News
Hey, everyone. I'll be putting announcements on this page having to do with course requirements, changes in the web site, and other matters. I recommend looking here every time you visit the course web site--at least once a week.
5/10/01
Hey everyone--just wanted to congratulate you on surviving the semester with me and completing your final projects. Please be sure to email me if you'd like my usual volume of comments on your final projects (rather than the minimal ones I usually do on final papers). Your projects can be picked up in the English department office (Fenton 277) during normal business hours over the summer, beginning on May 16. Starting in the fall semester, you can drop by my office (Fenton 240) to pick them up. If you can't wait till then for your papers and want comments back over the summer, please email me your address, and I'll send them along to you when I get a chance. In any case, have yourselves a great summer! For those who will be back in the fall, feel free to stop by my office anytime, and for those who are graduating or transferring, stay in touch. It was a pleasuree being your professor this semester.
5/3/01
Here's my best sense of my office hours for next week (feel free to call or email me for an appointment that falls outside these times, and check back here for any changes to these projected hours): M 9-12, 1-3; T 9-12, 1-3; W 10-12, 4-5; Th 12-1:30 (I'll be in Fenton 176 with my ENGL 240 class from 1:30-3:30, and back in the office till 5 after that).
I've revised the final research project page to include an assignment sheet and other information/advice. Check it out when you get a chance.
4/30/01
Hey folks! Just a quick reminder that today is the deadline for ILL requests. Also, I wanted to let you know that I'll be available in the office on M 1-3:30, T 3:30-5, W 10-12, 1-4:30, Th 9-10, 3:30-5, and F by appointment (but must be before 3 pm).
4/25/01
Please be aware that the deadline for interlibrary loan requests for articles and book chapters is April 30; it turns out that the deadline for book requests was April 17 (sorry, it wasn't publicized too well). I emailed suggestions for people who have procrastinated on their research and missed the book request deadline; please see me for further advice as needed.
4/20/01
Hey all. Thanks for bearing with me the past few days. I'm particularly glad to hear that ten of you decided to have that extra credit discussion on your own about Blake and that you covered such interesting subjects. I wanted to let you all know about my office hours for next week, so you can plan when to meet with me to discuss your research project. I'll be available in the office on M 11-12, 1-5:30, T 9-10:30, 3:30-6:30, W 9-12, Th 9-10:30, 3:30-5:30, F 9-1:30.
4/18/01
Hey, gang. My grandfather passed away yesterday and I'm going to Syracuse for his funeral tomorrow morning. So I'm cancelling Thursday's class and office hours. I should be back in Fredonia by late morning Friday for my office hours, but definitely not before 11 am.
For those who have missed enough classes to be in danger of losing points off their final course grade or who simply want extra credit, I'm offering the following option. You may attend class as usual tomorrow and have a discussion about Blake, just without me. Once you email me a short reflection on how you see the novel differently as a result of that discussion, you'll either make up for one missed class or get extra credit toward your participation/preparation grade. So you can get credit for both a reflection essay and extra credit if you come to class at 2 tomorrow even though I won't be there.
Whether or not you take this option, keep your discussion questions on Blake coming. I'll be using the ones you ask this week and next Monday to help me plan Tuesday's class. So whether you come to class or not tomorrow, keep plugging away on Delany's novel. As a substitute for my own take on the novel, you might consider checking out one of the following critical works on reserve that deal with Blake: Eric Sundquist's To Wake the Nations: Race in the Making of American Literature (PS 153 N5 S9 1993), Robert Levine's Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass, and the Politics of Representative Identity (PS 366 A35 L48 1997), or Robert Reid-Pharr's "Violent Ambiguity: Martin Delany, Bourgeois Sadomasochism, and the Production of a Black National Masculinity," in Marcellus Blount and George Cunningham, eds., Representing Black Men (E 185 .86 R43 1996), which is on reserve for my ENGL 240 course. Reading the relevant chapter(s) or article(s) in these books is not required, but doing so can help you understand Delany's novel better, introduce you to critical debates over its meaning, significance, and value, and help you see what writing a research paper that makes an argument is all about (and thereby help you on your own final research project).
Speaking of the final research project, due to my cancelling so many office hours this week, I'll allow people who got incompletes on their proposals to email me rather than meet with me--we can follow up face-to-face next week if we don't see each other today or Friday. I've updated the final research project page; click here for easy access.
4/17/01
I will be available for office hours this week on W 9-1:30, 3-4:30; Th 3:30-5:30; F 9-1, 3-4.
Those who got incompletes on their proposals for the final research project must meet with me this week; those whose proposals were approved with revisions needed have the option of meeting with me to discuss their projects. I'm also available to everyone over email. Now is the time to be focused on your final research project--the reading load for Blake is relatively light, so make use of the time to focus and research your topic!
4/6/01
Hey folks--I've changed the syllabus on the main page to indicate that we're carrying over the Higginson and Phillips essays (since we ran out of time discussing "Benito Cereno" so long on Thursday). Pay particular attention to issues that arise out of the similarities and differences between white male abolitionists who praise slave rebellions like these essayists and the efforts of Melville (who wasn't directly affiliated with abolitionist groups) and Douglass (who was) to portray slave rebellions through fiction.
Several important works are now available on reserve--anything with a call number after it on the reserves page should be available for your use now in at the Circulation Desk of Reed Library.
4/3/01
Some small changes to my office hours this week, to make up for my missing Monday's hours to hang out in CT with my new-born niece, Kayla Theresa (8 lbs., 12.5 oz., 21", blue eyes [so far]), who was far too cute to miss seeing again in the morning that day. Anyway, I'll be in the office tomorrow from 10-12, 1-2, and 3-5:30; Thursday I have to miss the first half of my office hours for a job talk, so will be available from 4-5:30; and Friday I'll be in from 9-12 and 1-2. Hope to see you there!
3/26/01
Welcome back from break! Hope it was fun and relaxing. A few announcements to make sure we're all on the same page, so to speak.
Don't forget to reread the sections of Brown's Clotel in the Heath Anthology along with the Child and Stowe readings for tomorrow's class.
Please note that your preliminary proposal for your final research project is due April 2 (next Monday). Please go to the final research project page for an explanation of the research project and assignment sheet for your proposal.
Also note that "re-visions" for the critical essay are due no later than April 6 (next Friday). You may turn in your essay any time before then, of course, but no later than 5 pm that day. Please go to the critical essay page for suggestions for "re-vision."
The main page has been updated to reflect all these changes to the web site.
2/28/01
Please note that the due date for the critical essay has been changed to March 6. You may turn in your essay any time before then, of course, but no later than the beginning of class (2 pm on the dot). Any paper turned in later than that time will lose one-third of a grade.
2/21/01
The options for the critical essay are now available on the course web site at the cr.htm page. Please read them over carefully and feel free to suggest other paper topics. I'll be revising this page in light of your questions and suggestions, so take advantage of the opportunity to influence the range and wording of the options offered for this first major essay!
2/5/01
I've changed the due date on the proposal for the research paper to April 2. I will be out of town at the very end of March, so it makes no sense to not give you the extra weekend to work on it! Remember, you can turn in a proposal before then, so if you have an idea for a research project, feel free to run it by me.
2/3/01
I've added a new page to the course web site (on the group project) and modified the main page in light of it. So check it out when you get a chance; most groups' presentations are somewhat down the road, but it's never too early to begin working on it....
1/30/01
I've revised the main page to include every group who's reserved a date. Could you check to see if your name appears in the right date, and start coordinating with your group ASAP? By my count, four people have not yet formed or joined a group.... Correct me if I'm wrong, and make an appointment to meet with me when you can. Thanks!
1/26/01
The handout of the table of contents from the first edition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature (pp. x-xxii) [1979] is now available outside my office. Please pick it up and compare it to the tables of contents from the sixth edition of The American Tradition in Literature (pp. xiv-xxi) [1985] and the third edition of the Norton (pp. viii-xiii) [1989] for next class. (If you're very ambitious, you can look in the library for even older anthologies of American literature and examine their tables of contents on the first 2/3 of the nineteenth century!) Remember, your goal in doing this--as it is when you're comparing M.H. Abrams's overview of the period in A Glossary of Literary Terms with that of The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms--is to consider patterns in and tensions over which works, writers, genres, and movements are considered to be "central" to the field.
1/25/01
I've revised the links page to include the syllabi you all found on the internet and brought to class. If your name does not appear on that page, please email me a URL (web address) for a syllabus for an American Romanticism course (or any course on the same period as we're studying) from another college or university ASAP.
Also, if you are having trouble signing up for the course listserv, please contact me directly. It's essential that you get subscribed ASAP! Thanks.
1/24/01
Just got word from the library that the reserves are now ready for your use. I've updated the reserves page to reflect current availability. So as you're thinking about group projects, the critical essay, and the final research project, be aware that it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with what's on reserve for the course.
1/23/01
I've revised the syllabus for the next two classes, in light of the logistical and technical difficulties we've encountered--and are about to. So be sure to update your syllabi in light of what I announced (and handed out in class) and of what's on the main page. I'll announce these changes on the listserv once more people have subscribed to it, but I wanted to get the word out here first. Remember, you are responsible for keeping track of any changes in readings or other assignments--even if you miss a class. Use the web site, ask friends in the course, or ask me--just make sure you know what's in store for the next class before you come to it!
So here's why we're having those logistical and technical difficulties I mentioned above. The technical problems are actually a good thing--our friends at AIT are working to quadruple the bandwidth for our campus intranet. This will mean much faster connections to the web and smoother email transmissions to and from Fredonia accounts. The only problem is, the upgrade process may be affecting some people's ability to subscribe to the course listserv. It should be completed tonight, so if you're sure you've been going through the subscription process correctly but still have been having no luck, keep trying--and use the troubleshooting guide if you think there's a chance you're making a mistake along the way.
As for the logistical difficulties, this is an incredibly hectic time in the semester for your professors in English and in History: the latter are doing four job searches (for replacements for professors who are retiring and for expansion of the department due to increased responsibilities for general education under the new CCC program) and the former are doing three (for replacements for retiring professors). (Plus there's one interdisciplinary search which will bring two History and two English candidates to campus in mid-February.) What this means is that many of your professors in these departments need to be present at job talks, meetings, and meals to help us decide which of the candidates is our top choice for each search. Hence, between History and English alone, we're talking 25 people coming to campus looking for a job in the next three weeks. So for the next few classes I will have to take off a little after 3 pm to attend job talks. I know, I know, I'm breaking your hearts. But I figure you'll survive a few early classes ending early....
What this means, though, is that we all have to be particularly efficient at preparing for the next few classes. So do your reading early, think about it carefully, and indicate what you're most interested in talking about through your discussion questions. As I said in class, the volume of readings means that we'll need to be selective in our focus for class discussions. The questions listed on the syllabus are guides for approaching the readings, spurs for further thoughts, indications of reasons I had for putting the texts together, and sometimes are suggested focuses for class discussions. So keep those questions in mind as and after you're doing the reading and crafting your discussion questions.
1/19/01
Welcome to the course! Please explore the site to see what links are active. As more become active, I'll let you know here!