Instructor:  Dr. Kay McEvoy
Office Info:  21A Davis, 223-6549
Office Hours:  MWF 1:00 – 2:00 and TR 2:30 – 3:00
Course Info:  TR 1:00 - 2:15
Email:  kmcevoy@washjeff.edu
Web Site:  http://www.washjeff.edu/users/kmcevoy

Gabriel García Márquez is one of the most revered writers in the world. His fiction has been lauded around the globe, and he is the only Colombian to have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, largely as a result of his epic novel Cien anos de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude). People from Salman Rushdie to Bill Clinton have claimed García Márquez as an important influence. When Oprah Winfrey chose two of his novels for her book club, suddenly soccer moms across the United States were finding themselves immersed in García Márquez’s unique blend of factual storytelling and magical realism. But don’t let that fool you; García Márquez’s literature is not for the faint-hearted. In this course, we will study more than five decades of his fiction to discern exactly what it is that has made García Márquez so beloved. This course counts for both the English major and minor. All works will be read in English translation.

The goals for this course are numerous and intensive. First, this course will introduce students to the literature of Gabriel García Márquez. Second, this course will introduce students to the literature of Latin America in general and to foster an understanding of and appreciation for this literature. Third, this course will teach students how to read and fully analyze a longer, more complex work of literature, both as its own entity and in terms of its literary, social, historical, and political relevance. Fourth, this course will help students refine their ability to write and speak coherently about literature. Fifth, this course will teach students how to conduct literary research, how to contextualize that research, and how to use that research to support their own interpretations of a literary work. This course will also help to prepare students for the capstone seminar.

The books for the course are as follows:

Ø      Leaf Storm and Other Stories (1955)

Ø      No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories (1961)

Ø      In Evil Hour (1962)

Ø      One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967)

Ø      The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975)

Ø      Innocent Eréndira and Other Stories (1978)

Ø      Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981)

Ø      Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)

Ø      The General in His Labyrinth (1989)

Ø      Of Love and Other Demons (1994)

Ø      Memories of My Melancholy Whores (2004)

There will also be several books and articles on reserve or posted to Sakai. Included will be García Márquez’s 1993 collection of short stories Strange Pilgrims, his 2002 memoir Living to the Tell the Tale, and examples of his nonfiction.

My expectations for students in this course are relatively simple: I expect students to read and engage with the assigned literary works, take comprehensive notes, participate in class discussions, and complete all assignments. Because active class participation is important, and because participation is impossible if you are not in class, you are allowed only 2 absences—any more than that will adversely affect your grade and if you amass more than 6 absences you will fail the course. For each absence above 2, your final course grade will be lowered a step (for example, a third absence will lower a B to a B-). Keep in mind that there are no excused absences, not for sports, concerts, trips, anything. Also, there is no way to make up in-class work, and I do not accept late work for any reason. If you are absent from class, you are responsible for getting any required work to me beforehand, obtaining notes from that day’s discussion, and finding out (from your peers, not me) what work will be due in subsequent classes. I do not accept absence from class as an excuse for missing work or being unprepared in subsequent classes. Also, arriving late is a distraction for everyone; anyone late to class will be marked absent.

The assignments and their relative worth in the grading scale are as follows:

Ø      Participation and discussion leading, worth 20%

Ø      Prepared comments/critical questions on readings, worth 20%

Ø      Critical presentations and handouts, worth 10%

Ø      In-class essays, worth 10%

Ø      Final comprehensive research paper with annotated bibliography, worth 30%

Ø      Final comprehensive presentation based on the above paper, worth 10%

The knowledge I expect you to have coming in to this course includes the following: how to define, identify and analyze all appropriate literary terms; how to define, identify, and use all major forms of literary criticism; how to develop well-reasoned critical arguments using several of the major forms of literary criticism; how to adequately support your arguments using both the literature and critical sources, including how to appropriately and effectively cite those sources; how to write an effective, coherent, well-reasoned, well-supported literary criticism paper using proper grammar and mechanics; and how to effectively participate in class discussions. If you have forgotten any of the above information, I suggest you give yourself a refresher immediately

Plagiarism is absolutely unacceptable. Plagiarism is any use of secondary source material without proper attribution. Be advised that claiming ignorance about source citation is not a defense for plagiarism. The guidelines for MLA citation are available in handbooks and on the Internet. If you are unsure about whether to cite information in your work, err on the side of caution. Also, keep in mind that anything you can find on the Internet, I can find too, and probably faster than you did, so do not risk it. If you plagiarize, you will receive an F for the course and your case will be referred to the Dean. Do not be stupid—do your own work.

Classroom etiquette is extremely important for this course (and, really, for all your courses). We will have several small and large group discussions, as well as individual presentations. It is extremely rude to carry on another conversation while someone else is talking, whether it is your instructor or one of your classmates. If you cannot possibly pay attention, you should leave, and I reserve the right to ask students to leave the class at any time. Coming to class unprepared is also a lapse in etiquette. If you cannot adequately participate in the work for that day, you should leave. Drinks are fine so long as they are in spill-proof containers but leave your lunch in the Commons—no one wants to spend 75 minutes being assaulted by the smell of chicken fingers and fries

Also, I have an ethical responsibility for the well-being of the students in my class: mental, emotional and physical. Therefore, I will not tolerate verbal or physical intimidation of any kind from any student directed at anyone in this class, including slurs directed at someone’s race, class, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, political views, etc. Anyone displaying rude or aggressive behavior will be asked to leave, and I may not allow disruptive students back into the class.

Final notes: I encourage you to contact me whenever you need to. If you need to speak with me, it is best to make an appointment, come by my office during my office hours, or send me an email. Students often put off speaking to a professor about a problem until it is too late to do anything about it, so do not hesitate to talk to me. Also, if you think you would like me to serve as a reference later, please keep in mind that I only write letters for students who have taken at least two of my courses or are known to me in some other capacity (such as being my advisee).

Course Schedule--Look here for readings and assignment due dates.

Prepared Comments and Critical Questions

Every day there are literary works assigned, you will need to come to class with four prepared comments and two critical questions (no more, no less) on that day’s reading(s), typed and ready to turn in. Go to my web site to find sample comments and questions.

Prepared Comments

Your four prepared comments should be interpretative in nature; that is, they should offer some sort of insight into a specific part of the text or the work as a whole. In terms of length, usually one sentence is not enough to make an adequate point; by the same token, if you have more than 5 sentences, you probably are not being concise enough or are actually dealing with more than one idea.

There are several ways to comment on a work, but if you are stuck, try the following:

Ø       Find a specific part of the text that caught your interest (a line, a word, a paragraph), make a note of it and analyze what it means and how it relates to the overall meaning of the work.

Ø       Locate a particular literary device within the work (metaphor, symbol, alliteration, etc.) and analyze that device both independently and within the context of the entire work.

Ø       Use a form of literary criticism to analyze the work’s meaning.

Ø       Connect an element of the work to another work you are familiar with, then comment on why understanding this connection leads to increased understanding of the assigned work’s meaning.

Critical Questions

Good critical questions should be open, not closed. A closed question leaves no room for discussion; it either leads to a single, factual answer (i.e. What year did the Titanic sink?) or a yes/no answer (i.e. Did the engineers who designed the Titanic screw up?).

Open questions leave a lot of room for interpretation and varying points of view. They usually begin with “Why” or “How,” and never lead to a “yes” or “no” answer. Consider the difference between the above questions and the open questions below:

Ø       In the movie Titanic, why was Rose so willing to turn her back on privileged society and a safe, comfortable marriage?

Ø       How does the movie Titanic show class and gender stereotypes?

Ø       Why does the band keep playing as the Titanic sinks? Why don’t the musicians leave when they have a chance?

Ø       Why did they launch lifeboats that were less than half full? What were the consequences of that decision?

As you can see, these four questions can actually lead to a lively class discussion.

Developing critical questions can also help you develop ideas for your papers, as a critical question usually lies at the heart of any good thesis. (Reminder: A thesis is the analytic point of your paper; it is the interpretation you are attempting to prove. It is important that you look at your analysis as a form of persuasion.)

These comments will also serve as material for your class participation, so take your time on them.