From Prose to Creative Nonfiction
Download handouts on prose and on Hunger of Memory as literary art.
Poetry Study Guide
Download a poetry study guide for summarizing and responding to poetry in your homework and in class.
Notes on Shakespeare and Othello
Download notes from our classroom lecture and discussion on Shakespeare and Othello.
PICTURE SOURCE: Charles & Mary Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare (1901)
Notes on Literary Modernism
Download notes from our classroom lecture and discussion on literary modernism.
Portrait of Dora Maar (1937), Pablo Picasso
"In the twentieth century ... the process of modernization expands to take in virtually the whole world, and the developing world culture of modernism achieves spectacular triumphs in art and thought. On the other hand, as the modern public expands, it shatters into a multitude of fragments, speaking incommensurable private languages ... we find ourselves today in the midst of a modern age that has lost touch with the roots of its own modernity."—Marshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air (1982)
On Wikipedia
Here are just a few more reasons to go beyond the popular reference site and instead do some database research...
...from beloved "fake" TV pundit Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report via YouTube...
Writing Assignments for LIT 110
Students must complete two pieces of summary-and-response writing (total) for the semester, one piece of writing for short fiction and one for drama, per deadlines on the syllabus-schedule.
The syllabus-schedule will help you set deadlines, including the dates we’ll go over each genre.
You may write on any of the works we cover for each genre. Bring the finished, typed-up product to class.
SPECIFICATIONS: 10- or 12-point typeface, 1” margin all around, name/date/class clearly identified, DOUBLE-SPACED.
For each assignment, choose one literary item:
FICTION = one full story
DRAMA = one full section from a play
FOR
WRITING:
Draft and develop a brief (two to three page) paper in response to your chosen literary item. Follow this sequence to organize your ideas:
PARAGRAPH #1 = INTRODUCTION that clearly identifies your item and establishes an interpretive thesis
3 PARAGRAPHS = detailed SUMMARY of the item, with quotes and specifics that advance your thesis
3 to 4 PARAGRAPHS = RESPONSE, playing off of the SUMMARY to prove your interpretive thesis
closing PARAGRAPH = CONCLUSION, with strong and convincing thesis re-statement
(NOTE: A full paragraph consists of at least three sentences — one to introduce the topic, one to develop it, and one to conclude the paragraph.)
Overall, craft your paper to present your own ideas on the meaning and value of the literary item.
EVALUATION: The teacher will grade each assignment on a zero-to-ten point scale, from unacceptable to excellent, based on 5 criteria (two points each):
DEMONSTRATED CLOSE READING (Do you show careful textual review?)
ANALYTIC VALUE (Is your summary complete, coherent, and insightful?)
INTERPRETIVE VALUE (How convincing is your interpretive thesis and response?)
WRITING MECHANICS (sentence structure, paragraph structure, essay structure)
GRAMMAR (correctness of English)
From Homer to Mos Def
Download our handout on "The Genesis of Literature", a broad sketch of various genres and periods, to see how lit developed "From Homer to Mos Def."
Also, just for fun, check out the following writers we discussed briefly this past week:
Walt Whitman
Beau Sia
Terry Eagleton
SYLLABUS: LIT 110-TVY
Welcome to LIT 110 for SPRING 2008!
Download the syllabus for Introduction to Literature.