COM 1102: WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE
Fall 2013
Dr. Perdigao
class time: M W F 4:00 pm
office hours: M W 10:45-11:45 am; M 5:00-6:00 pm
and by appointment
office: 626 Crawford
phone: 321-674-8370
email: lperdiga@fit.edu
website: my.fit.edu/~lperdiga
Required Texts:
Michael Meyer, The Bedford Introduction to Literature, 10th ed. (Bedford/St. Martin’s; ISBN: 9781457634826)
Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (Picador; ISBN: 9780312428815)
Introduction:
In this course, we will examine various literary forms—fiction, poetry, drama, and film—with a focus on issues of
identity. We will investigate how writers represent the self, how they use language to articulate race, class,
gender, and sexual orientation, and, ultimately, find meaning. As we explore the relationship between language
and identity, we will examine how memory reconstructs experience and revises the notion of the self. In your
papers, you will draw on the connections between the works, using different approaches to better understand what
is at stake in each of these works of self-discovery and “othering.” As readers and writers, we will look at what
these literary worlds tell us about our own lives and how we see ourselves.
Policies and Procedures
Grading:
First essay
Second essay
Third essay
Presentation
Quizzes
Final exam (Monday, December 9 from 8-10 am)
20%
20%
20%
10%
10%
20%
Each essay consists of 3-4 pages written in MLA format and includes a works cited page. All essays must be
typed; use a standard 12-point font (about 250-300 words per page). Essays are due at the beginning of class on
the due dates. Students are required to submit their papers to www.turnitin.com on the assigned date;
failure to submit the paper to turnitin.com on the due date and/or turn in the hard copy in class on the due
date could lead to a failure of the assignment. Our class ID is 6773626 and the password is Fauxlivia.
For the presentation, you will select a text to present to the class, a text that connects with/expands on issues we
have discussed this semester. Consider offering this text as an addition to the syllabus, a “recommended” reading
for COM 1102: Writing about Literature. This text might be a short story, a poem, a play, a song, a film, a
television episode, a piece of artwork—anything that represents one or many of the issues that we have discussed.
You will have 10-15 minutes (for an individual or a pair) to present your text, your “lesson” (a way of reading
it/offering connections to other texts), to the class. If you select a scene from a film, keep the scene to about 5
minutes so that you have time to discuss your close reading. The text that you select may directly connect to one
of the works we have discussed or more broadly speak to a larger theme.
A quiz will focus on the assigned reading(s). As regular attendance is mandatory, make-up quizzes are unlikely.
Academic Dishonesty will be handled in accordance with Humanities and Communication Department policy.
Cheating and plagiarism will result in failure of assignment and/or failure of course and will be reported to the
Dean of Students and recorded in your permanent student file. Dishonest conduct may lead to formal disciplinary
proceedings.
Be certain that you are familiar with Florida Tech’s academic dishonesty policy
(http://www.fit.edu/current/documents/plagiarism.pdf).
Cell phone policy: If your phone rings, if you try to make an outgoing call or text messages are sent or received
(translation: basically any variation of playing with your phone when you should be paying attention), you are
responsible for bringing pizza (or an acceptable alternative) to the following class.
Attendance is required. Absenteeism and tardiness will adversely affect your final grade. If you miss more than
10% of the classes, you run the risk of failing the course. You are responsible for all of the work that you miss.
8/19
Introduction
8/21
Introduction (1-7)
Critical Strategies for Reading (2025-2048)
Reading and the Writing Process (2049-2082)
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (1107-1108)
Herbert R. Coursen, Jr., “A Parodic Interpretation of ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’”
(1117-1118)
8/23
Writing about Fiction (57-76)
Plot (77-78; 83-86)
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8/26
Andre Dubus, “Killings” (110-123)
A.L. Bader, “Nothing Happens in Modern Short Stories” (123-124)
8/28
Character (129-134)
Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (420-438)
Claire Kahane, “The Function of Violence in O’Connor’s Fiction” (470)
Time Magazine, on A Good Man Is Hard to Find (471)
Setting (184-186)
William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” (98-105)
Faulkner, “On ‘A Rose for Emily’” (106-107)
A Sample Close Reading, A Sample Student Response (107-110)
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9/2
Labor Day—no class
8/30
9/4
Point of View (215-220)
Amy Bloom, “By-and-by” (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)
Symbolism (265-268)
E. Annie Proulx, “55 Miles to the Gas Pump” (87; 578-579)
Terry L. Tilton, “That Settles That” (632-633)
9/6
Mordecai Marcus, “What Is an Initiation Story?” (285-286)
David Updike, “Summer” (358-363)
Susan Minot, “Lust” (333-340)
Questions for Writing, Samples (364-370)
Theme (296-299)
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9/9
Brian Aldiss, “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)
Style, Tone, and Irony (323-327)
Mark Twain, “The Story of the Good Little Boy” (615-619)
9/11
Tim O’Brien, “How to Tell a True War Story” (340-350)
9/13
Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings” (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)
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9/16
Short fiction
The Literary Research Paper (2083-2100)
Taking Essay Examinations (2101-2105)
9/18
Short fiction
9/20
Short fiction
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9/23
Reading Poetry (755)
Writing About Poetry (793-795)
Richard Wakefield, “In a Poetry Workshop” (1371-1372)
Mark Halliday, “Graded Paper” (905-906)
Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro” (860)
9/25
Billy Collins (1123-1130), “Introduction to Poetry” (776)
First essay due: hard copy due in class; document submitted to www.turnitin.com
T.E. Hulme, “On the Differences between Poetry and Prose” (863-864)
Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est” (853-854)
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9/30
Word Choice, Word Order, Tone (801-806)
Mark Jarman, “Ground Swell” (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)
Poetry and the Visual Arts (after page 1084, A-P; focus on H-J)
9/27
10/2
No class
10/4
No class
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10/7
Figures of Speech (865-875)
Sylvia Plath, “Mirror” (879-880)
Claribel Alegria, “I Am Mirror” (1326-1328)
10/9
Scott Hightower, “My Father” (886-887)
Symbol, Allegory, and Irony (888-894)
Jim Stevens, “Schizophrenia” (880-881)
Octavio Paz, “The Street” (1335)
Sounds (916-928)
Patterns of Rhythm (946-952)
Langston Hughes (1217-1219), “Lenox Avenue: Midnight” (1220-1221)
Harlem Renaissance Poets (1198—1203)
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10/14
Columbus Day—no class
10/11
10/16
Hughes, “Formula” (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)
Poetic Forms (970-999)
Open Form (1000)
Louis Jenkins, “The Prose Poem” (1004)
Combining the Elements of Poetry: A Writing Process (1023-1033)
10/18
Poetry
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10/21
Poetry
10/23
Poetry
10/25
Reading Drama (1383-1385)
Elements of Drama (1401-1404)
Writing about Drama (1428-1430)
Richard Orloff, Playwriting 101: The Rooftop Lesson (1823-1829)
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10/28
Drama
10/30
David Auburn, Proof (handout: 1969-1996 [Act I])
http://my.fit.edu/~lperdiga/proof.pdf
Second essay due: hard copy due in class; document submitted to www.turnitin.com
11/1
David Auburn, Proof (handout: 1996-2017 [Act II])
http://my.fit.edu/~lperdiga/proof.pdf
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11/4
Drama
11/6
Big Fish
11/8
No class
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11/11
Veterans Day—no class
11/13
Big Fish
Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (1-44)
11/15
VS (45-110)
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11/18
VS (110-165)
11/20
VS (165-211)
Third essay due: hard copy due in class; document submitted to www.turnitin.com
11/22
VS (212-243)
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11/25
VS
11/27
Thanksgiving—no class
11/29
Thanksgiving—no class
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12/2
VS
12/4
Conclusions
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12/9
Final exam (8-10 am)