Senior Seminar – Bodies and Boundaries – Reading the Body/Challenging Culture
English 4384
Professor Alison Umminger
M/W: 5:30-6:50 p.m. – TLC 2237
Office Hours: M/W 10-12 a.m. and 2-3 p.m. or by appointment
Office – TLC 2241
DESCRIPTION
This senior seminar will (I hope) take some of the critical tools you’ve already acquired and tweak them slightly to look at bodies which challenge culturally determined definitions of “normal.” Examinging the movie “Freaks” (which literalizes the idea that a “freak” is never born, but always made), we will look at the sort of bodies that challenge “normalcy” as it is constructed at any given time. We will also look at the texts Geek Love, The Member of the Wedding, Caucasia, and Autobiography of a Face with an eye towards which bodies are most challenging (and/or threatening) to dominant ideologies, and how bodies that occupy liminal spaces challenge easy binaries (black or white, male or female, etc.). Students will (again, I hope) see how some of the race, gender, disability, and other criticism they have encountered can be tweaked to look at a group of texts through a slightly different lens. We will be using Rosemarie Garland Thomson’s collection of essays, Freakery, as a supplemental critical text.
As this is a senior seminar, students will produce a long research paper, 18-20 pages, either using the theories explored in class as they can be applied to the texts chosen for this class, or as they can be applied to outside texts or cultural phenomena. To this end, students will write a number of shorter responses and explorations, working to find a topic worthy of extended exploration. Unlike some of the other classes students might have been encountered, each class will be an open discussion of the materials where students are expected to flex their own critical muscles and create knowledge of and insight into the reading materials. The final product of the class will be an anthology of essays written – however, only essays which have been taken through the entire drafting PROCESS, written at a “C” level, will be eligible for inclusion.
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TEXTS
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Freaks (film)
The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
Caucasia by Danzy Senna
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
Freakery – ed. Rosemarie Garland Thomson
REQUIREMENTS:
Reading Responses – 10%
Students will write two 200-250 word reading responses, due at the start of class on the dates listed on the syllabus. For each reading response, students should select a paragraph of the text (nor more than ½ page) from one of the theoretical readings assigned for the day the response is due. Your response should examine that paragraph using close textual analysis: push on the language of the theory, interrogate its meaning, ask questions about how it works. Responses should not merely summarize/paraphrase your selection. Rather, the assignment is meant to help you enter into a critical conversation with the material. As an informal writing exercise, the assignment expects basic adherence ot the rules of grammar but will not be graded on its style as much as it will on the thought you have put into the response. Responses will be due by 9:00 a.m. on the class dates listed on the syllabus so that I can read over them before we meet. Students should also be prepared to discuss these responses in class. I will not accept late reading responses.
Short Analytical Essays/Presentations: 30%
a) Students will write two short analytical essays (3-5 pages each) applying a specific theory discussed in class to one of our primary texts. Essays must argue a specific thesis and should support that thesis with clearly organized, well-written textual analysis. Essays must be typed, double-spaced with one inch margins in a standard font and should adhere to MLA guidelines.
b) From each essay, students will prepare a ten minute oral presentation that “teaches” the rest of class the application of the theory you make in your paper. Students will sign up on the first day of class for specific dates/text so deadlines for this assignment will vary, depending on what you choose from this schedule. Presentations will be used as a starting point for discussion of primary texts.
Seminar Paper: 50%
By the end of the term, each student will have produced a 18-20 page piece of critical writing on the seminar topic. This paper must offer a thesis-driven analysis of a primary text or texts examined through the lens of the seminar’s critical focus. As a formal writing assignment, the paper must be clearly organized, should support its thesis with specific, well-explained examples and should express itself with stylistic and grammatical clarity. All papers must adhere to MLA documentation style. The writing of this paper will include a prospectus and multiple drafts.
Editorial Work: 10%
While the class is engaged in the editing process, students will participate in rotating groups to evaluate and comment on each others’ work. Your participation in this process is vital to the success of the seminar as it will not only provide feedback for others but also force you to ask questions of yourself and your own writing.
ATTENDANCE:
Students are expected to attend ALL CLASS MEETINGS and arrive prepared to discuss the material at hand. Because of the collaborative nature of the class, you will be able to miss no more than three classes without penalty, regardless of excuse. Each absence beyond those three will result in a deduction of 1/3 or a letter grade from your final grade in the course. Each student will also participate in an exit interview designed to assess your experience of the major. More information about the exit interview is available online in the course template listed in the course description section of this syllabus.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
“Any form of plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the assignment and may lead to a failing grade for the course. There may also be consequences at the university level. Whether the source is a book, a website, a friend, a classmate, or a parent, passing off someone else’s ideas or language as your own constitutes plagiarism. All outside sources must be properly acknowledged and documented. I will be glad to clarify any concerns you have about plagiarism” (from the syllabus of Margaret Mitchell for Engl 2190) – I will not feel one bit sorry about failing you if you plagiarize – plagiarism is stealing (that’s me!).
SCHEDULE:
January—
M 8—Introduction to the course
W 10— Read chapters 1 & 2 in Freakery (by Garland Thomson and Bogdan)
M 15—No class, MLK, Jr. Day
W 17—First Reading response due -- Chapter 4 in Freakery (Grosz)
Geek Love (1-81)
M 22—Freakery (Chapter 12 – Allison Pingree)
Geek Love (81-166)
W 24—Freakery (Chapter 19 – Adams)
Geek Love (167-256)
M 29—Freakery (Chapter 7 – Fretz)
Geek Love (256 – end)
W 31— Movie Screening – FREAKS
February—
M 5— Discussion of Freaks – Second Reading Response Due
Freakery (chapter 18 – Hawkins)
W 7— The Member of the Wedding (First half)
Freakery (chapter 10 – Cook)
M 12—The Member of the Wedding (second half)
Freakery (chapter 14 – Lindfors)
W 14— The Member of the Wedding
M 19— Freakery – Chapter 25
(try to think of comparable cultural phenomena to those discussed in the essay)
W 21— NO CLASS – Work on Papers
M 26— Freakery – Chapter 26
(again, try to think of comparable cultural figures to Jackson)
W 28— Caucasia (1-165)
Freakery (Chapter 16 – Cassuto)
March—
M 5— Caucasia (166-293)
Freakery (Chapter 15 – Vaughan)
W 7— Caucasia (293-end)
Freakery (Chapter 5 – Semonin)
M 12— Autobiography of a Face (1-117)
Freakery (chapter 13 – Merish)
W 14—Autobiography of a Face (117-end)
Freakery (chapter 20 – Peterson)
M 19 & W 21—No classes, Spring Break
M 26— PROSPECTUSES DUE – IN CLASS DISCUSSION
W 28— Autobiography of a Face
Freakery (Chapter 24 – Clark and Myser)
April
M 2—Workshop and Anthology Development
W 4—Workshop and Anthology Development
M 9—Workshop and Anthology Development
W 11—Workshop and Anthology Development.
M 16—Workshop and Anthology Development.
W 18—Workshop and Anthology Development
M 23—Exit Interviews –
W 25—Evaluations – Final Papers Due .