"The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power." --Toni Morrison

"Literature tells us that imagining one another is not just a luxurious feat achieved by the rare artist, but a daily necessity for us all." --Allan Gurganus

Dr. Derrick G. Pitard
Class Meeting:
Office: SWC 313 L
Office Hours:
Contact: (738-)2369, or

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"Literature" simply means stories that are important to us. So, one might ask, makes "literature" different from non-literary stories? Why are literary stories so much more important than, say, stories we tell friends about what happened last week in Chemistry class? How does telling or hearing something that is "literary" tell us anything? Why, in an even bigger sense, is literature such an important part of our culture? I mean, we even have classes about it at school?

To discover this, we have one big concept at the center of this course: people write "literature" because they're trying to find answers to who they are. Storytellers want people to get something out of their stories. Often being in a classroom makes writing seem artificial, as if it happens in a vacuum, removed from what we call "real life." I've always thought a lot of real life happens in class, however. If you can learn to see that what happens here--in class, in school, and in books--is not artificial, but very real, you will have learned a huge amount.

Literature is interesting in part because of its varieties. We will learn about different genres (novels, short stories, poetry, movies, etc.) and about different periods (we'll look at older and more recent fairy tales and poems), so I've picked a range of stuff to read. We'll learn that because literature is about people, that there are different perspectives--though certain books might speak to us more clearly than others, no work of literature can speak to all people as some ultimate truth, simply because no person has that kind of god-like authority. Because of this, I've picked a range of texts about some unfamiliar things to show some much different perspectives than you might be familiar with. Hopefully, all our worlds will be stretched a bit--which is why this IS real life. We'll also learn about how to write about it, using conventions of grammar, format, and so on. All of these facts and ideas, however, are just MEANS TO AN END: we want to learn how to understand and express what stories can tell us.

So, above all, enjoy this. I hope we can get past the idea that these books are "textbooks," and develop the sense that they are about real people trying to sort it all out in ways that others--readers, that is, we--can find provacative and compelling and mind-stretching.

1. Classic Fairy Tales, ed. Maria Tatar
2. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
3. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
4. Disgrace, by J.M. Coetzee
5. We will see one film, Il Postino
6. The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, 6th ed., by Jane Aaron (if you have a handbook you purchased for another class, you may not need this one--just let me see it to make sure).
7. And, bring one letter-sized, manila-type folder, with your name on it, in to class ASAP.

Here are the course objectives for Interpreting Literature:

1. Read a variety of works from different genres;
2. Consider the complex construction of “meaning” in literary works;
3. Learn to support the interpretive conclusions that they draw from any work they read;
4. Appreciate and enjoy the role of literature in their lives.

To accomplish these, you will need to analyze the language of the texts and draw conclusions from your analyses. To accomplish this the work in the course is progressive, developing from the formation of ideas to their focused analyses in formal papers. One stage of your work will lead to the next.

1. Creation: Idea creation begins in writing responses to the texts. There are nine responses due during term (they appear on the syllabus in green). These are where all of the work in the course begins. They should be on what we have been reading and discussing in class within the previous week or two. These are to be typed and at least a page in length; shorter than that, and you won't have had enough time to actually express an idea.

What's the process here? In each case, you will pick a passage--any one--from a recent text which captures you. Quote it in the response, and you will wrestle with it. What does it mean? Why do you like it? How can you connect it to some other part of the text, some other text we've read or seen in the course, or some other fact or text or bit of knowledge from outside of the course? Avoid generalities to come up with a real idea.

The process of all of this is up to you, as long as it is a response, NOT a mere summary or book report. Rant, write a journal, write a letter, tell a story--do anything creative, but avoid summary. React and consider. Student papers are generally MUCH better when students pick their own interests rather than regurgitating mine--so, this is where you generate your interests.

2. Connection: When you have an idea, it is dead without understanding why it is important. Importance is measured by how you can connect the idea to other ideas. These short "connection essays," then, have a very specific format which asks you to move outside of the readings to apply your ideas about the text elsewhere. See the criteria on the Connections Papers page, which contains the assignments. There are two of these due during term; they appear on the syllabus in red. They are 2-3 full pages, formatted in MLA style.

3. Analysis: Your analytical papers are the fullest expression of your ideas. They work within a text, using its language to craft an argument about a text's meaning. These must build upon work you have already handed in. See the Analytical Papers page for requirements. You'll have to craft it. This is why good writing takes time. There are two of these due during term; they appear on the syllabus in red. They are 2-3 full pages, formatted in MLA style.

What other kinds of work are required?

1. In Class: When you have an idea, contribute it to class discussion and see what happens when others get ahold of it. That is what class is for. Be flexible; allow yourself to change your mind. All ideas need to interact with other ideas to flourish. Writing and speaking are very closely related forms of communication, and working on one inevitably helps the other. I will let you know in private if I feel that you are not contributing as much as you can, or it will come up in the course of class discussion. I would suggest you err on the side of contributing too much, and leave it up to someone else to say whether you are carrying on too much (which does not happen too often). If at any time you are unclear about where you stand, raise the issue with me in private or in class.

2. Quizzes. These are very basic, to keep you honest with your reading. I will not quiz you on names, though of course you should be able to recognize them. You will have five (they appear on the syllabus in red), and I drop the lowest quiz grade of the term. If you pay attention they are a great way to bring your grade up.

1. All work must be completed to pass the course.
2. All procedures pass through a memo. This memo form must be used to request an excused absence or a late paper, or for any other formal request you may want to make. This will be put in your folder to make a paper trail for all business in the course. Staple to it any documentation you'll need.
3. Absence policy:
   • There are two unexcused absences permitted during the term. After this, I will penalize your FINAL course grade by 10 points for each unexcused absence. If you want an excused absence, you must get in touch beforehand and fill out the memo form. Attach to it documentation of a very good excuse. Treat attendance like going to work: you can't just miss a day without giving adequate notice (though adequate notice does not necessarily qualify the reason as excusable).
   • If you miss a class for any reason, you need to fill out a memo form for that day. This is not a form to ask for an excuse, and this is not a punishment; it is to make sure that you keep up with what is going on in the course.
   • If you miss more than 3 weeks of the course--even if you have outstanding reasons for doing so--I will ask you to withdraw from the course. If you miss more than 20% of the course, I just can't give you credit for the course because so much of the work actually happens in the classroom.
4. If you turn in late work, points will be deducted without a valid excuse. For each day that an assigment is late, 5% will be deducted from its grade. I realize that there are other commitments, but you have committed now to this class, too. If you need to turn in something late, clear it with me beforehand and, again, fill out this memo form: don't wind up disappointed with an excuse that you thought was good enough (it has happened).
5. Work must be finished on the day assigned. If it is not, or if you are not otherwise prepared for class, you may be asked to leave and to take an unexcused absence for the day.

1. Work is graded on a point system; this will make it easy for you to calculate your grade at the end of the course. There are a total of 305 points in the course, broken down as follows:
   

   • The responses are worth 40 points (5 points each). They must all be finished (see point 1, above), and on time (see points 4 and 5 above).
   • The MLA Style exercises are worth 25 points.
   • The quizzes are worth 40 points (10 points each), because I drop the lowest quiz grade out of the five quizzes.
   • The connection papers are worth 80 points (they are 40 points each), based on rubrics I hand out with the assignments.
   • The analytical papers are worth 120 points (60 points each), based on rubrics I hand out with the assignments.

   You will get an A with 270 or more points, a B with 240-269 points, a C with 210-239 points, and a D with 180-209 points. Below that is failing. Here is the sheet I will use to grade your portfolio at the end of term.

   Extra Credit! Up to 4 times during term, you may go see a literary event of some kind: a play, a reading, or some other kind of public performance. Write up a full (at least 1 full page) response which not only describes the event, but also gives an interpretation of what was interesting about it. Up to 5 points will be given for each response.

2. Plagiarism: Don't. Plagiarism is "the false assumption of authorship: the wrongful act of taking the product of another person's mind, and presenting it as your own" (Qtd. in Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Style Manual [New York: Modern Language Association, 1998] 151). It's not accidental, but deliberate. It includes cutting and pasting even just a brief phrase from a website without a proper citation. If I catch you, I will fail you instantly and/or submit your name to the Dean for disciplinary action. There are no second chances.