The Language and Politics of Herman Melville

AML 4311    Section 2074     Fall 2000     T 7; R 7-8 in Rolfs 115
"It was the year 1774. The difficulties long pending between the colonies and England were arriving at their crisis. Hostilities were certain."

And so one of Herman Melville's weariest heroes, Israel Potter, "Goes to the Wars; and Reaching Bunker Hill in Time to Be of Service," becomes a Revolutionary war veteran. But in the end, his patriotism garners him little; impoverished, "his scars proved only his medals. He dictated a little book, of the record of his fortunes. But long ago it faded out of print--himself out of being--his name out of memory."

In this major authors class, we will raise the faded print of the political within and without Melville's texts, such as the politics found in his Civil War poetry, in his short stories, and, of course, in his novels: Moby Dick, Israel Potter, and Billy Budd. Through an in-depth examination of the history and politics of publication, the politics of literature in early America, as well as the questions Melville's stories raise for contemporary readers, this class will explore how the language of 19th century politics and culture in the works of one of America's most celebrated authors still holds value for us today in the 21st century. We will also be making use of the WWW, and the electronic classroom, in order to work with one another on this material.

Required Work

Reading Links, Required Reading, Research
(NOTE: Please purchase the assigned text. Otherwise, you will not have the proper material. Books are available at Iris Books, 375-7477)
 
 


Civil War Links
 

Overview Schedule (with links to individual units)

Unit I:        Ante-Bellum Melville: Short stories and Israel Potter                (august 24-sept 14)
Unit II:       Elements of War: Moby Dick                                                          (sept 19-oct 19)
Unit III:      The Bloodiest Conflict: Battle Pieces                                             (oct 24-nov. 16)
Unit IV:      Men, Impressed: Billy Budd                                                            (nov. 21-end)

READ THESE OVER CAREFULLY. IF THERE ARE ANY INSTRUCTIONS YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, ASK NOW!.
 
 

1.   Class participation:  15%.  this class should belong to you--this means active, responsible participation. here are some guidelines:

  a.  Attendance.  You will agree to be in class, promptly, at the opening of
 the class period WITH THE READING ASSIGNMENT.  If you are more than 15
 minutes late, DO NOT COME TO CLASS because you will be marked absent regardless;
 ditto if you don't have the reading.  You have three days of grace to be absent
 --after that your grade will suffer. Only severe illness or injury will be allowed
 as exceptions. In such cases, phone me at home or in the office.
 b. Response.  You will agree to answer and pose questions in class,  with
 due respect to the class and your classmates.  I know this is difficult. I ask
 for a good faith effort.
 c.  Preparation.  You will agree to have PREPARED the assignment and will
 be ready to discuss it or write about it or ask questions about it.  This does
 not mean that you glanced at it or that you know "generally" what the essay says. It
 means rather that if you did not comprehend the assignment, you took notes and have
 located specific moments or selections that you would like to see explained or discussed.
 It means in addition that if you still have trouble with the material, that you set aside
time to see me, so that we can discuss the essay or reading in further detail.

Regular class attendance by itself does not constitute good class participation. If you attend all the class sessions but don't contribute to the discussions, you will earn nothing better than a D for this portion of your grade. I expect you to keep up with the reading and to participate actively in class discussions all semester. If you have trouble speaking in class, which many people do, come see me in office hours so that we can strategize about this difficulty.

2.  Bi-Weekly Log Books:  20%. These will consist of short, typed responses that should help you to prepare both for class discussion and for the final paper. I will not grade the individual responses, but you will receive either an  "s" or a "u"--satisfactory or not. If you receive a "u" you will have one week from the day that I return your work to revise for an "s"--after that, the "u" stands. At the end of the class, I will give the responses a grade, which will then stand.

 1. # of S/U. "S" means you've done the assignment well, and according to #s 2 and 3,
 below. in addition, for the final grade, three "s" = A. In rare cases, I will award an S +.
 If you should receive 3 S + 's, this portion of your final grade will stand as an A +.
 Remember, it is possible to walk out of this classroom with an A +.  2 "S" one "U" = B ; 2
 "U" one "S" = C; 3 "U" = E.

 2. content. in order to receive an "S" you must answer and discuss the response question
at  hand (not the one you might have thought you read, so if you don't understand the
 question, or are at all confused, ask). you must answer all parts of the question, and to
 the best of your verbal and critical abilities.

 3. presentation. by this, i don't mean elaborate graphics. i mean your work should be
 typed, in a clean and clear fashion, with your name, the date, and the class listed on
 the right hand side of the page.

In other words, these responses should serve you as a study aid but also should present your thinking to me across the breadth and depth of the semester's work.

3. Quizzes: 20%. There will be a quiz per unit, on the readings of that unit. In the end, I will average these together for the 20%

4. In-Class Presentation:  25%. We are all going to be doing some kind of RESEARCH. The research will be work that will guide your final paper and I will set up a schedule of presentations across the semester. Each person much choose a piece of prose from the class readings, or the "Battle-Piece" poems, in their entirety. The assingment with regard to that choice will be discussed in class on the opening day. However, keep in mind that you will be responsible for presenting the material to your classmates.

5. Final Paper: 20%. To be discussed.

policy:
Grades on written work  will be based on a number of factors. The minimum requirement for a C is that your writing show a good knowledge of the assigned readings and be clear, coherent, and organized in some identifiable manner, with no repeated faults in grammar and punctuation. A C indicates that you have shown competence in reading and analyzing and that you have made a reasonable attempt to complete the assignment AS IT HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO YOU--in other words, that you have read and in some measure tried to complete the assignment; higher grades will depend upon your care in reading the texts, the logical development of your ideas, the nuance and strength of your analysis, and the thoughtfulness and imagination shown by your approach. All written work, with the exception of in-class quizzes  must be typed or computer-printed on white, 8 1/2 x 11" paper, with 1-inch margins on all sides.  Your typeface must be legible, 10-12 picas, and NOT SCRIPT--that means, not "fake" or computer generated, scriptive handwriting  and not faded toward oblivion. In either case, I will return the work to you ungraded. I WILL NOT ACCEPT WORK THAT DOES NOT MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS. I WILL NOT ACCEPT LATE WORK , unless you speak to me a week in advance of the deadline or have a reasonable problem.

WARNING:  I regret having to remind you that plagiarism is a serious and actionable offense. Plagiarism means that you have represented another's work as if it were your own--from a short quote to an entire paper.  I am required by law and by University ethics to pursue questions of plagiarism---which can lead to expulsion.  So please, for your sake and mine, don't .