Fall 2000
Distance Learning

Instructor: Dr. Doris Z. Fleischer
email: sirod@inch.com

Office: 431 Cullimore
Office Phone: 973-596-3269

To secure information from Distance Learning, please email: hart@admin.njit.edu or phone 973-642-7975

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BULLETIN

Please check back to this section periodically for important notices or changes.

9/8/00 - Paper # 1: Write an essay of about 500 words describing your own experience as a reader. What specific written works of any kind have had an impact on you? These do not have to be traditional literary works. The paper should emailed to me directly—not as an attachment—at sirod@inch.com by Monday, September 18.

9/27/00 - Paper #2--Assignment: Read pages 108-112 in Barnet, "A Short Guide to Writing About Literature."

Making reference to at least six works from Modules I and II, including Morrison's "Beloved" and Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," discuss the standards of morality and truth that these works reflect. Relate the author's standards to your own. Document your references using correct MLA Style. The paper should be approximately 800 words and is due no later than October 10. Please send the paper by email using "cut and paste" and not as an attachment. Your paper should also reflect your responses to the videotapes that you viewed about the relevant material.

10/25/00  - Paper Assignments

Paper #3---In about 800 words, compare and contrast the works assigned for Module #3. Refer to as many works as possible, including the poems assigned. Focus on no less than five works, including Garcia Marquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera." Demonstrate in your paper the extensiveness and perceptiveness of your reading as well as your viewing of the pertinent videotapes. In writing this paper consider Barnet, "The New Historicism," pgs 130-131. Also, deal with the question, "Does literature require readers to believe in the views that the author projects in order for the work to be valued?" This paper is no later than November 3.

Paper #4, which will be based only on assigned works in the anthology (no novel required here), will be due on November 14. Topic to be assigned. Please continue your reading.

 

Paper #4

Discuss how the cultures of Australia and Oceania are reflected in the literature assigned in Module #4. Focus on no fewer than five works in the Module, but you are encouraged to make reference to more than five. Consider

the definition of "cultural materialism" in Barnet, pp.77 and 368, as well as "other ways to think about truth and realism" (Barnet, pp. 109-112). Please document fully using MLA style. The Paper is due no later than

November 22 and should be approximately 800 words.

 

12/3/00 -  In the next day or two, you will receive a corrected version of paper #4 as well the final examination for you to complete at home. Please submit your portfolio with copies of all four corrected papers and your re-writes, as well as your completed final examination, to the HSS Office (4th floor Cullimore) by noon on Thursday December 14.

Course Description
List serv
Textbooks
Tapes
Assignments
Important Dates
Grading
Portfolio
Syllabus:
Module I: An Introduction to Literature
Module II: The Literature of North America
Module III: Literature of Latin America and the Caribbean
Module IV: Literature of Australia and Oceania
Module V: Putting it All Together

Course Description

 

This course offers students an opportunity to enhance their understanding of contemporary global interactions by exploring a diverse array of literary works—novels, short stories, and poems—grouped geographically by region. Course readings represent the following regions: North America; Latin America and the Caribbean; and Australia and Oceania. A second course, Literature 331, covers Africa and the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

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Textbooks

Anthology:

• Norman A. Spencer and Shirley Geok-Lin Lim. One World of Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

Novels:

• Toni Morrison. Beloved. New York: Penguin, 1988 (North America)
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Love in the Time of Cholera. Trans. Edith Grossman. New York: Penguin, 1988. (Latin America)

Handbook:

• Sylvan Barnet. A Short Guide to Writing about Literature.. New York: HarperCollins, 1996. (7th ed.)

BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE NJIT BOOKSTORE

Tapes

There are 22 tapes in the series. The syllabus indicates the order and time in which these tapes should be viewed.

TAPES ARE AVAILABLE FROM HAVE INC. 1-800-997-2972

Assignments

Written:

• Autobiography of your experience with reading - go as far back in your history as you wish (Paper 1)

• Three Papers on the Readings (Papers 2,3,and 4)
• Final Examination

All papers must either be typed or word processed and rewritten with indicated corrections.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL E-MAILED ASSIGNMENTS SHOULD BE SENT IN THE BODY OF THE E-MAIL AND NOT AS AN ATTACHMENT.

Important Dates

• Paper #1 Due in Week 2 (Writing Autobiography)
• Paper #2 Due in Week 5—Literature of North America
• Paper #3 Due in Week 8—Literature of Latin America and the Caribbean
• Paper #4 Due in Week 11—Literature of Australia and Oceania
• Final Examination and Portfolios due---Week 13 and 14 

Grading

Grades will be based on written assignments (combined to consist of 50% of the grade), end term portfolio (25% of the grade), and the final examination (25% of the grade). Because this is a writing-intensive course, the papers are given special consideration.

Late Assignments: Late papers will not be accepted and will receive a failing grade unless prior arrangements are made. If an examination is missed without prior approval, it will receive a failing grade. If there is an emergency, I can be reached at either my home or office.

Portfolio

Copies of all assignments and rewrites will be kept by each student in a portfolio. The portfolio will reflect the overall quality of the work and will allow for an in-depth assessment of such work.

Syllabus

---

Module I: An Introduction to Literature

Week 1: Getting Started

View Lecture 1: Literature in a Global Context

Topics and Readings:

• Thinking About Literature
• What is Literature ? (Barnet 77-89)
• What is Interpretation? (Barnet 90-105)
• What is Evaluation? (Barnet 106-117)
• The Question of Translation (Lim and Spencer, 1111-1112)
• An Overview of Critical Approaches: Formalist Criticism; Deconstruction; Reader-Response Criticism; Archetypal Criticism; Historical Scholarship; Marxist Criticism; The New Historicism; Biographical Criticism; Psychological Criticism; Gender Criticism (Barnet 118-145)
• The Discourse of Literature: A Glossary of Literary Terms (Barnet 365-378);
• Lim and Spencer, (1125-1141)

Assignment: Begin Reading Autobiography. 

Approaches to Literature—Genre

View Lecture 2: Writing About Literature

From the Anthology:

• Jamaica Kincaid, "Girl"
• August Wilson, "Joe Turner’s Come and Gone"
• Allen Curnow, "The Skeleton for the Great Moa in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch"

Topics and Readings: On Genre

• Writing About Fiction (Barnet 161-202; Lim and Spencer, 1099-1102)
• Writing About Drama (Barnet 203-231; Lim and Spencer, 1107-1109)
• Writing About Poetry (Barnet 232-271,  Lim and Spencer, 1103-1106)

Week 2: Approaches to Literature—Theory and Themes

Paper #1 Due — The first paper (500 words) is an account of your personal reading experience. What in your reading has had a significant impact on you?. You may go back as far in time as you wish.

From the Anthology:

• James Baldwin, "The Rockpile"
• Janet Frame, "The Day of the Sheep"
• Pablo Neruda, "The United Fruit Co."

Think about these topics from Barnet:

• Theory: Responding to Literature; Critical Approaches to Literature (Formalist Criticism; Deconstruction; Reader-Response Criticism; Archetypal Criticism; Historical Scholarship; Marxist Criticism; The New Historicism; Biographical Criticism; Psychological Criticism; Gender Criticism)
• Themes: Male-Female Relationships; Families and Communities; Mothers and Children; Political Struggle; Complexity Across and Within Cultures; Race

Topics and Readings:

Writing About Literature

• An Introduction to Writing about Literature: ( Lim and Spencer, 1113-1115)
• The Writer as Reader: Reading and Responding; Making Inferences; Reading
• with a Pencil; Recording Responses; Audience and Purpose (Barnet, 3-11)
• The Reader as Writer: Pre-Writing; Drafting; The Final Version (Barnet. 12-31)
• Writing with a Word Processor (Barnet, 31-35, 379)
• Style and Format (Barnet, 295-314; see esp. 309-314)
• Essay Examinations: (Barnet,348-351)
• Explication and Analysis: (Barnet, 36-59)
• Summary, Paraphrase, Review (Barnet, 60-63,68-74)
• The Research Paper—Using the Library: (Barnet, 317-320)
• The Research Paper: Documentation (MLA) (Barnet, 315-347); Lim and Spencer, 1117-1123)

Module II: The Literature of North America

Week 3: The Work of Atwood, Stevens, Pound, Williams, Bishop, Ginsburg, Snyder. Discussion of Morrison

View Lecture 3: The Poetry of North America—The First Half of the 20^th Century

From the Anthology:

• Margaret Atwood, "Dancing Girls," "Owl Song"
• Wallace Stevens, "Of Modern Poetry"
• Ezra Pound, "In a Station of the Metro"
• William Carlos Williams, "A Sort of Song"
• Elizabeth Bishop, "The Man-Moth"
• Allen Ginsberg, "A Supermarket in California"
• Gary Snyder, "Axe Handles"
• Morrison, Beloved, pp. 1-85

Week 4: The Work of Rich, Plath, Carver, Forche, Dove, and Silko. Discussion of Morrison.

View Lecture 4: The Poetry of North America: The Second Half of the 20^th Century

View Lecture 5: Understanding Toni Morrison’s Beloved

From the Anthology:

• Adrienne Rich, "Diving into the Wreck"
• Sylvia Plath, "Lady Lazarus," "Morning Song"
• Raymond Carver, "Cathedral"
• Carolyn Forche, "The Colonel"
• Rita Dove, "Wingfoot Lake"
• Leslie Marmon Silko, "Coyote Holds a Full House in his Hand"
• Morrison, Beloved, pp.86-199

Week 5: The Work of Hughes, Baldwin, Baraka. Discussion of Morrison

View Lecture 6: Reading Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Paper #2 Due: The Literature of North America

View Lecture 7: Maxine Hong Kingston

View Lecture 8: Contemporary North American Short Fiction

View Lecture 9: Conclusions: The Literature of North America

From the Anthology:

• Langston Hughes, "Railroad Avenue," "The Negro Speaks of Rivers:"
• James Baldwin, "The Rockpile"
• Amiri Baraka, "Real Song is a Dangerous Number"
• Morrison, Beloved, pp. 200-275.

Module III: Literature of Latin America and the Caribbean

Week 6: The Work of Borges and Allende. Discussion of Garcia Marquez.

View Lecture 10: Garcia Marquez, One-Hundred Years of Solitude

From the Anthology:

• Jorge Luis Borges, "The Intruder"
• Isabel Allende, "Phantom Palace"
• Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera, 1-103

Week 7: The Work of Paz. Castellanos, and Ramirez. Discussion of Garcia Marquez

View Lecture 11: One-Hundred Years of Solitude (continued)

View Lecture 12: Gracia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

From the Anthology:

• Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Big Mama’s Funeral"
• Octavio Paz, "Obsidian Butterfly"
• Rosario Castellanos, "Death of the Tiger"
• Sergio Ramirez, "Charles Atlas Also Dies"
• Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera, 104-278.

Week 8: The Work of Llosa, Walcott, Naipaul, Kincaid, and Neruda. Discussion of Garcia Marquez.

View Lecture 13: Jamaica Kincaid

View Lecture 14: Carlos Fuentes

View Lecture 15: Rosario Ferré

View Lecture 16: Pablo Neruda

From the Anthology:

• Mario Vargas Llosa, "Sunday, Sunday"
• Derek Walcott, "The Spoiler’s Return"
• V.S. Naipaul, "The Pyrotechnicist"
• Jamaica Kincaid, "Girl"
• Pablo Neruda, "The United Fruit Co." "Poet’s Obligation"
• Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera, 279-348

Paper #3 Due  

Module IV: Literature of Australia and Oceania

Week 9: The Work of Prichard, Wright, Johnson and White.

View Lecture 17: Australia and Aboriginal Culture

From the Anthology:

• Katharine S. Prichard, "The Cooboo"
• Judith Wright, "Boa Ring"
• Colin Johnson, "Dr. Wooreddy’s Prescription for Enduring the Ending of the World"
• Patrick White, "Clay"

Week 10:  The Work of Herbert, Dawe, Murray, Jolley, Malouf, Slesor,and Kerpi

View Lecture 18: Isolation in Australian Literature

From the Anthology:

• Xavier Herbert: "Clothes Make a Man"
• Bruce Dawe, "Migrants"
• Les A. Murray, "The Dream of Wearing Shorts Forever"
• Elizabeth Jolley, "Mr. Parker’s Valentine"
• David Malouf, "Off the Map"
• Kenneth Slessor, "South Country"
• Kama Kerpi, "Cargo"

Week 11: The Literature of New Zealand

From the Anthology:

• Patricia Grace, "And So I Go"
• Witi Ihimaera, "His First Ball"
• Albert Wendt, "Pouliuli"

Paper #4 due

Module V: Putting it All Together

Week12 &13 Preparation for Final Examination and submission of portfolio

View Lectures 20 and 21: Students Talk about Literature

View Lecture 22: Conclusions—World Literature

Date, Time and Location of Final Examination to be Announced

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