Computers and Literature
English 379, Autumn 1999
Go directly to:
September --
October --
November --
December
Office: (973) 353-5279x516; 516 Hill Hall.
Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:30-11:30, and by appointment
(appointments are best).
Home: (609) 750-1263 (before 11 p.m.!).
E-mail: jlynch@andromeda.rutgers.edu
(the best way to reach me).
Listserv: lynch379@andromeda.rutgers.edu (for the whole class).
Course Requirements
English 379 involves the following responsibilities on your part:
- Written Assignments: There will be one final paper of
roughly ten pages, along with several smaller writing assignments
and your daily reading journal (see below, "Class
Participation"). There will be no exam.
- Attendance: Almost any excuse, given in advance
(in person, by phone, or by E-mail), will receive my blessing.
Absences not excused in advance will be frowned upon (which means
a lower final grade).
- Class Participation: Regular and active class
participation (including doing the readings) is essential, and
counts for a large part of your grade. Some of the participation
is scheduled (such as the presentations on Web sites); most is
just the usual give-and-take in class. In each class
meeting, you'll be expected to bring in your reading journal
-- a set of written observations or questions on the day's
readings -- and be prepared to use it to start the day's
discussion. Class participation obviously includes class
attendance; if you're not there, you're not participating.
- E-Mail Participation: All students will be
required to have an E-mail account by the end of the
first week of classes; E-mail participation will count
toward the class participation grade, and some essential
information will be available only electronically. I'll
provide any computing help you need.
Readings
Two books -- The Electronic Word and Hamlet on the
Holodeck -- are available from the Rutgers
Newark Bookstore in Bradley Hall. The remainder of the
readings are available in a photocopy pack from Affordable Copies
(68 Halsey St.) or on-line.
Computing
This class has a mailing list called
lynch379@andromeda.rutgers.edu; all students are required to
have an E-mail account and to participate in the discussions on
the list. Although I have the greatest sympathy for those
suffering from technological nightmares, don't expect to use
computer problems as an excuse for not doing the reading or
writing. If you have a problem, contact me as soon as possible.
Schedule of Class Meetings
- Thursday, 2 Sept.
- Introduction.
Part I: Computers in Literature
- Tuesday, 7 Sept.
- Arthur C. Clarke, "The Nine Billion Names of God"; Isaac
Asimov, "The Bicentennial Man."
- Thursday, 9 Sept.
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., "Fortitude"; Tom Maddox, "Snake-Eyes."
Part II: Literature in Computers
- Tuesday, 14 Sept.
- Electronic texts: The On-Line Books
Page, The
English Server, Project
Gutenberg, The
Online Book Initiative, Representative
Poetry On-Line, Virginia's Electronic Text Center.
- Thursday, 16 Sept.
- Electronic texts and textual criticism. CETH Workshop Report,
"Plain
and Encoded Electronic Texts: A Taxonomy and Guidelines for
Evaluation." Exercise: Evaluate a public-domain
electronic text and describe it in two or three pages.
Part III: Computers for Literature
- Tuesday, 21 Sept.
- Collation and concordances. TACT,
Compare.
- Thursday, 23 Sept.
- Attribution and frequency studies. Ian Lancashire,
"Computer-Assisted Critical Analysis: A Case Study of Margaret
Atwood's Handmaid's Tale." Exercise: Brainstorm
a list of at least ten novel uses for computers in literary
studies.
- Tuesday, 28 Sept.
- Literary information on the Web. Student reports on sites.
- Thursday, 30 Sept.
- Literary information on the Web. Student reports on
sites.
- Tuesday, 5 Oct.
- Literary information on the Web. Student reports on sites.
- Thursday, 7 Oct.
- Literary information on the Web. Student reports on sites.
Part IV: Computers as Literature
- Tuesday, 12 Oct.
- Debate: "Resolved, computers will soon render printed
books obsolete."
- Thursday, 14 Oct.
- Marshall McLuhan, selections from Understanding Media;
Technologies of the Word: Carla Hesse, "Books in Time."
- Tuesday, 19 Oct.
- Technologies of the Word: James O'Donnell, "The
Pragmatics of the New: Trithemius, McLuhan, Cassiodorus."
- Thursday, 21 Oct.
- Technologies of the Word: Jay David Bolter, Writing
Space, chapters 3 ("Writing as Technology") and 6 ("The
Electronic Book").
- Tuesday, 26 Oct.
- Hypertext: Vannevar Bush, "As
We May Think"; Theodor H. Nelson, "As We Will Think."
- Thursday, 28 Oct.
- Hypertext: William H. O'Donnell and Emily A. Thrush,
"Designing a Hypertext Edition of a Modern Poem"; George P.
Landow, "What's a Critic to Do?: Critical Theory in the Age of
Hypertext."
- Tuesday, 2 Nov.
- Hypertext Fiction: Walter Sorrells, "The Heist";
Jay David Bolter, Writing Space, chapter 8 ("Interactive
Fiction"); Luca Toschi, "Hypertext and Authorship."
- Thursday, 4 Nov.
- Hypertext Fiction: Deena Larsen, "Ferris
Wheels"; Stuart Moulthrop, "Hegirascope";
George P. Landow, "Reconfiguring Narrative."
- Tuesday, 9 Nov.
- Janet H. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck, chaps. 1-3.
Debate: "Resolved, computers will someday be more
intelligent than humans."
- Thursday, 11 Nov.
- Janet H. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck, chaps. 4-6.
Adventure games, MOOs.
- Tuesday, 16 Nov.
- Janet H. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck, chaps. 7-8.
Bots: Eliza,
Julia.
E-mail assignment: Send at least three possible theses for
your final paper to the class listserv by midnight on Tuesday.
- Thursday, 18 Nov.
- Janet H. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck, chaps. 9-10.
E-mail assignment: Comment on at least three possible
theses by other members of the class on the listserv by midnight
on Thursday.
- Tuesday, 23 Nov.
- Lanham, The Electronic Word, chaps. 1 ("The
Electronic Word: Literary Study and the Digital Revolution"), 2
("Digital Rhetoric and the Digital Arts"), and 5 ("Electronic
Textbooks and University Structures").
- Thursday, 25 Nov.
- No class -- Thanksgiving.
- Tuesday, 30 Nov.
- Richard Lanham, The Electronic Word, chaps. 7 ("The
'Q' Question"), 8 ("Elegies for the Book"), 9 ("Operating
Systems, Attention Structures, and the Edge of Chaos"), and 10
("Conversation with a Curmudgeon").
- Thursday, 2 Dec.
- Donna Haraway, "The Cyborg Manifesto."
Part V: Computers versus Literature
- Tuesday, 7 Dec.
- Sven Birkerts, "Into the Electronic Millennium," "Hypertext"
(from The Gutenberg Elegies).
- Thursday, 9 Dec.
- Conclusion.