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Florida International University Course Syllabus ENC 1102 Section U44 Literary Analysis: Holocaust Literature Spring 2007
Class Meets: T Th. 11:00 – 12:15 DM 144 Dr. Joan BakerOffice: DM 454C 348-3873 (voice mail) bakerj@fiu.edu Office Hours: T 9:30-10:30 Th. 3:00 – 4:00 and by appt.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Levi, Primo, Survival in Auschwitz Nomberg-Przytyk, Sara, Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land Stoltfus, Nathan, Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany Wiesenthal, Simon, The Sunflower Course Packet to be purchased at the Copy Center in Graham Center If you do not already have Lunsford, Everyday Writer from your ENC 1101 class, you will need to have this text. COURSE REQUIREMENTS: 10% Attendance, Participation, Collaboration. Attendance will be taken daily. Should you have to miss class please e mail me, but it is your responsibility to get assignments from a classmate. More than 3 unexcused absences will jeopardize your passing course. 40% In Class written responses and short papers [4] of 2 pp. max 10% Sunflower Project 40% Final Essay of 6 – 8 pp. that incorporates research. As a composition course, ENC 1102 requires a standard number of pages of writing. Therefore, you must meet minimum page requirements to pass course. Plagiarism: Consult FIU student handbook for university policy. One of the things we will work on in this course is learning how to incorporate and document research in essays.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes: ENC 1102 is a hybrid course intended (1) to develop students’ skills in literary and rhetorical analysis and (2) to engage students in scholarly research resulting in papers which demonstrate competence in academic discourse: a clearly focused discussion supported by textual evidence and , when applicable, by relevant and documented secondary evidence. Course Design: Course readings, activities, and assignments are designed to help you succeed in meeting these objectives. The central topic of the course, Holocaust Literature, has been selected for three reasons: 1. The pain, scope, and complexity of this watershed event of the twentieth century has not diminished the efforts of survivors to survive the memory nor those of the historians, theologians, philosophers, writers, visual artists, and social scientists to struggle with the questions the Holocaust raises. Thus, there is an enormous amount of research material available that allows the student to select among a number of aspects or disciplinary approaches to the topic. 2. The acquisition of knowledge--regardless of the academic discipline you choose--entails the obligation to use the privilege in a manner that is morally and ethically responsible. Because questions raised by the Holocaust are at the heart of studies in both the sciences and humanities, they are best taken up early in your academic career. 3. As we become increasingly separated from the Holocaust by time and space, we risk losing whatever lessons can be gleaned from its dark legacy. The Holocaust has much to teach us about our world and, more importantly, about ourselves as human beings--our capacity for altruism, for evil, and for indifference. The course is based on the assumption that this understanding or self-knowledge ultimately affirms both our individual and collective humanity. Course Activities: In Class: Holocaust Literature will constitute the focus of readings, written responses and discussion. Class activities offer the general information and historical context from which you will develop specific questions to research. Outside Class: You will independently pursue inquiry on a specific aspect of the Holocaust. [See potential topic questions in course packet]. You will be expected to do library research drawing upon a number of sources including books, journals, and electronic academic resources. Readings: Our readings on the camp experience at Auschwitz make us acutely aware of the moral/ethical dilemmas the prisoners faced as well as the suffering they endured in what Nomberg-Przytyk aptly terms a “grotesque land.” The Rosenstrasse Resistance reveals the ethical choices Germans and others confronted prior to the Holocaust. Simon Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower poses probing questions about forgiveness, choices faced by Holocaust survivors. The Sunflower Project: is a two week online project in which you will share responses to The Sunflower, Symposium with students in a class on Holocaust Literature at Bar Ilan University in Israel.
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS Readings are to be completed by the date assigned Week 1 T 1/9 Introduction to Course Th 1/11 Introduction to Holocaust Reading: Nomberg pp. 3 – 21 [Alienation, Exhange, New Arrivals, and Without Pity] Week 2 T 1/16 In Class Writing Response to What Kind of a Person was Orli Reichert? Reading: Nomberg pp. 22 – 43 [Death of the Zugang, Salvation, The Roar of the Beast, The Infirmary, and What Kind of Person was Orli Reichert? ]
Th 1/18 Reading: Nomberg pp. 43 – 66 [The Fight for Masha’s Life, Plate of Soup, Erika’s Red Triangle, A Peculiar Roll Call, The Block of Death, Morituri te Salutant, Marie and Odette ]
Week 3T 1/23 Reading: Nomberg pp. 67 - 78 [Esther’s First Born , Old Words—New Meanings] Short Essay on Old Words-New Meanings 2pp. due
Th 1/25 Reading: Nomberg: pp. 79 – 99 [Children, A Living Torch, The Little Gypsy, Taut as a String, The Extermination of the Midgets, Natasha’s Triumph, The Price of Life ].
Week 4 T 1/30 Reading: Nomberg: pp. 100 - 120 [The Lovers of Auschwitz, The Dance of the Rabbis, Revenge of a Dancer, The Verdict, Friendly Meetings, Old Women ]
Th 2/1 In Class Writing Response on The Camp Blanket Reading: Nomberg: 121-136 [Ilya Ehrenburg Addresses Us, New Year’s Celebration, Bewitched Sleigh, Camp Blanket ]
Week 5 T 2/6 Reading: Nomberg pp. 137 -161 [In Pursuit of Life,Plagues of Egypt, Without the Escorts, The First Days of Freedom, The Road Back ]
Th 2/8 Short Essay Auschwitz: True Tales from Grotesque Land due LIBRARY SESSION: CLASS MEETS IN LIBRARY
Week 6T 2/13 Reading: Levi pp. 13 – 37 [The Journey, On the Bottom]
Th 2/15 Reading: Levi pp. 56 – 70 [Our Nights, The Work]
Week 7T 2/20 Reading: Levi pp. 77 – 100 [This Side of Good and Evil, The Drowned and the Saved ]
Th 2/22 Reading: Levi pp. 151 – 73 [ The Story of Ten Days ]
Week 8 T 2/27 Short Essay on Primo Levi Survival at Auschwitz due In Class: Video on Rosenstrasse protest
Th 3/1 In Class: Video on Rosenstrasse protest (cont.) Reading: Stoltzfus pp. 3 – 16 “Hitler’s Theory of Power” pp. 41 – 49 “Politics, Race, Sex, Marriage”
Week 9T 3/6 Reading: Stoltzfus pp. 57 – 64 “Mischlinge: A Particularly Unpleasant Occurrence” ; pp. 65 – 75 “Society Versus Law: German-Jewish Families and Social Restraints on Hitler”
Th 3/8 Reading: Stoltzfus pp. 76 – 97 “Society and Law: German- Jewish Families and German Collaboration with Hitler; pp. 98 -111 “Kristallnacht: Intermarriages & Lessons of Pogrom”
Week 10 T 3/13 Reading: Stoltzfus pp. 150 – 161 “The Star of David Decree” pp. 192 – 208 “Plans to Clear the Reich of Jews”
Th 3/15 Reading: Stoltzfus pp. 209 – 257 “Courageous Women of Rosenstrasse” Week 11T 3/20 SPRING BREAK Th 3/22 SPRING BREAK
Week 12T 3/27 Reading: Wiesenthal The Sunflower Sunflower Project Th 3/29 Sunflower Project Week 13T 4/3 Reading: Stoltzfus pp. 258 -277 “ Protest, Rescue, Resistance” Th 4/5 Short Essay on Rosenstrasse and Resistance due
Week 14T 4/10 Sunflower Project [cont] Th 4/12 Sunflower Project [cont] Week 15T 4/17 Writing Workshop Day Th 4/19 Final Research Essay [ 6 – 8 pp] due
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