Week 1

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There are no right or wrong answers to your response. This discussion is an opportunity to reflect on what literature is to you, as well as to consider the many meanings that literature may have for others in the class.

Initial posts must be 200 to 300 words in length and posted by Day 3. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts. In your response, indicate what you have learned from your classmates’ answers and share how their responses have improved your understanding of the importance of editing as you  work through your final drafts this week. Be specific in your responses. Response posts must be 125 to 200 words in length and posted by Day 7.

Initial posts must be 200 to 300 words in length and posted by Day 3. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts. In your response, indicate what you have learned from your classmates’ answers and share how their responses have improved your understanding of the importance of editing as you work through your final drafts this week. Be specific in your responses. Response posts must be 125 to 200 words in length and posted by Day 7.

The paper must be two to four pages in length (excluding the title and reference page), and formatted according to APA style. You must use at least two scholarly resources (at least one of which can be found in the Ashford Online Library) other than the textbook to support your claims and subclaims. Cite your resources in text and on the reference page. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar, in your online course.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment

Initial posts must be 200 to 300 words in length and posted by Day 3. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts. In your response, indicate what you have learned from your classmates’ answers and share how their responses have improved your understanding of the importance of editing as you work through your final drafts this week. Be specific in your responses. Response posts must be 125 to 200 words in length and posted by Day 7.

[0. ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

I. THE BOOKS

Your Textbook: (or, Every decision matters: how much is up to you.)

For example, in a basic geometry book, the author must start with points and lines lest theorems and postulates about triangles have no foundation; and without triangles, there is no trigonometry, etc. A reordering or omission of certain of materials is not an option. Literature is different: do you subdivide by form (i.e. poetry, drama, and prose), approach it chronologically (Gilgamesh, Homer, Sophocles, Dante, Milton…), within a specific tradition (for which we will use the common but outdated terms occidental and oriental), according to–often overlapping–purpose (religious, nationalist, political, purely “aesthetic”)…? You will see that the book’s author mixes them up, dividing the book mostly according to format, but sprinkling in works of other genres as appropriate. And then of course, there is the daunting task of selecting authors and works within those subdivisions. Consider this: in his landmark Lectures on Russian Literature, Vladimir Nabokov writes:

I calculated once that the acknowledged best in the way of Russian fiction and poetry which had been produced since the beginning of the last century runs to about 23,000 pages of ordinary print. It is evident that neither French nor English literature can be so completely handled. (p.1)

Selection matters.

Never judge an author until you have read at least two or more highly dissimilar works from him or her.

It is extremely rare that one work of an author is the most representative, best-known, most-respected, and most useful (as in a classroom setting).

Ashford recommends the Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition by Jane E. Aaron andWhat’s the Rule?®: A Simple Guide to Perfect Punctuation, Great Grammar, and Superb Sentences and Style, Second Edition by Kathy Sole. Both of these books are incorporated into the Ashford Guide for Academic and Career Success.

The Ashford Writing Center also has a number of useful references including the latest APA guidelines and sample papers. Additionally, the university now offers Writing Reviser (accessible under Learning Resources). As I mentioned with your textbook, every decision matters, especially in creating literature. It is understood that at first you may not notice things like verb tense, sentence length, variety of transitions, and other stylistic issues while dealing with “big picture” items such as plot, characterization, and setting. Nevertheless, this tool provides a means to increase your awareness of such matters.

Even though the writing reviser exists primarily to help you with essays, running any piece of writing—including the short stories—through it and playing

with the various highlighting tools will help train you to pay attention to the actual language, not just the message.

Literary Criticism: (Is it all about perspective?)

There are many approaches to reading literature and your book only lists some of the most prominent. Some theories have clear distinctions between them, while others overlap to the point where it seems only the names are different. Those of you who’ve studied religion may be reminded of examining different sects and wondering why a specific schism occurred and how the followers on either side could be so devoted to the differences when they have so much in common. It’s no coincidence that many scholars believe that the rise of literary criticism and of literature itself is a direct result of the decline in the power of the clergy. (Chapter 1 of Terry Eagleton’s Literary Theory: An Introduction,discusses this in depth.)

At this point in your studies, critical theory should inform your reading, but not dominate it. The moment you lose focus of the text, you might as well discuss many angels can dance on the head of a pin (The answer to which is entirely dependent on what the band is playing and how much the angels have had to drink). My suggestion: let the text and your personal interest guide you.

For example, take Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, a novel set during the French Revolution of 1789. When I read it, all I could think was that by changing the names to those ending -ovich, -ovna, -sky etc., many scenes could be transplanted with ease to a novel about the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia–an event that happened after Dickens’s time, and over a hundred years after the novel’s setting. So, from this initial impression, I could approach my criticism from a historicist perspective with a biographical slant (How much of Dickens’ work was colored by the European revolutions of 1848?) a reader-response approach (Has my undergraduate work—I was a Russian Literature major—permanently colored my view?) a Marxist response (What does the novel say about shifting relationships in the underclass during crises?) a Feminist perspective (From Lilith to Eris to Madame Defarge–how are women identified with discord and violence?), etc…

On “Reading Literature: Decline and Fall”: (or, Can we be adults in the culture war era?)

A promise:

I will not use any of the following terms, or variants of them if at all possible. And if I do, it will be intending their denotative definitions alone:

anti-Semitism, Crusades, fascism, feminism, imperialism, misogyny, multi-culturalism, political correctness, racism, and socialism.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten some but I think I’ve made myself clear.

Why? Because their use is almost always the product of inadequate or sloppy thinking. All of them are important concepts we should explore without hindrance when we feel they are applicable, but as soon as that label appears, intelligent conversation tends to vanish. Nevertheless, we’re to going to strive to be better than that.

Remember, art that is not in some way provocative (not necessarily controversial) socially or politically is not art, it is craft. Remember the discussion of selection: everything we read, is selected from a multitude of applicable works, both more and less controversial. Same goes for my suggested readings at the end of every guidance.

Your takeaway point: The most offensive things in academia are sloppy thinking and rage replacing reason.

This week’s authors: Chopin, Thurber, Updike, Chopin, Carver et. al.

Especially at the beginning of class, it’s important that your first read of the material is not colored by my opinions. They will come in the form of questions in the discussion boards and announcements, but it is important that you have the first word.

Finally, two thoughts on literature itself:

1. Note that I’ve not forced a capital L on literature. It is an art form, but not one that should be viewed in a glass case, at a distance. You need to get your hands dirty: peel away sentences, characters. Touch it. Examine bits and pieces. Insult what you read if need be–but always ask yourself why.

2. Just as you have the freedom to examine what we read in a way you never could a painting or a statue—even with advanced X-ray equipment—I want you to think of the author’s freedom. To create the final product, the writer uses cheap supplies compared to those employed by visual artists; and needs not worry about instruments or back up musicians, actors, directors, producers, or a multi-million dollar budgets. Think of the writer’s freedom to revise and perfect. To break the rules of what the audience may expect. To stay true to one’s vision. To have fun. Most importantly: to fail spectacularly and do it all over again. We will discuss this more as the course progresses.

III. RECOMMENDED READING

as well as principles involved with dictionary composition.

(Rule of 2⁺ suggestion)