Instructor: Erika
Lin
Last updated: 11/20/97
Email: elin@english.upenn.edu
Office: 4th floor Bennett Hall, cubicle A5
Office Hours: Wednesday 3:30 - 4:30 PM (2:45-3:45 beginning Oct. 8),
Thursday 10:30 - 11:30 AM
Course listserv: lin3@english.upenn.edu
Course home page: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~elin/eng3.html
Books, Films, Bulkpack | Useful Resources for Writers | ScheduleCourse Description
This is a course on cultural controversies--controversies over art, film,
fiction, music, photography--in contemporary America. We will study
some of the texts on which recent controversies have been centered as
well as the journalistic and academic commentary on those texts. Our
aim will be not just to come to a better understanding of these kinds of
cultural outbursts and of the social situations that produce them, but to
learn how to write effectively about cultural matters without simply
taking sides in simplistic evaluative debates. How does one write a
good arts column or editorial, and how does that differ from simply
expressing one's personal opinions (e.g. in a diary)? What is the
difference between a book or movie review and a critical essay written
for an English class or a scholarly journal? What does it mean to write
in a "natural" or "authentic" as opposed to an "artificial" or even a
"fraudulent" voice? How closely do different forms of writing
correspond to different types of audience, and what audience should
we think of as properly ours when we write about literature or other
arts? These are the kinds of questions that will be taken up, both
implicitly and explicitly, in English 3. You will be writing every week
for this course, discussing and evaluating each other's writing on a
regular basis, and meeting individually with me to discuss your
writing. By the end of the semester you should all be much better
writers than you are now, able to deal more readily with the various
kinds of writing assignments you will be facing at Penn.
Requirements, Policies, and Grading
The requirements for this class fall into three categories: Attendance,
Preparation and Participation, and Written Work.
Books, Films, Bulkpack
Locations where you can view ResNet movies are available on the
Web at http://
www.upenn.edu/video/html_g/locations.html.
Resources for Writers
Penn provides a number of useful resources to help you improve your
writing. Check these out:
Schedule
You can take shortcuts to: unit 1, weeks 2-3
(Conrad) | unit 2, weeks 4-6 (Heather, Culture
Wars) | unit 3, weeks 7-8 (Kids,
Right Thing) | unit 4, weeks 9-10
(Santiago) | unit 5, weeks 11-13 (Rushdie)
Unit 1: Classic Literature and its
Discontents -- Conrad's Heart of Darkness
Sept. 9
Essay #1 -- Write 2 pages answering the question: Why should English
professors assign (or avoid assigning) Heart of Darkness
in their classes? You should submit two copies of Essay
#1, one for me and one for peer review. DUE: SEPT. 11.
Sept. 11
Sept. 16
Sept. 18
Unit 2: Culture, Sexuality, and the
Public Sphere: Heather Has Two Mommies,
Mapplethorpe, and the NEA debates
Sept. 23
Sept. 25
Do a 20-minute freewriting exercise, then write your provisional thesis
paragraph. Paper topic: Write a 3-4 page opinion column about culture and
school curriculums or culture and taxpayer rights.
A draft of your thesis paragraph is due next class. The thesis can be
very provisional at this point, but prepare a sufficiently polished
paragraph that it will be worth discussing in workshop. THESIS PARAGRAPH
DUE: SEPT. 30; ESSAY DUE: OCT. 7.
Sept. 30
Oct. 2
[Rosh Hashanah]
Oct. 7
Unit 3: Suburban Fears, Urban
"Realities": Kids, Do the Right Thing,
Gangsta Rap
Oct. 9
Essay #3: (1) Freewriting Exercise. (2) Write a 3-4 page opinion column on
either "Kids" or "Do the Right Thing." You might take as your starting
point a position in one of the articles that you disagree with. ASSUME
THAT YOUR AUDIENCE HAS ALREADY SEEN THE MOVIE (i.e avoid plot summary).
Also, be sure to use class materials in your essay.
Remember all the things we talked about before with regard to formulating
a thesis. "I liked/hated it" or "such and such was really cheesy" is NOT
a thesis statement. Instead, think about why you feel that way and see if
it leads to a better thesis statement.
You should submit two copies of Essay #3, one for me and one
for peer review. DUE: OCT. 28.
Oct. 14
FALL BREAK
Oct. 16
Oct. 21
Oct. 23
Oct. 28
Oct. 30