UWC2101E: Writing and Critical Thinking: Literature and Ethics

Schedule

Class meetings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays in SR4 (Level 5) at these times: Group 1: 12-2 pm // Group 2: 4-6 pm

Office hours: Wednesday, 10-11:30 and by appointment, room #06-36 on Level 6.

[ Unit 1 :: Unit 2 :: Unit 3 ]

Deadlines refer to midnight of the day in question, unless otherwise noted.

Unit 1

Week 1 (Aug 12-15):

1.1: Course introduction. Screening of a documentary film.

1.2: William Carlos Williams, "The Use of Force." James Phelan, "Sethe's Choice: Beloved and the Ethics of Reading" (20 pp.)

Preparation 1.2

Week 2 (Aug 19-22):

2.1: Winfried Fluck, "Fiction and Justice (Inquiries into Ethics and Narratives)" (17 pp.)

Preparation 2.1

2.2: John Guillory, "The Ethical Practice of Modernity: The Example of Reading" (16 pp.)

Prewriting exercise for Essay 1 (2 paragraphs, due Sunday, August 24)

Week 3 (Aug 26-29):

3.1: Phelan, Fluck, Guillory, "The Use of Force"

Notes on definitions of ethics and morality

3.2: First draft of Essay 1 due in class: a short 3-4 page critical analysis of an idea or problem posed by one of the essays set for this unit. :: Peer review workshop.

Week 4 (Sept 2-5): Conferences

4.1:

4.2:

Final draft of Essay 1 due: Sunday, Sept 7 in the IVLE workbin.

Unit 2

Week 5 (Sept 9-12): Claims and Evidence

5.1: "How We Know What We Know" (Hayakawa). Michel de Montaigne, "Of Experience" (selected passages).

Preparation 5.1

5.2: Montaigne continued.

Week 6 (September 16-19): Development

6.1: Franz Kafka, "In the Penal Colony" (38 pp.)

6.2: Kafka continued. Immanuel Kant, "The Noble Descent of Duty" (short excerpt) (2 pp.)

Week 7 (September 23-26): Development

7.1: The Sweet Hereafter (1997). Dir. Atom Egoyan.

7.2: Discussion of TSH.

Week 8 (September 30 - October 3): Coherence and Cohesion

8.1: Writing workshop.

First draft of Essay 2 due: a 5-6 page comparative analysis. Upload to the IVLE Workbin by Wednesday, Oct 1. E-mail copy to your reviewer at the same time.

8.2: Writing workshop

E-mail peer reviews to be sent to writer (CC to me) by Oct 4.

Week 9 (Oct 7-10): Conferences

9.1:

9.2:

Final draft of Essay 2 due Sunday, Oct 12 in the IVLE workbin.

Unit 3

Week 10 (October 14-17): Attribution and Appropriation

10.1: Michel de Certeau, "Reading as Poaching"; The Intruder by Borges and (The Intruder by Bookchin (net art, more information at net_condition) (18 pp.)

Preparation 10.1

10.2: Lisa Samuels^*, "Relinquish¹ Intellectual Property^2" (17 pp.)

Preparation 10.2

Week 11 (October 21-24): Research

Proposals for Essay 3 topics. Post on IVLE by 12:00 pm Monday, Oct 20.

11.1: Library research workshop.

Peer feedback on proposals

11.2: holiday, no classes (Deepavali)

Week 12 (October 28-31): Research

12.1: Using sources. Research ethics.

12.2: Using sources. Conclusions.

3-4 page rough draft of Essay 3 due Saturday, November 1.

Week 13 (November 4-7): Conferences

Week 14: (November 11-14): Reading period

Final draft of Essay 3 due Wednesday, November 12.