COM 1102: WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE
Fall 2009
Dr. Perdigao
class time: M W F 10:00 am
office hours: M W F 11:00-11:50 am
2:00-2:50 pm
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, 8th ed.
Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides
Introduction:
In this course, we will examine various literary forms—fiction, poetry, drama, and film—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, and gender differences, 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
Quizzes
Presentation
Final Exam (Wednesday, December 9 from 8-10 am)
20%
20%
20%
10%
10%
20%
A quiz will focus on the assigned reading(s). The quiz may be announced the day before class or be a “pop quiz.”
As a result, regular attendance is mandatory; make-up quizzes are unlikely.
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 with margins of approximately 1¼ inches (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 will lead to a failure of the assignment. Our class ID is 2802703 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/many of the issues we have discussed. You
will have 10-20 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.
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. Excessive absenteeism
could lead to failure of the course. You are responsible for all of the work you miss.
8/17
Introduction: Embracing the self and naming “others”
8/19
Critical Strategies (2079-2102)
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (1139)
Herbert R. Coursen Jr., “A Parodic Interpretation of ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
(1149-1150)
8/21
Writing about Fiction (47-66)
Plot (67-68; 73-76)
Stephen King, “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away” (handout)
Andre Dubus, “Killings” (107-120)
A.L. Bader, “Nothing Happens in Modern Short Stories” (121-122)
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8/24
Character (123-130 [top])
Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (438-456)
Claire Kahane, “The Function of Violence in O’Connor’s Fiction” (489)
Setting (182-184)
8/26
William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” (95-106)
Point of View (218-223)
Amy Bloom, “By-and-by” (667-673)
E. Annie Proulx, “55 Miles to the Gas Pump” (563-564)
Gail Godwin, “A Sorrowful Woman” (39-44)
Brian Aldiss, “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)
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8/31
Symbolism (270-273)
David Updike, “Summer” (375-380)
Susan Minot, “Lust” (349-356)
Mordecai Marcus, “What Is an Initiation Story?” (296)
Questions for Writing (381-387)
8/28
9/2
On Writing: Constructing the Text (612-613)
Mark Twain, “The Story of the Good Little Boy” (607-611)
Tim O’Brien, “How to Tell a True War Story” (616-627)
9/4
On Writing: Experiments in Prose
Margaret Atwood, “There Was Once” (613-616)
Don DeLillo, “Videotape” (627-631)
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9/7
Labor Day—no class
9/9
Reading and Writing (2113-2171)
9/11
Library Session—meet in lobby of Evans Library
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9/14
Short Fiction
9/16
Writing About Poetry (820-822)
Richard Wakefield, “In a Poetry Workshop” (1257-1258)
Tom Wayman, “Did I Miss Anything?” (1258-1259)
Mark Halliday, “Graded Paper” (1255-1256)
Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro” (894)
Billy Collins, “Introduction to Poetry” (790)
T.E. Hulme, “On the Differences between Poetry and Prose” (897)
Jeffrey Harrison, “Fork” (1260-1262)
Jeffrey Harrison, “On ‘Fork’ as a Work of Fiction” (1262-1263)
Thomas Lux, “The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently” (818-819)
First Essay Due: Hard Copy Due in Class, Document Submitted to www.turnitin.com
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9/21
Word Choice, Word Order, Tone (829-836)
Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est” (886-887)
Mark Jarman, “Ground Swell” (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)
9/18
9/23
Robert Herrick, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” (842)
Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress” (843-844)
Bernard Duyfhuizen, “‘To His Coy Mistress’: On How a Female Might Respond” (845)
Richard Wilbur, “A Late Aubade” (846-847)
Sharon Olds, “Last Night” (847-848)
9/25
Figures of Speech (898-907)
Sylvia Plath, “Mirror” (912)
Claribel Alegría, “I Am Mirror” (1301-1303)
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9/28
Symbol, Allegory, & Irony (922-928)
Jim Stevens, “Schizophrenia” (915)
Octavio Paz, “The Street” (1308-1309)
Robert Frost, “Acquainted with the Night” (923)
9/30
Sounds (949-961)
Langston Hughes (1157-1167), “Lenox Avenue: Midnight” (1173-1174); “Dream Variations”
(1170)
Patterns of Rhythm (980-984)
Hughes, “Formula” (1172-1173)
10/2
Poetic Forms (1004-1009)
Open Form (1034)
Hughes, “The Weary Blues” (1170-1171); “Song for a Dark Girl” (1174)
Kanye West, “My Way Home” (805)
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10/5
Poetry Workshop
Three Translations of a Poem by Pablo Neruda (868-871): Neruda, “Verbo” (869); “Word” (869870); “Word” (870); “Verb” (871)
10/7
Poetry Workshop
10/9
Poetry
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10/12
Columbus Day—no class
10/14
Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie (1976-2000 [Scenes I-V])
Second Essay Due: Hard Copy Due in Class, Document Submitted to www.turnitin.com
10/16
Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie (2000-2021 [Scenes VI, VII])
Tennessee Williams, “Production Notes to The Glass Menagerie” (2022-2023)
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10/19
Adaptation
10/21
Adaptation
10/23
David Auburn, Proof (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga: 1969-1996 [Act I])
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10/26
David Auburn, Proof (online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga: 1996-2017 [Act II])
10/28
Proof
10/30
Big Fish
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11/2
Big Fish
Andrew Hudgins, “Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead” (1024-1025)
11/4
Drama
11/6
Drama
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11/9
Arrangements
Reading: Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (3-47)
11/11
Veteran’s Day—no class
11/13
The Glass Panes
Reading: VS (48-93 [top])
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11/16
Exhibition
Reading: VS (93-140)
11/18
Reading the Signs
Reading: VS (141-185 [bottom])
11/20
“Time to write them off”
Reading: VS (185-216)
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11/23
Scapegoats and Seers
Reading: VS (217-249)
Third Essay Due: Hard Copy Due in Class, Document Submitted to www.turnitin.com
11/25
Thanksgiving—no class
11/27
Thanksgiving—no class
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11/30
Adaptation
12/2
Adaptation
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12/9
Final Exam (8-10 am)