Additional
texts
available
online
and
on
Blackboard:
#3: Final Position Paper
Portfolio (40%): After
reading the assigned material, you need to arrive to seminars with a
position in mind. In French called a précis,
in
German
a
Referat, the
position paper is an academic tradition whereby seminar participants
share their thoughts in writing (ca. 1-2 pages/250-400 words). At the
very least, a position paper summarizes the salient critical points of
a scholarly debate and connects these to the reader’s own thoughts on
the primary text, but ideally, a position paper points towards the
reader’s critique-in-process, or a mature critical perspective on both
primary and critical text, opening the way for the seminar to discuss
and debate themes that may call secondary authors' perspectives into
question. Another way to think about a position
paper is as a provocation: it should provoke readers to new ways about
thinking about a complex issue. You should use position papers as
opportunities to hone your critical perspective, as well as your
academic writing persona. The ability to say something intelligent
about texts in a short amount of time is a skill that English graduate
students are expected to demonstrate in several different forums: in
seminars, in theses defenses, in oral presentations at conferences, and
ultimately, in front of the classroom as professors. If you are
struggling for an approach to take for your paper, consider beginning
with a critical question; closely analyzing a specific passage in
detail (examining issues such as subtext, language, symbolism,
etc.); or arguing against a critical author's
assumptions.
Nota Bene: All
primary and secondary sources
should be cited according to MLA. Sometimes we will be
reading more than one critical text. Please choose your own focus: you
do not have to write about every single text we read, but should form a
critical perspective that might apply to one or more texts. Every
seminar participant will write a position paper on assigned days and
submit it to the instructor (hard copy, typed, stapled, 12 pt. font in
Times New Roman, with 1" margins). Once a semester every student will
present his or her position paper to the class. On these occasions,
students should provide enough copies of the position paper for the
entire class and the instructor, and should come prepared to read
the paper aloud and to contribute in a significant way to the class
discussion. In order to make these works in progress pedagogically
effective for all seminar participants, please post your Position Papers on
Blackboard/Discussion Board in addition to handing in a
hard copy to the instructor.
Evaluation: I will
read your position papers (hard copy only), comment on them, and
provide check, check
plus, or check minuses as pre-evaluative criteria. At the end of the
semester, a portfolio of your position papers will be evaluated for a
letter grade (see below). The presentation of your position paper is
not graded,
but you must do it in order to receive a satisfactory Participation
grade. Owing to scheduling difficulties, I am afraid I am NOT able to read late position papers,
although
you
may
include
them
as
part
of
your
Final
Position
Paper
Portfolio.
I
will
NOT
accept
emailed
Position
Papers.
If
you
cannot
attend
class,
I
suggest
you
ask a fellow participant to bring your hard copy to class.
If you are unable to turn in your Position Paper on time, I suggest you
ask a fellow student to read and evaluate the work-in-progress.
#4:
Annotated
Bibliography (10%): Annotate 3 recent (less
than 10 years old) peer-reviewed sources for your Final Essay. Put the full citation of the
article, book, or book chapter first, and then answer the following questions, in
about 5 to 10
sentences: 1) What is the author’s argument? 2) How does the author
support this argument? What kinds of evidence does she use? 3) What
does the author hope to accomplish by writing this piece? What kinds of
biases might the author have? 4) Who is the
author’s audience? To what kind of scholarly debate is she
contributing? 5) In what ways is this piece relevant for your own
research question? You should carefully distinguish (in each and every
sentence) which ideas can be attributed to one of these three authors,
and which ideas are the product of your own thinking. You must cite
every time you report an author's ideas, not only by citing page
numbers, but also by indicating through words and phrasing ("According
to Smith's book Literature . . . "; "The author of this article argues
. . . ") that you are reporting second-hand information. Failure to do so will result in a
point being taken off every sentence that does not properly cite and
attribute the source of ideas (a core tenet of academic writing).
#5: Final
Essay--Close Analysis
of Two Romantic-Era Texts, 12-20
pages (40%): The final essay
should represent
new, innovative, and provocative research, reading, and thinking on at
least one piece read in this course (or two, or a combination of one
piece from this course material, and another work we did not read in
this
course). As with any seminar paper, you should begin with a research
question that is the product of critical thinking, close reading of the
primary text, and extensive outside reading of scholarly sources, all
of which should be carefully documented in
your paper (I will not put a number on the required number of secondary
articles, but excellent scholars try to be thorough; in any case, I
will examine the quality of
your research). Please be
sure to distinguish your ideas from those of other scholars and
thinkers (failure to do so will result in a point
being taken off every sentence that does not properly cite and
attribute the source of ideas). Perhaps the idea for your Final Essay
will emerge because you wish to argue against
another author, scholar, or interpretive tradition. It could be that
the Final Essay starts with one of your Position Papers. In evaluating your
essay,
I will award a maximum of 50 points for style
(syntax, grammar,
punctuation), and up to 50 points for content (originality,
introduction, thesis/argument, paragraphs with main idea, logical
structure, supporting
evidence, sophistication/clarity, and conclusion). You may submit a
self-addressed stamped envelope with your final essay if you would like
it back before next year.
Date |
Class Activities | Homework/Reading Due |
M 9/13 |
Course + Student Intro.; Timeline; What is Romanticism? Romantic Art; French Revolution; Time Line of the French Revolution by Marxists.org; Women & Revolution; Chénier; sign up for Position Papers | T. Jefferson, Declaration of Independence (1776); Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789); Gouges, Rights of Woman and Citizen (1791; online); Chénier, "When the somber slaughterhouse . . " (70-6 in Applebaum, Intro. to French Poetry) |
M 9/20 |
Rousseau and the Romantics: Nature, Politics, and Sentiment; Romantic Irony | Read last week's reading if you haven't already, Rousseau, Inequality (v-71); Musset "On a Dead Woman" (99-103 in Applebaum, Intro. to French Poetry); Fetzer (mandatory reading); and either Engel, Moran, Nielsen, or Sorenson; Position Paper #1 due: French Poetry or Second Discourse (bring a hard copy for instructor and post to Bb9) |
M 9/27 |
Confessions (Bk 1-3); Student Questions; Psychoanalyzing Rousseau; French Romanticism and Euro. Rom. Movement; Hugo | Read
Rousseau, 1-128; Hugo
"June
Nights"
and
"Tomorrow"
89-93 in Applebaum, Intro. to
French Poetry; and
either
Blackmore, McAlpin, or Musser; DISC #1: Post 1
or more
discussion
questions about Rousseau on Blackboard/Discussion Board/Rousseau,
Confessions, and bring a
copy to class. These
questions
might include ones
you would
pose as an instructor of the class, things you are confused about in
the reading, or a mix between the two. The purpose of discussion
questions is to open a dialogue
between you and me; to make this a student-centered classroom; and to
help students become better writers by becoming critical thinkers, or
people who question what they read. Discussion questions are not
evaluated, are not mandatory, but are taken
into consideration for your Participation Grade. Please feel free to
respond
to other students' queries if you feel inspired to answer; I will take
such responses as extra credit for your Participation Grade (and enjoy
reading them, of course). |
M 10/4 |
Confessions (Bk 4-7); Nature and Nurture in Rousseau; Nerval | Read Rousseau, 160-62, 172-240, 255-73; Nerval, "Delfica" (95-7 in Applebaum, Intro. to French Poetry), and Kneller (recommended/optional); DISC #2: Post 1 or more discussion questions about Rousseau on Blackboard/Discussion Board/Rousseau, Confessions, and bring a copy to class. |
M 10/11 |
Confessions; Role of Women in Rousseau; Lamartine | Read
Rousseau 307-39, 344-91; Lamartine
"The
Village
Bell"
(77-81 in Applebaum, Intro.
to French Poetry); and your choice of two articles: Cowles,
Herbold, Riley, and/or Strauss; Position Paper #2 due: French Poetry or Confessions (bring a hard copy for instructor
and post to Bb9) |
M 10/18 |
Review:
Cult
of
Sensibility; Goethe,
Werther |
Read Goethe 1-96, Bennett (and Sondrup if you wish); Position Paper #3 due: Werther (bring a hard copy for instructor and post to Bb9) |
M 10/25 |
German Romantic Poetry; Alt. trans. of "Heidenröslein" and"Erlkönig"; Hölderlin; Droste-Hülshoff, "Im Moose"; alt. trans. H. Heine, "Morphine" and "Ich weiß nicht . . . " | From Applebaum, Great German Poems: Goethe: "Heidenröslein" (4), "Erlkönig" (17-9); Schiller: "Die Grösse der Welt" (27); Hölderlin: "Hyperions Schicksalslied," "Da ich ein Knabe war," "Hälfte des Lebens" (55-9); Novalis: "Muss immer der Morgen wiederkommen?" (61-3) and "I am journeying over"; Droste-Hülshoff: "Im Moose" (131-33); Heine: "Ich weiss nicht . . . " (141-43), "Morphine" (146); and any two of the following: Feuerlicht, Helfer, Jakobson, Rosa, Saul, or Tantillo; Position Paper #4 due: German Romantic Poetry (bring a hard copy for instructor and post to Bb9) |
M 11/1 |
Faust I (except lines 4225-4395) | Read Goethe 1-119, 126-46; DISC #3: Post 1 or more discussion questions about Faust on Blackboard/Discussion Board/Goethe, Faust, and bring a copy to class. |
M 11/8 |
Faust
II, Act I-II (mostly) |
Goethe: skip/skim 147-70 (5065-5985), read 171-213 (5990-7474), 227-40 (8012-8485); recommended reading: Hamlin's notes at the back and/or his article about a performance, "Faust in Performance, Brown (sections from Goethe's Faust, not the article) |
M 11/15 |
Faust Act III & V, Death and Rebirth | Read Goethe 241-85 (8490-10035), 313-344 (11045-12110), and Brown ("Faust"), Hoezel, or Molnár; Position Paper #5 due: Faust (bring a hard copy for instructor and post to Bb9) |
M 11/22 |
The Sandman and The Uncanny | Read E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Sandman (Bb & Res.); S. Freud, "The Uncanny" (Bb & Res.); and Bresnick, Tartar, or Todd (choose one); DISC #4: Post 1 or more discussion questions about Rousseau on Blackboard/Discussion Board/Hoffmann, and bring a copy to class. |
M 11/29 |
Shelley, Frankenstein | Read Shelley's novel;
Recommended reading: Marshall + Moers (214-24); DISC #5: Post 1 or more
discussion
questions about Shelley on Blackboard/Discussion Board/Shelley, and bring a
copy to class. Post paper
proposals--5 to 25 sentences outlining your topic and sources--to
Blackboard by Thursday 12/2 at 5pm. |
M 12/6 |
Library
tutorial
(meet
in
Sprague Library, Rm. 203, 5:30-6:45); instructor avail. for
consultation after that |
Final Position Paper Portfolios due |
M 12/13 |
Class takes place online Tues.
and Wed.; instructor available for consultation Mon. in 352 DI 2:30-6:30 pm |
Annotated bibliography due as a
hard copy in 352 DI by 6:30 pm (or earlier) in 352 DI. Post rough draft
to Blackboard by T 12/14 at 8pm, and respond to another student's paper
by W 12/15 at 8pm (peer review necessary for attendance) |
M 12/20 |
Final paper due no later than 7pm in 352 DI (or
earlier--put under door) |
Final Papers due in hard copy
format and on Safe Assign; if you want your paper back, please included
a SAS manila envelope with enough postage |
Batley, Edward. “Werther's Final Act of Alienation: Goethe, Lessing, and Jerusalem on the Poetry and Truth of Suicide.” The Modern Language Review 87.4 (Oct. 1992): 868-78.
Brown, Jane K. Goethe's Faust: The German Tragedy. Cornell University Press, 1986. Print.
Kneller, John W. “Nerval and Rousseau.” PMLA 68.1 (1953): 150-169. Print.