This is a course about James Joyce’s Ulysses, but it’s also a course that asks: how do we read this book? How have people read this book? How does this book challenge, or confirm, or ideas of what literary criticism is for — and what literature is for?
Required Texts
Ulysses, James Joyce
Odyssey, Homer
New Bloomsday Guide, Harry Blamires (suggested)
The Guide to James Joyce’s Ulysses, Patrick Hastings (suggested)
Assignments
Weekly Written Responses
Every week, you will write a 1-2 page reflection paper, due at noon on Friday on Canvas. I’ll give you a suggested topic, but you’re also welcome to come up with your own. All I ask is that it be connected to Ulysses in some way, and that it be organized around one central idea or claim, rather than a series of thoughts on the reading. The writing does not need to be very formal (you don’t need an Introduction and Conclusion), but it should be coherent and organized.
Presentation and Presentation Paper
Once we build up some familiarity with the text and criticism on it, I’ll increasingly be expecting you to take charge of our discussions! Each of you will be the point person for one day of class discussion. In order to do so, you’ll need to read 3-5 scholarly texts on the episode we are discussing that day. You’ll start class by giving us a brief (like, 5-7 minutes) overview of the debates around that episode, or the issues it raises. You do NOT need to summarize each of the critical readings in detail. Rather, you should aim for a summary of the overall debate, or a highlights reel of interesting aspects, oriented first and foremost towards this specific episode. Tell us what we need to know so that we don’t have to read it ourselves, and have some talking points for what you think we should discuss that day.
A week later, you’ll turn in a 3-5 page essay about that episode. The essay will your thesis-based argument about that episode, but it will be in conversation with (and will therefore briefly summarize and synthesize) the critical sources that you have read.
Final Paper
A 12-15 page essay on Ulysses, that presents an original argument about the text, one that is informed by, and in dialogue with, secondary sources.
You’ll submit a 1-2 page proposal for the paper in October, where you briefly describe the questions/problems you’ll be investigating, and include a list of sources you plan to engage with, with a brief account of why you think they’ll be useful. It’s a proposal, so you’re not committing to any particular thesis, but the more specific you can be about the topic, the more useful it will be for you.
Symposium Presentation
We will end the semester with a mini symposium, akin to an academic conference, on Ulysses. You will present a 10-12 minute presentation of your final paper. This can take the form of reading an abridged version of your final paper draft (as in, a 5-6 page version) out loud, or a more open form presentation of your ideas and argument. With a brief q&a afterwards.
Schedule
Tuesday, August 23 Hello! The Odyssey
Thursday, August 25 The Odyssey, Kiberd, Ulysses and Us, Ch 1+2
Tuesday, August 30 Telemachus
Thursday, September 1 Nestor
Tuesday, September 6 Robert Spoo, “‘Nestor’ and the Nightmare: The Presence of the Great War in Ulysses” (1986); Thomas Jackson Rice, “Ulysses and the Kingdom of Shadows”; Bonnie Roos, “The Joyce of Eating: feast, famine, and the humble potato in Ulysses,159-173 ONLY
Thursday, September 8 Proteus
Tuesday, September 13 Calypso
Thursday, September 15 Lotus Eaters
Tuesday, September 20 Hades
Thursday, September 22 Aeolus
Tuesday, September 27 Lestrygonians
Thursday, September 29 Scylla and Charybdis
Tuesday, October 4 Wandering Rocks
Thursday, October 6 Sirens
Tuesday, October 11 No class, work on final paper proposal!
*Final paper proposal due*
Tuesday, October 18 Cyclops
Thursday, October 20 Nausicaa
Tuesday, October 25 Oxen of the Sun
Thursday, October 27 Circe, up to pg. 411
Tuesday, November 1 Circe, finish
Thursday, November 3 Eumaeus
Tuesday, November 8 Ithaca
Thursday, November 10 Penelope
Tuesday, November 15 We read the whole book! Let’s discuss! Beth Blum, “Ulysses as Self-Help Manual? James Joyce’s Strategic Populism”
Thursday, November 17 Eric Bulson, “Ulysses by the Numbers,”
Tuesday, November 29 Symposium, Day 1
Thursday, December 1 6 Symposium, Day 2
Tuesday, December 6 Wrap up
Final paper due Wednesday, December 14
Kasia Reads 