ENGL 455

Spring 2014 All Classes

All Classes

Major Authors

Credit: 3 OR 4 hours.

Intensive study of the work of one or two major authors.

3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated with permission of English advising office to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours if topics vary. Graduate students may repeat as topics vary. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.

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ENGL 455 class schedule data for spring 2014
CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
32205	Lecture-Discussion	1G	3:30PM -4:45PM	TR	English Building	Mahaffey, V	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/21/14-05/07/14 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Joyce and Textual Excess Section Info: Topic Section 1G: Joyce and Textual Excess Joyce has the reputation of being difficult to read. In this course, we will explore the possibility that the problem lies not in the difficulty of the text, but in the assumptions about reading that readers bring to the activity. What if Joyce?s project is one of textual excess? What if the movement of the text is centrifugal, its apparent focus on the here (Dublin) and now (June 16, 1904) pointing outward towards the complexity of an international and richly historical context for human life? Instead of trying to shape or contain experience, could Joyce be attempting to access its wayward energies, both conscious and unconscious? Many critics would agree that popular culture offers a window through which readers are invited to observe the lives of other people. Literature differs in that the window has been backed with silver, making it a mirror in which readers can see themselves. Wilde played on this notion, as did Woolf. What role might be played by textual excess in thickening the medium, so that the reader can insights into him or herself while seeming to enjoy the voyeuristic pleasures of watching others unobserved? We will read Dubliners, Stephen Hero, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the Odyssey, Hamlet, and Ulysses. Requirements include an ?oral? report, consisting of a one-page essay to be photocopied and distributed to the class as well as read aloud, one or two explications of a story or episode, and a final exam that will include the option of creatively rewriting a section of Joyce?s fiction, and analyzing that revision. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
32202	Lecture-Discussion	1U	3:30PM -4:45PM	TR	English Building	Mahaffey, V	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/21/14-05/07/14 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Joyce & Textual Excess Section Info: Topic Section 1U: Joyce and Textual Excess Joyce has the reputation of being difficult to read. In this course, we will explore the possibility that the problem lies not in the difficulty of the text, but in the assumptions about reading that readers bring to the activity. What if Joyce?s project is one of textual excess? What if the movement of the text is centrifugal, its apparent focus on the here (Dublin) and now (June 16, 1904) pointing outward towards the complexity of an international and richly historical context for human life? Instead of trying to shape or contain experience, could Joyce be attempting to access its wayward energies, both conscious and unconscious? Many critics would agree that popular culture offers a window through which readers are invited to observe the lives of other people. Literature differs in that the window has been backed with silver, making it a mirror in which readers can see themselves. Wilde played on this notion, as did Woolf. What role might be played by textual excess in thickening the medium, so that the reader can insights into him or herself while seeming to enjoy the voyeuristic pleasures of watching others unobserved? We will read Dubliners, Stephen Hero, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the Odyssey, Hamlet, and Ulysses. Requirements include an ?oral? report, consisting of a one-page essay to be photocopied and distributed to the class as well as read aloud, one or two explications of a story or episode, and a final exam that will include the option of creatively rewriting a section of Joyce?s fiction, and analyzing that revision. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
32210	Lecture-Discussion	2G	2:00PM -3:50PM	TR	English Building	Newcomb, J	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/21/14-05/07/14 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: The Coen Brothers Section Info: Topic Section 2G: Citizen Coen: The Cinema of the Coen Brothers Over nearly thirty years Joel and Ethan Coen have occupied a distinctive place in American cinematic culture, as auteurs of a postmodern cinema that gleefully violates the stylistic ?rules of the game? while also paying reverent homage to previous moments in American films. Their films consistently foreground their own roles as creators, which has made them key predecessors for later ?star? directors such as Tarantino and Spike Jonze; yet in their personal lives they don?t court flamboyant celebrity but remain quietly devoted to their art. They have won many awards including the Oscar, yet they are still regarded with skepticism by some academic critics who find their films all about style and genre pastiche rather than substance. This class will explore these contradictions and many others as we survey the Coens? work of the past three decades, along with some of the ?originals? that have inspired them to rethink cinematic genres, especially the screwball comedy, the Hitchcockian thriller, the gangster picture, and the hard-boiled film noir. The syllabus will certainly include, among others, Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller?s Crossing, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, O Brother Where Art Thou?, and The Man Who Wasn?t There, along with Sturges? Sullivan?s Travels and the original ?Ealing comedy? The Ladykillers. The class involves a two-hour weekly screening and a two-hour discussion session, both of which are mandatory. You can expect essays, quizzes, brief oral presentations, and a final exam. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
32207	Lecture-Discussion	2U	2:00PM -3:50PM	TR	English Building	Newcomb, J	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/21/14-05/07/14 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: The Coen Brothers Section Info: Topic Section 2U: Citizen Coen: The Cinema of the Coen Brothers Over nearly thirty years Joel and Ethan Coen have occupied a distinctive place in American cinematic culture, as auteurs of a postmodern cinema that gleefully violates the stylistic ?rules of the game? while also paying reverent homage to previous moments in American films. Their films consistently foreground their own roles as creators, which has made them key predecessors for later ?star? directors such as Tarantino and Spike Jonze; yet in their personal lives they don?t court flamboyant celebrity but remain quietly devoted to their art. They have won many awards including the Oscar, yet they are still regarded with skepticism by some academic critics who find their films all about style and genre pastiche rather than substance. This class will explore these contradictions and many others as we survey the Coens? work of the past three decades, along with some of the ?originals? that have inspired them to rethink cinematic genres, especially the screwball comedy, the Hitchcockian thriller, the gangster picture, and the hard-boiled film noir. The syllabus will certainly include, among others, Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller?s Crossing, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, O Brother Where Art Thou?, and The Man Who Wasn?t There, along with Sturges? Sullivan?s Travels and the original ?Ealing comedy? The Ladykillers. The class involves a two-hour weekly screening and a two-hour discussion session, both of which are mandatory. You can expect essays, quizzes, brief oral presentations, and a final exam. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.