ENGLISH 448: Contemporary Literature – spring 2008
Instructor: Richard Terrill Phone: 5500
Office: AH 212C Hours: T 4-5, W 3-5, Th 1-2,
Email: richard.terrill@mnsu.edu and by appt.
Office: AH206A Hours:
Email: matthew.vercant@mnsu.edu
Office: 307D Hours:
Email: Andrew.davis@mnsu.edu
COURSE OBJECTIVE
We will read works of contemporary literature from different genres (fiction, poetry, nonfiction), examining them closely to see what we can learn about our craft as writers. We will talk about what these works “mean,” but since we will be reading as writers, we will also spend time talking about how these works create meaning.
Barthelme, Donald. The Dead Father
Bender, Aimee. An Invisible Sign of My Own (novel)
Dillard, Annie. The Writing Life (nonfiction)
Dunn, Stephen. Different Hours (poetry)
Shreve, Porter. 30/30 (short story anthology)
Vandenberg, Kristina. Atlas (poetry)
These texts are available at a discount from online sources.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
ATTENDANCE
Every student is expected to attend every class; class activities cannot be made up. Missing class will adversely affect the final grade. If you miss more than a week of class, it becomes harder to earn an "A"; if you miss more than two weeks, it’s hard to earn a "B"; more than that, it’s difficult to pass.
COURSE MANAGEMENT
No laptops, cell phones, or electronic devices during the discussion.
READING ASSIGNMENTS AND QUIZZES
Complete all reading assignments before coming to class, reading everything twice, and poems at least twice. You will usually have two opportunities to prove that you have completed the assigned reading carefully: 1) an inclass or take home quiz, and 2) class discussion. If you regularly are unable to demonstrate close reading in one of these ways (let’s say on more than six days, including absences), you won’t pass the course. Since our quizzes and discussions will be open book, it’s essential that you bring to class the book(s) being discussed on that day.
GRADE
Your final grade is based on active class participation and regular reading quizzes (both of which require attendance), counting at least two thirds of the final grade; and a mid term and final exam, counting no more than one third of the final grade. Almost every day in class, we will be following the “shared inquiry” discussion method (see below), which requires, among other things, the good will and cooperation of everyone in the discussion. This shouldn’t present a problem for you; however, if you behave in a way that obstructs the progress of the discussion (talking to others during class, deliberately leading the discussion off the subject, refusing to give evidence or rationale for your ideas, insisting on evaluating or criticizing rather than analyzing the work being discussed), your work will merit a lower or failing final grade.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
We will make every attempt to accommodate qualified students with disabilities. If you are a student with a documented disability, please see the instructor as early in the semester as possible to discuss the necessary accommodations, and/or contact the Disability Service Office at (507)-389-2825 (voice) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS?TTY).
SYLLABUS
1/15 Introduction. What is shared inquiry?
1/17 Read “Cathedral” and “Snow” (Beattie) in 30/30.
1/22 Read “The Fix” in 30/30 and Dunn 19-31.
1/23 Read “The School” in 30/30 and Dunn 32-44.
1/29 Read “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” in 30/30 and Dunn 47-58
2/1 No class: AWP National Conference
2/5 Read “Interpreter of Maladies” in 30/30 & Dunn 59-70 .
2/7 Read poems by James Armstrong handed out. From 3-3:50 pm today we’ll attend the Good Thunder craft talk.
2/12 Read “The Things They Carried” in 30/30 and Dunn 73-82.
2/14 Read “We Didn’t” in 30/30 and Dunn 83-92.
2/19 Read “Milk” in 30/30 and Dunn 95-107. In class we will also discuss our upcoming mid term exam.
2/21 Read “Greasey Lake” in 30/30 and Dunn 108-121.
2/26 Read pp. 1-59 of The Writing Life.
2/28 Read work by Sheffer, Black, and Robbins handed out. From 3-3:50 pm today we’ll attend the Good Thunder craft talk.
3/4 Read pp. 60-111 of The Writing Life.
3/6 In class you will write a mid term exam based on two short stories, to be announced. Class may meet in a computer lab today.
3/11-3/13 spring break: no class.
3/18 Discuss the mid term exam. Read Part I, “Trade Routes” in Atlas.
3/20 Part II, “The Red Fields of Lisse” in Atlas .
3/25 Read story by Tom Franklin handed out. From 3:00-3:50 we will attend the Good Thunder craft talk (CSU Auditorium).
3/27 Read “Gravity” in 30/30, and a poem to be announced. In class today you will practice writing interpretive questions.
4/1 Read Part III, “The Catalogue of Want” in Atlas. Take home quiz: bring to class interpretive questions that you have about at least five different poems.
4/3 Read Part IV, “The Art of Finding” in Atlas. Bring to class interpretive questions that you have about at least five different poems.
4/8 Read An Invisible Sign of My Own pp. 1-75. Bring in at least three good interpretive questions on the reading.
4/10 Read An Invisible Sign of My Own pp. 79-164. Bring in at least three good interpretive questions on the reading.
4/15 Read An Invisible Sign of My Own pp. 167-241. Bring in at least three good interpretive questions on the reading.
4/17 Read two short stories, to be announced, on which you will write your final exam. Turn in today two interpretive questions on each story—questions that you think are basic questions. That is, they are good interpretive questions on which you can think of at least two answers based on evidence in the text, and you are not certain which answer you think is better. These basic questions should cover some central point in the story, or an interesting and important secondary issue.
Read story by Leigh Allison Wilson handed out. Bring at last three good interpretive questions on the reading. From 3:00-3:50 we will attend the Good Thunder craft talk (CSU Auditorium).
4/22 Read The Dead Father pp 3-58. Bring in at least three good interpretive questions on the reading.
4/24 Read The Dead Father pp 59-109. Bring in at least three good interpretive questions on the reading.
4/29 Read The Dead Father pp. 111-177. Bring in at least three good interpretive questions on the reading.
5/1 Prepare for final exam. Class evaluations.
Final exam. Friday, May 9, 12:30-2:30 in our regular classroom.
THE SHARED INQUIRY DISCUSSION METHOD1
TAKING NOTES
It's important to read all assigned work carefully, at least twice. On all readings, you'll need to take detailed notes, preferably in the text itself. Some suggested sources of notes:
1. Anything you think is important or interesting.
2. Anything you don't understand (or anything you think could be interpreted in
more than one way).
3. Anything you have strong feelings about.
4. Connections you perceive between lines, images, words, and so on.
THE DISCUSSION
1. I will begin a discussion with a question I feel is important and ask you to take a few minutes to begin writing an answer. My question is one to which I don't know the answer (Otherwise, I wouldn't ask it), and one in which I'm sincerely interested.
2. Feel free to volunteer any time during the discussion (I will also call on students individually). It's fair for you to answer a question with "I don't know" or "I'm not sure," in which case I'll try to get back to you later in the discussion.
3. When you do give an answer, I'll often ask you further questions to explore your answer. This doesn't mean that I think your answer is a bad one.
4. During the discussion I will take notes on what you say.
RULES FOR OUR DISCUSSION
Rule 1: No one may take part in the discussion without first reading the text and taking notes. If you take notes on a separate piece of paper, please bring the notes to class. Always bring to class the text(s) being discussed that day.
Rule 2: We will discuss only texts that everyone has read; you may make references to other works you’ve read, but you must relate them to the text being discussed.
Rule 3: If you want to introduce an outside opinion, you should be able to back it up with evidence from the text we are discussing, just as you support your own ideas with evidence from the text.
Rule 4: The leader of the discussion will only ask questions, not make statements.
1 Some of this material is borrowed from "Handbook on Interpretive Reading and Discussion." Chicago: Great Books Foundation, 1984.
“You are so young; you stand before beginnings….Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language.”
--Rainier Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet