All readings listed below, with the exception of M 8/23, should be completed before class on the date listed on the schedule. Changes to this schedule may be made during the term, but any alterations will be announced in class in advance.
| Week | Class | 212 Assignments | 300 Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1: The Basics | Unit 1: The Epic | ||
| 1 | M 8/23 |
Topics: course overview and introductory terms Reading: (see Canvas Modules) • A: Gilgamesh--Story of the Flood [end on 31 after "Here we live."] • B: Hebrew Bible: Genesis--verses 6-9 • C: Metamorphoses [The Flood and Deucalion and Pyrrha] [start on 8 with "Many are loud..."; end with 14 "...long and lovely hair."] Discussion: Applying introductory terms |
Topics: course overview--tradition and literature in English Reading: (see Canvas Modules) • Gilgamesh--Story of the Flood [end on 31 after "Here we live."] • Hebrew Bible: Genesis--verses 6-9 • Metamorphoses [The Flood and Deucalion and Pyrrha] [start on 8 with "Many are loud..."; end with 14 "...long and lovely hair."] Discussion: Tradition and Culture |
| W 8/25 |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Ovid, from Metamorphoses • Book VI [Tereus, Procne, and Philomela] pp. 134-142 • Book VII [Medea stories] pp. 144-55 end with "Had she not had her dragons, / She surely must have paid the price." • Book X [Pygmalion] pp. 232-34 • Book XIV [The Island of Circe] pp. 332-34 In-Class Exercise #1: Setting |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Ovid, from Metamorphoses • Book VI [Tereus, Procne, and Philomela] pp. 134-142 • Book VII [Medea stories] pp. 144-55 end with "Had she not had her dragons, / She surely must have paid the price." • Book X [Orpheus and Eurydice] pp. 225-28 • Book X [Pygmalion] pp. 232-34 • Book X [Myrrah] pp. 234-41 • Book X [Venus and Adonis] pp. 241-2 • Book XIV [The Island of Circe] pp. 332-34 In-Class Exercise #1: Narrative Traits of Episodic Epics |
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| 2 | M 8/30 |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Giovanni Boccacio, from Decameron • Third Day: 9th Story pp. 231-40 • Fourth Day: 5th Story pp. 283-86 • Seventh Day: 2nd Story pp. 422-26 • Ninth Day: 2nd Story pp. 560-62 In-Class Exercise #2: Plot Structure |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Giovanni Boccacio, from Decameron • Author's Forward pp. 3-5 • First Day: Introduction pp. 6-23 • Third Day: 9th Story pp. 231-40 • Fourth Day: 5th Story pp. 283-86 • Seventh Day: 2nd Story pp. 422-26 • Ninth Day: 2nd Story pp. 560-62 • Conclusion pp. 678-81 • Author's Afterword pp. 682-86 In-Class Exercise #2: Framing Devices in Episodic Epics |
| W 9/1 |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Marguerite de Navarre, from Heptameron • Story 3 pp. 1079-84 • Story 30 pp. 1084-90 from The Thousand and One Nights • The First Night pp. 1783-84 • The Second Night pp. 1784-85 • The Third Night pp. 1785-86 In-Class Exercise #3: Character and Point of View |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Marguerite de Navarre, from Heptameron • Story 3 pp. 1079-84 • Story 30 pp. 1084-90 from The Thousand and One Nights • Prologue pp. 1772-83 • The First Night pp. 1783-84 • The Second Night pp. 1784-85 • The Third Night pp. 1785-86 In-Class Exercise #3: Variations of the Episodic Epic |
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| 3 | M 9/6 | Labor Day--No Class | |
| W 9/8 |
Reading: Homer, from The Odyssey • Book 1 pp. 5-14 • Book 9 pp. 96-109 In-Class Exercise #4: Identifying Cultural Discourses |
Homer, from The Odyssey • Book 1 pp. 5-14 • Book 2 pp. 15-24 • Book 9 pp. 96-109 In-Class Exercise #4: Generic Traits of Heroic Epics Homework #1 due by midnight |
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| 4 | M 9/13 |
Reading: Homer, from The Odyssey • Book 10 pp. 109-122 • Book 11 pp. 123-137 • Book 22 pp. 255-67 In-Class Exercise #5: Unit 1 Concept Review |
Reading: Homer, from The Odyssey • Book 10 pp. 109-122 • Book 11 pp. 123-137 • Book 22 pp. 255-67 In-Class Exercise #5: Translation |
| W 9/15 | Online Assignment: Unit Test 1 [no in-class meeting] Unit 1 Test open from noon Wednesday 9/15 to noon, Monday 9/20 |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Dante Alighieri, from Divine Comedy, "Inferno" • see diagrams of Dante' Afterlife • Canto I pp. 766-70 • summary of Canto II pp. 770 • Cantos III-V pp. 774-87 • Canto VIII pp. 795-99 In-Class Exercise #6: Genre Evolution--Heroic Epic |
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| Unit 2: Advanced Concepts | Unit 2: Drama | ||
| 5 | M 9/20 |
Topics: Unit introduction and terms In-Class Exercise #6: Close Reading |
Topics: Unit introduction and terms In-Class Exercise #7: Close Reading Homework #2 due by midnight |
| W 9/22 |
Reading: Euripides, Medea pp. 3-37 (entire play) In-Class #7: Genre Traits of Drama |
Reading: • Euripides, Medea pp. 3-37 (entire play) • Xenophon, from Oeconomicus pp. 41-45 • Apollonius of Rhodes, from Aronautica pp. 45-47 • Seneca, from Medea pp. 47-51 In-Class #8: Drama in Cultural Context |
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| 6 | M 9/27 |
Reading: Shakespeare, Macbeth Acts I-III In-Class Exercise #8: Theme |
Reading: Shakespeare, Macbeth Acts I-III In-Class Exercise #9: Rhetorical Analysis |
| W 9/29 |
Reading: Shakespeare, Macbeth Acts IV-V In-Class Exercise #9: Analyzing Performance |
Reading: Shakespeare, Macbeth Acts IV-V In-Class Exercise #10: Analyzing Performance as Adaptation |
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| 7 | M 10/4 |
Reading: Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler Acts 1-2 pp. 166-227 In-Class #10: Formal Features |
Reading: Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler Acts 1-2 pp. 166-227 |
| W 10/6 |
Reading: Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler Acts 3-4 pp. 228-264 In-Class Exercise #11: Figurative Language Unit 2 test open from 5pm Wednesday 10/6 to noon, Monday 10/11 Unit 2 essay due by midnight, Monday 10/11 |
Reading: Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler Acts 3-4 pp. 228-264 In-Class Exercise #11: Genre Evolution--Drama |
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| Unit 3: Literature and Culture | Unit 3: Building on Tradition | ||
| 8 | M 10/11 |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Dorothy Parker, "Penelope" [1926] Louise Glück, "Penelope's Song" [1998] Matthew Arnold, "Philomela" [1881] Jeannine Hall Gailey, "Philomel, at the End" [2006] In-Class Exercise #12: Allusion Unit 2 essay due by midnight |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Augusta Webster, from Portraits [1870] • Medea pp. 1-13 • Circe pp. 14-22 Suniti Namjoshi, "Eurydice's Answer" [2000] pp. 195-96 In-Class Exercise #12: Allusion Essay #1 due by midnight |
| W 10/13 |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Madeline Miller, Circe [2018] pp. 184-237 • Chapter 14--start at "I remember my shock" p. 184 • Chapter 15 • Chapter 16 • Chapter 17 In-Class Exercise #13: Adaptation |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Madeline Miller, Circe [2018] pp. 284-237 • Chapter 14--start at "I remember my shock" p. 184 • Chapter 15 • Chapter 16 • Chapter 17 In-Class Exercise #13: Adaptation and Original |
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| 9 | M 10/18 | Fall Break -- No Class | |
| W 10/20 |
Reading: Margaret Atwood, from Penelopiad [2005] • Chapter i-ii pp. 1-6 • Chapters xiv-xv pp. 99-119 • Chapters xx-xxi pp. 143-152 • Chapters xxiii-xxiv pp. 157-68 • Chapters xxvi-xxix pp. 175-196 In-Class Exercise #14: Analyzing Form |
Reading: Margaret Atwood, from Penelopiad [2005] • Chapter i-ii pp. 1-6 • Chapters xiv-xv pp. 99-119 • Chapters xx-xxi pp. 143-152 • Chapters xxiii-xxiv pp. 157-68 • Chapters xxvi-xxix pp. 175-196 In-Class Exercise #14: Adaptation as Cultural Contact Zone |
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| 10 | M 10/25 | Reading: G. Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion Acts 1-2 pp. 11-65 | Reading: G. Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion Acts 1-2 pp. 11-65 |
| W 10/27 |
Reading: G. Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion Acts 3-5 pp. 67-133 In-Class Viewing: Pygmalion [1938], Anthony Asquith, Director In-Class Exercise #15: Performance as Cultural Interface |
Reading: G. Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion Acts 3-5 pp. 67-133 In-Class Viewing: Pygmalion [1938], Anthony Asquith, Director In-Class Exercise #15: Conceptual Adaptation |
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| 11 | M 11/1 |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) • Group A and Group B: Simone de Beauvoir, "The Second Sex" [1949-50] • Group C and Group D: Audre Lorde, "Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference" [1979] In-Class Exercise #16: Analyzing Theory |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) • Cohen, Ralph. "History and Genre." Genre Theory and Historical Change (excerpts as noted) In-Class Exercise #16: Analyzing Theory |
| W 11/3 |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Group A: Björklund, Jenny. "Playing with Pistols: Female Masculinity in Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler." Group B: Buckley, Jennifer. "Talking Machines: Shaw, Phonography, and Pygmalion." Group C: Massoura, Kiriaki. "Space, Time, and the Female Body: Homer’s Penelope in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad(2005)." Group D: Thomas, Catherine E. "(Un)Sexing Lady Macbeth: Gender, Power, and Visual Rhetoric in Her Graphic Afterlives." In-Class Exercise #17: Evaluating Criticism |
Reading: (see Canvas Modules) Moi, Toril. "Hedda’s Silences: Beauty and Despair in Hedda Gabler." In-Class Exercise #17: Evaluating Criticism |
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| Unit 4: Final Essay | |||
| 12 | M 11/8 |
Topic Development Exercise Unit 3 Homework due by midnight |
Topic Development Exercise Essay #2 due by midnight |
| W 11/10 | Research Workshop | ||
| 13 |
M 11/15 |
Thesis Workshop | |
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W 11/17 |
Citation Workshop Sign Up for draft review appointment in Week 15 |
Citation Workshop Sign Up for draft review appointment in Week 15 Annotated Bibliography due by midnight, Friday 11/19 |
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| 14 |
M 11/22 |
Writing Day--Optional appointment: email for a time | |
| W 11/24 | Thanksgiving Break--No Class | ||
| 15 | M 11/29 | Draft review -- appointment as scheduled | |
| W 12/1 | Draft review -- appointment as scheduled | ||
| Exam Week | Final paper due by midnight, Wednesday 12/8 | ||