ENG 579:
Avant-Garde Literature & Writing
Joseph T. Thomas, Jr.
email: jtthomas@mail.sdsu.edu
"jHegaf" by Geof Huth
&
John Cage's Mesostic
Class Meetings: Tuesday 4:00-6:40; LS 111
Office: AL-255
Contact: jtthomas@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday: 3:00-3:50PM; Wednesday: 5:00-6:50 (and by appointment)
!!!! IMPORTANT: Online Schedule !!!!
In this class we will explore the historic and contemporary "avant-garde" and experimental writing traditions & techniques. We will read, write about, and write our own experimental texts, discussing their cultural, historical, and political implications. |
REQUIRED TEXTS
Creative Reading
by Ron PadgettThe Tapeworm Foundry: andor the dangerous prevalence of imagination
by Darren Wershler-Henry
$10.95
#Publisher: House Of Anansi (April 1, 2000)Oulipo Compendium (Paperback)
by Harry Matthews
$42.00
#Publisher: Atlas/Make NowFolly
By Nada Gordon
$13.95
#Publisher: Roof BooksRecyclopedia: Trimmings, S*PeRM**K*T, and Muse & Drudge (Paperback)
by Harryette Mullen
$15.95
# Publisher: Graywolf Press (October 31, 2006)Revolution Of The Word: A New Gathering of American Avant Garde Poetry 1914-1945 (Paperback)
by Jerome Rothenberg
$15.95
# Publisher: Exact Change (March 2, 2004)Eunoia (Paperback)
by Christian Bök
$16.95
# Publisher: Coach House Press; 1 edition (September 2001)Your Country Is Great: Afghanistan-Guyana (Paperback)
by Ara Shirinyan
$15.00
# Publisher: Future Poem; First edition
Late Work:
Work will be turned in on the date due or not at all. We all have schedules, and it is imperative that we keep to them. However, I am not completely draconian. In extreme cases I may accept late work, but don't count on it.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is taking someone else's words, idea, or argument and claiming it as your own. Don't do it unless you have a interesting and rigorous intellectual or aesthetical reason. Cite all your sources unless you discuss your appropriation with me first. Instances of plagiarism designed to avoid intellectual work will earn you an F for the course, and, in egregious cases, may result in expulsion from the university. Please familiarize yourself with SDSU plagiarism policies, discussed in your handbook. Throughout the syllabus and my links page are links to many useful web sources. Do not take the words or ideas from any of these sources without providing the appropriate citations unless, again, you discuss your aims with me first. This goes for oral presentations as well as written work.
Assignments/Grade Distribution:
15%: Participation
15%: Blackboard Posts
20%: Presentation
25%: Writing Projects
25%: Portfolio
Participation: (15%)
I expect you to come to class with something to say. In addition to researching the authors, think about when the books or essays were published, reacquaint yourself with historical context that surrounds the work, its reception, etc. Make connections between the content of this course and others you have taken, and apply whatever theoretical, philosophical, or pedagogical rubrics you feel are appropriate (check out the literature, poetry, and theory links on my webpage. And use print sources as well. The library is a wonderful place). Contributions to the Blackboard discussion threads above and beyond the minimum requirement counts towards your participation grade.
Absences will count against your final grade, especially as this is a once a week class. One absence is the same as missing an entire week of class. Keep that in mind, and miss as few classes as possible.
Blackboard Posts (15%)
These are formalized reflections on the week's readings which will be posted to a discussion thread on Blackboard (log into Blackboard, click on "communication," and then on whatever week you are responding to. We'll go over the process in class). You will be a member of either Group A or Group B. Beginning on the second week, one group will write a Reading Response of three hundred to three hundred and fifty words (300-350) to the assigned readings. These responses may focus on one reading, or link two or more of the readings, including previous reading assignments. However, while they may reference earlier readings, these responses should focus primarily on the readings for that week. Then the second group will write a shorter, two hundred and fifty to three hundred word (250-300) Peer Response to a Reading Response. (Please put your word count on the bottom of each post.) These two groups will alternate throughout the semester.
The first group (Reading Response) will post their work to Blackboard by 10:00AM Sunday. The second group (Peer Response) will post their response by 10:00AM Tuesday, etc. Thus, each group is responsible for posting their writing by 10:00AM on its assigned days. Responses will guide our class discussion. Reading Responses may point out and discuss crucial terms and concepts, challenge or extend ideas developed in previous discussions or in the critical readings, or link the readings in surprising ways. Peer Responses will critically engage, challenge, or extend the ideas raised by that week's Reading Responses. Both responses should be cordial and collegial, even (or especially!) when disagreeing with classmates. You will want to be generative, opening up discussion, not foreclosing it.
You may want to (and are encouraged to!) continue discussing ideas once you've met the minimum requirement. In other classes, I've had discussion threads continue for weeks. These discussions are for your benefit, so enjoy them. Contributing often and articulately certainly won't hurt your participation grade.
The schedule is as follows (note that, for parity, Week Ten deviates from the regular schedule):
Week Two
Sept 6 Group A Reading Response
8 Group B Peer ResponseWeek Three
Sept 13 Group B Reading Response
15 Group A Peer ResponseWeek Four
Sept 20 Group A Reading Response
22 Group B Peer Response
Week Five
Sept 27 Group B Reading Response
29 Group A Peer ResponseWeek Six
Oct 4 Group A Reading Response
6 Group B Peer ResponseWeek Seven
Oct 11 Group B Reading Response
13 Group A Peer ResponseWeek Eight
Oct 18 Group A Reading Response
20 Group B Peer ResponseWeek Nine
Oct 25 Group B Reading Response
27 Group A Peer ResponseWeek Ten (NOTE DIFFERENCE!!)
Nov 1 Groups A & B Reading Response
3 Groups B & A Peer ResponseWeek Eleven
Nov 8 Group B Reading Response
10 Group A Peer ResponseWeek Twelve
Nov 15 Group A Reading Response
17 Group B Peer ResponseWeek Thirteen
Nov 22 No Posts This WeekWeek Fourteen
Nov 29 No Posts This WeekWeek Fifteen
Dec 6 Group B Reading Response
8 Group A Peer Response
Presentations (10% Each--20% Total)
This is a broad assignment, so don't be overwhelmed. The first step is simply to choose a poet or experimental writer whose work is formally, technically impressive. That is, find a writer who is doing things formally that strike you as odd or provocative, one who challenges conventional notions of aesthetic value and form. Then research this writer. Read several of her or his books. Find out what other writers are saying about your choice. What kinds of publications is s/he found in? If she or he is still alive, you might contact the writer: chat with them about influences, about their goals and processes (and remember, if you contact a living writer, PLEASE, have the courtesy to do a little research before talking with them). Then you'll want to spend some time reflecting on what you've learned. Outline your thoughts and prepare a ten minute talk on the writer. Plan on bringing in some examples of her or his writing. Create a handout that boils down what you think is important about the author and her or his work. Focus your talk, of course, on technique, on form, and be prepared to relate your choice's technical percularities to other works we've read and even to other poets and writers we haven't read. Have your selection for the first presentation approved by me within the first two weeks of class. Feel free to choose poets from Revolution of the Word that we do not cover in class.
You will prepare two of these presentations. One before mid-term, the second after.Here are some sources that may help (but don't simply plagiarize... what can YOU add?): Modern American Poetry, Electronic Poetry Center, and Academy of American Poets. Use print sources as well. You should go above and beyond material easily found on, say, Wikipedia. The library is a wonderful place.
Prepared & In-class Writing: (25%)
‘Prepared Writing’ refers to any writing prepared out of class. We will discuss these works as a class and in small groups. All prepared writing, unless I say otherwise, is to be typed.
Periodically, we will work on in-class writing assignments. These are completed in-class, and cannot be made up.
Final Portfolio: (25%)
Your final portfolio will be a collection of representative works you've produced for our class. You will be writing poems and performing exercises throughout the semester, and any of these are fair game for the portfolio. We'll discuss the portfolio more as the semester progresses.