University of Houston
Department of English

Fall Semester 2002
English 3345
Sections 04604 [Tape/Pur] and 012306 [Cable]

The Nobel Prize
In
Literature

READING LIST

William Butler Yeats [Ireland] 1923. Selected Poems and Three Plays.
Sinclair Lewis [U.S. 1930]. Main Street.
William Faulkner [U.S. 1949]. Absalom! Absalom!
Ernest Hemingway [U.S. 1954]. In Our Time.; Men Without Women.
Pearl Buck [U.S. 1938]. 14 Stories.
Albert Camus [France 1957]. The Stranger.
Isaac Bashevis Singer [Poland/U.S. 1978]. Gimpel the Fool and Other Stories. Also “Blood,” “Two”
WolË Soyinka [Nigeria 1986]. The Plays. Vol. I.
Wislawa Szymborska [Poland 1996]. View with a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems.
Dario Fo [Italy 1998]. The Plays: One. Methuen World Dramatists.
G¸nter Grass [Gemany 1999]. The Tin Drum.
            Students are expected to master 9 of the 11 works presented through TV and websites.

***A Televison Course***

View lectures, presentations, and dramatic performances on educational television stations or, at your leisure in the M. D. Anderson Memorial Library, Main Campus, or on videotapes on your home VCR.

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77204-3013
English 3345 [Sect 12306 (cable), 04604 (Tape): NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN LITERATURE • FALL 2002

INSTRUCTOR: Dr.Irving N. Rothman, Professor of English
Room 232B Roy Cullen ; Phone: 713 743-2962 (CAMPUS), 281 395-2800 (WHI)
OFFICE HOURS: T, TH 1:30-2 p.m. & By Appt. [e-mail: irothman@uh.edu]

READING LIST:
William Butler Yeats [Ireland] 1923. Selected Poems and Three Plays. 3rd Edn. Collier Books. Macmillan.
Sinclair Lewis [U.S. 1930]. Main Street. Signet.
William Faulkner [U.S. 1949]. Absalom! Absalom! Random
Ernest Hemingway [U.S. 1954]. In Our Time.; Men Without Women. Scribner's.
Pearl Buck [U.S. 1938]. 14 Stories. Pocket Books. [Available in the copy center, University Center.]
Albert Camus [France 1957]. The Stranger. Vintage.
Isaac Bashevis Singer [Poland/U.S. 1978]. Gimpel the Fool and Other Stories. Penguin. (“Blood” and “Two” will be found in the packet in the copy center, University Center, bound with Pearl Buck.)
WolË Soyinka [Nigeria 1986]. The Plays. Vol. I. Oxford.
Wislawa Szymborska [Poland 1996]. View with a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems. Harvest/Harcourt Brace
Dario Fo [Italy 1998]. The Plays: One. Methuen World Dramatists. [Available in the Copy Center, UC.]
Gao Xingjian [China 2001]. The Tin Drum. Available edition.
                See <http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates>

NOTE: Although the ITV course will provide lectures and presentations on eleven authors, students will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of nine writers in examinations— four in the first half of the course and five in the second half of the course. Students may choose to exempt one author from the mid-term examination and one author from the final examination.

READING AND BROADCAST SCHEDULE [Broadcast To be Designated.]:
                Based on a taping and course design by Dr. Irving N. Rothman,Professor of English

OBJECTIVES:

The Swedish Academy, comprising 18 life-time members, each year awards the Nobel Prize to the world’s greatest writer for a lifetime of writing achievement. Unlike the American Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel is awarded not for any single piece of literature, but for one’s total literary accomplishment. As with many awards, political considerations may determine why some writers receive the award and others do not. In recent years, the Nobel Committee has emphasized awards to the best classical writers of nations not previously recognized. Determining which writers to discuss in this course is a precarious task. By omitting from the list the stylized living of Yasunari Kawabate (Japan 1968) and the penetrating psychiatric studies of Kenzaburo Oe (Japan), the ironical works of Maguib Mahfouz (Egypt 1988), the stark realism of Nadine Gordimer (South Africa 1991), the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia 1982), the folktales and Kabbalistic psychology of Shmuel Agnon (Israel 1966), the ironical conviction of Elias Canetti ( Bulgaria 1981), or the dark psychological plays of Eugene O’Neill (U.S. 1936), one chooses to avoid brilliantly-written literature dealing with significant contemporary problems. Toni Morrison (U.S. 1993) is omitted only because she is widely read in other courses and other programs. The course will first emphasize insights into the culture of Nobel literary laureates; more so, it will demonstrate the universality of their concepts and the persuasion of their writing.

A second emphasis will be the effect of colonial life upon writers whose nations have emerged into the post-colonial period. The stories of Pearl Buck offer opportunities to study the Chinese takeover of Tibet and English control of Hong Kong. The study of Camus will hope to comprehend the nature of Algerian life under French rule. The works of William Butler Yeats and his part in the Irish revolution will enable the class to study the history of Ireland under English rule, a history being enacted from the past to the present in the on-going fight to wrest Ulster from the British. English colonial rule may also be studied in the drama of the Nigerian Nobel Prize Winner WolË Soyinka, though one generally concentrates on Nigerian religious beliefs.

Works have also been selected for the benefit of prospective teachers and current classroom teachers who may find occasion to teach materials representing diverse cultures.

STANDARDS:

The short paper [ due Monday, Sept. 30] will be a critical essay on a poem, short story, chapter, or part of a work scheduled for class study. [The paper, 4-6 pp. in length, in 12 pt. Times or 10 pt. New York, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins] should be divided in three parts: (1) A summary of the work or a section of a larger work that you intend to discuss; a discussion of one major motif or multiple motifs; a section in which you discuss some event that occurred in your own life that emulates the matter of the text or deals with the same problem as that discovered in the text. In the personal part of your essay, you must state a geographical location where you were involved, names, and specific descriptions; if you choose information from news sources, state the source and provide relevant dates. [The short paper must be on a topic and author different from the research paper.]

A mid-term examination [Wednesday, Oct. 15 or 16, either date on webct] will include a 20-minute objective exam and two short essays. [Students may choose to exempt one author and will be tested on only 4 of 5.]

A final examination (Thursday, Dec. 12, 7-10 p.m.) will include a 45-minute objective exam, an hour-long essay on two works you may decide upon in advance, and two short interpretive essays. [One work may be exempted, with the student being examined on 5 of 6 works. ]

The research paper [due Monday, Nov. 18—10-12 pages plus “list of works cited.” (Type with 1-inch margins, in 12 pt. Times or 10 pt. New York in conformance with style of the MLA Handbook, with interior documentation and a list of works cited at the end. Footnotes will be used for purposes of explication. Topics must have a narrow focus--a set of poems, a particular play or short story, or a designated 100-page swath of a novel (not the whole novel). Research papers should list at least seven sources in the “List of Works Cited”—2 books and five critical articles. Only works mentioned in the text of the research paper should be listed. These works can be three books and five critical articles or any combination, but at least three critical articles must be from 1992 to the present. For an example of a research paper, study articles in the PMLA (PB6 M6) in the periodicals room of the library. Do not use undocumented sources from the Internet. Any sources you use from the Internet must have footnotes to indicate where the author has obtained his information. Otherwise, one may cast doubt on your sources. Material extracted from the Internet must be noted in in the bibliography with the URL and date found on the Internet. No more than two sources may be taken from the Internet.

By September 1, send Dr. Rothman an e-mail with the following information:

(1) your name

(2) street address

(3) city, state, zip code

(4) local phone number

(6) e-mail address

(7) major

(8) status (senior, junior.)

E-mail: irothman@uh.ed

Do not send expository essays or research papers through e-mail. Send papers by surface mail to: Dr. Irving N. Rothman, Department of English, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-3013. If your prefer to have materials returned by mail, enclose a self-addressed envelope with return postage.