Course Syllabus
NEAR E 318 – C LIT 318
Please note: students may sign up for this course under either prefix - NEAR E or C LIT. It is the same course! If you have any questions about how the credits may count toward a major or minor in NELC or CLCM, please speak with the advisors, Gabe Skoog (nelcua@uw.edu) and Nancy Sisko (nsisko@uw.edu).
LITERATURE AND THE HOLOCAUST
Winter 2020
5 credits
VLPA and DIV
T/Th 11:30-1:20
Professor Naomi Sokoloff
Office Hours: Wednesday 10:30-12:00 or by appointment
Office: Denny 220C
Phone: 206-543-7145
e-mail: naosok@uw.edu
By examining fiction, poetry, memoirs, diaries, monuments, commix, and other aspects of popular culture, this course will explore literary responses to the Nazi Holocaust. How has literature imagined and reacted to the persecution of Jews and other marginalized groups – including Gypsies, homosexuals, and people with disabilities? Among the topics to be covered: bearing witness and survivor testimony; the shaping of collective memory; the second generation; Holocaust education and children's literature; gender and the Holocaust; fantasy and humor in representations of catastrophe.
Students may opt to take this as a W course by completing additional writing assignments. Revision, editing, and reworking of essay assignments is an integral part of a W course.
Any student in this course who wishes to read some texts in Hebrew may contact the instructor and make arrangements to register for an additional 2-3 credits of independent study (MODHEB 490 or MODHEB 600).
Required Texts
Jane Yolen, Briar Rose
Art Spiegelman, Maus I and Maus II
Doris Bergen, War and Genocide
Some materials, including poems and lecture notes, will be available at the course website:
https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1353633/assignments/syllabus
Course Requirements
Students are expected to complete the reading assignments on time, to participate in class discussion, and to hand in brief writing assignments (homework or in-class exercises) on a regular basis. There will be two in-class tests (no final exam) and one paper (1250-1500 words; 5-7 pages), and there will be opportunities for earning extra credit (adding a maximum of .1 to the final grade).
Final grades will be determined as follows:
- Essay: 40%
- Test 1: 15%
- Test 2: 15%
- Homework, in-class writing, and quizzes: 30%
Dates to keep in mind:
January 30 - Guest Speaker: Charlotte Wolheim
February 18 - Guest Speaker: Denise Grollmus
Grading Scale
4.0 = 97-100
3.9 = 95-96
3.8 = 93-94
3.7 = 92
3.6 = 91
3.5 = 90
3.4 = 89
etc.
Policies
If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, 206-543-8924. If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the instructor and discuss the accommodations you might need for the class.
In cases of academic misconduct, such as plagiarism or receiving inappropriate assistance on an assignment, offending students will be penalized in accordance with the policy of the College of Arts and Sciences. If you are unsure what constitutes plagiarism or how to properly attribute credit to source materials, consult with the instructor.
At times it may be useful to access the internet during discussion, but please turn off any distracting electronic devices when in class (such as cell phone ringers).
Please keep a copy of all graded work. This is very useful in case the instructor’s record of grades is lost or damaged, or in case the student wishes to discuss a grade. Protect yourself by keeping a copy.
For additional guidelines on academic integrity, Incompletes, grade appeal, concerns about an instructor, equal opportunity, disability accommodations, absences due to religious observances, sexual harassment, and safety, see the homepage of our course website and the following link:
https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/syllabi-guidelines/
*******ATTENDANCE**********
Attendance and class participation are important to the learning process. However, if you have symptoms of contagious illness – such as sniffles, sneezes, a cough, a sore throat, or a fever – please do not come to class. We will figure out a way to cover the material so that your learning and your grades will not suffer.
FYI:
It is important that we take care of ourselves inside and outside of class by learning how to care for our body, mind and spirit. Toward that end, there are many different kinds of support services on campus, including the Counseling Center, Hall Health, and the IMA. If you are concerned about yourself or a friend who is struggling, Safecampus, at 1-800-685-7233, is a very helpful resources to learn more about how to access campus-based support services. Please save the number for Safecampus, 1-800-685-7233, into your cell phones.
Weekly Schedule:
Unit I: Introducton- The Shaping of Collective Memory
January 7
Dan Pagis, poems
January 9
Zelda, “Every Man Has a Name” (in the powerpoint)
James Young, The Texture of Memory, pp. 335-349
Unit II: Diaries and the Reception of Anne Frank
January 14
Anne Frank – Diary of a Young Girl, selections
June 12, 1942-June 15, 1942
July 8, 1942 - July 11, 1942
Bergen, ch. 1 & 2
January 16
Anne Frank, continued
Jan. 2, 1944
Jan. 7, 1944
March 6, 1944
April 11, 1944
August 1, 1944
Scenes from: “The Diary of Anne Frank” (1959 film)
Unit III: Literature of the Holocaust
January 21
Avraham Sutzkever, "I Lie in this Coffini" and "To My Child"
Hirsh Glik, “Never Say” (Hymn of the Partisans)
Painters of Terezin
Bergen, ch. 3
January 23
Jankiel Wiernik, “One Year in Treblinka” (an excerpt from Lawrence Langer's anthology, Art from the Ashes)
Unit IV: Bearing Witness: Memoir, Fiction, Documentary
January 28
Primo Levi, Excerpt from “The Gray Zone” (The Drowned and the Saved)
Shema
Charlotte Delbo, “Voices”
Bergen, ch. 4
January 30
GUEST SPEAKER - Charlotte Wolheim
February 4
Film clips: “Shoah”
Jonathan Littell, The Kindly Ones, pp. 3-24
Bergen, ch. 5
Unit V: Roma/Sinti
February 6
"Gypsy" testimonies
Bergen, ch. 6-7
Review for Test 1
FEBRUARY 11 TEST #1
Unit VI: Gender
February 11
Martin Sherman, excerpt from "Bent"
February 13
Aharon Appelfeld, excerpt from Tzili
Bergen, ch. 8
Unit VII: Surviving Generations
February 18
Erika Dreifus, “Mishpocha”
Etgar Keret, “Shoes”
David Bezmogis, “An Animal to the Memory”
GUEST SPEAKER: DENISE GROLLMUS
February 20
Thane Rosenbaum, “Cattle Car Complex”
David Grossman, See Under: Love - Excerpts from “Momik”
Unit VIII: Children's Literature
February 25
Jane Yolen, Briar Rose
Unit IX: Humor and the Fantastic in Representation of the Holocaust
February 27
Film: “Life is Beautiful”
March 3
Bergen - Conclusion
Review for Test #2
Essay workshop
MARCH 5 TEST #2
Unit X: Art and History
March 5
Art Spiegelman, Maus I
March 10
Maus II
ESSAYS DUE March 18
Course Summary:
Date | Details | Due |
---|---|---|