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Pomona College
English 166, Spring 2000
T/Th 1:15; Lab: Th 4:00
| Professor: Kathleen Fitzpatrick |
Phone:
607-1496 |
| Department
of English, Pomona College |
Office Hours: W 1:00-4:00 (or by appointment) |
| Office
Location: Crookshank 110 |
Email: kfitzpatrick@pomona.edu |
| Multimedia
T.A.: Shasta Turner |
Phone: available on request |
| Department
of English, Claremont Grad. University |
Office
Hours: Th 3-4 (or by appointment) |
| Office
Location: Hahn Computing Lab |
Email: shasta.turner@cgu.edu |
Course Description
Reading Thomas Pynchon
together with Herman Melville may at first seem a strange enterprise;
but for some obvious connections — both major American authors
of big American novels — they seem too disparate to be studied
side by side. But at least one major critic has argued that
Gravity’s Rainbow is
in large part a rewriting of Moby-Dick. Our close readings of these two often difficult
writers, and our complication of those readings with contemporary
theories of intertextuality and contemporary writing technologies,
will lead us to rethink issues of literary periods and styles,
of historical frameworks, and of the pol
Course
Requirements and Grading
Attendance
and Participation: As our work here will largely revolve around
discussion, your participation and preparedness are indispensable,
and will be graded. You will be permitted one unexcused absence;
each additional unexcused absence lowers your final grade one step. Moreover, chronic late arrivals will not be
tolerated; for every three late arrivals, one unexcused absence will
accrue. Finally, be aware that presence without preparedness
does not count. Do the reading.
(15%)
Class
Facilitation: Each student will be responsible for facilitating
one class session, helping direct our discussion on the novel you
select or are assigned. This
presentation will require you to lead an eCircles discussion in the
days prior to your in-class presentation.
The presentation itself should be no more than fifteen minutes
long, and should be formally prepared and delivered.
More details about this assignment will be forthcoming. (15%)
Reading
Responses: Each student will be responsible for participating
in each week’s eCircles discussions, contributing questions and
ideas that require further attention during class. While you will only be required to post once
each week, posting more often is better.
Again, more details to follow. (15%
total)
Two
Short Web Assignments: These
two assignments will begin the work that will culminate in your final
project. Each will be completed in teams of two, and
each will consist of a written component and a technical component. The team members will trade primary responsibilities
(that is, the partner who is primarily responsible for writing the
first assignment will be responsible for the technical end of the
second assignment). Each student
will receive two grades for each assignment:
a team grade that assesses the project as a whole, and an individual
grade that looks specifically at that student’s contribution.
The first assignment will consist of a web-based presentation
of a relatively traditional critical paper; the second will ask for
a hypertext analysis of a passage of text.
As always, more details will follow. (15%
each)
Final
Web-Based Project: The
final project for this class has three requirements: a proposal, an
annotated bibliography/webography, and the final project itself.
In this project, you have free reign; the two short web assignments
will hopefully provide key pieces, but by no means all, of the material
you require. This project should be revealing, engaging,
and dazzling. We’ll talk more
about the criteria for this project as the semester progresses; as
an example of this type of work, however, you should study the Pynchon
web site developed by Brian Stonehill’s students (http://www.pomona.edu/pynchon)
as well as the Postmodernism is/in Fiction site developed by last
year’s Contemporary Fiction students (http://www.english.pomona.edu/pomo).
Your final grade on this project will be assessed in part by
your peers based on their examination of your work and your presentation
of it at the end of the semester.
(25%)
A Note on Technology
If you’ve never done any web-page work, don’t know HTML, and haven’t a clue what a hypertext might look like, here’s the first rule: don’t freak out. You’ll be working in teams, and we’ll try to make sure that at least one member of each team has web experience. Also, Shasta is here to instruct and assist with the technology as needed, and I’m available and happy to brainstorm or troubleshoot with you. You’ll spend regular time in the computer lab, and in some classes we’ll talk about theories of hypertext and issues of web site assessment. But make sure you take an active stance toward learning what you need to know in order to complete your assignments. Look to your peers for support — the woman next to you may well be a web whiz.