Winter 2000 300-level ENGL courses

Course Descriptions (as of November 29, 1999)
The following course descriptions have been written by individual instructors to provide more detailed information on specific sections than that found in the General Catalog. When individual descriptions are not available, the General Catalog descriptions [in brackets] are used. (Although we try to have as accurate and complete information as possible, this schedule remains subject to change.)

303 A (History of Literary Criticism & Theory I)
TTh 1:30-3:20
Handwerk/Webster
Plato, Aristotle, Horace, Kant, Arnold. These are some of the best-inown of the set of people who invented Western Literary theory—and yet most of us shrink from them even as we recognize their names. Does it have to be that way? This course will answer that question by asking you to read and reflect upon about sixteen major figures from Plato to Oscar Wilde. We’ll cover the big names (and other), asking of each: What did they say, why did they say it, and why does it matter? This is the first coruse in a two-quarter introduction to the history of literary criticism and theory. While continuing with 304 is not a requirement for enrolling in this course, the two classes have been designed and will be taught as a pair, in the same time slot Winter and Spring Quarters – so we encourage you to think about doing both. Written work for 303 will include regular response papers, three exams, and one longer project. Texts: Adams, ed., Critical Theory Since Plato; Shakespeare, Hamlet.

304 A (History of Literary Criticism & Theory II)
MW 1:30-3:20
Staten
Introduction to some of the most important “theories” behind contemporary literary criticism, including psychoanalysis and Marxism, together with a reading of several literary texts to show how these theories are actually applied. Texts: Ford, The Good Soldier; James, Washington Square.

310 A (The Bible as Literature)
Dy 10:30
J. Griffith
A rapid study of readings taken from both the Old and New Testaments, focusing mainly on those parts of the Bible with the most ”literary” interest—narratives, poems and philosophy. Students will be expected to attend class regularly, and take part in open discussion of these assignments. Written work will consist entirely of a series of in-class essays, done in response to study questions handed out in advance.
Text: Metzger & Murphy, eds., The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, Revised Standard Version.

315 A (Literary Modernism)
MW 10:30-12:20
Lester
A survey of modernist literature focusing on poetry and fiction written during the years 1900-1939. Literary works will be examined in the context of the political events, technological developments and artistic movements of the period. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Ellman & O’Clair, eds., The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry; Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness; James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse; Gertrude Stein, Selected Writings; Joseph and Karel Capek, R.U.R. and the Insect Play; Wyndham Lewis, Snooty Baronet.

317 A (Literature of the Americas)
Dy 1:30
Searle
This course offers a brief sample of literature of the Americas, including North, South and Central American authors. In addition to the books listed below, there will be a course reader with selected poems, stories, and essays by other authors. Meets with C LIT 321A. Texts: William Faulkner, Go Down, Moses; Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths; Pablo Neruda, Selected Poems; Octavio Paz, Selected Poems; Tomas Eloy Martinez, The Peron Novel; Lawrence Thornton, Imagining Argentina; Michael Ondaatje, ed., From Ink Lake: Canadian Stories; Margaret Atwood, Selected Poems II.

321 YA (Chaucer)
TTh 4:30-6:20 pm
Remley
The course will stress critical reading and group discussion of Chaucer's most highly regarded works (Troilus and Criseyde and the Canterbury Tales) as well as a wide selection of his "minor" compositions in both poetry and prose. We will explore the biography of Geoffrey Chaucer, the historical and cultural background of his career, recent critical work on his poetry, and the Middle English language itself. Mid-term, final, one paper. Evening Degree students only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Benson, ed., The Riverside Chaucer; Stone, ed., Love Visions; Coghill, ed., Troilus and Criseyde; Hieatt, eds., Canterbury Tales.

322 A (English Literature: The Age of Queen Elizabeth I)
MW 10:30-12:20
Streitberger
The golden age of English poetry, with poems by Shakespeare, Spenser, Sydney and others; drama by Marlowe and other early rivals to Shakespeare; prose by Sir Thomas More and the great Elizabethan translators. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Machiavelli, The Prince; Sir Thomas More, Utopia; Hollander & Kermode, eds., The Literature of Renaissance England; Julia Briggs, This Stage Play World; Shakespeare, Hamlet (ed. Bevington).

323 A (Shakespeare to 1603)
Dy 8:30
Frey
Study of Shakespeare's poems and plays to 1603 with emphasis upon meter, rhythm, imagery, tone, explication, interpretation, reader response and student performance. All students are required to perform memorized parts in a performance group that meets all quarter long. Also required: discussion, secondary readings, papers, and tests, including in-class two-hour final exam during exam period. Meets five days a week. Very demanding course. Major only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Shakespeare, The Poems (ed. Bevington); A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Merchant of Venice; Henry V; Hamlet.

324 A (Shakespeare after 1603)
Dy 10:30
Frey
Study of Shakespeare’s poems and plays after 1603 with emphasis upon meter, rhythm, imagery, tone, explication, interpretation, reader-response, and student performance. All students are required to perform memorized parts in a performance group that meets all quarter long. Also required: discussion, secondary readings, papers, and tests, including in-class two-hour final exam during exam period. Meets five days a week. Very demanding course. Majors only, Registration Period I. Texts: Shakespeare, Measure for Measure; King Lear; Macbeth; The Winter’s Tale; The Tempest.

324 B (Shakespeare after 1603)
MW 1:30-3:20
Streitberger
Shakespeare’s career as dramatist after 1603. Study of comedies, tragedies, and romances. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Text: Bevington, ed., The Complete Works of Shakespeare (updated 4th ed.)

326 A (Milton)
TTh 10:30-12:20
van den Berg
English literature, wrote T.S. Eliot, could only afford one Milton. We'll consider why that might be so. We'll read and discuss his impassioned poetry and prose, seeing how he shaped the politics and literature of his time. He thought in terms of oppositions: good and evil, destruction and creation, time and eternity, soul and body, freedom and service. He valued introspection, intimate friendship, and sweeping vision. A profoundly religious man, his beliefs were uniquely his own. He believed in free will and a free society, writing in defense of regicide, divorce and writing itself. We'll read his prose and his poetry, especially Paradise Lost, and discuss the paradoxes in the work, the man, his era and the criticism he has evoked. Course requirements: two midterms, final exam or term paper. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Milton, Selected Prose (ed. Patrides); Complete English Poems (ed. Campbell).

328 YA (English Literature: Later 18th C)
TTh 7-8:50 pm
Mazzeo
This course considers the British literature written from 1747 – 1796, with a particular emphasis on the popular history of the “romance” and the development of the “English” novel. We will read three of the most popular and influential novels of the late eighteenth century and attempt to imagine what it might be like to enter the reading-culture for which they were written and—perhaps—to enjoy them as the eighteenth-century reader did. Additional course readings will include information on eighteenth-century reading habits, readers’ responses, popular culture, and attitudes toward history, romance, and the novel. Requirements include several short response papers, a discussion partnership, and a final examination. Evening Degree students only, Registration Period Texts: Samuel Richardson, Clarissa; Jean Jacques Rousseau, Julie; Marquis de Sade, Justine and Philosophy in the Bedroom.

329 A (Rise of the English Novel)
MW 12:30-2:20
Bredesen
Tales of Seduction. This course will examine themes and theories concerning a dominant eighteenth-century literary genre. Assignments will include weekly response papers, a mid-term and a final paper. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders; Samuel Richardson, Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded; Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews with Shamela; Choderlos DeLaclos, Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Fanny Burney, Evelina; Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice; Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel; Lennard J. Davis, Factual Fictions.

331 A (Romantic Poetry I)
TTh 12:30-2:20
McCracken
We’ll be reading the first generation English Romantic poets—Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Mary Robinson, and Charlotte Smith. The poetry will take various forms: tales, ballads, lyrics, conversation poems, prophecies, autobiographical poems, etc. And, besides poets, poems, and kinds of poems, we’ll talk about politics, sublimity, vision, God, and the imagination—all things of considerable interest to the Romantics. Class discussions; short papers and exercises; quizzes and an exam. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Blake, William Blake’s “America: A Prophecy” and “Europe: A Prophecy”; Blake’s Poetry and Designs; Coleridge, The Portable Coleridge; Wordsworth, Selected Poems.

332 A (Romantic Poetry II)
MW 10:30-12:20
Goldberg
England in the early nineteenth century was embroiled in aggression abroad and repression at home, and the poetry of Byron, Shelley, and Keats responds powerfully to these volatile circumstances. Romantic Poetry II will closely study the historical contexts and aesthetic achievements of these challenging writers. Texts: Stillinger, ed, John Keats: Complete Poems; Reiman & Powers, eds., Shelley's Poetry and Prose; McGalln, ed., The Oxford Authors: Byron.

333 A (English Novel: Early & Middle 19th C)
Dy 10:30
Alexander
Six novels, three from the Romantic period, three from the Victorian, will be studied. Attention will be given to the way that novelists convey ideas, and to the relation between form and content in these books. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Austen, Pride and Prejudice; Mansfield Park; Shelley, Frankenstein; Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre; Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights; Dickens, Oliver Twist.

334 A (English Novel: Later 19th C)
TTh 12:30-2:20
Bredesen
This course examines novels from the second half of the nineteenth century. Please come prepared to read a great deal, write much, and talk lots about fiction and literary history of this period. Course work includes weekly response papers, keeping indexes for each novel, a mid-term and a 6-8 page final paper. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White; Elizabeth Gaskell, Wives and Daughters; George Eliot, Middlemarch; Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray; Bram Stoker, Dracula.

335 A English Literature: The Age of Victoria)
Dy 12:30
Alexander
Among the poets and prose writers to be studied are Carlyle, Tennyson, Mill, Newman, Arnold and Ruskin. They will be viewed in relation to what the historian G. M. Young called “A tract of time where men and manners, science and philosophy, the fabric of social life and its directing ideas, changed more swiftly perhaps, and more profoundly, than they have ever changed in an age not sundered by a political or a religious upheaval.” Some of the recurrent topics will be: the reaction against the Enlightenment; rejections and revisions of romanticism; the nature of authority; the religion of work; the idea of a university. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Abrams, et al., Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 2

336 A (English Literature: The Early Modern Period)
MW 1:30-3:20
Burstein
The Modernist Body. This class is a reading course in British modernism that focuses on tropes of embodiment: what constitutes a “self,” a psyche, and/or a body for these various authors? Do the characters bleed, or do they crackle with electricity? What is at stake in such distinctions? In addition to paying attention to individual bodies, we will focus on depictions of crowds and violence. We will read both fiction, emphasizing narrative technique as well as the context of the works, and modernist poetry. Recommended readings include recent synthetic studies of modernism such as Christopher Butler’s Early Modernism (1994) and Peter Nicholls’s Modernisms: A Literary Guide (1995) in order to highlight the placement of British modernism in an international context. The emphasis will be on historical interpretation, grounded in close reading and formal analysis. Active participation is mandatory, and your body must be in the classroom. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness; T. S. Eliot, Poems; James Joyce, Dubliners; Ezra Pound, Selected Poems; Wyndham Lewis, Tarr: the 1918 Version; Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room; Mina Loy, The Lost Lunar Baedeker; D. H. Lawrence, Women in Love; Katherine Mansfield, The Short Stories; Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier.

338 A (Modern Poetry)
Dy 10:30
Searle
This course will study modern poetry in English, from the late 1890s to about mid-century. The course will proceed by lecture and discussion, with frequent short writing assignments. We will concentrate primarily on major poets, especially Yeats, Pound, Eliot, Crane, Williams, and Stevens, with a substantial amount of reading by other poets. There will be a course reader with selected critical and supplementary readings. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Ellmann & O’Clair, eds., The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry; Hart Crane, Collected Poems; William Carlos Williams, Imaginations; Paterson; Ezra Pound, Personae; Wallace Stevens, The Palm at the End of the Mind.

340 YA (Modern Anglo-Irish Literature)
TTh 7-8:50 pm
Popov
This course is an introduction to two millennia of Irish literature, from the Irish epic The Tain to 1996 Nobel-Prize laureate Seamus Heaney. We’ll begin with a general introduction to Irish culture, spotlighting historical figures, events, and issues which have haunted the memory and harangued the passions of the Irish. We’ll then read closely works by Swift, Edgeworth, Yeats, Joyce, Synge, and O’Brien, reveling in the accomplishments of the Irish intellect, eloquence and humor. Requirements: several short assignments (one on each author) and a final. Evening Degree students only, Registration Period 1. Texts: The Tain; Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent; . M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World; James Joyce, Dubliners; Flann O’Brien, The Poor Mouth; At Swim-Two-Birds; recommended: William Butler Yeats, Selected Poems and Four Plays; Seamus Heaney, Selected Poems.

348 A (Studies in Drama)
TTh 9:30-11:20
Christensen
Many of the great plays of the 20th century challenge traditional norms of theatre through various kinds of exaggeration: extremes of absurdity, meaningless word games, bleakness, and a high degree of self-consciousness. To understand some of these dramatic effects, we will study five quintessential examples of modern theatre: Waiting for Godot (Beckett), Six Characters in Search of an Author (Pirandello), The Bald Soprano (Ionesco), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Stoppard), and The Memorandum (Havel). In addition to our own dramatic readings and close study of the plays, we will see filmed productions, examine theoretical and historical background, and compare each work with other plays and works of fiction that portray similar themes and artistic sensibilities. Students will write several short papers, and one longer final paper. Willingness to participate in discussion and in our frequent in-class dramatic readings is imperative. Texts: Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot; Luigi Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author; Eugene Ionesco, The Bald Soprano and Other Plays; Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead; Vaclav Havel, The Garden Party and Other Plays.

350 A (Traditions in American Fiction)
TTh 2:30-4:20
Abrams
A sampling of significant American fiction, with attention to extreme and dramatic differences in literary voice, and featuring as comprehensive a look as possible at the ranges of theme and technique that have engaged American authors over the years. Students should come prepared to read texts closely and to deliberate on the reciprocity between fiction and the socio-political context it both derives from and helps to form. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Portable Hawthorne; Rebecca Harding Davis, Life in the Iron Mills and Other Stories; Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Stephen Crane, The Portable Stephen Crane; Kate Chopin, The Awakening and Selected Stories; Henry James, The Portable Henry James.

353 A (American Literature: Later 19th C)
MW 10:30-12:20
Eversley
In this course we will consider writing that specifically engages the notion of American identity after the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Jose Marti, Our America; Charles Chesnutt, The Conjure Woman and Other Conjure Tales; Dubois, The Souls of Black Folk; Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery; Pauline Hopkins, The Magazine Novels; Kate Chopin, The Awakening.

353 YA (American Literature: Later 19th C)
MW 7-8:50 pm
Posnock
[Literary responses to an America propelled forward by accelerating and complex forces.] Evening Degree students only, Registration Period 1. Texts: Chesnutt, House Behind the Cedars; Chopin, The Awakening and Selected Stories; Dreiser, Sister Carrie; James, Washington Square; The American Scene; Wharton, House of Mirth.

354 A (American Literature: The Early Modern Period)
Dy 8:30
J. Griffith
We’ll read and discuss an assortment of novels and short stories by American authors writing in the first half of the twentieth century. Students will be expected to attend class regularly, keep up with reading assignments, and take part in open discussion. Written work will consist of a number of brief in-class essays, done in response to study questions handed out in advance. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Texts: William Faulkner, Go Down, Moses; Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God; Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls; Richard Wright, Uncle Tom’s Children; John Steinbeck, The Long Valley; Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio; Eudora Welty, Thirteen Stories by Eudora Welty; Sinclair Lewis, Babbit.

355 A (American Literature: Contemporary America)
TTh 1:30-3:20
Shulman
--withdrawn 9/27--

363 A (Literature & Other Arts & Disciplines)
MW 11:30-1:20
Crane
Higher Law in the 1850s: A Cultural Jurisprudence. This class will examine the themes and figures of higher law in the slavery debate of the 1850s. We will read political speeches, poetry, novels, short stories, judicial opinions, as well as looking at paintings and photographs. There will be at least one paper and one exam. Texts: F. Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom; Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Melville, Bartleby and Benito Cereno; Stowe, A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

368 A (Women Writers)
TTh 9:30-11:20
Moody
Black Women's Autobiography. This course will examine textual, rhetorical, and theoretical issues in black women's autobiography. We will read a few slavewomen's narratives from the 19th century, but concentrate on four recent black women's autobiographies. The texts have been selected for the study of the various ways that women of the African diaspora reconstruct their lives and represent their personal experiences. In addition, we will study contemporary theories of US women's self-representation, focusing on the difference that race and blackness make in women's autobiography. Collaborative research and co-authored writing constitute major course requirements. Texts: Sapphire, American Dreams; Sidonie Smith & Julia Watson, eds., Women, Autobiography, Thoery; Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place; Toi Derricotte, The Black Notebooks; Ann Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi; Gibaldi, ed., MLA Handbook; Hacker, ed., Bedford Handbook.

368 B (Women Writers)
TTh 1:30-3:20
Simpson
The New Woman. In this course we will explore fictional representations of the new type of American woman many late nineteenth-century observers believed was emerging in the country as a result of rapid urbanization and industrialization and the fight for women's suffrage. Often deemed "the New Woman," she was usually depicted as the young, single, educated white woman who attempted to renegotiate her traditional function in society. The works we will read will be examples of this kind of representation, although several works will also expand the terms of "the New Woman's" cultural position. Students will be expected to participate in general discussions and group work, as well as completing two longer essays. Texts: Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie; Henry James, Daisy Miller; F. E. Watkins Harper, Iola Leroy; Sui Sin Far, Mrs. Spring Fragrance; Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Furs; Edith Wharton, House of Mirth; Willa Cather, My Antonia; Anzia Yezierska, Bread Givers.

370 A (English Language Study)
TTh 10:30-12:20
Curzan
This course introduces the systematic study of language and aims to help you step back and think about language in new ways. The course covers the many levels of structure working in language--from sounds to words to sentences to discourse—as well as the ways speakers learn and change language over time. Discussions will also focus on the social issues tied up in language, including attitudes to dialects, gender and language, Standard English, and national language policies. The focus of much of the course will be words—how they work structurally and socially. We will address questions such as: Why isn’t pfigr a possible English word? What is the difference between religiousness and religiosity? When could boys be girls because girl meant child? Why isn’t ain’t always in the dictionary? Words are one of the primary building blocks of language and by studying how they work, we can gain insight into the structure and meaning of language, and into the social and political power we wield with words. Majors only, Registration Period 1. Text: Cipollone, Keiser, & Vasisth, eds., Language Files, 7th ed.

381 A (Advanced Expository Writing)
MW 9:30-10:50
Dillon
What makes Advanced Expository Writing advanced? Not, in this course, the length of the papers assigned, but the variety of types, audiences, and purposes of the papers. We will begin with a little theory about kinds of rhetorical purposes, understanding "rhetorical" as "attempting to increase the reader's adherence to your point of view on a matter." The assignments are designed to give practice writing papers with four different rhetorical purposes. That is, you can choose any topic for the papers, but the paper should be of the type assigned. They should be of moderate length (roughly five pages typewritten). In addition we will devote some class time to advanced points of mechanics and punctuation and the analysis of style as it functions rhetorically. There will be a final paper analyzing the style of a passage of prose which you select. Majors only, Registration Period 1. No texts.

381 B (Advanced Expository Writing)
TTh 12:30-1:50
Christensen
This course will help students improve their writing skills by providing an opportunity for them to write, edit, and publish small magazines of their own work. Three times during the quarter (i.e., every three weeks), a team of students will act as editors, evaluating, proofreading and assembling the best of each of their peers’ writing for that 3-week block. Each of the three magazines to be published during the quarter will have a specific theme and corresponding essay style. Students will be expected to write a great deal—including frequent revising and proofreading – and to collaborate constructively during the edition process. Commitment to careful writing and editing, as well as consistent attendance and participation are crucial for success in this class. No texts. Majors only, Registration Period 1.

383 A (Intermediate Verse Writing)
MW 11:30-12:50
Dunlop
No writing class can provide the essentials (of imagination, eyes and ear, etc.), but this one will try to encourage them. What a class can provide is improved technique, but this can only be acquired by practice: one learns by doing. Therefore, there'll be a lot of writing--in the shape of specific exercises as well as original work. No heavy seriousness: light verse (which depends for its success on technical dexterity) much encouraged. Prerequisite: ENGL 283. Texts: Hollander, Rhyme's Reason; optional: Dunlop, Caruso for the Children.

383 B (Intermediate Verse Writing)
TTh 1:30-2:50
Kenney
[Intensive study of the ways and means of making a poem. Further development of fundamental skills. Emphasis on revision. Prerequisite: ENGL 283.]

384 A (Intermediate Short Story Writing)
MW 10:30-11:50
Nelson
[Exploring and developing continuity in the elements of fiction writing. Methods of extending and sustaining plot, setting, character, point of view, and tone. Prerequisite: ENGL 284.]

384 B (Intermediate Short Story Writing)
TTh 3:30-4:50
Nestor
[Exploring and developing continuity in the elements of fiction writing. Methods of extending and sustaining plot, setting, character, point of view, and tone. Prerequisite: ENGL 284.] Text: Ron Hansen & Jim Shepard, eds., You've Got to Read This: Contemporary American Writers Introduce Stories That Held Them in Awe.

Winter Quarter 2000 300-Level Classes

Winter Quarter 2000
300-Level Classes