Syllabus for WRC 1013



Syllabus for ENG 2013.007 - Introduction to Literature

University of Texas at San Antonio

Fall 2010

Wes Spradley, Instructor

|My Office - HSS 4.03.06 |

|My Office phone - 458-5390 |

|Office hours - 9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Tues/Thurs |

|E-mail - wesley.spradley@utsa.edu |

| |

|It is easier to get in touch with me via email than by phone. Most of the time when I am on campus, I am |

|in class, but email I can check even from home. Of the two emails, the one above and the one on WebCT, |

|WebCT is probably better. |

“Writing is not literature unless it gives to the reader a pleasure which arises not only from the things said, but from the way in which they are said.”

- Stoppford Brooke

Course Description

This course is an introduction to literature for non-English majors. It includes a survey of literary works from various genres and periods. Students will be introduced to several major critical approaches to use as tools in analyzing short stories, poetry, drama, film, and the novel.

Course Objectives

The goals for this course are based on the university’s Domain IV Core Curriculum goals, and may be summarized thusly: 1) The course should give students an awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities. 2) The course should give students a basic knowledge of the guiding principles, both aesthetic and theoretical, of the arts and humanities. 3) The course should enable the student to respond thoughtfully and critically to literary works as expressions of individual and human values and aesthetics within historical and social contexts.

Course Structure

The topics we will cover in this course in broad outline include:

Short fiction – Weeks 2-5

Poetry – Weeks 6-9

Drama – Weeks 10-12

Longer fiction – Weeks 13-15

Course Requirements

Four Exams -- one at the end of each section. Please bring an 882-E scantron for these exams.

Quizzes -- Please buy a couple of packages of the 815-E scantron for these quizzes.

Reader Response Paragraphs -- as listed in the assignments on the Calendar page on CE6.

Selected Shorts on NPR – . Selected Shorts, a one hour radio program on National Public Radio, explores the world of the short story through sound, giving the audience a chance to hear a story read aloud. On three different occasions over the semester, listen to the entire one hour program and write a one page account of your listening experience.

Read aloud to a friend or small group – On three different occasions over the semester read aloud to a small group of your choice. Each reading experience should be 30 minutes to an hour. Get feedback from your friends, and write for each reading a one page report – your observations about reading, about your audience, about their understanding and appreciation of what you read for them.

Summary of Grading for the course

Four exams – 60%.

Pop quizzes – 10%.

Reader response paragraphs – 10%.

Selected Shorts on NPR – 10%.

Read aloud experience – 10%.

Extra credit on final average for London Shakespeare Actors group.

Course Texts

Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010.

Melville, Herman. Benito Cereno. Bedford College Editions. Ed. Wyn Kelley. Boston: Bedford, 2008.

Important Notes and Policies

Make up work:

No make up of pop quizzes

No make up of exams

Exceptions: religious holidays, university-sponsored events, verifiable legal/medical issues. Please notify me ahead of time for these exceptions.

Make up exams will not be the same format as the scheduled exam.

Quizzes:

Quizzes are short and objective and may be anytime during class.

If you come in late for a quiz, no extra time will be given.

Disabilities: To receive support services, students with disabilities must register with Disability Services (MS 2.03.18; 458-4157-voice; 458-4981-TTY).

Finally, any time you feel the need to discuss your writing with me or have questions about the class, feel free to drop by during office hours (I schedule office hours specifically for you), schedule a conference, or drop me an email.

Course Schedule – Fall 2010

Week 1 – Introduction to the Course

1. 8/26 Thursday, First Day of Class – Introduction to Course, Requirements, Expectations, Other Stuff to Get Us Started

Unit I – Short Fiction

Week 2 – The Role of Stories in Human Existence, Kinds of Stories

2. 8/31 Tuesday

“Flight Patterns”

“Gorilla, My Love”

“Boys and Girls”

3. 9/2 Thursday

“A & P”

“The Lost World”

“The Country Husband”

Week 3 – Stories occur in a context

4. 9/7 Tuesday – Cultural and Historical Context – Women at the turn of 20th century America

“The Story of an Hour” – Kate Chopin

“The Storm” – Kate Chopin

Historical documents

5. 9/9 Thursday

“The Yellow Wallpaper” – Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“A Jury of Her Peers” – Susan Glaspell

Historical Documents

Week 4 – Author’s Own Work as Context – Flannery O’Connor

6. 9/14 Tuesday

“Good Country People”

“Everything that Rises Must Converge”

O’Connor Stuff

7. 9/16 Thursday

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”

O’Connor Stuff

Week 5 – The Elements of Story – Plot, etc.

8. 9/21 Tuesday

“Why I Live at the Post Office” – Eudora Welty

“The Birth-Mark” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“Bobby and Blackie” – Wes Spradley

9. 9/23 Thursday –

“Hills Like White Elephants” Earnest Hemingway

“Barn Burning” – William Faulkner

Week 6

10. 9/28 Tuesday – Exam on Short Fiction

Unit II – Poetry

11. 9/30 Thursday – Narrative Poetry – Some poetry tells stories as we found in short fiction. And so we talk about epic poetry, and we talk about narrative poetry.

Frost, 1020

Robinson, 801

Larkin, 804

Anonymous, 812

Song, 815

Eliot, 1013

Browning, 1009

Rich, 769

Week 7 – But poetry is highly condensed language intended to heighten emotions. Include here a discussion of the elements of poetry, such as metrical feet, symbolism, setting.

and the elements of poetry, such as metrical feet, symbolism, setting, situation, the occasions (occasional poetry) that give rise to poetry.

Texas country music star Walker from Mexia. She wrote country music. KUT, July 22, 2010, in the morning on the way down to SA. Point is that things happen that trigger powerful emotions that need to be expressed. Those powerful emotions expressed are poetry.

12. 10/5 Tuesday – Language

730

Kinnell, 664

Grosholz, 665

Hayden, 666

Baca, 666

Cherry, 667

Ortiz, 669

Feldstein, 670

Yeats, “The Second Coming,” 901

Dickinson, “Because I Could not stop for Death,” 886

“Wild Nights,” 889

Chap. 13, pg. 730-772

Especially, pp. 756-758

13. 10/7 Thursday – Language and Music, pg. 793-800.

Week 8

14. 10/12 Tuesday – Form – Sonnet, etc.,

External Form, Chap. 16, pg. 824 – the most important form not included in the chapter is blank verse. Give a summary of forms.

Moras, 808

The Sonnet –

Hayden, 1027

Hopkins, 1030

Donne, 1012

15. 10/14 Thursday – Poetry in context – historical – Harlem Renaissance, pp. 947-981

Bontemps, 956

Cullen, 957-958

Grimke, 958-959

Hughes, 959-961

Johnson, 962

Mckay, 962-964

Historical background, 964-981

Introductory Material, 948-956

Week 9

16. 10/19 Tuesday – Poetry in context – literary tradition, pg. 909-945, especially on Eden.

17. 10/21 Thursday – Exam on Poetry

Drama

Week 10

18. 10/26 Tuesday – Trifles, Susan Glaspell, 1073

19. 10/28 Thursday – The Real Inspector Hound, Tom Stoppard, 1083

Week 11

20. 11/2 Tuesday – A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry, 1583

21. 11/4 Thursday – A Raisin in the Sun

Week 12

22. 11/9 Tuesday – Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller, 1646

23. 11/11 Thursday – Death of a Salesman

Week 13

24. 11/16 Tuesday – Exam on Drama

Longer Fiction

25. 11/18 Thursday – “Bartleby, the Scrivener” – Herman Melville (25 pages) and “The Open Boat” – Stephen Crane (17 pages)?????

Week 14

26. 11/23 Tuesday – Benito Cereno

27. 11/25 Thursday – Thanksgiving Holiday

Week 15

28. 11/30 Tuesday – Benito Cereno

29. 12/2 Thursday, Last Day of Class – finish discussion of BC and prepare for final.

Week 16 – Final Exams Begin Wednesday, December 8.

Final Exam is on Tuesday, December 14.

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