The following is a schedule of readings for each unit of the semester (this is subject to change based on our class progress). The readings listed under a particular day are the readings that will be discussed in our meeting that day; therefore, you should complete the readings prior to our meeting. For every day of new reading, there will be a Reading Accountability Quiz (RAQs) due at the start of class that covers the material for that day's reading.
Information on the course books that you need to purchase is available on the FAQ page. If a book needs to be acquired (purchased, rented, borrowed, or stolen) by you, it will be marked [Acquire]. If the reading is in the Norton Anthology of World Literature Volume F, it will be marked [Norton]. If it is available either as a link or PDF on the Canvas page, it will be marked [Canvas].
For readings in the Norton Anthology of World Literature Volume F, please always make sure to read the introductory material for an author or a text.
Note that at the bottom of this page, you can download a Google Calendar with major deadlines for this course.
Monday, August 21st
Read the syllabus
Familiarize yourself with the Canvas page
Complete the Entry Survey
Wednesday, August 23rd
Read the Close Reading Prompt and sign up for a due date
Read the Writing and Reading Tips on Canvas
Friday, August 15th
Read William Carlos Williams, "This is Just to Say" (1934) [Canvas]
Monday, August 28th
Read W. B. Yeats, "The Second Coming" (1920) [Norton 552], Rainer Maria Rilke "Archaic Torso of Apollo" (1908) [Norton 563] and "The Panther" (1903) [Norton 564], T. S. Eliot "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915) [Norton 568-571]
Wednesday, August 30th
Read selections from Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttons (1914) [Canvas]: "A Carafe, That Is a Blind Glass" (7), "A Paper" (21), "A Drawing," "Water Raining," "Cold Climate," "Malachite," "An Umbrella," "A Petticoat" (22), "Milk," "Eggs" (47), "Apple" (48), "Chicken" (54). Read another poem from any page of your choosing and come prepared to talk about it.
Read Gertrude Stein, "If I Told Him: A Completed Portrait of Picasso" (1923) [Canvas]
Friday, September 1st
Bring in a completed process worksheet (steps 1-4) for any poem of your choice from Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons.
Monday, September 4th: NO CLASS (LABOR DAY)
Wednesday, September 6th
Read first section of Jean Toomer's Cane (1923) [Canvas 1-67]
Friday, September 8th
We'll be talking about how to write great discussion questions in class on Wednesday. By Thursday night at midnight, please submit one great discussion question about Toomer's Cane to Canvas (counts towards Engagement grade). We'll be discussing some of the questions in class on Friday.
Monday, September 11th
Read pages 1–48 (until "as Peter Walsh shut the door") of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1925) [Acquire]
Wednesday, September 13th
Read pages 48–102 (until "that she did not like that man") of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1925) [Acquire]
Friday, September 15th
Read pages 102–139 (until "Calmly and competently, Elizabeth Dalloway mounted the Westminster omnibus") of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1925) [Acquire]
Monday, September 18th
Finish (pages 139–194) Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1925) [Acquire]
Wednesday, September 20th
Jorgé Luis Borges, "The Garden of Forking Paths" (1941) [Norton 455–462]
Friday, September 22nd
You will be asked to prepare something (TBD) in writing for class.
Monday, September 25th
Read Langston Hughes, "I, Too" (1926) [Canvas] and Virginia Woolf, Chapter 3 of A Room of One's Own (1929) [Norton 383–393)
Wednesday, September 27th
Read chapters 1–7 (pages 3–62) of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) [Acquire]
Friday, September 29th
Read chapters 8–13 (pages 63–125) of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) [Acquire]
Monday, October 2nd
Read Part 2 (pages 129–167) of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) [Acquire]
Wednesday, October 4th
Finish (pages 171–209) Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) [Acquire]
Friday, October 6th
Read Ato Quayson's "Realism, Criticism, and the Disguises of Both" (1994) [Canvas]
Monday, October 9th: NO CLASS (Fall Break)
Wednesday, October 11th
Read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Headstrong Historian" (2008) [Norton 1190–1200]
Friday, October 13th
Submit your analysis paragraph to the submission portal on Canvas by classtime
Monday, October 16th
Midterm, Midterm Survey, and Midterm Extra Credit due at midnight
Midterm due Monday, October 16th at Midnight
Wednesday, October 18th
Read chapters 1–10 (pages 1–46) of Don Delillo's White Noise (1985) [Acquire]
Optional: read Jean Baudrillard, from The Precession of Simulacra (1981) [Canvas 1936–1946]
Friday, October 20th
Read chapters 11–20 (pages 47–104) of Don Delillo's White Noise (1985) [Acquire]
Introduction to the final project
Monday, October 23rd
Read Part II (pages 107–156) of Don Delillo's White Noise (1985) [Acquire]
Wednesday, October 25th
Read chapters 22–27 (pages 159–201) of Don Delillo's White Noise (1985) [Acquire]
Friday, October 27th: Asynchronous Online Class
Read chapters 28–35 (pages 202–258) of Don Delillo's White Noise (1985) [Acquire]
Monday, October 30th
Finish (pages 259–310) of Don Delillo's White Noise (1985) [Acquire]
Wednesday, November 1st
No new reading. Come prepared to talk about the end of White Noise.
Friday, November 3rd
Introduction to Research (bring in a collection of keywords related to your project)
Sunday, November 5th
Peer Review of Proposal
Monday, November 6th
Read Harryette Mullen, S*PeRM**K*T (1992) [Canvas 63–96]
Wednesday, November 8th
Read Anna Zalakostas, "Generic Life: Mass Consumption and Globalization in Harryette Mullen's S*PeRM**K*T" (2023) [Canvas]
Friday, November 10th: NO CLASS (Veterans Day)
Sunday, November 12th
Proposal due to me
Monday, November 13th
Read Salman Rushdie, "Chekov and Zulu" (1994) [Canvas 149–171]
Wednesday, November 15th
Read Part I (pages 1–44) of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (2021) [Acquire]
Friday, November 17th
Read Part II (pages 47–110) of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (2021) [Acquire]
In-Class Workshop Day
Sunday, November 19th
Peer Review of Annotated Bibliography and Thesis Statement
Monday, November 20th
Read Part III (pages 113–180) of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (2021) [Acquire]
Wednesday, November 22nd and Friday, November 24th: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
Sunday, November 26th
Annotated Bibliography and Thesis Statement due to Canvas
Monday, November 27th
Read Part IV (pages 183–264) of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (2021) [Acquire]
Wednesday, November 29th
Finish (pages 267–307) of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (2021) [Acquire]
Friday, December 1st
Mandatory assessment essay
Day 1 of Final Project Presentations
Monday, December 4th
Day 2 of Final Project Presentations
Wednesday, December 6th
Day 3 of Final Project Presentations
Friday, December 8th
Day 4 of Final Project Presentations
Sunday, December 10th
Peer Review of Draft
Final Project due Friday, December 15th at 3pm