L S 1 0 1 - Augustana College

L S 1 0 1 - Augustana College H O N O R S 1 0 1 S e l f & O t h e r F a l l 2 0 0 8 Dr Lendol Calder , Old Main 320B , 794-7679; 788-7138 , lendolcalder@augustana.edu “W h o a r e y o u ?” s a i d t h e c a t e r p i l l a r. A l i c e r e p l i e d r a t h e r s h y l y, “I—I h a r d l y k n o w, S i r, j u s t a t p r e s e n t—a t l e a s t I k n o w w h o I w a s w h e n I g o t u p t h i s m o r n i n g, b u t I t h i n k I m u s t h a v e c h a n g e d s e v e r a l t i m e s s i n c e t h e n.” L e w i s C a r r o l l, A l i c e i n W o n d e r l a n d. “If there were no eternal consciousness in a man . . . what would lIfe be but despaIr?” Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and . “The great gap in human knowledge to which Trembling science cannot address itself by the very nature of the scientific method is, to paraphrase Kierkegaard, nothing less than this: What is it like to be an individual, to be born, live, and die?” Walker Percy, “The State of the Novel.” “How can we live if we do not believe we know who we are?” J. M Coetzee, Foe. “A n d w h o a r e y o u, s a i d h e? D o n ’ t p u z z l e m e, s a i d I.” L a u r e n c e S t e r n e, T r i s t r a m S h a n d y. Aims , To read in ways that demonstrate what literature is good for, which I would say is truth telling. Of course there is pleasure in reading, but the emotional satisfaction that comes from reading a good book is multiplied many times over when one knows that literature is a cognitive enterprise, a means of finding out and knowing what is true, what is good. , To write a first-rate critical book review essay, following a method that will prepare you for future success with essay writing. , To think about an enduring question that has perplexed reflective people across the stages: Who am I? The question has special resonance at the beginning of the 21 century, when human beings know more and more about the universe, but seem to know less and less about ourselves. In this predicament, how does a human self—an “I”—come to itself and make its way through the world? The aim here is not necessarily to arrive at definitive answers, but to articulate the conflicts around our understandings. , To think about thinking; which is to say, students will be made aware of 7-8 thinking habits of liberally educated people, and expected to master 1 or 2 of them. Books Tom Wolfe, I Am Charlotte Simmons Walker Percy, The Moviegoer Augustine, Confessions J. M. Coetzee, Foe Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling Walker Percy, Love in the Ruins Cormac McCarthy, The Road Annie Dillard, An American Childhood Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, They Say, I Say Grades The grade policy will be decided in Week 1 of the course by class plebiscite. Evaluation , Week 2: review essay of I am Charlotte Simmons (diagnostic) , Weeks 4 & 7: assignments from They Say/I Say , Week 10: review essay of I am Charlotte Simmons (final product) , In-class presentations & contributions Etc. I expect students to be familiar with the Augustana norms governing plagiarism (Inside Augustana: Student Handbook, pp. 49-50) and the Honor Code. If you copy sentences and/or paragraphs from book reviews not your own, from other published work, or from a classmates work, you will be given an F on the assignment. I reserve the right to penalize egregious cases of plagiarism with an F for the course. Schedule Week 1, in which We Shake Hands All Around and Push Off M Introductions & a short quiz to test your knowledge of the peculiar status of the self in the cosmos and whether you need to take this course T They Say/I Say, Introduction W Charlotte Simmons, chs 1-4 F Charlotte Simmons, chs 5-15 Week 2, in which We Wonder “Who is Charlotte Simmons? And Was That Her Soul That Just Died?” M Labor Day Holiday, No Class T They Say/I Say, ch 1 W Charlotte Simmons, chs 16-28 Th Charlotte Simmons review essay due Thursday 5 pm. F Charlotte Simmons, chs 29-34 Week 3, in which We Contemplate the Possibility of a Search M The Moviegoer T They Say/I Say, ch 2 W The Moviegoer F The Moviegoer thWeek 4, in which the WAYBAC machine takes us to 4 Century North Africa To Meet the Author of the West’s First Full Narrative of a Self Whose Life Reads a Lot Like—Charlotte Simmons? M Confessions T They Say/I Say, ch 3 W Confessions Th Writing Assignment Due 12:00 pm, Writing Groups meet F Confessions Week 5, in which We Meet Mr Descartes, Who Made the Self a Ghost in a Machine and imagined The Matrix 400 years before the Wachowski Brothers M Confessions T They Say/I Say, ch 4 W Descartes, selection from Discourse on Method F About Robinson Crusoe Week 6, in which Our Self-Confidence Gets Whacked by Postmodern Uncertainties M Foe T They Say/I Say, ch 6 W Foe F Fear and Trembling Week 7, in which A Cranky Dane Who Loved and Lost Scoffs at Those Who Seek the Self and Think They Can Go Further than Faith M Fear and Trembling T They Say/I Say, ch 7 W Fear and Trembling Th Writing Assignment due 12:00 pm; Writing Groups meet F Fear and Trembling Week 8, in which a Doctor With a Peculiar Allergy to Sloe Gin Fizzes Helps Us Go Beyond Kierkegaard As We Continue to Consider the Question, Who am I and What Should I Do? M Love in the Ruins, Percy, “Message in the Bottle” T They Say/I Say, ch 9 W Love in the Ruins F Love in the Ruins Week 9, in which the Frailty of Everything is Revealed at Last and We View the Absolute Truth of the World M Love in the Ruins T They Say/I Say, ch 10 W The Road F The Road Week 10, in which We Learn the Answer to the Question, What Does it Feel Like to Be Alive? O Augenblick Verweile! M An American Childhood T W An American Childhood F An American Childhood This schedule is subject to change.