Literature and Film in a Global Perspective

English 2303 section 004

LITERATURE AND FILM IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

SPRING 2010

Instructor: Dr. Ana Savic

Office Hours: TTh 12:30-2 p.m. and by appointment

Office: CARH 619

Office phone number: 817-272-7247

Email:

Class: TTh 9:30-10:50 a.m., PH 200

Course Description and Objectives

In this class, we will examine contemporary literature and film that address the specific cultural issues of our historical moment. Our readings will include novels and stories by Chinua Achebe, Jhumpa Lahiri, Orhan Pamuk, and Yoko Tawada; films by Ngozi Onwurah, Gurinder Chadha, and Wolfang Becker; and critical texts by Stuart Hall, Arjun Appadurai, Kwame AnthonyAppiah, and others. We will examine how current globalprocesses affect our notions of cultural identity by focusing our discussions on the following issues: the encounter between East and West, modernization, secularism and fundamentalism, cosmopolitanism, and immigrant experience.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon the completion of this course, the students will be able to:

1. Define the main themes in literature and cinema addressing the issues of globalization.
2. Articulate an understanding of several works of literature and film.
3. Define and use vocabulary appropriate to literary study and film study.
4. Demonstrate an ability to discuss literature and film using textual evidence to support assertions.
5. Demonstrate a deepened understanding of the cultures, times, people, and situations that produced these works.
6. Employ correct MLA documentation of primary and secondary sources.

Enrollment requirements: ENGL 1301 and 1302 required.

Required Texts:

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1959. New York: Anchor Books, 1994.

Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. New York: Mariner Books, 2004.

Pamuk, Orhan. Snow. Trans. Maureen Freely. New York: Vintage Books, 2004.

Course pack.

Grading:

Your course grade will be based on the grades of your exams, your paper, your response papers, your quizzes, and your class participation. You must submit all paper assignments and exams in order to pass this class. The final grade breakdown will be as follows:

Participation10 % (100 points)

Daily quizzes10 % (100 points)

Term papers20 % (200 points)

Midterm exam20 % (200 points)

Response papers 1 and 220 % (200 points)

Final exam20 % (200 points)

Total100 % (1000 points)

A (900-1000 points)

B (800-899 points)

C (700-799 points)

D (600-699 points)

F (599 and below)

Daily quizzes – expect short quiz questions on all assigned readings. The quizzes will be given at the beginning of each class period, and they cannot be made up. I will drop three lowest quiz scores at the end of the semester.

Term paper – a 5-page paper; due at the beginning of class on Thursday, April 29. Draft workshop – Thursday, April 22.

Midterm exam will be held in class on Thursday, March 11.

Response papers 1 and 2 – two-page response papers due at the beginning of class on March 9 and May 6 respectively.

Final exam will be held on Thursday, May 13 from 8-10:30 a.m. in PH 200.

Participation – readings, lectures, and discussion are essential components of the course. You are expected to have read the assigned readings before each class meeting. Failure to attend class on a regular basis will lower your grade. Class time will consist of lectures and discussions; please come to class prepared with questions about the reading material.

Late papers will be graded down by half grade for each day that they are late.

Plagiarism

It is the philosophy of The University of Texas at Arlington that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University.

"Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts" (Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Series 50101, Section 2.2). You may cite the words or ideas of another, but you must document your sources properly using the MLA guidelines. See the UTA library tutorial on plagiarism: or talk to me, if you have any questions about how to document a source appropriately or if you are unsure about what constitutes fair usage of someone else’s words.

Americans with Disabilities Act

The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and the letter of federal equal opportunity legislation. As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable accommodation" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Student responsibility primarily rests with informing faculty at the beginning of the semester and in providing authorized documentation through designated administrative channels.

Student Support Services

The University of Texas at Arlington supports a variety of student success programs to help you connect with the University and achieve academic success. These programs include learning assistance, developmental education, advising and mentoring, admission and transition, and federally funded programs. Students requiring assistance academically, personally, or socially should contact the Office of Student Success Programs at 817-272-6107 for more information and appropriate referrals.

The WritingCenter

The WritingCenter, Room 411 in the Central Library, will assist you with any writing assignment while you are a student at UT-Arlington. You may schedule appointments online by following directions available at by calling 817 272-2601, or by visiting the WritingCenter. If you come to the WritingCenter without an appointment, you will be helped on a first-come, first-served basis as tutors become available. The WritingCenter is not an editing service; tutors will not correct your grammar or rewrite your assignment for you, but they will help you learn to solve your grammatical and organizational problems.

Drop Policy

April 2 is the last day to drop classes. For more information on the UTA’s Drop Policy visit the Office of the Record’s website at:

Tentative Schedule of Assignments

(Subject to change – if you miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact me or a classmate to check if I made any changes in the reading schedule)

Week 1

T 1/19 – Introduction to the class. Discussion of the syllabus. Overview of Stuart Hall’s “The Question of Cultural Identity” (course pack – pp. 596-601,611-632) and Arjun Appadurai “Disjuncture and Difference in a Global Cultural Economy” (course pack – pp. 32-43).

Th 1/21 – Michel de Montaigne “Of Cannibals” (course pack). William Butler Yeats: “The Second Coming” (course pack). Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart (Chapter 1)

Week 2

T 1/26 – Chinua Achebe: “The Novelist as Teacher” (course pack) and Things Fall Apart (Ch. 2-6).

Th 1/28 – Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart (Ch. 7-11).

Week 3

T 2/2 – Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart (Ch. 12-16).

Th 2/4 – Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart (Ch. 17-25).

Week 4

T 2/9 – Kwame Anthony Appiah “Facts on the Ground” (course pack). Screening: Monday’s Girls (dir. Ngozi Onwurah) – view in class.

Th 2/11 – Nikolai Gogol: “The Overcoat” (course pack). Jhumpa Lahiri: The Namesake (Ch. 1).

Week 5

T 2/16 – Jhumpa Lahiri: The Namesake(Ch. 2-3)

Th 2/18 – Jhumpa Lahiri: The Namesake (Ch. 4-5)

Week 6

T 2/23 – Jhumpa Lahiri: The Namesake (Ch. 6-7)

Th 2/25 – Jhumpa Lahiri: The Namesake (Ch. 8-9)

Week 7

T 3/2 – Jhumpa Lahiri: The Namesake(Ch. 10-12).

Th 3/4 – Bend It Like Beckham (dir. Gurinder Chadha) – view in class.

Week 8

T 3/9 – Response paper 1 due.Bend It Like Beckham (dir. Gurinder Chadha).

Th 3/11 – Midterm exam. Bring a blue or green exam book (available for purchase at the bookstore) and a pen.

Spring break – March 15-19

Week 9

T 3/23 – Orhan Pamuk: Snow(Ch. 1-5)

Th 3/25 – Orhan Pamuk: Snow (Ch. 6-10)

Week 10

T 3/30 – Orhan Pamuk: Snow (Ch. 11-15)

Th 4/1 – Orhan Pamuk: Snow (Ch. 16-20)

April 2 – the last day to drop classes.

Week 11

T 4/6 – Orhan Pamuk: Snow (Ch. 21-25)

Th 4/8 – Orhan Pamuk: Snow (Ch. 26-30)

Week 12

T 4/13– Orhan Pamuk: Snow (Ch. 31-35)

Th 4/15 – Orhan Pamuk: Snow (Ch. 36-40)

Week 13

T 4/20 – Orhan Pamuk: Snow (Ch. 41-44)

Th 4/22 – Draft workshop – bring two copies of your term paper draft.

Week 14

T 4/27 – Benjamin Barber “Jihad vs. McWorld” (course pack). Good-Bye, Lenin! (dir. Wolfgang Becker) – view in class.

Th 4/29 – Term paper due.Good-Bye, Lenin! (dir. Wolfgang Becker).

Week 15

T 5/4 – Yoko Tawada “Canned Foreign,” “The Talisman,” and “Where Europe Begins” (course pack).

Th 5/6 – Response paper #2 due. Wrap-up.

Final exam: Thursday, May 13– 8-10:30 a.m. Bring a blue/green exam book and a pen.