. Material Matters: Looking AT Literature .

Instructor: Jessica Pressman

Required Texts
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (any unabridged edition)
Gertrude Stein. Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein. Ed. Carl Van Vechten
Art Spiegelman, Maus (Random House)
Course reader (Westwood Copies:corner of Gayley and Weyburn)

Course Description:

“Material Matters: Looking AT Literature” seeks to pursue an appreciation of literature as an art form that uses the materials of its medium (language, ink, grammar, graphics, etc.), as the means for enabling narrative and visual aesthetics.

ENG 4 is an introduction to literature and literary analysis. The motivation and methodology of this class is two-fold: 1) to explore and examine a variety of literary genres, and 2) to acquire the critical and analytical skills necessary to approach and explain your interactions with the text in university-proficient compositions.

1) Pursuing the first goal, we will become acquainted with the principal literary genres—the novel, poetry, drama, and the short story-- through works that explore and experiment with their formal elements and materiality. Course readings and class discussions will provide opportunities to closely engage with the literature and develop approaches to close reading and critical analysis.

2) Class activities and assignments will focus on various aspects of constructing a critical argument essay, enabling you to practice your skills and to solidify your confidence as you develop university-level proficiency in writing.

Course Requirements:

1. Three essays: 2 short (2-3 pages), 1 long (5-6 pages). Topics will be distributed. Typed, standard 12-point font with double-spacing is required.
2. Two in-class quizzes: These unannounced quizzes will prompt short explications on passages from the readings.
3. Homework: Short assignments will range from the preparation of discussion questions to the construction of a thesis statement.
4. Final Exam: Cumulative final consisting of passage identification and explications.
5. Participation: The success of this class and of your personal development depends on your active participation. This means that you will need to: (1) attend all class meetings; (2) participate in class discussions; (3) complete all required reading thoughtfully and thoroughly; (5) bring the necessary material with you to class.

Grading
Essay #1 15%
Essay #2 20%
Essay #3 30%
Quiz #1 5%
Quiz #2 5%
Homework…………………………………….……5%
Participation .10%
Final………………………………………….…….15%

Important Reminders
· Late papers will drop your grade by 1/3 of a letter grade for every day that it is late (including weekends). For example, a B+ paper would become a B after one late day. In-class quizzes cannot be made up.
· In order to fulfill the university writing requirements, you must receive at least a C in this class.
· Plagiarism, the use of someone else’s words or ideas without proper acknowledgement, is a serious offense at UCLA. I am required to report any instances of plagiarism to the Dean of Students, which can result in suspension and/or expulsion. Make sure that you understand how to properly cite your sources. I am, of course, available for consultation on this subject.

Advice
Due to the extensive amount of reading for this class, I strongly advise that you do not procrastinate. Begin reading early, and be prepared to discuss the entire work on the first day that it is assigned. Meet with me early about your ideas for paper topics and personal concerns.

Reading Schedule

Week 1: Materiality Matters
. September 30: Introduction

. October 2: Shakespeare The Tempest

Week 2: Literature Takes Form
. October 7: Shakespeare The Tempest

. October 9: Early Calligrammes
George Herbert: “Easter Wings”
Lewis Carroll: “The Mouse’s Tale”

Week 3: Language Is Visual
. October 14: The Grapheme
Emily Dickinson: Poems 341 . 683 . 1129

. October 16: Poetic Shapes
Marianne Moore: “The Fish”
e.e.cummings: “o sweet spontaneous” . “1(a” . “r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r”

PAPER DUE (2-3 pages)

Week 4: Language Becomes Material—
. October 21: Imagism
H.D.: “Pursuit” . “Evening” . “Orchard”
William Carlos Williams: “Red Wheelbarrrow” . “The Poem” . “Item”

. October 23: Guest teacher. Writing Workshop

Week 5: Gertrude Stein’s Modernism
. October 28: Gertrude Stein: Selections from “Composition as Explanation”
Selections from “The Making of Americans”

. October: 30: Gertrude Stein: Selections from Tender Buttons.

Week 6: Fragmentation and the Concrete—Post-modernism
. November 4: History as fragmented heteroglossia. Selections from Eduardo Galeano’s
Memory of Fire: Century of the Wind

. November 6: Concrete Poetry:
Louis Zukofsky: “Julia’s Wild”
Emmett Williams: “Do You Remember”
Excerpt from Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics

Week 7: The Graphic Novel
. November 11: Art Spiegelman’s Maus

. November 13: Maus

PAPER DUE (3-4 pages)

Week 8: Beyond the Boundaries of the Page-- Sound and Performance
. November 18: Jazz Poetry
Langston Hughes: “The Weary Blues” . “Lenox Avenue: Midnight” .
Sterling Brown: “Tin Roof Blues” . “Memphis Blues” . “He Was Man” .

.November 20: Beat Poetry
Alan Ginsberg: “Howl”, “America”

Week 9: Web-based Materiality
.November 25: Young-Hae Chang’s “Dakota” . “Nippon”

.November 27: no class, Thanksgiving

Week 10: Further Forms
December 2: Oulipo, Fluxus, Found, and Hypertext
.Raymond Queneau’s A Hundred Thousand Billion Poems
.Michael Joyce’s Twelve Blue

December 4: Conclusion, Synthesis

PAPER DUE (5-6 pages)

Week 11: FINAL EXAM
Wednesday, December 10, 2003, 11:30am-2:30pm