "The Lady's Maid," The Garden-Party and Other Stories (1920; study guide)
  

Discussion:

19: Aesthetics

Reading

• Gwendolyn Brooks
• "We Real Cool" (1960 with audio of Brooks reading; study guide)
• "The Chicago Picasso," In the Mecca (1968)
  

20: Aesthetics

Reading

• Helena María Viramontes, "The Moths," The Moths and Other Stories (1995; study guide)

21: Glocality

Reading

• Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Ozymandias" (1819; study guide)
• Gillian Clarke, "Neighbours," Letting in the Rumour (1989)
  

22: Biography

Reading

• Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken" (1916; study guide)
  

Discussion:

Quiz 3 (10 points)

• Margaret Atwood, "There Was Once," Good Bones and Simple Murders (1992)
• Quiz
  
• Discussion

24:

Reading

• Michael Ondaatje, Warlight (2018)
  

Discussion:

Quiz 4 (10 points)

• Michael Ondaatje, "To a Sad Daughter," Secular Love (1984)

25: 

Reading

• Michael Ondaatje, Warlight (2018)

Discussion:

26:

Reading:

• Michael Ondaatje, Warlight (2018)

Discussion:

27: Literary Investigations

• If you are planning to use PowerPoint, make sure it is compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint 2013. 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 26, 2019.
• 5-minute individual presentation (15 minutes per panel) followed by
• 10-minute question and answer session
• Guidelines (includes topic suggestions, review checklist, and final paper and presentation guidelines)

Tentative Schedule

1. Time Flies
11:00–11:25 a.m.
Presiding: Arpawan Chaiyaraj
Speakers:
1. “Paper Title,” Kulatida Sukthana
2. “,” Thammasil Saikaew
3. “,” Kanidarpa Aromdee
 
Respondents:
1. Prapa Srivilairit
2. Pimdarin Neamsakul
3. Kritsana Siriarpakul
 
2. Poem Voyages
11:00–11:25 a.m.
Presiding: Porncheewa Lakpech
Speakers:
1. “Where Does The Bed Book Take You?,” Panas Atthawan
2. “Here and There in 'Ulysses,'” Puthita Padklang                
3. “Addonizio’s ‘What Do Women Want?,” Piengfa Chumwangwapee
 
Respondents:
1. Pattanun Arunpreechawat
2. Pitchpisit Sriatikul
3. Pimlada Chamsomboon
 
3. Trick Acts
11:30–11:55 a.m.
Presiding: Panuwat Kummaboot
Speakers:
1. “,” Kaewsakul Supanchanaburi                                       
2. “,”  Chonlada Taweeapiradeevarakul                                  
3. “Sisters in 'Tiger Mending,'” Prapa Srivilairit         

4. “Dependence,” Kritsana Siriarpakul
Respondents:
1. Porncheewa Lakpech
2. Arpawan Chaiyaraj
3. Nopparuj Sriratsirikul
4. Marisa Chatanamongkolsakul

28: Literary Investigations

7:30–9:25 a.m.
Theme potluck breakfast hosted by section 1. Currently on the menu: Snack bed automat snack (Nutella and bread), Mama Luna's quesadillas, coco'gnat' water.

Tentative Presentation Schedule

4. Indian Education
8:00–8:25 a.m.
Presiding: Puthita Padklang
Speakers:
1. “,” Pitchpisit Sriatikul
2. “Family,” Pimdarin Neamsakul
3. “Victor,” Marisa Chatanamongkolsakul
Respondents:
1. Panuwat Kummaboot
2. Kaewsakul Supanchanaburi
3. Kulatida Sukthana
 

5. Startling Education
8:30–8:55 a.m.
Presiding: Pitchpisit Sriatikul
Speakers:
1. “Conversation Piece,” Nopparuj Sriratsirikul
2. “Tiger Mending,” Pimlada Chamsomboon
3. “Misleading Title in ‘Indian Education,’” Porncheewa Lakpech
Respondents:
1. Kanidarpa Aromdee
2. Chonlada Taweeapiradeevarakul
3. Thammasil Saikaew
 
6. Weighty Education
9:00–9:25 a.m.
Presiding: Kulatida Sukthana
Speakers:
1. “Magical Realism and Inprobable Juxtaposition: A Way to Show an Alternative to an Accepted Reality in Helena Viramontes’s 'The Moths,'” Panuwat Kummaboot
2. “Schwer,” Pattanun Arunpreechawat
3. “Active Silence in Warlight,” Arpawan Chaiyaraj                                              
 
Respondents:
1. Panas Atthawan
2. Piengfa Chumwangwapee
3. Puthita Padklang

Final Exam: (8:30–11:30 a.m.)
The exam covers material from after the midterm. There are three parts: 1) unseen text, 2) short stories, plays and poems, and 3) Warlight.

• Preparation
• Matt McCluskey, "How Should I Prepare for Tests and Final Exams?," St. Lawrence University
• "Writing Exam Essays," University of Victoria (1995)
• "Essay Exams," University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• "Essay Exam Preparation," Utah State University
• Review
  
• L. Kip Wheeler, "Literary Vocabulary," Carson-Newman University
• Analysis
• "Descriptive versus Critical/Analytical," University of Nottingham
  
• "Essay Terms Explained," University of Leicester
• "Analysis and Argument," University of Richmond
  
• "What Is Analysis?"
• "Writing Critically: Bloom's Taxonomy"
  
• Owen M. Williamson, "Advanced Power Tools for Opening Up a Text," University of Texas at El Paso
• Practice