ENGL 395
NARRATIVE DISCOURSE

 

NOTE: This is representative of the syllabi for this course. It is not necessarily the syllabus being used in any one semester.

                                                                                   

 

Course Description and Objectives:  A study of narrative, both verbal and pictorial, as a form of discourse, with emphasis on the nature of narrative and the relationships of narrative to experience, to values, and to other stories.  We will encounter material drawn from a variety of sources — prose narratives, "graphic novels" (comics), and films — to explore assumptions about how and why people make use of narrative, to become familiar with the formal characteristics of narrative, and to gain an appreciation of the pervasiveness of narrative as a form of discourse.  We will try to gain a deeper understanding of what stories are and why they matter to us.  The course aims to help you develop a theoretical grasp of narrative, as well as critical skills needed to analyze the stories that surround and circulate among us.  Further, the course provides, for those interested, an opportunity to gain experience in producing your own narratives.

 

Texts:              Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths

                        Kathryn Cramer, "In Small and Large Pieces" (hypertext read in class)

                        Gaiman, Dringenberg, and Kieth, Sandman: The Doll's House ***

                        Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior

                        James Joyce, Dubliners

                        Scholes, Comley, and Ulmer, Text Book (second edition)

                        Wim Wenders, Until the End of the World (film to be shown in class)

 

All books except Sandman: The Doll's House  are available in the UB bookstore.  Sandman (the graphic novel) is available from Geppi's Comics World at Harborplace.  Tell the salesperson you are enrolled in this class and you will receive a $1.00 discount.

 

Requirements:

 

1.  Attendance and Participation.  Instructor may take attendance at any class meeting.  Having more than two unexcused absences will adversely affect your grade.

 

2.  Two written assignments of 4-6 typed or word-processed pages (1000-1500 words).  Topics will be assigned and discussed in class in advance of due dates.  Assignments submitted late will be penalized.

 

3.  Two exams, a midterm test (one hour, in class) and a final (two and a half hours).

 

Narrative writing option.  In place of either one written assignment or the final examination, you may submit a piece of original fiction or non-fiction narrative, no shorter than 1500 words and no longer than 3000 words.  You must discuss this option with the instructor in advance.

 

Grading:                    Class participation (10%)

                                    Written assignments (2 x 20% = 40%)

                                    Midterm (15%)

                                    Final Examination (35%)

 

Class Schedule and Reading Assignments

("TB" = Text Book)

 

Jan. 26             Introduction to the course; living through the ending

 

Feb. 2              James Joyce, "An Encounter"; "Araby"; "A Little Cloud"

                        TB: Story and Storyteller, pp. 2-25

Feb. 9              Joyce, "Clay"; "Ivy Day in the Committee Room"; "The Dead"

                        TB: Interpreting, pp. 172-185

 

Feb. 16            Jorge Luis Borges, "The Lottery in Babylon"; "The Library of Babel"; "Funes the Memorious"

                        TB: The Linguistic Basis of Metaphor, pp. 46-56  

 

Feb. 23            Borges, "The Garden of Forking Paths"; "The Circular Ruins";

                        "Tl?�qn, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"; "Ragnar?�qk"

                        TB: Metaphor and Dream, pp. 60-63, 76-119   
<paper 1 due>

 

Mar. 2             Maxine Hong Kingston, "No Name Woman"; "White Tigers"

                        TB: Intertextuality, pp. 130-136         

 

Mar. 9             MIDTERM EXAM

 

Mar. 16           Hong Kingston, "Shaman"; "Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe"

                        TB: Transforming Texts, pp. 137-159

 

Mar. 30           Kathryn Cramer, "In Small and Large Pieces" (read in class)

                        TB: Completing Texts, pp. 160-71

 

Apr. 6              Neil Gaiman et al., Sandman: The Doll's House, Introduction and Parts I-III

                        TB: Mystory, pp. 277-87

 

Apr. 13            Gaiman et al., Sandman, Parts IV-VII

                        TB: Mystory, pp. 288-312    <paper 2 due>

 

Apr. 20            Wim Wenders, Until the End of the World (film shown in class)

 

Apr. 27            Wenders, Until the End of the World (discussion)

 

May 4              Conclusion: an end to stories?

 

May 11            FINAL EXAM

 

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