| Dr. Patrick Duffey, Associate Professor of Spanish | Campus Box 61555 |
| Administration Building 207A | pduffey@austincollege.edu |
| Office Hours: MWF 9:30-10am and 4-4:30pm, Fri. 11am-noon | http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/cml/pduffey/PD.html |
| (903) 813-2364 |
 1. Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam [The Golem and how he came into the world] (1920) Directed by Carl Boese and Paul Wegener |
 2. Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari [The cabinet of Dr. Caligari] (1920) Directed by Robert Wiene |
 3. Citizen Kane (1941) Directed by Orson Welles. |
|
 5. Det Sjunde inseglet {The seventh seal] (1957) Directed by Ingmar Bergman
|
 6. Cube (1997) Directed by Vincenzo Natali |
 7. The Name of the Rose (1986) Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud |
I. Description.
Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges was one of the greatest readers of all time. Expert in many languages and literatures (Spanish, English, French, German, Latin, Anglo Saxon, and Old Norse, among others), he spent his life exploring the essays, treatises, stories, theories, and poems of dozens of ages and cultures. “Let others boast of the books they have written; I will boast of those books it has been my privilege to read.” Before his death in 1986, Borges made a list of over seventy of his favorite texts and wrote prologues for new editions of them, explaining the particular delight he had taken in each. He did not choose them because they were texts made famous by critics or by bestseller lists. In fact, his favorites were often eccentric texts by peculiar writers. They were the books that had given him the most profound pleasure, insight, angst, or joy.
In this course, you will indulge fully in your own pleasures, insights, angsts, and joys of reading. You will explore them, question their existence, and write clearly and analytically about them in formal papers.
The primary objective of this course is to help
students develop a wide variety of skills necessary for academic
success, in the context of exploring one particular topic in depth.
Specific skills addressed will be:
critical reading and critical thinking;
effective written and oral communication;
study skills and time management;
examination skills; and,
collaborative learning.
This course also has a social dimension: to promote learning and interaction within the student's peer group.
III. Student Leaders and the Five Groups.
GROUP
ASSIGNMENTS
|
I |
II |
III |
IV |
V |
| Christie Denison |
Jimmy Garrett |
Andrea Keith |
Annie King |
Nicole Mittenfelner |
| Jessica Antonelli |
Aaron Flores |
Jennifer Love |
Colin Rainey |
Benjamin Walker |
| Susan Bennett |
Micaela Hoops |
Monica Martinez |
Jade Rutledge |
Jacquie Welsh |
| Sam Cumings |
Joel Ingrim |
Ammu Nuti |
Deepa Shridhar |
Josh White |
| Elizabeth Elliott |
Starla Laxton |
Chase Phillips |
Jason Wald |
Sarah White |
|
Student Leaders |
|
|
Oral Presentation Group Topic |
|
Christie Denison |
Group 1 |
1001 Nights | |
|
Jimmy Garrett |
Group 2 |
Kafka | |
|
Andrea Keith |
Group 3 |
Chabon | |
| Annie King | aking@austincollege.edu | Group 4 | Hesse |
|
Nicole Mittenfelner |
Group 5 |
I have assigned 4 students to each of the student leaders. All five student leaders are wonderful people, so I am sure that they will be very helpful to you. You should feel free to ask them questions about any aspect of this course or of AC life. In general, their responsibilities will include the following:
They will read the first drafts of the
two short essays and of the research paper. They will make
corrections and suggestions (which the
student is NOT obliged to follow) and will
return the students' work the following Monday.
They will contribute to the preparation
of many quizzes.
The student leaders will also organize
certain social activities during the semester.
Students should attend all class meetings (including video presentations), unless there is a valid excuse which is conveyed to the instructor in a timely manner. After three unexcused absences the student's grade will be lowered by 10 percent for each class missed. With six or more unexcused absences the student may be dropped from the course. In-class work (quizzes, reports, writing assignments) missed due to an absence cannot be made up except in extreme circumstances, unless arrangements are made in advance of the day the class meets.
All students are required to abide by the College's Policy on Academic Integrity. Aspects of this policy, especially plagiarism, will be covered in class.
|
A. Two short essays (750 words; 2-3 pages) |
20% |
|
B. Research paper (2,000 words, excluding bibliography; 7-8 pages) |
20% |
|
C. 10 Reading Quizzes (and other misc. quizzes) |
30% |
| D. Group PowerPoint® Presentation | 20% |
|
E. Contributions to class discussions |
10% |
A. Two short essays (750 words; 2-3 pages). 20%.
The purpose of the short essays is to help the student learn and refine the most important academic skill of all: the ability to write clearly, succinctly, and persuasively. I will assign each topic based on the readings. The student will turn in the first draft to their student leader, who will return it with corrections and suggestions (which the student is NOT obliged to follow) to the student the following Monday. The final version of the essay is due to me the following Friday. Both versions should be typed and double-spaced.
B. Research Paper (2,000 words, excluding bibliography; 7-8 pages). 20%.
Another academic skill is the ability to carry out research. This class will acquaint you with the numerous resources of the library and the World Wide Web. Hopefully, the class will enable you to see research not as a tedious assignment but as a marvelous treasure hunt.
The research paper may pertain to any one or more of the literary works assigned for this course. You will complete your paper in three stages. By November 21 (just before Thanksgiving), you will turn in an annotated bibliography of at least five secondary sources (2 books, 2 articles, and 1 internet source). By November 28, you will turn in a two-page outline of the paper. The first draft of the paper is due to the respective student leader on December 2nd. The final version is due to me on December 9th. The grading percentages break down as follows: bibliography=2%; outline=3%; final version=15%.
C. 10 Reading Quizzes (and other misc. quizzes). 30%.
The weekly reading quizzes will not be difficult or nit-picky. If you do the assigned readings, you should do fine on the tests. I do not use "pop" quizzes, so as long as you listen and come to class, you will know what to study for these tests.
There will also be a few announced quizzes over excerpts from Strunk & White's The Elements of Style, MLA bibliographic style, etc., as needed.
E. Group PowerPoint® Presentation. 20%.
Two other important academic skills are group work and oral presentation. You will learn about both as you prepare this project with the members of your group, guided by your student leader. The PowerPoint® presentation will in some way provide images and background information regarding specific authors, themes, or literary works related to the assigned readings.
The primary objective of the presentation is to make connections between the assigned author or text and other texts read in the class, especially Borges's stories and essays.
All presentations should include the following:
1. At least two or three original ideas about how the author's life and/or works relate to other texts we have read, especially Borges's stories and essays. These ideas should be new to the class. The group presentations should not regurgitate information already mentioned in class.
2. At least ten relevant images.
3. At least one handout.
4. Two to three minutes of speaking time for each group member.
VII. Outline
Abbreviations
JLBCF=Borges, Jorge
Luis. Collected Fictions.
ER=Electronic reserve
Week 1
W 31 aug Borges, "Borges and I" (324, JLBCF). "John Wilkins' Analytical Language." "The Library of Babel" (112-118, JLBCF) "Prologue to A Personal Library" [in-class handout]. Borges's prologue to Gilgamesh. (handout)
Assignment:
1. "The Circular Ruins" (96-100, JLBCF)
2. Gilgamesh (1-104)
F 2 sep "The Circular Ruins" and Gilgamesh
Assignment:
1. Gilgamesh (105-199)
Week 2
M 5 sep Gilgamesh
Assignment:
1. Borges's prologue to the 1001 Nights
(handout)
2. Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (7-78)
W 7 sep Borges and The 1001 Nights
Assignment:
1. Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (79-164)
F 9 sep The 1001 Nights
Assignment:
1. Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (165-302)
Week 3
M sep 12 The 1001 Nights
Assignment:
1. Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (303-end)
W sep 14 GROUP ONE'S POWERPOINT® PRESENTATION: The 1001 Nights.
Assignment:
1. Kafka,
"The Great Wall of China." "The News of the Building of the Wall: A
Fragment." "A Hunger Artist." (ER)
2. Borges, "Kafka and His Precursors" (ER)
3. Borges's prologue to Kafka (handout) and his prologue to Kafka's The
Vulture (JLBSNF, 501-2; ER)
F sep 16 Kafka
Assignment:
1. Kafka,
"The Burrow." (ER)
Week 4
M sep 19 GROUP TWO'S POWERPOINT® PRESENTATION: Kafka
Film tonight! AD 204,
7pm-8:30pm.
Der
Golem, wie er in die Welt kam
[The Golem and how he came into
the world] (1920)
Assignment:
1. Borges's prologue to Meyrink (handout)
2. Meyrink, The Golem (iii-57)
W sep 21 Meyrink
Assignment:
1. Meyrink, The Golem (57-107)
DUE FRIDAY: First draft of Essay #1 to student
leader.
F sep 23 Meyrink
Assignment:
1. Meyrink, The Golem (57-end)
2. Borges, "A Defense of the Kabbalah" (ER)
Week 5
M sep 26 Meyrink
Film
tonight! AD 204,
7pm-8pm.
Das Kabinett des Doktor
Caligari [The cabinet of Dr. Caligari] (1920)
Assignment:
1. Borges, "The Secret Miracle" (JLBCF,
157-162)
2. Chabon,
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (3-89)
W sep 28 Chabon
Assignment:
1. Chabon (90-193)
DUE FRIDAY: Final draft of Essay #1 to me.
F sep 30 Chabon
Assignment:
1. Borges's review of Citizen Kane
(ER)
2. Chabon,
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (194-353)
DUE MONDAY: Final draft of Essay #1 to me.
Week 6
M oct 3 Chabon
Assignment:
1. Chabon (354-421)
Film
tonight! AD 204,
7pm-9pm.
Citizen Kane (1941) Directed by Orson Welles.
W oct 5 Chabon
Assignment:
1. Chabon (425-end)
F oct 7 FALL BREAK
Week 7
M oct 10 GROUP THREE'S POWERPOINT® PRESENTATION: Chabon
Film
tonight! AD 204,
7pm-8:45pm.
Assignment:
1. Borges's prologue to Chesterton
(handout)
2. Chesterton (1-60)
W oct 12 Chesterton
Assignment:
1. Chesterton (61-108)
F oct 14 Chesterton
Assignment:
1. Chesterton (109-end)
2. Borges, "The Garden of Forking Paths" (JLBCF, 119-130)
Week 8
M oct 17 Chesterton
Assignment:
1. Borges's prologue to Hesse (handout)
2.
Hesse (vii-65)
W oct 19 Hesse
Assignment:
1.
Hesse (67-end)
DUE FRIDAY: First draft of Essay #2 to student leader.
F oct 21 Hesse. GROUP FOUR'S POWERPOINT® PRESENTATION: Hesse
Assignment:
1. Borges's prologue to De Quincy (handout)
2. De Quincy (file to be emailed to you)
3. Borges, "Funes, His Memory" (JLBCF
131-137)
Week 9
M oct 24 De Quincey, Thomas, "The Last Days of Immanuel Kant." "Funes, His Memory"
Film
tonight! AD 204,
7pm-8:45pm.
Assignment:
1. Haft, White, and White, "Umberto Eco, Semiotics, and Medieval
Thought" (ER, 19-30)
2. Eco, 1-39
W oct 26 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 40-83
DUE FRIDAY: Final draft of Essay #2 to me.
F oct 28 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 84-141
Week 10
M oct 31 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 142-182
Film
tonight! AD 204,
7pm-8:45pm. Cube
(1997)
W nov 2 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 183-220
F nov 4 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 221-299
Week 11
M nov 7 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 300-348
W nov 9 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 349-390
F nov 11 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 391-452
Week 12
M nov 14 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 453-502
W nov 16 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Eco, 503-end
F nov 18 The Name of the Rose.
Assignment:
Borges, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" (JLBCF, 68-81)
Week 13
M nov 21 Borges, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." GROUP FIVE'S POWERPOINT® PRESENTATION: Eco
LAS VACACIONES
Week 14
M nov 28
Film in class!
The Name of the Rose (1986)
W nov 30 The Name of the Rose (1986)
F dec 2 The Name of the Rose (1986)
DUE Dec. 9th: Final version of research paper.
