This post was moved from an older website hosted on a college server. These have been unedited and contain many mistakes, good examples of poor writing, lack of structure, and perhaps even thought. Nevertheless, they do chronicle what I was up to in college.
The Introduction to Literature course (Lit10) at CMC is almost exactly a repeat of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate English. The purpose of the course is to introduce you to literary analysis and composition. The same techniques that you have used in high school for literature would apply here (formal structure, terms, and composition). T
he large problem with Lit10, for students in Stiffler’s class, is not the material, but the outside sources. For outside source material, I would suggest going to theClaremont Colleges Library Database. For many students, the use of the literature and language databases is enough. I would suggest using Omnifile,JSTOR, LitResource Center, Project Muse, and Literature Online. With almost all of these internet sources at your disposal, it will be rare for you to go to the library to do research.
Particulars of Stiffler’s Class:
- Participation on WebCT is a must.
- Don’t sweat the presentation, but make it exciting and useful.
- Use a large amount of sources (preferably 7-10 sources per essay). When you use all of these sources, your research will write the essay for you.
- All-in-all. You can complete this course more easily if you had the literature background behind you, but it you don’t, it won’t be too hard to learn
Resources and Texts for Stiffler’s Class:
For most students, the last essay of Angels in America is considered the hardest to find sources. Here are some of the texts of sources I had used for the lastAngels essay.
- Savran, David. “Ambivalence, utopia, and a queer sort of materialism: how ‘Angels in America’ reconstructs the nation. (Gay & Lesbian Queeries).” Theatre Journal 47.2 (Johns Hopkins University Press, May 1995): 207-221.
- Montgomery, Benilde. “Angels in America as Medieval Mystery.” Modern Drama 41.4 (University of Toronto Press, Winter 1998): 596-607.
- Savran, David. “The haunted houses of modernity.” Modern Drama 43.4 (University of Toronto Press, Winter 2000):583-596.
- Ogden, Daryl. “Cold War Science and the Body Politic: An Immuno/Virological Approach to Angels in America.” Literature and Medicine 19.2 (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000): 241-261.
- Meisner, Natalie. “Messing with the Idyllic: The Performance of Femininity in Kushner’s Angels in America.” The Yale Journal of Criticism 16.1 (Yale University and The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003): 177-189.
- Bottoms, Stephen J. “Re-staging Roy: Citizen Cohn and the Search for Xanadu.” Theatre Journal 48.2 (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996): 157-184.