HC 221 H, Honors College World Literature: The Narrative Subject, the Subject of Narrative
Bishop, Fall '06 | 308 Chapman | (541) 346-0733 | lmbishop@uoregon.edu
Office hours:
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Monday, 3:30 to 5:00 pm |
Wednesday, 3:30 to 5:00 pm (except Oct 11) |
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Friday 1:00 to 2:00 pm |
Please note that these office hours are shared with English Department majors; you may take your chances, or you may reserve office hour time via sign-up sheets on my office door (sign-up sheets list hours for the entire term); make an appointment if these hours don't work.
Class hours: Mon., Wed. 2:00 to 3:20 pm in 307 Chapman CRN 14296
In this study of literary genres and types with attention to form, content, context, and literary history, we will concentrate on narrative (plot and genre) and identity (character). We will assess our texts with an eye to their contexts, while also enabling the past to engage our attention and sympathy. We will also gear ourselves to the habit of close reading. Our interest will be particularly drawn to the shift of narrative form from epic to romance. Reading list: The Epic of Gilgamesh, the biblical book of Genesis, The Odyssey, the Indian epic The Ramayana, a selection of Arabic love poetry, and the 13th-century Romance of Silence. Except for the Arabic poetry, these books (including used copies, which are cheaper) are all currently available at the UO Bookstore.
Your own writing is, of course, both formally and contextually situated. HC 221 H includes writing analysis (composition) with the study of literature. In order to evaluate the formal elements of your own writing, please be advised of the University Composition Program's resources. (Back to top of page)
1. FIRST WRITING ASSIGNMENT, DUE WEDNESDAY, September 27: The harlot brings Enkidu from nature to civilization. What blandishments of modern American civilization would coax Enkidu from the wild? Write a little narrative, in Enkidu's voice, explaining what he finds attractive in American culture and what he loses in order to enter it.
2. Response papers. You'll write four one- to two-page response papers this term; each will use a prompt from the study questions below. See the schedule below for due dates: there are five opportunities in which to which papers; you'll choose four of them. Response paper are formal in the sense that spelling, grammar, and thinking count; at the same time, these are papers in which to try out ideas, to experiment and challenge yourself intellectually. Here are the steps for writing response papers:
I will read these papers, comment on them, and grade them pass/no pass. Normally, a no-pass paper lacks a thesis and/or contains egregious writing errors. Four passing papers will count as a 4.0, three as a 3.0, two as a 2.0, one as a 1.0. No-pass papers may be re-written, but MUST be handed back to me within a week. You may also request that I give any response paper a "grade," meaning the grade it would get were it a graded assignment. I would "grade" the paper in order to give you an idea of how grading works on formal papers, but the grade won't "count," per se.
3 . Graded formal papers. See the file, TIPS FOR TOPICS, linked here and on Blackboard. Two five-page papers, each of which will use an observation originally explored in a response paper and/or an informal study group. Paper 1, due Monday, Oct. 23, will treat Gilgamesh, Genesis, and/or the Odyssey. Paper 2, due Wednesday, Nov. 22, will treat the Odyssey (provided you didn't write on it for Paper 1), The Ramayana, the Arabic love poetry, and/or Silence. Note paper due dates: turn in your papers on the date specified. The first paper may also be rewritten (due one week after returned, graded), with the two grades averaged for the paper's final grade.
4 . Writing portfolio and reflective essay. During the term, keep all of your work in this portfolio; at the end of the term, you'll write a reflective essay about your writing, using your portfolio in order to include specific examples of your writing's strengths and weaknesses, and to list what you hope to continue to improve in your writing. You'll give me your writing portfolio, with reflective essay, along with your final exam, due no later than Wednesday, December 6, at 5:15 pm. Completing this assigment contributes 10% to your final grade.
5. Final exam. Cumulative, essay, take-home exam, due no later than Wednesday, December 6, at 5:15 pm. (Back to top of page)
Informal study groups. The learning community of the Honors College affords you an opportunity to test your ideas and grow intellectually in a supportive yet challenging environment.
To facilitate conversations about our texts, I have provided question sheets on Blackboard for eight weeks during the term.
To get credit, you must turn in each sheet at the beginning of the appropriate Monday class. If you complete a sheet for each of the eight weeks, you'll receive 3 tenth-points extra-credit on your final grade; for seven, 2; for six, 1; for five, half a tenth.(Back to top of page)
The response papers constitute 15% of your grade; the first formal paper, 20%, the second, 30%; reflective essay, 10%; participation, 10%; and the final exam will constitute 15% of your grade. Please note the University's "grade point value" system effective 9/90, as I will be using this system (unless otherwise noted):
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A+ = 4.3 |
B+ = 3.3 |
C+ = 2.3 |
D+ = 1.3 |
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A = 4.0 |
B = 3.0 |
C = 2.0 |
D = 1.0 |
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A- = 3.7 |
B- = 2.7 |
C- = 1.7 |
D- = 0.7 |
Note that a grade of "C" is, according to academic regulations, "satisfactory," while a "B" is "good." That means that a "B" is better than average, better than satisfactory, better than adequate. The average grade, then, is a "C"; a grade of "B" requires effort and accomplishment.
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Sept. 25 class introduction--historicizing "literature" and respecting difference; introduction to Gilgamesh--the purpose of story |
Sept. 27 First Writing Assignment
Gilgamesh, a poem of the human condition |
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Oct. 2 Gilgamesh |
Oct. 4 Gilgamesh Tablets 8 through 11 and the account of Gilgamesh's death, pp 195-208: confronting and escaping death |
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Oct. 9 Alter's Genesis |
Oct. 11 Alter's Genesis |
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Oct. 16 Alter's Genesis |
Oct. 18 Odyssey |
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Oct. 23 Odyssey |
Oct. 25 Odyssey |
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Oct. 30 Odyssey
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Nov. 1 Ramayana, Introduction and chapters 1 and 2 (through page 34). See the Babri Masjid website for some background on Ayodhya and current politics*Odyssey (#3) response paper due |
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Nov. 6 Ramayana Chapters 3 and 4 (35-77): wives, sisters, and lovers (Kaikeyi and Soorpanaka): politics, erotic desire, and promises |
Nov. 8 Ramayana Chapters 5 and 6 (pages 79-113), "the
saddest part of our great epic" |
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Nov. 13 Ramayana Chapters 7 through 14 (pages 115-171) Hanuman the monkey warrior |
Nov. 15 Arabic poetry: major themes *Ramayana
(#4) response paper due |
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Nov. 20 |
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Nov. 27 Silence |
Nov. 29 Silence |
Gilgamesh: Tablet 1: Why present Gilgamesh as a bad king? Why do the animals reject Enkidu after he has intercourse with the harlot? What does their rejection mean? Why does reason and understanding result from Enkidu's episode with the harlot? What more defines a man, according to the epic? Tablet 2: Why does Gilgamesh propose killing Humbaba? Tablet 3: What role does Ninsun play in the drama? Assess the approach/avoidance motif shared between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Tablet 4: Why detail Gilgamesh's dreams? What do his dreams mean? Tablet 5: Does anything make Humbaba a sympathetic character? Tablet 6: Why does Gilgamesh reject Ishtar? What is Enkidu's role in the rejection and in the death of the Bull of Heaven? How does the Bull of Heaven's death compare with Humbaba's? Tablet 7: Why does Enkidu change his mind about cursing the harlot? How do curses compare with dreams? Tablets 8, 9, and 10: Tablet 10 culminates in Uta-napishtim's description of death. How have we been prepared for it? How does it differ from other actions and descriptions? From scorpion-men and Shiduri the tavern-keeper to Uta-napishtim, how does their advice count for Gilgamesh and for the audience? Since death is so much this text's concern, how do you account for its failure to recount Gilgamesh's death? See the account of Gilgamesh's death, pp 195-208 (from a different tablet find). Argue for or against including this final account in the epic.
Genesis: Chapters 1-22: Cain and Abel: which is the shepherd, which the farmer? Which does God prefer? Why? Compare the flood narrative with Uta-napishti's from Gilgamesh. How do they differ? What is the point? What kind of god plays tricks on the faithful like that of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac? Chapters 37-50: What role does Judah play in the story of Joseph? How does the story of Judah and Tamar fit into the larger story? Why does Joseph hide his identity from his brothers so long? What is he trying to accomplish? Is he angry? Vengeful? Is he testing them? Do they pass?
Odyssey: Assess the portrait of Helen in Book 4, reading for details that complicate the character. Compare this portrait with that of Penelope; be alert as well to the portrait of Agamemnon in Books 3 and 24. Is Helen an anti-type of Helen? Or is Helen a "third term" between Clytemnestra and Penelope? Or does Homer provide an even-more complicated portrait and, if he does, what does it mean?
Ramayana: How do you assess the promise made to Keikeyi? How do you assess Rama's choice to take sides in the dispute between Vali and his brother? What does it mean to become a hero? A god? How does Rama's kingship compare with Gilgamesh's?
Poems of Arab Andalusia What differentiates lyric and narrative poetry? What are the various "love objects" this poetry addresses? What does it make of war and desire? How do this poetry's themes compare with love in The Odyssey?
Silence Evaluate Cador's love lament (lines 640-678): what conventions does it employ? How different is it from Rama's love of Sita? How does Eufemie's love differ from Cador's? Notice the poet's own voice, say at lines 1651 ff: how does it differ in quality from a character's? What meaning could this difference suggest? What prompts the poet to speak in his own voice? How does it compare with Valmiki's voice, or Homer's? What is Merlin's role in the story? How would you describe Merlin's character?
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