COM 1102: WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE
Fall 2011
Dr. Perdigao
class time: M W F 10:00 am
office hours: M W 3:00-4:30 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, 9th ed. (Bedford/St. Martin’s; ISBN: 9780312539214)
Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (Picador; 9780312428815)
Introduction:
In this course, we will examine various literary forms—fiction, poetry, and drama—with a focus on issues of
identity. In these texts, 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 12 from 1-3 pm)
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 or to turn in the hard copy the following class
could lead to a failure of the assignment. Our class ID is 4232113 and the password is Buffy.
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 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 donuts (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
25% of the classes, you run the risk of failing the course. You are responsible for all of the work that you miss.
8/22
Introduction
8/24
Critical Strategies (2041-2064)
Reading and the Writing Process (2065-2098)
8/26
Writing about Fiction (52-71)
Plot (72-73; 78-81)
Andre Dubus, “Killings” (103-116)
A.L. Bader, “Nothing Happens in Modern Short Stories” (116)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
8/29
Character (121-122 [top]; 123-126)
Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (442-460)
Claire Kahane, “The Function of Violence in O’Connor’s Fiction” (493)
Setting (184-186)
8/31
William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” (90-98)
Faulkner, “On ‘A Rose for Emily’” (98-99)
A Sample Close Reading, A Sample Student Response (99-102)
9/2
Point of View (212-217)
Amy Bloom, “By-and-by” (632-637)
Symbolism (262-265)
E. Annie Proulx, “55 Miles to the Gas Pump” (567-568)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/5
Labor Day—no class
9/7
Mordecai Marcus, “What Is an Initiation Story?” (288)
David Updike, “Summer” (379-384)
Susan Minot, “Lust” (339-346)
Questions for Writing, Samples (384-391)
9/9
Writing essays
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/12
Brian Aldiss, “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)
Gail Godwin, “A Sorrowful Woman” (39-44)
Style, Tone, and Irony (329-333)
9/14
Mark Twain, “The Story of the Good Little Boy” (603-607)
Tim O’Brien, “How to Tell a True War Story” (346-356)
Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings” (624-627)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/19
Short Fiction
9/16
9/21
Short Fiction
9/23
Writing About Poetry (790-798)
Richard Wakefield, “In a Poetry Workshop” (1350)
Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro” (861)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/26
Billy Collins (1158-1165), “Marginalia” (787-788); “Introduction to Poetry” (764)
First essay due: hard copy due in class, document submitted to www.turnitin.com
9/28
T.E. Hulme, “On the Differences between Poetry and Prose” (863)
Charles Simic, “In the Library” (1265-1266)
9/30
Word Choice, Word Order, Tone (799-805)
Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est” (852-853)
Billy Collins, “Building with Its Face Blown Off” (1176-1177)
“On ‘Building with Its Face Blown Off’: Michael Meyer Interviews Billy Collins” (1177-1180)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
10/3
Mark Jarman, “Ground Swell” (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)
10/5
Figures of Speech (864-875)
Sylvia Plath, “Mirror” (879-880)
Claribel Alegria, “I Am Mirror” (1301-1303)
10/7
Symbol, Allegory, and Irony (888-895)
Jim Stevens, “Schizophrenia” (881)
Octavio Paz, “The Street” (1310-1311)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
10/10
Columbus Day—no class
10/12
Sounds (916-930)
Langston Hughes (1129-1139), “Lenox Avenue: Midnight” (1143-1144)
Patterns of Rhythm (946-953)
Hughes, “Song for a Dark Girl” (1144)
Hughes, “Formula” (1142-1143)
Poetic Forms (970-997)
Elaine Mitchell, “Form” (998-999)
Open Form (1000-1005)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
10/17
Two Translations of a Poem by Pablo Neruda (834-836): Neruda, “Verbo” (834); “Word” (835);
“Word” (835-836)
10/14
10/19
Poetry
10/21
Poetry
___________________________________________________________________________________________
10/24
Reading Drama (1363-1365)
Elements of Drama (1381-1384)
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1584-1585; 1585-1625 [Acts I, II])
10/26
A Study of William Shakespeare (1516-1527)
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1625-1683 [Acts III-V])
Second essay due: hard copy due in class, document submitted to www.turnitin.com
Sigmund Freud, “On Repression in Hamlet” (1685-1687)
Joan Montgomer Byles, “Ophelia’s Desperation” (1694-1695)
Sandra K. Fischer, “Ophelia’s Mad Speeches” (1695-1697)
Encountering Drama: A Visual Portfolio: Hamlet in Popular Culture and Performance (16981703)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
10/31
Drama
10/28
11/2
Beyond Realism (1759-1763)
Richard Orloff, Playwriting 101: The Rooftop Lesson (1813-1820)
11/4
No class
___________________________________________________________________________________________
11/7
David Auburn, Proof (handout: 1969-1996 [Act I])
http://my.fit.edu/~lperdiga/proof.pdf
11/9
David Auburn, Proof (handout: 1996-2017 [Act II])
http://my.fit.edu/~lperdiga/proof.pdf
11/11
Veterans Day—no class
___________________________________________________________________________________________
11/14
Drama
11/16
Drama
11/18
Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (1-44)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
11/21
VS (45-110)
Third essay due: hard copy due in class, document submitted to www.turnitin.com
11/23
Thanksgiving—no class
11/25
Thanksgiving—no class
___________________________________________________________________________________________
11/28
VS (110-165)
11/30
VS (165-211)
12/2
VS (212-243)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
12/5
VS
12/7
Conclusions
____________________________________________________________________________________
12/12
Final exam (1-3 pm)