Here is the syllabus for the graduate-level Whitman and Dickinson seminar.
Whitman and Dickinson
3300:689-801 • Fall 2007
T 5:20-7:50 • Olin 123A
Jon Miller, Associate Professor of English
(Ph.D., U. of Iowa, 2000)
Find me at 330-972-5717 (office and voice mail), mjon at uakron dot edu (email), or 363 Olin Hall (office). My office hours are Monday and Wednesday, 12:00 to 1:30. Find this syllabus and other course-related materials on my website, jonmiller.org.
Course Description
This is a graduate-level seminar in Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Students will read deeply in the works of these authors. They will study the most recent scholarship about their lives and writings. And they will conduct, present, and write up their own scholarly contribution to these fields of study.
Textbooks
Dickinson, Emily. The Poems. Ed. R.W. Franklin. Reading edition. Cambridge: Belknap, 1999. ISBN 0674676246.
Loving, Jerome. Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself. Paperback edition. University of California Press, 2000. ISBN 0520226879.
Habegger, Alfred. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. Modern Library, 2001. ISBN 0812966015.
Whitman, Walt. Poetry and Prose. Library of America College Edition. 1996. ISBN 1883011353.
Note: All Dickinson poems are assigned by the Franklin numbers provided in Franklin’s reading edition. The Whitman readings come from either the Modern Library book or The Walt Whitman Archive.
Question papers
From September 4 to November 6, students will submit two 250-500 papers at each meeting. These papers will consist of a question and an answer to that question. The writing should be formal, scholarly, and primarily concerned with the interpretation of the assigned readings. They will circulate and provide the class with material for discussion and debate.
You are free to read ahead. You are also free to re-read previously assigned materials as they develop and pursue a course of research. All the readings on the syllabus are always appropriate for question papers in any week of the semester. Finally, if your research leads you to literary and/or scholarly works off the reading schedule, you may write a question paper on such material provided that you introduce this material in such a way that your classmates (and professor) will easily understand your arguments and illustrations.
Presentations
Each student will make at least two presentations to the rest of the class. The early presentation(s) will be informal, and students will use this opportunity to announce and explain their thoughts and research about particular works of literature. The final presentation will be more formal. All students will have a strict time limit (perhaps 12 minutes) in which to deliver a concise version of their final paper.
Research paper
All students will submit a research paper on selected writings by one of the two poets. This paper must deliver a sustained interpretive argument, and it must engage and profit by the relevant scholarship. The final version of the paper should be 25 to 35 pages of double-spaced twelve-point Courier. This page count includes the bibliography and endnotes. The word count for this paper might be 6,250 to 8,750 words.
On plagiarism
Plagiarism is a moral and ethical offense and, more narrowly, a violation of the scholarly and professional ethics to which you, the student, are bound. Students who falsely represent scholarly work as their own, at any stage of an assignment’s possible course of submission and re-submission, will receive, as the minimum punishment, a grade of zero for that assignment. Students can also expect to have the case reported to University authorities. This may result in further and more severe consequences. Please note too, that ignorance of this academic law is no excuse for its violation. All students have a responsibility to study and clearly understand the full range of scurrilous behaviors which constitute plagiarism.
Attendance policy
(1) Missing 20% of class warrants failure. (2) All reasons to miss class – personal or academic – are equally good. There are no “excused” absences. (3) I do not require an explanation for an absence. If you miss class, I will assume that you missed class for a good reason. I respect your privacy and do not need to know why. On the other hand, I will be concerned and curious. If you care to explain, I will listen. (4) Any lateness to class will be marked as half an absence. (5) Any early departure from class will be marked as half an absence. (6) Habitual tardiness or early departure warrants a failing participation grade. (7) I will keep a careful record of the number of times you are absent, late, or leaving early, but I will not bring this to class. And I will not be able to provide an accurate, up-to-the-minute total of time missed on demand. You are responsible for keeping your own record. (8) Your attendance record cannot be improved by additional writing assignments or other kinds of “extra credit.”
Attendance and participation
All students are expected to respect the worth and contribution of everyone in the classroom. Your attendance grade is the percentage of classes that you attend. Your participation grade reflects your day-to-day contribution to the class. Your attendance and participation grade is the product of these grades.
Final Grade
Grades are computed as follows: Research paper 60%, Presentations 15%, Question papers 15%, Attendance & Participation, 10%. All assignments receive a numeric grade. Grades will be awarded as follows: 92.5, A; 90, A-; 87.5, B+; 82.5, B; 80, B-; 77.5, C+; 72.5, C; 70.0, C-; 67.5, D+; 62.5, D; 60, D-; below 60, F.
August 28, 2007 (1)
Syllabus etc.
September 4, 2007 (2)
• Whitman, “The Child and the Profligate” The Columbian Magazine 1 (May 1844): 149-53, ed. Natalie Williams, as forthcoming in Materials of American Literature. Ed. Jon Miller. <http://jonmiller.org>.
• Dickinson, fascicle 6: 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, chs. 1 and 2.
• Habegger, My Wars, chs. 1 to 3.
• Ed Folsom, Whitman Making Books/Books Making Whitman: A Catalog and Commentary (Iowa City: Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 2005), as reprinted in The Walt Whitman Archive. Ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
• Mitchell, Domhnall. "The Grammar of Ornament: Emily Dickinson's Manuscripts and Their Meanings." Nineteenth-Century Literature 55:4 (2001): 479-514.
September 11, 2007 (3)
• Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1855) (New York: Modern Library, 1996), 1-99.
• Dickinson, fascicle 10: 244, 245, 246, 247, 131, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 135, 132, 205, 206, 248, 249, 124, 250, 251, 252, 253.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, chs. 3 and 4.
• Habegger, My Wars, chs. 4 to 6.
• Thomas Wentworth Higginson, "Letter to a Young Contributor" Atlantic Monthly 9.54 (April 1862): 401-11, as reprinted in Dickinson Electronic Archives. Ed. Martha Nell Smith. <http://www.emilydickinson.org/higgyc/yc.html>.
September 18, 2007 (4)
• Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1855) (New York: Modern Library, 1996), 100-45.
Dickinson, fascicle 14: 304, 305, 262, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 16, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, chs. 5 and 6.
• Habegger, My Wars, chs. 7 and 8.
• Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, chs. 1 and 2 of The Head of the Family (Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1858), as reprinted by Google Books. <http://books.google.com>.
September 25, 2007 (5)
• Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1856), as reprinted in The Walt Whitman Archive. Ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
• Dickinson, fascicle 15: 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, ch. 7.
• Habegger, My Wars, chs. 9 to 11.
• Charles Wadsworth, "Politics in Religion: A Thanksgiving Sermon Delivered in the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, on Thursday Morning, November 23, 1854." Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson, 1854. As reprinted by ATLA Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative <http://www.atla.com/digitalresources/>.
• Charles Wadsworth, "America's Mission: A Sermon Presented to the Arch Street Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1855." Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson, 1855. As reprinted by ATLA Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative <http://www.atla.com/digitalresources/>.
October 2, 2007 (6)
• Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1860), as reprinted in The Walt Whitman Archive. Ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
• Dickinson, fascicle 22: 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, ch. 8.
• Habegger, My Wars, chs. 12 and 13.
• Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price, "Blood-Stained Memoranda," chapter five of Re-Scripting Walt Whitman: An Introduction to His Life and Work (Blackwell Publishing, 2005), as reprinted in The Walt Whitman Archive. Ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
• Wohlpart, A. James. "A New Redemption: Emily Dickinson's Poetic in Fascicle 22 and 'I dwell in Possibility.'" South Atlantic Review: The Journal of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association 66.1 (2001): 50-83.
October 9, 2007 (7)
• Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1867), as reprinted in The Walt Whitman Archive. Ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
• Dickinson, fascicle 24: 291, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 375, 521, 522, 523, 524.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, ch. 9.
• Habegger, My Wars, chs. 14 and 15.
• Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price, "Reconstructing Leaves of Grass, Restructuring a Life," chapter six of Re-Scripting Walt Whitman: An Introduction to His Life and Work (Blackwell Publishing, 2005), as reprinted in The Walt Whitman Archive. Ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
October 16, 2007 (8)
• Whitman, Democratic Vistas (New York: Modern Library, 1996), 953-1018.
Dickinson, fascicle 25: 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, ch. 10.
• Habegger, My Wars, chs. 16 and 17.
• Thomas Carlyle, "Shooting Niagara: And After?" Littell's Living Age 1215 (September 14, 1867) 674-88, as reprinted by Google Books. <http://books.google.com>.
October 23, 2007 (9)
• Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1871-72), as reprinted in The Walt Whitman Archive. Ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
• Dickinson, fascicle 26: 589, 590, 591, 592, 593, 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599, 600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, ch. 11.
• Habegger, My Wars, ch. 18.
• McCormack, Jerusha Hull. "Domesticating Delphi: Emily Dickinson and Electro-Magnetic Telegraph." American Quarterly 55.4 (2003): 569-601.
October 30, 2007 (10)
• Whitman, Specimen Days (New York: Modern Library, 1996), 713-830.
• Dickinson, fascicle 30: 653, 654, 655, 656, 191, 657, 658, 659, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 670, 671, 672.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, ch. 12.
• Habegger, My Wars, chs. 19 and 20.
• Martin T. Buinicki, “Walt Whitman and the Question of Copyright.” American Literary History 15.2 (Summer 2003): 248-75.
November 6, 2007 (11)
• Whitman, Specimen Days (New York: Modern Library, 1996), 830-952.
• Dickinson, fascicle 37: 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 787, 788, 789, 790, 791, 792, 793.
• Loving, Walt Whitman, ch. 13.
• Habegger, My Wars, chs. 21 and 22.
November 13, 2007 (12)
November 20, 2007 (13)
November 27, 2007 (14)
December 4, 2007 (15)
• The readings for the final four weeks will be determined by the scholarship that the students in the class are busy writing.
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