Spring 2005

T C 603B • Composition and Reading in World Literature

Course Description

Our main theme in the second semester is how stories reveal the people who tell them. We have chosen a few works in which writers or narrators discover (or hide) themselves. We will also look at the way characters are developed (or not) in theater and fiction.

About the Professor Woodruff is a philosopher, writer, and translator. In January 2005, Woodruff’s book on democracy will be issued by Oxford University Press. In April 2005, a pair of operas by Welcher, using Woodruff’s libretti, will be staged by the UT Opera Theater.

Grading Policy

0%: Write a one-page reader response every other week for a total of six (pass/fail, no revisions). Write something short and creative in lieu of one response paper. 25%: Write one graded research-type term paper of about 2500 words (topic statement, at least one preliminary draft, and a final draft required, on the dates listed on the syllabus). Penalties for lateness will apply. 0%: A poetry workshop for those interested (ungraded). 10%: Mid-term examination 25%: Final examination 20%: Participation and attendance in class. If you are more than 5 minutes late you are not in attendance by our standards. Penalties for absences apply. 20%: Two brief oral presentations.

Texts

Elizabeth Bishop, selected letters and poems (handout) John Keats, selected poems and letters (handout) George Büchner, Woyzeck Albert Camus, Caligula and Other Plays Geoffrey Chaucer; Prologue, Knight, Miller, Reeve, Wife (in original text) Anton Chekov, Uncle Vanya Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway Two contemporary works to be announced.

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