First Seminar
Reading The Brothers Karamazov

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK.

• Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (Penguin, 2003), ISBN 0140449248.

COURSE DESCRIPTION.  In this First Seminar, we will focus on the act of reading.  What happens when we read?  How do we make sense of what we read?  Is reading a literary text different from reading other things?  Why do we sometimes misunderstand what we read?  What do we need to know in order to understand what we read?  In exploring these questions, we will read some recent theories about reading and comprehension from the disciplines of literary studies, education, psychology, and linguistics.  As a test case, we will also read The Brothers Karamazov, a novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.  I, the professor, will be reading the novel for the very first time with you – so that I will not have the advantage that professors usually have over their students of having already read the entire literary work assigned in class before the semester starts.  Instead, we will all explore reading The Brothers Karamazov together from start to finish, all the while monitoring and analyzing our preconceptions, responses, questions, misunderstandings, and interpretations of the book.

GOALS.  By the end of the course, I want you

1. to be more interested in pursuing the study of deceptively simple but, in truth, complex phenomena such as reading,
2. to approach the world, information, and knowledge ever more critically, questioning surface appearances, received opinion, and authoritative answers,
3. to approach research not as a hoop to be jumped through but as a necessity for gathering vital information,
4. to use writing, research, and reading for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating,
5. to collect, analyze, and interpret information and to communicate it to others in a reliable way,
6. to write essays that are clear, effective, correct (according to the norms of standard American English), and appropriate to an academic setting,
7. to understand better how the literary, visual, and performing arts reflect and inspire the richness of human expression, and how language and other forms of expression convey meaning and story,
8. to be able to analyze how forms of expression are used to reflect, exalt, or challenge the values of a culture,
9. to be able to explain the many purposes for which art is created and the multiple contexts in which it acquires meaning and value,
10. to have developed perceptual habits and conceptual lenses conducive to the appreciation of specific media, genres, and styles,
11. to have pursued a sustained investigation of the idea of literature itself by examining what literature is and how it is culturally, politically, philosophically and/or sociologically defined and influenced, and
12. to demonstrate sensitivity to the concrete historicity and cultural specificity of texts and to the development of literary traditions, cultural values, modes of thought, and uses of language over time and across national boundaries.

REQUIREMENTS.  For this course, you must complete the following graded assignments:

1. PAPER 1 (15% of your final grade),
2. PAPER 2 (25%),
3. PAPER 3 (30%),
4. 2 research question papers (5% each, 10% all together), and
5. 10 response papers (2% each, 20% all together).

ATTENDANCE.  Regular attendance is a virtual necessity for successful completion of the graded assignments in this class.  Class exercises and discussion constitute important, useful preparation for the course’s papers and presentations.  If you miss a class, you will essentially lose out on that day’s contribution to your preparation, since it is never really possible to reproduce or recapture the dynamics and flow of information for a missed class meeting (even if you get notes from someone).  If, however, you positively must miss a class, I expect you to find out what you missed and to come fully prepared – without excuses – to the next class meeting.

OFFICE HOURS.  My office is Bliss 216, and my office hours are 2-4 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.  If you cannot see me during my office hours, feel free as needed to call my office (771-2106) or talk to me before or after class to arrange an appointment at another time.  You may also contact me by email (gsteinbe@tcnj.edu), or you may leave a message for me in my box at the English department offices in Bliss 124.  Email is generally the fastest way to contact me in an emergency.

EMAIL.  I may, on occasion, want to email everyone in class.  I generally only have access to your TCNJ email addresses, however.  As a result, if you regularly use an email address other than your TCNJ address, I recommend that you have mail from your TCNJ address forwarded to the address that you use more regularly.  That way, if I email your TCNJ address, my message will be forwarded to your other address automatically.  To forward mail from your TCNJ address, just go to http://managemail.tcnj.edu/ and click “Mail Forwarding Manager.”  Follow the directions there to set up the mail forwarding.

If you would like to send an email message to one or more of your classmates, you can do so through SOCS.  To access SOCS, go to http://socs.tcnj.edu and, after you have logged in with your TCNJ email username and password, choose this class from the list of your courses this semester.  Then, when our course page comes up, click the “Email” button.  From there, you can select individual email addresses or the entire class and send a message to the addresses you’ve selected.

LANGUAGES ACROSS THE CURRICULUM.  Languages Across the Curriculum is an initiative to infuse foreign language study across the curriculum, thus building on the skills of language-proficient students in courses where foreign language sources are not a regular component of the curriculum. Those students who have completed at least two 200-level courses in a foreign language or have intermediate level proficiency in a language and are interested in enhancing their work in this course through complementary readings or research in that language may enroll in a one credit Languages Across the Curriculum Independent Study, LAC 391. The specific assignments will be identified by the course professor and the LAC supervisor, Deborah Compte of the Modern Languages Department. Dr. Compte will assist you in accessing appropriate materials and engaging in course-related research and activities in another language, and will monitor your progress. A brief biweekly report of ongoing progress in relation to the LAC component of the course is required. The LAC independent study is offered on a Pass/Fail basis only and thus does not impact on your GPA, but indicates your initiative in utilizing your language skills to enhance your coursework. It will be noted as LAC 391 on your transcript.

You must register for the LAC independent study by the end of the first week of classes. The specific work involved in the independent study will be clearly identified and articulated in the Independent Study Summary Proposal which you will draw up with Dr. Compte, with the approval of the course professor. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Compte promptly at dcompte@tcnj.edu or at 771-2392 so that the necessary forms can be completed by the College’s deadline. The LAC website contains further information, Frequently Asked Questions, a list of courses that support LAC, sample student projects and student comments: http://internationalstudies.intrasun,tcnj.edu/. This is an exciting opportunity for students with the requisite language skills to build on their expertise and complement their academic studies.

Accommodations.  The College of New Jersey prohibits discrimination against any student on the basis of physical or mental disability or perceived disability.  The College will also provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations to enable students with disabilities to participate in the life of the campus community.  Individuals with disabilities are responsible for reporting and supplying documentation verifying their disability, and requests for accommodations must be initiated through the Office of Differing Abilities Services (Eickhoff Hall 159).  If you require special assistance, I will make every reasonable effort to accommodate your needs and to create an environment where your special abilities will be respected.

NEW JERSEY PROJECT.  For students who write a paper in this class that addresses issues of gender or that approaches its topic from the perspective of gender studies, I recommend that you submit your work to the New Jersey Project’s Student Achievement Awards for Excellence in Feminist/Multicultural Scholarship Competition.  This competition is a contest in which authors of winning essays receive a monetary award ($300) and get their essays published by the New Jersey Project.  I have uploaded more information about the contest in SOCS.

RESPONSE PAPERS.  In the course of the term, you are required to write 10 short, informal papers (about 2 pages each) on the readings for class from The Brothers Karamazov.  You may choose for which days you want to write a response paper, as long as you have completed 10 response papers by the end of the term.  For each response paper, choose one of the following topics and analyze the reading assignment from The Brothers Karamazov for the day with respect to the topic you’ve chosen:

1. Plot.  How does this reading assignment fit into the overall plot?  Don’t just summarize what happens.  Tell me why this reading assignment is part of the novel.  Why did Dostoyevsky include it in the book?  Does it provide necessary background for future events?  Does it introduce a new conflict or problem to be worked out in the overall plot of the novel?  Does it resolve a conflict or problem left over from previous readings?  Does it continue or deepen a conflict or problem from previous readings?  What makes it important to the overall plot?
2. Character.  Are the characters in the reading assignment more important than what happens in the plot?  Is the reading primarily about a particular character or group of characters?  How is character developed in the reading?  What kind of characters are portrayed?  With which characters do you sympathize?  Which characters do you find fascinating?  Which characters do you find reprehensible or unsympathetic?  Are characters well-rounded or one-dimensional?  What makes them so?  How do the characters compare to characters from earlier assignments?
3. Setting.  Where is the reading assignment set?  How does the setting affect our perception of the plot and characters?  Does the setting set a mood or indicate how we are to view the events that happen in the setting?  Does the setting change?  How is change of setting significant to the action and characterization of the novel?  Is the setting symbolic?  If so, how?  How does the symbolism of the setting compare to the symbolism of setting in previous reading assignments?
4. Values.  What tastes or values does the reading assignment seem to reinforce, question, or criticize?  On what values and tastes does the reading seem to rely?  What values and tastes does it assume?  What seems to be the reading’s main purpose in terms of cultural work – propaganda, social critique, education, social bonding, entertainment?  To what social class might the reading be appealing?  How do its values compare to those of previous readings from the novel?
5. Personal vs. Social.  Does the reading assignment focus more on the personal or on the social and political?  Is the focus more on private affairs and family life or on public events and social repercussions?  Is there both a personal and a social/political aspect to the reading?  How do the personal and social/political elements of the reading relate to one another?  What does the reading say about the personal or the social/political or the relationship between them?  Does Dostoyevsky show primarily a social activist side, or does he focus primarily on personal issues and personal morality?
6. Religion.  How are religion and religious ideas portrayed in the reading assignment?  How Christian is the reading in outlook, doctrine, and/or symbolism?  Does the reading use Christian images?  Does it allude to Christian stories?  Does it espouse Christian values (with or without explicit Christian content)?  Does it reflect on or mention Christian doctrine?  How is organized religion portrayed?  How are Church figures (such as monks and priests) portrayed?  How does religion in the reading compare to that in previous readings?
7. Gender.  How are men and women portrayed in the reading assignment?  What seems to be the attitude of the author toward men and women?  What are the characteristics of a good man in the reading? a good woman? a bad man? a bad woman?  Does the reading generalize about male and female gender roles?  What does the reading imply or say about what are appropriate roles for each gender?  Does the reading seem to favor or criticize either gender, portray one or the other gender negatively or positively?  How does the reading’s treatment of gender relate to that of previous reading assignments in class?

You should have written at least once on each one of these topics over the course of your 10 response papers for the term.  No response papers may be submitted before we begin reading The Brothers Karamazov (i.e., before September 19).

Response papers will be graded Pass/Fail.  I ask you to type them (so that they are easier for me to read), but they need not be a perfect, polished product.  Rather, response papers should be just what their name says – a response.  Think about one of the topics  that I ask you to consider; then, write a response.  Don’t worry about typos or comma splices or organization.  Don’t worry about answering every question I ask under the particular topic.  In fact, focus on the one question that seems most interesting to you, and be as specific as you can, getting down as much as you can, as quickly as you can.  Treat response papers more like a journal entry than like a formal paper.  I don’t want a five-paragraph theme.  Rather, I want an exploration – as detailed and specific as possible – of the reading assignment for the day.

Normally, as long as you submit a response paper of suitable length, detail, and thoughtfulness (and as long as you submit it in hard copy in class on the assigned day), you will receive all the points that the response paper is worth.  The purpose of the response papers is

1. to help you in your preparation for class discussion,
2. to help me see where you’re struggling with the readings for class,
3. to help you develop your intellectual independence and your confidence as a reader, and
4. to practice the kind of analysis that you will do for PAPER 1, PAPER 2, and PAPER 3).

You may submit more than 10 response papers in the course of the semester (to make up for any response papers that do not receive a grade of Pass), but no matter how many extra response papers you turn in, you will not receive credit for more than 10 total.  You may not submit more than one response paper on a single day, nor may you submit a response paper for a day that you are absent from class – absolutely no exceptions.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS.  Everyone in class is responsible for generating research questions for the course.  Ask yourself what you would like to know more about in order better to understand The Brothers Karamazov.  Be specific.  Don’t say, “I would like to know more about the historical context of the novel.”  That’s far, far too broad.  Say instead, “I would like to know more about the Cyrillic alphabet used in Dostoyevsky’s Russia,” or “I’d like to know what the ‘Petrashevsky Circle’ was; Dostoyevsky was sentenced to penal servitude for participating in it.”

Once you’ve thought of a few things that you would like to know more about, post them in SOCS under “Discussion.”  You may post research questions at any point in the semester – before we even begin reading The Brothers Karamazov or any time while we’re reading it.

You are each to choose 2 questions that you would like to research.  You may not research a research question that you yourself have posted.  When you choose a research question to research, post a response on the discussion board in SOCS to let people know that that particular question is taken.  Only one person can research each question.  If you start researching a question without posting that you’ve taken that question and someone else researches and reports on it first, you’re out of luck.

Once you’ve chosen a question to research, find out as much information as you can about the question’s topic.  Be sure to use reliable, authoritative sources – not dubious, unidentified web sites on the Internet.  Write a 2-page paper in which you summarize what you have learned.  At the next class meeting, let us know that you have completed your research and, in about 5 minutes, give us a quick summary of your findings.  Then, post your 2-page paper, including a list of relevant sources for more information, in SOCS on the discussion board under “Discussion.”  You must have researched and reported on at least 1 research question on or before October 20.  You must have researched and reported on both research questions on or before December 8.

I will grade your research question papers Pass/Fail, like your response papers.  But especially given the larger percentage of your final grade that the research question papers make up, the expectations for a research question paper are higher than those for a response paper.  Your grade will depend largely on how seriously you have taken your research and how carefully you have gathered your information.  Making sure that your sources are reliable and authoritative is your most important task.  You don’t want to misinform or mislead class with inaccurate, vague, or biased information.  You want to make sure that the information you gather is accurate and specific, as well as complete and helpful as possible.

You may submit more than 2 research question papers in the course of the semester (to make up for any that do not receive a grade of Pass), but no matter how many extra research question papers you turn in, you will not receive credit for more than 2 total.

PAPER 1.  Choose an episode or scene that we have not discussed in class but that seems very important to you in terms of developing a theme, character, or idea in The Brothers Karamazov.  Compose a paper of 5 pages in which you argue a clear and specific thesis about the scene and its significance in the novel.

As you think about what to write, I recommend that you use the topics for response papers as a guide for brainstorming.  Think about how your chosen scene fits into the larger plot, how it develops character, how it uses setting, what values it espouses, and what it says about gender and religion.  In your paper, you will need to focus on just one of these topics, but I recommend that you think about all of them before choosing which will be your focus in the paper.

Once you’ve chosen a focus, look very carefully at your scene.  Look for details that reveal or illustrate the significance of the scene in terms of your chosen focus.  Use those details as evidence and illustration in your paper.  You need not use outside sources for this paper (other than The Brothers Karamazov); in fact, I would encourage you not to use outside sources (because I'd rather hear what you think than what some published scholar thinks).

Your paper will be graded based on the following criteria:

1. Does the paper have a clear, specific thesis?  Does the thesis offer an interesting perspective or “hook” that is provocative without being gimmicky or offensive?
2. Does the paper’s analysis progress logically?  Does the paper have a clear and consistent overall organization that relates all the ideas of the paper together in support of the thesis with appropriate transitions to aid the reader (rather than simply a list of random observations without relation to one another or to the thesis)?  Does the paper have appropriate transitions to aid the reader in following the paper’s logic (rather than weak transitions, such as "The first...," "Another...," and "...also...")?
3. Does the paper provide relevant, concrete evidence and logically persuasive reasons for every assertion?
4. Does the paper exhibit confidence and insight when analyzing scenes from the novel not discussed in class?
5. Does the introduction to the paper offer an interesting, helpful preview of the content, logic, and organization of the paper?
6. Is factual information in the paper accurate?
7. Is the writing in the paper clear, effective, correct (according to the norms of standard American English), and appropriate to an academic setting?

PAPER 2.  As in PAPER 1, choose another episode or scene that we have not discussed in class but that seems very important to you in terms of developing a theme, character, or idea in The Brothers Karamazov.  You may not use the same scene as you did in PAPER 1, but you may examine the same theme, character, or idea.  In fact, I recommend that you stick with the same general focus – just examined in a new scene.  Compose a paper of 5-7 pages in which you argue a clear and specific thesis about your chosen scene and its significance in the novel.  You need not use outside sources for this paper (other than The Brothers Karamazov); in fact, I would encourage you not to use outside sources (because I'd rather hear what you think than what some published scholar thinks).

PAPER 2 will be graded based on the same criteria as PAPER 1.

PAPER 3.  In 10-12 pages, revise PAPER 1 and/or PAPER 2 in light of the ending of The Brothers Karamazov.  Think about how the novel’s end changes or reinforces your view of the scene(s) about which you wrote in PAPER 1 and/or PAPER 2.  How has the theme, character, or idea that you examined in PAPER 1 and/or PAPER 2 finally sorted itself out (or does it remain ambiguous and unresolved at the novel’s end)?  Now that you have finished the novel, what do you conclude about the theme, character, or idea that you’ve examined in your earlier paper(s)?  You need not use outside sources for this paper (other than The Brothers Karamazov); in fact, I would encourage you not to use outside sources (because I'd rather hear what you think than what some published scholar thinks).

This paper is a revision of one (or both) of your earlier papers, but it should, at the same time, be a new paper – an expansion and complete re-thinking of what you wrote before.  That kind of expansion and re-thinking is what real revision is about.  It’s the kind of revision that real scholars and writers do all the time, and you’ll often be expected to do similar kinds of revision in your college papers in other classes.

PAPER 3 will be graded based on the same criteria as PAPER 1 and PAPER 2.

COURSE SCHEDULE.  This schedule is subject to revision at the discretion of the professor.  Changes in the schedule will be shown in red.

Dates	Assignments
R Sep 1	Introductions
M Sep 5	NO CLASS (Labor Day) – class will be held on Tuesday instead
T Sep 6	Wolfgang Iser (in SOCS under “Resources”)
R Sep 8	Richard C. Anderson and Michael Riffaterre (in SOCS under “Resources”)
M Sep 12	Peter Rabinowitz (in SOCS under “Resources”)
R Sep 15	Judith Fetterley (in SOCS under “Resources”)
M Sep 19	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 1-49
R Sep 22	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 50-103
M Sep 26	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 103-154
R Sep 29	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 154-211 THESIS PARAGRAPH for PAPER 1 DUE to me by email before class.
M Oct 3	PAPER 1 DUE in the “Dropbox” of SOCS The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 212-266
R Oct 6	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 212-266 PAPER 1 DUE in the “Dropbox” of SOCS
M Oct 10	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 266-321
R Oct 13	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 322-372
M Oct 17	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 372-420
R Oct 20	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 421-465
M Oct 24	NO CLASS (Mid-term Break)
R Oct 27	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 466-528
M Oct 31	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 528-571 THESIS PARAGRAPH for PAPER 2 DUE to me by email before class.
R Nov 3	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 572-627
M Nov 7	PAPER 2 DUE in the “Dropbox” of SOCS The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 627-680
R Nov 10	PAPER 2 DUE in the “Dropbox” of SOCS The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 627-680
M Nov 14	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 680-720
R Nov 17	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 721-771
M Nov 21	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 771-811
R Nov 24	NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
M Nov 28	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 811-862
R Dec 1	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 862-912
M Dec 5	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 912-953
R Dec 8	The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 953-985
Finals Week	PAPER 3 DUE in the “Dropbox” of SOCS