updated 9/13/09
Composition and Reading in World Literature
E 603A 34190; TTh 11-12:30 PAR 104; Instructor: Jerome Bump; COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION; FAMILIARITY WITH KEYBOARD RECOMMENDED
Description:
This version of E603 is for students who have already read many of the older masterworks of Western civilization and are ready to move on to masterpieces of world literature aligned with four of the six experiences required in the new core curriculum: writing, global cultures, American cultural diversity, and ethics and leadership.
First of all, our focus will be on ethics and feelings, primarily compassion, especially as it relates to Pre-Med and related concentrations.
Secondly, we will use active, experiential learning as much as possible. For example, we will discuss the shocking documentary Earthlings (portions are on YouTube) which compares awareness of factory farming to awareness of slavery and Nazi concentration camps. We will analyze this comparison of speciesism and racism, made also by philosophers and the Nobel-Prize-winning, South African writer, J. M. Coetzee, and consider their challenge to become more mindful of ethical decisions made daily about food, clothing, entertainment, etc.
Thirdly, We will use place-based education whenever we can, taking excursions during class and outside of class to develop a sense of this state, this town, and especially this university, as your place, your Alma Mater (nurturing mother). We will schedule a few of our excursions on weekends.
Finally, to prepare you for your college and later careers we will cultivate digital, information, and print literacy and practice college-level writing, speaking, listening, discussing, and analyzing ideas. Grades will be based in part on meeting the two expectations employers have of college graduates: time management, and the ability to read, analyze, and follow directions.
Reading. Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People will teach us about ethics, leadership, and time management. The analogies between speciesism and racism in Spiegel's The Dreaded Comparison will frame our discussion of American cultural diversity and masterpieces by Native-, African-, Asian-, and Hispanic Americans, including KingstonŐs Woman Warrior and The Bluest Eye (by the Nobel Prize Winner, Toni Morrison). CarrollŐs Alice books will prompt discussions of leadership, discovery learning, the college experience, diversity, and the representation of animals, a topic explored also in our discussions of Dobie's Longhorns and Mustangs, and Coetzee's novel. CoetzeeŐs novel, set in Africa and Australia, gives us a sense of global cultures, as does our journey to India via Hesse's German masterpiece Siddhartha. In response to the tragedy of 9/11 we will trace the history of compassion for all creatures in world religions, especially Indian mythology, religion, and ethics. Selections from DickŐs Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep asks us what does it mean to be human, to be humane, to feel compassion for all creatures. Reading comprehension will be tested by Discussion Board informal writing and by quizzes.
Writing.
All students are required to take two writing courses in their careers and each of those courses must assign sixteen pages of formal writing. Each semester of 603 you will write two four-page essays which are then revised, in response to suggestions for improvement, to make up the total. You will get help from me, your classmates, and the Undergraduate Writing Center to improve your writing.
Inspired by the Discovery Learning program of the College of Natural Sciences and the Leadershape program of the College of Engineering, your formal writing will be autobiographical essays about your passion, your leadership vision, your ethics, and your identity. For these assignments, students should be prepared to think for themselves. Discovery learning means that there will be fewer instructions for topics than what students may be used to from other courses. This can be frustrating for some, especially those who want a detailed formula that will guarantee them a good grade.
Informal writing will be blogs about the readings in preparation for class discussion. Your goals will be to discover your self and your beliefs and to learn how to articulate them in writing and class discussion. At the end of each semester you will be required to post an electronic portfolio of all your work.
Both formal and informal writing will require digital literacy (multimedia and web skills) as well as print literacy. Students should be familiar with keyboarding, operating systems, word processing, electronic mail, web-browsing, downloading and uploading files, Facebook, and Power Point. In addition,you will need to know (or learn how to), create simple, personal websites, blogs, and electronic portfolios, all with images. You will use U.T.Ős Blackboard system for keeping track of your grades.
Grades. About 50% of the final grade will be determined by multimedia web projects (15% for each first draft—150 points each, 10% for each revision—100 points each), 14% by an electronic portfolio (140 points); 36% by informal writing (360 points); and at least 10% by class discussion (100 points). 1000 points (out of 1,200 or more) are required for an A-; 900 for a B-; 800 for a C-; 700 for a D-. Because more than 1200 points will be available, students can emphasize formal over informal writing or vice versa, class discussion more than the portfolio, etc. However, at the end of the course, students will receive exactly the grade recorded in the online gradebook, even if it is one point short of the next higher grade.
Print Literacy. Required books for the first semester consist of the course anthology*; the Annotated Alice (Norton, 0-393-04847-0) -- BUY ONLY THIS EDITION); Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Simon and Schuster 2004 0-7432-6951-9); Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Ballantine Del Rey (Random House) 0-345-40447-5); J. M. Coetzee's Elizabeth Costello (Penguin 2003 01420.0481); Marjorie Spiegel's The Dreaded Comparison (Mirror Books/IDEA 13:978-0-962449), the 2009-2010 Daily Planner (University Co-op), and Lester FaigleyŐs The Little Penguin Handbook (Pearson Longman any edition). In the second semester students will need Herman Hesse's Siddhartha (Simon and Schuster 10: 1-4165-6148-X); Ram Dass's How Can I Help? (Knopf 9780394729473); Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye (NAL 9780452273054); and Maxine H. Kingston's Woman Warrior (RH 9780679721888).
*FOR THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT, students will need the course anthology, which is a collection of xeroxed materials from Jenn's, 2000 Guadalupe (basement of the Church of Scientology at 22nd and Guadalupe, 473-8669). It will cost about $50. JennŐs takes major credit cards, of course. If you donŐt get there within the first few days you might want to call ahead to make sure they have a copy reserved for you.
Digital Literacy. Because the "Five Characteristics of a Successful Student at U.T." include "Good computer skills" as well as "Strong writing skills," students will be expected to check their email frequently (maintaining the correct email address in the U.T. Direct system) along with the course Discussion Boards and Online Gradebook , especially the day before class. We will have a closed group on Facebook "to help students develop a small community within the larger whole" (Carnegie's Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for AmericaŐs Research Universities). TO CREATE THE WEBSITES REQUIRED FOR THIS CLASS STUDENTS ARE ADVISED TO ACQUIRE IN ADVANCE (AND LEARN HOW TO USE) A WEBSITE CREATION PROGRAM SUCH AS IWEB, PUBLISHER, or DREAMWEAVER.Students who need more training in digital literacy are encouraged to take the tutorials for the program they choose and practice. For a few additional tutorials see http://www.utexas.edu/learn/
The University of Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471- 6259, 471-6441 TTY.
About the Professor: Jerome Bump has been awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, a N. D. E. A. Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, the Jeanne Holloway Award for undergraduate teaching, the Dad's Association Centennial Teaching Fellowship for instructing freshmen, the Rhodes Centennial Teaching Fellowship for directing the Computer Writing and Research Laboratory (devoted primarily to lower division instruction), and chosen as a Mortar Board Preferred Professor. He was an editor of Texas Studies in Language and Literature and has written Gerard Manley Hopkins and over fifty articles. For more information about him, his teaching philosophy, or his courses see http://www.la.utexas.edu/users/bump/ and facebook.com/jbump