"Only connect! . . .Live in fragments no longer.” E. M. Forster, Howards End (1910), ch. 22

‘One day when I was twenty-three or twenty-four this sentence seemed to form in my head, without my willing it, much as sentences form in my head, without my willing it, much as sentences form when we are half-asleep, ‘Hammer* your thoughts into unity’. For days I could think of nothing else and for years I tested all I did by that sentence [...]” William Butler Yeats (cited in Frank Tuohy, Yeats, 1976, p.51)

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Composition and Reading in World Literature

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E603B 06 SCHEDULE

subject to change

MAKE SURE TO "REFRESH" YOUR SCREEN EACH TIME YOU VISIT THIS PAGE TO GET THE LATEST VERSIONS

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The importance of READING in this course.

Even more important in terms of your future success than reading literature carefully is the ability to read directions carefully and follow them fully and faithfully. Employers regard that as a key asset, and of course see weakness in this area as a serious liability. You can not expect an employer to hold your hand throughout an assignment the way you may have expected your parents or elementary school teachers to do so. Now that you are in college you must make the transition clearly stated in the traditional address to Freshmen at Amherst College. On the other hand, if, after reading the directions carefully, you still have questions, you are encouraged to ask questions in class, email the instructor, or come to see him in his office hours.

DBR= Required Contribution to Discussion Board Due; J= Optional Contribution to Discussion Board; L=Learning Record Due; C = Class Presentation Due; P1A, P1B, P2A, P2B = Project Due; R= Responses to Projects Due; I=In-class writing project; G=Graded Discussion

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Formal Writing due dates

Jan 26: Revised LR Goals

Feb 2 : Revised LR A1 and A2

Feb. 9: P1A posted on DB, responses to others required

Feb. 16: P1A hard copy

Mar. 9 : P1B due.

Mar 28 : LR MIDTERM [80 PTS.] posted on DB, responses to others required

April 13 . LR MIDTERM hard copy

April 27: REVISED LR MIDTERM [30 PTS.] hard copy.

May 9. LR FINAL [150 PTS.] hard copy.

May 12: Portfolio of both semesters due in Par 132 1:30-3:30 or earlier

May 15: Portfolio picked up in Par 132 1:30-3:30 or earlier

REQUIRED DISCUSSION BOARDS

Jan. 24. Class #3. DBR Fowles 9-89

Jan. 30. Class # 5 DBR Fowles 89-182.

Feb. 7. Class #7: DBR Evolution

Feb. 14. Class #9 DBR Fowles 183-262.

Feb. 21. Class #11 DBR Fowles 262-366

Mar. 21. Class # DBR Gawain

Mar. 23 Class # 15. DBR JANE EYRE CH. 1-13

Apr. 18 Class # 19. DBR JANE EYRE CH. 14-27

Apr. 25. Class #21. DBR JANE EYRE CH. 28-38

REQUIRED CLASS PRESENTATIONS

Pre-Raphaelite Art Presentations: FEB. 28 & MAR. 2

REQUIRED CLASS EXCURSIONS

Downtown architecture tour

APRIL 8

EXTRA CREDIT SCAVENGER HUNTS

SHELLS

IMAGES OF THE FEMALE

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Jan. 24. Class #3. DBR. Fowles 9-89. Themes: European time vs. American time. Darwin and the shock of species extinction. Fossils. Right brain Paleolithic past. English vs. American landscape, Edenic feeling. Marx. Their spirit of discovery vs. Our lack of same. Women’s fashions. Hardy. Victorianism. Feminism.

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Jan. 31. MEET AT WALLER CREEK. Class # 5 DBR. Fowles 89-182; chapters 15-27 Fowles’ themes: nature spirituality, etc. ; review Wordsworth

review: Wordsworth, The Prelude, A374-6, 379-81, 383-4, especially 385-7, 513-518; Blake, 521-2; Hopkins A467-468, 503-505

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Feb. 2. Revised LRA1/2 Due. Class # 6. Meet at Texas Memorial Museum J Why Are You Here? What Are You? An Animal? An Angel? Both? Neither? What, Where Are You in Relation to Nature? Clues in the Campus Natural History Museums.

A503-504 “In the Valley of the Elwy”; “Windhover”; “Sea + Skylark”

A153-161 Dass, “The Witness,” ; A178 Think for Yourself; A185 Keats: Shakespeare’s Negative Capability; A186 “The Mystery”; A214 Bump, Dualism and Creativity; A215 Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities;A216-229 Rico, Two Modes of Knowing; A265 Term for sense of place: genius loci ; A527-537 Edith Cobb, “Ecology of Imagination in Childhood”; A640 Definition of “garden”; “Arcadian golden age”; A682A Taniguchi, "The Spirit of the Garden"; A682C-E “NeoConfucian Manifesto”; A899-907 Miller, from The Disappearance of God. ; A913-914 Hopkins, “That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire”; A920-923 God and Freshmen; A844 Hopkins, “As kingfishers”; A846-847 Browning, “Two in the Campagna”

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Feb. 7. Class #7: MEET AT WALLER CREEK WITH [lunch and a] COPY OF YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE REQUIRED DB What is Your Position? Evolution vs. Spiritual Approach to Nature; Are Darwin and Wordsworth incompatible? "Intelligent Design"? Moving toward unity? Myths, Models, and Metaphors: Science, Religion, and Personification

1] Read Tennyson's #123 (from (In Memoriam), which focuses on the firmament of time. This is the poem quoted on the south side of the Hogg building, referring to the time when this part of Texas was at the bottom of the sea. Relate to the quote from Eiseley's Firmament of Time.

[2] Read "Evolution" on the debate between Darwinism and the literal interpretation of the Bible. Basically, the problem was the belief that fossils and multiple strata in the crust of the earth (more than seven) meant that Genesis could not be scientifically true if taken literally. This was not necessarily a problem for a Rabbi or a Jesuit priest, but fundamentalists, then and now, who insist on a literal interpretation of the Bible were and are troubled by this.

[3] In that context read poem #56 (In Memoriam), written by Tennyson when speculated on the meaning of fossils in "scarped cliff and quarried stone." In this poem "type" means "species." As you can see, to him, fossils provide that species could become extinct, and thus according to the Darwinian interpretation, homo sapiens also could become extinct. If this is true, he feared, churches and organized religion based on the Bible could become meaningless and "love thy neighbor as thyself" reverts to the war among dinosaurs and other "dragons of the prime." Eventually he solved the problem in the same series of poems (In Memoriam), but this is a famous statement of the predicament.

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Feb. 9. Class #8. P1A Posted. MEET IN PAR 104. RESPONSES TO AT LEAST NINE OTHER STUDENTS REQUIRED WITHIN THREE DAYS. NATURE AND MODERNISM OPTIONAL JOURNAL

After some classroom work, we will proceed to the sycamore in front of the Humanities Research Center building. There we will spend about half our time drawing and half our time writing in our journals. One of our themes will be the contrast between the tree and the modern architecture of the building. Our primary text will be

review the readings for Oct. 6: J Compare your college experience with that of Hopkins at Oxford:

Further thought: Consider: Is this building (the HRC) “True to Nature”? Is it “True to Nature” in Ruskin’s sense of the words? Can the influence of Ruskin’s essay be detected in this building? Can you find his six features of Gothic in it? What sentences are illustrated by what features? What sentences are contradicted by what features?

Extra Credit Internet Research: apply these questions to one or more of the buildings by Gaudi in Barcelona

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Feb. 14. Class #9 MEET AT WALLER CREEK WITH [lunch and a] COPY OF YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE REQUIRED DB DBR Fowles 183-262; chapters 28-43

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Feb. 16 Class # 10. P1A Hard Copy due. Meet at THE UNDERCLIFF AND BRING YOUR LUNCH .

Review role of nature in Fowles, Jude, Alice; sections on nature in A260-275; A314-317; A373-387; A417-419; A447-448; A471-496; A503-537; A638-697; A913-914; A844-847; B24-B77; B205-232; B322-323.

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Feb. 21. Class #11 GET ON YOUR VICTORIAN DUDS AND PERSONAE AND Meet at THE UNDERCLIFF AND BRING YOUR LUNCH AND A COPY OF YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE REQUIRED DB DBR Fowles 262-366; chapters 44-60. Fowles themes: disappearance of God. Visit to America. Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites.

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Feb. 23. Class #12. MEET IN PAR 104. Are You An Artist? J Antimodernism I: Artists at College.

B328-334 Dante Rossetti’s St. George and the Dragon stained glass designs.

B365-376 Jerome Bump, “Christina Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood”

including “Rossetti’s Courtship,” “ A Momentary Vision” (Millais), “The Sole Remark” (Union Murals), “Ned Jones and Topsy,” “John Ruskin,” “Small Hours” (DGR and Swinburne of Wm Morris), “Gabriel and Christina,” “Rossetti,” “Mr. William Bell Scott” (DGR), “Robert Browning” (+DGR), “Mr. Morely” (DGR and J.S, Mill), “The Touch” (DGR); “Rossetti’s Name” (Wilde)

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Feb. 28 . Class #13. meet at HRC second floor: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS: 15 points. Each student will have about 7 minutes to "present" (explain, tell more about, ....) a website/power point or handouts about a painting or related work of art by one of the Pre-Raphaelites, starting with the Pre-Raphaelite holdings of the HRC and going on to the murals in the Oxford student union. Remember if you are doing a Power Point Presentation to bring it on a CD. If doing handouts bring enough for everyone.

B328-334 Dante Rossetti’s St. George and the Dragon stained glass designs.

B365-376 Jerome Bump, “Christina Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood”

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Mar. 2 . Class #14. MEET IN PAR 104. STUDENT PRESENTATIONS, part 2 -15 if no presentation is made when it is scheduled.

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Mar. 7. Class #15. OPTIONAL JOURNAL J Meet at Littlefield house 24th and Whitis. Are You a Modernist or an Antimodernist? Both? Neither? A Romantic? A Goth?

* Consider: Are these buildings “True to Nature”? Are they “True to Nature” in Ruskin’s sense of the words? Can the influence of Ruskin’s essay be detected in these buildings? Can you find his six features of Gothic in them? What sentences are illustrated by what features? What sentences are contradicted by what features?

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OPTIONAL JOURNAL on any and all answers to the questions, Where Did the Griffins Come From? What do they mean to you?

What is their function? If these griffins embody genii loci, the spirits of their place, can we identify those spirits? If they are defenders of a querencia, can we define the territory they are defending?

How do they help us answer questions such as Who am I? Where did I come from? Can they help us identify our place in the history of the world and of our civilization, especially in the dialectics between Hellenism vs. Hebraism, pastoral vs. urban, Greco-Roman vs. Gothic, modernism vs. antimodernism?

Can they help us define our college experience in terms of sense of place, especially by comparing it to that of others unlike ourselves, comparing U.T. to Oxford, for example, Austin, Texas, USA, to Europe, etc.?

Can they help us define our college experience in time, especially by comparing it to that of others unlike ourselves, such as those of students in the Middle Ages (1200-1500) and the Victorian eras (1837-1901)?

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Mar. 21. Class #17. MEET AT THE UNDERCLIFF WITH [lunch and a] COPY OF YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE REQUIRED DB, especially your answers to the questions below

138 Augustine, Entering Into Joy

139-141 Gawain and the Green Knight misc.

Discussion Questions:

What is the meaning of the phrase "Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense”?

What is its relevance to Gawain and the Green Knight?

What is its relevance to you?

How does the poem relate to our other readings and our explorations of art and architecture this semester and last?

How does it relate to the Undercliff?

Gawain and the Green Knight: The Challenge of the Gothic North

to Arthur's Round Table:

A green man looks down on the Christians at Christ Church cathedral, Oxford

"Green Men" sculptures at Winchester, at York, and at Oxford: Balliol Library, the Bodleian Library, Merton Chapel, and City Hall

"Green Women" on the tomb of St. Frideswide, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Green Giant in the home of the Vikings

The Orders of the Garter and the Thistle

Online Resources

Luminarium Resources

Pace Site
Related Images

the Cathedral of the Gothic North: the York Minster:

Hybrids

A Hybrid

Wyverns

A Wyvern

Information about Chimerie, Grotesques, Gargoyles

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Mar. 23; Class #18. MEET AT PAR 104 Bring a COPY OF YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE REQUIRED DB

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Mar. 28. class #19. Meet in Par 104. LR MIDTERM [100 PTS.] posted on DB, responses to others required. MEET IN PAR 104. RESPONSES TO AT LEAST NINE* OTHER STUDENTS REQUIRED WITHIN THREE DAYS. (*THIS TIME INCLUDING ALL STUDENTS YOU DID NOT REPLY TO FOR PROJECT P1A). REVISED LR INSTRUCTIONS

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As you explore Gothic architecture try to recall symbols of the female on this campus you can compare to those in medieval art and architecture:

Some reading and discussion questions concerning the HRC Bronte family documents: What do they reveal about the relation between collaboration, competition, and creativity? What do they reveal about the relation between childhood creativity and adult creativity? What do they reveal about the Brontes and Romanticism? What do they reveal about the Brontes and Gothic?

Class #23. MEET AT THE EASTWOODS ROOM OF THE STUDENT UNION [WITH DINNER AT 4:45]

B365-376 Jerome Bump, “Christina Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood”

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Apr 6. Class #22. Campus Architecture MEET IN PAR 104 Why are there griffins looking down on the President of U.T.? What goes on on the fourth floor of the Tower?

B432-477 Margaret Berry, Brick by Golden Brick, selections incl. 435- 438 Old Main; 458-463 the Tower

Now & Then tour of The University of Texas at Austin from the 1920s to 1980s.

Pictorial Tour images of classroom buildings, laboratories, museum artifacts, commencement exercises and more.

Scenes from the Top Take a virtual guided tour around the observation deck of the university's Tower.

review sections on Gothic architecture in Woolf: A357, 363, 368, 371-2

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APRIL 8, 4 PM . DOWNTOWN EXURSION: meet at northern entrance of the capitol. 22 points to be earned, -22 points if you do not attend. OPTIONAL JOURNAL

review, connect, hammer into unity: EVERYTHING ON ARCHITECTURE : Crowe on the Pantheon, Pugin on Neoclassic vs. Gothic, and Ruskin on Gothic..............s

A260-264 Place theory + topistics, Nature and the Idea of a Man-made World

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If you have to do this excursion on your own, follow these directions. Make sure to include yourself in a number of the photos in front of the buildings to prove you actually went there rather than just surfed the net.

[1] At the capitol, to identify briefly with ancient Greece, either photograph or identify with EXACT locations, examples of Doric, Ionic, and Cornithian columns (one pt. each).

[2] To identify with ancient Rome, lay down on your back as close to the center of the capitol dome as possible. Look up and describe the effect on you of the dome. (up to seven points.) What Roman buildings are famous for their domes (two pts.)

[3] With the map in front of you of Victorian/Historic Downtown Austin, go from building 1 to building 48. Identify the symbol on this building that connects you to ancient Israel (one point).

[4] Proceed to building 47. To identify with medieval Christianity, looking at the front of the building, explain how it fits Ruskin's second principle of "The Nature of Gothic" (one point). Enter the church and describe the effect on you of the interior (up to seven points).

[5] Check out buildings 46, 7, 8, 9, 10 on the way to building 11. To explore your identity as a Texan, identify the examples of Ruskin's fourth principle on the outside of the building (one pt.) and explain the relevance of the term "Widow Maker" to the interior (one point).

Note that all these buildings were built in this town around the same time and thus demonstrate that to be a Texan is also to be an ancient Greek, a Roman, an Israelite, a medieval Christian, and ..........

April 11 NO CLASS TODAY AS THIS CLASS WAS HELD LAST WEEK IN THE EASTWOODS ROOM

April 13 . Class #24. LR MIDTERM hard copy due. MEET AT ALL SAINTS: 27TH AND WHITIS. REVISED LR INSTRUCTIONS

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Apr. 18 Class # 25.MEET AT THE UNDERCLIFF WITH COPY OF OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE REQUIRED DB DBR JANE EYRE CH. 14-27

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Apr. 20, Class # 26. MEET AT THE LITTLEFIELD FOUNTAIN OPPOSITE UNIV CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Apr. 25. Class #27. MEET IN PAR 104 JANE EYRE AND WORLD RELIGIONS, brought to you by Mita and friends.

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Apr. 27. Class #28. Bring REVISED LR MIDTERM [50 PTS.] and $5, $8.50 if you are 19 or older. Meet at Story of Texas museum at Martin Luther King and Congress. REVISED LR INSTRUCTIONS

In-class writing. Instructions supplied for semiotic analyses of exhibits. Semiotic analysis of "Star of Destiny" production required. It is showing 11:30-11:45 and 12 to 12:15 on the second floor.

Return to your Alma Mater I. I Who Are You? A Texan? What is the relation between nature and civilization in Texas?