1 Mon. May 13
B-112, introduction to objectives and organization of the course; D-130, joining the class' Chat room and introduction to data bases and search engines; how to search effectively, visit the Reference area of the LRC to look at history reference books; B-112, to prepare for the first assignment on Henry Adams -- "The Dynamo and the Virgin" -- who compares the past to the present and the future, we will look at website materials on the Virgin and the Middle Ages, and review science from Galileo to Quantum Mechanics.
2 Tues. May 14
The Gilded Age
Henry Adams, 1838-1918, "The Dynamo and the Virgin" (written 1900) p. 902, 9 pp; Henry James, 1843-1916, "The Beast in the Jungle" (1901) p. 341, 20 pp
Response paper due: What are the lessons Adams and James want the reader to think about?
3 Wed. May 15
Women
Kate Chopin, 1850-1904, "The Storm" (1898) p. 464, 1p.
The West, Local Color
Steven Crane, 1871-1900, The Open Boat" (1897, 1898) p. 743, 17 pp; "The Blue Hotel" (1898, 1902), 768, 9 pp.
Response paper due: Compare and contrast Chopin and Crane: in what way does Chopin express the things important to women and Crane the things important to men?
4 Thurs. May 16
World War I
T.S. Eliot, 1888-1965, "The Waste Land" (1921) p. 1380, 12 pp
Response paper due: Explicate one of the verse paragraphs in terms of the overall themes of the poem.
5 Fri. May 17
The Jazz Age and the Depression
Scott Fitzgerald, 1899-1970, "Babylon Revisited" (1931) p. 1496, pp, 15 pp
Experiments in narration, American machismo
Ernest Hemingway, 1899-1961, handout: "Hills Like White Elephants" (1927) , 4 pp; "The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1936, 1938) p. 1687, 17 pp.
Response paper due:
6 Mon. May 20
American theater
Eugene O'Neil, 1888-1953, Long Days Journey into Night (1940) p. 1289, 41 pp.
Response paper due: What are some of the circumstances, past and present, that lead to the mother's deterioration.
7 Tues. May 21
The South:
Eudora Welty, 1909 -- , "Petrified Man" (1941) p. 1785, 9 pp; handout: "Why I live at the P. O."
Flannery O'Connor, "Good Country People" (1955) p. 2020, 14 pp; handout: "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
Response paper due: Discuss some of the "grotesque" characters in these stories: what are the social factors -- and in O'Connor, the religious -- that contribute to their behavior?
8 Wed. May 22
Theater and gender
Tennessee Williams, 1911-1983, Streetcar Named Desire (1947) p. 1797, 63 pp.
Response paper due: Concentrate on either Stanley or Blanche: who are they and what do they represent?
Confessional poetry, women poets and suicide
Sylvia Plath, 1932-1963, poems from Ariel (1963) see web site; Anne Sexton, 1928-1974, (poems 1962-72) p. 2703;
Response paper due: Explicate one of Plath's poems and one of Sexton's: in what way do both poets express the same concerns or feelings?
9 Thurs. May 23
African-American experience
Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915, "The Atlanta Exposition Address," (1901) p. 595, 8 pp.
Ralph Ellison, 1914-1994, "Battle Royal" (1952) p. 1891, 10 pp
Toni Cade Bambara, 1939-1995, "Medley" (1977) p. 2219, 21 pp.; "The Lesson" recording
Music: Jazz
Response paper due: Washington, because of his relative closeness to the Civil War, is what was known as an "accomodationist"; this point of view is evident in his Atlanta Address. In what way does the main character in "Battle Royal" share this point of view? What happens to him that will affect this point of view when he gets to college?
10 Fri. May 24
Minimalism
Raymond Carver, 1938-1988, handout: "Feathers"; "A Small, Good Thing; "Cathedral" (1983) p. 2197
Response paper due: Discuss the relationships between people Carver writes about in his stories.
11 Mon. May 27 Memorial Day, no class
12 Tues. May 28
Final Exam