1.
PARTICIPATION: [20%] Participation will be judged by quality more than
quantity, but attendance and regular contributions to discussions will form a
significant part of your mark. Participation can also include on-line
commentary through the course listserv. Those of you who feel more comfortable
with "written discussion" might especially wish to take advantage of
this alternative mode.
2.
WEEKLY TEXT: [10%] Each week you will select and bring to class a brief passage
ñ a couple of sentences or at most a paragraph ñ that you think best represents
a key aspect of the textís style and/or thematics. I will ask several of you
each week to read your excerpt and say why you think it is important.
3.
FACILITATION: [10%] You will also be expected to help facilitate one class
session on a text of your choosing.
Facilitation will take the form of developing a line of interpretation
on the text, which you will offer to the class in a 5-7 minute presentation, followed by facilitation of class
discussion in which you seek to bring out the strengths and limits of the point
of view you have selected.
4.
SHORT PAPER. [10%] A short paper (approx. 3-4pages), due in the third course
session, working from one selection in the Postmodern American
Fiction anthology, in
which you argue why and how the text is (or is not) postmodernist in form
and/or addresses postmodernity as social condition.
5.
SEMINAR PAPER: Due Dec. 16th. A research essay (approx. 15-25pp) isolating and
analyzing one dimension of a class text (or another relevant contemporary text
or texts). Papers addressing some aspect of "multi/inter-cultural
postmodernism" are encouraged, but you may choose another topic if you
wish (especially if it is part of an ongoing area of interest to you -- i.e.,
dissertation work). As an alternative, you can create a substantial web site on
one of the course authors or another contemporary author of your own choosing.
[50%]