FYS ENGL 135, Spring 2015
02:40PM-04:00PM M/W, Allbritton004
Prof. Lily Saint
Email: lsaint@wesleyan.edu
Office: Downey House, rm. 219
Office Hours: Wednesdays 12:30-2pm, and by appointment
Class Tutor: Liza Bayless, lbayless@wesleyan.edu
Captive & Confined: Literatures of Imprisonment
Is it more than just a metaphorical turn of phrase that causes us to speak of being held captive by works of literature and art? Or are there links between writing, reading, and being imprisoned that are as material as they are psychological? Our class will consider the relationship between spaces of confinement and writing, to explore how various writers have used writing to respond to states of captivity. Is carceral writing particularly captivating to readers, and if so, why? We will read texts about prisons (physical and psychological), as well as texts written in prisons, to explore relationships between writing, power, literacy, and freedom.
As a First Year Seminar our emphasis in class discussions and writing assignments will be on close and considered analysis of assigned readings. While assigned texts cover a wide geographical and historical range, we will be concerned less with outside contextual materials than with discovering what it is that the texts communicate directly.
Required Texts (available at Broad Street Books)
Nella Larsen, Passing
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, trans. Willetts
Chris Abani, Kalakuta Republic
Nawal el Saadawi, Woman at Point Zero
All other readings are available on moodle, and must be printed out and brought to class on the day of discussion.
Assignments
For the first half of the semester, students will work on staggered writing assignments, producing a paper in stages, beginning with informal brainstorming and note-taking, progressing to the construction and revision of theses, outlines, introductory and body paragraphs, close-reading approaches, and conclusions. In-class time will be spent discussing assigned readings and working on various stages of the writing process. Thereafter students will write two longer essays, which we will workshop inside and outside the classroom, to strengthen practices of argumentation, structure, self-critique, peer-review, editing, and revision.
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Participation expectations:
This is a discussion-based seminar, and as such, your verbal participation is vital to our collective project. The course will be most productive with the full participation of everyone. Full participation involves formulating questions provoked by the readings before class, thoughtful input during all in-class activities and discussions, and attentive listening to all class participants.
Class Tutor
We are fortunate to have Liza Bayless as our class tutor. She will be on hand to help you at certain stages of the writing process, working both as a sounding board for your brainstorming ideas, and then, later, as a peer editor, strengthening your writing at the level of ideas as well as at the levels of grammar and style. You will each have a scheduled meeting with Liza once during the semester, and I will ask several of you to meet with her additionally, as necessary. Feel free to email Liza directly at lbayless@wesleyan.edu.
Policies:
Computers, Cellphones, and other Gadgets
Since this class emphasizes discussion, no computers or cell phones (etc.) are permitted in class, as they tend to interfere with interpersonal interaction.
Should there be an extenuating reason to use one of these devices in class, please talk to me about possibly making an exception.
Attendance
More than 2 unexcused absences will seriously jeopardize your grade.
Assignment extensions
No extensions will be granted except in cases of medical emergency. Late papers will be penalized by one third of a grade for each day they are late (i.e. a B paper will become a B-, then a C+, etc.)
Academic Integrity
I expect all your work in this class will uphold the Honor Code that you signed when you matriculated: http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/studenthandbook/standardsregulation s/studentconduct.html
. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, and I will follow
Wesleyan protocol by referring all instances of suspected plagiarism to the Vice
President for Student Affairs and the student-run Honor Board. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions about the proper and responsible use of sources.
Citation Guidelines
Please use the MLA citation style for all your essays. Guidelines can be found in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, or online, at the Purdue OWL
(Online Writing Lab) website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/
Students with Disabilities
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Wesleyan University is committed to ensuring that all qualified students with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its programs and services. To receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and provide documentation of the disability. Since accommodations may require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact Disability Resources as soon as possible.
If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact
Dean Patey in Disability Resources, located in North College, Room 021, or call
860-685-2332 for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations.
Reading & Class Schedule
Unless otherwise noted, the schedule below indicates discussion dates. All assigned texts should be read in their entirety by the date they are scheduled for discussion.
Introductions
Franz Kafka, “A Little Fable” (handout) Jan 26
Camps
Jan 28 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, pp. 1-75
Note-taking strategies
Feb 2 Finish Solzhenitsyn
Essay #1 Assignment Handout
Feb 4
Feb 9
Feb 11
Primo Levi, “Preface,” “The Memory of the Offence” and “The Grey Zone” from The Drowned and the Saved (moodle)
Brainstorming ideas for Essay #1 with Liza
Cynthia Ozick, “The Shawl” (moodle)
Developing & revising a strong thesis
Due: Brainstorming notes
Feb 18
Paragraphs (Introductory Ps & body Ps)
Thesis workshop in groups
Due: Three copies of thesis
Forms of Torture
Feb 16 Chris Abani, Kalakuta Republic
Writing workshop
Due: Introductory Paragraph
Franz Kafka, “In the Penal Colony” (moodle)
Conclusions
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Questions of Freedom
Feb 23 Kate Chopin, “Story of an Hour” and “The Storm” (moodle),
Constantine P. Cavafy “The Windows” (handout)
Due: Paper #1
Feb 25 Albert Camus “The Guest”
Mar 2
Mar 4
Nella Larsen, Passing
Revisions
Mahesweta Devi, “The Hunt” (moodle)
Due: Essay #2 (revision & extension of essay #1—both drafts due)
SPRING BREAK—watch Werner Herzog film Into the Abyss (available online for instant viewing on Netflix; DVD available at Science Library Circulation desk)
Crime and Punishment
Mar 23 Herzog
Mar 25 Michel Foucault, selection from Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison
(moodle); watch David Bickerstaff’s Narrenturm film: http://vimeo.com/7001647
Literary Captives
Mar 30 J.M. Coetzee, “Into the Dark Chamber” (moodle)
Oscar Wilde, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” (moodle)
Essay #3 Assignment Handout
Apr 1 Franz Kafka, “Report to an Academy,” (moodle) and J.M. Coetzee, Selection from The Lives of Animals (moodle)
Apr 6
Resistance
Apr 8
Apr 13
Workshop first 1-2pp of essay #3
Due: first 1-2pp of essay #3 (with introduction & thesis)
Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” (moodle)
Angela Davis, “The Legacy of Slavery: Standards for a New Womanhood”
(moodle); Martin Luther King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (moodle);
Due: Essay #3
Apr15
Apr 20
Apr 22
Nelson Mandela, Chapter 61 of Long Walk to Freedom (moodle)
Essay #4 Assignment Handout
Nawal El Saadawi, Woman at Point Zero, pp. 1-74
Finish Saadawi, Woman at Point Zero;
Begin screening of Marleen Gorris, A Question of Silence
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Apr 27
Apr 29
May 4
May 6
Finish watching Gorris, A Question of Silence
Workshop first 1-2pp of essay #4
Due: first 1-2pp of essay #4 (with introduction & thesis)
Watch and discuss episode of Orange Is the New Black
Final essay workshop
Due: Draft of Paper #4; Final paper due on Moodle on May 12 th by 5pm
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