Fall Semester 2004
Juda Bennett
Office: Bliss 239
Office Hours: T & F,
Phone: 771-2380
First Year Seminar, FSP-103-03, Inside Out
Class Times T & F,
Required
Baldwin, James. Giovanni’s Room
Bagemihl, Bruce.
Biological Exuberance (selections)
Carson, Anne. Autobiography of Red
Doty, Alexander. Flaming the Classics (selections)
Richards, David. Identity and the Case for Gay Rights
Walters, Suzanna Danuta. All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in
Movies:
Celluloid Closet (Columbia Pictures, 1995)
The
It’s Elementary (Debra Chasnoff, 1996)
You Don’t Know Dick:
Courageous Hearts of Transsexual Men
(
Class Schedule:
T 8/31 Introduction—Class on writing the college
essay. Assignment: Go to the reserve
desk at the Library and examine Biological
Exuberance. Choose one species (and
a backup) and either copy the short section (most are a couple of pages long)
or take notes. On Friday (8/31), I will
circulate a sign-up sheet and students will choose a date and a species to
present. We will have one short
presentation at the beginning of each class period.
F 9/03 All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America (3-29); Queer Theories (1-18) * * Paragraph One (200 words): Write a short paragraph describing the first time you became aware of the concept or existence of a homosexual identity or community. * *
T 9/07 No Class
F 9/10 Queer Theories, “A Brief, Slanted History of ‘Homosexual’ Activity” and “Who and What is ‘Queer’” (21-85); * * Paragraph Two (200 words): Write a short paragraph on the term “queer.” * *
T 9/14 When
the Drama Club Is Not Enough: Lessons From Safe Schools; * * Paragraph
Three (200 words): Make an argument in the form of a letter to someone at a
school (it could be your old high school), suggesting one specific change that
could be made to create a safer environment for gays and lesbians.* *
F 9/17 In-class viewing of It’s Elementary. Bring in a
children’s picture book (for ages 3-8) and be prepared to explain how identity
is represented in the book. The book
need not include a minority position; after all, there is as much to say about
the representations of the dominant culture.
You may analyze the text or images.
We should be able to read the text in a short time, and so the words—if
there are some—should not be much more than a sentence for each page. * * Paragraph Four (200 words): Introduce a
children’s book (provide important facts like author, title, one-sentence
synopsis) and then quickly focus on one key aspect, passage, picture, title or
sentence of the book. * *
T 9/21 Queer Theories, “Queering Class, Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation” (86-111); * * Paragraph Five (200 words): Critique one cartoon that relates to issues of heterosexism, compulsory heterosexuality, or homosexuality. Include a copy of the cartoon. * *
F 9/24 Baldwin, James. Giovanni’s Room (first half); intersections of race, sexuality, and nationality. * * Paragraph Six (200 words): Introduce one sentence or paragraph, providing quote(s) and page citation(s) that illustrates the issue of intersections of identity as described in Queer Theories. * *
T 9/28 Baldwin, James. Giovanni’s Room (complete the novel); the coming out novel intersects with the coming of age novel intersects with the racial protest novel. * * Paragraph Seven (200 words): Research one aspect of Giovanni’s Room or James Baldwin and present a short paragraph that incorporates this research into your own observation about the book/author. You might consider countering or extending the argument made by some other critic. * *
F
10/01 Queer Theories, “
T
10/05 Queer Theories (115-147),
F 10/08 Workshop on research and the college essay; begin reading Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red ; * * Paragraph Ten (200 words): Write a paragraph introducing and explicating a single sentence, phrase, or word from Autobiography of Red. * *
T 10/12
Anne Carson, Autobiography
of Red
F
10/15 Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red
T
10/19 Workshop on
Generating Ideas—Come to class with ideas for your paper. You should bring notes, page references, and,
especially, a thesis. We will then talk
about how to fine tune a thesis, research the idea, and develop an argument.
F 10/22 * * Draft of an Essay on Autobiography of Red * * (4-6 pages); This draft will eventually
evolve into a final essay that will include a works cited page (at least three
texts, including the Carson text), an epigraph, several quotes from the text,
and at least two other quotes from secondary resources.
T 10/26 Mid-Semester Break
F
10/29 In-Class Viewing of You Don’t Know Dick or
T 11/02 Identity and the Case for Gay Rights: Race, Gender, Religion As Analogies; “The Racial Analogy” (6-38)
F 11/05 Identity and the Case for Gay Rights: Race, Gender, Religion As Analogies ; “The Gender Analogy” (39-83)
T
11/09 Identity and the Case for Gay
Rights: Race, Gender, Religion As Analogies ; “The Religious
Analogy” (84-170)
F 11/12 * * Final Revision of the Essay on Autobiography of Red is DUE * *
T 11/16 Flaming the Classics: “My Beautiful Wickedness”: The Wizard of Oz as Lesbian Fantasy” (49-78)
F 11/19 “Two Hundred Years of Looking at Homosexual Wildlife” in Biological Exuberance (also available on SOCS)
T 11/23 TBA
F 11/26 Thanksgiving Break
T 11/30 Flaming the Classics: “Queerness, Comedy and The Women” (79-103); “Everyone’s Here for Love: Bisexuality and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (131-153)
F 12/03 * * Essay on Popular Culture (4-6 pages) * *
T 12/07 Presentations of Essays on Popular Culture
F 12/10 Last Class
Final Essay Exam: This in-class essay will be written during the Final Exam Period (TBA)
REQUIREMENTS:
a) Three formal essays (3-6 pages). These essays will be written in response to the guidelines for a formal essay (see below, “Essay Format”) and the requirements for content (as indicated above and further detailed in class). (20 % for each essay)
b) 200-word essay/paragraphs require you to write concisely. Students will be graded on content and form. (2% for each paragraph and a total of 20% of total grade for semester)
c) You are expected to participate in class discussion. If you miss more than three classes, that is grounds for receiving zero points for class participation. You are also expected to present various materials during class, such as adopting a species from Biological Exuberance. (10%)
d) There will be a threaded discussion that will take place through SOCS. You can access the discussion through my web site or by typing in the following address: http://socs.tcnj.edu/ . SOCS will also allow you to email individuals or the entire class. Students are expected to contribute questions and ideas to the SOCS discussion list. You should contribute a minimum of six offerings. You might engage in a debate, offer a helpful link to a website, suggest an outside reading or a viewing of a film, or simply ask or answer a question about the required readings. At least one entry should demonstrate your ability to research the historical, cultural, or biographical context. (10%)
ESSAY FORMAT:
Be professional! In the past, this meant using dark ink printed on standard-sized white paper (8.5”x11”). Now, you will submit a word document to SOCS, being careful not to play with margins, colored fonts, or other distracting features. There should be 1” margins all around and the text should be justified to the left and unjustified to the right. You should use a font that results in approximately 300 words per page. (Times New Roman 12 pt. yields about 300 words per page while Courier 12 pt. yields approximately 200 words per page).
You may use a cover page. If you do not, you should place the following information in the upper, left side of the first page: Juda Bennett, Course Title and Number, Your Name, Date, Word Count. If you choose to use a cover page, you should place this same information somewhere on that page.
Every essay must have a title. Do not very the font, color, or pitch of the text or title. Keep copies of your work! Failure to do any of the above may result in a lower grade.
ESSAY GRADE:
Papers will receive the following points for:
a) Technical Form (10 points): Students should follow the guidelines for “Essay Format” as stated above. They should also attend to proper form when quoting or providing citations.
(b) Writing Style (15 points): The successful paper will use proper grammar and spelling, but will also engage the reader by varying sentence length and structure, attending to diction and word choice, and employing active verbs and rich language. Redundancies and undeveloped passages are both problems of organization and writing style.
(c) Organization (15 points): Essays must feel cohesive and planned, or the reader will distrust the work and thought that went into the paper. Develop your ideas, and provide guide-posts to that development. Organization is not simply a question of transitions. Consider writing an outline. Consider writing the introduction after you have written the rest of the paper.
(d) Content (60 points): If there are significant problems with the form, style, or organization of the paper, it may be difficult to fully appreciate the content of the argument. It is your responsibility to successfully convey your best ideas with clarity. You may, however, receive all 50 points if your ideas are strong and there is enough clarity to convey those ideas. It is, however, difficult to receive even a passing grade if you do not have original ideas to convey.
A Word of Caution: You may receive zero points in any of the above categories of evaluation if your work does not demonstrate basic care or ability. You may, for example, write an essay that demonstrates technical skill and care on every page except the last page. This may result in a grade of zero points for the technical aspect of the paper. The paper, finally, must be graded as a whole. This means that there are some mistakes that may overshadow a few strengths. Late papers will receive a grade penalty, depending upon how late they are received.
SPECIAL NEEDS:
If you honor certain religious observances that conflict with the class schedule, please contact me at the beginning of the semester.
If you have extracurricular activities (e.g., sports or theater) that conflict with the class schedule, please contact me at the beginning of the semester.
If you have diagnosed learning-needs that I should know about, please contact me at the beginning of the semester.
If medical problems effect your performance, please contact me as soon as possible. An excused absence will be give for legitimate situations and if you provide documentation of the problem.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Each student is expected to submit original work that has been produced by the submitting student for this and no other class. If students wish to collaborate, rework a previous project, or combine projects for this class with another class, students are required to receive permission from me.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
The above schedule of readings and assignments may change to accommodate the class, the college, or the weather. I will try to give advanced notice in class, through e-mail, and/or on this website in the event of any needed changes.