1. Gustave Dore / S.T. Coleridge. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (New York: Dover, 1970)

Transcription

1 Syllabus for English (G): Epic (TR 9:25-10:40 in G 375) J. Denno jdenno9@naz.edu (w) / (h) Office: G 489 Office Hrs: MW 4-5; TR 8:30-9:20 Course Description: Our course treats a varied sampling of traditional and modern epic texts, even as we interrogate the meaning of the epic genre and of genres themselves. As opposed to a lecture, our class will be a hybrid of lecture and seminar, with students responsible to attend, contribute, and react to the readings and to each other s formal and informal arguments. To this end, you and a partner will need to record your responses to each week s readings in a dialogic journal, and come to class prepared to comment. Because of this seminar approach, your regular attendance and conscientious preparations are crucial. Course Objectives: While the course acquaints you with a broad selection of traditional and modern epic texts, our greater interest will be to read, write, and think critically about the texts through discussion, analysis, and argumentation of issues in the readings. The first end of any Perspectives I (PI) course is to acquaint you with disciplinary scope and methodology; so, in keeping with the discipline of literary studies, our course primarily appropriates methods of literary criticism to interpret these texts within their generic, historic, and cultural contexts. Because ours is a Global Perspectives (G) course, you will engage with primary and secondary readings from several different cultures, and you will pay special attention to perspectives that contrast with and challenge Anglo- American, European, patriarchal, and other traditional interpretations. You will present your own critical analyses of given issues in formal presentation papers, and you will respond critically to classmates writing. Thus, you should come away from the course with 1) sharpened critical thinking and writing skills; 2) a solid introduction to the genre, and, as much as possible; 3) a sense of how these texts have been and may be read to suggest deeper cultural issues implicit in the genre and in its post-modern reception. Required Texts and Materials: 1. Gustave Dore / S.T. Coleridge. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (New York: Dover, 1970) 2. The Epic of Gilgamesh. New York: Viking Penguin, 1960 [Revised Ed.] 3. R. K. Narayan. The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, Denno / English (W)Syllabus / Fall 2004 / Page 1

2 4. Homer. The Odyssey. Robert Fitzgerald, trans. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Derek Walcott. Omeros. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, D. T. Niane. Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (New York: Longman, 1995) 7. Two-Pocket Folder for journal entries 8. *Secondary readings on e-reserve (see asterisked readings, below) *Highly Recommended: Lester Faigley, The Brief Penguin Handbook (NY: Pearson Longman, 2003) Policies: 1) 1) Students are responsible to back up all formal assignments, and to keep all informal writing (prewriting, drafts, etc.) until term s end.\ 2) Only hard copies of assignments will be accepted; no attachments, please. 3) Students are responsible to notify me in case of emergency absence. 4) Students must attend regularly and promptly; any more than two absences will substantially lower your course grade. 5) By the second week of class, you must formally designate one of your classmates as your contact person i.e. the person who will be responsible to supply you with any missed notes, announcements, assignments, or handouts. 6) Students must be scrupulous in ascribing proper credit to sources; see below: Academic Honesty: Because your student handbook and several other readily available sources discuss plagiarism and its consequences, I will assume your understanding of the law, unless you indicate otherwise. Essentially, you must give credit when you use the ideas or even the words of a source. In our course, use MLA style for documentation. If you ever have questions about whether to cite a source, you should err on the side of caution. Also, you should consult me, the Writing Center, and/or the library Reference Desk. Denno / English (W)Syllabus / Fall 2004 / Page 2

3 Evaluation Guidelines: Each student will write two presentation papers of one single-spaced page on given issues in the readings (roughly 35%), a critical response journal (roughly 20%), informal theses, quizzes, and other in class-writing (*roughly 15%), and a final examination (30%). *Refers to adjustment based on apparent conscientious engagement with the course, as evident in prompt attendance, preparation, contributions, conferences, critical questioning, characterizations, etc. Presentation Papers: Each of you will be assigned to a presentation group (A, B, C, or D), meaning only that the members of each group independently prepare formal papers for the same class date. Each of you will present twice during the term, on a rotating schedule. These very short papers (one page, single-spaced) are to be written, presented, and then submitted for a grade, on the dates designated. Each student will write two, each addressing an audience of fellow scholars who are familiar with the readings. The brevity of the assignment dictates a bare-bones argument. In most cases, you will begin by setting forth a sharp critical position on the given issue, along with its larger implications, and follow with selected textual evidence in support of your position, and a brief conclusion. The thesis should be as pointed and controversial as your conviction allows. I will evaluate these papers for the incisiveness of the analysis, the clarity and substance of the evidence, and for your observance of formal criteria for essays. I strongly urge you to avail yourself of The Writing Center (G 332; X-2636) well before the due date. Critical Response Journal: Journal entries are due on the first class meeting of each week, unless you are notified otherwise. Beginning in week #2, must respond critically and thoughtfully to the journal prompt for the week. These entries will not be graded for their formal correctness, but rather for evidence of intellectual engagement with the prompt and with the readings. Entries should be approximately 300 handwritten or typed words in which you engage with the given prompt critically and substantively. Be sure to bring journal responses to class; you will be asked to share them. Toward the end of term, I will assign grades, based on your apparent level of critical engagement and conscientiousness in responding to prompts. Characterizations: While I generally ask for volunteers to characterize specific readings, all of you should make it a point to prepare at least one or two readings. A characterization has three parts: 1) a terse distillation of the reading s thesis, chief concern, or most salient feature; 2) your critical response to that thesis; and 3) your assessment of how that thesis or concern relates to our class study. Denno / English (W)Syllabus / Fall 2004 / Page 3

4 Reading / Writing Schedule 1 T 8/29 Introduction R 8/31 Syllabus; The Epic of Gilgamesh, Intro and 1: The Coming of Enkidu; Gilgamesh, 2: The Forest Journey; Toohey, Epic: The Genre, Its Characteristics *; Aristotle, from The Poetics* 2 T 9/5 R 9/7 Gilgamesh 3 and 4: Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the Death of Enkidu; The Search for Everlasting Life; Mandell, Liminality, Altered States, and the Gilgamesh Epic *; Bakhtin, from Epic and Novel * Gilgamesh 5, 6, & 7: The Story of the Flood, The Return, and The Death of Gilgamesh; 3 T 9/12 Presentation A: Culture and nature in Gilgamesh; Harris, Images of Women in the Gilgamesh Epic * R 9/14 The Odyssey: Introduction and Book 1 4 T 9/19 The Odyssey 2 and 3 R 9/21 The Odyssey: Books 4, 5, 6; Hainsworth, Greek Primary Epic * 5 T 9/26 Presentation B: Identity in The Odyssey; The Odyssey, 7, 8, 9 R 9/28 Odyssey: 12, 13, 14; Schein, Female Representations and Interpreting The Odyssey 6 T 10/3 Presentation C: Cultural degeneracy in The Odyssey; The Odyssey, 18, 19, 20 R 10/5 Semester Reading Day: No Classes 7 T 10/10 The Odyssey, conclude; Zeitlin, Figuring Fidelity in Homer s Odyssey *; Presentation D: The Female in The Odyssey R 10/12 Conferences in journal pairs Denno / English (W)Syllabus / Fall 2004 / Page 4

5 8 T 10/17 The Mahabharata, Introduction & 1, 2, 3 R 10/19 Mahabharata, 4,5, 6; Arbeitel, Traditional Epics * 9 T 10/24 Mahabharata, 7,8, 9; Lukács, Integrated Civilizations * R 10/26 Mahabharata, 10,11, 12; 10 T 10/31 Mahabharata, conclude; Presentation A: Mortality in epic R 11/2 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (All) 11 T 11/7 Presentation B: Irrationality in The Rime R 11/9 Sundiata, Introduction through p T 11/14 Sundiata, conclude; Belcher, Sunjata and the Traditions of the Manden * R 11/16 Presentation C: Epic and nationalism; Omeros, Book 1 ***Thanksgiving Recess November 20-24*** 13 T 11/28 Omeros, Books 2, 3; Zoppi, Omeros, Derek Walcott and the Contemporary Epic Poem * R 11/30 Omeros, Books 4, 5 14 T 12/5 Omeros, Books 6, 7; Presentation D: Epic and homecoming R 12/7 Last Class; journals due Denno / English (W)Syllabus / Fall 2004 / Page 5

6 Journal Prompts Week 1: How should we define epic as a literary genre? What features do all epics share? Is the category useful or needlessly restrictive? Week 2: What constitutes heroism in epic? Can epic heroes transcend the cultures that produce them? Explain and exemplify. Week 3: Analyze the double-ness of Gilgamesh and Enkidu: What is the nature of their bond? Why does a hero-king like Gilgamesh require this complementary twin? Week 4: At what point in a cultural cycle does epic seem to arise? Is epic focused on past, present, or future? With what implications? Week 5: What can we infer about the original audiences of various epics? Does epic demand to be read respectfully? Is there tragedy in epic? Comedy? Explain. Week 6: What s the significance of heroes journeys to the underworld, or their contemplations of mortality? Week 7: What s the relationship between epic and myth? Can an epic be read as a holy book i.e. as scripture? Week 8: Compare the categories of human and divine in The Mahabharata with The Odyssey: What commonalities and contrasts can you discern? What implications? Week 9: How strictly gendered is epic? Do these texts always suppress the female? Are women always other in epic? How important is patrilineage? Week 10: Does the meaning of the term epic remain stable across cultures? How similar are Sumerian, Greek, and south Asian epics? How different? Week 11: How important is the journey motif to epic, and why? Are journeys always allegorical? How should we interpret them? Week 12: What s the importance of the poet or the singer of tales in these texts? Do we need to know anything about Homer? Vyasa? Do these names serve any purpose for readers? Week 13: How does Walcott reinvent epic for his post-colonial culture? Explain. Week 14: Conceive, outline, and draft Book 1, Episode 1, Page 1 of an original, contemporary epic. Denno / English (W)Syllabus / Fall 2004 / Page 6

7 English 141 E-reserves for Fall Peter Toohey, Epic: The Genre and Its Characteristics from Reading Epic: An Introduction to the Ancient Narratives. London and New York: Routledge, s. 2. J. B. Hainsworth What Is An Epic? from The Idea of Epic (Chapter 1) Berkeley: U of CA Press, 1991, J. B. Hainsworth The Form of Epic from The Idea of Epic (Chapter 7) Berkeley: U of CA Press, 1991, Butcher, S. H., ed. and trans., from Aristotle s Theory of Poetry and Fine Art (NY: Dover, 1951), From Mikhail Bakhtin. Epic and Novel. from The Dialogic Imagination. Austin: U of Texas, 1981, Schein, Seth L. Female Representations and Interpreting the Odyssey from Beth Cohen, ed. The Distaff Side: Representing the Female in Homer s Odyssey (Chapter 2). NY: Oxford, 1995, Froma I. Zeitlin. Figuring Fidelity in Homer s Odyssey. from Beth Cohen, ed. The Distaff Side: Representing the Female in Homer s Odyssey (Chapter 7). NY: Oxford UP, 1995, Arbeitel, Alf. Traditional Epics from The Ritual of Battle. Albany: SUNY Albany Press, Hammond, Dorothy and Alta Jablow. Gilgamesh and the Sundance Kid: The Myth of Male Friendship from John Maier, ed. Gilgamesh: A Reader (Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1997) Mandell, Sara. Liminality, Altered States, and the Gilgamesh Epic from John Maier, ed. Gilgamesh: A Reader (Wauconda, Il: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1997) Harris, Rivkah. Images of Women in the Gilgamesh Epic from John Maier, ed. Gilgamesh: A Reader (Wauconda, Il: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1997) Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. The Marginalization of the Godesses from John Maier, ed. Gilgamesh: A Reader (Wauconda, Il: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1997) Zoppi, Isabella Maria. Omeros, Derek Walcott, and the Contemporary Epic Poem Callaloo 22.2 (1999), Denno / English (W)Syllabus / Fall 2004 / Page 7

8 Some Important Terms and Concepts in the Study of Epic*: *Accumulate definitions relevant to epic for the following terms by midterm from your readings, research, and from discussions with classmates. We will doubt add terms as we go. I reserve the option of quizzing you on these terms, from midterm on, with the grade used to informally adjust your journal grade. 1. folk epic / oral epic / primary epic 2. literary epic / secondary epic 3. mythological epic 4. dactyllic hexameter 5. nostalgia 6. eulogy 7. hybris 8. kleos aphthiton 9. formula / formulae / oral formulaic verse 10. parataxis / paratactic 11. intertextuality / allusion 12. exile 13. liminality 14. rite of passage / rite of purification / baptism 15. catalogue 16. invocation 17. muse 18. Calliope 19. preliterate culture 20. underworld journey Denno / English (W)Syllabus / Fall 2004 / Page 8

9 21. bardic tradition 22. in medias res 23. divine council 24. genre criticism 25. mock epic 26. patrilineage 27. eschatology 28. set speeches Denno / English (W)Syllabus / Fall 2004 / Page 9