ENGL 290 – Human Values in Literature
Dr. Christopher Wachal
Email: cwachal@luc.edu
Office: Crown Center 434
Office Hours: MWF 12:30-2:30 and by appointment
Fall 2011
ENGL 290-080
MWF – 8:15-9:05
Mundelein 406
Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist. – René Magritte
As soon as the traditional comes to be recognized as tradition, it is dead.—Allan Bloom
Where are those good old fashioned values on which we used to rely? – Peter & Lois Griffin
Introduction
One of the characteristics of modernity is the tension between tradition and the new. Traditional
ways of making meaning and representing experience are displaced by radically new belief systems,
aesthetic forms, and thematic concerns. This course will examine the ways writers represent the
conflict of values at the heart of modernity. What new systems of values do writers offer to replace
tradition? What role do traditional values (often in the form of religious commitments) have in a
modern world that deems them inadequate? How are local values changed by the encounter with an
increasingly global culture? These are the questions we will take up in this course.
Objectives
The primary goal of this course is to develop your skills as a reader and critic. You should also
develop an understanding of how writers deploy literary techniques to communicate ideas, beliefs,
and values.
Required Texts
 Faith: stories. Edited by C. Michael Curtis – ISBN: 0618378243
 Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia – ISBN: 0345381432
 Deep River by Shusaku Endo – ISBN: 081121320X
 The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway – ISBN: 0684800713
 The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid – ISBN: 9780156034029
 Course Packet available at SOS Copies.
 Various other handouts distributed in class or via Blackboard.
Assignments (more details on each paper will be provided closer to its due date)
Paper #1 – 4-6 pages – due in class Monday, September 26
Your first paper will examine the use of a single element of fiction in one course reading. Your
paper should explain why the author made the choices he/she did and how those choices
Paper #2 – 6-8 pages – due in class Friday, November 4
Your second paper will involve comparing and contrasting the depiction of values in two separate
course readings. You may approach your evaluation in formal, thematic or aesthetic terms. You
should explain how the authors’ choices serve their differing visions and/or how they arise from
distinct cultural contexts.
Paper #3 – 8-10 pages – due Monday, December 19 at 9:00 a.m.
Your final paper will involve developing a critical reading of one of the novels taken up in the
second half of the course. I will ask you to examine the tensions between the competing values
systems represented in the novel. Your paper should rely on highly developed readings of several
elements of fiction within the novel.
Close Readings – 2-3 pages (1000 word minimum)
Close reading is the practice of examining a brief passage from a literary work in the context of
the larger work. These brief papers should explore how important selections from a given work
communicate the work’s theme. They do not require research or any information from outside the
text itself. There will be four close readings assigned over the course of the semester. You must
complete three of them.
Quizzes
There will be two quizzes during the first half of the semester. They will cover concepts and
terms presented in course lectures. Their content will be discussed in advance and their dates are
noted on the class schedule.
Grading
A - 93-100%
A- - 90-92%
B+ - 87-89%
B - 83-86%
B- - 80-82%
C+ - 77-79%
C - 73-76
C- - 70-72%
D+ - 67-69%
D - 63-66%
F - 62% and lower
Major Paper #1 – 10%
Major Paper #2 – 20%
Major Paper #3 – 30%
Close Readings – 15%
Quizzes – 10%
Class Participation – 15%
Each paper will be graded on organization, style, originality and persuasiveness. Organization
concerns how clearly your ideas are presented. Style involves such elements as grammar,
formatting, punctuation, and citation of sources. Originality reflects how new or interesting your
reading or argument is. Finally, persuasiveness is judged on how compelling your evidence is and
how effective your argument is in its entirety.
Course Policies
Attendance/Participation: This course will function best when everyone is involved in discussing
the class material. Regularly attending class, therefore, benefits both you and your classmates.
Missing a class meeting may weaken your understanding of that day’s reading and deprive you of
context for subsequent class conversations. It is because full participation from everyone in class
is so important that it comprises part of your final grade.
Participation is not the same as just showing up and staying awake. Coming to class but
contributing nothing to the class is only marginally better than not showing up at all. Everyone is
expected to come to class on time and be prepared to contribute to class discussion.
Technology: Because the bulk of this class will center on exchanges between you, me, and your
fellow students, I would prefer you not bring anything to class that may distract from those
conversations. However, I also understand that many students prefer to type notes rather than
handwrite them. So, if you need to bring a laptop or other similar device to class on certain days to
take notes on a lecture, you may do so. All of the objective information for which you will be held
responsible will be presented in the first few weeks of the semester. Beyond that time, I ask that
you refrain from using laptops and the like in class. Cellphones should be turned off and only
answered in emergencies. There is never a reason to send text messages during class.
Late Papers: Papers turned in after the end of class the day on which they are due will be docked a
half-letter grade for each day they are late. It is to your advantage to turn in all your work on
time. Note: I will not accept papers via email. This is simply an ineffective way to operate the
course. If you would like me to look at a draft of a paper, then email is acceptable. Otherwise I
expect all papers to be physically in my hands by the time they are due.
Format for all papers: All papers should be printed in black ink on white paper. The text should be
twelve-point, Times New Roman or Calibri font. The paper should be formatted to have one-inch
margins on all sides and double-spaced. Anything other than this format will result in a grade
deduction.
Plagiarism Policy:
Plagiarism is never acceptable in this or any other course. For our purposes, plagiarism is defined
as any attempt to represent work which is not yours as your own. This includes, but is not limited
to: buying a paper online, having a friend write your paper, copying from other papers, failing to
cite sources, quoting without attribution, and turning in a paper from another course. If you are
found to have plagiarized in any way, you will receive no credit for that paper and may be referred
to the Administration for further action.
Schedule
Aug 29
Aug. 31
Sep. 2
Course Introduction
“What is literature? What is fiction? What do they have to do with ‘human values’?
Why does anybody study this stuff anyway?”
Marquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” p. 13-19
Sep. 5
Sep. 7
Sep. 9
Labor Day (No Class)
Updike, “A&P” (course packet)
Hemingway, “Soldier’s Home” (course packet)
Sep. 12
Sep. 14
Sep. 16
Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown,”p.38-50
Rushdie, “The Prophet’s Hair,” p.207-19
Roth, “Defender of the Faith,” (course packet)
Close Reading #1 Due
Sep. 19
Sep. 21
Gordon, “The Deacon,” p.20-37
Singh, “The Mark of Vishnu,” p.241-45
Sep. 23
Quiz #1
Walker, “The Welcome Table,” p.254-58
Sep. 28
Sep. 30
Kureishi, “My Son the Fanatic,” p.67-76
Major Paper #1 Due
Gappah, ”Before Tonde, After Tonde” (course packet)
Akpan, “What Language is That?” (course packet)
Oct. 3
Oct. 5
Oct. 7
O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (course packet)
O’Connor, “Parker’s Back” (course packet)
Quiz #2
Oct. 10
Oct. 12
Oct. 14
Fall Break (no class)
O’Connor, “Revelation” (course packet)
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land (course packet)
Oct. 17
Oct. 19
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land (course packet)
Close Reading #2 Due
T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets (course packet)
Oct. 21
Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, Book I
Oct. 24
Oct. 26
Oct. 28
Hemingway, Book II Ch. VIII – XIII
Hemingway, Book II Ch. XIV - XVIII
Hemingway, Book III
Oct. 31
Nov. 2
Nov. 4
Garcia, Dreaming in Cuban, p.3-55 (“Ocean Blue” – “Celia’s Letters: 1935-1940”)
Garcia, p.57-95 (“A Grove of Lemons” – “The Fire Between Them”
Garcia, 97-126 (“Celia’s Letters: 1942-1949” – “The Meaning of Shells”)
Major Paper #2 Due
Nov. 7
Nov. 9
Nov. 11
Garcia, p.127-81 (“Enough Attitude” – “A Matrix Light”)
Garcia, p.183-245 (“God’s Will – “Six Days in April”)
Endo, Deep River, Chapters 1-2
Nov. 14
Nov. 16
Nov. 18
Endo, Chapters 3-4
Endo, Chapters 5-7
Endo, Chapters 8-10
Close Reading #3 Due
Nov. 21
Nov. 23-25
Endo, Chapters 11-13
Thanksgiving Break (no class)
Nov. 28
Nov. 30
Dec. 2
Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Ch. 1-4
Hamid, Ch. 5-9
Hamid, Ch. 10-12
Dec. 5
Film Viewing: Doubt
Sep. 26
Dec. 7
Dec. 9
Film Viewing: Doubt
Film Viewing: Doubt
Close Reading #4 Due
Mon., Dec. 19
Major Paper #3 due at 9:00 a.m.