WELCOME!: Working Through HUX 543

Dear Humanities 543 Student:

Welcome to "The Autonomous Individual."

As you work through this course, I suggest you prepare for the written assignments by attempting to "brainstorm" them before you read everything scheduled for you in each part. At first, just try to jot down everything you know/would elaborate on about each assignment. Assignment I invites you to confine your explanations to the spaces provided by the black boxes. Both Assignments II and III invite you to write standard expository essays. Trying to brainstorm each assignment before you complete its reading will arouse questions that your reading will answer. Then you’ll be particularly well prepared to write.

If an individual reading creates difficulties for you, go on to the next one, doubling back when you have understood the entire part better. Of course, reading such valuable works as these a second time is always beneficial. Be sure to complete all the reading in each part before you create your first drafts, leaving a day or two between the first and last draft(s). Doing this will help you present you best ideas. It will also increase your objectivity as an editor.

If for some "compelling reason" you cannot finish the course on schedule, Incompletes can be assigned in accordance with University regulations and Humanities Program policies, which insist not only that you send a completed "Request for Incomplete Grade" form prior to the course’s final week, but also that to receive the Incomplete ("I") grade, you must submit at least one assignment in writing, along with a duplicate for HUX files. Students who have not submitted at least one assignment and who have not requested an Incomplete will receive a grade of "U" (Unauthorized Withdrawal - equivalent to an "F" grade).

Our course is rich in what so many gifted artists and thinkers have communicated about human autonomy. May you benefit from it. And may you simultaneously enjoy it. 

Sincerely yours, Dr. Michael Shafer Professor of Literature Phone: 310/516-3944 (office) 310/516-3322 (message) 310/516-3449 (FAX)

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• To present some of the philosophical implications of the key concept of autonomy.

• To probe the connection between autonomy and aesthetic thought with emphasis on the key subsidiary concepts of "the great analogy" and "the genius."

• To explore some major literary and musical works in the light of the concept of autonomy.

BOOKS REQUIRED

• Byron, Byron’s Poetry. W. W. Norton & Co.

• Cassirer, Essay on Man. Yale University Press.

• Shakespeare, The Tempest. Edited by Frye. Viking Penguin.

• Thomas, Collected Poems W. W. Norton & Co.

• Joseph Gibaldi and Walter Achtert, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (New York: 1988). ISBN #0-87352-379-2. (Note: This book is required for all HUX Courses.)

NOTE: Please use the above editions whose pages conform with those the instructor uses. If you use different editions and/or any other books, complete bibliographical information is MANDATORY.

ASSIGNMENTS

Each assignment is due in the instructor’s mailbox during the week indicated below. Count Week 1 as the first week that classes begin and Week 15 as the final week of the term. Trimester dates are listed at the upper left hand corner of your registration form.

All papers must be typed, with footnotes and bibliographies where appropriate, and mailed in before the assignment deadline. Send two copies of the paper and an adequately stamped, return-addressed, envelope for the return of one copy with the instructor’s comments. The second copy will be filed by the department. Also, keep the paper returned by the instructor which contains your grade, comments, and date. Send a self-addressed, stamped (with adequate postage) envelope for the return of each assignment. If you do not fully understand the assignment or need help, telephone the instructor during office hours, or mail in your questions.

Assignment I

Due: Week 4

Length: 5 pages

Format: (See Assignment: Part I

Read:

Introductory essays, "The Concept of Autonomy" and "The Idea of Genius: A Concept of Autonomy."

"Introduction: Orientation of Critical Theories." This article by M.H. Abrams has been reproduced for you and is included at the end of this course guide.

On Great Writing (On the Sublime) by Longinus, at the end of this course guide.

Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Review The Tempest, reading it again if you feel the need.

"Introduction" to The Tempest by Northrop Frye, "The Tempest" by Bonamy Dobree, and "Myth and Miracle" by G. Wilson Knight (both included at the end of this course guide).

Assignment II

Due: Week 7

Length: Approximately 750 words; 3-5 pages.

Format: See Questions to Answer below.

Read:

Byron’s Manfred. Read the comments on Byron and Schumann included in the course outline.

Listen to Schumann’s Manfred and the taped commentary by Dr. Steiner.

Byron’s Manfred even more carefully; get to know it thoroughly.

Questions to Answer:

1. Write a 3-5 page analytical essay in which the student explains how the theme of autonomy contributes to the dramatic and poetic qualities of Byron’s Manfred. In what sense is Manfred an autonomous individual? What is Byron saying about human autonomy and how do the qualities of this verse drama affect the theme he is expressing?
2. Describe, as you understand it, the relationship between the character of Manfred and Schumann’s music. Does the music undermine or enhance the characterization? Does it undermine or enhance the theme of autonomy which is symbolized by the character himself? Do you find a relationship between tension in the music and tension in the dramatic poem?
3. Elicit your illustrations and examples from the poem and the music. Be as specific as possible.
4. Organize this essay carefully in continuous and coherent paragraphs. State a main idea in the introduction and develop this idea through the body of the essay as a whole.

Assignment III

Due: Week 10

Length: 5-10 pages

Read:

Dylan Thomas’ Collected Works - study at length no fewer than 12 of the poems from this collection; read the discussions of Thomas and his poetry in the course package. Rich implications for your study of autonomy are present here. Dylan Thomas behaved in extremes of personal freedom. His verse obeys, nevertheless, many of the conventions that disciplined poetry immediately before his own.

Cassirer’s Essay on Man - read it carefully, paying special attention to Chapter IX, "Art."

Format: Choose one from among three final essay topics in the following Questions to Answer.

Questions to Answer:

1. Music - In light of your understanding of autonomy, write an argumentative essay contending that one of two major western musicians is more autonomous than the other member of the pair, for example, Haydn more autonomous than Mozart, or Brahms more autonomous than Beethoven. Conduct your argument with rigor, including support (facts, judgments, interpretations, examples, etc.) that confirms your proposition, reasoning that refutes the opposing argument, and explanations that concede in fairness points that belong to your opposition. Then drive home your argument with final, heightened language or other persuasive strategies.
2. Literature - Concentrating on Dylan Thomas, write an essay that views poetic creativity and poetry itself in light of your understanding of autonomy. You are encouraged to admit other poets to your discussion, retaining, however, sharp expository focus.
3. Philosophy - After carefully re-reading Cassirer’s Chapter IX, "Art," explain his defense of the autonomy of art. Then connect the concept of autonomy directly to a specific philosopher or philosophers, or to key philosophical issues. Once again, keep your discussion in sharp expository focus. Distill what you now judge to be the philosophical essence; furnish conclusions you’d like to offer.

Assignment IV

Due: Week 13

Length: 5-7 pages

Read:

Cassirer’s Essay on Man.

Format: Compose a review of Cassirer’s Essay on Man, aiming your explanation at an imaginary audience of other students enrolled in this course. Try to develop an intellectually penetrating review by combining necessary summary of content and methods with critical evaluation. Address the following Questions to Answer.

Try to weave your responses to Questions to Answer into the following structure:

• an opening paragraph that names the author and title, gives the reader some immediate idea of the nature and scope of the work (a children’s book, a book for the general reader, a book for specialists) and establishes your own considered, reflective, analytic tone.

• summary (no longer than one page)

• several developed paragraphs addressing the four points mentioned below.

Questions to Answer:

1. Objectives - What’s the author trying to accomplish?
2. Methods - What special methods or disciplines or research techniques or perspectives does the author employ to achieve these objectives?
3. Findings - What are the major factual or interpretive assumptions and conclusions?
4. Evaluations - How successul or how weak is the source in accomplishing these in comparison with other sources you may know, or in terms of your own thinking on the issue?

Remarks:

1. In the past, students have found that Assignments I and II move quickly, with Assignments III and IV requiring relatively more time.
2. You are encouraged to begin reading Cassirer’s book as soon as possible. Reading portions of it twice has often been productive.

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