Composition and Reading in World Literature: Spring 2005

TC 603B (41070):TTH 11-12:15 in CRD 007B

In this course, subtitled The Heart of Literature, we will examine literary works--in various genres from ancient to recent times--that move us as readers. How and why do certain books manage to speak so eloquently to our hearts as well as our minds? What is it that stirs our emotional unconscious as we follow the relationship between a troubled soul and his mentor in Dante's Inferno? or as we listen to the voice of a house narrating family history in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse? or as we experience the epic sweep of civilizations emerging and disappearing in Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities? or as we assess the humanity of a creature and his creator in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein? While these and other literary texts will be the primary focus of our investigation over the year, we will also consider how selected cinematic works succeed (or not) in raising important issues--aesthetic ones, but historical and ethical ones as well--through their appeal to our emotional selves.

Reading and Viewing List for Spring 2005

Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake
Nikolai Gogol, "The Overcoat" (Collected Tales on reserve in PCL)
Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
Michael Cunningham, The Hours
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Tom Stoppard, Arcadia
Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

Films: The Hours (dir. Stephen Daldry), Big Night (dir. Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott)

Requirements:
This course contains a substantial writing component.
Writing assignments include a short literary essay (15%), a take-home examination (20%), a creative project (15%), and a research paper (25%). Preparation and informed participation will account for the remaining 25% of your final grade. There is no final examination.

Attendance Policy: No student who misses more than 6 classes (3 weeks) for any reason can complete the course with a passing grade.

"The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY."

COURSE SYLLABUS

1/18: Introduction / Review

1/20: Individual Conferences (begin Lahiri, The Namesake)

1/25: Namesake 1-124

1/27: Namesake 125-218

2/1: Namesake 219-91

2/3: Gogol, "The Overcoat"

2/8: Peer-editing (complete draft of essay)

2/10: Essay Due; "Two Cathedrals" episode of The West Wing

2/15: Woolf, To the Lighthouse 3-82

2/17: Lighthouse 82-143

2/22: Lighthouse 145-209

2/24: Cunningham, The Hours 3-98

3/1: Hours 99-226; film at 7 pm in FAC 327

3/3: Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1-78

3/8: Unbearable Lightness 79-240

3/10: Unbearable Lightness 241-314

SPRING BREAK

3/22: Take-Home Exam Due

3/24: Stoppard, Arcadia, Act 1

3/29: Arcadia, Act 2; Stoppard interview (recorded)

3/31: Calvino, Invisible Cities 1-69

4/5: Invisible Cities 70-118

4/7: Invisible Cities 119-65

4/12: Creative Project Due

4/14: Conferences: Research Topics

4/19: Library Session (PCL)

4/21: Research Day

4/26: Research Day

4/28: Discuss Abstracts

5/3: Big Night (part 1)

5/5: Big Night (part 2); Research Paper Due

THERE IS NO FINAL EXAMINATION