Lit 13

Reading Resources

Handouts and Files

Bonus (not Required) for the Quizzes:

Type a one-paragraph reaction to each story and and a two-paragraph reaction to each novel discussed in class, one after another, on short bond. Type the title of the work on one line and on the next type your reaction. After the reaction, type the title of the next work and your next reaction. Submit the reactions on the day of the Lit 13 final exam. (By writing these reactions, you are able to prepare for the final exam.) The average of the total grade for the quizzes and these reactions will be used for the final grade for the quizzes.

This bonus will not be returned to you.

Suggestions for the Rewrites (Bonus, Not Required) for the First and Second Paper:

1. Explain a theme (which is an assertion about the human condition) of your choice that is found in the assigned work(s) and why you think discussing this theme is important in one paragraph.
2. In another paragraph, explain your argument (which becomes your thesis statement for the paper) concerning the theme and enumerate the scenes from the work(s) that will help you discuss your thesis. Those scenes will serve as the supporting points of your thesis. Consider selecting what for you are the most important scenes and from which you may derive several meanings. The more complex the scenes selected the more complex the discussions written about them.
3. In subsequent paragraphs, do close readings of each selected scene. As illustrated several times in class and in the sample essay, close readings consist of a literal meaning (usually a paraphrase, summary, or description) and meanings that are not obvious. These subsequent interpretations involve looking at various meanings of metaphors and symbols, settings, and motives and actions of characters, and connotations of words used in the scene. Close readings also include the writer (you) debating with himself on the various meanings of the scene, especially in light of other scenes from the same work and contradictions between meanings of the same scene. Notice, then, that a close reading of only one scene can involve several paragraphs.
4. In the following paragraphs, explain how your close reading (which consists of looking at several meanings in each scene and debating on the merits of each meaning) of each scene contributes to your thesis statement (as explained in your second paragraph) and your understanding of the theme of the work(s) (as discussed in your first paragraph).
5. In several more paragraphs, discuss the implications of your thesis statement in light of your understanding of human beings. You may also allude to other works discussed in class or in other literature classes when you discuss those implications.
6. Finally, in a final paragraph, give a conclusion where you recapitulate your thesis statement and summarize what you accomplished in the course of discussing that thesis. You may also offer questions that you believe are raised by your thesis statement but you think may be discussed in another paper.

You may submit a rewritten version of your first and/or second paper(s) during the Lit 13 final exam day.. The new grade for each paper will be the average of the old and new grade. The rewritten papers will not be returned to you.

Instructions for the Revised Group Report:

1. For each group, go back to the story assigned to your group. Write a group report using the paper template taken from the "Handouts and Files" page linked on this page.
2. For the report, one member of the group should write a section entitled "Background of the Author" and write a background of the author in two paragraphs paraphrased correctly from information obtained from at least three encyclopedia entries. (Do not use Internet sources for this or any part of the group report. Use print encyclopedias from the library.) Cite information obtained from the entries correctly using the MLA format and include the bibliographic information in a "Works Cited" section at the end of the report.
3. For one member of the group, write a section entitled "Theme" which explains in two paragraphs what the group believes is the most important theme of the story and the implications of that theme in light of the human condition.
4. For two or more members of the group, locate commentaries about the story from the Rizal Library (look at books about the author, about the region or historical period of the story such as a book about twentieth-century English literature, and so forth). Quote a paragraph or two from each commentary in a section entitled "Commentaries", cite them correctly using the MLA format, and include the bibliographic information in the "Works Cited" section. Again, use Rizal Library sources. You may also try JSTOR and other electronic sources that are part of the Library. Ask librarians for help.
5. For two or more members, select and copy passages that are most open to interpretation (up to a paragraph in length for each passage), i.e., where one can find at least two contrary meanings, in a section entitled "Passages to Consider". Cite the passages correctly and include the bibliographic information at the end of the report.
6. For all members, write a section entitled "Other Works to Consider" and enumerate in bullet points short stories, novels, plays, and poems that may be seen in light of the themes raised in the story.
7. For each member of the group, write a reaction that is at least 1,000 words to the story and in preferably in light of what you said or would have wanted to say during your group presentation. Write the name of each member right before each reaction and put together all of the reactions in one section entitled "Reactions".
8. Put together the sections given above in one group report.
9. Write another report for the second story assigned to your group. Submit both reports on the last day of class.

Lit 13 is an introduction to fiction class. Download the syllabus (PDF) for more details.

Readings

Edgar Allan Poe's "William Wilson," "Ligeia," and "Fall of the House of Usher"; you may download a PDF containing these selections and view other resources at the Poe page.

For Nathaniel Hawthorne, we'll be reading "Roger Malvin's Burial," "The Minister's Black Veil," and "Young Goodman Brown," which have been put together in this collection. (PDF).

D.H. Lawrence's stories to be discussed include “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter,” “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” “Odour of Crysanthemums." You may download a PDF version containing these works from the Lawrence page.

For Katherine Mansfield's stories, the class will discuss “The Voyage,” “The Garden Party,” “Miss Brill." The stories are stored in this file. (PDF)

James Joyce's selected stories from Dubliners, such as “Araby,” “Clay,” “The Dead," can be found in a PDF file linked in the Joyce page.

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (Resources)

Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure

Melville's Moby-Dick (Resources)

Suggested Readings

All of the writers mentioned above produced other works that are not part of required readings. These include the rest of Poe's short stories (which consist of works dealing in several genres, including early detective fiction and science fiction), Hawthorne's novels (such as The Scarlet Letter and The House of Gables), Lawrence's other stories as well as novels like Lady Chatterley's Lover, Women in Love, and Fathers and Sons (all of which were once taught in previous Lit 13 classes), Mansfield's collection The Garden Party and Other Stories, Joyce's Dubliners and longer fiction, such as the novel The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Conrad's other short stories and longer works (such as Lord Jim and The Secret Agent), and various works from Hardy and Melville (such as the former's A Pair of Blue Eyes and the latter's Billy-Budd and Bartleby the Scrivener).

Unfortunately, Lit 13 is the only required fiction class in the university, which means students are basically on their own in terms of receiving a liberal education. For more examples of works to consider, take a look at readings of previous Lit 13 classes as well as the other author pages listed in the resources section of this site.