Reading and Critical Thinking: “Reading New York” Session II, 2016
Columbia University Summer High School Programs MW (and 2 Fridays) 2:10-4pm
Instructor: Dr. Amanda Golden
Email: agolde01@nyit.edu
Course Website: readingnewyork.weebly.com
MW Classroom: HAM 413
Friday Classroom 7/22 and 7/29: HAM 401
Course Materials
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar. HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN: 0060837020
Book ordered from Book Culture, 536 West 112th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam
Additional readings will be available on Google Drive.
Course Overview
This Reading and Critical Thinking course investigates representations of New York City in poetry, prose, and fiction. We will consider everyday life at street level, navigating news and transport, beginning with Frank O’Hara’s “The Day Lady Died,” in which the speaker learns of the death of the jazz musician Billie Holliday. O’Hara published this poem in Lunch Poems (1964), a collection of verse he composed while working at the Museum of Modern Art. We will explore the language of Manhattan at midcentury from E. B. White’s Here is New York (1949) to representations in film and television from The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit to Mad Men. We will create Google Tours of Sylvia Plath’s New York in her novel The Bell Jar (1963), interpreting the geographical and social climate of the city. The course concludes with Plath’s influence on contemporary poets, including Columbia professor Dorothea Lasky. Students in this class will complete short, informal writing, blog postings, digital projects, and presentations, becoming more innovative thinkers able to articulate complex critical ideas.
Catalog Description
Students develop an understanding of how language and form work in what they read and see in order to develop methods for identifying and critically evaluating conveyed messages. A variety of literary and visual media is considered, including fiction, poetry, drama, newspaper and magazine articles, movies, and television programs.
Assignments
Papers must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, and double-spaced with 1-inch margins on all sides. Students must use MLA format.
Technology Policy
Technology use should be related to what we are doing in class. Do not engage with social media or email unless the instructor specifically requests that you do so as part of in-class work.
Participation
Some of your required work, both individual and collaborative, will be completed in-class and for homework, are part of your participation in the course.
These activities count for participation:
Participation in class discussions
Participation in group activities
Discussions
Peer review
Short Assignments
Quizzes
You must be present, prepared, on time, and engaged in seminar discussions. All course readings must be completed before class, and you will be attentive while in class. Substantive contribution to discussions, active listening, and thought-provoking questions are all considered participation. Being present but doing something else on your laptop is not participation.
You are expected to bring print or digital versions of the required readings or writing assignment to each class.
Blog Entries and Comments
Throughout the term you will post blog entries on the dates indicated on the syllabus. Over the course of the term, you must also comment on at least four of your peers’ blog postings. Our blog will be limited to members of the three sections of our class and not available to the public. The instructor will provide an assignment for the postings indicated on the syllabus, but you are also welcome to post and comment whenever you feel inspired to do so. Your blog entries must be at least 250 words and analyze quotations from the text as well as an image, sound, or video clip that you will include or indicate with a link. Blog postings provide an opportunity to shed light on the contexts that inform the texts we will read. You should build from the topics we have addressed in class and in our projects, taking the readings a step further and posing questions for your classmates to consider. The blog is also a place where you can receive feedback as you develop your projects.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
In your writing for this class, you are encouraged to refer to other people's thoughts and writing -- as long as you cite them.
If you are ever in doubt about whether you are citing something correctly, please contact the professor.
You must list all sources you consult in your works cited list. You must cite web pages.
In moments of crisis students sometimes make decisions that they would not otherwise make. If you find yourself in a situation that affects your work in this class, please contact the instructor.
Weekly Schedule (Subject to Change)
Week 1
Wed. 7/20: First Day of Class. Introductions, Frank O’Hara, "The Day Lady Died" (1964), New Yorker issues from 1958.
In Class: Writing Assignment.
Fri. 7/22: Read E. B. White, Here is New York (1949).
In Class: Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing: Introduction and Issue 2: "Strategic Reading."
Review MLA format for in-text citations, works cited pages and entries.
Week 2
Mon. 7/25: Due: Blog Posting 1. Read Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar Ch. 1 and 3.
In Class: Read excerpt from They Say/I Say.
View clips from The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) and Mad Men (2007).
Critiquing fiction, film, and television using templates from They Say/I Say.
Wed. 7/27: Read The Bell Jar Ch. 4 and 5 and excerpts from The Unbridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, Letters Home, and Elizabeth Winder, Pain Parties and Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953 (2013).
In Class: Google Tours interpreting chapters of the novel and their contexts, including The New York Times.
Fig Tree scene from Master of None (2015)
Fri. 7/29: Due: Blog Posting 2. Poems by Sylvia Plath: “The Colossus,” “Ariel,” “Lady Lazarus,” and “Daddy.”
In Class: Analyze poems and work on maps and rationales.
Week 3
Mon. 8/1: Due: Map and Rationale Rough Draft.
In Class: Peer review. Discuss Dorothea Lasky, “Ars Poetica,” Cornelius Eady, “The Empty Dance Shoes” (1997), Elizabeth Alexander, “The Female Seer Will Burn Upon This Pyre" (2001), and excerpt of Edna O'Brien's play manuscript from the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
Wed. 8/3: Due: Map and Rationale Final Draft. Write at least one comment responding to a posting on the course blog. You can also continue a conversation by responding to another class member's comment. Class Conference.
In Class: We will hold a class conference in which students will present their maps and discuss their work throughout the term. Students will also write reflections in which they address their growth as readers and critical thinkers.
3pm visit from Dorothea Lasky, Poet and Assistant Professor at Columbia University.
Columbia University Summer High School Programs MW (and 2 Fridays) 2:10-4pm
Instructor: Dr. Amanda Golden
Email: agolde01@nyit.edu
Course Website: readingnewyork.weebly.com
MW Classroom: HAM 413
Friday Classroom 7/22 and 7/29: HAM 401
Course Materials
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar. HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN: 0060837020
Book ordered from Book Culture, 536 West 112th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam
Additional readings will be available on Google Drive.
Course Overview
This Reading and Critical Thinking course investigates representations of New York City in poetry, prose, and fiction. We will consider everyday life at street level, navigating news and transport, beginning with Frank O’Hara’s “The Day Lady Died,” in which the speaker learns of the death of the jazz musician Billie Holliday. O’Hara published this poem in Lunch Poems (1964), a collection of verse he composed while working at the Museum of Modern Art. We will explore the language of Manhattan at midcentury from E. B. White’s Here is New York (1949) to representations in film and television from The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit to Mad Men. We will create Google Tours of Sylvia Plath’s New York in her novel The Bell Jar (1963), interpreting the geographical and social climate of the city. The course concludes with Plath’s influence on contemporary poets, including Columbia professor Dorothea Lasky. Students in this class will complete short, informal writing, blog postings, digital projects, and presentations, becoming more innovative thinkers able to articulate complex critical ideas.
Catalog Description
Students develop an understanding of how language and form work in what they read and see in order to develop methods for identifying and critically evaluating conveyed messages. A variety of literary and visual media is considered, including fiction, poetry, drama, newspaper and magazine articles, movies, and television programs.
Assignments
Papers must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, and double-spaced with 1-inch margins on all sides. Students must use MLA format.
Technology Policy
Technology use should be related to what we are doing in class. Do not engage with social media or email unless the instructor specifically requests that you do so as part of in-class work.
Participation
Some of your required work, both individual and collaborative, will be completed in-class and for homework, are part of your participation in the course.
These activities count for participation:
Participation in class discussions
Participation in group activities
Discussions
Peer review
Short Assignments
Quizzes
You must be present, prepared, on time, and engaged in seminar discussions. All course readings must be completed before class, and you will be attentive while in class. Substantive contribution to discussions, active listening, and thought-provoking questions are all considered participation. Being present but doing something else on your laptop is not participation.
You are expected to bring print or digital versions of the required readings or writing assignment to each class.
Blog Entries and Comments
Throughout the term you will post blog entries on the dates indicated on the syllabus. Over the course of the term, you must also comment on at least four of your peers’ blog postings. Our blog will be limited to members of the three sections of our class and not available to the public. The instructor will provide an assignment for the postings indicated on the syllabus, but you are also welcome to post and comment whenever you feel inspired to do so. Your blog entries must be at least 250 words and analyze quotations from the text as well as an image, sound, or video clip that you will include or indicate with a link. Blog postings provide an opportunity to shed light on the contexts that inform the texts we will read. You should build from the topics we have addressed in class and in our projects, taking the readings a step further and posing questions for your classmates to consider. The blog is also a place where you can receive feedback as you develop your projects.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
In your writing for this class, you are encouraged to refer to other people's thoughts and writing -- as long as you cite them.
If you are ever in doubt about whether you are citing something correctly, please contact the professor.
You must list all sources you consult in your works cited list. You must cite web pages.
In moments of crisis students sometimes make decisions that they would not otherwise make. If you find yourself in a situation that affects your work in this class, please contact the instructor.
Weekly Schedule (Subject to Change)
Week 1
Wed. 7/20: First Day of Class. Introductions, Frank O’Hara, "The Day Lady Died" (1964), New Yorker issues from 1958.
In Class: Writing Assignment.
Fri. 7/22: Read E. B. White, Here is New York (1949).
In Class: Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing: Introduction and Issue 2: "Strategic Reading."
Review MLA format for in-text citations, works cited pages and entries.
Week 2
Mon. 7/25: Due: Blog Posting 1. Read Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar Ch. 1 and 3.
In Class: Read excerpt from They Say/I Say.
View clips from The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) and Mad Men (2007).
Critiquing fiction, film, and television using templates from They Say/I Say.
Wed. 7/27: Read The Bell Jar Ch. 4 and 5 and excerpts from The Unbridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, Letters Home, and Elizabeth Winder, Pain Parties and Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953 (2013).
In Class: Google Tours interpreting chapters of the novel and their contexts, including The New York Times.
Fig Tree scene from Master of None (2015)
Fri. 7/29: Due: Blog Posting 2. Poems by Sylvia Plath: “The Colossus,” “Ariel,” “Lady Lazarus,” and “Daddy.”
In Class: Analyze poems and work on maps and rationales.
Week 3
Mon. 8/1: Due: Map and Rationale Rough Draft.
In Class: Peer review. Discuss Dorothea Lasky, “Ars Poetica,” Cornelius Eady, “The Empty Dance Shoes” (1997), Elizabeth Alexander, “The Female Seer Will Burn Upon This Pyre" (2001), and excerpt of Edna O'Brien's play manuscript from the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
Wed. 8/3: Due: Map and Rationale Final Draft. Write at least one comment responding to a posting on the course blog. You can also continue a conversation by responding to another class member's comment. Class Conference.
In Class: We will hold a class conference in which students will present their maps and discuss their work throughout the term. Students will also write reflections in which they address their growth as readers and critical thinkers.
3pm visit from Dorothea Lasky, Poet and Assistant Professor at Columbia University.