Graduate English Course Descriptions Spring 2013 ENG 5301.251 Literary Scholarship W 6:30-9:20pm; FH 252 #32265 Instructor: Dr. Rebecca Bell-Metereau Course Description: Current approaches to literature; readings strategies, artistic techniques, and conventions; and research tools. Focus will be on verbal and visual textual analysis. Course Goals: English 5301 will refine your skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and conducting research. You will have your own choice of specific research topics, but the kinds of papers required are intended to emphasize a variety of theoretical, research, and rhetorical skills. This section emphasizes your own creativity, individual voice, computer literacy, media literacy, and critical thinking skills. Your full participation is an essential part of the course dynamics and content, and therefore attendance is very important. Learning Outcomes: The Department of English has adopted student learning outcomes for general education courses in writing and literature, and for degree programs in English. These outcomes are available for your review at http://www.english.txstate.edu. Pull down the Student Resources menu and go to “Learning Outcomes.” Format: Open discussion, student presentations, individual and group work (highly interactive). Texts: Blade Runner (film), Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Dreamchild (film), Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (editor Ross C. Murfin, 2nd ed.), Apocalypse Now (film), Hearts of Darkness (video documentary in class), Virginia Woolf’s Orlando (book and film), David Mikics’ A New Handbook of Literary Terms. Attendance: Regular attendance is extremely important; homework and in-class writing may not be made up without a written medical excuse for absence. Evaluation: Based on the following: Proposal for presentation & research essay=20%; Research essay (8-10 pg)=30%; Weekly responses=30%; Presentation to the class=20%. Presentation must include some use of technology or a form of media analysis (film, television, website, etc). Special Needs: Students who have special needs or disabilities that require special accommodations for this course must notify both the Office of Disability Services and me by the end of the first week of classes. The English Department is committed to providing all students with academic adjustments and aids to facilitate full participation and performance in the classroom. Please see me if you have any questions about special needs. Ph: 512-245-3725, 512-665-2157 (cell) Email: rb12@txstate.edu Office: FH 335 Office hours: W 4-6pm, T&Th 11am-12:30pm or by appointment. ENG 5312.251 Editing the Professional Publication T&Th 3:30-4:50pm; Brazos Hall 218 #32266 Instructor: David R. Norman Description: This course provides students the opportunity to write, select, and edit material for publication. Students will work as part of an editorial team on all stages of the publication process. This course also offers practical experience working with desktop publishing software (Adobe InDesign/Photoshop). Goals: Students will learn how to write and revise book reviews of publishable quality. They will correspond with authors, evaluate submissions, and learn the daily operations of two print journals: Texas Books in Review, which monitors the literary production of books from or about Texas, and Southwestern American Literature, which showcases contemporary writing and scholarship concerning the Greater Southwest. Required Books: There are no required textbooks for this course. It is recommended that you have access to a recent edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, in print or online through the Alkek library database. Reading assignments (reviews, essays, revision exercises) will be posted on TRACS. Assignments: Lectures and readings will be scheduled throughout the semester. You will be expected to attend lectures, meet with the instructor on a weekly basis, and complete all assignments on time. Editorial Assistant: You will have individual writing, editing, and layout assignments connected to the specific editorial-assistant position you select during the first week of the semester. You will be expected to complete these assignments on time and work during and outside of class. Book Review: In addition to your responsibilities as an editorial assistant, you will read at least two books related to Texas and/or the Greater Southwest. You will then write a book review (approx. 750-800 words) for each. For the first review, you will format the review in Word and use the template for Texas Books in Review with Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. For the second, you will lay out your review in a format of your choosing with Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. Evaluation: There are no letter grades for this course. In order for students to earn credit, they must attend class, correspond regularly with the instructor, and complete assignments in a timely manner. Ph: 245-0351 Email: davidnorman@txstate.edu Office: Brazos 220 Office Hours: T/Th 1:30-3:30pm and by appointment. ENG 5312.253 Internship Course W 6:30-9:20pm; FH G04 #32268 Instructor: Dr. Libby Allison Description: In spring 2013, Texas State University will undertake a campus-wide pilot project on electronic texts (e-texts) for classes, and the MATC program will be part of this endeavor. For the first time, some MATC courses will use e-texts. In this internship course, students will be responsible for the creation, development, and implementation of an evaluation study for the MATC’s participation in the pilot project. The evaluation process will include usability research and recommendations for improving the Courseload software program associated with the implementation of e-texts. Goals: The goals are for students to learn about usability research, about working on large-scale projects, working in teams, and professional approaches to recommending changes in software based on research. At the conclusion of the semester, students will produce a substantial document of the learning process during the semester, and their part in the creation, development, and implementation of the evaluation process. Required Books: Students in this section will be required to use an electronic textbook (e-text) that will be included with the course. Students in this section will be charged $25 for the e-text, which will appear on the tuition and fee statement. For more information please visit http://www.avpaa.txstate.edu/ after October 11, 2012. Students should not purchase books for this course until you hear from me, or until after we meet for the first class time as Courseload is still working to find the texts. Format: This course is a graduate seminar class. Students will work in teams. Evaluation: Class participation=15% Various homework assignments=15% Progress Reports=40% Evaluative Report and Final Project=30% For more information: Contact Libby Allison Email: lallison@txstate.edu ENG 5313.252 Studies in Technical Communication Topic: Digital Media and the Web M 6:30-9:20pm; FH 120 #36432 Instructor: Dr. Scott Mogull Description: This course will provide an overview of the theoretical and practical aspects of designing effective websites and other online media. Specifically, this course will focus on strategic planning, content development, site structure, navigation, and design. Additional topics will include search engine optimization and designing for mobile devices. The course will include learning technical skills with Dreamweaver and exposure to scripting languages, such as basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Assignments will primarily focus on developing websites according to information design theory using Dreamweaver. Required Texts: (please purchase print copies for use during class) Learning Web Design (4th ed.) by Robbins http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920023494.do ISBN: 978-1-449-31927-4 Adobe Dreamweaver CS6 Classroom in a Book, 1/E by Adobe Creative Team http://www.adobepress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321822455 ISBN: 978-0-321-82245-1 Goals: Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: Develop websites from a user-centered approach Apply principles of website design and information design to facilitate search engine optimization and viewing on mobile devices Create and edit websites using Dreamweaver Understand the basics of scripting languages: HTML, CSS, and Javascript Format: Class will combine discussion of readings, critique of digital media, and handson website development with Dreamweaver. Evaluation: Hands-on practice assignments (30%), short quizzes (20%), and a website final project/presentation (50%). Ph: (512) 666-4866 Email: mogull@txstate.edu ENG 5313.253 Studies in Technical Communication Topic: The Design Project T 6:30-9:20pm; FH 114 #38648 Instructor: Dr. Deborah Balzhiser Description: This is a problem-solving course in which students answer a broad-based question based on analyses and, then, design an appropriate response or solution. For this semester, we will reflect on how we might help people see value in the humanities. Specifically, you will answer the question: How might information and communication technology support the humanities? Robert M. Berdahl, president of the Association of American Universities, notes an increasing “marginalization of nonscientific work.” In 2010, Cornell University's president, David Skorton, called for a national campaign for the humanities, pointing to the facts that “the humanities may hit a negative tipping point," faculty morale in the humanities is diminished, and that scandals, misconduct, and a glance at headlines demonstrate a lack of civility in our culture and, thus, a need for focusing on the humanities (summarized in Scott Jaschik’s “Call to Defend the Humanities” in Inside Higher Ed 11/01/2010). This semester we will answer the question: How do we help people engage the human condition—to understand human lives in social, cultural, and personal contexts and arrangements? Using information and communication technology available in the year 2015, design a solution to a real problem people face when we lose sight of the value of the humanities—a solution that increases knowledge, understanding, compassion, and, perhaps, prompts action. Student teams can design anything provided it focuses on user experience: the software, interface, design, documentation, packaging, space, and processes—everything that contributes to making the solution learnable, usable, useful, and even delightful. Through this course, you will increase your engagement with the humanities, explore the key role that design plays in technology, understand and manage potential uses and impacts of technology on society, and have direct experience in user-centered design processes. You will sharpen your analytical, rhetorical, and creative abilities. This class draws directly upon the strengths each student brings from their discipline or sub-discipline of English studies (e.g., analysis, rhetorical acumen, design, composition, cooperation, facility with language, technical savvy, narrative, close reading, creativity) and humanities. The course works, in part, because participants collaborate with people who might define “knowledge” differently. Required Books: • Donald Norman. The Design of Everyday Things. • Sherry Turckle. Evocative Objects: Things We Think With. MIT, 2011. • Anne Burdick, Johanna Drucker, Peter Lunenfeld, Todd Presner, and Jeffrey Schnapp. Digital_Humanities. MIT, 2012. 0262018470. Other texts to be determined. This is a new course and the materials are still under development. Topics to include: the humanities and design processes. Format: This course will be run primarily on studio model. Students will work with their teams during class and they will participate in regular critiques. There may be some guest speakers or critics. There will be a final, formal presentation. Evaluation: Identify & study three user groups: 5%; Mini briefs for each of three user groups: 5%; Design brief: 10%; Schematic design: 10%; Design development: 10%; Usability testing: 10%; Final design: 10%; Completion report: 10%; Presentation: 10%; Critiques: 10%; Teamwork: 10%. Email: dbalzhiser@txstate.edu Office: FH 141 Office Hours: T 5:15-6:15pm; W 12:15-1:15pm (and through ichat/gmail chat: dbmor10.work@gmail.com (this account is used only for chat); W 5:156:15pm (except 10/17, 11/7, and 11/28 when office hours are in the student lounge at the RRHEC). ENG 5314.251 Discourse Analysis Th 6:30-9:20pm; Online Course #32270 Instructor: Dr. Pinfan Zhu Description: Discourse analysis is a qualitative research method; it has come to have different interpretations for scholars working in different disciplines. Normally, they approach discourse analysis from either linguistic perspective, or philosophical perspective, psycholinguistic perspective, or computational perspective. In our case, we approach it from linguistic and social linguistic. For a sociolinguist, it is concerned mainly with the structure of social interaction manifested in conversation, a way to understand power relationship, identities and institutions. The purpose is to understand how forms of language are used in communication, and text is used to serve different purposes. The principal concern is to examine how any language produced by man, whether spoken or written, is used to create identities, feelings, and different social relationships, and power, which will enable students to do social research to understand different social phenomena. In the part of linguistic analysis, students will learn linguistic forms and their functions, information structures, context and interpretation, and representations of discourse. Finally, students will apply theories and methods they have learned to solve practical problems. The course is an online course. The course is conducted online by using Connect. The course is discussion-based. Students will do small projects and exercises, as well as write analytical papers throughout the semester. The course is of practical significance to students who seek to do social research and understand social phenomena and language use through text analysis. Required Books: Please do not purchase your textbooks. We will use etexts that cost much less, about $20 for a course. But the names are as follows for your reference. Norman Fairclough, Analyzing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. Routledge, 2003. ISBN-13: 978-1412921756; or ISBN-10: 1412921759 (not sure which is paperback). Brown Gillian/George Yule. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge University Press, 1983. Format: Primarily discussion, with a few lectures on difficult concepts. Evaluation: 10% Mid-term Exam 15% Class participation 20% Written exercises 40% Analytical papers (four) 15% Term paper Ph: 245-7665 Email: pz10@txstate.edu Office: FH 114 Office hours: W 8:00-10:00am and Th 4:00-6:30pm. ENG 5314.252 Proposal Writing M 6:30-9:20pm; Avery Building #40317 Instructor: Dr. Miriam F. Williams Course Description: Proposal Writing is an online and face-to-face writing workshop. In this workshop, students will write a group proposal and, if appropriate, submit it as an application for an actual grant. Our course goals are to learn to: Analyze audiences for grant proposals Find appropriate funding sources Learn to write a compelling needs statement, project objectives, project description, budget, and evaluation section Use technology and negotiation skills to write collaboratively. By the end of the course, students will be able to answer the following questions: Is my organization eligible to apply for a grant? How do I identify audiences that might be interested in funding a proposed project? How do I collect the information needed to write a persuasive proposal? What rhetorical choices should I make to write a successful proposal? What steps should I take to revise a denied grant proposal? Required Reading: E-Textbook versions of Grant Seeking in an Electronic Age by Victoria Mikelonis, Signe T. Betsinger, and Constance E. Kampf and Writing Proposals by Richard Johnson-Sheehan. Class Format: Class and group discussions will be conducted in online classrooms in Adobe Connect and at RRHEC. Class meets four times (first two classes and last two classes) at RRHEC. Students will use various technologies to keep track of group writing assignments. Evaluation: Class participation/preparation (Individual Assessment): 30% Mid-Semester Report (Individual Assessment): 20% Preliminary Proposal (Group Assessment): 20% Final Proposal (Group Assessment): 20% Proposal Reviewer Exercise (Individual Assessment): 10% Email: mfw@txstate.edu ENG 5316.251 Foundations in Rhetoric and Composition Topic: Composition Pedagogy T 6:30-9:20pm; FH 257 #32584 Instructor: Dr. Nancy Wilson Description: This course will prepare students to be effective writing teachers by exposing them to a broad range of pedagogical approaches to teaching and assessing writing. In addition to reading scholarship in the field of composition pedagogy, students will conduct class observations and evaluate course syllabi, and composition assessment tools/assessments. Student will generate their own annotated teaching and assessment philosophies, annotated syllabi, and annotated writing assignments. Students will also complete a composition pedagogy research project. Required Books: The St. Martin's Guide to Teaching Writing by Glenn and Goldthwaite A Guide to Composition Pedagogy by Tate, Rupiper, and Schick Goals: To expose students to a variety of pedagogical approaches to the teaching of writing and to provide practice in developing effective syllabi; engaging and pedagogically sound writing assignments; and purposeful, fair, and efficient writing assessments. Format: In-class and online discussion, student presentations, and field work. Evaluation: Participation in class discussions 10% Composition classroom observations 10% Teaching Portfolio Annotated teaching philosophy 15% Annotated composition syllabus 15% Annotated writing prompts 10% Annotated assessment philosophy with sample assessments 15% Composition pedagogy research project 25% For more information: see Dr. Wilson in ASBN 101. Office Hours: T&Th 11:00am-12:00pm and by appointment. Ph: 245-7660. Email: nancywilson@txstate.edu ENG 5317.251 Critical Media Studies Th 6:30-9:20; FH G04 #36433 Instructor: Dr. Octavio Pimentel Description: This course does not pretend to be an exhaustive introduction to every significant scholar, idea, or school of thought that matters to Critical Media Studies (CMS). Ideally, however, this course will provide the sort of general acquaintance with the field that will help you decide which direction to take your own research interests in the future. This course examines the digital media technologies that are at the center of much of our communication, entertainment, and social lives today, and specifically explores the rhetoric that they produce. This class will study a wide variety of mediarelated content using various literary lenses including ethnic, culture, gender, and social class. Required Books: Häntzschel, Jana. Latinos in American Films. Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller, 2008. Print. ISBN-13: 978-3836451574 Shaheen, Jack. Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People. Virginia: Olive Branch Books, 2009. Print. ISBN-13: 978-1566567527 Ott, Brian L. and Mack, Robert L. Critical Media Studies: An Introduction. California: Wiley-Blackwell Press, 2009. Print. ISBN-13: 978-1405161862 Goals: to help create a critical view of the rhetoric that is produced by the media. Format: primarily discussion, with mini-lectures on background material by instructor and students’ presentations Evaluation: Blog 10% Weekly Teaching (1) 10% Critical Discourse Analysis Paper 30% Multi Media Presentation 15% Final Research Paper 35% Office: FH M23 Office Hours: M&W 2-4pm Ph: 245-3724 Email: Octavio.Pimentel@txstate.edu ENG 5321.251 Representing South Asia in Literature and Film T 6:30-9:20pm; FH 252 #38649 Instructor: Dr. Suparno Banerjee Description: This class will focus on the representation of South Asian society, culture and history in literary and filmic forms created by the natives and diasporas from the regions. We will read works and watch movies from and about India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka written and made during the last hundred and ten years. Possible texts: Rabindranath Tagore's The Home and the World, Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, Amitav Ghosh's The Calcutta Chromosome, Bapsi Sidhwa's Cracking India, Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age, etc. Possible films: Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, Ashutosh Gowarikar's Lagaan, Deepa Mehta's 1947 Earth, Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding. Format: Seminar/discussion Evaluation: Class presentations, an article length paper, and possibly another short writing assignment during the semester. Email: sb67@txstate.edu ENG 5321.252 Contemporary Fiction Topic: Magical Realism W 6:30-9:20pm; FH G12 #32603 Instructor: Dr. Teya Rosenberg Description: This course examines definitions of magical realism, considers its purpose and effect, and explores its place in literary discourse. We will engage in the ongoing debates about magical realism: Can the form exist at all, is it a genre or a mode, should it be considered a form of fantasy or of realism, is it a postmodern and/or postcolonial literature? We will read and discuss a variety of novels and critical articles. The novels will be drawn from literature for adults and for children as well as from a variety of countries. Goals: Students will gain knowledge of the study of magical realism and of genre debates. They will practice and develop discussion and seminar skills as well as critical reading, research, and writing skills. Books: Some of these titles might change, depending on availability. Primary texts: Boston, The Children of Green Knowe (1952); Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita (trans. Burgin and O’Connor) ([1939]/1966); Garcia, Lady Matador’s HoteI (2010); García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967/1970); Hamilton, Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush (1982); Heide and Gorey, The Shrinking of Tree Horn (1971); Almond, Skellig (1998); Morrison, Beloved (1987); Nesbit, The Enchanted Castle(1907); Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (1980); Süskind, Perfume (1980); Travers, Mary Poppins (1934). Secondary texts: Articles on e-reserve and available through databases. Format: Seminar discussion with some lecture. Evaluation: One seminar: introduce, focus, and lead class discussion on a novel (15%); One short paper (7-8 pages) based on seminar (15%); Lead discussion of one critical article (15%); One research paper (15-20 pages) (30%); Participation (15%). Email: tr11@txstate.edu Office: FH M19 Office hours: M 1:30-3pm, T 2:00-4:00pm, and by appointment. ENG 5323.251 Biography and Autobiography Topic: The Personal Essay M 6:30-9:20pm; FH 257 #38650 Instructor: Tom Grimes Description: This course is open to MFA fiction and poetry students, and to MA literature students. If you would like to request a seat in the class, please contact Jeremy Garrett in the MFA office (mfinearts@txstate.edu). He will tell you if a seat in the class is available. If so, he will clear you to register for the class in October. During the semester, we will read a memoir but mostly personal nonfiction essays, and then discuss the creation of a nonfiction persona, as well as how memoirs and personal essays engage the reader, emotionally and intellectually, in ways that differ from fiction and poetry. You are required to write a 4000-5000 word personal essay, or a “creative nonfiction” essay, which will be discussed in the latter part of the semester. Books: Best American Essays of 2008; Best American Essays of 2010; Best American Essays of 2011; Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail by Cheryl Strayed Evaluation: 25% weekly reading journal 25% class participation 50% 4000-5000 word personal essay, which will be discussed in class Attendance: Please attend all classes (it’s mandatory). The Department of English has adopted student learning outcomes for general education courses in writing and literature and for degree programs in English. These outcomes are available for your review at http://www.english.txstate.edu. Pull down the Student Resources menu and go to “Learning Outcomes.” Week One, January 14th: Best American Essays 2008: Adam Gopnik’s introduction, Atul Gawande’s “The Way We Age Now,” and Charles Simic’s “The Renegade.” Week Two, January 28th: Best American Essays 2008: Emily R. Grosholz’s “On Necklaces” and Ariel Levy’s “The Lesbian Bride’s Handbook.” Week Three, February 4th: Best American Essays 2010: Elif Batuman’s “The Murder of Tolstoy” and David Sedaris’s “Guy Walks into a Bar Car.” Week Four, February 11th: Best American Essays 2010: Zadie Smith’s “Speaking in Tongues” and Ron Rindo’s “Gyromancy.” Week Five, February 18th: Best American Essays 2011: Christy Vannoy’s “A Personal Essay by a Personal Essay,” Zadie Smith’s “Generation Why,” and Hilton Als’s “Buddy Ebson.” Week Six, February 25th: Best American Essays 2011: Victor Lavalle’s “Long Distance,” Charlie LeDuff’s “What Killed Aiyana Stanley-Jones?” and Resha Memon Yaqub’s “The Washing.” Week Seven, March 4th: Lecture from The Art of Time in the Memoir by Sven Birkets. Week Eight, March 18th: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Week Nine, March 25th: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Week Ten, April 1st: Your Personal Essays Week Eleven, April 8th: Your Personal Essays Week Twelve, April 15: Your Personal Essays Week Thirteen, April 22: Your Personal Essays Week Fourteen, April 29: Your Personal Essays For more information: E-mail tg02@txstate.edu ENG 5324.251 Studies in Genre Topic: Literary Pastoral Th 6:30-9:20pm; FH 376 #32605 Instructor: Dr. Daniel Lochman Description: The theory and tradition of pastoral, from its inception among the ancient Greeks and Romans to contemporary writers, seeps into contemporary poetry, fiction, and film. This course examines key “versions” of pastoral—more than William Empson once envisioned—as moments in the production and transformation of what has been called a genre or “mode,” and it studies their connections to historical and cultural contexts that both tie them together and distinguish them. Paul Alpers has argued that pastoral differs from lyric or narrative not so much due to conventions such as sheep and shepherds as anecdotal gestures that invite and engage conversation with auditors within and outside the work. We will study foundational texts by Theocritus, Bion, Moschus, and Virgil; late medieval and early modern writers such as Mantuanus, Spenser, Marlowe, and Marvell; Romantics, especially Wordsworth, who framed pastoral anew by resituating nature and conversants; and varied modern and contemporary writers such as Hardy, Patrick Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, Frost, Stevens, Cormac McCarthy, and Annie Proulx. For the first class, come prepared by having read Alpers (Chapter 1), Gifford (pp. 1-44), and bring something you consider pastoral to class. Required Books: Alpers, Paul. What Is Pastoral? Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1997. Edmonds, J. M, tr.. The Greek Bucolic Poets. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UP, 1912. (Loeb Classics) Gifford, Terry. Pastoral. London: Routledge, 1999. Lee, Guy, ed. Virgil: The Eclogues. London: Penguin, 1984. Marvell, Andrew. Complete Poems. Ed. Elizabeth Story Donno. London: Penguin, 2005. McCarthy, Cormac. The Crossing. New York: Vintage, 1995. Proulx, Annie. Brokeback Mountain. New York: Scribner, 2005. Spenser, Edmund. The Shorter Poems. Ed. Richard McCabe. London: Penguin, 2000. Wordsworth, William. Selected Poetry. Ed. Mark Van Doren. New York: Modern Library, 2002. Other materials on TRACS and websites Format: Discussion, lecture, reports Evaluation: Close-reading paper (7-8 pages) 20% Report: theoretical/critical article or chapter 15% Annotated bibliography 20% Documented paper (12 pages) 30% Final Examination Ph: 512-245-2163 Email: Lochman@txstate.edu Office: FH 354 Office hours: T&Th 2-3pm and by appointment 15% ENG 5325.251 Southwestern Literature Topic: Plays and Films W 6:30-9:20pm; FH 253 #32606 Instructor: Dr. Dick Heaberlin Textbooks: William Martin's Texas Plays, Preston Jones' Texas Trilogy, and online resources. Description: We will watch, study, discuss, and write about some of the more important plays and films of the Southwest with an emphasis on Texas. Format: Lecture, group work, discussion, and viewing of DVDs. Evaluation: Class work, three themes of about 1200 words, and a final exam. Office: FH 244. Office Hours: Th 10:30-11am and 1:30-2pm Ph: 245-3710 Email: Heaberlin@txstate.edu See also information about Dick Heaberlin at dickheaberlinwrites.com ENG 5326.251 and ENG 7326.251 Composition Theory M 3:30-6:20pm; ASBN 450A #32607 and #39711 Instructor: Dr. Rebecca Jackson Description: This course takes as its focus several important yet maddeningly complex questions: How do people write? In what ways are people "written”? What does it mean “to write”? What theories attempt to address these questions? And what do theories of writing suggest about what it means to teach writing and how writing should be taught in educational or workplace contexts? To address these questions (although not to answer them in any definitive way), we will survey research on and theories about writing that have characterized conversation in composition studies over the last 30 years or so. We won’t start at the “beginning” of the conversation (if a traceable beginning even exists). Instead, we will enter the conversation at what might be called the “middle” with Victor Villanueva’s Bootstraps (1993) and move outward from there. We’ll decide on a specific course trajectory once we have finished Villanueva’s book and identified key issues. Whatever path we decide to take, one of our primary goals will be to examine the tensions among various theories of writing: Can a cognitive theory of writing, for example, coexist with a social theory of writing? How have social theories of writing been complicated by theories of race, gender, sexuality, place, and class? A related goal, of course, will be to interrogate our own suppositions and implicit theories about writing and learning to write—to get them out in the open so that we can reflect on and reshape them. Books: Required texts will include (among others) Ede, Lisa. Situating Composition: Composition Studies and the Politics of Location; Susan Miller. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2003. Miller, Susan. The Norton Book of Composition Studies New York: Norton, 2009. Goals: Students will leave the course with the ability to discuss the history and development of the field of rhetoric and composition studies; map, place into conversation, interrogate, and, perhaps, extend major theories of writing over the last 30 years; discuss the role of theory and theorizing in composition studies; begin to connect writing theories with particular writing pedagogies; discuss in some depth and breadth a particular area of interest in composition theory; contribute to conversations in the field about your particular area of interest Format: small and large group discussion, student-led facilitation Evaluation: reading responses, discussion facilitation, creative synthesis projects, annotated bibliography, academic paper suitable for conference presentation Ph: 245-8975 Email: rj10@txstate.edu ENG 5332.251 The Novels of Saul Bellow M 6:30-9:20pm; FH 376 #32608 Instructor: Dr. Allan Chavkin Description: In this course we will discuss the major novels and novellas of Saul Bellow. We will examine some unpublished early draft material to aid in our understanding of the published work. Although we will examine a variety of topics, one of the goals of the course will be to use an interdisciplinary approach to explore the portrayal of families in Bellow’s novels. Such an exploration should result not only in appreciating the literary art of one of the most exciting writers of the modern age but also in enhancing our understanding of our own lives and how the family shapes lives in complex ways. Bellow’s novels provide a superb laboratory for exploring family dynamics. Goals: 1. To become proficient in analyzing intellectual problems and expressing one's ideas in both written and oral communication. 2. To understand the development of one of the most important writers of the twentieth century by examining some of the major works in his canon. 3. To become aware of some of the new approaches and the controversial issues in the profession. 4. To use an interdisciplinary approach to explore the portrayal of families in Saul Bellow’s novels. Texts: Bellow, Saul. Collected Stories (Penguin) Bellow, Saul. Novels 1970-1982: Mr. Sammler's Planet, Humboldt's Gift, The Dean's December (Library of America) Bellow, Saul. Novels 1956-1964: Seize the Day, Henderson the Rain King, Herzog (Library of America) Format: primarily discussion, with some presentations by the professor and the students Evaluation: 1. Midterm take-home essay exam—(Counts 25% of your grade). 2. Final exam—(Counts 25% of your grade) 3. Oral presentation assignment (includes leading class discussion, posing discussion questions, and submitting a short paper)—(Counts 25% of your grade) 4. Class participation—(Counts 25% of your grade) Because this is a seminar, not a lecture course, and because your participation in class discussion is essential for its success, participation will count as part of your grade. Your participation grade will be based on your informal comments in class. The above information should be regarded as a tentative plan. Ph: 245-3780 (leave messages) Email: chavkin@txstate.edu Office hours: M&W 10-11am. ENG 5332.252 STUDIES IN AMERICAN PROSE Topic: Ernest Hemingway T 6:30-9:20pm; FH G12 #37821 Instructor: Dr. Mark B. Busby Description: Ernest Hemingway is clearly one of the most important American writers of the twentieth century, and he continues to be a major influence on writers of the twentyfirst century such as Cormac McCarthy. This course will explore the works of this often praised, often maligned writer. Students will read works from throughout Hemingway’s career including selected stories, nonfiction, and such novels as The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Students will write a semester paper, lead class discussions on other Hemingway works, and report on scholarly material about Hemingway. Format: Lectures and discussions. Evaluation: A mid-semester exam (100points), a final exam (200 points), and a 15-25 page seminar paper (300 points). Ph: 245-3712 Email: mb13@txstate.edu. Office: FH 213 ENG 5332.253 Nineteenth-Century American Narrative Forms M 6:30-9:20pm; FH 253 #38651 Instructor: Dr. Robert T. Tally Jr. Description: This course will focus on the development and proliferation of narrative forms in the literary history of the United States from roughly 1820 to the period subsequent to the American Civil War. The narrative fiction and nonfiction of this era helped to establish the institution of American literature, but they did so not in a smoothly linear development, but as part of discontinuous, often competing and contentious historical process. In both the form and the content of nineteenth-century narrative, the disparate spaces of the United States were represented. We will explore these various narrative forms and cultural spaces in this course. Goals: (1) To become familiar with important works of nineteenth-century American literature; (2) To understand the literary, social, and historical background of these works; and (3) To analyze the works. Texts: Likely texts include Jonathan Arac, The Emergence of American Literary Narrative, 1820–1860; Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings; James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers; Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, Georgia Scenes; Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings; Herman Melville, Typee; Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter; Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin; and Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Format: Seminar (discussion; student presentations; background material provided by instructor). Evaluation: Based on overall contributions, but roughly distributed as follows: Abstracts 20% (or 10% each) Papers 60% (or 30% each) Class Participation 20% Email: robert.tally@txstate.edu Office hours: T-Th 2:00-3:00pm and by appointment. ENG 5346.251 Southwestern Studies II Topic: Consequences of the Region T&Th 12:30-1:50pm; FH 113 #32610 Instructor: David R. Norman Description: This course examines the richness and diversity of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico and focuses on multicultural studies by exploring the region’s people, institutions, history, art, and physical and cultural ecology. An interdisciplinary approach increases awareness of and sensitivity to the diversity of ethnic and cultural traditions in the area. Students will discover what distinguishes the Southwest from other regions of the United States, as well as its similarities, physically and culturally. The images, myths, and perceptions of the region will be examined in light of historic records and literary texts. Goals: Students should be able to understand and analyze a variety of texts; quote, paraphrase, and summarize print and/or online sources to support ideas; use standard procedures of citation and documentation; discuss in detail various definitions of the American Southwest, including northern Mexico, as a specific, unique region; address the themes and qualities of the region as expressed in cultural documents; explain how an interdisciplinary understanding is necessary in examining regional issues. Additionally, students will demonstrate the ability to produce a graduate-level paper of 15-25 pages that uses research to demonstrate mastery of regional issues. MFA students may select a creative option with instructor approval. Required Books: Graves, John. Goodbye to a River (Vintage) McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian (Picador) Montejano, David. Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas: 1836-1986 (UT Press) Porter, Katherine Anne . The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter (Harvest) Rulfo, Juan . Pedro Páramo. Trans. by Margaret Sayers Peden, fwd. by Susan Sontag (Grove) Vulliamy, Ed. Amexica: War Along the Borderline (Picador) Format: Lectures and discussions. Evaluation: Graduate students will take two regular exams and a final exam, totaling 50% of the overall course grade; write a major paper (40%); and meet in seminar/conference with instructors for discussions (10% participation). Ph: 245-0351 Email: davidnorman@txstate.edu Office: Brazos 220 Office Hours: T/Th 1:30-3:30pm and by appointment. ENG 5353.251 Pilgrimage Poetics T 6:30-9:20pm; FH 376 #32611 Instructor: Dr. Susan S. Morrison Description: In this course we will explore a highly popular genre of the Middle Ages: pilgrimage literature. While we’ll focus on poetic masterpieces, prose will also be studied. We start with Dante’s Commédia. In the Pilgrimage of Human Life, a French work, Deguileville follows the travails of a pilgrim protagonist. William Langland’s Piers Plowman is a gloriously complex allegory of late fourteenth-century England. Selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales allow us to see his use of pilgrimage for the frame tale of his poem. And we conclude with Margery Kempe, whose early 15th century visionary text is conventionally viewed as the first autobiography in English by a man or woman. Pilgrimage both reflected and shaped medieval culture. Pilgrimage, a ritual wedded to amendment and change, endorses the process of spiritual metamorphosis. These authors writing in their individual vernaculars suggest how language itself reflects and enacts change. Students will be reading great works of literature that will take a lot of time. Be prepared to read, think and work a lot. Required Texts: Alighieri, Dante. Inferno. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. NY: Bantam, 1984. ISBN: 0808509578 Alighieri, Dante. Purgatorio. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. NY: Bantam, 1984. ISBN: 055321344x Alighieri, Dante. Paradiso. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. NY: Bantam, 1984. ISBN: 0520045173 Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Penguin Classics. 2005. ISBN-10: 014042234X; ISBN-13: 978-0140422344 Kempe, Margery. The Book of Margery Kempe. Trans. Lynn Staley. Norton, 2000: ISBN-10: 0393976394; ISBN-13: 978-0393976397 William Langland. Piers Plowman Norton Critical Edition. Elizabeth Robertson and Stephen H.A. Shepherd, trans./editors. 2006 Norton. ISBN-10: 0393975592; ISBN-13: 978-0393975598 The Pilgrimage of Human Life. Guillaume de Deguileville. On TRACS. Goals: To read the great pilgrimage poems of the fourteenth century and early fifteenth century. To learn how to read in terms of historical context and theoretical sophistication. Format: Discussion, mini-lectures lecture, students’ oral reports. Evaluation: 25% (50% altogether) two in-class presentations, based on two critical papers 15% one annotated bibliography with handout 25% research paper 10% class participation Office: FH M12 Office hours: T/Th 11:00-11:30am; Th 1:30-2:30pm and by appointment. Ph: 245-7669 Email: morrison@txstate.edu. ENG 5354.251 Studies in Renaissance Literature: Shakespeare and Performance Th 6:30-9:20pm; FH 113 #32613 Instructor: Dr. Joe Falocco Description: This is a performance class based on James Loehlin’s pioneering work at UT Austin and the Winedale Program. In addition to doing some of the same close reading and critical writing typical of English Department seminars, students will also be required to memorize Shakespearean text and perform it “off-book.” This work will culminate in a workshop performance of a complete Shakespeare play at the end of the semester. Goals: 1) To understand the literal significance and poetic qualities of early modern language. 2) To understand the relationship between written text and performance. 3) To research and write about theatrical history and performance. Books: Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. Sixth Edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. ISBN: 9780205606283 Format: Seminar (most class meetings will take the form of theatrical rehearsals). Evaluations: This course is graded on a “cost” basis. In other words, everyone starts with an “A.” Two five-page papers will be graded pass/fail. The first is a descriptive paper that will analyze the changes made to the received text for the Theatre Department’s production of Richard III and the impact of these changes in performance (students will therefore need to see this production Feb. 12-16th at 7:30pm or Feb. 17th at 2pm). The second paper will be an informal response to the students’ work in performance over the semester. If students fail or do not write either of these papers they will lose a full lettergrade for the semester. Students will also lose a full-letter grade if they miss class or come to class unprepared. “Unprepared” will include inadequate memorization of assigned material. Absences after the fact will only be excused with documentation of hospitalization or incarceration. Absences before the fact will only be excused at the request of University officials for official University business. Office: FH 211 Office hours: Tuesday 1-5 pm or by appointment. For More Information: Email jf48@txstate.edu ENG 5364.251 Studies in Romantic Movement Topic: Byron, Keats, and the Shelleys Th 6:30-9:20pm; FH 257 #32614 Instructor: Dr. Nancy Grayson Description: A study of the major works of George Gordon and Lord Byron; Percy Bysshe Shelley; Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and John Keats, with attention to social context and to literary scholarship. Goals: To acquire in-depth knowledge of the art of the later Romantics and broad knowledge of recent (as well as nineteenth- and twentieth-century) scholarship devoted to their works, lives, and era. Books: McGann, ed., Lord Byron: The Major Works, Oxford UP, 2008; Reiman and Fraistat, eds., Shelley's Poetry and Prose, 2nd ed., Norton Critical Edition, 2001; Bennett and Robinson, eds., The Mary Shelley Reader, Oxford UP, 1990; Jack Stillinger, ed., Complete Poems of John Keats, Harvard UP, 1982; Scott, ed., Selected Letters of John Keats, Harvard UP, 2002. Format: Discussion and interruptible lectures. Evaluation: Written report on two recent scholarly articles or book chapters— 4-6 pages First Research Paper—5-7 pages Second Research Paper—8-10 pages Final Exam—Four essay questions—2-3 pages each (take-home) Ph: 245-2317 Email: ng01@txstate.edu Office: FH 313 Office hours: By appointment ENG 5383.251/7383.251 Chican@ Rhetorics W 6:30-9:20pm; FH 302 #40425 and #40426 Instructor: Dr. Jaime Mejía Course Description: All peoples develop their own culturally specific means of persuasion, and Chican@s are no exception. Studying the rhetorical strategies of Chican@s could not be more timely as Mexican Americans are now constituting demographic majorities in broad areas of the US, including Texas and the American Southwest where EuroAmericans now constitute a minority. In order to help facilitate a broader and deeper understanding of the rhetorical strategies of this diverse ethnic group, which politically has survived as a political minority, this course seeks to give students an understanding of the rhetorical situations which have caused Chican@s to respond in culturally unique ways, through rhetorically unique means. This course will therefore pose the following central questions as part of its mission which seeks to expose students to the variety of rhetorics which Chican@s have used in the US: What rhetorical means have Chican@s historically and traditionally used to fulfill their persuasive ends in their unique, culturally specific rhetorical situations? Historically, how have the rhetorical strategies changed, developed, and evolved over time? In which ways do the rhetorical strategies differ from those of the American mainstream? To answer these questions, this course will cover a variety of texts in order to examine the rhetorical strategies Chican@s have developed and used over the last five decades, with primary texts covering representative geographical areas as well as chronological periods. To this end, students will explore and analyze the effectiveness of the use of figurative language and of rhetorical tropes found in personal and critical essays as well as in memoirs by eminent Chican@ writers and artists. These authors will include Tomás Rivera, Rudolfo Anaya, Gloria Anzaldúa, Cherrie Moraga, Ana Castillo, Sergio Troncoso, Rolando Hinojosa, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Alma López, and Arturo Madrid, among others. Evaluation: There will be one major research paper examining the development of rhetorical strategies as found in the assigned readings and as practiced in art and films where Chican@s are featured as central subjects. Students will be given ample time to fulfill this research project. The course will be conducted primarily through class discussions of the assigned readings. A few lectures will be given to help provide contextual information. Email: jm31@txstate.edu ENG 5389.251 History of Children’s Literature Topic: The Golden Age 1850-1940 M 6:30-9:20pm; FH G12 #38679 Instructor: Dr. Graeme Wend-Walker Description: The period extending from the second half of the nineteenth century into the first decades of the twentieth is broadly recognized as the most exciting period in the history of publishing for children. An extraordinary flourishing of talent, and a radically altered view of childhood, combined to leave an indelible mark on writing for children. Many of the books produced during this period are now considered part of the great “canon” of children’s literature, and remain popular with readers to this day. This course will exam key works from the “Golden Age,” alongside a variety of critical responses to them, to consider why it is that these books have had so much impact, what it is that makes them different from what came before, and why they have endured. We will consider issues of historical and cultural context, and will pay particular attention to the development of a new kind of narrative voice that is more inclined to address the child reader as an engaged participant in the storytelling process. Students are expected to conduct independent research beyond the required reading list and are expected to come to class prepared to actively participate in group discussion. Readings will be set for the first class prior to the semester’s commencement. Required Books (the specified editions are required): Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 2nd ed. Peterborough: Broadview, 2011. Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford-St. Martins, 2003. Case Studies in Critical Controversy (Series). Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Books. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1987. Baum L. Frank, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Wizard of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, Glinda of Oz. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1998. Barrie, J. M. Peter Pan: Peter and Wendy, and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2004. Burnett, Frances Hodgson. A Little Princess. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2002. Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. New York: Signet-Penguin, 2006. Montgomery, L. M. Anne of Green Gables. New York: Modern Library-Random, 2008. Burroughs, Edgar Rice. Tarzan of the Apes. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2006. Lofting, Hugh. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. Mineola: Dover, 2004. Milne, A. A. The House at Pooh Corner. Harmondsworth: Puffin-Penguin, 1992. Additional primary and critical texts will be provided. Goals: To introduce students to key works from the period and to the critical methods used to analyze and evaluate them, and to develop independent research skills. Format: Primarily group discussion, with presentations from students on both primary and secondary texts, and mini-lectures on background material by the instructor. Evaluation: Attendance and Participation 10% Class Presentation – Primary Text 10% Short Paper – Presentation Write-up 15% Class Presentation – Critical Text 10% Annotated Bibliography 20% Final Research Paper 35% Ph: 245.7883 Email: gw15@txstate.edu Office: FH 240 Office hours: MWF 9-10am or by appointment. ENG 5395.251 Problems in Language and Literature Topic: William Carlos Williams and Wallace Stevens W 6:30-9:20pm; FH 257 #32753 Instructor: Kathleen Peirce Description: This course provides an intensive study of the poetry written by William Carlos Williams and Wallace Stevens, two very different American Modern poets. The course will utilize student presentation, discussion, and lecture as we move chronologically through the books, paying particular attention to each poet’s use of received and invented forms. Essays by and about these poets will frame our reading and discussion of the poems. Texts: William Carlos Williams The Collected Poems Vol. 1 (New Directions) The Collected Poems Vol. 2 Paterson The Selected Essays Wallace Stevens The Collected Poems (Vintage) The Necessary Angel Format: Discussion, lecture, student presentations Evaluation: 40% Discussion 10% Presentation 40% Two Papers (12-15 pages each) (a creative project may be substituted for one paper) 10% Final Exam Email: KP03@txstate.edu. Office hours: T&Th 4-6pm and W 5-8pm ENG 5395.252 Problems in Language and Literature Modernism, Melodrama, and Mayhem W 6:30-9:20pm; FH 376 #32759 Instructor: Dr. Victoria Smith Description: Amid burgeoning new urban spaces, industrialization of labor and radical redefinitions of political, racial, economic, and gender relations, the early twentieth century was also marked by an explosion of new and complex literary forms, as well as profound changes in the plastic arts—from the post-impressionists to the invention of cinema. A period rife with tensions and contradictions, modernism (roughly, 1880-1945) has often been associated with “high art” as opposed to art meant for the masses; however, the same time period also witnessed a flourishing of film or what one critic has called “vernacular modernism.” This course explores these seeming paradoxes in three ways. First, we take up the concept of modernity. What are its characteristics? Is it a useful category for analysis? With these opening questions/ideas in mind, we will turn next to the idea of melodrama (filmic and otherwise), a historically denigrated mode of representation, long associated with excess and the feminine. Are there ways in which modernism is inherently melodramatic? How does modernism affect concepts of melodrama? Finally, we will examine a concept I am loosely calling “mayhem”—particularly as it is embodied in a genre of films known as film noir. These dark and brooding films, with their themes of alienation and despair, have been frequently associated with hard-boiled masculinity. How does film noir intersect with melodrama and modernity? The course looks at how these three competing and contradictory ideas inform, produce, and transform each other. Key areas of study will include the dislocation of domestic arrangements; the breakdown of stable gender categories; the ambiguous place of the city; and the disturbance of racial boundaries. We will read examples of canonical authors such as Woolf and Faulkner; view classic melodramatic films and film noir, while reading widely in the literature on modernity, melodrama, and film noir. Tentative Texts: Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, William Faulkner, Absalom! Absalom!, Linda Williams, Playing the Race Card, Nella Larsen, Passing, Stephen Kern, The Culture of Time and Space Excerpts from the following: Peter Brooks, The Melodramatic Imagination, Lauren Berlant, The Female Complaint, Ben Singer, Melodrama and Modernity, Edward Dimenberg, Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernity, Wheeler Dixon, Film Noir and the Cinema of Paranoia, Christine Gledhill, Home Is Where the Heart Is. Films: Blonde Venus, Stella Dallas, Mildred Pierce, Imitation of Life, Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, The Big Heat, The Blue Dahlia Goals: Students will learn to read and to question various contemporary understandings about modernism, melodrama, and film noir. Using this knowledge, students will develop and practice their abilities to analyze and to write thoughtfully about modernist texts and films, as well as critical theory. Format: Engaged discussion, student presentations, mini-lectures. Evaluation: Weekly reading responses, an oral presentation, and a final paper. Email: vs13@txstate.edu. Office: FH M11 Office Hours: T/Th 3:30-4:30pm and by appointment. ENG 5395.253 Problems in Language and Literature Topic: Graphic Narrative Th 6:30-9:20pm; FH G12 #38680 Instructor: Nelly Rosario Description: This course examines the graphic narrative in terms of how each author/illustrator employs narrative elements—plotting and structure, characterization, dialogue mechanics, setting, tone, theme—as well as the values and visions expressed. We will consider various genres of “picture writings” from which to appropriate storytelling techniques for our own literary work. At the semester’s end, students create a graphic narrative of their own. Ph: 245-3653 Email: nr12@txstate.edu Office: FH M21