Calendar
Readings are due – meaning they should be completed – on the dates indicated. You should come to class prepared to discuss them.
The most accurate and up-to-date version of this calendar can be found on our course site. Use the online calendar to check on reading assignments, rather than this print version, since the print version of this syllabus will not be updated throughout the semester.
I reserve the right to change the course calendar as needed if it will benefit the class; adequate advance notice will always be given of any changes.
BB indicates that reading can be found on our Blackboard site on the “Readings” page.
Week 1
Wednesday, January 18
- Introductions
Week 2
Monday, January 23
- Giorgio Agamben, “What is the Contemporary?”, from What Is An Apparatus? and Other Essays (2009) (BB)
Wednesday, January 25
- Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (2010), beginning-(module α), beginning-pg. 91
Week 3
Monday, January 30
- Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (2010), (module β)-(module γ), pg 95-187
- Find a specific pattern in the text and bring 2-3 examples of this pattern to class. Be ready to discuss the pattern you found. See the Short Close Reading Paper assignment for more details.
Wednesday, February 1
- Last day to drop a course without a W
- Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (2010), (module δ)-(module ε), pg 191-234
- Find a specific pattern in the text and bring 2-3 examples of this pattern to class. Be ready to discuss the pattern you found. See the Short Close Reading Paper assignment for more details.
Friday, February 3
- Short close reading paper due by 10 pm to Blackboard
Week 4
Monday, February 6
- Fredric Jameson, “Postmodernism and Consumer Society” (1983/1984) (BB)
Wednesday, February 8
- David Foster Wallace, “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction” (1993) (BB)
- This essay is not easily excerptible, and you really need to read the whole thing to fully understand the argument. However, I would recommend you focus your attention on the following pages, which I expect our discussion in class will center on:
- 159-174, 181-185, 192-3
- This essay is not easily excerptible, and you really need to read the whole thing to fully understand the argument. However, I would recommend you focus your attention on the following pages, which I expect our discussion in class will center on:
- Youtube: “David Foster Wallace – The Problem with Irony,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2doZROwdte4
Week 5
Monday, February 13
- Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven (2014), Parts 1-3, pg 3-115
Wednesday, February 15
- Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven (2014), Parts 4-6, pg 119-228
Week 6
Monday, February 20
- Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven (2014), Parts 7-9, pg 231-333
Wednesday, February 22
- Jesse Thorn, “A Manifesto for the New Sincerity,” http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2006/02/manifesto-for-new-sincerity.html
- Adam Kelly, “David Foster Wallace and the New Sincerity in American Fiction,” from Consider David Foster Wallace: Critical Essays (2010) (BB)
Week 7
Monday, February 27
- Cathy Park Hong, Engine Empire (2012), Ballad of Our Jim – Shangdu, My Artful Boomtown!, pg 19-61
Wednesday, March 1
- Cathy Park Hong, Engine Empire (2012), The World Cloud, pg 65-93
Friday, March 3
- Longer close reading paper due by 10 pm to Blackboard
Week 8
Monday, March 6
- Madhu Dubey, “Post-postmodern Realism?” (2011) (BB)
Wednesday, March 8
- Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad (2016), Ajarry-Ridgeway, pg 1-82
Week 9
March 11 – 19: NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
Week 10
Monday, March 20
- Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad (2016), South Carolina-Tennessee, pg 83-235
Wednesday, March 22
- Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad (2016), Indiana-The North, pg 237-306
- Reviews of The Underground Railroad (see “Additional Reviews” page for more if writing a review):
- Kathryn Schulz, “The Perilous Lure of the Underground Railroad,” The New Yorker, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/22/the-perilous-lure-of-the-underground-railroad
- Matt Sandler, “A Clanking Ride to an Uncertain Freedom,” Los Angeles Review of Books, https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-clanking-ride-to-an-uncertain-freedom/
Friday, March 24
- If writing about The Underground Railroad, review due by 10 pm to course site
Week 11
Monday, March 27
- Metamodernist // Manifesto, http://www.metamodernism.org/
- Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker, “Notes on Metamodernism” (2010), http://www.aestheticsandculture.net/index.php/jac/article/view/5677/6306
Wednesday, March 29
- Last day to drop a course (with a W)
- Ben Lerner, 10:04 (2014), One-Two, pg 3-81
Week 12
Monday, April 3
- Ben Lerner, 10:04 (2014), Three, pg 85-159
Wednesday, April 5
- Ben Lerner, 10:04 (2014), Four-Five, pg 163-241
- Reviews of 10:04 (see “Additional Reviews” page for more if writing a review):
- Josh Baskin, “Always Already Alienated,” The Nation, https://www.thenation.com/article/always-already-alienated/
- Maggie Nelson, “Slipping the Surly Bonds of Earth: On Ben Lerner’s Latest,” Los Angeles Review of Books, https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/95063/
Friday, April 7
- If writing about 10:04, review due by 10 pm to course site
Week 13
Monday, April 10
- Elizabeth Bishop, “Invitation to Miss Marianne Moore” (BB)
- José Esteban Muñoz, “Conclusion: ‘Take Ecstasy with Me,’” from Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity (2009) (BB)
Wednesday, April 12
- Rachel Kushner, The Flamethrowers (2013), 1-6, pg 1-104
Week 14
Monday, April 17
- Rachel Kushner, The Flamethrowers (2013), 7-12, pg 105-212
Wednesday, April 19
- Rachel Kushner, The Flamethrowers (2013), 13-15, pg 213-293
Week 15
Monday, April 24
- Rachel Kushner, The Flamethrowers (2013), 16-end (including “A Portfolio Curated by Rachel Kushner”), pg 294-end
- Reviews of The Flamethrowers (see “Additional Reviews” page for more if writing a review):
- Frederick Seidel, “This Book Has Heat,” The New York Review of Books (BB)
- Nicholas Miriello, “What Is This Review Interested In?: On Frederick Seidel’s Review of Rachel Kushner’s ‘The Flamethrowers,’” Los Angeles Review of Books, https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/what-is-this-review-interested-in-on-frederick-seidels-review-of-rachel-kushners-the-flamethrowers/
Wednesday, April 26
- Wrap-up/course evals
- If writing about The Flamethrowers, review due by 10 pm to course site
Monday, May 8
- Final exam due by 4:30 pm to Blackboard
Mark your calendars!
The English Department will host the Spring Undergrad Social on Friday, February 3. This is your chance to meet other English Department faculty and majors while enjoying some FREE food and refreshments. I look forward to seeing you there!