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English 289x, Fall 2011Breaking News: Contemporary Literature, Media, and the State
Professor: Dr. Linda Kauffman
Lecture: MW 2-2:50 TWS 1100 Discussion Sections: Fridays begin 9/2/11
Office & Hours: 3228 Tawes, MW 1-2pm
E-mail: ; 99% of routine queries/issues/scheduling
conflicts should be addressed to TA:Lew Gleich()
Course Description: The I-Series courses are designed to get UMD.’s research professors out of the library/ lab and into the lower-division classroom. The aim is to allow students to understand the process of analytic thinking, research, & publication. Launched as an experimental pilot program in Spring 2010, the I-Series will become a requirement in 2012, revolutionizing undergraduate education.
In Engl289x, “Breaking News” means that we shall be “decoding” narratives, including news media stories. We shall examine the relationship between the individual & the State at specific moments of global upheaval, with emphasis on the post-September 11th climate. We’ll ask, “How is history represented – and what is at stake?” Our focus is on representations in fiction, film, television and print media, with an eye on ideology and spectacle. We’ll discuss the bitter divisions of race, gender, religion, nationality, and class. Our texts portray State terror, environmental degradation, and permanent war. They also portray the consolations that only art can offer, by exploring the ways in which we treat “the Other,” as alien. We use a combination of formal lectures, class discussions in your sections, and assignments that involvecollaboration with your classmates.
One highlight of the course: please clear your schedules & mark your calendars now for November 10 & 11th @ 8pm, when the play Aftermath(about the plight of Iraqi civilians) premieres @ Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Attendance mandatory, unless you can provide valid documentation of a work or class schedule conflict. Buy your ticket right away, because they’ll sell out fast!
Course Goals: 1)to become more sophisticated analysts of both literature & visual culture; 2) to enhance your understanding of ideology, history, & language; 3) to enhance your written skills by intensive work on close reading & revision. 4) to enhance your oral communication skills through class discussion (in your sections), collaboration, & short presentations in sections.
Grading:
20% Participation: includes attendance/quizzes/editing/short paragraphs,etc.
15% midterm
20 % final exam (cumulative)
20% First paper on close reading (3-4 pp)
25% 2nd paper –longer close reading paper (5-7pp)
Courtesy, tardiness, & concentration. No laptops,cell phones, ipads or Kindle allowed during lecture or section.Delivering a lecture takes a great deal of concentration -- as does listening to one. Therefore, please be considerate ofyour classmates by: 1) arriving on time & not packing up until class ends. 2) Use the bathroom beforehand & remain seated while class is in session. 3) Refrain from talking, texting, checking messages. This applies in your Friday sections as well as in the lecture hall. If you flout these requests, you’ll get an immediate 10% reduction in your discussion grade for the entire semester. If you cannot abide by these requirements, best drop the course.
Course materials: Texts are on McKeldin reserve & avail.@ Umd. Bookstore.
1. Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
2. DeLillo, Scribner, Falling Man 978-1-4-1656207-1
3. Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go 978-0-307-74099-1
4. McCarthy, The Road 978-0-3-0738789-9
5. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 978-1-6-0329024-1
The films are available via Netflix (order them for yourselves ASAP or see them via Hornbake Nonprint media (on reserve under engl289x). Some avail. @ Youtube or will be screened in class:
(optional):The Baader-Meinhof Compex Udi Edel’s 2009 film (see YouTube)
(required): 2 of the eleven 9-minute films from directors around the globe: Alejandro Innarritu’s & Ken Loach’s(see Youtube). The 11 are collectively known as 11.09.01.
(required): Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir
(required): Chris Marker, La Jetee
The date on the syllabus is the date by which you should have completed assigned reading —read each item carefully several times. For many items (not all), I’ve provided Study Guides on elms/Blackboard: they help you understand what questions ea. text raises. Often, you’ll be assigned a specific question to answer in Discussion Section. See elms/Documents “8 Habits Highly Effective Students” on time/work management.
Week 1: Wed. Aug.31 Introduction. begin DeLillo’s Falling Man to complete by 9/14.
Fri. Sept. 2 All sections WILL meet today. Sobchack, “History Happens”; O’Brien, “ How to Tell a True War Story”. Discuss these 2 texts in relation to your own paragraphs due 9/9.
Week 2: Mon. Sept. 5 LABOR DAY
Wed. Sept. 7 Unit 1Self-fashioning & History: Eco, ”Strategies of Lying”; Alexie, “Captivity”
Fri. Sept. 9 screen Innarritu on 9/11 (avail.on Youtube)Assignment due @ beginning of class: 1 paragraph inwhich you present YOURSELF as a subject of history – you may choose to use Sobchack, Eco, Alexie, or O’Brien as a model for your self-presentation.Hand in 2 copies: one for Lew to keep; one for him to grade & return to you. At term’s end, you’ll compose another paragraph, one that reflects what you learned over the term.
Week 3: Mon. Sept. 12 Unit 29/11-- 10 years later: Discuss Inarritu &DeLillo, “In the Ruins of the Future” & “Baader-Meinhof”. Study the images on elms/DOCUMENTS labelled Gerhard Richter’s paintingsor Baader-Meinhof: all are relevant to DeLillo’s short story with the same title. We urge you to listen to the short story, as read by Chang-rae Lee—see link on DOCUMENTS
Wed. Sept.14Falling Man (expect quiz precisely @ 2pm).
Fri. Sept.16 Kauffman “The Wake of Terror”
Week 4 Mon.Sept.19 DeLillo, “The Most Photographed Barn in America”;Lentricchia, “The Writer as Bad Citizen”; DeCurtis, “An Outsider in this Society:Interview w/ DeLillo” & 2010 McCrum interview w/ DeLillo
Wed. Sept.21 R.Clarke, “10 Years Later”; Frank Rich, “We’ll Win this War on ‘24’--[Bush’s speech @ White House Correspondents’ Dinner avail. Youtube.) Begin Handmaid’s Tale to finish Oct. 3.
Fri. Sept.23Hogan; Auster. Choose editing partner (see #3 under PROTOCOLS). Discussion prep. of writing samples to email to for Writing workshop 9/28. Deadline: 5pm today.( These are samples of your work-in-progress on Assignment#2.)
Week 5: Mon.Sept.26 Deborah Eisenberg, “Twilight of the Superheroes”
Wed.Sept.28 Eisenberg, cont.; Writing Workshop
Fri. Sept.30 In-class Edit. Attendance mandatory. F for absence or insufficient draft (Lew checks ea. one—see #4 under Protocols). If you arrive even 2 min. late, your editor will find a new partner. (re Rosh Hashanah: see #6 under Protocols)
Week 6 Mon. 3 Oct.Unit 3Sexual Politics: The Handmaid’s Tale. Expect a quiz precisely @ 2pm.
Wed.Oct.5. Atwood, “Letter to America”; Kauffman, “21st c. Epistolarity in The Handmaid’s Tale”. Begin Never Let Me Go to finish Nov. 9th
Fri. Oct.7Wrap up Atwood. Assignment 2:1st “close reading” paper due, 3-4 pp. No late papers accepted. (re: Yom Kippur, see #6under Protocols).
Week 7 Mon. Oct.10Zillah Eisenstein, “Feminisms in Wake of 9/11”
Wed. Oct.12Midterm. This date cannot be changed for any reason. No make-ups, no exceptions. If you have a court case, make this reality clear to the judge & ask him/her to contact me.
Fri. Oct.14screen “Waltz with Bashir” [see remainder outside class]
Week 8: Mon. Oct.17 Unit 4Trauma & Witnessing:Stewart essay on “Waltz with Bashir”; Lecture on Psychoanalysis & Cinema
Wed. Oct.19Stewart, “Digital Fatigue”
Fri. Oct.21Discuss midterm, lst essays; discuss 2 Stewart essays &screen further excerpts discussed in Stewart’s 2 essays
Week 9: Mon.Oct.24Jameson “Dialectics of Disaster”
Wed.Oct.26Pease, US Imperialism”
Fri.Oct.28screen Ken Loach DVD on Chile’s “9/11”
Week 10: Mon.Oct.30 Salazar-Sutil, “Variations on “Fugitive’s Song” [Chilean protest song
Wed.Nov.2 screen La Jetee& discuss Penley on La Jetee
Fri.Nov.4
Week 11: Mon. Nov.7WJT Mitchell, “Cloning Terror”
Wed. Nov.9 Unit 5 Posthuman: Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go-expect a quiz promptly @ 2pm.
Nov.10 & 11 @ 8pm see AFTERMATH @Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (Student tickets approx.. $9.00-viewing required,unless you bring valid documentation of a scheduling conflict).
Fri. Nov.11Begin McCarthy’s The Road to finish Nov.21th.
Week 12: Mon. Nov.14 Ishiguro, cont.; screen clips of film adaptation & discuss related links on organ donors, public health,etc.
Wed.Nov.16Unit 6 Sexual Persecution: Rubin, “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality
Fri. 18Assignment #3: paragraph inwhich you present YOURSELF as a subject of history, one that reflects what you’ve learned over the term.
Week 13 Mon.Nov.21Unit 7 Post-Apocalypse: McCarthy, The Road. 2pm quiz
Wed. Nov.23 Thanksgiving break—no class
Week 14 Mon. Nov.28 The Road, cont.& McCarthy interview
Wed. Nov.30Writing Workshop
Fri. Dec. 3 In-class edit: Attendance mandatory- see Protocols#3 below.If you arrive even 2 min. late, your editor will find a new partner.
Week 15Mon. Dec.5screen “Why We Fight” or “No End in Sight”
Wed.Dec. 7to be announced
Fri. Dec.Assignment #4: 2nd paper due, 5-7pp. No late papers.
Week 16: Mon. Dec.12Review & Summary
Week 17 Mon. Dec.19 Final exam 1:30-3:30 Test begins promptly @ 1:30pm. This date cannot be changed for any reason. No make-ups, no exceptions. If you have a court case, make this reality clear to the judge & ask him/her to contact me.
Course Protocols & University Policies:
1. Communication with professor: Your T.A. is your main contact person, but please use email sparingly, because most issues you can resolve by yourself. For example, if you can’t find an item on elms or e-reserve, get hard copy in McKeldin. Email is for making appts. --not for finding out what you missed in class. Do that via office consult w/ Lew.I’m always delighted to see you during office hrs., so stop by any time to chat (MW 1-2pm TWS 3228).
2. Participation & attendance: T.A.takes attendance in section & we use quizzes to monitor attendance in lecture. Therefore, you’ll find yourself @ severe disadvantage if you miss more than 2 classes (Discussion AND Lecture) during the term. If you are ill or have scheduling conflict on a specific day, provide T.A.with valid documentation. “Participation” means having read assigned work by due date & having something meaningful to say about it. There are no make-ups for any impromptu quizzes you may happen to miss if you’re absent or arrive late (see #6 below &GRADING above).
3. Editing: you will find a partner who is writing on a different topic and author and bring a NEAR-PERFECT draft to class on the assigned day to exchange. You revise accordingly and turn in both edited draft & revised copy on due date. You receive 2 grades: one for editing your partner’s paper, and one for writing your own. (The latter is weighted more heavily than the former— consult Grading for exact percentages.) This assignment is designed to give you the best possible opportunity to improve your writing skills, but it only works if you meet the deadlines. Therefore, if you’re absent on editing day (without a valid documented excuse) or have an insufficient draft, you get an F on the editing assignment. T.A.checks ea.student’s draft. Follow standard MLA format re margins, double-space, 12 font, & Works Cited (consult MLA Handbook). We’ll devote several Lecture Sessions to prepping you for your writing assignments, as well as several of your Friday sections.
4. Plagiarism: means representing the ideas of others as your own, regardless of whether you claim it is intentional or not. Full sanctions imposed. See the Code of Academic Integrity ( which prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without authorization, buying papers, facilitating academic dishonesty, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures. All quotations taken from other authors, including from the Internet, must be indicated by quotation marks and referenced. Paraphrasing must be referenced as well. The following University of Maryland Honor Pledge should be handwritten and signed on the front page of all papers, projects, or other academic assignments submitted for evaluation in this course: "I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination."
5. Students with disabilities should contact your TA @ beginning of the semester to discuss any accommodation you might need for this course
6. Religious observances. Since Rosh Hashanah is Wed.eve. through Fri. eve. Sept. 28-30, students with religious obligations should be prepared to exchange papers with their editor on Wednesday, in class or via email that day.Since Yom Kippur begins Fri.eve, Oct. 7th – the due date for Assignment#2, students should email their paper to Lew before the due date.Other religions: see TA if you have schedule conflicts.
7.Preparation for each lecture & discussion section: Since the course is devoted to close textual analysis of specific passages, always make sure to bring every single assigned book(s), essays, downloaded materials to every session. To insure that students are doing the reading & bringing course materials to each session, you should expect impromptu quizzes every week: these can cumulatively raise or lower your grade drastically. The quizzes also help you prepare for the exams.
8. Your written work: while our course deals with current events, your written assignments entail critical thinking, close reading, and attention to the literary qualities (metaphors, symbols, motifs, themes, narrative codes & strategies) of each text (including non-fiction, as well as fiction). Therefore, you cannot expect to get a passing grade by cutting & pasting somethingfrom the Internet about current events. I’ll be modelling what is expected of you during lectures& will provide sample outlines to help you learn how to improve these skills. We’ll cover this issue thoroughly in class & in section. (See Course Goals above).