Eng 499 T/R 9-10:20am in T105
My Office and Office Hours: RS322
My Email: cirrons@scc.losrios.edu (best way to get hold of me)
My Phone: x2608
WELCOME TO INTRO TO GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL and TRANSGENDER
(GLTB) LITERATURE!
Overall Goals and Purpose:
This class is designed to introduce you to literature written by and about the GLBT
community. Since it is a survey course that covers the ancient to modern age, it is
impossible to cover all aspects of the depth, meaning, influence and importance of GLBT
writers on literature and history, but I hope you find my selections engaging and
representative. We will do our best to deal with literature, art, culture and history as it
pertains to the development of and influence of GLBT representation in each of these
texts and films.
Required Texts and Materials:
Plato The Symposium
Sappho Love Poems (handouts)
Shakespeare Merchant of Venice
James Baldwin Giovanni’s Room
Gertrude Stein Three Lives
David Hwang M Butterfly
Paul Rudnick Jeffrey
Gloria Anzaldua La Fronterra
Steve Cirrone Natural Venus
Movies and Documentaries Screened in Class for which you will be responsible:
Orlando
Stonewall
But I’m a Cheerleader
Assignments and Grading Criteria:
2 tests based on the readings for the course. Each will count 20% of your final grade.
2 papers, one short and one long: MLA style, typed, double-spaced. Please see the
attached sheet that outlines each written assignment. The first paper will be worth 15% of
your final grade each. The second paper will be worth 25% of your final grade.
Group Project. Please see the attached sheet that outlines the group projects and make
your selection by week 2 of class. Your role in the project will be individually evaluated
and worth 20% of your final grade.
Syllabus
January 22: Introductions and Overview of course
January 24, 29, 31: Read: Symposium and selected poetry from Sappho (handout)
GROUPS FORMED
Feb 5, 7:
Read: Merchant of Venice
***GROUP LEADERS MEET WITH ME FEBRUARY 7***
Feb 12, 14 and a bit of 19: Screening: Orlando
***PAPER ONE DUE FEBRUARY 14***
Feb 21, 26, 28: Read: Giovanni’s Room
March 4, 6: Read: Three Lives
March 11:
***TEST ONE***
March 13:
GROUP A PRESENTATIONS
March 25, 27:
Screening: Stonewall
April 1, 3:
Read: M Butterfly
April 8, 10:
Read: Jeffrey
April 15:
***TEST TWO***
April 17:
GROUP B PRESENTATIONS
April 22, 24: Read: La Fronterra
April 29, May 1: Read: Natural Venus
***PAPER TWO DUE—May 6***
May 6, 8: But I’m a Cheerleader
May 13: Review and Wrap-Up
NO FINAL EXAM WILL BE GIVEN
(Note: the syllabus may change at any time at the discretion of the instructor)
ENGLISH 499—Group Project
To complete this part of the class successfully, you need to work collaboratively with
your peers on one of the assigned topics. Each group must be comprised of the
following: One Group Leader; One Primary Researcher and Draft Writer; One Editor and
Presenter; One Artist/Designer. These roles must be assigned by _______________. It is
the Group Leader’s responsibility to get me their group members’ names and respective
role designations at that time. Shortly after that date, I will hold a special required
meeting with Group Leaders. Note role designation responsibilities below. No one
member in your group is to take on more than one of these roles without first
clearing that extra work with your Group Leader and with me. It is NOT
recommended that everyone in your group consistently meet and work on each
section of this project—the purpose of group coordination is that every member has
an assigned role, and each person is only responsible for that assigned role.
One Group Leader – This person is the project coordinator and should be the
most organized member of your group, someone who understands how to create
and implement deadlines. It is the responsibility of the Group Leader to keep
everyone else in the group on track, to motivate individuals when necessary, and
to make sure that all sections of the project are completed on time, thoroughly and
thoughtfully. It is NOT the responsibility of the Group Leader to perform any of
the other functions below, but if and when the designated person for a function
below fails to perform or meet a deadline as set by the Group Leader, it is the
Group Leader’s responsibility to let me know immediately. The Group Leader is
also responsible for writing up a one paragraph response that addresses the
presentation evaluation/assessment that the Note Taker and Presenter distribute to
class (see below). The Group Leader is also responsible for gathering and getting
to me the final project elements (see below). This person will function primarily
as the administrative assistant to the entire group. When needed, this person will
take notes and distribute them in a timely fashion to all group members. This
person will create a contact-list. Also, this person’s other role will be to assist the
Primary Researcher and to work later with the Presenter to create the presentation
evaluation survey and assess that information.
One Primary Researcher and Draft Writer – This person will gather the
resource materials necessary from which the writers will write the paper and from
which the presentation will be derived. It is essential that this person understand
how to do proper, thorough and focused research both online and in a library. This
person will meet with the Group Leader to determine if the research needs to be
supplemented. It is then the Group Leader’s responsibility to make sure this
information is focused enough and complete enough so that the draft may be
written. This person must be someone who is able to take the raw researched
materials and draft the essay/written aspects of the assignment; therefore, this
person must be a good writer. The Draft Writer is responsible for creating and
managing the Work’s Cited page for any written documents and for making sure
there are proper citations throughout the essay; therefore, this person should have
experience with MLA format.
One Revision Writer/Editor and Presenter—This person has to be someone
who can take the drafted material and fine-tune it, someone who is an excellent
writer and grammarian. This person is also responsible for checking the source
choices of the draft writer and making sure that all the citations are correct. This
person will also work with the Group Leader and the Artist/Designer to pull from
the final essay that aspect or focus which is to be presented to the Artist/Designer
for the presentation. This person must also be comfortable speaking before an
audience, someone with charisma. Working closely with the Artist/Designer, as
Presenter this person will assist the creation of the presentation in so far as he or
she understands the vision, purpose and scope of the presentation. This person
will be responsible for coordinating all the necessary media (computer, overhead,
CD player, etc) through Media Services. This person will, on the day of the
presentation, lead the class through the exercise created by the Artist/Designer
and be able to lead a discussion about the particular focus of the
project/presentation. This person will then distribute the presentation evaluation
survey to the class and assess that information with the Group Leader.
One Artist/Designer—This person must have a creative mind and enjoy using it,
someone who can take the information given by the Group Leader and use it to
form an engaging presentation. This person will have final creative say over the
presentation. This person should be familiar with PowerPoint and various media
used to enhance the presentation. This person will be responsible for creating the
presentation, and for working with the Presenter in terms of helping him or her
understand the vision, purpose and scope of the presentation.
Final Project Elements:
On the day the Final Project is due to me, the Group Leader will turn in the following,
organized in this order in a clear plastic, side-bind folder:
1. A cover page that contains the title of your project, the people in your group,
their designations and the class information.
2. Copies of any notes taken by the Note-Taker during the large meeting(s) of
your group.
3. A copy of the written essay/aspect of the project.
4. A copy of the class evaluation survey.
5. Five filled out class evaluation surveys.
6. A copy of the assessment of the class evaluation survey.
7. A copy of the written one-paragraph response to the assessment.
THE SPECIFIC GROUP ASSIGNMENT POSSIBILITIES FOLLOW:
GROUP A PRESENTATIONS (to be delivered to the class on March 31—no
extensions or failure will result.)
1) Present the work and influence of ONE famous GLBT artist of the ancient or
Renaissance era to the class.
2) Examine the role of the early Church in the development of GLBT
expression.
3) Present evidence of deliberate gender-bending during Medieval and
Renaissance times.
GROUP B PRESENTATIONS (to be delivered to the class on April 30—no
extensions or failure will result.)
1) Present the work and influence of a well-known post-AIDS GLBT artist to
the class.
2) Examine the way in which changes in recent U.S. legislation (last twenty
years) have affected the GLBT community.
3) Present evidence of the way in which our society has changed in recent years
in its understanding of and its dealings with the transgender community.
PAPER TOPICS
Paper One is a 4-5 page paper, due February 20. No extensions will be given. Choose
ONE of the following three assignments (you are free to use outside sources, but you
do not need to do so):
1) Discuss how and why Plato tells us in The Symposium that male-male
creation is supreme.
2) Compare or contrast three poems by Sappho in order to determine how her
sexual identity influenced her writings.
3) Examine the role of woman in Merchant of Venice in order to determine how
and why transgender behavior(s) affect meaning and interpretation.
Paper Three is an 8-10 page paper, due on May 7. No extensions will be given.
Choose ONE of the following three assignments:
1) Discuss the implication of the title Giovanni’s Room
2) Paul Rudnick’s Jeffrey brings together several contemporary issues that have
faced the post-AIDS glbt community today, but do you find the work relevant or
outdated? Justify your answer by making references to the play text and to at least
three historical or critical sources.
3) Trace the development of the protagonist in Natural Venus in order to determine
whether or not the text supports his sexual identity as innate or socially constructed,
or a combination of both. Make references to the text and to modern theories on
gender identity, both biological determinism and social construction.