Time Schedule:
Max Maier
C LIT 240
Seattle Campus
Comparative approach to literature and a workshop in writing comparative papers in English. Emphasis on cross-cultural comparison of literary works. Readings in English with an option to read selected texts in the original languages Offered: AWSp.
Class description
Laughter and Literature This course will explore the nature of laughter. It will ask why we laugh and what our laughter can mean. Since this is a Comparative Literature course, our focus will be primarily (but not exclusively) on literature, and on that count we will survey texts from Aristophanes in Ancient Greece to Don Delillo in contemporary America. Along the way, we will consider the comic artistry of the Spanish picaresque tale Lazarillo de Tormes, as well as the great comic masterpiece Don Quixote, and the fine comic plays of Molière and Oscar Wilde. Topics to be considered will be the historical aspect of comedy (i.e. to what degree is the comic “timeless”), the misanthropic nature of comedy, the social responsibility of comedy, and the relationship between comic theory and practice. By the end of the course, we hope to arrive at our own way of categorizing and theorizing the comic in literature and a basis for comparing the comic in media outside of literature. (television, film, drama, pantomime, etc.)
Students will also write three essays during the quarter of 5-7 pages and keep a journal in which they reflect on their own laughter and the occasions for it. Periodic quizzes will be given to make sure that students are keeping up with their reading.
Required Books (available from UW Bookstore) Lazarillo de Tormes (Dover Dual Language) Cervantes, Excerpts from Don Quixote (Dover) Aristophanes, Frogs and Other Plays (Penguin) Molière, Tartuffe (Dover Thrift) Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest(Dover Thrift) Don DeLillo, White Noise (Penguin) Composition book (for laughter journal) Additional handouts on comic theory will be distributed in class.
Student learning goals
Improve writing skills, comfort and confidence with the language.
Better understand theories of comedy and the mechanisms of laughter.
Feel better equipped to read literary texts and approach them in a sensible way.
Expand and exlore critical thinking skills and strategies.
General method of instruction
I advocate a student-centered form of instruction. Students will work in small groups to discuss readings and then we will bring the ideas together as a larger group.
Recommended preparation
No special background necessary, only an interest in learning and writing about theories of comedy and an interest in laughter.
Class assignments and grading
Students will be asked to read texts both on theories of comedy and literature of a comic slant. I believe that regular writing practice is very important in order to feel comfortable using the language, and to this end, students will be asked to keep an informal writing journal and submit 3 formal/graded essays during the course.
Participation/Reading Quizzes 20% (regular attendance, contributions to small group work) Informal Writing Journal 20% (students will write regularly on an informal basis, and the grade will be based more on effort than content). Formal Writing Assignments (3)-20% each. These three assignments of 5-7 pages will be graded both on linguistic qualities and argumentative techniques employed.
