ENG 390-01 Literature and Other Arts: Melville and the Arts
HNR 303-01 Humanity and Imagination
Spring 1996, Robert K. Wallace
Tu-Th 10:40-12:05, LA 531
Office Hours, LA 545, Tu-Th 10-10:45 & 1-1:30 & by appointment
Phone 572-5506 (office), 572-5416 (department), 261-7031 (home)

Required texts: Melville, Moby-Dick (Norton Critical); Schultz, Unpainted to the Last (Kansas); spiral notebook suitable for use as log

Optional texts: Melville, Billy Budd and Other Stories (Penguin);
Bockemuhl, J. M. W. Turner

Required trip: Overnight to Chicago on Friday February 23 to see exhibition on Moby-Dick and American Art at Northwestern University in Evanston and other Moby-Dick works in Chicago (leave 2 pm Friday, return to campus late Saturday night: estimated expense (for room, transportation, and exhibit) for class members: $30 per person (4 per room) or $50 per person (2 per room); full deposit required at beginning of class January 25

Syllabus:

January 9: Introduction to course
January 11: Melville, Moby-Dick ("Etymology"-ch. 3); "Hawthorne and his Mosses" (pp. 535-48)

January 16: MD, ch. 4-23 (Turner slides)
January 18: MD, ch. 24-41

January 23: MD, ch. 42-61 (Turner slides)
January 25: MD, ch. 62-85

January 30: MD, ch. 86-105 (Turner slides)
February 1: MD, ch. 106-125

February 6: MD, ch. 126-"Epilogue"
February 8: No class--Moby-Dick log due in mail box

February 13 and 15: Presentations on works in Schultz

February 20: More presentations
February 22: Final preparations for trip to Chicago [depart 2 pm on Feb. 23, return 10:30 pm Feb. 24]

February 27: No class--make comprehensive entry on visit to Chicago; plan follow-up presentation
February 29: Follow-up presentations on Schultz & Chicago

March 5, 7: More follow-up presentations

March 7: Paper due on one or more works from Schultz/show

March 11-15: Spring Break

March 19, 21: Melville & Turner (Bockemuhl); Melville's prints

March 26, 28: Stella & Melville (Schultz, reserve)

April 2, 4: more Stella & Melville (slides & prints)

April 9, 11: Melville & art ("The Piazza," poems, Sten)

April 11: Supplemental Log due

April 16, 18: Final presentations

April 23, 25: Final presentations

April 25: Final presentation paper due

May 2: Final Exam period (10:10-12:10)

Course Procedures:

GRADES will be based on the Moby-Dick Log (20%), the Schultz/ Chicago paper (20%), the Supplemental Log (20%), the Final Presentation and Paper (25%), class participation (10%), and the final exam (5%).

For the MOBY-DICK Log each student will be required to make a substantial entry for each successive assignment in the novel. Form and content for these entries are fluid; you are to make of them what you will and can. I will grade the cumulative log, as I would a substantial essay, for imaginative strength, expressive interest, and evidence of close reading. The log may be handwritten and somewhat journalistic in form; depth of thought and fluidity of expression will be highly valued.

The SCHULTZ & CHICAGO section will begin with each student making a presentation to the class on one or more of the Moby-Dick works in Schultz's book that will be in the Chicago show. After we visit the show and see the works themselves, each student will make a follow-up presentation that will be the basis for the Schultz/ Chicago paper, in which you will interpret one or more art works in relation to the novel.

The SUPPLEMENTAL LOG will consist of a series of entries about Moby-Dick art made after you have completed the Moby-Dick log. In February and early March this part of the log will include some entries about presentations by your classmates as well as the comprehensive entry about your impressions of the exhibition in Chicago. In late March and early April your log will include a series of entries about Turner, about Stella, and about Melville's relation to art. More details will follow.

The STUDENT PRESENTATION AND FORMAL PAPER will be given and turned in during the final two weeks. Your topic must involve both Melville and the Arts in some way. It may be an extension of something we have done in class or a subject of your own devising. You will make an oral presentation of the subject you have chosen during the last two weeks of the course. You may work collaboratively with another student if you wish. A formal paper on the subject of your presentation (8-10 pages, suggested length) will be due on April 28. These papers will be returned during the final exam period, when we will have a "lite" exam. (Some students may wish to do the final presentation in the form of an original art work.)

The CLASS PARTICIPATION part of the grade will be based on response papers that will be given from time to time, and on your contributions to class discussion (including your own oral presentations and the attention you give to those of others). The success of this class will depend on the active and imaginative involvement of all members.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: attendance is expected and required. 3 or more unexcused absences will result in a lowering of the final grade.

DUE DATES: papers, logs, and presentations are due on the days listed or scheduled. If an emergency comes up, you must contact me on or before the due date so that other arrangements can be made. Three telephone numbers are listed above; you can leave messages at the last two.