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Course Information
(course number, course title, term, any specific section title)
LIT 3312.501
Studies in Prose Narrative
T: 7:00-9:45
Jo. 4.102
Course Description
This course will examine literary explorations of masculinity. We will analyze how
masculinity is depicted in a number of short stories and novels. Among the issues to be
discussed are: the nature of masculinity; the relation of the masculine to the feminine; the
relation of the masculine to homosexuality; the relation of masculinity to aggression,
exploration, conquest, memory, art, freedom, friendship, love, cruelty, and transcendence.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS/EVALUATION
CRITERIA:
Midterm
Final
5-7 page paper that can be
rewritten once.
Students will learn to analyze a select number of novels and short stories in order to isolate the various
ways that masculinity is inscribed in the texts. The students will demonstrate their understanding of
these inscriptions of masculinity by taking two exams and by writing, and rewriting, a term paper. The
exams and papers will further enable the students to demonstrate their ability to express complex
critical ideas in a clear and persuasive manner.
Jan. 9 Introduction
Jan. 16 Conrad
Jan. 23 Hemingway: “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”
“The Three-Day Blow”
“Hills Like White Elephants”
Jan. 30 Hemingway: “In Another Country”
“Big Two-Hearted River”
”Indian Camp”
Course Syllabus Page 6
Feb. 6 Hemingway: “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”
“The Killers”
“A Way You’ll Never Be”
Feb. 13 Hemingway, The Garden of Eden
Feb. 20 Kazantzakis
Feb. 27 Midterm
March 6 Spring Break
March 13 Baldwin
March 20 O’Brien
March 27 Hijuelos
April 3 Fountain: Near-Extinct Birds of the Central Cordillera”
“Reve Haitien”
“The Good Ones are Already Taken”
April 10 Fountain: “Asian Tiger”
“Bouki and the Cocaine”
“The Lion’s Mouth”
April 17 Fountain: “Brief Encounters with Che Guevara”
“Fantasy for Eleven Fingers”
Final Exam: April 24
Grading Policy
(including percentages for assignments, grade scale, etc.)
Midterm Exam: 20%
Final Exanm: 30%
Paper: 50%
Class participation (including attending office hours, emails, etc.) can improve your grade significantly.
Course & Instructor Policies
(make-up exams, extra credit, late work, special assignments, class attendance, classroom citizenship, etc.)
Except for extraordinary circumstances (illness, accidents, etc: these must be documented
with
doctors notes, police reports, etc.), exams cannot be made up.
The paper can be rewritten once. The rewrite cannot receive a worse grade than the original,
but
there is not guarantee that it will receive a better one either. The grade for the paper part of
the
grade will be that of the final paper (a paper that has not been rewritten, or a rewritten paper).