Dr. Claire Gaudiani '66
Spring 1999 SYLLABUS

Week 1 - January 25
Literature and the Wisdom Tradition Why Read?
Uses of Literature
Defining the Wisdom Tradition
Modes/Methods/Theories of Literature Analysis
Ethical Criticism

Week 2 - February 1
Sacred Texts - Reader W.E.B. DuBois, "Jesus Christ in Texas"

Week 3 - February 8
The Call of Stories Robert Coles

Week 4 - February 15
Reader: Wisdom Tradition - Wisdom Capital

Week 5 - February 22
Doctor Stories William Carlos Williams

February 25, 1999 by 5:00 p.m. (First paper due)

Week 6 - March 1
My Own Country Abraham Verghese

Week 7 - March 8
Reader - Civic Texts

March 15 and 22 Spring Break

Week 8 - March 29
The Invisible Man Ralph Ellison

Week 9 - April 5
The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison

April 8, 1999 by 5:00 p.m. (Second paper due)

Week 10 - April 12
Reader
The Spiritual Life of Children Robert Coles
Chapter 4, "The Voice of God" (Reader)
Chapter 5, "Young Spirituality: Psychological Themes"
Tell Me A Riddle Tillie Olsen
"I Stand Here Ironing" (Reader)

Week 11 - April 19
Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children the Conscience of a Nation Jonathan Kozol

Week 12 - April 26
In Nueva York Nicholas Mohr
Reader

Week 13 - May 3
Women of Brewster Place Gloria Naylor
Film and novel

May 6, 1999 by 5:00 p.m. (Third paper due)

Week 14 - May 10 (last class)
General review of all texts.
Six presentations by two-person teams (1 hour each).

 

LITERATURE, SERVICE AND SOCIAL REFLECTION

THE GOAL OF THIS COURSE

This course aims to explore the wisdom tradition as we connect reading and analysis of literature to the experiences of the authors and subjects of the literature. As students proceed through the course readings, they will be engaged in community service to and with people whose background may connect to those in the literature they are studying. The course is part of an experimental effort called "service learning course work" underway at Connecticut College and a set of colleges and universities around the country.

Using the southeastern Connecticut area and the College's Office of Volunteers for Community Service, the course will permit students to analyze and test the perspective of each author in his/her presentation of the group and individuals that are the center of each literary piece. The required minimum of three hours of community service each week will provide a laboratory for students to learn more about and from the people they are reading about and to reflect on the connection between the life of the mind and the daily experiences of people.

This course is adapted from a syllabus taught by Professor Robert Coles at Harvard who has written extensively about the connection of academic work, community service and reflection on human society. Professor Coles emphasizes the way each of these can serve the others in the course of educating students. Coles' work on this subject is documented in The Call of Service (Houghton-Mifflin, 1993).

 

REQUIRED WORK

Each week of the semester, students are expected to attend every class, complete reading assignments and perform three to four hours of service in a community agency. In addition, students will write one journal entry each week of their reflections on both service and literature read for class. Students will also write three papers (seven pages each). Each paper and journal entry will be read by class members. The objective of these assignments is to provide students with a community of readers whose reflections on their writings will deepen students' understanding of the texts they are studying, the people they are serving and themselves. Working with a specific service focus such as tutoring children, working with prisoners, teaching adult literacy or building community leadership, students will lead class presentations and share and critique their journals and papers.

Students will be expected to read a daily paper such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe or The Washington Post and to select magazine such as The New Republic, Harpers, and Atlantic Monthly so that class discussions will be informed by contemporary reflections of other writers and by current events.

We will use the academic courseware server so I can comment on your written work, and you can exchange it with your colleagues. All written work will be done on time using the best written expression students are capable of, carefully checked for spelling and punctuation as well as logic, augmentation and illustration.

 

REQUIRED READING

Course Reader: Available for purchase in the Bookstore

Coles, Robert, The Call of Stories

Ellison, Ralph, The Invisible Man

Kozol, Jonathan, Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation

Mohr, Nicholas, In Nueva York

Morrison, Toni, The Bluest Eye

Baylor, Gloria, Women of Brewster Place

Vergese, Abraham, My Own Country

Williams, William Carlos, Doctor Stories

 

GRADING

Your grade in this course will be comprised of the following elements in the following weights.

Class participation 25%
Journals 25%
Papers 30% (10% and 20% respectively)
Final Exam 20%

Class attendance is very important as is consistent engagement in the service setting you choose. Regular completion of the two journal entries each week is also an important factor in doing well in this course since the journal writing permits you to document your gradual integration of your service experience with your literature reading and our in class discussion.

Papers and the final exam are intended to give you an opportunity to connect texts we read to major themes that repeat through the course and to demonstrate your grasp of the literary texts as well as the ideas that define human experience as we encounter it in the course.