Fall 2012
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Lester Faigley
Robert Adger Law and Thos. H. Law Professor in Humanities
English | Rhetoric and Writing
email: faigley AT uts.cc.utexas.edu
office: Calhoun 216
office phone: 471-7471
office hours: Tuesdays 11:00-12:15 and 2:00-2:30,
Thursdays 11:00-12:15 or by appointmentDESCRIPTION
The focus of this course will be on the reinvention of travel literature as an active and diverse genre. At a time when tourism has triumphed over travel and when you can surf the Web while drinking a Coke throughout much of the world, the possibilities of travel have been rediscovered by some of the best writers living today.
We will begin the course by examining the urge to travel and what we learn from traveling, starting with Robyn Davidson's solo odyssey across the Australian desert with four camels and a dog. Then we'll read Bill Bryson's account of travel in Australia by car, Redmond O'Hanlon's journey into the jungles of Borneo, Jon Krakauer's account of disaster on Mt. Everest, and Sara Macdonald's wanderings in India.
You will keep a reading journal, which you will share with the class. You'll also write a travel essay, create a travel book map, and write a seminar paper organized around a central issue or question raised in three travel books.
A syllabus and more information about the course are available on Blackboard.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Robyn Davidson. Tracks. Vintage, 1995. ISBN 0-679-76287-6
Bill Bryson. In a Sunburned Country. Broadway, 2000. ISBN 0-7679-0386-2
Redmond O'Hanlon. Into the Heart of Borneo. Vintage, 1987. ISBN 0-394-475540-5
Jon Krakauer. Into Thin Air. Anchor, 1998. ISBN: 0-385-492089
Sarah Macdonald. Holy Cow. Broadway, 2003. ISBN 0-7679-1574-7
Faigley. The Little Penguin Handbook. 3rd ed. Longman, 2012. ISBN: 978-0374522490
GRADING
Please note that there will be penalties for late work. Reading journal entries must be presented on the day scheduled to receive full credit of 3 points each.For projects the late penalty is 4 points for each calendar day. The late penalty applies to both drafts and final versions.
Points possible
Reading journal
Travel book map
Travel essay
Term project
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Point equivalents for final grades
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100-93 = A
92-90 = A-
89-87 = B+
86-83 = B
82-80 = B-
79-77 = C+
76-73 = C
72-70 = C-
69-67 = D+
66-63 = D
62-60 = D-
59-0 = F
35
5
20
40
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100
PARTICIPATION & ATTENDANCE
Participation is ESSENTIAL. You expect me to report for work—and on time. I expect the same of you. Coming in late is disruptive. So be punctual. Six absences results in failure of the course.
HONESTY
All work in this course must be your own creation, including photographs. If you wish to incorporate someone else's ideas or images, you must acknowledge your source. If you have questions about the use of source materials, see me before turning in the assignment. Plagiarism is a serious offense in college and can result in failure for the course and possibly expulsion.