Please Note: What you hold is a hard copy of a web document accessible to any computer with internet access. The index units below, showing this document's contents, are links to the actual document.  While the basic plan of this class is established, fine tuning as well as added resources may not be included. I will announce additions in class.   Still, student are encouraged to check the actual web site regularly.

Course Index:

• Course Description
• [procedure] [purpose] [tools] [why so many books?] [texts] [grading] [grading scale] [attendance] [participation] [journal] [tests][midterm and final] [extra credit] [Lit. on the Web]
• Class Schedule
• [Week One] [Week Two] [Week Three][Week Four][Week Five][Week Six][Week Seven][Week Eight][Week Nine][Week Ten][Week Eleven][Week Twelve][Week Thirteen][Week Fourteen][Week Fifteen]
• Example One: Journal Table of Contents
• Example Two: Journal Entry
• First Handout: "Literature. . .Now What Do You Suppose They Mean by That?"

The purpose of ENG. 173-G, Introduction to Literature, is to expose students to the many genres, the many authors and the many perspectives of truth which can be found under the umbrella of the study of literature, the wide world of books. Furthermore students will begin the acquisition of vocabulary used in analyzing and evaluating works of literary art  Finally students will be encouraged to examine their new perspectives while analyzing a variety of "great ideas," but they will always do this within the framework of revealed truth in the greatest book, God's Word, the Bible.

ENG 173-G Introduction to Literature:  This class will  meet three times a week to discuss the nature of literature using the below reading list as raw material as well as a series of handouts to be dispersed during the semester. Discussions will center around some of the common themes which have haunted the human mind and heart throughout western history.

The following reading list is not exclusive and, in fact, many important works (probably including some of your favorites) have been excluded. This class can only function as an introduction, not as an exhaustive study.  I encourage you to think of the texts for this class not as a single resource but a series of inexhaustible treasure chests, capable of giving refreshment and inspiration time and time again.

Students will be evaluated by a series of four tests, three journal collections, a midterm and a final.  Also the option for extra credit will be made available for those who are willing to do extra work.

1. to expose the student to a wide range of literary genres: poetry, drama, novel and short story.

2. to introduce the student to a wide ranger of authors of different cultures, genders and ages..

3. to encourage the student to consider what makes a work of literature worthy--how should the cannon be formed?

4. to introduce some of the important common issues which authors--in spite of their different backgrounds, cultures, and mediums--often examine.

A Note on the texts:  Although the number of texts for this class may seem extensive (and therefore costly), the student should be aware that the college anthologies often used for such introduction classes as this are massive to the point of being unwieldy, include so much text that usually huge amounts are never covered by the instructor, and often are even more expensive than the collection assigned for this class (think of the cost of your Biology text).  Thus, by using the Dover editions (a dollar each) and some other paperbacks I reduce cost and allow myself more specific and efficient control over the texts I require for our class.

Furthermore, the central purpose of this class is to enrich your life.  This is not a vocational training session in which the question of what information is actually applicable to one's present or future job is central to the class's worth.  In point of fact most companies have programs to deal with that need.  The purpose of this course is to broaden the student's understanding of the human condition, to widen his or her understanding of how people think, and develop the individual's own sense of what is worthwhile and beautiful.

Another side benefit is that by having a series of clearly titled texts rather than some unwieldy ugly anthology, the student will look upon these books less as a never to be reopened book which is to be filed away, and more as the beginning of a library filled with books which can be returned to again and again for their bounty--a treasure trove of future reading.

Criticism

• An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis
• The  Internet Literary Vocabulary Page accessed from Dr. Rearick's Reading Corner.

I know at times you
may feel like this but stay with it.

Novels and Short Stories

• Civil War Stories, Ambrose Bierce
• The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane
• The Open Boat, Stephen Crane
• Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
• The Secret Sharer, Joseph Conrad
• The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry
• Young Goodman Brown, Nathanial Hawthorne
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
• Canterbury Tales (Selected), Geoffrey Chaucer
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (Handout)

• A Grief Obscured, C. S. Lewis

• Favorite Poems, William Wordsworth
• In Memorium, Alfred Lord Tennyson
• Poems and Songs, Robert Burns
• Selected Poems Emily Dickenson
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel T. Coleridge
• Gunga Din and Other Poems, Rudyard Kipling
• Great Love Poems, (Edited by) Edward S. Weller
• Complete Sonnets, William Shakespeare

• Hamlet,William Shakespeare
• Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare
• Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw
• The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde
• Shadowlands William Nicholson
• Henry V, William Shakespeare

These will be given throughout the class. Unless specified by Prof. Rearick, such hand-outs should be considered required reading like any of the assigned texts.

On line Readings

As the links on the above list suggest each author and work covered in class has a representative page in the web site Dr. Rearick's Reading Corner.  Often this material will be overtly pointed to in class, but the student who is striving to excel should make a point of looking at and referring to such pages in his or her journal.

4. Tests:     40%
Journal:      20%
Midterm:    20?
Final Exam 20%

91 to 100 is an "A"     Exceptional, a cut above-unusually good.

81 to 90 is a "B"         Well Done! A fine Job!

71 to 80 is a "C"         Good, a concrete understanding of the subject

60 to 70 is a "D"         Passing but weak

59 and below is an "F" Fell short of required understanding of material

Class Participation: Lecture will only play a part in the class activities.  Literature is meant to be talked about.  Students are encouraged to express their opinions and share their unique insights.  Each of us brings something special to a text that is ours alone.  Your comments are very important.  I have been known to add extra credit to students who show an exceptional willingness to participate in class discussion.

Journal:

 Your journal is IMPORTANT!  You should write in it three times a week.  It is your personal repository for what you think about the works you are reading and about the material being covered in class.

I will be looking for the following in your journal:
 

1.  Three entries per week (totaling 38 by the end of the semester).  Going  beyond that 38 entries could indicate to the instructor the kind of student  who will achieve a high grade.  Please note that writing in your journal is not connected with days on the calender.  Remember it is also allowable to write two entries on the same day as long as both areadequately developed. Now, please note. . .

 A. Periodic class checks may occur to determine the currency of your journal entries.   So, always bring your journal with you to class.

 B. Journals will be handed in three times during the semester:
Sept. 29 (10), Nov.10  (24), and Nov. 29  (38).

2. A table of contents made from the thesis sentence found in each entry.

3. Journal entries must be at least 2/3 of a page long.  Furthermore, if
 you are one of those individuals like St. Paul with BIG handwriting--
 "Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand"  (Gal. 6:11)--then you should plan to write more than what I have  suggested.  I've seen some fill up 2/3 of a page with "I've been thinking  about our reading."

4. All entries should be numbered and dated
 (For Example: Entry # 10; Sept. 23).

5. Although I will not be grading the journal harshly concerning mechanics
 and restarts of thought (which require a single line to cross out some    material), I do expect the final product to be neat and legible.  Also you  should write full sentences within paragraphs--no fragmented stream of  consciousness experiments.  "Split from society--bad."  To be specific, I will be especially looking in your journal for. . .

A. Development of ideas.  Remember that it is not necessary to finish a
work to have a good idea.  In fact waiting till you have finished can be   overwhelming. Keep your journal handy while reading.

B. Interconnectedness of journal entries.  This means that an idea you examine at one point in your journal might have relevance to another work discussed later. Works in literature should not be thought of in a vacuum.

6. You will find possible journal topics within the syllabus schedule.  These are not mandatory.  Instead, they are suggestions of what the student could choose to write on.  Also new ideas will be added to the online syllabus as the class progresses.

1. A diary. Your entries should be a mixture of commentary concerning what  you read and what you discuss in and out of class about literature.  I do  not want to read (as I have in the past) what you had for lunch or who is  presently percolating your hormones.

2. A place for notes.  Class notes belong in the section provided for them in your loose leaf.  I should not see your actually writing in your journal  during class.  This also means that a journal is not a re-hashing of what is  covered in class ("today in class we talked about. . .etc etc.").

Midterm and Final Exams:  The midterm is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 18,  and will be based strongly on the tests and lecture of the first half.  Midterm break begins that Friday.  Meanwhile, the final exam, which is scheduled for Friday Dec. 15th at 8:00-9:50 pm.,will be accumulative but will  be based strongly on the tests and lecturres given during the second half of the semester.

Extra Credit:  Although there will be no papers required for this class, a student can add extra credit to his or her grade by writing a paper or papers on outside reading concerning any of the works or authors covered in class. Furthermore, another option for extra credit is to view or listen to and then write a review about tapes or video films on reserve in the library.  Furthermore there will be two literary events on campus this year.  A dramatization of Bunyan's Pilgrims' Progress Sept. 14 and a performance of Hamlet.Nov. 16  Follow the links below for more information:

9/14: "Pilgrimage," a reenactment of John Bunyan's classic "Pilgrim's Progress" 7:30 pm*

11/6: National Shakespeare Company, performs "Hamlet" 7:30 pm*

Finally any performance the student discovers in local communities (Columbus, Kenyon, etc.) will be counted after the student has approached the professor for confirmation.  Learn about it earlier and we'll announce it in class.

Credit will vary according to the assignment.  Extra points will be added directly to the final score for work handed in before or on the class just before the mid-point, Oct. 13.  After Oct. 13, extra credit material will be added to the score of the tests’ average. The last day for quiz extra credit is Nov. 29.  Students may take advantage of both, but for each portion no more than five (5) points will be allowed.

• “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.”—Benjamin Franklin, American statesman
• “A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.”—Martin Tupper, British author
• “Some books leave us free and some books make us free.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson, American author
• “Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings.”—Heinrich Heine, German poet
• “Books, the children of the brain.”—Jonathan Swift, British author
• “I have always come to life after coming to books.”—Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer
• “[A book is] a garden carried in a pocket.”—Chinese proverb
• “People die, but books never die.”—Publishers' Weekly, May 9, 1942
• “The oldest books are only just out to those who have not read them.”—Samuel Butler, English author
• “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.”—Mark Twain, American author

Class Schedule Fall 2000

At present it is impossible to give you an exact breakdown of what will be discussed, but there is a listing of the major works and some of the minor ones within the time frame I hope to cover them during this semester.  Also there are several long works which will be covered at particualr points in the fall session.  Although Great Expectations, Red Badge of CourageA Grief Observed and In Memorium will not be overtly touched until then, the student will find recommended reading schedule throughout the schedule.

• allegory
• genre
• sub genre
• short story
• verisimilitude
• canon
• mimetic (in contrast from creative)

Wed.     Sept. 6

Introduction / The Nature of Literature
 

Possible Journal Topics:

• What should be the requirements that guide a professor to include a work in an Introduction to Literature Class?

• Does Dr. Rearick's definition of literature change your original concept of the material to be covered?

• What do the poems of Emily Dickinson say about the importance of commication in the nature of Literature?

• "Tinturn Abbey" by William Wordsworth
• "The Daffodils" or "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth
• The opening to Pilgrims' Progress by John Bunyan

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Possible Journal Topics:

• Do you the reader find Wordsworth's claim that nature gives bounty to those who take time to look at her (which is especially useful when facing isolation r the faults of human society) makes sense or do you think he is projecting something into nature which is not there?
Fri..     Sept. 8

What is the Nature of Literature?
 

• An Experiment in Criticsm Chapt One: "The Literary Reader"

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What does Literature say about Isolation?
 

• "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" S.T. Coleridge
• "The Open Boat," Stephen Crane
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My Lecture on Isolation

Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens
Chapters 1-8

Possible Journal Topics:

• In Great Expectations what is the emotional impact on Pip of his sister's "bringing him up by hand."?
• Class prejudice play a major role in the events of Great Expectations.  What evidence can you find that Pip's home is influenced by these class pressures even though he is growing up in a lower middle class home?
• Few of us have had a dead albatross hung about our neck.  What aspect of the Mariner's experience from "Rime" is true to all readers?  How is it true to yours?
• Hamlet's isolation is complex.  Considering the different forces working against him, which do you think is the most profound?
• According to Lewis' definition of readers are you a part of the majority (of nonliterary readers) or part of few (literary readers)?  What do you think about his catagories?




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Week Two:
Sept. 11-15

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Sept.    11
 
• "The Open Boat," Stephen Crane
• "My Kinsman Major Molineux" Nathanial Hawthorne
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare

 

 

My Lecture on The Romantics and Two Young Men Who Turned the World of Poetry Upside down!
 

Possible Journal Topics:

• Should Hamlet be as angry with himself as he seems to be at the end of today's viewing or is he to be commended for being careful?  Is there truth in the cliché "strike when the iron is hot?"
• Clearly in one way the men of "The Open Boat" are not isolated, but in other ways they deeply are.  Have you ever been isolated by the forces of nature?  How did it make you feel?
Sept.    13
 
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert L. Stevenson
• Hamletby William Shakespeare

 

 

My Lecture on The Changing Canon
 

\Possible Journal Topics:

• What do you think of the idea that all human beings have a dark side?  Mark Twain said "All of us are like the moon, we never show our darker half."
• What makes a work of Literature Profane?  How much should the Christian reader rely upon his or her own awareness of being offended?
Sept.    15
 
• "The Secret Sharer" Joseph Conrad
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert L. Stevenson
•  "Kubla Khan" Samuel T. Coleridge
• "The Burial Place of Kings" (Handout)
• Hamletby William Shakespeare

 

 

What is Going On in Kubla Khan?

Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens
Chapters 9-16

Possible Journal Topics:

• The Captain in "The Secret Sharer" takes on a huge assumption when he aids a man who is and escaped criminal.  Do you think he did the right thing?  Some might say that he was motivated by class snobbishness (he and the sharer being one type of sailor while the others are beneath them); what do you think?
• Pip begins chapter 14 by noting that "it is a miserable thing to be ashamed of home."  He feels terrible guilt for this.  Although many of you are in full agreement with your parents socially and intellectually, others who come to college sometimes discover an element of shame in their hearts.  Viewpoints learned around the kitchen table which were once accepted as believed by all the world (or at least by all Christians) are now sometimes suspected of being narrow or tawdry.  College friends are not encouraged to visit home and the possibility of mom and dad turning up with out prior warning is a dread.  Can one love those at home and still feel this way about them? Is this right or wrong?  Is that a fair question?
• Have you ever felt isolated because of a talent God has given you?  Your the only one who thinks the choir could sound better.  The poem you wrote for the missionary society is not easily understood by everyone in the congregation.  What have you done about it?
• Should Christian artists accept isolation as just the price to pay for being aesthetically developed?

---

Week Three:
Sept. 18-22

---

Sept.    18
 

• Hamlet, William Shakespeare
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert L. Stevenson

 

 

My Lecture on Shakespeare

Sept.    20

Hamlet, William Shakespeare

Click here for a modern restatement of Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" speech.

• "I'm Nobody" by Emily Dickinson pg. 9
• "The Lady of Shalott" by Tennyson pg. 5
• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Two : "False Characterisations"

 

 

My Lecture on Hamlet

Sept.    22

• Test # 1
Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens
Chapters 16-24

Possible Journal Topics:

• Do you think Hamlet has a "tragic flaw?"  Illustrate your point from the play.
• Did the Lady of Shalott make the right choice?  Is it better to love and lose than to never love at all?
• Compare Pip with Herbert Pocket (the Pale Young Gentleman of his childhood).  How does Pip's behavior towards Joe and Biddy compare with Herbert's treatment of those who are not as elevated in social class as he?  Look especially at his conversation with Pip while he is telling Miss Havisham's story but also reminds Pip that eating one's peas with a knife is probably not the best approach in polite company.)

---

Week Four:
Sept. 25-29

---


What does Literature say about Gender Difference and Cultural Expectations

Terms:

Here are some terms which you should know by the end of this week>

The literary meaning for

• patriarchy
• negative capability
• willing suspension of disbelief
• marginalized
• antifeminist literature
• misogynist
Remember that there is a Glossary available at
Dr. Rearick's Reading Room under the heading: "Resources."

Sept.    25

My Lecture on Gender Differences

• "If" by Rudyard Kipling Pg. 59
• The Wife of Bath's "Prologue"  Geoffrey Chaucer
• Chapter Three "A Woman's Place" An Experiment in Criticism
Sept.    27
• The Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare
• "The Wife of Bath's Tale" Geoffrey Chaucer
• "The Wife" by Emily Dickinson Pg. 36
Sept.    29
• The Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Bad/Good Woman & Good/Bad Woman

First Journal Check (10 entries expected)

Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens
Chapters 25-32

Possible Journal Topics:

What do you think of the female characters in Great Expecatatioins? Mrs. Joe, Biddy, Miss Havisham, and Estella.  Dickens has been accused of making female characters who are only two dimensional, that is each woman represents only one emotion..  Do you agree?.

---

Week Five: :
Oct. 2 - 6 Oct.     2
• The Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare
• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Three: "How the Few and the Many use Pictures and Music"
Here is a helpful Study Guide on the Taming of the Shrew

Oct.    4

• Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw
Oct.    6
• Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw
• Test # 2


Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens
Chapters 33-40


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Week Six:
Oct. 9-13 The Isolating Force of Culture

Oct.    9

Terms you should learn:

• Bildungsonroman
• Novel
• Romance
• Marginalized
• Culture
• Drama
Remember that there is a Glossary available at Dr. Rearick's Reading Room
  Note: this is not an Option: it is strongly recommended.  Web pages have been created with further information, study guides and sometimes even sample questions at Dr. Rearick's Reading Room
• Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw
• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Four: "The Reading of the Unliterary"


Oct.     11
 

• Great Expectations Charles Dickens
• "The Ransom of "Red Chief" by O. Henry

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Oct.     13

How Does Society Treat  and Perceive its Young and its Old?
 

• "We Are Seven" by William Wordsworth Pg. 1 Favorite Poems
• "Anecdote for Fathers" by William Wordsworth Pg. 3
• "Frost at Midnight" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Pg. 42 The Rime of the. . .And Other Poems

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My Lecture on Culture

Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens
Chapters 41- 48

Possible Journal Topics:

The isolating force of culture is a major theme in Great Expectations. Mrs. Joe's great grief in life, her emotional isolation from her husband, is that she can not accept her marriage to a lowly blacksmith even though she has clearly gained from it.  Pip's pulling away from Joe is from culture prejudice, and his own unquiet and unfulfilled love for Estella is partly caused by the fact that she represents all that he is attempting to attain.  What do you think Dickens is saying about these social forces?  Are these observations still pertinent to American readers?

---

Week Seven:
Oct. 16-20
(Midterm break begins Oct. 19 at 4:00)

Oct.  16

How Does Society Treat  and Perceive  its Old?
 

• "My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold" by William Wordsworth Pg. 33 Favorite Poem
• "Resolution and Independence" by William Wordsworth Pg. 34 Favorite Poems
• Great Expectations Charles Dickens

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Oct.   18 Midterm EXAM
Exam will cover all from the begining of the semester.
A wise study tactic is to look over the first two tests

Also last day for extra credit material to be added to the overall grade.

Oct. 20  No Class (Midterm Break)

Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens
Chapters 49-56


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Week Eight:
Oct.. 23-27

Oct.    23     (Midterm break ends 8:00 in the morning (am), so be in class!)

How Does Society Treat Those Who Support it Entirely?
 

• "The World is Too Much with Us: Later and Soon" by William Wordsworth Pg. 53 Favorite Poems
• "The Lottery" by Shirly Jackson (Handout)
• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Five: "On Myth"

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens
Chapters 57-59
In Memorium Sec. 1-10

My Lecture on Charles Dickens

Oct.    25

How Does Society Treat Other Societies?
 

• "The White Man's Burden" Rudyard Kipling Pg. 52
• "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne Pg. 24
• Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

In Memorium Sec. 11-20

Oct.    27
 

• Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens

In Memorium Sec. 21-30


---

Week Nine:
Oct. 30 - Nov. 3 Love and Marriage

Oct.    30
Terms you should learn:

• Poetry
• Lyrical Poetry
• Metaphor
• Carpe Dieum
• Courtly Love


Remember that there is a Glossaryavailable at Dr. Rearick's Reading Room

Note: this is not an Option: it is strongly recommended.  Web pages have been created with further information, study guides and sometimes even sample questions at Dr. Rearick's Reading Room
• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Six: "The Meanings of Fantasy"
• "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell (Great Love Poems Pg. 40
• "Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Literature and Love

In Memorium Sec. 31-40
Red Badge of Courage pp 1-7

Nov.    1
 

• "Sonnet" by Samuel Coleridge  Pg. 1
• "We Outgrow Love" by Emily Dickenson Pg. 41

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

In Memorium Sec. 41-50
Red Badge of Courage pp 8- 14
 

Nov.    3
 

• "Cricket and the Hearth" by Charles Dickens

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

In Memorium Sec. 51-60
Red Badge of Courage pp 14 - 21


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Week Ten:
Nov. 6-10

Nov.    6

• The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde
• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Seven: "On Realisms"
A Grief Observed pp. 1-20
In Memorium Sec. 61-70
Red Badge of Courage pp 21-28

Nov.    8

• The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde
A Grief Observed pp. 21-30
In Memorium Sec. 71-80
Red Badge of Courage pp 28- 35

Nov.    10

In Memorium Sec. 81-90
Red Badge of Courage pp  36-42
A Grief Observed pp. 31-40

Dickens In Love

Second Journal Check (24 entries expected)

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Week Eleven:
Nov. 13-17

Death and Consolation

Nov.    13

• Lewis A Grief Observed Shadowlands // Tennyson In Memorium
• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Eight: "On Misreading by the Literary"
• "Hope" Emily Dickinson    pg. 5
• "On His Deceased Wife" by John Milton (Love Poems pg. 36)
• "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnald
• A Grief Observed pp. 41-50
• In Memorium Sec. 91-110
Red Badge of Courage pp  43-49

Nov.    15

• Lewis A Grief Observed Shadowlands // Tennyson In Memorium
• A Grief Observed pp. 51-60
• In Memorium Sec. 111-120
Red Badge of Courage pp  50-56

Nov.    17

• Lewis A Grief Observed // Shadowlands// Tennyson In Memorium
• A Grief Observed pp. 61-70
• In Memorium Sec. 121-131
Red Badge of Courage pp 57-63
• Test # 3

---

Week Twelve:
Nov. 20-24

Nov. 20

Lecture on Grief

• Lewis A Grief Observed// Shadowlands
• A Grief Observed pp. 71-80
• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Nine: "Survey"
Red Badge of Courage pp  57-63

Nov. 22

• Shadowlands
• A Grief Observed pp. 81-89
•  Test Three
Red Badge of Courage pp  64-70

Chivalry and War

Nov. 24

• "The Knight's Tale" Geoffrey Chaucer
• "The Battlefield" by Emily Dickenson pg. 17
• "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Tennyson Pg. 154
• "Gunga Din" by Rudyard Kipling Pg. 27
• "Boots" by Rudyard Kipling Pg. 53
• Red Badge of Courage pp  71-77




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Week Thirteen:
Nov. 27 & 29  Thanksgiving

Nov.    27

• Henry V by William Shakespeare
• Red Badge of Courage pp  78-90
• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Ten: "Poetry"


Nov.    29

• Henry V William Shakespeare
• War Poems (Handout)
• "Drum Taps" from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
• Red Badge of Courage pp 91-100

---

Thanksgiving Break

---

Week Fourteen:
Dec. 2 - 6

Dec.    2

• An Experiment in Criticism Chapt Eleven: "The Experiment"
• Henry V William Shakespeare
• "The War Prayer" by Mark Twain (Handout)
• "Four Days in Dixi" by Ambrose Bierce
Dec. 3  Special showing of Henry V by William Shakespeare 

Dec.    4
Lecture on War and Chivalry

• Henry V William Shakespeare
• "Fuzzy Wuzzy" by Rudyard Kipling Pg. 25
• "Dulce Est Decorum Est" Wilfred Owen (Handout)
• Test # 4
God Bless Us One and All!

Dec.    6

• A Christmas Carol in Prose by Charles Dickens
Special Lecture on A Christmas Carol in Prose by Charles Dickens
 

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Week Fifteen: :
Dec 11-15   EXAM Week

Our Final Exam: Friday,  Dec. 15:  8:00-9:50  This is the last day of exams so please make plans now and inform your family.  Do not request an early exam unless approved by Dr. Timpe

 Have a Glorious Christmas Season and Joyful New Year!

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Literature on the Web:

As we make our way through the readings you may wish to visit my web page,
Dr. Rearick's Reading Corner, located at

http://www.mvnc.edu:443/faculty/trearick/english/rearick/readings/re_intro.htm

This address is reachable both on and off campus.  Those of you who are local and do not have a computer should remember that the Knox Public Library offers web access for a limited time, and--of course--the labs of the campus library and computer labs are available to you.

Other web pages relating to works of literature which might be of interest to the student can be accessed from this index page by title, author, genre, sub-genre, time period, or nationality.

I have tried to place some ideas and even sometimes some test questions connected with our class readings within these files.  Also in several cases there are links to study guides, e texts, and even connections to relevant web pages on the net.

Note that every work is connected to a page which gives biographical information about the author taken from the Encyclopedia Britanica.

If you wish to make your way through the front door and see what other faculty
are up to check out the MVNC internal web page at http://mvnc.edu/nzr which for some reason comes up on my computer with the address of. . .

http://nzr.mvnc.edu/nzr/

One special point of note:  Please do not print off my pages until you find out how long the document is and have asked yourself if you really need a hard copy.  You can check the document size  by going into print preview and then zoom in so you can read the text.  At the bottom of the first page will be the page number in comparison with the total pages.  For example, my "Dickens’ Christian Carol in Prose" article has at the bottom  ‘1 of 13.’  This tells you that there will be 13 pages of text printed.  Not bad, but my Pride and Prejudice study guild developed by Monarch Notes is 75 pages.  Librarians and computer lab assistants have been dismayed to find piles of such text flowing from their printers.  Please do not abuse this resource!


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Sample # 1

Remember that your journal should have a table of content page on which the big idea of each of your journal entries should be found.  It should look something like the following:

Contents

• Entry # 1    When I think of Literature, I think of Poems and Stories which have been Judged Great.
• Entry # 2    What I like best in a work of Literature, above anything else, is the story line.
• Entry #3    The Role of Nature in Rime of the Ancient Mariner Seems Important.
• Entry # 4   Making Hamlet be out of his mind seems to weaken the story.
• Entry # 5    I don't like thinking of scripture as something which has changed over time.




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Sample # 2

Note that every entry should have the entry number, the date, and the opening statement.  Since one can not always know where one is going with a journal entry until it is finished, do not write the opening statement until you have written the entry.

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Journal Entry # 3                                                                                                Sept 8, 2000

The Role of Nature in Rime of the Ancient Mariner Seems Important

     In my latest reading of Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," I noticed that even though the work is filled with supernatural elements, the hard edged description of nature itself also plays a dominate role in in the work--either in setting the mood or in cueing the reader to what is going to happen.  What I mean is that as memorable as are the ship of death, the the vampire-like woman who claims the narrator, and the celestial beings who possess the dead crew members bodies, there are also striking moments of natural beauty.
     One of the most important is the florescent sea snakes which capture the narrator's imagination.  They are beautifully and realistically described.  The reader is encouraged to find them wonderful.  And it is the narrator's agreement, in his ability to bless them, which signals to the reader that his heart has been touched by grace and is ready for redemption.   (I disagree with those who think that his ability to bless the snakes brings on grace.  That would suggest that the repentive heart is a gift of nature not of Heaven, and while Wordsworth may have thought this,  Coleridge was always more orthodox in his Christian ideals.  Even at the end of his life when he had returned to the church, the poet, who was constantly revising his work, never changed this passage.)
     Another realistic description of nature occurs in the narrator's recollection of the storm which fills his water buckets and then clears to reveal a starry night.  This concrete description shows the abstract change in the speaker's soul from chaotic suffering to peace..




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Literature
"... Now What Do You Suppose They Mean By That?"

Back in the beginning of January 1983­­towards the end of my Masters program­a professor pulled me up short as we were strolling into her class by asking: "What exactly is this stuff we study call 'Literature?"' Since graduate students are supposed to have the answers to everything, I actually tried to come up with an intelligent response,

"Why, (Ahem) Everyone knows what Literature is ... it's great ideas written down."

"So, it's philosophy." she pursued.

"Well, no, not exactly." I don't know why I didn't give up. I hadn't then learned about becoming wisely silent. Instead I trudged on: "Although Matthew Arnold did describe literature as 'the best that has been thought or said.' it's all done in the form of fiction ... you know ... stories. "

"But who says something is great?' And how do we know they're right.?"

"Um. well ... Oh look! It's time for class! Guess we'd better hurry in Hmmm?"

I didn't escape. This whole thing turned out to be a trap set for the entire the class. In fact, it was our first writing assignment. So that night found me home scribbling in my journal what I thought literature was and what qualified some of it as good or even "Great." What I wrote is by no means the final solution, but I give it to you one possible answer which may serve as a wall off of which you may bounce off some of your own ideas. I've kept it in a journal format:

Jan. 27 '83; Thursday

A note to myself: "Tad! When, oh talkative one, are you going to learn that if teachers ask leading questions there is usually some barbed catch that goes along with them? Well, on with my task..."

What is Literature?

The first definition given in the American Heritage Dictionary is "a body of writing in prose or verse." Now that's a pretty inclusive definition. Are my comic books literature? They have prose. Are the statements that come with my bills literature? How about all that interesting information I get to read off the back of cereal boxes? What about instructions on soup cans? All of these contain prose. And what about poetry? Are Hallmark Greetings Cards literature? (Gack! I hope not!) It seems that some solution must be found or literature classes could get pretty weird. I can see it now, "Victorian Advertisements 101" or "An Overview of important Memos sent through Hasbro Toy Company and the style Therein"

How about a class on cereal boxes.? I read them every morning.



Is this journal literature? Grief! It better not be, but knowing what I have been forced to read in my studies, such as the private poetry by Donne, the nasty notes Chaucer left for his scribe, as well as the Journals of Boswell, I am left with the possibility that some poor student someday might actually be assigned to read this thing. (Sigh!) If this is so, "Dear Reader," I apologize. I should have tossed this into the flames where it would have done less harm. Well, back to Literature. How can I define it?

Well, I suppose that I could limit the prose I put under the "Literature" category by allowing that only fiction can be literature. That gets rid of the bill statements, the soup instructions and the cereal box information. But does it eliminate my comic books? And what about the form of the nonfiction essay? Isn't that literature? If not, why did they make me read Thoreau in American Lit.? And, of course, there are still the journals of Boswell and Bradford. Obviously literature must include prose both fiction and nonfiction. So what makes Literature?

In my opinion ... the first and foremost task of a work of literature is to entertain. It does not matter how brilliant an author is, or how deep his or her ideas are, if no­one reads the work, then no­one benefits. A work of literature must be enjoyable; it must give pleasure. If it fails in this then it has failed in its prime reason for existence. This prerequisite removes some of the prose which I don't wish to include in my studies. Most text books are written as store­houses of information; instructions just give facts, and entertainment is the last thing the writer of notices for late payments has in mind. Tales, meanwhile, either as short stories or novels certainly entertain. So do poems, and

although essays often give information, their primary purpose is to entertain. The same is also true of the better biographies. Indeed, the journals mentioned above all have an entertaining quality to them, even if it were solely to allow the writer to look back on past observations and smile only to himself. Pleasure, not fiction or non fiction status, nor number of pages, nor a leather cover determines whether a work is literature or not.

If this is true, then I must include my comic books as a type of literature. (Boy are my folks going to be happy with that!) Also I must include every western, romance, pulp science fiction, and erotic paperback found on squeaky metal racks in pharmacies everywhere. But that's not what I'm studying­-is it? Could it be that what I have been slaving over these last few years are only the equivalent of dime-store novels from the past?

I have always assumed in my graduate and undergraduate work that I was being given "Good Books" to read . In fact, for the money they charge me, I should be reading "Great Books." Perhaps the important factor is not what is and is not literature, but what is good and great literature? That makes sense. But what, the heck, makes a good or great piece of literature? Well, I suppose that one good place to start is with literature's primary reason for existing­-pleasure. A good or great work of literature must­-like all its dime store relatives-give pleasure.

That sounds simple, but I can quickly see that it becomes intensely complex because "pleasure" is such a vague work, and in literature pleasure can be drawn from various sources: Some readers enjoy romance (not me), some enjoy action, some enjoy eroticism (but might not admit it), some enjoy the fantastic, some enjoy the workings of a mystery, some enjoy a scare, and some (the poets among us) enjoy the very texture, flow, and imagery of the words. There are even those who actually enjoy the mental exercises of critiquing literature. ­ These are just a few of the sources of pleasure in a literary work. The chances are that the more an author incorporates these into his or her writing, the greater the number of readers will enjoy it. As my Chaucerian Professor. once noted "All the world loves a good story." This is the basic appeal of The Canterbury Tales; it's also the thrust of Shakespeare and the secret to Dickens' success. To create an enjoyable story with a good sprinkling of some of the above characteristics is the first step toward producing great literature. But I do think there should be more. However, my head's beginning to buzz, so I'll stop for now.

Friday Jan. 28, '83

The question of pleasure also covers how well something is written. This strikes me as a judgment call. What one person thinks is full of wonderful and explicit description another may find wordy. My father used to read Cooper's Leather­stocking Tales (The Deerslayer, Last of the Mohicans, etc.), but he told me he skipped pages of Cooper's novels until he found where the plot picked up again. Obviously descriptive passages which Cooper felt were needed to help the artistic quality of his work were of little value to my father. Still, there is a general agreement among readers that there exists a writing which is both concrete in its exactness but which also manages to be beautiful in its form. Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech would not be the same if someone just summarized his main points. What he says can be noted rather quickly:

"I Have A Dream"
by
Martin Luther King

A Report

Martin Luther King says that he looks forward to a day when all the citizens of the US. can live in harmony and be free.

Without his cadence and repetition of theme, this work looses much of its power. However, with his skill with words and images, King's speech stands as one of the great oratory pieces of literature in American history. It is a pleasure to listen to.

What is a pleasure to listen to brings up the entire question of poetry. I doubt I can give a full description of the pleasures of poesy here. But in Poetry and Meter the comment is made that with poems, the pleasure of the sound of the work is even more important than the work's meaning. A lot of ideas have been bounced around as to why humans like words which have similar sounds and are said in cadence. Some have suggested that it is just our inward drive to create order out of disorder. Patterns are pleasing to us. Also, we tend to remember words in patterns better than otherwise. The All of the epic poems were memorized originally and sung by poets. So rhyming was not only entertaining to the king it made story telling easier for the speaker. So there's a lot of pleasure in just the physical nature of poetry.

All of this may be true, but for me meaning must be still be important. I don't care how nice words sound together; if they're not saying anything, its not great literature. I guess I differ from some modem poets who do not seem to be overly involved in communicating to their readers. Personally I expect a writer to attempt to communicate with me, and to communicate something of value.

The second step that raises a work of literature from the general milieu to a cut above (moving it from just being dime­store literature to good or great literature) is its honesty ­­­ both to itself and to the world around it.

What I mean by being honest to itself is how, when a writer uses several of the sources for literary pleasure mentioned above, there is a danger that the different sources will not naturally and logically fit together. For example, if a writer is telling a story about a captain at sea (a tale of high adventure) and in the middle of the voyage he adds a murder for his hero to solve just to gain the interest of "crime-buff" readers, then it



seems to me that there is a problem with internal integrity. Since when does a captain have the skills to also be a policeman? Where in his training on how to navigate the high seas would a seaman also be exposed to deductive reasoning? I am not making judgments on how intelligent sailors are, solving crimes is just not part of their training any more than the ability to read the stars for location or navigating around the Cape of Good Hope would be within the experience of Sherlock Homes. Making a man trained in the ways of the sea into a super­sleuth sacrifices the internal honesty of the main character. Yet how many times have we seen something exactly like this happen­-especially on television dramas in which main characters return show after show with ever widening abilities?

A more general example of a source of literary pleasure often inserted in books and movies (which are nothing more than plays made for the silver screen) without attempting to integrate it into the fabric of the work is the depiction of sex. In so many works characters are pressed into intense relationships for no more cause than they happen to have careers which bring them together. I can almost hear the "hack" type author saying to himself (or herself): "Gee, The plot is moving a little slow; better add a little steam to keep up reader interest." Now certainly love, romance and the joy of marriage are legitimate sources of pleasure in a literary work, and with humans thinking about these things at such a high percent every day, it is not difficult to have human situations which naturally lead to romantic moments. However, when sex, mystery, adventure, or any other source of literary pleasure is merely plugged into work without consideration whether it belongs there or not, there is a danger of the story's internal integrity suffering and the work being weakened.

The reference to "human situations" in the above paragraph introduces what I feel is the final, most important aspect of a work's honesty­­it is a reflector of the human world around it. Literature is always about human beings. It does not matter whether they look exactly like one's neighbors, or have long ears and a little cotton tail as they do in Watership Down, or have fur on the tops of their feet and live in warm cozy holes as they do in The Hobbit, a work of literature must always represent human beings in ways that the reader can recognize as true to life

It must be obvious from what I have just said that when I write that literature must be "true to life" I do not mean that only literature written in the 20th century manner of realism or naturalism can be categorized as good or great literature. xx Works in the genres of pastoralism or allegory, and tales following the ideals of Courtly Love may not seem realistic in their portraits of humanity to the 20th century reader, but the best of all such literature always reflect truths about the human condition and were readily understandable to readers when they were written. Part of the process that students of literature must go through is relearning such guidelines so they can understand the intent of those past authors.



An example of a series of literary works which I feel are not true to human nature are the James Bond thrillers by Ian L. Fleming. Make no mistake, I find these stories loads of fun and wonderfully diverting. However, the character of agent 007, a man who lives in constant violence and has countless intimate love affairs, is presented to the reader as constantly fresh and witty­­an unscathed man. He never seems to feel remorse for the human lives which his job requires he eliminate nor concern for the women whose lives he walks in and out of.

The emotional strain of humanity's two greatest emotional calamities, Love and Death, never seem to leave their imprint on James. Thank goodness they don't. Who would want to read tales centered around a moody and grim Bond? It's contrary to his basic character and would deny us the very escape from the human condition we seek whenever we open a Fleming novel or watch a movie based on his work. However, since the author decided never to allow Bond to experience a close reflection of human reality, the adventures of the British agent will probably never be considered "great" literature.

Now, while holding the mirror up to human nature, it seems to me that the best of literature attempts to reveal what is not generally known or accepted about people in a particular society. The best literature is always in some form counter cultural.

This quality of "going across the grain" is easy to see in some modem novels which have attempted to delve into the hidden truths of human nature. However, it has always been true of the "greats" in literary history: Chaucer's characterizations of the Monk, Friar or Prioress not only reveal their humanity but demonstrate the short comings of the very church to which the author belonged. Shakespeare, while creating a great villain in The Jew. Shylock, also presses against his anti-Semitic culture by making the Jewish villain a real, persecuted, and hurting human being. And Dickens, while certainly a man of his age in his concerns for respectability and the sanctity of the home, is famous for his outrage over his society's treatment of the poor and its children. He demonstrates the very humanity of the poor even if some of his situations seem less than authentic. Thus, experience seems to dictate that the greatest of literature is counter cultural in nature.



This quality forces a revelation upon readers in some form or another. Yet, that only brings us back to our original premise of pleasure for what can be more delightful to the human mind (even though it is sometimes painful) than the gaining of new understanding about itself.

Ah, but what if the reader does not what to have his or her eyes opened? Is there pleasure then? Also, what does a reader do if much of that which gave the writer and his culture pleasure is different than the reader's culture? Shakespeare often bores the living daylights out of modem readers who are not familiar with his culture (modem teachers don't help often either). Also­­as is often the case in contemporary literature-­what if the

writer presents material which is acceptable to his or her culture but is not acceptable to others? What an urban New Yorker may enjoy does not necessarily match the taste a midwestern farmer. I as a Christian may find that in a secular culture a lot of what is praised as great literature is difficult for me to read.

Yet in both the case of Shakespeare and contemporary literature there is enough of what has already been discussed to give a reader pleasure if he or she is willing to make the effort. To get maximum pleasure it would seem that an individual must be willing to listen to a number of voices while evaluating what is being said. "garbage in, garbage out" is an old maxim, but the reader had better be careful what he or she labels as garbage. Just because something shocks a reader doesn't mean that there is not the dawning of pleasure in truth still yet to be found. Too often we assume that pleasure means no work, and yet we have all felt the pleasure of a good workout, a hard day's manual labor, a or a difficult if worthy task accomplished. It should not surprise us if reading is not sometimes the same.

Well, this has been a long ramble. And I certainly do not think that I have come up with any exact formula that will help me write great literature. As far as I can tell, most of the "greats" didn't think about writing great stuff, they just did it. Also, while I have defined what I feel helps qualify a work of literature as great, the actual judgments for individual authors and works are still wide open (even for Mr. Fleming since I have not read all of his works), and convictions will always vary as greatly as the spectrum of human opinion will allow. But then even that is part of the fun of literature.

Thus as I sit here wearily with my scrawling pen, I have come to these conclusions: I believe that the mainspring of literature is pleasure, and that works of value entertain on multiple levels. All that we read which entertains is literature. However, literature attains greatness only as it helps us, the entertained, gain a new understanding both of ourselves and the world in which we all live. This can only be done when a work is honest both to itself and the world around it and when what it reveals is not found in the general wisdom of its parent culture.


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For me, however, this form required a primary text­­the work about which the author is writing. That, for me, takes it out of the realm of literature since it can not be enjoyed by itself. But many others disagree with me.