Assignments

Welcome to Winter Quarter!

WEEK ONE: (1/5 - 1/8)

Come to class having read Antigone (Sophocles) and "The Dead" (James Joyce).

WEEK TWO: (1/12 - 1/15)

Assignment for week two: In the book Comparative Religious Ethics, read chapters 1 – 3, then select a single religion from among chapters 4 through 9, and read that chapter. Note: choose a religious tradition different from your own; if you celebrate Christmas, choose something other than Christianity. Begin thinking about your first paper (on modernism), which will be due on the 29th of January.

WEEK THREE: (1/19 - 1/22)

Assignment for week three: Read the following stories by Raymond Carver (from the book Where I’m Calling From): “Neighbors,” “Why Don’t You Dance?” “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” “So Much Water So Close to Home,” and “A Small Good Thing.” Note: ARRIVE AT 9 AM TUESDAY TO WATCH THE PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION!

WEEK FOUR: (1/ 26 - 1/29)

Assignment for week four: read First Fish, First People.

WEEK FIVE: (2/2 - 2/5)

Assignment for week five: read Take Ten: New Ten-Minute Plays. After reading the entire book, choose five plays that you might like to bring to life with your classmates. Bring your list to class with you on Monday. You can get in touch with people to work with you and start thinking of ideas for performing a single play on Thursday the 5th. However, please be flexible; the class might not want to watch ten versions of one play. Note, of course, that everyone needs to be in a play.

WEEK SIX: (2/9 - 2/12)

Assignment for week six: The Highest Tide (Jim Lynch) and the articles by Terry Tempest Williams (“The Clan of the One-Breasted Women,” and Leslie Marmon Silko (“Landscape, History, and the Pueblo Imagination”) in Listening to Earth.

WEEK SEVEN: (2/16 - 2/19)

Assignment for week seven: read Death and the King’s Horseman (Wole Soyinka). Slowly. Now read it again. Halfway through next week, get a head start on Macbeth. Your grant proposal on sustainability is due on February 23. See our definition of sustainability.

WEEK EIGHT: (2/23 - 2/26)

Assignment for week eight: read all of Macbeth (William Shakespeare). Remember that your paper is due on Monday the 23rd.

WEEK NINE: (3/2 - 3/5)

Assignment for week nine: prepare your final performances.

WEEK TEN: (3/9 - 3/12)

This is the week we visit Ashland!

 

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Welcome to Fall Quarter!

WEEK ONE: (9/29 - 10/2) - PRODIGAL SONS AND DAUGHTERS

You have several assignments this week, but the most important thing of all is to show up on time and be ready to work (of course). Note that anything in a different color on this website is a live link to another page. To find an assignment, simply click on the link. The first assignment is the Personal Inventory, which will be handed out by Rob on the first day and will be due in class the same day. The second is to read the following four short pieces by Tuesday, September 30:

The third assignment is to take a look at and print out the handout on vocabularies; it's intended to give you terms with which you need to become familiar. The fourth assignment is to complete the Personal Narrative, which will be due on Monday, October 6, at the beginning of class. Your reading assignment for week two is to read all of King Lear, Somatics (introduction and chapters 1-5), and The Silent Language (introduction). Start King Lear NOW.

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WEEK TWO (10/6 - 10/9) - KING LEAR

Come to seminar with the readings for this week in hand. There is no written assignment for this week. Your reading assignment for week three is to read Somatics, chapters 6-10, and The Silent Language, chapters 1-3.

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WEEK THREE (10/13 - 10/16) - THE BODY AND HEALING

Individual workshops begin this week; check with your workshop leader to be sure that you understand the workshop assignments. Come to seminar with the readings for this week in hand. The Scar assignment is due in class on Thursday, October 16. Your reading assignment for week four is to read "The Land Ethic" by Aldo Leopold, together with "The Land Ethic" (same title!) by E.O. Wilson, in Listening to Earth. Give yourself enough time to view: www.storyofstuff.com. Read The Silent Language, chapter 4 ("The Major Triad") and Somatics, chapters 11 and 12.

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WEEK FOUR (10/20 - 10/13) - SUSTAINABILITY

Check with your workshop leader to be sure that you understand the workshop assignments. Come to seminar with the readings for this week in hand. Your reading assignment for week five is to read the first three chapters from The Power of Myth (Campbell) and "Cathedral" (Carver) from Where I'm Calling From. Your creative assignment for week 5 is to redesign the cover of The Power of Myth so that it reflects your understanding of mythology and archetypes. This assignment is due on Tuesday, October 28, in seminar; bring your redesigned cover (it needs to have the title and author name too) with you to seminar and be prepared to discuss what you have created out loud. Note that everyone will have something different, and your work is not there to be judged as "better" or "worse." Do not apologize for your work; no one else shares your vision, which makes it worthy of consideration.

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WEEK FIVE (10/27 - 10/30) - MYTHOLOGY AND ARCHETYPES

Check with your workshop leader to be sure that you understand the workshop assignments. Come to seminar with the readings for this week in hand. Your reading assignment for week six is to read Billy Budd, Sailor (Melville). Read also the online excerpts from The Disciplined Mind (Gardner), Metaphors We Live By (Lakoff), and The Feeling of What Happens (Johnson). Read also the very short piece on Silence by Pico Iyer.

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WEEK SIX (11/3 - 11/6) - BILLY BUDD

NOTE: class meetings are cancelled for Thursday of this week due to the faculty retreat. Check with your workshop leader to be sure that you understand the workshop assignments. Come to seminar with the readings for this week in hand. Your reading assignment for week seven is to read "Oedipus the King" (Sophocles) from Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra. We will hand out your instructions for the final written assignment this week. Your essay will be due on Thursday, November 20, at 10 am in class.

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WEEK SEVEN (11/10 - 11/13) - BLINDNESS

Check with your workshop leader to be sure that you understand the workshop assignments. Come to seminar with the readings for this week in hand. Your reading assignment for week eight is to read the Story of Orpheus together with the online chapter of "Orpheus the Shaman" from Healing Songs (Gioia). At this point you should have decided what your final paper is about, have gathered your sources, and should be well into writing your rough draft.

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WEEK EIGHT (11/17 - 11/20) - ORPHEUS AND ST. CECELIA, DEITIES OF MUSIC

Check with your workshop leader to be sure that you understand the workshop assignments. Come to seminar with the readings for this week in hand. Do not forget to turn in your final paper assignment this Thursday, November 20. Your reading assignment for week nine is to read online selections from Huckleberry Finn (Twain) and Beloved (Morrison). NOTE: Don't come to class during Thanksgiving week because the entire school will close; we won't be there.

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WEEK NINE (12/1 - 12/4) - ILLUMINATIONS

Check with your workshop leader to be sure that you understand the workshop assignments. Come to seminar with the readings for this week in hand. Spend time outside of class preparing for your final performances/presentations!

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WEEK TEN (12/8 - 12/11) - PRESENTATIONS

This week we will be doing presentations of the work you have done this quarter in workshops. Your job, then, is to be on time and prepared for your performance, and to attend (literally: pay attention to) the performances of your colleagues. Write a self-evaluation (see the covenant for this), and be prepared to meet with your faculty for your evaluation session next week. Over winter break, please read "Antigone" (Sophocles) from Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra, and "The Dead" (Joyce) from Dubliners.

Having an evaluation: when you come to your evaluation conference, you have half an hour with your seminar leader to discuss your work. You will have the chance to read what will be written about you in your transcript, compare it with your self-evaluation, and ask questions about your coursework, future plans, and academic advising. Please be on time, bring a pen and paper, and do not leave the evaluation conference without your portfolio.