Assignment #8: Truth

 1. Read: Chapter 6, "Truth"

Supplemental:

a. Mikkonen, "Truth in Literature":

(PDF) Truth in Literature: The Problem of Knowledge and Insight Gained from Fiction (researchgate.net)

b. Larissa Shmailo, 21st Century Russian Poetry

Twenty-first Century Russian Poetry - Contents - Big Bride Press (bigbridge.org)

Final Essay #3

Compose a critical essay (or other form of writing) in which you attempt to answer one of the following questions. (Use the same parameters as essays #1-2).  Due: April 22, to be shared in class, hopefully; rewrites due: April 29th.

1. (Practice): How is interpretation related to appreciation when approaching literature as a form of art?

2. (Fiction): a. Can a reader be genuinely emotionally moved by fictional entities? or

                     b. What does it mean to tell a fictional story?

3. (Truth): Is truth an aspiration of literature?  If so, what kind? (And if not, why not?)

4. (Value): a. Is there any objective basis for placing value on literature? or

                    b. Does ethics have anything to do with literary value?

Assignment #7: Fiction; Tolstoy; rewrites

Read: Chapter 5, Fiction.

Read: "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Tolstoy:

How Much Land Does a Man Need (wordpress.com)

Supplemental: IEP: "Paradox of Fiction"

Paradox of Fiction, The | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (utm.edu)

Reminder: rewrites, if you desire to undertake one, are due next Wednesday, the 17th.

Assignment #6: Practice; "The Cloak"

1. Read: Lamarque, Chapter 4, "Practice"

2. Read: "Introduction" to the Best Russian Short Stories; and "The Cloak," by Gogol:

Best Russian Short Stories, by Various (gutenberg.org)

3. Video summaries and analyses of "The Cloak":

Bing Videos

Sugar defender 6 (youtube.com)

Assignment #5: Authors and Essay #2

Following our class discussion, I've decided to read through the Lamarque text, but identify specific questions to direct our focus and conversations.  So, 

1. Read Chapter 3, Authors.  Focus:

A. What are the "personal" and "impersonal" conceptions of poetic/literary composition?

B. What are the positions of "anti-intentionalism" and "intentionalism" regarding the meaning or value of a literary work? (part 3 of chapter 3, skipping over "death of the author").

2. Compose a critical essay (or other form of writing) in which you attempt to define or comment on the effort to define literature as an art form. (Use the same parameters as essay #1).  Due: March 25.

3. Reminder: rewrites of essay #1 due: March 18.

Video: "Death of the Author"

Death of the Author (youtube.com)

Assignment #4: Literature

 Read: Chapter 2, Lamarque.

Essay #1

Compose a 2-3 pp. CRITO-based, argumentative essay following closely the guidelines as indicated in handout QA (which identifies the necessary components of a successful essay; namely, 1. the essay; 2. the outline for the essay; 3. a bibliography containing minimally one outside reference; and 4. two substantive, unanswered questions for class discussion).  (Review as necessary handouts CR1-CR3, and raise questions in class this coming Wednesday.)  

Alternatively, you may employ a different mode of presentation (fiction; dialogue; poetry, etc.).  Simply attach the other three components (i.e., outline, bibliography, and 2 questions) to the body of your creation.

Topic: Compare and/or contrast some specific element(s) of the two disciplines, philosophy and literature. Your work may be either descriptive (addressing actual or conventional practices) or prescriptive (addressing your understanding of the way we ought to compare/contrast the two), or some combination of the two approaches.

Due date: Monday, February 26. (I initially said Friday in class, forgetting that we do not meet on Fridays!)