Conceptions of Self
The
Texts | The Course | The
Reading | The Writing | The
Dialogue |
Class Involvement | Class
Business | Evaluation |
Expectations and Grades
"Reading is exploration, extension, and reflection of one's innermost self." --Robertson
Davies
"The unexamined life is not
worth living." --Socrates
"Become who you are." --Friedrich
Nietzsche
The Texts
- The Book of Job,
trans. Stephen Mitchell
- Antigone, Sophocles
- Apology,
Plato
- Siddhartha, Hermann
Hesse
- Black Boy, Richard
Wright
- The Awakening, Kate
Chopin
- The Soul's Code,
James Hillman (Books available at the University Bookstore.)
- Packet of Readings (Available
at Copy Center--Johnson Center, first floor)
The Course
What is
the self? How do different cultures and different times answer that
question?
What does Davies
mean when he says that reading relates to "one's innermost self"? If
it is true that the unexamined life is not worth living, what does
it mean to examine a life? And how, as Nietzsche says, do you "become
who you are"? These and plenty more questions will engage our concerned
attention in this class. We examine biblical, Greek, Oriental, and
modern conceptions of self in an attempt to come to terms with the
mystery of selfhood, soul, and being itself. We will read the work
of a variety of authors (i.e., ancient, classical, Asian, European,
American; female, male, living, dead)--each very different, yet each
grappling with crucial, perennial questions of culture and identity.
The Reading
We will look closely at the
texts we read, so make sure to bring the appropriate text to class.
You should read each assigned piece attentively before we begin to
discuss it in class. It's best to read twice. You should work closely
and deliberately with the text, particularly with those sections that
seem difficult or puzzling or mysterious. You should read with a pen
or pencil in hand, marking the text in a way that will help you when
you go back to it (particularly when you go back to it as a writer).
(The bookstore, by the way, buys back used books no matter how well
used they are.) If you can't bring yourself to write in your book,
you should begin to develop a system using note cards or post-it notes.
Be prepared, during our class
discussions, to point to passages or sections of the piece that struck
you as particularly significant or memorable. Which passages, sentences,
images, or words struck you or had resonance for you? Where (if anywhere)
did you get bogged down or lost as your were reading? Is there anything
you need clarified or would like to discuss? Do you have any questions
about the text?
There is
one "simple" prescription
for active reading. It is: Ask questions while you read--questions
that you yourself must try to answer in the course of reading. It is
very important that you read attentively and critically in this class.
To help you read more critically, keep a pen or pencil in your hand
or nearby; if you come across something that seems significant or puzzling
or something that you'd like to bring up in class discussion, put a
mark in the margin or circle the page number so that you can find it
later.
Sometimes I will ask you to
write out your thoughts and especially your questions about the selection
under consideration. You'll need to refer to specific parts of it.
If you don't have marks on the piece, or some system you invent to
keep track of your thoughts while reading, you'll have no way of getting
back into the book. There will be a book in your hand with plenty of
pages, but no record of what you found to be worth a second look. I'll
want you to do this for all the assigned reading this term.
The Writing
The writing in each Honors
course contributes to the fulfillment of the six-hour composition requirement
for all GMU students. We will write a lot in this class. In addition
to the three revised pieces, we will write several shorter pieces about
the readings and discussions.
The recommended format
for out of class writing:
Leave at
least a 1 inch margin all around, number pages (top, right-hand corner,
except
for page one),
and double space; a Times New Roman 12-point font is fine. Also, I
expect that you will, at the very minimum spell check/grammar check
all papers. Failure to follow this extremely easy procedure will result
in a ½ letter grade reduction of your paper.
Much of the writing will be
informal, and some will be done in class. In these informal, sometimes
personal, writings you will respond to questions or issues about the
work being considered. Often I will ask you to write personal, journal-like
responses.
I will also ask you to write
two critical-analytical papers and one autobiographical or personal
narrative (papers will be described in some detail). The writing will
require you to reconsider, evaluate and investigate your ideas and
perspectives about particular works or to reflect on your own sense
of identity. What I ask you for??in your work??is a good effort, a
thoughtful effort, an honest effort.
Plagiarism: using the
words or ideas of anyone (writers, friend, parent, lover) other than
yourself, and pretending those words are your own??constitutes serious
academic dishonesty and will not be tolerated. The idea behind this
course, after all, is to get you to come to understand yourself and
personal writing better through language, interaction and communication.
To do well in this class, you will need to be a consistent writer.
I encourage you to find out what truly engages you in the work under
study and to make your authentic interests the focus of your writing.
The Dialogue
One important way to examine
ourselves and others is through dialogue. Conversation--another word
for dialogue--is the center of this course, and it may take a variety
of forms. The texts we read enact a conversation with each other and
with the American culture in which they were written. After (and during)
our reading, we will have a conversation about what you find most interesting
and insistent in the texts. I will also ask you to write out your thoughts,
feelings, and questions about the works.
The opportunity
to share ideas through writing and discussing is perhaps the greatest
good of the college experience. I would like you to see your writing
as a kind of conversation with me and with the other class participants;
your writing is a way to continue the dialogue of the class. Your ideas
as you express them in your essays and in your informal writing will
sometimes be the focus of class discussion.
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Class Involvement and Its
Relation To Evaluation
I am required to evaluate
your work, and so I want to challenge you to do your best work. You
are taking a class not just writing papers. To take the class is to
become involved. Consistent and rigorous involvement in class discussions
is expected, vital, necessary. An infrequent cut is your business,
but more than a few absences is a problem and prevents you from becoming
an organic, functioning part of the class. What you say in class, ways
that you help energize the class with your presence and your participation,
seem to me to be as important a factor in arriving at a final grade
as the work you do on paper.
Because class involvement
is crucial to this class, I will not give incomplete grades: to get
full credit for the course, you have to come to class.
Class Business: Attendance,
Coming Late to Class, and Late Papers
Missing class is not advisable,
unless you are really sick. If you miss a class for any reason, you
are responsible for the material discussed in class, the class assignment
and for the prompt submission of any requirement due that period.
Late entrance to the classroom
disrupts. Please don't come late to class.
Deadlines are a fact of life,
something like death and taxes. Late papers are a problem, and you
want to avoid turning in late work. Each day the paper is late, it
will be reduced one letter grade. (Computer malfunctions, car problems,
heavy traffic, roommate/girlfriend/boyfriend/family problems don't
count as excuses.)
Papers must be given to me
in class on the day they are due. A paper placed in my faculty mailbox
is considered one day late and will be reduced one letter grade for
each day late.
Failure to attend class on
a day a paper is due or on a peer review day results in the reduction
of one letter grade. If you know your paper will be late, contact me
before the due date so we can discuss problems you are having.
Writing, Response, Evaluation
The secret of writing is revision.
To help you to revise your writing I will often respond to your drafts
with suggestions for revision. I expect you to take an active role
in identifying for and with me what areas are your strengths, and where
you need to stretch yourself and to improve. Remember: it is your work
that is being evaluated, not your potential or your past performance
in other classes.
I will spend a lot of time
writing comments on your papers or talking with you in conferences,
and I will expect you to take time to read what I have written. The
best way to read my comments is to start at the beginning of your essay,
reread what you have written, and stop to read my comments along the
way.
My marginal comments show
my reactions/suggestions at a given moment as I read your work. The
final comment is where I will make a summary statement about your essay.
I will expect you to consistently and successfully proofread all papers,
including first drafts. I know my handwriting can be a problem. I will
not be embarrassed if you ask me to decipher what I have written. I
will, however, be heartbroken if you simply skip over what is hard
to read.
I will adhere to the following
percentages in determining your final grade:
- Essay #1: 20%
- Essay #2:
20%
- Essay #3: 20%
- Final Examination:
15% (the final consists of identification and interpretation of excerpts
taken from class texts)
- In-Class Performance:
25% -- everything counts -- broken up as follows: Group work
(including group presentation): 5% In-class informal writing: 10%
Contribution
to and involvement in class discussions (only positive,constructive
involvement counts):
10% (Since this is not a lecture course but a "performance course," the "In-Class
Performance" category involves the significant day to day activities
of the course. Consistent involvement is essential to your doing well
in this course.) If at any time you do not know what is asked of you
please let me know.
I encourage you to approach
me anytime you have questions about assignments, about my comments
on your work, about the movement of the course, about anything.
Expectations and Grades:
Following is a list of all
the things I see as fundamental, basic, necessary for you to do well
in this course.
These are some of the things
I see as leading to learning. If you do all of them you are likely
to do well in the course.
- come to class
- come to
class on time
- turn in all work on time
- good, constructive effort
in class discussions and collaborative activities
- substantively revise all major
papers
- good copy editing on all
final revisions (no more than a few spelling, grammar, usage, or typographical
errors)
- substantial, thoughtful
effort on each writing assignment
- read
every reading assignment carefully, marking passages and reflecting
on the salient features
of each piece
- read, re-read, write,
re-write, think, re-think.
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