Tulane University



Tulane University

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

ENGL 101-20: James Joyce’s Ulysses: Prose Style and Experimentation

Instructor: Aleksandra Hajduczek Spring Semester 2007

Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday Tues./Thurs.

1pm-3pm and by appointment 3:30-5:20 p.m.

Norman Mayer 202 Location: tba

E-mail: ahajducz@tulane.edu

Course Description: This course will introduce you to the practice of college composition and academic discourse. Writing is a skill and, as with any type of skill, it can be improved through guided instruction. This course offers you guided practice in the strategies and techniques that are necessary for the composition process and will help prepare you for the kinds of academic writing you will be engaged in throughout your college career. Specifically, this course will focus on topic development and organization, techniques for writing clearly and coherently, stylistic options at the word and sentence level for maximum effectiveness, incorporating research materials, academic conventions of citing the words and ideas of others, and the importance of critical feedback and revision. In addition, the reading assignments in the course are designed to improve your ability to read critically and analytically, to generate ideas for written assignments, and to help you engage in academic discussions within the classroom.

Course Introduction: Because of its radical experimentation with prose style, James Joyce’s Ulysses has been simultaneously hailed as a masterpiece and described as one of the most complex and difficult texts readers will encounter. Joyce’s novel is a work that deliberately changes, develops, and transforms itself through the use of various stylistic “masks.” Joyce employs a variety of styles as a way to filter or order experience and interpret reality. The changes in style that occur from chapter to chapter in Joyce’s work function as rhetorical experiments that challenge the reader’s notions of narrative form and conventional prose techniques.

The prose style and experimentation in Ulysses, therefore, offers an infinitely rich model to explore issues and techniques in your own writing. We will use Joyce’s novel as a lens through which to examine a variety of stylistic devices, as well as a framework from which to explore the flexibility and instability of language itself. Some of the issues we will focus on in terms of style include clarity, meaning, narrative unity, reader expectation, rhetorical tropes, imitation, and parody.

We will be reading Ulysses in installments, chapter by chapter, with a minimum of intimidation. Furthermore, we will supplement our reading of the novel with literary criticism that focuses on the radical stylistic changes that occur throughout the novel. Although focusing on the work of James Joyce in particular, this course is designed to improve your ability to appreciate, analyze, and write coherently and persuasively about all sorts of texts, equipping you with interpretive skills that will assist you in your lifelong practice of reading and writing. The complexity and openness of this particular novel will hopefully offer you a work that you can return to again and again for further investigation, further interpretation, and further enjoyment.

Course Texts:

James Joyce - Ulysses

Harry Blamires - The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses

Readings on Blackboard Reserve (BB) and class handouts

* I also recommend you purchase an MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers, 3rd Edition, if you don’t own one already.

The texts that will be included in the handouts are selections from Karen Lawrence’s The Odyssey of Style in Ulysses, Marilyn French’s The Book as World: James Joyce’s Ulysses, Richard Lanham’s Style: An Anti-Textbook, Derek Attridge’s, “Reading Joyce,” and Mikhail Bakhtin’s, “Discourse of the Novel.” I have paired up the Lawrence and French readings because both of their works explore the use of style in Ulysses in an accessible chapter by chapter analysis, and French offers commentary on the stylistic devices found in chapters that are not covered in Lawrence’s book. Lawrence and French, furthermore, differ in their readings of the novel in many significant ways (particularly in regards to how the reader functions in the text and whether or not the stylistic elements of the novel offer the reader a final revelation or meaning in the end). Their differing opinions on how to read the novel’s stylistic experimentation will be used to open up issues for debate and critique in the classroom. I am also using two chapters from Lanham’s book that deal with issues of clarity and opaque style. The chapter on clarity will be used to complement the opening six episodes in the novel and the discussion of opaque style will be paired up with the Aeolus episode, where the reader first experiences an obvious departure in style. Bakhtin’s article will be included later in the semester within the context of how a single text can contain multiple voices and styles and will be discussed within the context of the “Wandering Rocks” episode. I will begin the course by having the students read Attridge’s article, “Reading Joyce.” Although it doesn’t deal specifically with Ulysses, it does offer a general overview of the prose styles that Joyce uses, the multiple ways that meaning can be extracted from his texts, and the active experience that goes along with being a reader of Joyce. I feel that this article not only sets up a good introduction for reading Ulysses, but it will also be a critical work that we can return to throughout the course as the students become more engaged and more familiar with Joyce’s techniques. I will also be incorporating information from Joseph Harris’ Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts, David Bartholomae’s Facts, Artifacts, and Counterfacts, and the appendix of Lanham’s Analyzing Prose and Johnson’s A Rhetoric of Pleasure (in discussing rhetorical tropes). The key concepts in these works, however, will be discussed and read about in class, rather than assigned as additional homework reading.

Assignments:

Five two-page responses, due at the beginning of class on the various specified due dates. These responses are designed to get you to come to class with ideas and topics for discussion regarding the reading that has been done so far. These two-page responses may also help you develop material for one of your longer papers. Response papers should be typed, double-spaced with the appropriate fonts and margins. These assignments should be no longer than 2 pages, and they should display your opinions about the readings. They can be somewhat less formal

than the essays, but they will be graded in terms of originality, critical thinking, analysis, and style. The response papers will be graded out of four points. If you do nor turn in a response paper, then you will receive a 0/F.

Two five-page papers, due on February 27th and April 5th. You will turn in a rough draft of each paper to me at least one class session before the due date (as specified on the schedule) and we will workshop the rough drafts during the following class session.

One ten-page paper, due on May 8th. This paper will involve you doing outside research on your particular topic and can incorporate material from either your two-page responses or one of your two five-page papers. Once again, you will turn in a rough draft for this paper and we will workshop them during the final class session. Also, I will offer conference time during the day on April 19th so that you can meet with me individually to discuss the research paper and your overall progress in the course.

All of your essays should be typed, double-spaced with the appropriate 1-inch margins, and you should use a 12-point font (nothing fancy). Your essay should include your name and date on the first page. Please do not use cover sheets and take time to proofread diligently to avoid obvious surface mistakes.

The response papers are meant to ensure that students do the reading, generate ideas for in-class discussion, and provide potential material for one of the longer papers. They will also offer students a change to practice writing techniques in a more informal setting and, in using material from these responses in their longer assignments, they will also get some hands-on experience with revision and rewriting. There will be a general topic for each paper, but I will allow the students to select the particular reading they want to focus on in their response. Specifically, I am hoping that each of the two-page responses will allow them to practice at least one of Harris’ five “moves” (i.e. “coming to terms”/summarizing, “forwarding”/analysis, “countering”/debate, etc.)

The five-page papers will incorporate writing techniques and issues that have been discussed in class up to that point. The first paper will use Harris’ “moves” of “coming to terms” and “forwarding” and teach students how to do an effective summary and analysis. The second paper topic will take up the issues of imitation and parody and will offer students the chance to imitate one of the styles found in the novel and then explain their technique.

The final ten-page paper will ask students to revisit a topic or issue they chose to write about in either their response paper or their five-page paper and expand it by incorporating their own research.

Grading:

Exercises & Workshops - 10 points

Participation and Attendance - 10 points

Response Papers - 20 points (4 points each)

Paper One - 15 points

Paper Two - 15 points

Paper Three - 30 points

Late Papers: No late papers will be accepted. If you need an extension on a paper assignment, please get in touch with me before the due date.

Attendance Policy: Regular and punctual attendance is a requirement for this class. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of class. If you have more than four (4) unexcused absences over the course of the term, your grade will be lowered for each additional class you miss. Excessive absence is grounds for failing the course. If you are absent from class with or without an excuse, your are nevertheless responsible for any material that was covered in class during your absence.

Honor Code: All Tulane students are required to behave according to the Honor Code. It states, in part, “In all work submitted for academic credit, students are expected to represent themselves honestly. The presence of a student’s name on any work submitted in completion of an academic assignment is considered to be an assurance that the work and ideas are the result of the student’s own intellectual effort, stated in her or his own words, and produced independently, unless clear and explicit acknowledgment of the sources for the work and ideas is included. This principle applies to papers, tests, homework assignments, artistic productions, laboratory reports, computer programs, and other assignments. Students are expected to report to the instructor or associate dean any observed violations of the Honor Code.” Proper citation methods will be discussed in class. For the complete text of the Honor Code, please visit

Reading Schedule:

Readings and assignments are due on the date they are listed

Week 1

Jan. 16: Introduction to the course

Jan. 18:

Reading Due: Derek Attridge, “Reading Joyce”

In-class discussion will center on the connection between reading and writing, incorporating David Bartholomae’s ideas on the importance of critical reading from Facts, Artifacts, and Counterfacts. We will also discuss Harris’ concept of “coming to terms” with a text. An in-class exercise may include doing a group reading and discussion of a short story from Joyce’s Dubliners to highlight some of the ideas in Bartholomae and Harris.

Week 2

Jan. 23:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Telemachus, Nestor, and Proteus (pgs. 2-51)

Jan. 25:

Reading Due: Karen Lawrence, “The Narrative Norm”

Marilyn French, selection from “The Rock of Ithaca”

Response Paper #1 Due.

Week 3

Jan. 30:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Calypso, The Lotus-Eaters (pgs.54-86)

Richard Lanham, “The Uses of Obscurity”

Feb. 1:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Hades (pgs. 87-115)

Marilyn French, selection from “The Rock of Ithaca”

The first three weeks of the course will center on issues in the novel of narrative unity, reader expectation, and clarity and will incorporate the first six episodes in Ulysses. We will continue to return to Harris’ notion of “coming to terms” and “forwarding” throughout our class discussions about the reading, as well as continue our discussion of the connection between reading and writing. Using the Lawrence, Blamires, French, and Lanham readings, we will focus on techniques for summarizing and analyzing the text in preparation for the first long paper.

Week 4

Feb. 6:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Aeolus (pgs. 116-150)

Feb. 8:

Reading Due: Karen Lawrence, “‘Aeolus: Interruption and Inventory”

Richard Lanham, “The Opaque Style”

Response Paper #2 Due.

Week 5

Feb. 13:

Reading Due: Ulysses - The Lestrygonians (pgs. 151-183)

Feb. 15:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Scylla and Charybdis (pgs. 184-218)

Turn in Rough Draft of Paper #1

Week 6

Feb. 20:

Mardi Gras Break. No Class.

Feb. 22:

Workshop.

Week 7

Feb. 27:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Wandering Rocks (pgs. 219-255)

Mikhail Bakhtin, “Discourse of the Novel”

Paper #1 Due.

Paper Topic: Choose one key scene from the first six episodes of the novel that you think is particularly significant to the chapter and do a summary/analysis of it. Think about why this scene is especially important to our understanding of the episode or the novel so far. What themes or issues does this scene highlight or represent that are important to our understanding of the episode? How is it significant for our understanding of the main characters?

Mar. 1:

Reading Due: Ulysses - skim the Sirens chapter (pgs. 256-291)

Read selection from Marilyn French, “The City”

These four weeks of class will begin to look at Joyce’s departure from the style established in the first six episodes of the novel and examine the various stylistic techniques and rhetorical tropes used in this part of the text. We will incorporate debate and critique by using the differing views of Lawrence, French, and Bakhtin regarding the use of multiple styles/voices in the text. We will also discuss and focus on Harris’ “moves” of “forwarding” and “countering” within this context. I will also have the students look at the appendix of Lanham’s Analyzing Prose and Johnson’s A Rhetoric of Pleasure to familiarize them with the rhetorical devices found throughout the middle episodes in the novel.

Week 8

Mar. 6:

Reading Due: Karen Lawrence, “‘Wandering Rocks’ and “Sirens’: The Breakdown of Narrative”

Reading Response #3 Due.

Mar. 8:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Cyclops (pgs. 292-345)

Week 9

Mar. 13:

Reading Due: Ulysses - skim the Oxen of the Sun chapter (pgs. 383-428),

Read Nausicca (pgs. 346-382)

Karen Lawrence, “Cyclops, Naussica, and Oxen of the Sun: Borrowed Style

Mar. 15:

No Class - Conferences with instructor regarding progress in the course so far.

Reading Response #4 Due

Week 10

Mar. 20: Spring Break. No Class.

Mar. 22: Spring Break. No Class.

Week 11

Mar. 27:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Circe (pgs. 429-609)

Rough Draft of Paper #2 Due.

Mar. 29:

Workshop.

Week 12

April 3:

Reading Due: Ulysses - finish Circe (pgs. 429-609)

Selection from Marilyn French, “The World”

April 5:

Reading Due: Karen Lawrence, “‘Circe’; The Rhetoric of Drama”

Paper #2 Due.

Paper Topic: Choose a scene from Ulysses and write an imitation of it using the specific stylistic devices found in Joyce. Your imitation should be about 2-2 ½ pages long. The rest of your paper should be an explanation of the stylistic technique you have chosen to imitate and how it functions in your imitation..

These weeks of class will incorporate ideas about imitation and parody into our discussion of prose style. We will also continue discussing Harris’ “moves,” particularly “taking an approach” and “revising” in preparation for the final research paper. We will continue to look at rhetorical tropes as they appear in the final episodes. We will also revisit issues of clarity and meaning, including returning to the ideas found in Lanham and Attridge now that the students are more familiar with the novel and with Joyce’s use of style.

Week 13

April 10:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Eumaeus (pgs. 612-665)

Karen Lawrence, “‘Eumaeus: The Way of All Language”

April 12:

Reading Due: Ulysses - Ithaca (pgs. 666-737)

Week 14

April 17:

Reading Due: Karen Lawrence, “‘Ithaca’: The Order of Things”

Read selection from Marilyn French, “The Universe”

Reading Response #5 Due.

April 19:

No class - Conferences with instructor regarding progress in the course and direction of the research paper.

Week 15:

April 24: Reading Due: Ulysses - Penelope (738-end)

April 26:

Reading Due: Karen Lawrence, “‘Penelope’: A Coda”

Marilyn French, “Coda: The Earth”

Rough Draft of Paper #3 Due.

May 1: Last Day of Class.

Workshop.

May 8: Final Papers due by 5pm.

Final Paper Topic: Pick a topic you have already written about this semester from either one of your two-page responses or one of your five-page papers and develop it by using outside research. You may, for instance, take a paper you have written earlier and do a comparison/contrast with another episode in the novel. Or, you may want to incorporate some of the secondary reading we have done in the course (i.e. Bakhtin, French, Lawrence) to rethink and reinterpret an issue you addressed earlier in the semester.

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