Louise Bishop's teaching pages

Paper format instructions | What is an A paper?
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HC 221 -- Listening to Wisdom, Fall '15small logo

Course description

What counts as knowledge in pre-modern societies? What makes knowledge last? What, if anything, differentiates knowledge (scientia in Latin) from wisdom (sapientia)? Stories – narratives -- carry knowledge in its many forms in both pre-modern and modern societies. In his book The Literary Mind (Oxford UP, 1996), Mark Turner suggests that narrative—story--is the foundation of language itself. Yet in the western Renaissance or early modern era, story becomes devalued as "mere story"—so Francis Bacon called it in 1626. Modernity makes history into story's opposite: history gives us fact rather than fiction, story gives us imagination rather than reality. Aren't facts more important than fiction?

Reading pre-modern texts with attention can help us understand the value of narrative and our own positions within a sea of story. We'll use many kinds of tales (a tale is also a "mere story," according to the OED) and their "translations" (meaning "to carry, to transfer") to grapple with representations of self and other, and with the value of imagination and emotion. We'll let the root of education -- educare, to lead forth -- lead us to new sorts of intellectual and emotional understandings as we consider the ways pre-modern cultures produced and saved these tales. We’ll also investigate how and why we’ve gotten our hands on them in 2015 Oregon. Your Clark Honors College literary journey starts, but does not end, here.

Close reading is vital; interpretive muscle grows from it. Written work for the class includes ungraded response papers, two 1500-word formal papers (see paper format instructions above), class presentations, and a comprehensive final examination. Some special events related to the class, such as films or readings, will be arranged during the term.

Your own writing is, of course, both formally and contextually situated. HC 221 H Honors College Literature integrates writing analysis (composition) with the study of literature. Please be advised of two resources: the University Composition Program's resources, and the Teaching and Learning Center in the basement of PLC.

By the end of this course, students will be able to interpret poetry in its cultural and historical context.

Texts: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound, the Biblical Book of Job, The Consolation of Philosophy,The Bhagavad-Gita, Dante's Vita Nuova, and Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Requirements

  • First writing assignment, due Wednesday, September 30. One to two pages, 250 to 500 words. Read the first tablet of Gilgamesh, pages 1 to 11, and pay attention to Gilgamesh's dream and Ninsun's interpretation of it. Invent a dream that presages your experiences at the University of Oregon. Have someone (and identify who it is) who interprets your dream. You'll be writing in a long tradition: Mesopotamian students parodied Gilgamesh some 3000 years ago.
  • Response papers.You'll write four one- to two-page response papers this term. Check due dates on the schedule below. 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:
    • No fewer than four days before a paper is due, think about something you find intriguing in ourreading, and re-read the text.
    • No fewer than three days before the due date, free write, meaning that you make notes, construct an outline, or write a complete draft (this may be handwritten). Use a habitual method, or try a new method you're trying out for the first time. Get something down on paper. Then put away whatever you've written for at least six hours.
    • Reread and revise what you've written, again looking at our text for evidence. Have a typed, final copy of your essay complete before noon Wednesday.
    • Attach your notes/outline/draft to your finished copy and hand it in.

    Do not be surprised if you change your mind utterly while you're writing. Do not be surprised if the last thing you write can better serve as the beginning of the paper. 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, and handed back to me within a week. You may also request that I give any response paper a "grade," meaning the grade it would receive were it a graded assignment: I'll "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.

  • Graded formal papers. Two five-page (1250 to 1500 words) papers, each of which can use an observation originally explored in a response paper and/or an informal study group. See also tips for topics. Paper 1, due Wednesday, Oct. 21, will treat Gilgamesh and/or Prometheus Bound. Paper 2, due Wednesday, Nov. 25, will treat The Book of Job, The Consolation of Philosophy,The Bhagavad-Gita, and/ or Vita Nuova. Comparisons are welcome, but don't lose specificity. Note paper due dates: turn in your papers on the date specified. The first paper may also be rewritten (due one week after returned; include the original paper when submitting the rewrite), with the two grades averaged for the paper's final grade.
  • Writing portfolio and reflective essay. During the term, keep all of your work in a folder; 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. Your essay will also treat 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, no later than Wednesday, December 9, at 12:15 pm. Completing this assignment contributes 10% to your final grade.
  • Final exam. Take-home exam, focusing primarily on Hamlet, due no later than Wednesday, December 9, at 12:15 pm.

Extra credit: 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, you can, along with at least one other student, contribute a "discovery" to our Canvas site before Sunday midnight for each Monday's class. In-person conversations only, please. You're on the honor system for the listing of contributors' names. You may get credit only once for each week, but of course you'll benefit from chatting about many different discoveries. List the discussants' names and include on the Canvas site notes on the conversation, conclusions reached, and at least one question your conversation led to. Again, all this must be posted before midnight on the appropriate Sunday.

If you complete the assignment 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.

Grading

The response papers constitute 15% of your grade; the two formal papers, 25% and 30% respectively; the reflective essay 10%; participation, 5%, 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):

A+ = 4.3

B+ = 3.3

C+ = 2.3

D+ = 1.3

A = 4.0

B = 3.0

C = 2.0

D = 1.0

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.

Sexual Assault statement

The UO is committed to providing an environment free of all forms of discrimination and sexual harassment, including sexual assault, domestic and dating violence and gender-based stalking. If you (or someone you know) has experienced or experiences gender-based violence (intimate partner violence, attempted or completed sexual assault, harassment, coercion, stalking, etc.), know that you are not alone. UO has staff members trained to support survivors in navigating campus life, accessing health and counseling services, providing academic and housing accommodations, helping with legal protective orders, and more.

Please be aware that all UO employees are required reporters. This means that if you tell me about a situation, I may have to report the information to my supervisor or the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity. Although I have to report the situation, you will still have options about how your case will be handled, including whether or not you wish to pursue a formal complaint. Our goal is to make sure you are aware of the range of options available to you and have access to the resources you need. If you wish to speak to someone confidentially, you can call 541-346-SAFE, UO’s 24- hour hotline, to be connected to a confidential counselor to discuss your options. You can also visit the SAFE website at safe.uoregon.edu.

Mondays

Wednesdays

Sept. 28 class introduction "world literature" and respecting difference; ground rules for class; introduction to Gilgamesh, the purpose of story

Gilgamesh is a poem of the human condition:

Read the Introduction in the George/Penguin edition, Tablet 1, and also pp. 101-107

Tablet 1: Kingship, nature, the creation of Enkidu

Why do the animals reject Enkidu after he has intercourse with Shamhat? What does their rejection mean? Why does reason and understanding result from Enkidu's episode Shamhat? What defines a man, according to the epic?

First writing assignment due
Sept. 30 Gilgamesh Tablets 2 and 3 and also pp. 107-115 in the George edition: Enkidu, Gilgamesh, and the quest; eroticism, male bonding, heroic challenge and anticipation: preparations for the quest

What civilizes Enkidu? Why does Enkidu feel sad once he's civilized? Note the irony at the end of Tablet 2. Why does Gilgamesh propose killing Humbaba? What role does Ninsun play in the drama-- why does she "adopt" Enkidu? Why have the young men end the third tablet?

Oct. 5 Gilgamesh Tablets 4 through 6: Humbaba and the journey to the Cedar Forest; Ishtar, sex and heroism;

What distinguishes Gilgamesh from Enkidu? Assess the approach/avoidance motif shared between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Why detail Gilgamesh's dreams both here and in Tablet 1? Does anything make Humbaba a sympathetic character? Is Gilgamesh afraid of Ishtar? Why does Ishtar want Gilgamesh in the first place? 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?

#1 response paper due (Gilgamesh)
Oct. 7 Gilgamesh Tablets 7 through 11: the death of Enkidu and Gilgamesh's reaction: violence and sympathy; the journey to the underworld, the flood story, and walls

Why does Enkidu change his mind about cursing Shamhat? How do curses compare with dreams? Tablet 10 culminates in Utanapishtim's description of death. How have we been prepared for this description? How does it differ from other actions and descriptions that preceded it? From scorpion-men and Siduri the tavern-keeper to Utanapishtim, 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?


 

Oct. 12 Prometheus Bound: Greek drama and myth Please read the Introduction, the entire play, and the Hesiod excerpt on Blackboard before class.
(1) If Prometheus means "forethought," how does that meaning affect our understanding of the play?(2) Take apart Prometheus's speech, lines 451-485 (pages 23-24): how does Prometheus's efforts to civilize human beings compare with Enkidu's introduction to civilization? (3) Think about how "chorus" works: there's plenty to find out, but think about it from the perspective of a theme of the play.


#2 response paper due (Prometheus Bound)
Oct. 14
 Prometheus Bound: choose a passage that for you exemplifies the entire play.

The role of knowledge and wisdom: (1) Does this play distinguish between knowledge and wisdom? (2) What does Necessity (line 940, page 46) mean? How is it related to fate? How is it related to death? (3) What does it mean to smile at suffering?

Oct. 19 The Book of Job

The Book of Job: read through page 132 (through chapter 31). Pay very close attention to what the text actually says. Read Alter's footnotes. Allow yourself to be surprised.

Oct. 21 The Book of Job *First formal paper due
God in the whirlwind --through page 158 (through Chapter 37) Again, pay very close attention to what exactly Job says, what exactly God says. Have we another instance of Necessity here?

Oct. 26 The Bhagavad-Gita

Surprises: read the introductions and through Teaching 3

#3 response paper due (Job and/or Bhagavad-Gita)

Oct. 28 The Bhagavad-Gita
Krishna the chariot driver: through Teaching 6

Nov. 2 The Bhagavad-Gita
Why does Arjuna decide to continue the battle? Through Teaching 18 and the afterword


Nov. 4 The Consolation of Philosophy

Book 1: Who is Lady Philosophy? How do metaphor and visions go together?

 

Nov. 9 The Consolation of Philosophy
Book 2: the wheel of fortune; Book 3: wisdom, creation, and divinity

#4 response paper due (Consolation of Philosophy)
Nov. 11
The Consolation of Philosophy
Books 4 and 5: free will and determinism


Nov. 16 The Vita Nuova
The role of poetry
Dante's life; chronology
The "stil nuovo,""new style"; love's contradictions and sufferings, its tensions with moral/social structures
1292-95 composition of VN, Dante aged 27-30
immaterial and transcendent realities (this is a very challenging part of the intro)
Time--past, present, and future
Issue of manuscript and text divisions (primarily for Italianists)
Temporality and narrativity: also a challenge

#5 response paper due (Vita Nuova)
Nov. 18
 The Vita Nuova
What is love? Poetry as experience, experience as poetry: be sure to have read the entire text
The destabilizing effect of romantic love

 

Nov. 23 The Vita Nuova

Vocation and wisdom

Transcendent and immanent love, experiential and ideal; see the complete Petrarch (1304-1374) Canonziere online

*Second formal paper due
Nov. 25 Hamlet

intro to Hamlet and taking stock of knowledge, wisdom, and story

Act 1: something is rotten in the state of Denmark; the role of knowledge: "Oh, my prophetic soul!"

 


Nov. 30
Hamlet

Acts 2 and 3: spying and knowledge; the play within

Dec. 2 Hamlet

The rest is silence: modernity