|
Nathalie op de Beeck
|
|
English 375-02: Literature for Adolescents
Fall 2005 / Monday, 5:30-8:20 p.m.
/ 347A Stevenson Hall
309.438.5649 /
dbop@ilstu.edu / 421L Stevenson Hall
This section of Literature for Adolescents focuses on mixed media and intertextuality. Throughout this semester, we will read, discuss, and write about an intertwined selection of international texts—books and otherwise—that express a wide range of historical, cultural, and critical contexts. While our reading list includes canonical novels like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a standby in U.S. high schools, or L. Frank Baum’s much-imitated The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, our list also includes countertexts like Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran that might help us explore how texts operate cross-culturally or outside western boundaries. By taking a fresh look at long-established texts (as Salman Rushdie does in Haroun and the Sea of Stories), we open up our perspectives on such terms as “literature,” “adolescence,” “fiction,” and “nonfiction.” Few of our texts, then, are childhood or teen favorites of the “Harry Potter” variety, but all pertain to changing cultural concepts of childhood or adolescence, and all are read by perceptive young adults. We will look at Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoirs, which tell a personal story and record Iranian history in a literary-visual format, and we will merge Zlata Filipovic’s and Thura al-Windawi’s diaries, which purport to give young girls’ views on coming of age during wartime, with multimedia reports on the same conflicts. Toward the close of the semester, Marilyn Nelson’s biographical poetry on George Washington Carver and Lynda Barry’s collage work represent creative approaches to commonplace subject matter. Cinematic texts about childhood and adolescence, or commonly believed to be “for” a youthful audience, will intersect with and supplement our assigned readings.
Required Texts (in order of assignment)
Additional short readings will be distributed in class. Please note that campus bookstores begin mailing texts back to publishers after six weeks. If you plan to buy your books on campus, get them by October.
Assignments Essays. This semester, each student will write three 1500-to-2000-word essays, approximately five to seven pages each, with a word count included in the heading and a complete bibliography. Essays evolve out of the readings, in-class writings, and group discussions, and your writing should demonstrate a critical engagement with the assigned texts and ideas. Assignment deadlines are listed on the course schedule, and in-class handouts will provide detailed information on topics and requirements. Each essay is worth 20% of your grade. Journals. Our twelve journals will include in-class writing and occasional bring-to-class research. I will distribute assignments during class, collect them at the end of the session, and give credit for them on a weekly basis. 25% of your grade.
Film review.
During the semester, you should screen and write
about one international film pertaining to our coursework on adolescence and
childhood. I will try to announce ongoing campus film series and films at the
Normal Theater, and I also will give you a list of films to fulfill this
requirement. Whatever you choose, be sure to screen the film in its entirety. In
500-750 thoughtful words, comment on what happens in the film, elaborate
on your opinion, and describe how the film relates to our discussions and course
readings. Email the review to me as a Microsoft Word attachment
(dbop@ilstu.edu). I will acknowledge receipt of the writing and then grade the
piece for course credit. All film reviews are due by class time on Monday,
November 7. 5% of your grade. Attendance and Participation. Passing this course depends upon keeping up with the reading, turning in assignments on time, actively participating in classroom discussion, and attending course meetings. Given Labor Day, we have only 14 meetings this semester—which isn’t very much time! Each missed class is 8% off 100% attendance, so you can miss once and still have 92% attendance. Students who miss four or more meetings automatically fail the course. If you know in advance that you are going to be absent, excused or not, please let me know in writing so that we can plan accordingly. In addition, be advised that plagiarism or cheating of any kind will result in your failing the course. If you do your own work diligently, attend class, and speak to me about any concerns that arise with your writing or other efforts, you can succeed in this course. On that note, please know that I encourage everyone (but not all at once…) to drop in during my office hours or schedule a time to discuss your progress in the course. Each of your professors, myself included, schedules weekly office hours for your convenience. I’m happy to meet with you, and I sometimes may request a meeting on an individual basis. If and when you have questions, concerns, or ideas about the coursework, please make an appointment or drop by for a chat. Graduate students must meet with me on a monthly basis to develop essays according to the direction of their studies. Further, each should supplement their written work with additional reading/viewing of primary and secondary material, including novels, films, critical essays, etc. (I can help you locate some resources, but I expect you to take the research initiative as well.) In lieu of the final exam, master’s and doctoral students must substantially revise one of their three essays into an 8-to-10-page paper, suitable for presentation at a conference or other professional meeting. This final essay will be due at the same time as the undergraduate final exam.
Course Schedule
Aug 22 Journal 1
Aug 29 Journal 2 Sept 5 Labor Day. No class meeting. Hmmm…what a great opportunity to read ahead!
Sept 8-9 Recommended film at the
Normal Theater, 7pm both nights
Sept 10-11 Recommended film at the Normal
Theater, 7pm both nights
Sept 12 Journal 3 Sept 15 (Thurs) Essay I due by noon at my office
Sept 19 Journal 4
Sept 26 Journal 5
Sept 29-Oct 2 Recommended documentary at the
Normal Theater, 7pm each night
Oct 3 Journal 6
Oct 17 Reading: Marjane Satrapi,
Persepolis II: The Story of
a Return (pp. 92-187) Oct 20 (Thurs) Essay II and working draft of Essay II due by noon at my office
Oct 24 Journal 8
Oct 31 Journal 9 Nov 7 Journal 10 Reading: Marilyn Nelson, Carver All film reviews are due by this class meeting.
Nov 14 Workshop: Bring a
working draft of Essay III to class—at least three solid pages. Bring copies of
texts covered in your essay, so that you can check quotations or add details. As
before, essays will not be accepted at this time. All essays must be shared in
class and revised after peer review, and you will hand in both the workshopped
essay and the final version. Nov 17 (Thurs) Essay III and working draft of Essay III due by noon in my office. Nov 19-27 Thanksgiving Break
Nov 28 Journal 11
Dec 5 Journal 12 Dec 12-15 Finals Week - A take-home final exam will be distributed via email on December 7. We will not have to meet for the final. Instead, your short-answer test will be due via email, as a Microsoft Word document, by 5:30 p.m. on Monday, December 12.
|
|
Please email me with any questions or comments! dbop@ilstu.edu |