Syllabus for British Authors Seminar: Virginia Woolf
52-3460 Sp.’00, TH 2:00-4:50 3 credits


texts 
library reserve
requirements
weekly calendar
 forum

"Literature is open to everybody.  I refuse to allow you, Beadle though you are, to turn me off the grass.  Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind."

(Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, 75-76)
 
 

YOUR INSTRUCTOR: Karen Osborne, Ph.D. You may call me Karen.

OFFICE: Room 300-Y, 3rd floor, 33 E. Congress
MAILBOX: English department common area, suite 300, 33 E. Congress.
PHONE: 312-344-8123.

OFFICE HOURS:
Mondays 9:00-9:20; 1:30-1:50
Tuesdays tba
Thursdays 1:00-1:50
Fridays by appt.

REQUIRED TEXTS (all are books by Virginia Woolf)
Jacob’s Room (Dover; all others are Harcourt editions)
Mrs. Dalloway
Orlando
To the Lighthouse
A Room of One’s Own
The Waves
A Writer’s Diary

Note: Woolf's first two novels, The Voyage Out and Night and Day are available as e-texts.

gopher://wiretap.spies.com:70/00/Library/Classic/voyage.vw

The Voyage Out and Night and Day as e-text from Project Gutenberg

http://www.promo.net/pg/_authors/i-_woolf_virginia_.html

http://www.promo.net/pg/_authors/woolf_virginia_.html#nightandday







Recommended
Mark Hussey, Virginia Woolf A-Z. This may be difficult to find, but I asked our bookstore to try.

Also recommended (can be purchased in most bookstores, such as Women and Children First):
Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf (the most recent and comprehensive biography)
The Quentin Bell biography is still a good source

Library Reserve
The following have been placed on reserve in the library. Go to the circulation desk and look up our course reserve list in the reserve notebooks under my name.

A Writer's Diary
The Common Reader
Gorsky, Virginia Woolf
Bishop, A Virginia Woolf Chronology
Latham, Critics on Virginia Woolf
Panken, Virginia Woolf and the Lust of Creation

Also on reserve:
"Character in Fiction, " a Woolf essay.
 

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
Virginia Woolf is an important figure in British literature and in the history of the novel. By studying such novels and films as Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, To the Lighthouse, and The Waves, students will examine Woolf’s style and themes as well as her influences and her influence on later writers. Students will read selections from her criticism such as The Common Reader and excerpts from other works.

Why Literature?
A sensitivity to literature and language deepens our ability to enter into and participate effectively in the larger discourse arenas of life---whether in the world of the arts, government, business, media, education, or human relations.

PLAGIARISM
 On p. 21 of the Columbia College Chicago Catalog, 1997-1999, students are informed that “The College prohibits the following conduct: all forms of academic dishonesty including cheating; plagiarism. . . "
 In this class, any student found using the work (ideas or language) of another writer (including, but not limited to, other students) without giving credit to the source will receive an 'F' in the course. Notice how I avoided plagiarizing from the college catalog above. I used quotation marks and I acknowledged my source.

ATTENDANCE & LATENESS
 The official English Department absence policy states that “More than two absences in classes that meet once a week (and more than four in classes that meet twice a week) will affect your grade and can result in failure.”
 Save your two absences for emergencies only---unusual illness, visits to hospitals, funerals, and other disasters. The third absence lowers your final grade one letter. The fourth absence lowers your grade another letter. The fifth absence means you absolutely fail the course. Calling me to let me know you’ll be absent is nice, but it’s still an absence.

  When you are absent, you are required to see that whatever work is due that week is delivered to my mailbox by Friday of that week. You are expected, of course, to keep up with the syllabus and to be prepared for class when you return. Arriving more than ten minutes late to class (or leaving more than ten minutes early) counts as half an absence.

How Classes Will Be Conducted
Because this class is a seminar with a small number of students, we will use our class time for a variety of activities. I will use part of each week’s class to share my own remarks with you and to suggest approaches to Woolf’s work. For the remainder of class I will expect each of you to contribute your own questions and insights. We will spend part of some classes viewing film adaptions of Woolf’s novels, and I hope to bring it at least one or two guest speakers to keep things lively. Later in the semester each member of the class will present a seminar report.

I do not expect everyone to be experts or even to feel comfortable in discussing Woolf’s work, especially at first. I do hope that everyone will participate. Successful seminars depend upon active participation. The important thing is to TRY to participate, even if you find Woolf’s writing difficult. We will all respect your comments and we will all try help each other work toward greater understanding. No one should ever be afraid that he or she will be viewed as silly or less than intelligent. That is not the purpose of the seminar.

Please do not be afraid to approach me privately, either in person or through email, if you have concerns or suggestions for improving the class, or if you feel that I am not addressing your needs. Telling me this won’t devastate my ego, and I probably won’t even bite your head off!
  Of course, any student who is discourteous to another student or to the instructor, or who in any way tries to usurp the classroom for purposes other than learning, will be given an 'F' in the course. This is the only warning.
 

SEMINAR REQUIREMENTS

Short Reaction Papers/Notes; posted to Forum; 5 points each; total of 25 points
You will turn in typed informal responses to each of the novels. These responses should be approximately 1-2 pages, double-spaced. I would prefer that you bring a printout to class and also post your informal responses to the forum for the class I have created at http://network54.com/Hide/Forum/43770. There are links to the forum from the syllabus index at http://members.xoom.com/kosborne/woolf/index.html
 You may substitute a creative response for one or two of these short papers. If you’d rather draw, paint, or record something that in some way is related to one of the texts, that’s fine.

One Paper, 8-10 pages, worth 35 points
  You will write one extended essay analyzing at least one of Virginia Woolf’s novels or comparing at least one of Woolf’s works to a work by another writer. A one-page written proposal for the essay is due no later than April 13. If you wish to turn in a rough draft for my review prior to turning it in for a grade, the draft is due no later than May 11. The essay should be typed, double-spaced, and is due no later than Thursday, May 25.

 If you wish, you can post partial drafts for review on the forum, and get feedback from me and from other students. This can be very helpful as you shape and revise your essay. Just be sure you give your post a title and write a comment at the top telling us that this is your essay and that you’d like us to give you feedback.

One Seminar Report, worth 10 points
 You will sign up for a specific class date to present an oral report on one of Virginia Woolf’s novels or on a theme or technique you would like to discuss throughout her work, or a comparison of Woolf and another writer. This report can be based on the paper you are writing. The report should last approximately 10-15 minutes.

Class Participation—10 points total possible
 See my comments above on how class will be conducted. I will reward you not simply for speaking up (and certainly no one should dominate discussion), but also for helping your fellow classmates to understand the material and to gain more from the class. Become an active learner, and help others to learn. Post comments to the forum between classes.

Final Exam: 20 points
We may have a take-home final examination or an in-class final, depending on what the class decides. If it’s a take-home exam, I will distribute it on Thursday, May 25, and it will be due no later than Thursday, June 1. If it’s an in-class exam, it will be on Thursday, June 1.

Weekly Calendar
Always read and complete assignments BEFORE coming to class on the date listed

Feb. 17:  Introduction to the seminar. We will hear some excerpts from A Room of One’s Own. I will provide some background information and some critical/ theoretical approaches. Handouts.

Feb. 24: Jacob’s Room. A Writer’s Diary, 24-25; 27-30. Handouts: "Modern Fiction,"  "Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown." "Character and Fiction" on reserve.  As you read Woolf's novels, notice where and how you can draw connections between them and her theory of fiction as elaborated in these essays.

March 2. Jacob’s Room, cont.; A Writer's Diary, 39, 42, 45-48, 50-53, 62,
67, 70,73, 76, 77, 98, 101;105,134,154,184.
  Short reaction to Jacob’s Room due. Begin Mrs. Dalloway.

March 9: Mrs. Dalloway. A Writer’s Diary, 46,47,50,51,53,56-63.

March 16: Mrs. Dalloway. Short reaction paper due.
A Writer’s Diary, 65-8,70,71,73-8,81,82,84,88,98,
100-03,105,134,146. Possibly begin showing film.

March 23: Begin To the Lighthouse. A Writer’s Diary, 77-80, 84, 87, 88, 97-103.You might want to take a look at the study questions Cathy Decker has posted at http://locutus.ucr.edu/~cathy/tlh.html. Which comments or questions do you find helpful? Post a response or create your own question on forum.
 Film adaptation of Mrs. Dalloway.

March 30: To the Lighthouse. Short reaction paper due.
    A Writer’s Diary,105, 106, 125, 130, 134-5, 143, 146,148, 153, 165, 170, 184, 222.

spring break; no class April 6

April 13: To the Lighthouse, cont. Film showing. Description of paper topic due.

April 20: Orlando. A Writer’s Diary 104,112,115-18,121,122,124-6,130-4, 136,
   137, 146, 148, 153, 161, 184, 185, 205.  Seminar reports?

April 27: Orlando. Short reaction paper due. Film if possible.

May 4: Begin The Waves. Seminar reports.

May 11: The Waves. A Writer’s Diary 100, 104, 107, 128, 131, 134, 136, 139-158.
Seminar reports. Rough drafts of papers due.

May 18: The Waves, continued. A Writer’s Diary, 160-73, 176,184,185,
191,205,208, 213,222, 242-3, 248, 252,262,293,297.
Short reaction paper due. Seminar reports.

Note: Mark your calendar for the English Department Art Show and the Columbia Poetry Review publication party/reading in the next week or two!

May 25: PAPERS DUE. More seminar reports. Take-home final distributed, if we have a take-home.

June 1: Final examination (either in class, or the take-home final is due at class time.)
 
 

Be sure to visit the online Forum as well.
 

Back to Seminar Index
 

Links to Other Woolf Sites and Resources
 

http://www.colum.edu/undergraduate/english/facul/full/osborne.html

http://members.xoom.com/kosborne/classes.html