Core Schedule
Spring 2007
| Wed. Jan. 17 | Kant, “What Is Enlightenment?” |
| Fri. Jan. 19 | Descartes, Discourse
on Method, parts 1-3 Q: What is the intellectual crisis that confronts Descartes? How does it compare to the crisis faced by Augustine? |
| Mon. Jan. 22 | Descartes, Discourse
on Method, part 4 Q: How does Descartes prove the existence of God? Why is it so important for him to do so? |
| Wed. Jan. 24 | Descartes, Discourse
on Method, parts 5-6 Q: What does Descartes think are the real impact and importance of what he has accomplished in the Discourse? |
| Fri. Jan. 26 | Shakespeare, Othello,
acts 1-2 Q: Consider any one of the main characters: Othello, Desdemona, or Iago. How does that character view him- or herself? How is that character viewed by others? |
| Mon.
Jan. 29 meet in Olin 157 |
Shakespeare, Othello,
acts 3-4 special assignment instead of daily question * brief essay on Descartes due * |
| Wed. Jan. 31 | Shakespeare, Othello,
act 5 Q: Why exactly does Othello kill Desdemona? |
| Fri. Feb. 2 | Shakespeare, Othello
(cont.) Q: What exactly is the tragedy of the play? |
| Mon. Feb. 5 | Locke, Second Treatise,
chs. 1-4 Q: For Locke, what does the term 'state of nature' mean? What does he think the state of nature is like? * brief essay on Shakespeare due * |
| Wed. Feb. 7 | Locke, Second Treatise,
chs. 5-6 Q: How can private propery be justified, if “God gave [the world] to mankind in common” (sec. 25)? |
| Fri. Feb. 9 | Locke, Second Treatise,
chs. 7-9 Q: Why do people leave the state of nature to form civil society? What is gained by doing so? What is lost? |
| Mon. Feb. 12 | Voltaire, Candide,
ch. 1-13 Q: Identify any one example of irony or satire in the work so far. How exactly does it work? How effective is it? * brief essay on Locke due * |
| Wed. Feb. 14 | Voltaire, Candide,
ch. 14-21 Q: How does Voltaire's understanding of the New World compare to Locke's? |
| Fri. Feb. 16 | Voltaire, Candide,
ch. 22-30 Q: What kind of positive message does the text convey? |
| Mon. Feb. 19 | NO CLASS (Presidents' Day) |
| Tue Feb. 20 | 7:00 - film of Mozart's “Don Giovanni,” Maxey Auditorium |
| Wed. Feb. 21 | Mozart, “Don
Giovanni” - lecture by Prof. Robert Bode in Maxey Auditorium no daily question * brief essay on Voltaire due * |
| Wed. Feb. 21 | 7:00 - film of Mozart's “Don Giovanni,” Maxey Auditorium |
| Fri. Feb. 23 | Mozart, “Don
Giovanni” (cont.) Q: What is the opera's overall attitude toward the character of Don Giovanni? |
| Mon. Feb. 26 | Kant, Grounding,
387-402 and reread “What Is Enlightenment?” Q: For Kant, what does it take for an action to have genuine “moral worth”? Why? Do you agree? * brief essay on Mozart due * |
| Wed. Feb. 28 | Kant, Grounding,
402-428 Q: How exactly is the categorical imperative supposed to apply to each of Kant's examples? How successful do you think that application is? |
| Fri. Mar. 2 | Kant, Grounding,
428-445 Q: What does Kant mean by 'dignity' and 'respect'? How does he apply those concepts? Why? |
| Mon. Mar. 5 | Wordsworth, “My
Heart Leaps Up When I Behold” and “I Wandered Lonely as
a Cloud” Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Bright Star,...” Q: What are the poets' views of nature? * brief essay on Kant due * |
| Wed. Mar. 7 | Keats, “Ode on
a Grecian Urn” and “Ode on Melancholy” Q: What are Keats's views of art and/or time? How do they compare to Wordsworth's? * paper proposal due * |
| Fri.
Mar. 9 meet in Olin 157 |
Wordsworth, “Lines
Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” special assignment instead of daily question |
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< < SPRING BREAK > > > |
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| Mon. Mar. 26 | Marx & Engels,
Communist Manifesto, pp. 8-31 and 43-44 Q: According to Marx and Engels, what's good about capitalism? What's bad about it? |
| Wed. Mar. 28 | Marx, Wage-Labour
and Capital, ch. I-V Q: How is the system of wage-labor really a system of “slavery”? |
| Fri. Mar. 30 | Marx, Wage-Labour
and Capital, ch. VI-IX Q: Overall, what kind of alternative would Marx and Engels advocate? (Consider not just the particular proposals they make at the end of the Manifesto, but more generally what kind of society would avoid their criticisms of capitalism, and reflect a better understanding of morality and human nature.) * paper outline due * |
| Mon. Apr. 2 | Darwin, Origin of
Species, pp. 27-30 and 41-75 special assignment instead of daily question * brief essay on Marx due * |
| Wed. Apr. 4 | Darwin, Origin of
Species, pp. 75-94 and 115-121 Q: How does Darwin think his theory affects our understanding of ourselves and our place in the world? How do you think it affects our understanding of ourselves? |
| Fri. Apr. 6 | Nietzsche, Genealogy,
preface and first essay Q: What is Nietzsche's goal in the Genealogy? What is his method? ** PAPER DUE ** |
| Mon. Apr. 9 | Nietzsche, Genealogy,
first essay (cont.) Q: Carefully analyze I.13: What is Nietzsche saying in this section? How does it fit with the rest of the text so far? * brief essay on Darwin due * |
| Wed. Apr. 11 | Nietzsche, Genealogy,
second essay Q: How does Nietzsche understand the nature of promising? Why is it important? |
| Fri. Apr. 13 | Nietzsche, Genealogy,
third essay, secs. 1, 7-16, 22-25, and 27-28 Q: What is the meaning and significance of Nietzsche's claim that “man would rather will nothingness than not will” (III.28; see also III.1)? |
| Mon.
Apr. 16 meet in Olin 157 |
Ibsen,
Hedda Gabler, acts 1-2 Q: In what ways is Hedda powerful? In what ways is she weak? * brief essay on Nietzsche due * |
| Wed. Apr. 18 | Ibsen,
Hedda Gabler, act 3 Q: Hedda tells Lovborg that she wants his death to be “done beautifully” (p. 288). What does she mean? Why does she want that? |
| Fri. Apr. 20 | Ibsen,
Hedda Gabler, act 4 Q: Is Hedda's suicide a failure or a triumph? |
| Mon. Apr. 23 | Goldman, “The
Traffic in Women” and “Marriage
and Love” Q: How would Goldman interpret Hedda Gabler? How accurate do you think that interpretation is? * brief essay on Ibsen due * |
| Wed. Apr. 25 | Morrison, Beloved,
red cover pp. 1-59 / other covers pp. 1-52 or pp. 1-49 [through "...the
shadows of three people still held hands."] Q: What is “rememory”? How does it function in the novel? |
| Fri. Apr. 27 | Morrison, Beloved,
red cover pp. 60-124 / other covers pp. 53-111 or pp. 50-105 [from
"A fully dressed woman..." to "The hem darkened in
the water."] Q: In the clearing (pp. 102-4 / pp. 92-4 / pp. 87-9), what is Baby Suggs preaching? What problems does the novel present that would prevent a (freed) slave from achieving that? |
| Mon. Apr. 30 | Morrison, Beloved,
red cover pp. 125-195 / other covers pp. 112-174 or pp. 106-165 [through
the end of part I] Q: Carefully analyze any one of the perspectives presented on Sethe's action (including, perhaps, Sethe's own). How does that perspective see her action? Why? How is that perspective reflected in the novel in other ways? |
| Wed. May 2 | Morrison, Beloved,
red cover pp. 197-277 / other covers pp. 175-247 or pp. 167-235 [through
the end of part II] Q: Carefully analyze the chapter that begins, “I am Beloved and she is min. I see her take flowers [...]” (p. 248 / p. 221 / p. 210). What exactly is being described in this chapter? Who exactly is the speaker? |
| Fri. May 4 | Morrison, Beloved,
red cover 279-324 / other covers 249-290 or 237-275 [through the end
of the novel] Q: Consider the last two pages of the novel. What is Morrison saying there? How do you see that message relating to the story that preceded? |
| Mon. May 7 | CONCLUDING THOUGHTS * brief essay on Morrison due * |
| Mon. May 14 | FINAL PROJECT DUE by noon |
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