Fall 2001
Dr. R. Nordquist
Victor Hall 1-10
(912) 921 5991
nordquist@mail.com  

ASSIGNMENTS

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EXAMS

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STUDENTS' PAGES

SYLLABUS

WRITERLY ADVICE

Advice to Students

Assignments

Course assignments are listed here in reverse chronological order--i.e., upcoming assignments are at the top of the page, 
past assignments below.  The date preceding each assignment is the due date.

December 4 (Tuesday).
--No new readings are assigned for this week.  On Tuesday, we'll review guidelines and tips for the final exam (see EXAMS), which is scheduled for 4:30 on Thursday, December 13, in Victor 102.  There will be no class this Thursday (Dec. 6).  If you'd like feedback on a draft for Project #4, please (as always) schedule an appointment (921 5991).   Effective Tuesday, December 4, my office is in room 297D of University Hall.

November 27 (Tuesday).
--We'll begin winding down this week with a pair of stories and several poems that revisit a variety of themes considered earlier in the term.  The two stories are "Shiloh" (62) and "Why I Like Country Music" (571).   Here are the poems:
"Symptoms of Love" (807)
"When I was one-and-twenty" (954)
"On His Deafness" (1093)
"A Martian Sends a Postcard Home" (1097)
"For the Sleepwalkers" (1082)
"Funeral Blues" (1003)
"Advice to My Son" (716)
"Ulysses" (986)
"I'm Still Here" (923)
Though we won't have our (last) quick quiz until Thursday (Nov. 29) this week, make sure that you're familiar with all of the assigned readings (especially the two stories) in time for our discussion on Tuesday (Nov. 27).  A number of the readings assigned for this week will reappear on our final exam (which we'll begin talking about in earnest this week).   Keep an eye on the NOTES page this weekend for background information on some of the assigned readings and authors.  (You should know, for instance, that James Alan McPherson--author of "Why I Like Country Music"--was born in Savannah, Georgia.)

November 13 (Tuesday).
--Our theme this week is mortality.   Read thoughtfully the following poems and be prepared for a quick quiz on Tuesday: "Poem for My Father's Ghost," by Mary Oliver (1091); "Photograph of My Father" (1055); "Kicking the Leaves" (1076); "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" (1034) ( ); "Death Be Not Proud" (945); "Channel Firing" (948); "Dulce et Decorum Est" (1022) ( ); "Facing It" (1087); "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" (720).

November 8 (Thursday).
--Read the short story "Chrysanthemums" (handout) and the one-act play Trifles (p. 1615), and be prepared for a quick quiz on both works.

October 30 (Tuesday).
--Read for today the following short stories: "Everyday Use" (654); "I Stand Here Ironing" (433); "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" (443); "Long Distance" (601); and "The Astronomer's Wife" (57).   Quiz on Thursday.

October 25 (Thursday).
-- Read for today (and be prepared for a quiz on) The Glass Menagerie (page 1779).  Notes on the play have been posted.

October 11 (Thursday).
-- Read for today's class Act Two of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman (pages 1731-1769), and be prepared for a quick quiz on the entire play. 

October 9 (Tuesday).
-- Read for today's class Act One of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman (pages 1700-1731).  See NOTES for Week Eight.

October 2 (Tuesday).
-- Read for today's class the background discussion of Greek Theater (1217-1222) and (for today's quiz) Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles (1222-1262).  See the NOTES page for links to readings intended to augment your reading of this classical tragedy. 

September 27 (Thursday).
-- Quick quiz on love poems (see below) and class discussion, with particular emphasis on Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress."  

September 25 (Tuesday).
--Project #1 must be dropped off at the box outside my office no later than 4:30 p.m. today (revised due date).  See the PROJECTS page for detailed guidelines for this essay assignment. 
--Our theme this week is "Love" (perhaps followed by a question mark), Part I.   Please read the following poems for today (quiz will follow on Thursday, Sep. 27):
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" (versions by both Shakespeare and Moss, 769-770);
"If it's not love, then what is it I feel" (two translations, 774-775);
"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" (781-783);
"To My Dear and Loving Husband" (937);
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" (937-938);
"A Red, Red Rose" (938);
"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" (951);
"To His Coy Mistress" (972-973);
"My Mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" (982).

Because several of these poems are sonnets, please read the brief discussion of the sonnet on page 684.   Additional information appears online here.  

September 18 (Tuesday).
Our theme this week is "Fear and Loathing."  Please read for today's class:
--"The Lottery" and "The Summer People," two stories by Shirley Jackson.  Handouts of these two stories will be distributed in class on Thursday, Sep. 13.
--"Edgar Allan Poe in Context" (127-131); "The Cask of Amontillado" (138-143); "The Fall of the House of Usher" (143-156).
Please read these stories carefully in time for Tuesday's class, though I won't quiz you on them until Thursday (9/20).

September 11 (Tuesday).
Read for today's class (and be prepared for a quick quiz on) the following:
"Battle Royal," by Ralph Ellison (299)
"The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin (32)
Chapter Four: "Writing about Fiction" (107-124)*
(*The only material in this chapter that will appear on the quiz is the short story by Katherine Anne Porter, "Magic" [108-110].  But to get ready for your first writing assignment, do read carefully pages 107-112, and then skim the sample student papers [113-120], the questions [120-122], and the suggestions for writing [122-124].)
REMINDER (for emphasis): the quick quiz this week will be on Tuesday (Sep. 11), not on Thursday.

September 6 (Thursday).
Quick quiz on the readings assigned for Tuesday, September 4 (below). 

September 4 (Tuesday).
This week's theme is "Epiphanies of Adolescence."  (Check out this literary definition of epiphany, with some brief examples.)  Be prepared to begin discussing these four stories in today's class, though we won't have our quick quiz until Thursday (September 6):
"A&P," by John Updike (26)
"Araby," by James Joyce (81)
"Young Goodman Brown," by Nathaniel Hawthorne (341)
"An Ounce of Cure," by Alice Munro (593)
NOTES on these stories will be posted to the web site by Sunday evening, September 2.

August 30 (Thursday).
Quick quiz on the readings assigned for Tuesday, August 28 (below). 

August 28 (Tuesday).
This week's theme is "Lessons of Childhood."  Be prepared to discuss the following works this afternoon, though we won't have our quick quiz until Thursday (Aug. 30):
--short stories: "Bad Characters" (460), "The Lesson" (499), and "Eleven" (233).
--poems: "My Papa's Waltz" (680), "A Study of Reading Habits" (1015), "Behind Grandma's House" (1105).
--play: "Tender Offer" (1970).
A few notes to help guide your thinking about these short works will be posted to the NOTES page by Sunday evening, Aug. 26.

August 26 (Sunday).
By this evening, send a brief e-mail to Nordquist (at
nordquist@mail.com ) so that he has your e-mail address and you can make sure you have his.  (As soon as I receive your e-mail, I'll add your address to the 1102 address book and send you a quick reply.  If more than 48 hours pass after sending a note and you still haven't heard back from me, try copying your note to this address: nordqudi@mail.armstrong.edu .)

August 23 (Thursday).
Read the syllabus and pages 1-10 of Literature, 5th edition.