Winter 2005
English 561:  Special Topics in Fiction (Framed Narratives)
MW 3:30 - 5:18
Denney Hall 206
Instructor:  Dr. David Herman
Office:  409 Denney (office hours MW 11:30 - 12:00 and 2:30 - 3:30; also, by appointment)
Phone: 292-6123; email: herman.145@osu.edu

Web address for this syllabus: http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/herman145/ENG561.html

Course Description:

Welcome!  This special topics course will examine framed narratives, or stories within stories. Tracing the use of framed tales back to the oldest traditions of storytelling, we will also explore several scholarly perspectives on the structure and interpretation of narratives of this kind. Discussions, papers, and exams will focus on questions like the following: How might framed tales have evolved from the way ordinary conversations work? In the fictional texts we’re studying, do the framed and framing tales explain, echo, or exactly mirror one another, and with what effect? How do avant-garde writers exploit the ancient technique of framing their own, convention-breaking purposes?
    Although focusing on framed narratives in particular, the course is designed to improve your ability to appreciate, analyze, and write coherently and persuasively about texts in general, equipping you with interpretive skills that will assist you in your lifelong practice of reading.

Required Texts:
In addition, the following required critical readings are available on electronic reserve at OSU's library:
 Click here for bibliographic information about each item in the above list.

Course Requirements and Grades:

 Please note that I use a +/- system of grading and a 10-point grading scale.  Your grade for the course will be determined by the following factors:
 1. Active class participation (10%), including oral presentations and possibly quizzes on the assigned readings.  The quality of class discussions will determine how many such quizzes are necessary.  As the quarter unfolds, I will assign oral presentations to "panels" consisting of groups of students. Students in each panel will need to work together in using the questions below to prepare a 10-15 minute presentation on the assigned reading. These panels of experts will also field comments and questions from the other students in class. The following is a menu of issues to consider as you prepare your panel presentations:
You should use this same "checklist" to prepare for class discussions even when you are not scheduled to participate in a panel discussion. 
2. Mandatory attendance (10% or more [see below]).
3. Two formal, non-research papers, word-processed and submitted in hard copy, not by e-mail.  The first essay (20%) is to be 900-1100 words and is due Monday, January 31.  The second essay (25%) is to be 1400-1600 words and is due the last day of class, Wednesday, March 9. 
     Paper topics will be distributed well in advance of the due dates for your essays; the topics for your first paper can be found here or else by scrolling down to the course schedule below and clicking on "FIRST ESSAY DUE."  Meanwhile, for general guidelines concerning how to compose and format your papers, click here.  Also, please use your word-processing program to do a word count for each assigned paper, and type in the number of words at the end of your paper.
4. A midterm exam (15%) on Wednesday, February 2.  The exam will contain brief definition questions; identification questions, which ask you to identify and analyze passages from works we’ve discussed; and an essay question asking you to compare and contrast several works.
5. A final exam (20%) on Wednesday, March 16, 3:30 - 5:18.  The final, which will be comprehensive, will have the same format as the midterm.

Attendance:

10% of the final grade is based on attendance. Every student begins with an "A" for this grade. After three unexcused absences it drops to "B", and then one letter grade for every absence thereafter. Pop quizzes or other graded classwork missed because of absence or tardiness cannot be made up, although every student's lowest single score for such work will be dropped.
    If you are late to class you should ask, at the end of the class, to be given a "tardy" mark.  Three tardy marks count as one absence

Completing Assignments:

All assigned readings must be read before the date listed on the syllabus.  All out-of-class assignments are due at the beginning of class.  If an emergency arises and prevents you from turning in your assignment on time, always call me and leave a message on my voicemail if I am not there.  In the absence of any previous consultation with me, work handed in late will be graded down, normally one letter grade for each day that it is late.

Other Policies:

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses at OSU and will be reported to the appropriate officers of the university. Plagiarism is the representation of another's work or ideas as one's own; it includes unacknowledged quotations as well as paraphrases of someone else's words or ideas. Penalties may range from failure of the particular assignment, to failure of the course, or worse.

Cellphones:

Please make sure that cellphones, pagers, etc. are turned off before you enter the classroom. 

Special needs:

Anyone who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Anyone with such needs should also be aware of the the Office for Disability Services in room 150 Pomerene Hall (614-292-3307) which provides services for students with documented disabilities.

The Writing Center:

All members of the OSU community are invited to discuss their writing with a trained consultant at the Writing Center. Go to http://www.cstw.org or call 688-4291 to make an appointment.

Course Schedule:

Below is a list of readings for all class meetings. This list is meant to provide a common frame of reference for all readings and assignments, but we may have to adjust the schedule as the quarter proceeds.

January

M 3  Introduction to the course

W 5  Read Wordsworth, The Ruined Cottage [e-reserve], and Cortázar, "Continuity of Parks" (http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~sarahfsk/continuity.html); also read Rimmon-Kenan, chapter 7 of Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics [e-reserve]

M 10  Diderot, Jacques the Fatalist; also read Richardson, "Introduction: Narrative Frames and Embeddings," and Frow, "The Literary Frame" [e-reserve]

W 12  Diderot, Jacques the Fatalist; also read McHale, chapter 8 of Postmodernist Fiction [e-reserve]

M 17  Martin Luther King Day: No class

W 19  Shelley, Frankenstein; also read Nelles, "Embedding" and "Stories within Stories" [e-reserve]

M 24  Shelley, Frankenstein; Duyfhuizen, "Framed Narrative" [e-reserve]

W 26  Brontë, Wuthering Heights

M 31  Brontë, Wuthering Heights; FIRST ESSAY DUE

February

W 2  MIDTERM EXAMINATION

M 7  James, The Turn of the Screw

W 9  James, The Turn of the Screw

M 14  Conrad, Heart of Darkness

W 16  Conrad, Heart of Darkness

M 21  Gide, The Counterfeiters; also read Dällenbach, chapters 1-3 of The Mirror in the Text [e-reserve]

W 23 Gide, The Counterfeiters

M 28  "Flex Day"

March

W 2  No class: Instructor out of town

M 7  Calvino, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller; also read Ryan, "Stacks, Frames, and Boundaries" [e-reserve]

W 9  Calvino, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller; SECOND ESSAY DUE

FINAL EXAM: Wednesday, March 16, 3:30 - 5:18