PEN - Syllabus Fall 2015

   

 

 

English 412/590 Personal Experience Narrative Fall 2015 M 4:30-7:10pm Instructor: Prof. Benjamin Gatling Office: Robinson Hall A 441 Phone: 703/993-1178 Email: [email protected] Telling stories is central to human communication; we narrate our existence, shaping our world through the stories we tell. The focus of this course is on these stories, the stories we tell in conversations, to our friends, and about ourselves. Hannah Arendt argued that storytelling is a strategy for transforming private into public meanings. Indeed, storytelling mediates our relationships with worlds that extend beyond us and enables us to negotiate a balance between the self and these worlds of otherness. Over the course of the semester, we’ll think about the social functions of personal narrative. In particular, we’ll explore how personal narratives provide their tellers with coherence and work as resources for navigating the ambiguities and messiness of experience. We’ll also study how narratives operate as presentations of self and work to create and maintain personal and group identity. Finally, we’ll discuss the politics of storytelling; we’ll think about how storytelling

 

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functions as a vital strategy for sustaining a sense of agency in the face of disempowering circumstances. READINGS You are required to purchase three texts: 1. Sandra K. Dolby. Literary Folkloristics and the Personal Narrative, Bloomington, IN: Trickster Press, 2008. 2. Michael Jackson, The Politics of Storytelling: Variations on a Theme by Hannah Arendt, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2013. 3. Elaine J. Lawless, Women Escaping Violence: Empowerment through Narrative, Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2001. All other readings will be posted to myMason/Blackboard. ASSIGNM ENTS English 412 (undergraduate) 1. Reading Questions (RQs) 30%: Each week, you’ll be required to answer discussion questions about the week’s assigned readings. Questions will require you to highlight the main themes of the readings and reflect on their broader implications to the focus of the course. Post your RQs on the course myMason/Blackboard discussion board by the beginning of class. I’ll drop your lowest grade of the semester. 2. Wikipedia Article 20%: Students will draft an article suitable for publication on Wikipedia (~750 words) regarding some topic related to personal narrative. I’ll circulate a list of potential topics and detailed assignment instructions later in the semester. 3. Take-Home Midterm Exam 20% 4. In-class Final Exam 30% English 590 (graduate): 1. Reading Responses (RRs) 30%: Each week, you’ll craft a ~500 word reading response. Your response should bring out the main themes of the readings and highlight what you see as their broader implications, e.g. theoretical, methodological, etc., to the course. I’d especially like for you to connect the readings, where appropriate, to your own research and theoretical interests, evaluating their arguments in light of your work and suggesting how they might be useful to your ongoing projects. Lastly, pose some questions you’d like to see the class to address in our weekly

 

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discussion. Post your RR on the course myMason/Blackboard discussion board by the beginning of class. Drop your lowest grade. 2. Literature Review and Presentation 25%: You will have one opportunity during the course of the semester to present additional research on the week’s topic in our end-ofclass graduate seminar. You’ll conduct additional research, compiling a bibliography of sources related to your given week’s topic, and then write a five-page review of the literature you’ve found. You’ll have fifteen minutes to present your findings in our endof-class graduate seminar. 3. Narrative Analysis 45%: Using theoretical perspectives found in course readings and from outside research, you’ll write a narrative analysis (~15 pages) connected in some way to your larger research project/interests. You must meet with me by 11/9 to decide on a topic. If you do not meet with me and get my approval, I will not accept your final paper. You should come to our meeting with an abstract for your paper that conforms to AFS abstract writing guidelines: http://www.afsnet.org/?AMAFSstyle. Special Note for MFA Students: In lieu of a narrative analysis, MFA students may with my permission complete an alternative creative project. MFA students should submit at least ten pages (no maximum) of new creative writing (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, etc.). MFA students should also write a reflection and analysis (at least five pages) on the role of personal narratives within the writing and their writing process. In the reflection, students should comment on the insights they’ve gained from our course readings, discussions, etc. related to PEN. Students should refer directly to course readings in their reflection/analysis. GRADING SCALE 95-100 A 90-94 A87-89 B+ 83-86 B

80-82 B77-79 C+ 73-76 C 70-72 C -

67-69 D+ 63-66 D 60-62 D