Schedule Archive

Week 1: Course Introduction

Tuesday, 1/21: Welcome

“Jonson can only speak to us directly if we respect the past and believe that it has something to tell us.” – Levy-Navarro, “Fattening Queer History”

Today we’ll get to know one another and talk about our plans for the semester. As a sample conversation of the kinds of topics we’ll be examining together, we’ll look at a short article and a couple of poems. If you have time, take a look before class; if not, we’ll examine them together.

  • Read Elena Levy-Navarro’s “Fattening Queer History: Where Does Fat History Go From Here?” from Rothblum and Solovay’s Fat Studies Reader (NYU 2009), a rich source of scholarship we’ll return to often this semester.
    • Pay particular attention (or just skip right down to) pg. 20-22.
  • Then take a look at these two short poems by Ben Jonson, both from Jonson’s posthumous collection Underwood. Levy-Navarro’s draws on both in her article.

Ben Jonson, who (in his own words) “doth hardly approach his friends, but to break chairs or crack a coach”

Thursday, 1/23: Introductory Case Study: A History of Fatness

“I wrote about her nights after John had gone to sleep… I told lies and made up stories and gave her special powers… She touched the tops of mountains with her languid double chin… She parted river waters so people carrying baskets could cross…” – Susan Stinson, Martha Moody

Today we’ll work on developing a set of guidelines for class discussion and other forms of contribution to the course. To prepare for class today, please do the following:

  • Print (if you didn’t get one in class) and fill out this Plan of Study for the semester.
  • Take a look at these prompts for our conversation about classroom guidelines; jot down your initial responses, as well as any additional issues you think we should consider in class today.

We’ll also continue our conversation from Tuesday about initial examples of material from the semester ahead. Our focus today will be on the history of “fat” art; to begin this conversation, we’ll read a series of essays from Rothblum and Solovay’s Fat Studies Reader (NYU 2009). As a content warning, these essays confront issues of body image, eating disorders, fat-shaming and other topics that may be difficult for some students; you may also find some of your ideas about health and beauty challenged by these essays. I hope you will bring that discomfort with you to class, and use it to inform our conversations about classroom behavior and about these topics themselves.

  • Read the following short selections from Rothblum and Solovay’s Fat Studies Reader (NYU 2009):
  • As you read, consider some of the following questions:
    • Reading Wann’s manifesto, were you surprised by her definition of “fat studies”? Did you feel threatened, called out, or dubious about the ideas she excludes from “fat studies” in her opening paragraphs?
    • Did Burgard’s scientific approach persuade or reassure you? What doubts or questions remain? What aspects of your own internalization of ideas about healthy bodies felt challenged by her argument?
    • Taking Asbill, McAllister, and Jester together, what struck you as meaningful, moving, or important about their presentations of fat performers? Have you encountered fat characters or fat performances that would fit these authors’ vision of fat-positive art?
    • Encountering Levy-Navarro’s work for the second time, do you feel ready to participate in the project she describes of “entering into relationships across time” and “creating communities based on an imagination as large and fat as any body”? Can we, together, write a new history of the body on these terms?
  • If we have time, we may also watch this short vide of Leonard Nimoy discusses his photography project with the Fat-Bottom Revue burlesque troupe. If you have time, check it out!

Depending on time, we may look at some slides pairing Nimoy’s photographs of the Fat-Bottom Revue performers with classic works of painting and photography; you can see the slides here if you’d ever like to refer back to them.

Week 2: Rabelais and Shakespeare

Tuesday, 1/28: Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel

Today we’ll consider selections from Rabelais’ novels alongside excerpts from Bakhtin’s Rabelais and His World, our central interpretive text for the semester. Below, I’ve paired three readings from Bakhtin with three from Rabelais. If you have time, I suggest you read the excerpt from Rabelais first, then the associated passage from Bakhtin, and then re-read the passage from Rabelais. Note down any questions or observations that occur to you, no matter how trivial or superficial, and consider as you read some of the discussion questions below.

First, read this brief biography of François Rabelais, and this brief biography of Mikhail Bakhtin. You don’t need to print these out or bring them to class.

Next, read each of these paired readings. If you haven’t picked up a copy of Gargantua and Pantagruel yet, please print the excerpts and bring them with you. Either way, please also print and bring the excerpts from Bakhtin. Content warning: violence / animal cruelty; obscene language and imagery; misogyny; scatology.

You’ll notice that each reading from Rabelais begins with an italicized note from the translator. These may help you understand some of the jokes and references in the passage. Don’t worry about the parts that discuss the changes that Rabelais made in the different published versions of the novel. Also, just so you know, when Bakhtin talks about “swabs,” he means cloth used as toilet paper.

As you read, consider some of the following questions:

  • What does Bakhtin mean by “grotesque realism” or “the material bodily lower stratum”? What are some of the specific aspects or activities of the body that are associated with these ideas?
  • What elements of “the grotesque” do you notice in the readings from Rabelais? Can you make a list of every “grotesque” detail in the readings?
  • Do you find Bakhtin’s readings of these specific passages (the building of the walls of Paris and the catalogue of different impromptu toilet papers) compelling, persuasive, incomprehensible, provocative?
  • What surprised, disgusted, delighted, or otherwise provoked a reaction from you in the readings from Rabelais?

Thursday, 1/30: Shakespeare’s Falstaff

Today we’ll focus our discussion around the figure of Falstaff, a recurring character in Shakespeare’s plays who is emblematic of the grotesque realism we’ve been discussing.

Before you get started with today’s material, take a look at the Appetizer Signup Sheet and consider reserving spots for your presentations. Then, if you haven’t already, respond to the email inviting you to sign up for our WordPress site, create your login, and go comment on the Reading Diary for this week.

To prepare for class today, please do the following:

  • We’ll focus on two scenes from Shakespeare’s Henry IV Pt 1
    • First, familiarize yourself with Shakespeare’s Henry IV Pt 1 and the figure of Falstaff by reading the linked Wikipedia articles
    • Next, download and print this text of the two scenes we’ll focus on today: Act 1 Scene 2, and Act 2 Scene 4
    • Watch this video of Act 1 Scene 2, following along in your text
    • Watch this video Act 2 Scene 4, following along in your text
    • Now reread both scenes: now that you’ve seen them performed, do they make better sense? Do the notes below the text clarify things at all? What questions of meaning or purpose remain for you? Note them down in your notebook.
  • Finally, read this excerpt from Bakhtin’s Rabelais and His World discussing “Carnival”

As you’re working through this material, consider some of the following questions:

  • How does Falstaff fulfill Bakhtin’s description of the grotesque? What specific details create a grotesque impression?
  • How did you react to Falstaff in these scenes? Do you find him charming? Funny? Repulsive? Immoral? Something else?
  • Bakhtin identifies three forms of carnival expression in folk culture. Do you find any of these forms reflected in the scenes we’re examining today?
  • Falstaff is one of the most emblematic “fat” characters in literary history. Do your readings from last week’s introduction to Fat Studies help you understand or appreciate any aspects of his character?

Week 3: Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World

Tuesday, 2/4: Rabelais and His World

Today we’ll begin more extended reading in Bakhtin’s critical masterpiece, Rabelais and His World. To prepare for class today, please do the following:

  • Print and read this pair of excerpts from R&HW focused on grotesque realism and the carnivalesque (pg. 1-30, 315-25).
    • This is a long assignment, but you’ll find you’ve already read much of it; please re-read, and consider how coming to this material in its full context enlarges your understanding of Bakhtin’s ideas.
  • Spend some time exploring the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a painter roughly contemporary with Rabelais and whose works are often taken as emblematic of Bakhtin’s ideas.
    • First, read about him on Wikipedia: Bruegel
    • Next, make use of the “Inside Bruegel” project to explore Bruegel’s works. You’ll find that the paintings have a variety of settings in which they can be viewed; use the menu on the right and the drop down at the top to cycle through various ways of looking, and zoom in to explore the details of different figures. Pay particular attention to the following paintings:

As you’re reading Bakhtin and exploring these paintings, consider some of the following questions, and note down your preliminary thoughts in your notebook:

  • What do you understand now about the terms “grotesque” and “carnivalesque” that you didn’t when we first encountered them? Could you give concise definitions of each?
  • Why do these terms matter? In other words, for Bakhtin, why is it important to understand and observe the grotesque and carnivalesque elements in art?
  • What grotesque and/or carnivalesque elements do you notice in these three Bruegel paintings? What specific details and images stand out to you? How do you respond emotionally to these paintings?
  • Can you think of any contemporary manifestations of the grotesque or the carnivalesque? Are there shows, movies, music, graphic novels, or other pop cultural or high art forms that tap into these types of imagery? Do they achieve any of the kinds of effects Bakhtin argues are the purpose of these forms?

This last question is also the theme of this week’s Reading Diary. I’ve asked you to post once before Wednesday at noon, and a second time before Friday at 5pm. Why not head over and comment now?

Thursday, 2/6: Rabelais and His World

Today we’ll continue our more extended reading in Bakhtin’s critical masterpiece, Rabelais and His World. To prepare for class today, please do the following:

  • Print and read this excerpt from R&HW focused around the conflict between the laughter of carnival and the seriousness of the official world (pg. 92-101, 254-57, 269-77).
  • Read (you do not need to print or bring to class, but please take careful notes) this article exploring the political context in which Bakhtin wrote his great work on Rabelais: Holquist, “Bakhtin and Rabelais: Theory as Praxis”

As you’re reading for today, consider some of the following questions:

  • Flesh out your definition from last time of the “carnivalesque.” What signs allow you to detect it? What specific or general qualities should you be on the alert for?
  • How has your understanding of the purpose and significance of the carnivalesque evolved? Do you have a fuller understanding of it now than you did when you first encountered it?
  • Are there pop cultural forms today that fulfill Bakhtin’s vision of the carnivalesque? Even without the specific forms of the medieval carnival, are there examples of pop culture that use laughter, pleasure, lightness, and comedy to dethrone, degrade, or question the official seriousness of life? (consider adding your answer to this question to this week’s Reading Diary)
  • How can combine our understanding of “fat art” from our earlier readings in “fat studies” with Bakhtin’s carnivalesque art?
  • How does reading about Bakhtin’s political circumstance enrich your understanding of his argument? Do you believe that writing about grotesque and carnivalesque art could itself be a form of subversion?

Week 4: Aristophanes, Knights

Download and print the text for this week. For more efficient printing, try one of the following:

  • In the Adobe print window, choose “Multiple.” Set “Pages per sheet” to 4, “page order” to Horizontal, check “Print on both sides of paper” and below that select “Flip on long edge.” For Orientation choose Portrait. The text will be quite small, but you’ll save a lot of paper!
  • For a fancier look, choose Booklet. Set Booklet subset to Both Sides; Sheets from 1 to 23, and Binding: Left. Set Orientation to Portrait. This will produce a booklet that can be stapled down the middle and folded in half like a book. If you choose this option, you can bring it to class and use my giant stapler if that’s helpful.

Tuesday, 2/11: Knights, Part 1

Today we’ll begin our examination of Aristophanes’ Greek comedy Knights. We’ll also have our first Appetizer Presentation!

Appetizer Presentations: Hannah A. (watch the course website for a post from Hannah about her plans for the presentation, and a follow up reflection post, and consider commenting in ways you think she might find helpful!)

To prepare for class today, please read the following:

  • First, read the following articles from the Oxford Classical Dictionary (often called “OCD”; a resource I highly recommend for background on Greek and Roman literature, art, history, politics, culture, etc.):
  • Next, read the first half of Aristophanes Knights
    • See above for link to the text and printing instructions
    • In this edition, you’ll be reading pg. 1-44 of the pdf, or 229-315 as they are numbered within the document. Don’t worry about the missing even numbered pages, those were in Greek!
    • If you’re reading a different translation, try to read lines 1-721, or roughly the first half of the play.

As you’re reading, consider some of the following questions:

  • What questions arose in your preliminary reading or in your reading of Knights about the nature of Greek comedy, its style of performance, its audience, its authors, or other issues of its original cultural and performance context?
  • What elements of the grotesque and the carnivalesque do you detect in this play so far?
  • Do these elements have any of the political or cultural effects we’ve identified as the meaning of the carnivalesque and the grotesque, in your reading of the play?
  • Bakhtin views Aristophanes as an isolated manifestation of grotesque comedy without any historical connection to Rabelais or to the present day. Does Aristophanes’ comedy remind you of contemporary comedy in any way? Does it strike you initially as similar to the excerpts we’ve read from Rabelais?
  • What reactions did this play provoke from you? Disgust? Laughter? Confusion? Recognition? Other affective responses?

Thursday, 2/13: Knights, Part 2

Appetizer Presentations: Jake

To prepare for class today, please do the following:

  • Read the rest of Aristophanes’ Knights.
    • This is pg. 44-89 in the pdf (315-405 within the document), or lines 724-1408.
  • Next, read these excerpts from Charles Platter’s Aristophanes and the Carnival of Genres, a 2007 monograph exploring Bakhtin’s ideas in Aristophanes’ plays.
    • If you’re interested in Aristophanes for your Final Project or Appetizer work, I’d recommend checking out this book, which we have online access to through the library at the link above.

As you’re reading, consider some of the following questions:

  • What do you make of the fates of Demos, the Paphlagonian, and the Sausage Seller in Knights? Do people get what they deserve? What political message does the play’s conclusion send?
  • Now that you’ve learned a little more in class and in your reading about the performance context of Aristophanes’ plays, do you see them as a form of carnivalesque and/or grotesque literature?
  • Bakhtin himself was famously dismissive of Aristophanes. Do you accept Platter’s claims about the relevance of Bakhtin’s ideas to Aristophanes?
  • Do you find anything in this 2500-year-old comedy that you can relate to as a modern 21st century human being? What value can such an old and distant work of literature have for us today?

Week 5: Aristophanes, Peace

Download and print the text for this week’s discussion. For more efficient printing, try one of the following:

  • In the Adobe print window, choose “Multiple.” Set “Pages per sheet” to 4, “page order” to Horizontal, check “Print on both sides of paper” and below that select “Flip on long edge.” For Orientation choose Portrait. The text will be quite small, but you’ll save a lot of paper!
  • For a fancier look, choose Booklet. Set Booklet subset to Both Sides, and Binding: Left. Set Orientation to Portrait. This will produce a booklet that can be stapled down the middle and folded in half like a book (I have a special stapler if you’d like to staple your text this way!)

Tuesday, 2/18: Peace, Part 1

Today we’ll move into discussing the second comedy by Aristophanes we’re reading this semester, Peace.

Appetizer Presentations: Collin
Watch the course website for a post from Collin about his plans for the presentation, and a follow up reflection post, and consider commenting in ways you think he might find helpful!

To prepare for class, please do the following:

  • First, some preliminary readings:
  • Next, read the first half of Aristophanes’ Peace
    • See above for link to the text and printing instructions
    • In this edition, you’ll be reading pg. 429-511. Don’t worry about the missing even numbered pages, those were in Greek!
    • If you’re reading a different translation, try to read lines 1-680, or roughly the first half of the play.

As you’re reading, consider some of the following questions:

  • Aristophanes’ Knights was written and performed in 424 BCE, at the height of Cleon’s power and a moment when Athens was embroiled in a bitter war with Sparta that seemed likely to drag on forever. Peace, our play for this week, was performed in 421: Cleon has died in battle, and a peace treaty with Sparta has just been signed or is just about to be signed. How is the mood of this play different from Knights? Does it approach something more like a utopia than Knights did?
  • Who gets to participate in the utopia of Peace? Who does it benefit, and who does it exclude or harm? What details or questions about the new world are left unexamined?
  • It has often been pointed out that in contemporary life we lack a positive discourse of peace: peace is often simply portrayed as the absence of war. Aristophanes, by contrast, presents quite a vivid picture of the pleasures, opportunities, and other positive qualities of the world of peace. Does this help you envision peace in a different way? Are you caught up at all in the longing for peace this play enacts?
  • Beyond the abundant utopia of a world at peace celebrated in this play, what other aspects of the carnivalesque or grotesque do you detect?

Thursday, 2/20: Peace, Part 2

Appetizer Presentations: Hannah C. & Helena
Watch the course website for posts from Hannah and Helena about their plans for the presentation, as well as follow up reflection posts, and consider commenting in ways you think they might find helpful!

As you’re reading, consider some of the following questions:

  • Is Trygaeus’ victory at the end of Peace a carnivalesque celebration that we’re all swept up in, or are some people excluded from it? Do you feel caught up in his happiness, or imagine an ancient audience being caught up in it?
  • The reading from Stallybrass and White provides a nice summary of Bakhtin’s ideas, but also of the key criticism of his concept of the carnivalesque: that instead of a permanent utopia, carnival is a temporary distraction that ultimately reinforces old hierarchies and power systems. What do you make of this critique? Does it influence your understanding of Peace?
  • You’ve now read two of Aristophanes’ surviving comedies. What questions arose in your effort to apply Bakhtin’s ideas to these texts? Do you feel you’re learning lessons about how to do Bakhtinian criticism? Do you feel Bakhtin’s approach helped you understand these texts?

Week 6: Petronius, Satyrica

Note: Nowadays we call this text Satyrica, but it is often called Satyricon instead (including in the text I’ve suggested you purchase). These are the same text, though, never fear.

Tuesday, 2/25: Satyrica, Part 1

Appetizer Presentations: Chloe & Juliana
Watch the course website for posts from Chloe and Juliana about their plans for the presentation, as well as follow up reflection posts, and consider commenting in ways you think they might find helpful!

Today we’ll begin reading the next core text of our curriculum this semester: Petronius’ fragmentary, bizarre, hilarious, obscene “novel” Satyrica. I promise you it’s a text unlike anything you’ve read before, so I’ve asked you to read a brief introduction to it before you dive into the text itself. As you read, bear in mind that it survives only in fragments; we have several long sections of the novel, but there are gaps in between them that you may have to fill in with your imagination. You should note that the original text itself would have been much longer than what we have, and that we are missing both the beginning and the end.

To prepare for class today, please read the following:

As you’re reading, consider some of the following questions:

  • What is even happening here? What characters have we met in the novel so far, and what are they like? What sorts of events happen so far? What kinds of social settings have we encountered?
  • What elements of grotesque realism have you detected so far? As you read, keep up a running catalogue of grotesque images and events.
  • What surprised you in reading this text, perhaps the oldest novel to survive in the European tradition? What delighted or disgusted you? What made you laugh or cringe?

Thursday, 2/27: Satyrica, Part 2

Appetizer Presentations: Hannah A. & Nico
Watch the course website for posts from Hannah and Nico about their plans for the presentation, as well as follow up reflection posts, and consider commenting in ways you think they might find helpful!

To prepare for class today, please read the following:

As you’re reading for today, consider some of the following questions:

  • Is Trimalchio’s dinner party a carnivalesque world? What carnivalesque qualities do you observe?
  • In the early sections of the novel, we come to realize that our narrator, Encolpius, is a fool. He’s got a thorough education, but he frequently misinterprets what’s going on around him, and his snobbish reactions to Trimalchio should not be taken necessarily as the views of the author. With that in mind, what do you make of the central figure of Trimalchio in these sections? Is he a tasteless buffoon, or a carnivalesque hero? Is he living his best life, or making a pathetic, desperate attempt to seem like the aristocrat he definitely isn’t?
  • Most of the characters in this sequence are either enslaved or are former slaves (liberti in Latin, or “freedmen” in English). How does that context affect your understanding of these scenes? How do you respond to the ways the freedmen in particular are portrayed here?

Thursday, 2/27: EVENING

Tonight we’ll be screening Fellini’s 1969 Satyricon in VCAM 001 at 7pm. Here are a couple of details to bear in mind:

  • This movie is very strange and somewhat disturbing. There is nudity, and just a lot of general weirdness and discomfort. If you’d like to get a sense of what it’s like, there are lots of clips and compilations on youtube; try this snippet of the dinner at Trimalchio’s house.
  • Plan to bring a notebook so that you can jot down your thoughts during the movie. Keep a particular eye out for grotesque and carnivalesque details as you watch.
  • Let me know ASAP if you are unable to attend!

Week 7: Petronius, Satyrica

Tuesday, 3/3: Satyrica, Part 3

Appetizer Presentations: Charlotte & Chloe
Watch the course website for posts from Charlotte & Chloe about their plans for the presentation, as well as follow up reflection posts, and consider commenting in ways you think they might find helpful!

Your Contribution Diary for February is due today.

  • Make sure you’ve noted down something about what you contributed in class each day, something you contributed outside of class each week.
  • Also record any Indulgences you spent to cover absences or purchase extensions.
  • You can download a new copy of the February diary here if you must.
  • March diaries will be distributed in class today; if you don’t get one, you can download a new one here.

To prepare for class today, please read the following:

As you read for class today, consider some of the following questions:

  • How did you respond to Fellini’s film adaptation of Petronius? Set aside simple questions of faithfulness to the original text. Does this film conjure up the feeling of reading Petronius? Use Petronius do create something new and important? Does it tap into any of what makes Petronius’ carnivalesque?
  • The character of Eumolpus (the bad poet) introduces a new level of self-consciousness into the novel: we see the characters at an art gallery, trying to interpret how works of art relate to their own lives; we see extended discussions of what makes good literature; we see the man Eumolpus as a bad poet who is nevertheless a wonderful storyteller, not unlike Petronius himself. What lessons do these scenes have to teach us about how Petronius wanted or expected his novel to be read?
  • Is the strange world of Lichas’ ship another little carnivalesque inside this novel? What is or is not carnivalesque about this scene?
Fellini-Satyricon

Thursday, 3/5: Satyrica, Part 4

Appetizer Presentations: Sophia & Collin
Watch the course website for posts from Sophia and Collin about their plans for the presentation, as well as follow up reflection posts, and consider commenting in ways you think they might find helpful! You may also see posts from Alice, Tia, Eve, or Elinor, our presenters for after spring break; help them out too!

To prepare for class today, please read the following:

As you’re reading, consider some of the following questions:

  • You’ve now read everything that remains of Petronius’ Satyrica. Is this a carnivalesque novel?
  • We’re concluding our unit on Greek and Roman literature today. Broadly speaking, did you find Bakhtin’s ideas helpful for understanding Aristophanes and Petronius?
  • Now that we’ve made several attempts to apply Bakhtin’s concepts of the grotesque and carnivalesque to these works, what questions about his theories do you have? What questions persist, or have newly arisen? What do you feel you are still struggling to understand or make use of in our readings from Bakhtin and his successors?

Spring Break: 3/9-3/13

Week 8: Transition to Online Format

Tuesday 3/17: Prepare for Online Education

We won’t hold a class meeting today, but please start working to set yourself up for our first meeting on Thursday. Please do the following:

  • Read this post about the plan for the rest of the semester.
  • Download Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel
  • Set up Zoom
    • Zoom is the video meeting software we’ll be using to hold class until we can return to campus.
    • Read this guide, and follow the steps to set up and test Zoom on the device(s) you’ll be using to attend class
    • Try joining our standing classroom
  • If you have not already done so, fill out this survey about your resources and challenges related to online education ASAP.
  • Consider adding your suggestions to our off topic pop culture discussion; we’re all in need of good distractions right now!

Thursday, 3/19: Logistics Meeting

Today we’ll meet online to test out the software and discuss the plan for the semester.

  • Join class on Zoom
    • Click this link to join the Zoom classroom
    • Plan to join at 1:00pm eastern time
  • Be ready to test out the following features:
    • Video and audio over Zoom
    • Zoom whiteboard
    • Breakout groups
  • You’ll have a chance during our meeting today to share concerns and questions about the rest of the semester. If you have concerns you’d like to discuss privately, email me, and if it’s helpful we can arrange a Zoom “office hour” meeting.
  • If you are presenting an Appetizer next week (Alice, Tia, Eve, Elinor):

Week 9: Rabelais, Pantagruel (first half)

This week we’ll read the first half of Rabelais’ Pantagruel (chapters 1-12), and have Appetizer discussions hosted by Alice, Tia, Eve, and Elinor.

As you’re reading this week, try to get through the whole first half of the novel, but feel free to focus your attention on Chapters 4-5 (Pantagruel’s youth) and 11-12 (the deeds of Pantagruel’s rascally friend Panurge).

Sunday 3/22

  • Appetizer Posts: Alice, Tia, Eve, & Elinor

Monday 3/23

  • Begin the first half of this week’s readings
    • Pantagruel Prologue (pg. 11-14) and chapters 1-8 (book: pg. 15-50)
  • Reading Diary
    • If you are not posting an Appetizer this week, please comment once on this week’s discussion prompt by 5pm today.
  • By 5pm today, please comment once on the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
    • Alice: Hannah A, Juliana, Hannah C.
    • Tia: Helena, Sophia, Collin
    • Eve: Chloe, Jake, Liam
    • Elinor: Charlotte, Nico, Allison

Tuesday, 3/24

Remember, there will be no live class meeting today; these posts will take more time than you’re used to, but you won’t be spending time in class.

  • Finish the first half of this week’s readings:
    • Pantagruel Prologue (pg. 11-14) and chapters 1-8 (pg. 15-50)
  • Appetizer Presenters (Alice, Tia, Eve, & Elinor)
  • By 5pm today, please comment once again on this week’s discussion prompt (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week)

Wednesday, 3/25

  • Start the second half of this week’s readings:
    • Pantagruel chapters 9-12 (pg. 51-97)
  • By 5pm today, please comment in response to the presenter on the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
    • Alice: Hannah A, Juliana, Hannah C.
    • Tia: Helena, Sophia, Collin
    • Eve: Chloe, Jake, Liam
    • Elinor: Charlotte, Nico, Allison
  • By 5pm today, please comment for a third time on this week’s discussion prompt (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week)

Thursday, 3/26

  • Before class today, complete the second half of this week’s readings:
    • Pantagruel chapters 9-12 (pg. 51-97)
  • Before class today, post for a third (and final) time in the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
    • Alice: Hannah A, Juliana, Hannah C.
    • Tia: Helena, Sophia, Collin
    • Eve: Chloe, Jake, Liam
    • Elinor: Charlotte, Nico, Allison
  • If you are presenting an Appetizer next week (Alice, Chloe, Liam)
  • Weekly Class Meeting: 1-2pm eastern time
    • Click here to join the meeting on Zoom
    • Be prepared to have a conversation about the week’s assigned readings, about the conversation in the Reading Diary, and about your Appetizer discussions.
    • In class today, we’ll be discussing key excerpts in small groups; I’ll share these during our Zoom conversation, but for convenience here are the excerpts as well, each prefaced by a short reading from Bakhtin:

Friday, 3/27

  • By 5pm today, please post for a fourth (and final) time in this week’s Reading Diary (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week).
  • Appetizer Presenters from this week (Alice, Tia, Eve, Elinor), please post a final reflection comment in the discussion on your Appetizer post.

Week 10: Rabelais, Pantagruel (second half)

This week we’ll read the second half of Rabelais’ Pantagruel (chapters 13-23), and have Appetizer discussions hosted by Alice, Liam, and Chloe.

As you’re reading this week, try to get through the whole second half of the novel, but feel free to focus your attention on Chapters 13 (the debate with Thaumastes), 14 (Panurge’s attempted affair), 16-17 (the first battle with the Dipsodes) and 19-20 (Pantagruel’s battle with Loup Garou, and Epistemon’s journey to Hell).

Sunday 3/29

  • Appetizer Posts: Alice, & Liam
    • Presenters, please post your prompt by 5pm today.
    • See the Online Appetizer Instructions for full details.

Monday 3/30

  • Begin the first half of this week’s readings
    • Pantagruel chapters 13-16 (pg. 97-129)
  • Reading Diary
    • If you are not posting an Appetizer this week, please comment once on this week’s discussion prompt by 5pm today.
  • By 5pm today, please comment once on the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
    • Alice: Sophia, Tia, Helena, Charlotte, Eve, Jake
    • Liam: Hannah C., Elinor, Collin, Allison, Juliana, Hannah A, Nico

Tuesday, 3/31

Remember, there will be no live class meeting today; these posts will take more time than you’re used to, but you won’t be spending time in class.

  • Finish the first half of this week’s readings:
    • Pantagruel chapters 13-16 (pg. 97-129)
  • Appetizer Presenters (Alice & Liam)
    • by 5pm today, please post an “Intervention / Redirection” comment in the discussion on your original Appetizer Post
  • By 5pm today, please comment once again on this week’s discussion prompt (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week)

Wednesday, 4/1

  • Start the second half of this week’s readings:
    • Pantagruel chapters 17-23 (pg. 129-168)
  • By 5pm today, please comment in response to the presenter on the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
    • Alice: Sophia, Tia, Helena, Charlotte, Eve, Jake
    • Liam: Hannah C., Elinor, Collin, Allison, Juliana, Hannah A, Nico
  • By 5pm today, please comment for a third time on this week’s discussion prompt (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week)

Thursday, 4/2

  • Before class today, complete the second half of this week’s readings:
    • Pantagruel chapters 17-23 (pg. 129-168)
  • Before class today, post for a third (and final) time in the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
    • Alice: Sophia, Tia, Helena, Charlotte, Eve, Jake
    • Liam: Hannah C., Elinor, Collin, Allison, Juliana, Hannah A, Nico
  • If you are presenting an Appetizer next week (Hannah C., Eve, Nico)
  • Weekly Class Meeting: 1-2pm eastern time
    • Click here to join the meeting on Zoom
    • Be prepared to have a conversation about the week’s assigned readings, about the conversation in the Reading Diary, and about your Appetizer discussions.

Friday, 4/3

  • By 5pm today, please post for a fourth (and final) time in this week’s Reading Diary (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week).
  • Appetizer Presenters from this week (Alice & Liam), please post a final reflection comment in the discussion on your Appetizer post.

Week 11: Rabelais, Gargantua (first half)

Updates: You now only need to post in the Reading Diary three times, Mo/Tu/We by 5pm. Readings will now be separated into “Required” and “Optional” (although I haven’t had a chance to update this week yet). If you have time, please do complete the Optional readings.

Required readings: Gargantua, prologue and chapters 5, 12, 16, 23-24.
Optional readings: all of Gargantua chapters 1-24

Sunday 4/5

  • Appetizer Posts: Hannah C., Eve, Nico, & Allison
    • Presenters, please post your prompt by 5pm today.
    • See the Online Appetizer Instructions for full details.

Monday 4/6

  • Begin the first half of this week’s readings
    • Gargantua To the Readers (pg. 203), Prologue (pg. 204-8), chapters 1-11 (pg. 206-245)
    • Required: prologue and chapter 5
  • Reading Diary
    • If you are not posting an Appetizer this week, please comment once on this week’s discussion prompt by 5pm today.
  • By 5pm today, please comment once on the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
    • Hannah C.: Alice, Chloe, Elinor
    • Eve: Helena, Tia, Jake,
    • Nico: Sophia, Hannah A, Liam
    • Allison: Collin, Juliana, Charlotte

Tuesday, 4/7

Remember, there will be no live class meeting today; these posts will take more time than you’re used to, but you won’t be spending time in class.

  • Finish the first half of this week’s readings:
    • Gargantua To the Readers (pg. 203), Prologue (pg. 204-8), chapters 1-11 (pg. 206-245)
    • Required: prologue and chapter 5
  • Appetizer Presenters (Hannah C, Eve, Allison, & Nico)
    • by 5pm today, please post an “Intervention / Redirection” comment in the discussion on your original Appetizer Post
  • By 5pm today, please comment once again on this week’s discussion prompt (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week)

Wednesday, 4/8

  • Start the second half of this week’s readings:
    • Gargantua chapters 12-24 (pg. 245-292)
    • Required: chapters 12, 16, 23-24
  • By 5pm today, please comment in response to the presenter on the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
    • Hannah C.: Alice, Chloe, Elinor
    • Eve: Helena, Tia, Jake,
    • Nico: Sophia, Hannah A, Liam
    • Allison: Collin, Juliana, Charlotte
  • By 5pm today, please comment for a third time and final on this week’s discussion prompt (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week)

Thursday, 4/9

  • Before class today, complete the second half of this week’s readings:
    • Gargantua chapters 12-24 (pg. 245-292)
    • Required: chapters 12, 16, 23-24
  • Before class today, post for a third (and final) time in the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
    • Hannah C.: Alice, Chloe, Elinor
    • Eve: Helena, Tia, Jake,
    • Nico: Sophia, Hannah A, Liam
    • Allison: Collin, Juliana, Charlotte
  • If you are presenting an Appetizer next week (Charlotte, Tia, Chloe, & Allison)
  • Weekly Class Meeting: 1-2pm eastern time
    • Click here to join the meeting on Zoom
    • Be prepared to have a conversation about the week’s assigned readings, about the conversation in the Reading Diary, and about your Appetizer discussions.

Friday, 4/10

  • Appetizer Presenters from this week (Hannah C, Eve, Nico, Allison), please post a final reflection comment in the discussion on your Appetizer post.

Week 12: Rabelais, Gargantua (second half)

Required Readings: Gargantua 25, 37-39, 46-47, 50, 55
Recommended Readings: Gargantua 24-56

Sunday 4/12

  • Appetizer Posts: Charlotte, Tia, Chloe & Allison

Monday 4/13

  • Begin the first half of this week’s readings
    • Recommended: Gargantua chapters 25-39 (pg. 292-333)
    • Required: chapters 25, 37-39
  • Reading Diary
    • If you are not posting an Appetizer this week, please comment once on this week’s discussion prompt by 5pm today.
  • By 5pm today, please comment once on the Appetizer you have been assigned to:

Tuesday, 4/14

Remember, there will be no live class meeting today; these posts will take more time than you’re used to, but you won’t be spending time in class.

  • Finish the first half of this week’s readings:
    • Recommended: Gargantua chapters 25-39 (pg. 292-333)
    • Required: chapters 25, 37-39
  • Appetizer Presenters (Charlotte, Tia, Chloe & Allison)
    • by 5pm today, please post an “Intervention / Redirection” comment in the discussion on your original Appetizer Post
  • By 5pm today, please comment once again on this week’s discussion prompt (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week)

Wednesday, 4/15

  • Start the second half of this week’s readings:
    • Recommended: Gargantua chapters 40-56 (pg. 334-379)
    • Required: chapters 46-47, 50, 55
  • By 5pm today, please comment in response to the presenter on the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
  • By 5pm today, please comment for a third and final final on this week’s discussion prompt (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week)

Thursday, 4/16

  • Before class today, complete the second half of this week’s readings:
    • Recommended: Gargantua chapters 40-56 (pg. 334-379)
    • Required: chapters 46-47, 50, 55
  • Before class today, post for a third (and final) time in the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
  • If you are presenting an Appetizer next week (Elinor, Juliana, Sophia, Jake & Liam)
  • Weekly Class Meeting: 1-2pm eastern time
    • Click here to join the meeting on Zoom
    • Be prepared to have a conversation about the week’s assigned readings, about the conversation in the Reading Diary, and about your Appetizer discussions.

Friday, 4/17

  • Appetizer Presenters from this week (Charlotte, Tia, Chloe, & Allison), please post a final reflection comment in the discussion on your Appetizer post.

Week 13: Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor

This week, we’ll focus our discussion on The Merry Wives of Windsor. My preference is for you to watch the filmed stage production I distributed by email; check your email and let me know if you did not receive it or have any difficulties viewing it.

If you prefer, you can certainly read the text of the play, or read it alongside the film. If you did not purchase the text already, you can read it for free online here (scroll down to the left and choose your Act & Scene, or just load the whole play). If you end up choosing / only being able to read, rather than watch, I would recommend starting with this summary of the play, and focusing your attention especially on scenes involving Falstaff (esp. [labeled as act.scene] 1.3, 2.1-2, 3.5, 4.2, 5.5)

Don’t forget, you’ll be sharing your idea for your Final Project this week, so take a look at the instructions and settle on a plan.

Sunday 4/19

  • Appetizer Posts: Elinor, Juliana, Sophia, Jake & Liam
    • Presenters, please post your prompt by 5pm today.
    • See the Online Appetizer Instructions for full details.

Monday 4/20

  • Begin the first half of this week’s readings, focused especially on 1.3, 2.1-2, 3.5
    • Either just watch the whole film (check email)
    • OR at least read Merry Wives of Windsor Act 1 Scene 1 – Act 3 Scene 2 (pg. 1-103)
  • Reading Diary
    • If you are not posting an Appetizer this week, please comment once on this week’s discussion prompt by 5pm today.
  • By 5pm today, please comment once on the Appetizer you have been assigned to (note that with 5 presentations, groups are small this week, but hopefully we can still have our same vibrant conversations):

Tuesday, 4/21

Remember, there will be no live class meeting today; these posts will take more time than you’re used to, but you won’t be spending time in class.

  • Post your initial idea for your final project as a comment in this thread.
    • This is instead of your daily Reading Diary post.
  • Finish the first half of this week’s readings, focused especially on 1.3, 2.1-2, 3.5:
    • Either just watch the whole film (check email)
    • OR at least read Merry Wives of Windsor Act 1 Scene 1 – Act 3 Scene 2 (pg. 1-103)
  • Appetizer Presenters (Elinor, Juliana, Sophia, Jake & Liam)
    • by 5pm today, please post an “Intervention / Redirection” comment in the discussion on your original Appetizer Post

Wednesday, 4/22

  • Start the second half of this week’s readings, focused especially on 4.2, 5.5:
    • Either just watch the whole film (check email)
    • OR read Merry Wives of Windsor Act 3 Scene 3 – Act 5 Scene 5 (pg. 103-203)
  • By 5pm today, please comment in response to the presenter on the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
  • By 5pm today, please comment for a second and final time on this week’s discussion prompt (unless you are hosting an Appetizer this week)

Thursday, 4/23

  • Before class today, complete the second half of this week’s readings, focused especially on 4.2, 5.5:
    • Either just watch the whole film (check email)
    • OR read Merry Wives of Windsor Act 3 Scene 3 – Act 5 Scene 5 (pg. 103-203)
  • Before class today, post for a third (and final) time in the Appetizer you have been assigned to:
  • Weekly Class Meeting: 1-2pm eastern time
    • Click here to join the meeting on Zoom
    • Be prepared to have a conversation about the week’s assigned readings, about the conversation in the Reading Diary, and about your Appetizer discussions.

Friday, 4/24

  • Appetizer Presenters from this week (Elinor, Juliana, Sophia, Jake & Liam), please post a final reflection comment in the discussion on your Appetizer post.