Please keep track of when you are schedule to write a blog post and present to the class. Remember that this is worth a significant portion of your class grade.
If you don’t see your name below, or if you would like to change the date of your presentation, please email me.
Blog Post Schedule Sign-Up
Week 1
Mon Jan 30
† Introduction
The Trickster in Folklore
Wed Feb 1
• Anansi Stories
• From The Masks of God, by Joseph Campbell
Origins of the Picaresque
Week 2
Mon Feb 6
•The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes – Author’s Prologue and Chapters One and Two (pgs 3-54) Important note: You must read the W.S. Merwin translation of Lazarillo (NYRB Classics edition).
• The Beggar’s Book (selections)
β Blog post and presentation _Ginger_
Wed Feb 8
• The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes – Chapter Three and Four (pgs 55-88)
β Blog post and presentation ________________________________________
Week 3
Wed Feb 15
Reading Response #1 Due
• Finish The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes – Chapters Five – Seven (pgs 91-118)
• “Introduction” in the NYRB edition, by Juan Goytisolo
β Blog post and presentation ______ Jaleel
Tricksters in Love
Week 4
Wed Feb 22
• “Life of a Sensuous Woman,” by Ihara Saikaku
β Blog post and presentation ___ Zack
Week 5
Mon Feb 27
† Assignment Introduction: Essay #1
• “The Disappointment,” by Aphra Behn,
β Blog post and presentation ____ Cynthia
Wed Mar 1
† Close reading exercises – we will do these in class
• “Song,” and “The Flea,” by John Donne
• “A Philosophical Satire,” by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
β Blog post and presentation Nadine – Sor Juana
β Blog post and presentation ________________________________________
Week 6
Mon Mar 6
Essay #1 Proposal
• “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Excerpt),” by Mary Wollstonecraft
• “Woman and Honor: Some Notes on Lying,” by Adrienne Rich
β Blog post and presentation ___ Elizabeth
Wed Mar 8
• “Don Juan (Excerpt),” by Lord George Gordon Byron
• “Romanticism,” from Norton Anthology
β Blog post and presentation ___ Anna
Realism of the Marginalized
Week 7
Mon Mar 13
Essay #1 First Draft Due
• “Realism Around The World,” from Norton Anthology
• “A Simple Heart,” by Gustave Flaubert
β Blog post and presentation _______ Sayed
Wed Mar 15
† Essay Workshop (You will be required to read and comment on two student papers)
Week 8
Mon Mar 20
• “Separate Ways,” and “Encounters on a Dark Night,” by Higuchi Ichiyō
• “A Brief Life (Excerpts),” by Robert Lyons Daly
β Blog post and presentation _____ Mohamed (“Separate Ways”)
Wed Mar 22
• “Clay,” by James Joyce
β Blog post and presentation _____ Antonio
Fri Mar 24
Essay#1 Second Draft Due at 5:40pm
Existentialist Tramps
Week 9
Mon Mar 27
• Waiting for Godot (Act One), by Samuel Beckett
β Blog post and presentation _____ Ramon
Wed Mar 29
• Waiting for Godot (Act Two), by Samuel Beckett
• “Samuel Beckett,” from Norton Anthology
β Blog post and presentation _____ Ali
Week 10
Mon Apr 3
• Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett – Watch a performance!
• “Zaabalawi,” by Naguib Mahfouz
β Blog post and presentation ________________________________________
Wed Apr 5
Reading Response #2 Due
† Assignment Introduction: Essay #2
• The Three-Penny Opera (Excerpt), by Bertolt Brecht
β Blog post and presentation _____ Rafael
Spring Recess!!!
Mon Apr 10
• Enjoy your break!
Wed Apr 12
• Enjoy your break!
Mon Apr 17
• Enjoy your break!
The American Picaresque
Week 11
Wed Apr 19
Essay #2 Proposal
• Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Excerpt), by Mark Twain
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Chapter One), by Mark Twain
• You Can’t Win (Chapters One, Two and Six), by Jack Black
β Blog post and presentation __Krish (Twain)
β Blog post and presentation ________________________________________
Thur Apr 20
• “The Hitchhikers,” by Eudora Welty
β Blog post and presentation ________________________________________
Week 12
Mon Apr 24
Essay #2 – First Draft Due
• On the Road (Excerpts), by Jack Kerouac
β Blog post and presentation ________________________________________
Wed Apr 26
† Essay Workshop
Week 13
Mon May 1
† Scarecrow – We will watch selections in class
• “Diving into the Wreck (Excerpts),” by Adrienne Rich
β Blog post and presentation ________________________________________
Wed May 3
Final Project Introduction, “Picaresque Stories, Poets and Critics”
• Reviews of “Scarecrow,” by Ebert, Bradshaw, and Wilkins
• “Poetry and Commitment,” by Adrienne Rich
Fri May 5
Essay #2 – Second Draft Due at 5:40pm
Your Road Story
Week 14
Mon May 8
• Reviews of “American Honey” by Brian Tallerico and A.O. Scott
Wed May 10
Final Project Pitch Due
Week 15
Mon May 15
• “The Life of Anne Moore,” by Roberto Bolaño
• from “Against Narrativity,” by Galen Strawson (Optional)
β Blog post and presentation ________________________________________
Wed May 17
Final Presentations
Week 15
Mon Dec 12 (Last day of classes)
Final Presentations
Fri Dec 16
Final Projects due 5:40pm