Engl 20923, Literature and Civilization II, sec. 655
TTR, 2:00-3:20 PM, Winton-Scott 148

Literature and Civilization II is a course intended to explore the role of literary, rhetorical, and dramatic expression in the development of cultural ideas, institutions, and roles. As it is vetted for global awareness credit (GA), the course is intended to help students develop a critical awareness of global perspectives. As it is also vetted for Humanities credit (Hum), the course is intended to help students analyze texts, examine the nature and value of human life, and construct relevant arguments. Since literature and civilization are rather broad, ambiguous terms, and since Lit and Civ II covers 300 years of human activity, we will primarily focus on the Modernism’s revolt against the past and its influence on the present (and future).

Required Texts:

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, The Finca Vigia Edition (EH)
The Cambridge Introduction to Modernism (CIM)
Modernism: An Anthology (MA)

08/24, T
introduction

08/28, TR
What is literature?
What is civilization?
“A Clean, Well-Lighted, 288-291 (EH)
“The Second Coming,” Yeats, 308-309 (MA)
“The Psalm of Life” [handout]

08/31, T
“Introduction,” 1-34 (CIM)
Ezra Pound [intro], 39; “Portrait d’une Femme,” 41-42; “In the Station of the Metro,” 43; The River Merchant’s Wife,” 43; “Shop Girl,” 47 (MA)

09/02, TR
T.S. Eliot, [intro], 113; “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” 114-117 (MA)

09/07, T
“The Avant-Garde and High Modernism,” 95-126 (CIM)
Yeats [intro], 301-302; “The Wild Swans at Coole,” 302-303; “Sailing to Byzantium,” 309-310; “Leda and the Sawn,” 325-326; HD [intro], 441; “Orchard,” 441; “Leda,” 448; Stevens [intro], 604; “The Snow Man,” 612 (MA) “The Emperor of Ice Cream,” handout.

09/09, TR
“Poetry,” 129-152 (CIM)
Modernist Poetry [various handouts]

09/14, T
“Prose Fiction,” 153-176 (CIM)
Joyce [intro], 211-212; “Araby,” 212-215 (MA)

09/16, TR
Ford [intro], 552; “The Miracle,” 561-566; Rhys [intro], 946; “Tea with an Artist,” 955-957 (MA)

09/21, T
Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” internet

09/23, TR
Wright, “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” internet

09/28, T
Fitzgerald, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” [short story], internet

09/30, TR
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [film]

10/05, T
in-class midterm

10/07, TR
library research

10/12, T
Fall Break

10/14, TR
“Literature and Politics,” 209-236 (CIM)
“Up in Michigan,” 59-62 (EH)

10/19, T
“Indian Camp” and “The Doctor and The Doctor’s Wife,” 65-82 (EH)

10/21, TR
“The End of Something” and “The Three-Day Blow,” 79-93 (EH)

10/26, T
“Cross-Country Snow,” 143-147; “Ten Indians,” (EH)

10/28, TR
Halloween!

11/02, T
“A Way You’ll Never Be,” 306-315 (EH)

11/04, TR
“Father and Sons,” 369-377 (EH)

11/09, T
“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” 5-28 (EH)

11/11, TR
“The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” 39-56 (EH)

11/16 T
“Hills Like White Elephants,” 211-214 (EH)

11/18, TR
“Cat in the Rain,” 129-131; “A Sea Change,” 302-305 (EH)

11/23, T
library research

11/25
Thanksgiving

11/30, T
“Under the Ridge,” 460-469; “Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog,” 487-491 (EH)

12/02, TR
final presentations

12/07, T
final presentations

Requirements:

1) Community Engagement: Community engagement and service learning are primary course components and are required of all students. The basic assumption behind service learning is that, by performing some type of community-engaged activity, students can gain significant experience in their specific subject areas—and into their own lives. There will be two formal interview exercises during the semester (interviewing a staff person and an international student) and two less formal activities that will explore global diversity on campus.

2) Blogging: To document your community-engagement activities, and as well to comment on your reading, you are required to keep an online journal or weblog. With the help of technology at Blogger (http://www.blogger.com?), you will build your own web log, or “blog,” and keep an electronic journal of your experiences as a student, as a reader, and more generally as an individual living in a complex world. You will be expected to write 8 brief one- to two-page reflections, describing your thoughts and reactions to your experiences as. You are required to write 4 of your responses on your community-engagement activities (2 reflecting on your experiences interviewing, and 2 on your explorations around campus). You are also asked to post 4 reflections of your reading experiences. To do this, you are required to describe your experiences as a reader for the texts assigned to 4 separate classes (choose texts that engaged your attention). What you write is up to you. You do not have to write a complicated literary analysis, analyzing and interpreting. I would prefer that you examine your experience as a reader. What happened when you read the poem or story? How—and why--did you respond to what you read? You are also welcome to use your blog to reflect on your experiences throughout the semester, commenting on whatever moves you to write. But please remember that a blog is not a personal—and private—diary.

Blogging is a less formal form of writing than an essay, and thus blogs are a good forum to reflect, analyze, vent, explore, and consider. But blogs are also a public form of writing and, because of the technology, an excellent way of sharing, collaborating, and responding. In addition to posting your own blog entries, you will also be required to post brief half-page responses to 4 other student blogs throughout the semester (meaning you have to read what others are posting). You are welcome to comment on any of the other course blogs, but please vary the blogs you respond to. Please do not respond to the same blog (and person) but to 4 separate blogs.

Please keep in mind that blogs are a public forum, accessible to anyone who has internet access, so please do not post anything that you would not share with the classroom and internet communities.

We will use our course blogs as an open dialogue to reflect on our experiences in Literature and Civilization.

3) Midterm and Final Exams: There will be both midterm and final essay exams, and both exams will have two parts, a take-home essay and an in-class short answer exam. These exams will not simply test for familiarity with course content, but will also be used to reflect on your learning experiences. My intention is not to assess your specific knowledge of texts and authors, but to encourage you to examine your experiences as a student, both in my course and in all your courses.

4) Quizzes. In most classes there will be short quizzes (3-5 questions). The questions will serve as a reading check, but they will also be used to generate discussion. The quizzes will be graded on a point scale, with 3 for excellent, 2 for good, and 1 for acceptable. At the end of the semester you will receive a cumulative score for your quizzes. Quizzes will be collected and returned.

5) Lead Respondent Assignment: Throughout the semester students will be asked to help lead our discussions, and these discussion-leader assignments may be undertaken individually or in small groups (maximum of 3). Each individual or group will choose a specific class day and will be expected to make a presentation on the primary texts assigned for that. These presentations may include biographical or historical information about author, the composition and structure of the texts, summaries of significant material, and analysis of themes and issues. More importantly, these presentations should also include a brief discussion of what the individual (or group) thinks is relevant in the text and a list of questions for discussion. These presentations should be informative and provocative. Yet at the same time they should also be enjoyable! I encourage you to consider creative suggestions for stimulating interest and arousing attention. Dramatizations may be videotaped, parts of texts acted out, and character roles performed. Multimedia presentations are always welcome. You should think about how you can make these presentations engaging.

A brief handout summarizing key points, pertinent information, and listing the questions
for discussion is required.

6) Library Research: Twice during the semester (10/07 and 11/23) you will be asked to conduct original research in the library by reading and commenting upon an early twentieth-century magazine (such as Life, Vogue, Saturday Evening Post). On these days we will not have class, and you will be expected to conduct your research. I ask that you find a specific issue of an original magazine from the 20s or 30s, and I would like you to write a 2- to 3-page response about what this particular issue was like. What were the articles and advertisements like? What kind of world did they depict? What were your responses to this magazine? These responses will be due the class following the research days (10/14 and 11/30). Late responses will not be accepted.

7) Final Presentations: For your final assignment, I would like you to put together a multimodal project that presents a reflection of your thoughts, observations, and experiences throughout the semester. Consider what you have learned that was interesting, striking, or memorable. These projects may include photographs, videos, sketches, recordings, music, prose, and poetry. You may use Power Point or present a video, or use other forms of multimodal presentation. Please be as creative as you like. As with the lead respondent assignments, please consider how to engage your audience’s attention. Along with your presentation, you must submit a 2 to 4 page explanation and justification of your presentation. These projects may be done individually or in small groups (maximum of 3). If done as a group project, each person's individual contributions must be apparent.

What you do in your final presentations is up to you, and part of the assignment is figuring out what to do. You can focus on a specific story or poem, or on a combination of stories and poems, or even on an entire series or theme that you found informative and interesting. This should be an opportunity to assess what you have learned.

8) Participation and Attendance: I am not formally setting an attendance policy, and you are responsible for your own attendance. I caution you, however, to keep in mind that the blog entries and quizzes cannot be made up or turned in late. Also, please keep in mind that active participation is a course requirement and weak participation will lower your final grade. Both written and verbal contributions will count towards participation.

9) Sense of Humor and An Appreciation of Irony: I also ask for your patience, understanding, and good humor. I sincerely wish that all of us enjoy our work together this semester, and I ask for your help in making this course a success.

Grading Scale:

Midterm and Final Exams: 30% (15% each)
Community Engagement and Blogging: 15%
Quizzes 15%
Lead Respondent Assignment 15%
Final Presentations 15%
Library Research 10%

Given the nature of human frailty, all of the above is subject to change

Dan Williams
Reed 414D and TCU Press (3000 Sandage)
817-257-6250, 817-257-7822
Office Hours: Friday, 10 to 12 AM, and by appointment
d.e.williams@tcu.edu

Course Outcomes:

--Students will analyze representative texts of significance and practice critical analysis of these texts
--Students will explore texts in terms of multiple cultural heritages, aesthetic approaches, and ideological perspectives
--Students will demonstrate critical awareness that problem solving in the global community requires the integration of a variety of perspectives
--Students will learn how to evaluate sources from a variety of perspectives and to use those sources
--Students will demonstrate through reading responses, informal writing, and class discussion a critical engagement with intellectually challenging texts
--Students will incorporate additional media into the composing products produced
--Students will demonstrate strategies of literary analysis through writing about the assigned texts in class
--Students will identify representative authors and works in a particular literary tradition
--Students will gain an appreciation of the development of the short story in a global perspective
--Students will gain pedagogical experience, and develop greater sensitivity to significant cultural issues, by working closely with a Latino/a Physical Plant employee

Academic Conduct: An academic community requires the highest standards of honor and integrity in all of its participants if it is to fulfill its missions. In such a community faculty, students, and staff are expected to maintain high standards of academic conduct. The purpose of this policy is to make all aware of these expectations. Additionally, the policy outlines some, but not all, of the situations which can arise that violate these standards. Further, the policy sets forth a set of procedures, characterized by a "sense of fair play," which will be used when these standards are violated. In this spirit, definitions of academic misconduct are listed below. These are not meant to be exhaustive. I. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT Any act that violates the spirit of the academic conduct policy is considered academic misconduct. Specific examples include, but are not limited to: A. Cheating. Includes, but is not limited to: 1. Copying from another student's test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings. 2. Using in any academic exercise or academic setting, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test. 3. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during an academic exercise without the permission of the person in charge of the exercise. 4. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release. 5. Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for oneself, in a manner that leads to misrepresentation of either or both students work. B. Plagiarism. The appropriation, theft, purchase, or obtaining by any means another's work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one's own offered for credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another's work without giving credit therefore. C. Collusion. The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit. D. Abuse of resource materials. Mutilating, destroying, concealing, or stealing such materials. E. Computer misuse. Unauthorized or illegal use of computer software or hardware through the TCU Computer Center or through any programs, terminals, or freestanding computers owned, leased, or operated by TCU or any of its academic units for the purpose of affecting the academic standing of a student. F. Fabrication and falsification. Unauthorized alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification involves altering information for use in any academic exercise. Fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise. G. Multiple submission. The submission by the same individual of substantial portions of the same academic work (including oral reports) for credit more than once in the same or another class without authorization. H. Complicity in academic misconduct. Helping another to commit an act of academic misconduct. I. Bearing false witness. Knowingly and falsely accusing another student of academic misconduct.

Disabilities Statement:

Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.

Adequate time must be allowed to arrange accommodations and accommodations are not retroactive; therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the academic term for which they are seeking accommodations. Each eligible student is responsible for presenting relevant, verifiable, professional documentation and/or assessment reports to the Coordinator. Guidelines for documentation may be found at http://www.acs.tcu.edu/DISABILITY.HTM.

Students with emergency medical information or needing special arrangements in case a building must be evacuated should discuss this information with their instructor/professor as soon as possible.