COURSE DESCRIPTIONENG 529.002 • Spring 2011
English Department • University of Maine
Dr. Steven R. Evans
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This graduate-level seminar will be dedicated to the task, best accomplished in good company, of reading James Joyce's Ulysses. Prior knowledge of the text, in part or in full, is welcome but by no means presupposed. We will draw on the different background competencies and interests of seminar participants, as well as the ample (and ever-expanding) body of secondary literature, in the course of interpreting a novel that has had a decisive impact on our understanding of literary modernism and its aftermath.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in English or instructor’s permission
REQUIRED TEXT
James Joyce, Ulysses. Our common reference will be to the edition prepared by H.W. Gabler for Vintage Books in 1986; alternative editions are acceptable.
ASSIGNMENTS & EXPECTATIONS
READING
Students may expect to read roughly sixty-five pages of Ulysses for each session of the seminar (see reading syllabus). At this pace, we will have completed the novel by the twelfth week of the semester. The remaining two weeks will be used for focused re-reading and the presentation of research in advance of the seminar papers that will be submitted in finals week.
Students will be expected to demonstrate their careful preparation of the week’s reading by submitting in writing before class and, when requested, presenting verbally in class, notes consisting of the following four elements:
Notes should be formatted so as to fit on a single standard sheet of paper (front and back).
IN-CLASS PRESENTATIONS
In the weeks prior to spring break (weeks two through seven), students will prepare two brief presentations:
ANNOTATIONS
Beginning in week eight, students will be expected to provide on a regular basis brief annotations (approximately 300 words each) of the articles, book chapters, and other scholarly resources that they have consulted in the process of discovering and researching the topics of their final projects. A minimum of seven annotations are required: five will be on peer-reviewed scholarly articles, essays, and chapters; two will be on scholarly monographs to be selected in consultation with the professor.
SEMINAR PAPERS
Seminar papers (on a topic to be determined in consultation with the professor no later than week twelve) will be due during finals week. Seminar papers should be between twelve and twenty pages in length and follow the format and conventions prescribed in the MLA Handbook.
COURSE POLICIES
INCLEMENENT-WEATHER POLICY
We often experience complicated weather in the spring semester. In addition to monitoring the University’s weather line (581-SNOW), seminar members are also advised to check their e-mail before five o’clock on the evening of class to learn of possible instructor-initiated cancellations. Because we meet just once a week, classes cancelled due to inclement weather will be rescheduled at a time convenient to the majority of seminar participants.
HEALTH-RELATED CONTINGENCY PLAN
In the event of disruption of normal classroom activities due to an H1N1 swine flu outbreak, the format for this course may be modified to enable completion of the course. In that event, you will be provided an addendum to this syllabus that will supersede this version.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Plagiarism—the presentation of someone else's writing and/or thinking as your own—will result in immediate failure of the class and notification of the appropriate University authorities. Other forms of academic dishonesty are, likewise, not tolerated.
DISABILITY NOTICE
If you wish to request an accommodation for a disability, please speak with me or with Ann Smith, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities (Onward Building, 1-2319) as early as possible in the semester.
OFFICE HOURS & CONTACT INFORMATION
My normal office hours are scheduled for 1-2:30pm on Monday afternoons, but I am also available to members of the seminar by appointment from 2:30-5pm on Mondays and from 1-5pm on Wednesdays.
My office is in Neville 313; my university phone line is 207-581-3818.
A note on First Class: We will be using a First Class Course Conference for some of the business of the seminar, including submission of written work. Members of the seminar are also invited to be in touch with me by e-mail using the First Class system. Because I have my FC mail forwarded to a program I prefer, the “history” function is often deceptive. If you have any doubt about whether I’ve received a communication from you, please simply write again or leave a message on my office phone.
week one
Preliminary remarks
week two
The works preceding Ulysses: Dubliners (1914), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), and Exiles (1918)
week three
U 3-57 [Chapters 1-4]
Dubliners presentations
week four
U 58-123 [Chapters 5-7]
Dubliners presentations
week five
U 124-179 [Chapters 8-9]
Dubliners presentations
Portrait presentations
week six
U 180-239 [Chapters 10-11]
Portrait presentations
week seven
U 240-313 [Chapters 12-13]
Portrait presentations
spring break & week eight
U 314-349 [Chapter 14]
Research presentations
week nine
U 350-497 [Chapter 15, begun]
Research presentations
week ten
U 350-543 [Chapter 15-16]
Research presentations
week eleven
U 544-607 [Chapter 17]
Research presentations
week twelve
U 608-643 [Chapter 18]
Research presentations
week thirteen
Further reading & research presentations
week fourteen
Further reading & research presentations
finals week
Seminar papers due