Reading Assignments In some instances we shall devote our primary attentions to selected portions of a text. Such selections will be made by your instructor during the course of the semester with a view toward satisfying student interests. However, unless otherwise stipulated, each text should be read in its entirely before the respective lecture date specified on the course calendar. Written Assignments There will be three written assignments, as follows: An Interrogative Notebook. Inasmuch as class discussion periods will follow the contours of your specific interests, each student is asked to prepare for each Thursday session by formulating no less than five (5) questions, the consideration of which s/he regards as suitable for initiating insight into the text at hand. In order to facilitate this process in a reliable manner, you are further asked to record your questions in a notebook which will be reviewed and graded by your instructor. Roughly twenty-three percent of the final grade will reflect the quality of this notebook. Cosmetics are unimportant; notebooks will be assessed solely with regard to evidence of your ability to open avenues of insight into the course materials. An Analytical Essay. Roughly thirty-one percent of the final grade will be based on your submission of a formal essay devoted to close semantic analysis of terms or passages drawn from a single work. Not to exceed fifteen (15) double-spaced typed pages, this assignment may be completed using either of the following formats: (a) Lab Reports: after indicating the particular sentence, paragraph, or extended passage on which you will focus, examine the selection from as many angles (style, import, function, etc.) as possible within the confines of a three- page report. Repeat this process five (5) times, each time adding new layers of refined observation. (b) Interpretive Lexicon: first select thirty (30) key terms or phrases used by the author of the text on which you have chosen to focus; next, define each term or phrase in a manner which directs insight toward the work as a whole. The idea here is to identify the pivotal, foundational, or vital notions which (respectively) orient, structure, or animate the work. The paper should be divided into two parts: a preface indicating the general drift of your interpretation, and the lexicon proper. A Critical Essay. Roughly thirty-six percent of the final grade will be based on your submission of a formal essay devoted to a creative synthesis of your insights into a single work. Not to exceed fifteen (15) double-spaced typed pages, this assignment may be completed using one of the following formats: Type One: assessing the author's achievement: this format divides into two parts: (1) a theoretical apparatus or account of the criteria by means of which the greatness of a written text should be measured; and (2) the synthesis proper, i.e., an examination of the work you've selected in light of your theoretical apparatus. Type Two: assessing the author's influence: this format addresses the question, How has the work contributed (or is now contributing) to the fabric of our contemporary culture? Type Three: assessing the meaning of the work: to complete the critical essay using this format, you should present the views of three critical works on the text of your choice and either defend one of these views or, if none proves defensible, advance the outlines of your own view.