COURSE REQUIREMEN TS
Required Texts:
 The Odyssey of Homer, Richard Lattim ore, trans., N ew York: H arper
Perennial Mod ern Classics (2007).
2) Ralph Ellison, Invisible M an [any unabrid ged ed ition but the preferred
ed ition is the Second Vintage International Ed ition (March 1995).
These books can be found at Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore, 716 Broad w ay (right
across from Gallatin.).
Other read ings w ill be found on N YU Classes [C] or on-line through Bobst
Library’s electronic resources [Bobst: ].
Please bring readings to class.
Assignm ents includ e:
Q UESTION S AN D RESPON SES:

Please post on the N YU CLASSES d iscussion board no later than 6
p.m . the night before class TWO clearly form ulated questions about
the w eek’s read ing (prim ary or second ary) that you think w ill
stim ulate or enrich class d iscussion.

Also, please post ON E response to a question posed by a classm ate on
N YU CLASSES the previous w eek. The response should be posted on
N YU CLASSES no later than 6 p.m . the night before class.

Everyone w ill be responsible for reading all the postings each w eek
and for being prepared to discuss them in class the next day.

Due d ates are listed on the course outline below .
TEXT A N ALYSIS:
We w ill assign a passage from Odyssey (d ue October 8) and Invisible M an
(d ue N ovem ber 12). In a paper of 2-3 typed pages, d iscuss the passage’s
key features, the questions/ them es it raises or points to, its style (d iction,
level of language, figures of speech, point of view ), and its significance in
the context of the larger w ork in w hich it appears. All papers should be
hand ed in through the N YU CLASSES Assignm ent tab.
C OLLABORATIVE ORAL REPORT:
The class w ill be d ivid ed into sm all groups. Each group w ill be assigned
one selection of second ary read ing [to be d eterm ined ] and each m em ber
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of the group w ill report on it to the class in a presentation of 15 m inutes in
total. The report should contain a close read ing of key passages in the
assigned article/ essay and a com m entary on the relation betw een this
article/ essay and the Odyssey OR Invisible M an, OR both. Each m em ber of
the group w ill w rite up and hand in through N YU CLASSES her/ his
ind ivid ual presentation, w ith appropriate citations from the prim ary and
second ary m aterial. Rem em ber, this should be a collaborative project; each
group should m eet together to d iscuss how to coord inate the ind ivid ual
presentations. Also, you d o not have to upload a Question and Response
the d ay you give your oral report. We invite you to consult w ith either or
both of us as you prepare your report.
FIN AL TAKE-H OME EXAM
Due Decem ber 16.
S CHED ULE OF A SSIGN MEN TS
Septem ber 3
Problem s And Perspectives: Id entity, Visibility, N arrative
Septem ber 10
Learning the Cities of Men
Read ings:
Odyssey Books 1-5;
Martin, R. “Epic as Genre” in Blackwell’s Companion to A ncient Epic. ed .
J.M. Foley (Oxford : Wiley-Blackw ell, 2005) pp. 9-18. [C]
Vernant, J-P. “The Refusal of Od ysseus” in Reading the Odyssey. ed . S. L.
Schein (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996) pp. 185-189. [C]
Written Assignm ent:
Questions and Responses
Septem ber 17
N atural Ord er, Social Ord er
Read ings:
Odyssey Books 6-12.
H orkheim er, M. and T. Ad orno, “Od ysseus or Myth and Enlightenm ent”
Ch. 2 in Dialectic of Enlightenment. ed . G. N oerr, transl. E. Jephcott
(originally published as Dialektik der A ufklärung, Frankfurt, 1st
ed ition 1947, 2nd ed ition 1969) pp. 35-62. [C]
Written Assignm ent:
Questions and Responses
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Septem ber 24
The Political Econom y Of H om ecom ing OR Estrangem ent And
Recognition
Read ings:
Odyssey Books 13-18.
Rose, P., Sons of the Gods, Children of Earth (Ithaca: Cornell University
Press, 1992) pp. 98-112. [C]
Murnaghan, S. “The Plan of Athena” in The Distaff Side. ed . B. Cohen
(Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1995) pp 61-80. [C]
Written Assignm ent:
Questions and Responses
October 1
The Bow And The Bed : Violence, H om ecom ing, Closure
Read ings:
Odyssey Books 19-24.
Felson, N . and L. M. Slatkin, “Gend er in the H om eric Epic.” The Cambridge
Companion to Homer. ed . Fow ler, R., (Cam brid ge University Press:
2004) pp.91-93, 103-114. [Bobst: Cambridge Collections Online]
Written Assignm ent:
Questions and Responses
October 8
The Epic and the N ovel
Read ings:
Bakhtin, M. “Epic and the N ovel,” Ch. 1 in The Dialogic Imagination (Austin
TX: 1982) ed . M. H olquist, transl. C. Emerson and M. H olquist
(originally published as V oprosy literatury i estetiki, Moscow : 1975)
pp. 3-40. [C]
Written Assignm ent:
Text Analysis (Passage to be assigned )
In class view ing of O Brother, W here A rt Thou?
October 15
SEMESTER BREAK
October 22
Id eology, Invisibility and H ypervisibility
Read ings:
Cham bers, R., “The Unexam ined ,” M innesota Review 47 (1997), 95-111.
[Bobst: Project Muse]
Althusser, L., “Id eology an d Id eological State Apparatus: N otes tow ard an
Investigation.” Lenin and Philosophy other essays (N ew York:
Monthly Review Press, 2001) pp. 85-126. [C]
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Written Assignm ent:
Questions and Responses
October 29
Race and Melancholia
Read ings:
Invisible M an, Prologue through Chapter 7.
Cheng, A.A., “Ralph Ellison and the Politics of Melancholia” in The
Cambridge Companion to Ralph Ellison, ed . R. Posnock (Cam brid ge
University Press, 2005). [Bobst: Cam brid ge Collections Online}
Written Assignm ent:
Questions and Responses
N ovem ber 5
“H arlem is N ow here”
Read ings
Invisible M an, Chapters 8-13.
Razaf, A. “(What Did I Do to be so) Black and Blue” in Cultural Contexts for
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. ed . E. Sund quist (Boston and N ew York
City: Bed ford / St Martin’s) 1995, pp. 115-6. [C]
Ellison, R. “H arlem is N ow here”, The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison, ed .
J.F. Callahan (N ew York: The Mod ern Library, 2003), pp. 320-327. [C]
Lee, J.S-J, “Knucklebones and Knocking-bones: The Accid ental Trickster in
Ellison’s Invisible M an” in A frican A merican Review 40:3 (2006), 461-73.
[Bobst: JSTOR]
Written Assignm ent:
Questions and Responses
N ovem ber 12
O Brotherhood , Where Art Thou?
Read ings:
Invisible M an, Chapters 14-20.
O’Meally, R.G., “Checking Our Balances: Ellison on Arm strong’s H um or ,”
boundary 2, 30:2 (Sum m er 2003), pp. 115-126. [Bobst: Project Muse]
Written Assignm ent:
Text Analysis (Passage to be assigned )
N ovem ber 19
The Wom an Question
Read ings:
Invisible M an, Chapter 21 – Epilogue
Tate, C., “N otes on the Invisible Wom an in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible M an,”
in Speaking for Y ou: The V ision of Ralph Ellison. ed . K.W. Benson
(Washington D.C.: H ow ard University Press, 1990). [C]
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Jarenski, S. “Invisibility Embraced : The Abject as Site of Agency in
Ellison’s Invisible M an,” M ELUS 35:4 (Winter 2010), pp. 85-109
Foley, H . “Penelope as Moral Agent,” in The Distaff Side: Representing the
Female in Homer’s Od yssey, ed . Beth Cohen (N ew York: Oxford
University Press, 1995).
Written Assignm ent:
Questions and Responses
N ovem ber 26
Ellison, Rinehart and Classicism
Read ings:
Jackson, L.P., “Ralph Ellison, Sharpies, Rinehart, and the Politics of
Invisible M an,” The M assachusetts Review 40:1 (Spring 1999), pp. 7185. [Bobst: JSTOR]
Rankine, P.D., “’Ulysses alone in Polly-w hat’s-his-nam e’s cave’: Ralph
Ellison and the Uses of Myth” in Rankine, Ulysses in Black: Ralph
Ellison, Classicism, and A frican A merican Literature (Mad ison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 2008) pp. 121-151 [Bobst: ebrary].
Decem ber 3
Collaborative Oral Reports
Texts to be assigned
[N ote: You are expected to read all of the assignm ents.]
Written Assignm ent (if you are not presenting):
Questions and Responses
Decem ber 10
Collaborative Oral Reports
Texts to be assigned
[N ote: You are expected to read all of the assignm ents.]
Written Assignm ent (if you are not presenting):
Questions and Responses
Decem ber 16
FIN AL EXAM D UE (N o Class)
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N O TA BENE
Learning Goals
 Strengthening our d eep and com parative read ing skills
 Developing skills and confid ence in d ifferent m od es of w ritten and oral
expression
 I d eveloping a fram ew ork for und erstand ing d ialogues and d ivergences
betw een ancient and m od ern texts
 acquiring a transhistorical and non-universalist understandings of such
categories as race and gender
Grad ing
Successful com pletion of this class includ es:
 Faithful class attend ance. More than one absence—beyond
d ocum ented em ergencies and religious observances—w ill
autom atically low er your final grad e.
 Careful stud y of the assigned read ings in tim e for class d iscussions
 Turning in w ritten assignm ents on tim e. Late w ork—except for
that caused by d ocum ented em ergencies—w ill autom atically be
penalized .
 Active and thoughtful participation in class d iscussions.
Grad es w ill be calculated as follow s:
 Class Participation 20%
 Question and Response Posts 10%
 Textual Analysis 15% each
 Collaborative Oral Report 15%
 Final Take H om e Exam 25%
 Outstand ing class participation w ill lead to ‘extra cred it’
Acad em ic Integrity
All your w ritten w ork m ust be your ow n; “borrow ed ” w ork w ill be
severely sanctioned in accord ance w ith school policies. The follow ing is
taken from the Gallatin w ebsite:
As a Gallatin stud ent you belong to an interd isciplinary com m unity
of artists and scholars w ho value honest and open intellectual inquiry.
This relationship d epend s on m utual respect, respon sibility, and integrity.
Failure to uphold these values w ill be subject to severe sanction, w hich
m ay includ e d ism issal from the University. Exam ples of behaviors that
com prom ise the acad em ic integrity of the Gallatin School includ e
plagiarism , illicit collaboration, d oubling or recycling coursew ork, and
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cheating. Please consult the Gallatin Bulletin or Gallatin w ebsite
(http:/ / gallatin.nyu.ed u/ acad em ics/ policies/ integrity .htm l )
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