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DISCUSSION SITE

 

Prof. Bruce Harvey

Modern Southern Fiction  
       

Summer A 2005, Mondays & Wednesdays 6:25-9:05, Biscayne Bay Campus

Biscayne Bay Office and Hours: AC1 346, (305) 919-5254, 5:00-6:15

Home phone: to be given in class
 

harveyb@fiu.edu

General description goes here.

I will give occasional lectures to fill in historical or cultural context, but the bulk of class time will be devoted to discussion.  Besides introducing you to a fascinating area of study, a major goal of this course is to improve your analytical abilities--specifically, your ability to see how texts work rhetorically, aesthetically, and culturally.  Another major goal is to develop your skill and pleasure in communicating ideas, both in class and on paper.

REQUIREMENTS & GRADE PERCENTS

25% =    In-class participation

25% =    Discussion board participation

50% =    Essay final version

TEXTS AT THE BISCAYNE BAY  BOOKSTORE
--William Faulkner: Go Down, Moses

--Robert Penn Warren: All the King's Men

--Ernest Gaines: A Lesson Before Dying
--Alice Walker: The Color Purple

--Lee Smith: Fair and Tender Ladies

--Carson McCullers: Ballad of the Sad Cafe

--William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury
--Walker Percy: The Moviegoer  OR Lewis Nordon: Wolf Whistle
 

COMPLETE FILMS TO BE WATCHED

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ASSIGNMENTS & POLICIES

Class Participation:  I will give mini-lectures to highlight important issues, but most of the class will be discussion oriented.  Your participation will be worth 25% of your final grade. Missing class, especially as a graduate student, is considered very poor form: don't do it.  If you miss more than two days, you will not be able to pass the course.

Discussion Threads:  I will set up the discussion thread web-link (only the class can access it) the first week of class.  You may initiate topics ("threads") or respond to topics I or other students propose.  Now and again, I may post significant quotes from culture theorists or critics to stimulate discussion. You should submit and read postings routinely, but I don't want it to become only busy work for you.  Think of it as a chance to air and exchange ideas about our readings/films informally.  And, just as with a dialogue or class discussion, sometimes you will have a lot to say (a nice meaty paragraph) and sometimes you won't have much to say at all.  Checking and submitting postings once a week should suffice. Please try, once I or a fellow student has initiated a topic, to keep responses subordinate to that topic; otherwise, the mechanism gets unruly to navigate.  Also, try to keep current.  If you respond to a topic that is two weeks' old, it will be buried.  Heated debate is fine; but remember that basic rules of etiquette apply--be polite and avoid vulgarities.  Respectable grammar, spelling, and sentence style are expected.  About midway through the semester, I'll give you feedback about whether your online discussion up to that point equals an "A," "B," and so forth.   And you can always ask me how you are doing.  If the online discussion creates awkwardness for you in any form, please talk to me and we'll work the problem out.  The online discussion equals 25% of your final grade.  Those who contribute hugely to class discussion are less obliged to contribute to the discussion threads; those who are quiet in class should contribute vigorously to the online discussion.

Paper:  I assign an heuristic grade to the draft; the final version equals 50% of the course grade.  Because summer term is so quick, you need to read or watch ahead so you will know if you want to write on a text or film being used later in the semester.  As early as possible, tell me what you are interested in, and I will help guide you to an appropriate text or film. Longer essay guidelines and tips will be given down-the-road.  In brief, though:
 

--The essay should be about fifteen pages long.

--It must incorporate a decent amount of secondary research (historical-cultural, biographical, and/or critical).

--It may be a standard lit.-crit piece of interpretation.  But it can also be ethnographically or pop culture oriented (on Maori tiki designs, for instance; or on Elvis and Hawaii).  Or it could focus on a Polynesian or Polynesian-related film.

--As an option, you may write a website paper: in which case the style can be more journalistic.  See Murnau's"Tabu" or Hollywood Bounty  for examples of web-papers written by former FIU graduate students.

   June 8:          Email me a 1/2 page statement of your essay topic.
   June 17:        Email me a draft of your essay.
   June 24:        Workshops on your essay. 
   June 27:        Email me a final version of your essay.
 

MISCELLANEOUS
 

There is no final exam.

A graduate-level seminar is not simply a more intense 4000-level undergraduate course.  I look upon you as a potential teacher or colleague-in-the-making and thus, although I'm still leading the class, democracy more or less rules.  This means that while typically I will have an agenda, I have no problem with the class veering off into other illuminating avenues.  I also expect more active and regular participation than in an undergraduate class.  Passivity on your part--waiting for me to guide you to important passages and points--is inappropriate.  A high degree of intellectual inquisitiveness and resourcefulness is assumed of all students in a graduate seminar.
 

Introduction
Some southern poetry
Documentary or Birth of a Nation

Faulkner: Go Down Moses

Warren: All the King's Men
 

Film: All the King's Men
Meet at professor's house

 

Gaines: A Lesson Before Dying
 

Don't forget the pleasures of reading/posting at the discussion site!

PAPER GUIDELINES MOVED HERE

Walker: The Color Purple

Film: The Color Purple
Meet at professor's house

Smith: Fair and Tender Ladies
 

 
McCullers: Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Email me a 1/2 page statement of your essay topic.

Faulkner: The Sound and Fury

Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury: 1 and 2

Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury: 3 and 4 and criticism
Email me a draft of your essay.

Percy: Moviegoer or Lewis Nordon Wolf Whistle
Wrap Up

Essay due via email by 12:00 afternoon