ENGH 202: Literature and Film of War Course Syllabus |
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Fall 2018, Section 014 |
Professor: Dr. Richard A. Nanian Office Robinson B403 Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 10:30-12:00, Tuesday and Thursdays 12:30-1:15, and by appointment E-mail: rnanian@gmu.edu Course web-site main page: mason.gmu.edu/~rnanian/202main.html |
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| Introduction | |||||||||||||||||||||
| At first glance, literature and war have little connection. Literature is about creating something; war is the most destructive activity in which human beings engage. Writing usually requires order, quiet, and solitude; war creates chaos and noise, and requires an enemy. However, given that war has been a nearly constant facet of human existence, it would be surprising if writers did not attempt to capture some of the reality of war within their works. People write partly from their own experience — though their imaginations are equally important to the process — and war has been a nearly ineluctable part of human experience since long before literature existed. In addition, more literature derives from pain, anger, and despair than from joy, and war is the source of pain, anger, and despair on an immense scale. Indeed, on the most fundamental level, virtually all literature derives from the awareness of death and the desire to communicate one’s thoughts to others before one is silenced forever, and nothing makes one more aware of death than war does. Writers know that great literature grants its authors a kind of immortality, or at least a more enduring influence on the world: the authors we are reading are dead, but we can still hear their voices and engage with their thoughts. Moreover, literature virtually requires both irony and paradox, and war provides both. As terrible as war is, it also provides the opportunity to demonstrate many qualities that we admire, such as courage, camaraderie, and occasionally chivalry. As deadly as war is, proximity to death makes one feel more alive than one might otherwise. As brutal as war is, it can also be spectacular and awe-inspiring. War is not only a suitable subject for literature, it is a nearly irresistible one. Over the course of the semester, we will explore some of the ways that literature has dealt with the subject of war. Traditionally, we might label these ways with adjectives such as epic, heroic, realistic, naturalistic, dramatic, satirical, absurd, and poetic or lyric, but what is important is how each approach deepens and enriches our understanding of the experience of war. We will also consider how literature about war has changed to reflect changes in war itself. As part of George Mason’s general education program, now known as Mason Core, this course aims to provide you with the critical thinking skills necessary to make the reading of and engagement with great works of literature meaningful and ongoing aspects of your life, and to discuss these works in a spirit of inquiry and respectful debate. Students successfully completing literature courses in the Mason Core program will be able to
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| Texts and Materials | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Iliad
by Homer, translated by Stanley Lombardo (Hackett) You must obtain the specific editions I have chosen. Every translation of Iliad (and many exist) is different. Different editions of Henry V contain quite different versions of the play and different footnotes. Different editions of other books are paginated differently. Also, whenever one person (whether myself or one of you) refers to a passage, we all need to be able to find it instantly. I make every attempt to hold down textbook costs where possible. All of these books are available through Amazon at a substantial savings over standard bookstore prices and with free shipping if you spend more than $25. Click here to go directly to the list for this course. You may also obtain 1989 film version of Henry V (starring Kenneth Branagh) from Netflix, which has it available both on DVD and maybe have it available for instant streaming. You will also have the opportunity to watch other films; I will tell you where to obtain the films as we approach those dates, but you can always find them on reserve in our library. Other works will be available on-line. When I have put a link on a website to a reading, I expect you to print it and read the hard-copy. Studies show that people do not absorb information from a computer screen as well as they do from a physical text. For this course you need to own a good dictionary. I know you are all used to using the dictionaries built into your computer or available on the web; I often use OneLook.com, which accesses several dictionaries at once. However, dictionaries built into computers tend to be relatively feeble, and web-based dictionaries are inconvenient when reading. An actual text dictionary is more useful. Be careful, though, because anybody can call a dictionary “Webster’s”; the name is now in the public domain and means nothing. The best reasonably-priced dictionaries available are the Merriam-Webster Tenth Edition, The American-Heritage Dictionary, and The Concise Oxford English Dictionary. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is even better, though more pricey ($175). My favorite inexpensive dictionary is the Little Oxford English Dictionary, which is hardcover but only about six inches by four inches, quite portable, and about $15 on Amazon. Of course, the complete Oxford English Dictionary is the greatest dictionary in the world, though unwieldy in its two-volume “Compact” edition ($400) and prohibitively expensive ($1300-$8000, depending on the binding) in its full-sized version. You may access the complete OED through the Mason library databases, though again web-based dictionaries are much less convenient than a book. Also, you must own a writer’s handbook. When you make grammatical and stylistic errors, I will point them out and expect you to look them up in a handbook. Some of the better handbooks are Diane Hacker’s Rules for Writers and A Writer’s Reference, Muriel Harris’s Prentice-Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage, and Andrea Lunsford’s The Everyday Writer. Many others are available. I do not care which handbook you own, as long as it is relatively recent. If you do not own any of them, buy one. The primary difference between them is the way they are organized; the material is mostly the same. However, if you are looking to improve your writing, I strongly recommend John Trimble’s Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing, which is short, easy to read, filled with excellent advice, and as the subtitle claims conversational in tone. Some of you may own the classic The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White, which is even shorter and filled with good advice (although some is idiosyncratic or even a little weird), but it does not deal with grammar in any comprehensive way, so you should consider it supplemental to these others. |
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| Course Requirements | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Reading and Viewing Assignments | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Keeping up with the readings and viewings is — along with attendance — your primary obligation to the class. We will be reading fiction, a play, poetry, and occasional supplemental works, and watching films of various genres. You will find that reading fiction generally goes much more quickly than reading textbooks, and the poetry readings are relatively short in terms of page length. Still, I know that overall you will be reading a great deal, and the films will also require an investment of your time. This is a course in reading and exploring great works of literature and film, so that is to be expected. You cannot perform well in this class unless you take these assignments seriously. Skimming, reading only part of the assignment, fast-forwarding through a film, and then attempting to glean what you need solely from the class lectures and discussions is a recipe for disaster. Reading literature is an active process, not a passive one like watching television. You must not only read these texts but engage with them thoughtfully as well. That means reading with a pen in your hand. You should either keep a reading notebook and record the questions and ideas you have while reading, or make marginal notations (or “glosses”) in text itself as you read, or both. Note that when reading literature, underlining and highlighting by themselves are useless. When you look back at them later, you will have no idea why you highlighted or underlined a passage. Instead, short notes — even notes of two or three words — will prove far more useful to you. For films, I suggest you keep a notepad at hand while you watch, and then spend five minutes when the film ends writing down your immediate reaction. A financial note: I know the bookstore pushes the renting of textbooks, and that even with books you buy, you will get back money if you do not write in your books. But think of it this way: you are spending tens of thousands of dollars to attend a university and acquire an education. The best way to make use of books you are studying is to gloss them heavily. Indeed, you cannot get the full benefit from them if you do not do so. Does it make sense to get less than the full value of your education so that you can someday get back enough money for two or three lattés or one mediocre pizza? Maybe the situation is different with a biology textbook that costs $275, but a $12 paperback? And if that does not convince you, consider this: do you think Barnes & Noble, which owns our bookstore, is really trying to do you a favor with those offers? Fact is, the company makes more money on used textbooks than new ones, and even more money on rented textbooks. Write in your books! |
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| Listserv Posts | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I
have assigned you to a listserv group.
Every time you send an e-mail message to the listserv, everyone in the
class receives it, and, in turn, you receive every message that anyone
else sends. When used properly, a listserv is a great way to converse
with your classmates, to test ideas, to ask questions, and generally to
work with the material and each other in productive ways. In this
class you will submit three kinds of posts: Reading Posts in
response to the readings, Synthesis Posts that tie together the
readings, your peers’ posts, and the class discussions, and Movie
Posts about the films we will will watch in the latter portion
of the course. See the Listserv Assignment
for details about what I expect. |
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| Quizzes | |||||||||||||||||||||
I will give occasional quizzes at the beginning of class throughout the semester. They will be brief and based either on the reading due for that day or recent lectures and discussions. Because I do not particularly enjoy giving and grading quizzes, the better the class performs on them, the fewer there will be. However, because quizzes play the same role in the final grade no matter how many I give, if the class as a whole does poorly, I will need to give more quizzes so that students have the chance to bring their average up. Performing well on quizzes should be easy if you have read the texts closely and been attentive in class. If you are absent when a quiz is given, you will receive a zero, which is obviously much worse than a simple failure. I do not announce most quizzes in advance, no extra time is allowed, and they cannot be made up due to absence or lateness. Best advice: be there. |
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| Final Examination | |||||||||||||||||||||
There
will be a final examination; see the Class
Calendar for the day and time. Taking the examination when
it is scheduled is mandatory. Why give examinations at all?
I believe examinations are important in literature courses, not only to
help me evaluate your performance, but to allow you to demonstrate (to
yourself as much as to me) how much you have learned. Typically,
students underestimate how much they have learned until they are tested.
We will discuss in class the form my examinations take. Don’t
panic: the intent is to test your ability to express yourself clearly
on what you may reasonably be expected to recall, not to make you spend
endless hours cramming your head with minutia (see the Sample
Examination Questions). Indeed, if you keep up with the
reading and listserv assignments, attend class, pay attention, and take
notes, you should not need to spend more than a few hours studying for
the exam. If you don’t do these things, I suspect all the cramming
in the world won’t help you much. |
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| Class Participation | |||||||||||||||||||||
Learning requires an active engagement on the part of both
the students and the teacher. You cannot simply sit back and expect
to receive knowledge the way a child receives a tetanus shot. Moreover,
I have no desire to stand up at the front of the class and lecture for
seventy-five minutes every day. At minimum,
you must participate by paying close attention to everything that goes
on in class. Ideally, you should also ask questions and risk exposing
your ideas to your classmates. Testing your ideas, even or especially
when they prove erroneous, is worthwhile, so you do not lose credit in
my eyes if I or someone else corrects you about something. (The
one rare exception is if something you say reveals that you are unprepared
for class, for example if you have not done the necessary reading. ) |
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| Attendance | |||||||||||||||||||||
A healthy percentage of success in life depends simply on showing up where and when you are expected. This is especially true for literature courses, which do not have a textbook in the same way a history or chemistry class does. The works you read in this class more closely resemble what rocks are to a geology class: they are what you are studying, but do not by themselves tell you what you need to know. I guarantee you that you will learn far more by showing up and participating than by reading on your own at this stage of your life, and what you could learn on your own you will only truly know you know by being in class and testing your assumptions and conclusions against mine and those of your peers. If you are the kind of student who has trouble showing up, this is not the course for you. On the other hand, students who never miss a class tend to do well. Although absences are always bad, if you know ahead of time that you will be absent, you should tell me. For example, if a commitment connected with the university — an athletic trip, a forensics competition, or something similar — means you will be away from campus, talk to me and we can arrange to meet outside of class so that you do not fall behind. If you are home with a 102 degree fever, let me know via e-mail so I do not think you have just disappeared. Regardless, you are absolutely responsible for finding out what happened in class (given that you have e-mail addresses for your classmates, this should not be a difficult task) and for submitting any assignments due that day. Missing a class does not grant you an extension. |
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| Evaluation | |||||||||||||||||||||
The assignments in this course add up to a total of one hundred points, divided as follows:
Note that in the second half of the course, you will have the opportunity to write five movie posts. However, only five are required. (You may choose any five films to watch and write about.) Beyond that, you may write additional movie posts for extra credit. Your sixth movie post will replace your worst reading post for the semester. Your seventh, eighth, and ninth movie posts will earn you a half or whole extra credit point each, depending on their quality (though they must be worthy of at least a 3 to earn extra credit). The final examination will offer the opportunity for 5 points of extra credit. Also, strong in-class participation will earn students up to a 5 point bonus on their final grade. While I do not penalize for shyness (showing up on time and paying attention is adequate), poor participation resulting from inattention — including excessive absences or lateness — will result in up to a 5 point deduction. Note this comment from the student handbook: “Students who fail to participate (by virtue of extensive absences) in courses in which participation is a factor in evaluation may have their grades lowered. ” Possible grades in this course include A+ (97.0 points or above), A (93. 0-96. 9), A- (90.0-92. 9), B+ (87.0-89.9), B (83.0-86. 9), B- (80.0-82.9), C+ (77.0-79.9), C (73.0-76. 9), C- (67. 5-72. 9), D (60. 0-67. 4), and F (below 60.0). I grant incompletes only in the case of the direst of circumstances beyond the student’s foresight and control, and only when I have a reasonable expectation that the student can complete the course successfully. By university regulation, you must request an incomplete in writing. I will issue mid-term grade after week seven. The purpose of this grade is to help students find out how well they are doing so they can make any adjustments necessary for success in the course as a whole. I will calculate your grade to this point by the following formula:
Strong in-class participation will earn students up to a 3 point bonus on their mid-term grade. Note that work in the second half of the semester is worth more than half of the final grade, so your mid-term grade will not necessarily predict your final course grade. |
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| Basic Rules of Conduct | |||||||||||||||||||||
A class, like a society, requires that all participants observe a certain code of civilized behavior. The following are the minimum standards I ask you observe (some of these are pretty obvious, but believe it or not every one of them is here as a result of past experience):
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| Honesty | |||||||||||||||||||||
George Mason University’s Honor Code requires all members of this community to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty and integrity. Cheating, plagiarism, lying, and stealing are all expressly prohibited. In fact, the list of offences is redundant: cheating is fraud; plagiarism is theft. These are the two clear felonies of the academic community. Plagiarism means using judgments, opinions, research, or phrasing from another source without giving that source credit. Common knowledge does not fall into this category, but knowledge researched, compiled, or organized by a particular person does. Writers give credit through the use of accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation; a simple listing of books, articles, and websites is not sufficient. Students must take responsibility for understanding and practicing the basic principles of good scholarship. To avoid plagiarism, meet the expectations of a U.S. academic audience, give their readers a chance to investigate the issue further, and make credible arguments, writers must
That said, let me be clear. Any act of academic dishonesty will result in my reporting you to the honor committee and recommending failure of the course (not merely the assignment). In every case in which I have done this, the honor committee has accepted my recommendation, and in several cases has imposed additional penalties. This may sound harsh, but you will find similar guidelines at every college in the country. It does not get any more serious than this. I will use available online plagiarism-finding tools to check your essays as I see fit. The official English Department statement on Academic Dishonesty is as follows: “Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another person without giving the person credit. Writers give credit through accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or endnotes; a simple listing of books and articles is not sufficient. Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in the academic setting.” |
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| Note Regarding Students with Disabilities | |||||||||||||||||||||
Students
with documented disabilities should present me with a contact sheet from
the Disability Resource Center as soon as possible so that together we
may plan appropriate accommodations. If you are a student with a
disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact
the Office of Disability Resources at 703-993-2474. All academic
accommodations must be arranged through that office. |
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| My Responsibilities | |||||||||||||||||||||
In
this syllabus, I spell out clearly what I expect of you. What may
you expect of me? You have the right to expect that I am knowledgeable
about the subject, that I will be prepared for class, that I will return
your assignments to you reasonably promptly, that I will indicate clearly
where you need to apply yourself in order to improve as both a reader
of literature and as a writer, and that I will give you positive feedback
whenever possible. It also means that you can count on my honest
evaluation of your work. If I say something positive, believe it.
If you perform poorly, I will certainly let you know. However,
I will not chase you: if you are struggling, ask to meet with me. More
fundamentally, you can expect that I want you both to succeed and to enjoy
the experience, and will do everything within my power to help. |
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