English 486 Themes in American Literature: Evil
Spring 2011
TTh 9:30-10:45, C E Chavez Bldg, Rm 304
Professor Lynda Zwinger
Office: Modern Languages 469
Office hours: TBA
Course Description
American literature has had, from the very beginning, a preoccupation with evil. What is evil? A white whale? A homeless boy who “steals” a slave? A governess who wants to “save” her charges? A man who will encourage a sister’s incestuous marriage but not if it involves “miscegenation”? Or maybe a woman who (thinks she) turns into a panther when she feels passion, or an utterly virtualized society in which “reality” is a software program, or a town that figures out a way to have perfect wives? We will read texts (print and film) that engage what may well be the quintessential American Love Story. Authors may include: Hawthorne, Twain, Faulkner, O’Connor, Capote, Harris, others; films may include The Night of the Hunter, The Stepford Wives, The Bad Seed, The Omen, others. Students will write four short papers, and take a midterm and a final.
Course page: http://engl486s11.blogspot.com
NB: This syllabus is a work in progress. It will change. Often. A lot. You are responsible for checking the course page frequently to stay tuned—you are, that is, responsible for any revisions made to the work or the schedule that are posted there, whether or not they are mentioned in class. We also have a D2L page, but until further notice, this blogspot page is the official page for the course.
Texts
Most of our texts will be available on the internet (you’ll have to print them to have hard copies for class) or movies shown in class. I may also order a book or two and will give you ample notice if and when I do. A full list and the beginning of a reading schedule will be handed out next week.
Policies and student work
Students will write four single-spaced, 1-page papers throughout the semester (papers and tests are 70% of your grade). You will receive specific instructions for each assigned paper in advance of the due date. (Fair warning: one page papers are much, much harder to write well than longer papers.) Everyone will read at least one of these papers to the class.
This is a discussion class first and a lecture class second (if a student says something important, I won’t repeat it, so take notes on your colleagues’ contributions); participation (attendance counts as participation) is 10% of your grade.
There will be an objective midterm and final. I will also give unannounced brief objective quizzes, usually on the first day of discussion of a text. These are solely for the purpose of helping you keep up with the reading; they cannot be made up if you are late or absent. The grades you earn on these will constitute 20% of your semester grade.
Attendance is mandatory.
Plagiarism (the use of someone else’s words and/or ideas without attribution) will result in a course grade of “F.” UA policies will be followed, see, especially:
You must complete all work assigned (you can’t, that is, blow off a paper because you don’t “need” the grade).
My policy is no Incompletes; if you think you won’t be able to complete the course please arrange to withdraw from it.
If you must miss a class, please ask a classmate to fill you in on what you missed.
Courtesy in speech and attitude is respectfully requested and required and offered. Please turn off cell phones before class starts. Please refrain from web-surfing, texting, emailing, watching YouTube or updating your Facebook page during class.
If you are going to eat cookies, bring enough for everybody.
Notable Dates
March 12-20 Spring Break
3/31 No class
March 31-April 2 Arizona Quarterly Symposium (no class, but attendance at a paper of your choice will be required)
May 5 Last Day of Classes
May 10 Final 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., Chavez 304
Schedule
January 18 A detailed schedule will be posted next week; for January 18 please read, print, and bring to class this entry from the O.E.D. (you will need to be logged in to the UA webpage):
