English 7635: Gay and Lesbian Literature
Assignments

Reading Responses

Central to our work is our shared discussion of the readings this semester. To that end, each week, three – four students will send me, by Sunday at noon, two substantial questions/provocations they think are worth the class discussing vis-á-vis the novel or play we’re reading that week (~100 – 150 words). The goal here is for discussion leaders to think about large or provocative questions that allow us to engage the text from a variety of points of view; for those of you who plan to teach, or are currently teaching, this is excellent practice for thinking about the types of questions you might pose for your own students. Ultimately, you might simply ask yourself, “What do I most want to talk about this week?”

Since there will likely be some degree of overlap in the questions, once I receive them, I’ll will turn them into 3 big questions for the group and post them as 3 separate blog posts, which will show up under “Reading Responses“. For each, I will note the discussion leader who suggested the question. That person will work to facilitate the discussion by responding to his/her/their peers. In addition, I will host a fourth discussion each week to serve as a “catch-all” for other questions, concerns, in(queer)ies, etc.

Students who are not serving as discussion leaders should write at least one substantial response to ONE of the blog posts (~300 words) and TWO brief responses (~100 words) to one of the other questions/provocations. All totaled, students should have composed around 500 words each week in response to the readings. If this is done effectively, then each week should work like a really smart, engaged book group.

Discussion Leaders by Text

Well	Maurice	Giovanni	Rubyfruit	Dancer	Oranges
Tiffany P	Tiffany P	Tiffany G	Emily	Stephen	Victoria
Siobhan	Stephanie	Kelsey	Stephanie	Brandon	Tiffany
	Stephen	Jayde	Joni	Jen	Jayde

 

FGT	Normal	Angels	Let  Dead	Summer	2 Boys
Joni	Siobhan	Emily	Stephanie	Tiffany G	Jayde
Kelsey	Joni	Siobhan	Kelsey	Stephen	Jen
Victoria	Jen	Brandon	Tiffany G	Victoria	Brandon
			Emily T

Midterm Reflection

Around midterm, I will provide a set of prompts from which you can choose one to write an 800-1000 word critical reflection which synthesizes ideas and makes connections across texts/authors that we’ve read so far, and a shorter 400-500 word reflection on texts from the course that have stood out for you for some reason. There is no expectation of outside/secondary research; the goal of this project is to provide a space to make connections in themes, concepts, experiences, etc across texts and time. As a teacher, it is important for me to know that you can write confidently and correctly as you engage multiple texts/authors as this provides some indication of you ability to successfully complete the Seminar Project.

Midterm Reflection Questions | Spring 2017

There will be no new novel/play to read the week that the Midterm Reflection is due, and you may work on it over Spring Break.

Seminar Project

After midterm, students will write 300-400 word proposals for a seminar project that engages the primary and secondary texts of the course. These proposals will be due during a week of shorter reading (we’ll be discussing The Normal Heart) and should outline your idea for a project, noting which text or texts you plan to cover in your seminar project and at least 5 – 8 sources that you’ve identified through library research that you think might be useful. You need not have read the sources yet; the goal here is to sketch out a plan and to demonstrate that you’ve already started looking for secondary materials to supplement the argument of your seminar project.

Seminar Projects should be 3,000 – 3,500 words (12 – 15 pages) in length (or the equivalent if you’re planning a new media project of some sort) and will go through a peer-review and revision process in the last two-three weeks of the semester. The goal of a longer seminar project is to provide you with the space to sketch out a compelling, original argument about a text or group of texts that we’ve read. That argument should be supported by evidence from the primary text(s) and from secondary sources. (Some of the weekly “for your consideration” pieces might be useful in this regard to spur your thinking.)

Substantial drafts of at least 8 – 10 pages will be due for peer review April 24; finished projects will be due May 1 at noon.