WEEK
ONE
Tuesday, 8/27
- Introduction
to the course
Thursday, 8/29
- Dave
Eggers, “On Wanting to Have At Least Three Walls Up Before She Gets Home” (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
- Marshal
McLuhan & Quentin Fiore, selections from The Medium is the Massage (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
- Short
Writing Assignment #1. Please see Writing Assignments page for the prompt.
WEEK TWO
Tuesday, 9/3
- Begin
The Awakening by Kate Chopin (pp. 5-51, chapters 1-10)
Thursday, 9/5
- Continue
The Awakening by Kate Chopin (52-94, chapters 11-18)
- Milan
Kundera, “Sixty-Three Words” (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
WEEK THREE
Tuesday, 9/10
- Continue
The Awakening by Kate Chopin (95-158, chapters 19-32)
Thursday, 9/12
- Finish
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
(159-190, chapters 33-39)
WEEK FOUR
Tuesday, 9/17
- Begin
The Art Lover by Carole Maso (1-63)
- Read from the Purdue OWL: Writing About Fiction (Close Reading, Developing a Thesis, and Pre-Writing) and Writing About Literature (Introduction, Literature Topics and Research, and Formatting)
- Read from the Purdue OWL: Writing About Fiction (Close Reading, Developing a Thesis, and Pre-Writing) and Writing About Literature (Introduction, Literature Topics and Research, and Formatting)
Thursday, 9/19
- Continue
The Art Lover by Carole Maso (64-111)
Sunday, 9/19
- Short Writing Assignment #2 due via e-mail. Please see Writing Assignments page for the prompt.
Sunday, 9/19
- Short Writing Assignment #2 due via e-mail. Please see Writing Assignments page for the prompt.
WEEK FIVE
Tuesday, 9/24
- Continue
The Art Lover by Carole Maso
(112-192)
Thursday, 9/26
- Finish
The Art Lover by Carole Maso
(193-243)
- Roland Barthes, a few sections from his book Camera Lucida (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
- Roland Barthes, a few sections from his book Camera Lucida (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
WEEK
SIX
Tuesday, 10/1
- Complete rough draft of Paper #1 due for peer review in class
Thursday, 10/3
- No class! Please use this time to work on revising your paper.
Friday, 10/4 - Paper #1 due via email by midnight
Friday, 10/4 - Paper #1 due via email by midnight
WEEK SEVEN
Tuesday, 10/8
- David Markson, Wittgenstein's Mistress (1-75)
- Short Writing Assignment #3: Research five references or allusions in the text that you don't recognize (names of people, texts, places, etc. -- particularly when those names seem important to an understanding of the novel!). This is not a formal research project, but more of a contextual tool; I am not interested in scholarly citations here as much as general knowledge. Please write about 3-4 solid sentences about the life or legend of these five historical figures. (That's 3-4 sentences for each of your five entries, not the total for the whole assignment!) Please complete this assignment before class and bring it with you in some form.
- Short Writing Assignment #3: Research five references or allusions in the text that you don't recognize (names of people, texts, places, etc. -- particularly when those names seem important to an understanding of the novel!). This is not a formal research project, but more of a contextual tool; I am not interested in scholarly citations here as much as general knowledge. Please write about 3-4 solid sentences about the life or legend of these five historical figures. (That's 3-4 sentences for each of your five entries, not the total for the whole assignment!) Please complete this assignment before class and bring it with you in some form.
Thursday, 10/10
- David Markson, Wittgenstein's Mistress (76-126)
- David Edmonds and John Eidinow, from Wittgenstein's Poker (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, from Philosophical Investigations (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
- David Edmonds and John Eidinow, from Wittgenstein's Poker (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, from Philosophical Investigations (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
WEEK EIGHT
Tuesday, 10/15
- David Markson, Wittgenstein's Mistress (127-196)
- Bennett and Royle, "The Author" (PDF available via Blackboard Learn)
- Prepare a list of "family resemblances" between "Where Is Everybody?" (The Twilight Zone, 1959) and Wittgenstein's Mistress. Remember Wittgenstein's maxim: "Don't think, but look!" What do we see, therefore, when we observe these two texts together?
- Prepare a list of "family resemblances" between "Where Is Everybody?" (The Twilight Zone, 1959) and Wittgenstein's Mistress. Remember Wittgenstein's maxim: "Don't think, but look!" What do we see, therefore, when we observe these two texts together?
Thursday, 10/17
- David Markson, Wittgenstein's Mistress (197-240)
WEEK NINE
Tuesday, 10/22
No
class (Fall Break)
Thursday, 10/24
- Begin
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (1-87, through Part 2, Chapter 3)
WEEK TEN
Tuesday, 10/29
- Continue
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (87-175, through the end of Part 3)
Thursday,
10/31
- Finish Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (176-219, finish the book))
WEEK ELEVEN
Tuesday, 11/5
- Begin Jazz by Toni Morrison (1-51)
Thursday, 11/7
- Continue
Jazz by Toni Morrison (52-114)
- Please develop a preliminary thesis statement for Essay #2, as well as a short paragraph (maybe 4-5 sentences) that explores this central idea in more depth. Please print out and bring to class.
- Please develop a preliminary thesis statement for Essay #2, as well as a short paragraph (maybe 4-5 sentences) that explores this central idea in more depth. Please print out and bring to class.
WEEK
TWELVE
Tuesday, 11/12
- Continue
Jazz by Toni Morrison (115-184)
Thursday, 11/14
- Finish
Jazz by Toni Morrison (185-229)
WEEK
THIRTEEN
Tuesday, 11/19
- Essay #2 due by midnight
Thursday, 11/21
- Begin
A Visit From the Goon Squad by
Jennifer Egan (1-108)
WEEK
FOURTEEN
Tuesday, 11/26
- Continue
A Visit From the Goon Squad by
Jennifer Egan (108-207)
Thursday, 11/28
- No
class (Thanksgiving)
WEEK
FIFTEEN
Tuesday, 12/3
- Finish
A Visit From the Goon Squad by
Jennifer Egan (208-340)
- Short writing assignment due in class (please see email from 11/26)
- Short writing assignment due in class (please see email from 11/26)
Thursday, 12/5
WEEKS SIXTEEN & SEVENTEEN
- Final Exam due via email on Monday, December 16th via email
