Syllabus and suggested extra readings

Dr. T. Caldwell, Spring 2016
Office: Suntrust 2415; 404-413-5837
Office hours: M 10-11 & by appointment
tmcaldwell@gsu.edu

ENGL 8900
Memory and Writing: Autobiography, Biography, and Memoir

This cultural and literary studies course explores the origins and forms of life writing, looking at the ways in which individual and cultural memory shapes the individual sense of self and at the relationships between text and writer. 

Jan       11        Intro discussion/Haynes, dir., I’m Not There (Dylan biopic)
            18        Martin Luther King Jr Day: No class
            25        I’m Not There; Samuel Pepys, Diary selections
Feb      1          Pepys; James Boswell, London Journal
            8          London Journal
            15        Olaudah Equiano, Interesting Narrative (virtual meeting)
            22        Equiano, Interesting Narrative
            29        William Godwin, Memoirs
Mar     7          Mary Shelley, Matilda
            14        Spring Break: No class
            21        Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace
            28        Kathryn Harrison, The Kiss
Apr     4          Malcolm X     
            11        Jill Ker Conway, The Road from Coorain
            18        Conway, The Road from Coorain; Janet Frame, handouts
            25        Jane Campion, dir., An Angel at My Table (film)

PRESENTATION TIMETABLE
Feb 1 Pepys Leslie (20 min) & (10 min sec source)
Feb 8 Boswell Randall (20 min) & (10 min sec source)
Feb 22 Equiano Keith (20 min) & Kiersten (10 min sec source)
Feb 29 Godwin Jim (20 min)
Mar 7 Shelley Paul (20 Min) & (10 min sec source)
Mar 21 Mrs. Robinson Julie (20 min) & (10 min sec source)
Mar 28 Harrison Pam (20 min) & (10 min sec source)
Apr 4 Malcolm X Chris (20 min) & (10 min sec source)
Apr 25 Campion Kiersten (20 min)

Required Texts:
These are the books I ordered from the Georgia Bookstore ONLY.  You need to have a copy of each, but I’m not requiring the particular editions.  If you can get them from other sources like amazon, that is absolutely fine.  The Pepys and Matilda I will give you copies of.

Conway, Jill Ker.  The Road from Coorain.  Vintage Books.  0-679-72436-2

Equiano, Olaudah.  The Interesting Narrative.  Norton.  0-393-97494-4

Godwin, William.  Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Women.  Broadview.  1-55111-259-0

Harrison, Kathryn.  The Kiss.  Random House.  0-679-44999-X
James Boswell, The London Journal.  Penguin.  978-0140436501
Kate Summerscale, Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady.  Bloomsbury.  9781408812419

We will have a class blog to share sources and discussion.  The days indicated on the timetable above, we will meet virtually not in class. 

Assessment:

20-min conference-style oral presentation:                30%
Article report (c. 4-5pg):                                            10%
Research paper proposal:                                           10%
Research paper:                                                          50%

Plagiarism: You must acquaint yourself with the plagiarism policy in the College Catalog.  Instructors will take seriously any bona fide work you submit.  Plagiarism, however, is a major crime and can result in your expulsion from GSU.

Recommended other readings (either for now or for later--beyond the class):

Kathryn Harrison, The Mother Knot: A Memoir

Living the anger of memories that shape her present, Harrison uses memoir to come to terms with the past and what it has made her: "Though my mother didn't prepare me for marriage or motherhood or the job of living, she did give me a muse.  My love for her preceded and has outlasted my rage. "  This memoir complements The Kiss.

Vladimir Nabokov, speak, memory

This is one of the great examples of autobiography of the twentieth century.  Nabokov's focus on the sensual and depiction of a lost world are powerful and compelling: "The cradle rocks above an abyss and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack flight between two eternities of darkness.  Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one toward he his heading for (at some forty-five hundred heartbeats an hour).

Mary Karr, The Art of Memoir

A humorous and probing deliberation of the life writer's pursuit of truth (or not) Karr's text also provides an nice overview of important auto/biographies and memoirs as well as the challenges or writing one: "I used to crumble to the floor of my study afternoons, like a long distance trucker.  I'd have to claw my way out of sleep.  When I once asked my shrink if I was suppressing some memory, he said, 'Nah, you're just really tired.'"