Undergraduate Courses, Summer 2001

Times and locations of class meetings are subject to change. Consult the UF Schedule of Courses for official class times and locations and an explanation of the class period abbreviations.

Upper Division (3000–4000) Courses, Summer Sessions A & B

Note: Only course descriptions are listed below. For a comprehensive summary of course numbers, sections, times and locations, titles, and instructors, see the following web page:

AML 3041

A Century’s Harvest of Novellas

John Seelye

We will over the course of six weeks read and discuss a dozen novellas written in America in the late 19th and (mostly) 20th century, in order to give ourselves a brief but broad overview of major literary and cultural issues during a complex and rapidly changing period in our history. We will also pay some attention to the peculiarities of a genre that is neither short story nor novel but part of each and something of both.

For purposes of thematic consistency we will be focussing on the coincidence that most if not all of the novellas we will be reading are “love stories,” although the nature and direction of love is not always immediately perceivable and may seem at times perverse, that is to say self or other destructive. We start the day after Mother’s Day and end the day before Father’s Day, bookends that will give further coincidental order to our readings.

Week of...

Hour exams, 2 in all, will consist of 5 questions on the books read over the previous 3 weeks, and will ask you to identify quotations as to novella and author and to discuss briefly the importance of the quotation to the plot and theme of each story. Many of these quotations will have been discussed in class, and if you have read the books and attended the lectures and discussions you should have no trouble with the tests. On the other hand...

My regular office hour will be Thursday, 1-2 PM, or by appointment.

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AML 3270

Survey of African-American Literature II

Nick Melczarek

Course description unavailable at this time.

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ENC 3312

Advanced Argumentative Writing

Pat Schmidt

Required texts: Goering’s Books

One purpose of this course is to help you develop skills that enable you to frame arguments of real weight. A second is to help you develop confidence in deciding the strength of arguments made by others. In both instances, one must be able to demonstrate clearly the reasons for beliefs and display cogency in making logical inferences.

What we are “about” is more than that, however. In the words of Wayne C. Booth and Marshall W. Gregory – the authors of one of the assigned texts – we are “moral agents attempting to do something in or to the world.” Thus, it is hoped that in addition to refining student’s skills, this course will nourish the quality of thought that underlies good writing, both through readings selected from the course and through class discussions. This second, loftier goal is the point of a story related by Robert Maynard Hutchins, former president of the University of Chicago. Though Hutchins uses the example of an Indian house servant, the character could have been virtually anyone who had been trained exclusively to operate by rote, which Hutchins equates with a technical education.

My father came home from India about thirty years ago with the story of a British woman who was plagued to death by the questions of her Indian servant. Finally, she said to him: Why don’t you use your common sense?’ He replied: ‘Lady, common sense is the gift of God; I have only a technical education.’

Like the process of learning, argumentation is much more than a mere skill. The Greeks regarded dialectic (a sophisticated form of argument) as a method of seeking and arriving at the truth. In Plato’s writings, dialectic was concerned with the supreme Form, that of the Good, and he placed it at the core of the education of the philosopher-rulers. Dialectic always had the same subject matter, the unchanging essence of each thing. Aristotle saw it as invaluable in discovering one’s own premises in discussions with others and for examining the unprovable first principles of the sciences. Though in the twentieth century dialectic has ceded center stage to less sophisticated forms of argument, rhetorical choices still shape the majority of our social interactions, while assumptions determine our choice of ideas, and indeed even the nature of our individual versions of TRUTH.

Requirements:

Students enrolled in this class will be expected to write four out-of-class papers, each of which comprises 20% of the final grade. Class exercises, homework and quizzes (10%) and class participation (10%) will comprise the remaining 20%. Paper 1: 5 pp.; paper 2: 3pp; paper 3: 8-10pp; paper 4: 8-10pp. Papers must be double-spaced with title pages. A bibliography and end/footnotes are required where appropriate. For late papers, the grade drops one letter grade for each late day.

Cheating of any sort will result in a flunking grade for the assignment and possibly the course. The student Honor Code should guide behavior. To alert readers and give proper credit to writers whose ideas and/or words have been utilized, “you must cite all quotations, summaries, and paraphrases as well as any facts or ideas that are not common knowledge.” [Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989), 169.

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ENC 4956

Overseas Studies in English

Undergraduate Coordinator

Prerequisite: This course must be approved by the Undergraduate Coordinator before the student travels overseas. It may be repeated with a change of topic up to a maximum of 15 credit hours.

This study, which may count towards the English major, involves course work taken as part of an APPROVED study abroad program.

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ENG 4970

Honors Thesis Project

Faculty members (2) of Choice

Students must have have completed at least one semester of ENG 4936, Honors Seminar. Open to English Honors students.

The student must select two faculty members: one to direct the reading, research, and writing of a thesis on a topic of the student’s and director’s chosing, and another as the second reader. An abstract (100 to 200 words) and one copy of the thesis (30 to 50 pages) must be delivered to the CLAS Academic Advising Center on Fletcher Road at least 10 days before graduation.

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ENL 3122

English Novel: Nineteenth Century

Kristen Chancey

This course will examine the profound shifts in the institution of marriage, both in ideology and practice, which took place in Great Britain during the 19th century, and how those shifts were reflected in the popular literature of the period. Variously considered as a vital instrument of social stability and progress, a much-threatened, cherished ideal, and an outdated, degraded weapon of bourgeois tyranny, marriage was an increasingly fraught area of debate throughout the period. New ideas about gender roles and political equality seriously influenced these heated arguments, and as the quandary grew in both the social and legal arenas, it took more and more of a central place in the fictional. For this reason, few 19th-century novels are without a marriage plot of some sort, but this course will focus on six in which marriage, and its ancillary concerns about gender and social class, takes center stage as the primary crisis of the novel:

How did changes in gender roles change the way that marriage was delineated in the popular imagination? How did the advancement of the middle class and its values transform the definition of a “good” marriage, both in fiction and reality? Why does the traditional “happy” marriage ending become increasingly complicated and in some ways frustrated as the period progresses? These are just a few of the many cogent questions that this course hopes to answer by examining these works, in an effort to achieve a fuller understanding of one of the most important social and ideological controversies of the 19th century.

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ENL 3241

Romantic Period

Jim Twitchell

This is an undergraduate survey of English romantic writers. It is roughly divided into nine parts: an introduction to romanticism, and then eight sections on individual writers. There is, relative to other English courses, little outside reading, as the main concern of the course is a careful reading of selected representative works. This is deceptive, for students might assume that the course will therefore be easy. There will be weekly quizzes (embarrassingly objective for an English course) and two short papers (not necessarily research papers). The quizzes give me a chance to get answers to questions I think are important; the papers give you a chance to form answers to questions you think are important. The class is informal and relaxed, but the quizzes and papers are not. The quizzes stress material covered in class and so it might be suggested that you take good and careful notes.

Texts:

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LIN 3680

Modern English Structure

Roger Thompson

Visit the following site to view the syllabus: LIN3680 syllabus.

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LIT 3031

Studies in Poetry

Patricia Craddock

Visit Dr. Craddock’s homepage to view this course description: Dr. Craddock’s Homepage.

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LIT 3043

Studies in Modern Drama

Sid Homan

In this course we study the modern theatre by “doing it” : each students picks a scene partner and together they rehearse and perform scenes from the plays in question. The assumption of the course is that the theatre involves not just a literary text, but also a play’s sub-text, its movement (gesture, blocking), its physical, spatial, and temporal relationship with the audience. While the course, therefore, involves acting and directing, students are judged not by the finesse of their work but by their intention, and so, historically, mechanical Engineering majors, for example, have done just as well as Theatre majors, who in turn have no advantage over English majors. Students will also be involved in the production of Sam Shepard’s Curse of the Starving Class, which Professor Homan will be staging at the Acrosstown Repertory Theatre in March/April. Along with that play, we will do Shepard’s True West, Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Pinter’s The Lover and Old Times.

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LIT 4322

The Folktale

Robert Thomson

For the purposes of this course, the term folktale will be held to encompass all forms of orally transmitted prose narratives including myths, legends, memorates and wonder-tales. No knowledge of the folktale nor of the general field of folklore studies is assumed by the instructor. The first week or so of the course will attempt to orient all students to the place of the folktale in folklore studies. The four required texts have been chosen to give a representative collection of all types of prose narrative. While covering the major aspects of the familiar European tradition the texts will also bring to our attention the ethnic traditions of the U.S., particularly though not exclusively those of Georgia and Florida. In addition, we will address those issues that have for half a century kept theorists and analysts struggling with the complexities of these “simple forms.”

Texts:

In addition to the study of tales within the texts above, we will address the following topics:

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AML 4170

Studies in American Literary Form: Utopian Fiction

Raina Joines

This forms course investigates American literary utopias. The genre, which took its name with the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia in 1516, and which has been influenced by travel writing, science fiction, and descriptions of the ideal commonwealth in political philosophy, has, over the course of its history, included both eutopias and dystopias. Whether it is exploring a country off the edge of the map, an alternate history for what was once called the “known world,” or a possible human future on this or other planets, the literary utopia uses dislocations in space and time to estrange us from and comment on the present and what we expect from it.

The course begins with essays that define the concept of utopia and outline how these definitions may be mobilized in the study of utopian works. From there, the readings will be a historical survey, and we will examine links between major American works in the genre from various critical perspectives. We will also read essays on utopian fiction that explore the characteristics of the literary utopia, the relationships between utopian fiction and “mainstream” literature and science fiction, and how utopian works serve as socially symbolic acts.

As we read and discuss the primary texts, we will observe how they attempt to disrupt the social expectations of their readers and imagine the willed transformation of history and everyday life. Other course themes include: radical critiques of American life and culture, the metropolis and the Just City, citizenship and exile, narratives of scientific innovation, and possible and impossible futures. Texts include (but are not limited to) the following:

Requirements for the course will include short response papers, a class presentation, a final essay of 7-10 pages, and a high level of class participation.

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ENC 3250

Professional Communication

Wayne Losano

Since this is an upper-division course, students will be expected to show some grasp of the basics of grammar, mechanics, style and the proper formatting of papers, although all of these will be reviewed. Students will be expected to produce a variety of papers – two longer ones (a proposal and a formal report) and several short ones memos, letters, etc.) and give an oral presentation/conference paper. Ideally, some writing required in other courses can be used for the longer papers of this course.

Close analysis of sample technical articles from recent journals will be part of the course.

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ENC 3312

Advanced Argumentative Writing

Sid Dobrin

This course emphasizes the production, analysis, and synthesis of argumentative texts. We will examine the long history of argumentation theory ranging from classical rhetorical understandings of argumentation and persuasion to contemporary theories of argumentative writing. In addition, we will examine and analyze a variety of argumentative texts in order to become more familiar with the rhetorical applications of argumentative strategies. This course will require a good deal of reading, but because of its overall focus on the production of written texts, it will primarily require large amounts of writing.

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ENG 3115

Introduction to Film: Criticism and Theory

Brian Doan

Section: 5056
Class Times: MWTR
Screening Times: MW 6-7, TUR 2322 Office: ROL 501
Phone: 352/392-0664
E-mail: bdoan@english.ufl.edu

This course offers a detailed study of major film theories and their relationship to critical practice. The first part of the class will explore the so-called “classic” period of film theory, tracing out how film was analyzed during the first half of its existence; topics will include cinema’s relationship to other art forms (particularly writing and photography), cinema’s relationship to popular culture and modernism, and cinema’s relationship to both science and aesthetics, all of which center on questions of film’s ontology – how do various critics and theorists define this new medium, and what role(s) do they assign it? The second part of the class will explore how film theory is reconstituted after the events of May 1968, as questions of form and aesthetics intersect more explicitly with ideological and cultural concerns, including semiotics, psychoanalysis, feminism, and Marxist critique. The final third of the class will look explicitly at the relationship of theory and practice by examining the work of the French New Wave, whose films and writings are deeply interrelated.

We will read lengthy, often difficult theoretical texts and view important films from the history of cinema. Especially within the shortened space of a summer semester, this class demands that students keep up with readings and assignments and be willing to engage with the materials and class discussions in an active and intense manner.

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ENG 4060

History of the English Language

Kevin McCarthy

Instructor’s Office: 4360 Turlington Hall
Phone, with voice mail: 392-6650, ext. 281
E mail: kmccarth@english.ufl.edu
Office hours: MW 4th period or by appointment. Please do not call me at home.

Text:

The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson – available in the Campus Bookstore.

Objective of course: to study the origins and development of the English language, from Indo-European times to the present.

Requirements:

The tests, which are not cumulative, will cover class lectures, discussions, and assigned readings from the textbook.

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ENG 4905

Independent Study

Faculty Member of Choice

An Independent Study course may be taken for 1 to 3 credit hours and will count as credit toward the English major. This course may be repeated with a change of topic up to a maximum of 9 credits.

This course is for advanced students who desire to supplement the regular courses by independent reading or research under the guidance of a member of the faculty. The student must find a faculty member who is willing to supervise the semester-long study, and together, the two create a project. The student must meet with the professor at designated times, agreed upon in advance, and complete all assignments in a timely manner.

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ENG 4940

Internship

Undergraduate Coordinator

Students must have completed at least 12 hours of 3000- to 4000-level English courses.

For students who want to gain experience in an English-related field. Students must find a business that will provide adequate supervision by a delegated authority in an appropriate work area. An initial description of the position from the intern, an outline on of the intern’s duties on the letterhead of the business, a final summary from the intern discussing the merits of the position, and a final evaluation from the business offering the intership. S/U option only. May be taken for 1 to 3 credit hours, depending on the number of hours worked during the week. See undergraduate academic advising in the English department for the guidelines.

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ENL 3231

Age of Johnson

Brian McCrea

ENL3231 Age of Johnson Section 4426
Summer B 2001
Little Hall 223
Monday-Friday 3rd period 11:00 a. m.-12:15 p. m.

Course Description:

Johnson’s life spanned the years 1709–1784. We will focus on his criticism and on the works of his later contemporaries – Thomas Gray, William Collins, Christopher Smart, Frances Burney. We will place Johnson over against these writers to develop a sense of how he both fit into and rebelled against his age. As background for our study of Johnson, we will begin with selections from John Dryden and Alexander Pope, then study the relationship between Johnson’s most famous poems and the heroic couplets of his great precursors.

Students will write a final examination and will have the option of writing a long paper (10–12 pp.) on a topic of their choice or two shorter papers (5-6 pp.) on topics I suggest. Every class will open with students writing informally for 5 to 10 minutes on that day’s reading. Class sessions will encourage discussion.

Johnson’s was a remarkable and well-documented life. Excerpts from Boswell’s biography will offer both a context for the works we are reading and a chance to meet Johnson.

Books:

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ENL 4311

Chaucer

Al Shoaf

Aims of the Course:

The course seeks to familiarize students with the major poetry of Chaucer in its historical context (primarily, though not exclusively, Troilus and Criseyde and The Canterbury Tales) and to introduce them to the principal methodological issues at stake in the modern study of Chaucer – especially the question of sources, the problem of “translation,” the nature of allusion, the representation of the body, and the status of metaphoric discourse in late medieval poetry.

Attention will also be paid to Middle English as a language, and some effort will be devoted to “performing” Chaucer aloud. (Tapes of Chaucer’s poetry read by professional Chaucerians can be ordered from a non-profit organization; details will be offered in class.)

Texts:

Requirements:

Spot quizzes (unannounced except for the notice on the syllabus); one modernization quiz (30 minutes); two in-class exams (2 hours each); one paper, 5 pages in length; no final exam; mandatory attendance – the first three (3) absences will be excused, but each absence after three, unless excused for extraordinary reasons, reduces your final mark by 10%.

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ENL 4333

Shakespeare: Feminist/Gender-Oriented Approaches

Jack Perlette

This course will focus on the dramatic works of Shakespeare, from which we will read as large a selection as time allows. We will also be reading a large amount of critical commentary on the plays and the contexts in which they were written. Shakespeare criticism is massive and incredibly varied.

From the vast array of possibilities, I have chosen to attempt to impose some coherence by selecting recent criticism written from what might be called a feminist/gender perspective. In my opinion, some of the most interesting and innovative work on Shakespeare is being done in this mode. Our objective, then, will be not only to read Shakespeare, but also to investigate the particular contribution made by feminist/gender criticism to our understanding of Shakespeare, his texts, and his times.

Texts:

Reading List: Tentative reading list of the plays, in the order of reading:

Prerequisites:

Technically, none, though you should bear in mind that this is an upper-division course in which you may be competing with people who have had some experience in thinking about and analyzing literary texts. I do not expect you to know anything about Shakespeare, the early modern period, or literary critical theory, but I will expect you to know how to write a focused, organized, well-developed essay with a minimum of mechanical (i.e., spelling, grammar, punctuation) errors.

Requirements:

The most basic requirement is that you do ALL the reading with enough care and attention that you can remember key elements of both the primary and secondary texts. You will need to have a strong command of this material in order to do well on the MID-TERM AND FINAL (IN-CLASS) ESSAY EXAMS. In them you will be given passages from the primary texts and asked to identify text and context and to explain the significance and implications of the statements, including the applicability of concepts from the secondary readings. This will require intensive initial readings of the texts, and some re-reading and review as well. You will also need to know and understand the particular approach we will be taking to these texts. Therefore, it will be important that you be actively engaged in the classroom sessions.

Your understanding of the critical approach we employ will be fundamentally important to the BRIEF (7-9 TYPED PP.) essay you will write during the term. This essay will require that you apply (on your own) critical concepts from the secondary readings and class discussion to a primary text which we will not be discussing in class. (You will need to be able to write decently, as was mentioned above.)

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LIT 4333

Adolescent Literature

James Haskins

The course will examine literature appropriate for adolescent and young-adult audiences, with special emphasis on the sociological and psychological interpretations of the various genres. Genres to be explored will include nonfiction, historical and modern fiction, and literature for the young-adult audience dealing with contemporary themes of interest, as well as the problem novel.

Issues such as censorship, religious themes, intercultural and interracial dating, abortion, and substance abuse will be discussed. Group discussions will be emphasized, and class assignments on a volunteer basis will be made.

Text: Literature for Today’s Young Adults

  Supplementary Readings:

Requirements:

Grading:

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LIT 4535

Women and Popular Culture: Vamp to Vampire

Stephanie A. Smith

Although we all know what a woman is, and where the domain of popular culture lies, this course will begin with the assumption that we don’t. Across the semester, then, we will be involved in a critical investigation of two central questions: What is popular culture? and How is a “woman” constituted by and within popular culture?

In order to explore these questions, we will examine a range of “texts” that have served, and continue to serve, as central, defining objects of widespread fascination, both in the United States, and as exports to other countries across the globe

There will be four units to the class, each devoted to a sexual, iconographic figure: the vamp, the bombshell, the femme fatale and the dominatrix. Readings, for each unit will be taken from the following texts:

Requirements:

Additional information is available at: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ssmith/pop99.html

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