William Faulkner ENGL 784

Instructor: Jeff Allred Class Meetings: T 5:30-7:20, 819 HE Office Hours: TF 10-11am and by appointment in HW 1237 Contact me: 212.772.5170 or jeff.allred@hunter.cuny.edu Class Blog Site: http://faulknerhunter.wordpress.com Learning Outcomes By the end of the semester, students who have successfully completed the course will: Have a broad understanding of Faulkners life and work, with a special focus on the formal properties of his fiction and the arc of his writerly development from the 1920s to the 40s. Gain a context for the aesthetics and politics of Faulkners work, for example, its relationship to other examples of the modernist novel, its engagement with issues of race, gender, and sexuality, and its engagement with the history of the South in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Hone their writing skills and especially close reading/analytic skills in careful engagement with formally difficult prose. Learn to engage an audience of peers as well as a broader public orally and in writing, using web-based platforms such as WordPress and wikis. Course Schedule (**besides the novels, all readings are available via the web in .pdf) date Week 1 9/3 readings Introduction to Faulkners life and work Introduction, requirements, assignments and thumbnail of The Sound and the Fury Optional reading: Malcolm Cowley, introduction to Portable Faulkner (1949) The Sound and the Fury TSAF: I-II: Benjy& Quentin Faulkner, Introduction to TSAF TSAF III-IV: Jason and Dilsey Carolyn Porter, from William Faulkner, ch 1 (39-54, rest optional) As I Lay Dying AILD AILD Light in August LIA, 1-7 No class: holiday LIA, chs 8-20 LIA, finish Absalom, Absalom! AA, chs 1-3 AA chs 4-6 writing

Week 2-3 9/10 9/17 Week 4-5 9/24 10/1 Week 6-8 10/8 10/15 10/22 10/29 Wk 9-11 11/5 11/12

Blog post #1 Blog post #2

Blog post #3 Medium wiki #1 Blog post #4

Medium wiki #2 Blog post #5

11/19 Wk 12-14 11/26 12/3 12/10

AA, finish Go Down, Moses Was, Pantaloon in Black, The Fire and the Hearth The Old People, The Bear Delta Autumn, Go Down, Moses

Term paper prospectus Blog post #6 Long paper/wiki due

Responsibilities: Six blog posts of 400-800 words + informal commenting on others posts Brief, informal in class presentation At least three short and two medium entries in our Yoknapedia (encyclopedic wiki site) Long Yoknapedia entry or research paper on a topic of your own devising based on original research (10-12 pp.) Regular attendance and participation in all discussions Grading: I will give detailed guidelines for the blog posts, exam, and encyclopedia entries separately. Your grade will be calculated as follows: blogging (25%); presentation (10%); encyclopedia entries (25%); term paper (30%), participation (10%). A FEW GENERAL POLICIES: a) regarding plagiarism Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g. plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The college is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Integrity Procedures. b) regarding students with disabilities In compliance with the American Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) and with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Hunter College is committed to ensuring educational parity and accommodations for all students with documented disabilities and/or medical conditions. It is recommended that all students with documented disabilities (Emotional, Medical, Physical and/or Learning) consult the Office of Accessibility located in Room 1124 East to secure necessary academic accommodations. For further information and assistance please call (212-772-4857) /TTY (212-6503230). c) regarding attendance and participation I do take attendance and expect you in class each day. Failure to attend will significantly impact your grade; more than four unexcused absences will result in a failing grade. Im a reasonable person, so always get in touch via email in advance if you need to miss class. I become less reasonable with excuses that come after the fact. Nor is being there enough: you have to come prepared to put away the phones and distractions and engage the texts rigorously. I will embarrass you if you are texting or otherwise engaging in distracted/distracting behavior. d) regarding technology We will use three major web resources in this course: a course blog, a course wiki, and the course Blackboard site. I plan to use Bb only for its gradebook function; we will use the blog to share informal responses to texts and for any announcements from me about the course; finally, we will use the wiki to build a free and open resource for readers of Faulkner called Yoknapedia: as its name suggests, it

will be a Wikipedia-like encyclopedia to help readers navigate Faulkners fictional world. We will also use email for communication. It is therefore a basic requirement for you to have a functioning Hunter email account and to check it frequently. I also strongly prefer that you use your Hunter email address for all course-related correspondence: getting email from your personal accounts, with handles like numbnutz34 or darealcontenda (both real examples), creates spam filter problems and is just plain embarrassing. Books:[available at Shakes and Co. (939 Lexington Avenue); all other texts are available via blog site] The Sound and the Fury As I Lay Dying Light in August Absalom, Absalom! Go Down, Moses ** all above titles are Faulkners novels (duh); if you shop around, make sure to get the Vintage editions corrected by Noel Polk to ensure correct pagination.