English 182A--Lovers in Literature
Spring 1999-- 2:30-3:50 MW in Olin 305
Professor Theresa DiPasquale
Olin 232-- Office Hours: T, Th 8-9 and 10-11; W 1:15-2:15; and by
appointment
Office Phone: 526-4710
Email username: dipasqtm
Course Description:
English 182A will explore poems, plays, and fiction about romantic
love. We will focus on two periods: the English Renaissance and the twentieth
century. Both lovers long since laid to rest and those alive and kissing
ask the perennial questions: Why do fools fall in love? What makes a man
or a woman a lover? What is love? And how can love survive (whether it
is death, or day-to-day life, that threatens it)? On most class days, we
will begin with one or two brief student presentations: each student will
present his or her answer to an assigned question on the reading, after
which there will be a discussion period focusing on that question and related
issues. (Students may read a written text or work from notes when making
their presentations.) Following discussion, I will present a brief lecture,
including helpful background information on historical contexts for the
works we are reading and insights on particular authors, genres, and themes.
Required Texts:
Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Signet Classics. 1998.
Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing. Signet Classics. 1989.
Shakespeare. Othello. Signet Classics. 1986.
Shakespeare. Sonnets. Signet Classics. 1988.
Donne. The Love Poems of John Donne. St. Martin's. 1982.
Hwang. M. Butterfly. Dramatists Play Service. 1988.
Naylor. Mama Day. Random House. 1993.
Additional reading will be distributed on photocopy or placed on
reserve at Penrose; some readings will also be available via links on my
web page (see LINK to MAIN PAGE above).
Course Requirements and Policies:
Completion of Course Requirements-- You must complete all
written assignments and examinations to earn a passing grade in the course.
Attendance-- You may miss no more than 4 classes during the
semester; any additional absences will affect your grade. If you do miss
class for any reason, you are still responsible for the material covered
when you were absent. Don't wait until the next time you see me in class
to pick up any handouts that may have been distributed, as you will fall
behind in the mean time; it is your responsibility to get them from me
or from a classmate. You may contact me by phone or through electronic
mail; my e-mail username is dipasqtm. Many course materials will be available
on my web page.
Plagiarism-- Please see the Student Handbook, pages 37-39,
on Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism. I will abide by the policies stated
in the Handbook.
Writing-- Writing guidelines are available on my web page;
please read these to familiarize yourself with my expectations and requirements
for literary analysis papers. You will hand in a total of 5 essays, each
one 2-3 pages in length. The due-dates are noted on the schedule below.
Assignments will be posted on the web page.
In-Class Presentations-- At some point during the semester,
each student will present for the whole class a brief response to an assigned
question on the reading.
Midterm and Final Exams-- The midterm and final examinations
will both involve short answer objective questions based on the lectures,
identification of passages from the works we read, and brief essays. The
final covers everything we read after the midterm; it is not cumulative.
Please be sure to check the exam schedule before you make your travel plans
for the end of the semester, as the schedule is not flexible.
GRADING:
50 % Average of short paper grades (with the lowest grade dropped)
10% Presentation to the Class
10% Participation in Class Discussions
15% Midterm Exam
15% Final Exam
Schedule
January
W 20 Introduction to the Course; selections from Renaissance love
poetry
M 25 Shakespeare's sonnets
W 27 Shakespeare's Sonnets continued
February
M 1 Shakespeare's Sonnets continued; first 2-3 page paper due
W 3 Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Acts I-II
M 8 Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Acts III-V
W 10 Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing --film by Kenneth
Brannagh (excerpts)
M 15 No Class; Washington's Holiday
W 17 Donne; second 2-3 page paper due
M 22 Donne, continued
W 24 Donne's "Elegy XIX: Going to Bed" and poems by Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill
and D. M. Thomas
March
M 1 Selection from Gustav Flaubert's
Madame Bovary; Stephen
F. Poleskie's "Love and Janus Zyvka" (both in The Book of Love,
ed. Diane Ackerman and Jeanne Mackin, on reserve at Penrose); Woody Allen's
"The Kuglemass Episode" (in Allen's Side Effects, on reserve at
Penrose).
W 3 Midterm Exam
M 8 Alison Lurie's "Something Borrowed, Something Blue" (in The
Book of Love, on reserve); Stanislaw Lem's "The Fourth Sally, Or How.
. ." (in Lem's The Cyberiad, on reserve).
W 10 Love poems by e. e. cummings, W. H. Auden, and Nikki Giovanni;
third 2-3 page paper due
M 15 - W24 No Class Spring Break
M 29 Shakespeare's Othello, Acts I-II
W 31 Shakespeare's Othello, Acts III-V
April
M 5 Shakespeare's Othello, continued; fourth 2-3 page paper
due
W 7 Selections from the libretto of Puccini's opera Madam Butterfly
(on reserve at Penrose); selections from film of the opera
M 12 Hwang's M. Butterfly
W 14 Hwang's M. Butterfly
M 19 Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
W 21 Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
M 26 Gloria Naylor, Mama Day
W 28 Gloria Naylor, Mama Day; fifth 2-3 page paper due
May
M 3 Gloria Naylor, Mama Day
W 5 Gloria Naylor, Mama Day
M 10 Last Day of Class: Review and Evaluations
Tu 18 Final Examination: 9-11 AM