Dr. John Paolo Sapienza
English Department, City College of San Francisco
Office: Batmale Hall 514
Office hours: MWF 10-11 Tues 9-12 or by appt.
Phone: (415) 239-3574
Email: jsapienz@ccsf.edu
Website: http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jsapienz/
English 46C Literature in English from the Mid-Nineteenth through the
Twentieth Century
Required texts available in the CCSF Bookstore:
+Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Dover.
+Eliot. T.S. The Wasteland, Prufrock and Other Poems. Dover.
+Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Dover.
+Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Harper Perennial.
+James, Henry. Daisy Miller. Dover.
+Johnson, James Weldon. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Dover.
+Joyce, James. Dubliners. Dover.
+Pound, Ezra. Early Poems. Dover.
+West, Nathaniel. Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust. New Directions.
+Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome. Dover.
+Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Dover.
+Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. Penguin Popular Classics.
Other required nonfiction texts available online:
+Arnold, Matthew. “The Function of Criticism.” Project Gutenberg. Selections from the
Prose Works of Matthew Arnold. EBook #12628
+Eliot, T.S. “Tradition and the Individual Talent.” In Wikisource:
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Sacred_Wood/Tradition_and_the_Individual_Talent>.
+Lawrence, D.H. “Why the Novel Matters.”
<http://individual.utoronto.ca/amlit/why_the_novel_matters.htm>.
+Wilde, Oscar. “The Critic as Artist.” <http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/E800003-007/>. 131-150.
+Woolf, Virginia. “Modern Fiction.”
<http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91c/chapter13.html>.
+Woolf, Virginia. “A Room of One’s Own.”
<http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/>.
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COURSE GUIDELINES:
1) Attendance and participation are extremely important. After six absences I will drop
you from the class; exceptions may possibly occur if due to documented serious
injury or illness. If you cannot--for any reason!--make this class regularly, and you
know this now, do not make the mistake of enrolling. To pass this course you must
do the work and part of doing the work is being present and active in the class.
2) Timeliness is just as crucial. Class will begin promptly and being tardy three times
will be equivalent to one absence.
3) All reading assignments are to be completed on time.
4) Writing assignments are to be completed on time. I accept one late essay during the
semester (no more than one week late)—no questions asked. There is still a penalty
of sorts: I do not comment on a late essay. No other late papers will be accepted and
no late homework at all. Any paper turned in more than 5 minutes after class starts
will be considered late. You cannot pass the course unless you complete all the essay
assignments.
5) Turn off all beepers, pagers, cell phones before entering the classroom or you will be
excused and counted absent for the day.
6) You are responsible for any material presented in class. If you are absent be sure to
find out what you have missed. Be in touch with a classmate or contact me.
7) Work sent by email will NOT be accepted unless you make an arrangement with me
before hand.
SEMESTER GRADE COMPUTATION:
Essay #1
Essay #2
Group Presentation
Midterm Exam
Final exam
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
100%
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From Victorian to Modern, from Optimism to Emptiness, from
Certainty to the Relative—Weekly Syllabus for English 46C
Week One Aug 16-20: Who am I? Identity and Anomie.
M: Intro to course. Discussion of the Victorian Age.
W: Read Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.
F: Read Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.
Week Two Aug 23-27: Darwin and Literature.
M: Read Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
W: Read Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
F: Read Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
Week Three Aug 30-Sept 3: Freewill and Fate.
M: Read Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
W: Read Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles
F: Read Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Week Four Sept 8-10: Self and Identity.
M: Holiday—Labor Day
W: Read Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
F: Read Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Week Five Sept 13-17: Moral Decay and Social Responsibility.
M: Read Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Arnold Group 1.
W: Read Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde Group 1.
F: Read Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Arnold Group 2/Wilde Group 2.
Week Six Sept 20-24: Old and New.
M: Read James’ Daisy Miller.
W: Read James’ Daisy Miller.
F: Read James’ Daisy Miller.
Week Seven Sept 27-Oct 1: Sense and Sensibility.
M: Read Joyce’s Dubliners.
W: Read Joyce’s Dubliners.
F: Read Joyce’s Dubliners.
Week Eight Oct 4-8: The Center Cannot Hold.
M: Read Wharton’s Ethan Frome.
W: Read Wharton’s Ethan Frome.
F: In-class exam
Week Nine Oct 13-15: Alienation and Despair.
M: Holiday—Faculty Day
Midterm Exam
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W: Read Eliot’s Wasteland, Prufrock and Other Poems. Eliot Group 1.
F: Read Eliot’s Wasteland, Prufrock and Other Poems. Arnold 3/Eliot 2.
Week Ten Oct 18-22: Less is More.
M: Read Pound’s Early Poems. Wilde Group 3/Eliot Group 3.
W: Read Pound’s Early Poems.
F: Read Pound’s Early Poems.
Week Eleven Oct 25-29: What’s A Woman To Do?
M: Read Chopin’s The Awakening.
W: Read Chopin’s The Awakening.
F: Read Chopin’s The Awakening.
First Essay due
Week Twelve Nov 1-5: The Cost of Rebellion.
M: Read Chopin’s The Awakening.
W: Read Chopin’s The Awakening.
F: Read Chopin’s The Awakening.
Week Thirteen Nov 8-10: What’s A Woman To Do Now?
M: Read Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf Group 1.
W: Read Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.
F: Holiday—Veterans’ Day
Week Fourteen Nov 15-19: Further Costs.
M: Read Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf Group 2.
W: Read Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf Group 3.
F: Read Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.
Week Fifteen Nov 22-24: Class, Race, and Gender.
M: Read Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.
W: Read Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.
F: Holiday—Thanksgiving
Week Sixteen Nov 29-Dec 3: Who’s Got the Money?
M: Read Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.
W: Read Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.
F: Read Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Week Seventeen Dec 6-8: What’s So Modern About Being Alone?
M: Read West’s Miss Lonelyhearts.
W: Read West’s Miss Lonelyhearts.
FINAL EXAM: Monday Dec 13 from 10:30-12:30
Second Essay due