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Mr. Van Norden |
Office:
Rockefeller Hall 207 |
This course introduces some of the major works of Chinese and Japanese literature (including philosophical works, novels and films). In addition, you will learn some of the standard hermeneutic approaches for interpreting texts, including structuralist and post-structuralist methods. Thematically, the course is organized around the way that major intellectual trends influence one another, as manifested in particular texts. We will see how Daoism interacts with Buddhism as manifested in Zen (Chan) Buddhism, how Confucianism interacts with Buddhism as manifested in the Neo-Confucianism of Wang Yangming, how Buddhism influences the perception of erotic love in The Tale of Genji and The Dream of the Red Chamber; how Confucian values are manifested in the war novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the film "To Live"; and how modernity interacts with these themes in some twentieth-century works (novels by Mishima et al.), and the films To Live by Zhang Yimou and Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa).
This file last modified October 5, 2005.
N.B.: All texts are available at the Vassar Bookstore. However, it may be cheaper for you to buy the books directly from http://www.amazon.com or elsewhere. If you do decide to buy directly from amazon.com (or some other source), you should still probably buy Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy from the Bookstore, since you will need it for the first few weeks of the course. (You are NOT excused from any assignments if you decide to order books from another source and they arrive late!)
Students are reminded that it is Vassar policy that an A grade is awarded only for outstanding work. Although I do not limit the number of A's awarded to a strict percentage, on average no more than 10-15% of the students in a class will receive an A or A-.
8% of your grade will be based on attendance, arriving to class on time and class participation. (If you are too shy to speak up in class, office hours visits count as class participation.) Notice that, since there is a separate attendance grade, it is in your interest to show up for class even if you have not completed the readings. Your attendance at the film screenings is required!
24% of your grade will be based on the quizzes. There will be a brief (5 minute) pass/low pass/fail quiz in this course almost every week. (It will be on Wednesday the first week, and on Monday every week after that.) The quiz will only ask some elementary question about the reading, just to make sure that you have completed it. There will be no trick questions; as long as you completed the reading and can recognize the names of the major characters, you should be able to easily pass the quiz. You may only make up a quiz if you have an excuse approved by the Dean of Students office.
8% of your grade will be based on the midterm, on Monday, September 26. The midterm will cover only the rules in B.W. Van Norden, "A Supplement to Strunk and White" (available online, follow the link at left). On the midterm you will be given sample sentences, each of which contains at most one error that is identified in "A Supplement to Strunk and White." If a sentence has no error, you should write "no error." If a sentence has an error, you should circle the part of the sentence where the error occurs and re-write the sentence, correcting the error.
60% of your grade will be based on two papers of at least 1200 words in length.
I will frequently refer to "A Supplement to Strunk and White" in grading your papers. Proofread your papers before handing them in! (Remember: a spell-check program is no substitute for proofreading!) I will not accept papers that are not stapled or otherwise bound. I know this might sound unnecessarily strict, but staplers are not difficult to buy, and after you graduate this (like regularly arriving on time) will be the sort of thing your employer will expect you to do.
Unexcused late papers will drop 1/3 letter grade per class meeting after the due date. (That is, an A paper that should have been handed in on a Monday will receive an A- if it is handed in after that class but before the end of the Wednesday class, and a B+ if it is handed in after that class but before the end of the following Monday class.)
The readings should be completed before the class meeting under which they are listed, and then re-read after the class in which they are discussed. We may skip some topics. (If so, I will announce this in advance.) In addition, there are two REQUIRED FILM SCREENINGS in this course! Attendance will be taken and your grade will be adversely affected by failure to attend the screenings.
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Mon., Sept. 5 |
Topics: Course introduction, overview, and mechanics. |
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Philosophical Background |
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Wed., Sept. 7 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Confucius, His Historical Context and Confucianism. Reading: Confucius, Analects, in Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, especially passages 1.2, 2.3, 2.11, 2.15, 4.15, 4.16, 4.18, 5.13, 6.23, 7.1, 8.2, 8.12, 10.12, 11.12, 11.22, 11.26, 12.11, 12.19, 13.18, 14.24, 15.24, 17.2. |
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Mon., Sept. 12 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: The Confucian Response to Egoism and Selflessness: Reading: "Robber Zhi" (follow the link at left and scroll down to the relevant section), Mengzi (Mencius), in Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, especially passages 1A1, 2A6, 3A5, 6A8, 6A10, 6A15, 7A26. |
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Wed., Sept. 14 |
Topic: Mengzi (continued). |
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Mon., Sept. 19 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Daoism (Taoism). Reading: Zhuangzi,
sections 1-7, in Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, pp. 203-236.
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Wed., Sept. 21 |
Topic: Daoism (continued). Reading: Zhuangzi, remaining sections, in Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, pp. 236-245. |
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Mon., Sept. 26 |
Midterm on A Supplement to Strunk and White! |
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Wed., Sept. 28 |
Topic: Theravadan Buddhism. |
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Mon., Oct. 3 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Mahayana Buddhism. Reading: Nhat Hanh, The Heart of Understanding, complete (54 pp.). |
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Wed., Oct. 5 |
Class Topic: The Intersection of Buddhism and Daoism. No reading; in-class screening of video on Zen (Chan) Buddhism. |
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Mon., Oct. 10 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Theoretical Orientation I. Reading: Barry, Beginning Theory, Chapters 1-3 and 6, pp. 1-80 and 121-138. |
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Wed., Oct. 12 |
First paper due! (Paper topic linked here.) Class Topic: The Intersection of Buddhism and Confucianism in Neo-Confucianism. Reading: Wang Yangming, selections (on reserve). N.B. Friday, Oct. 14, is the last day to drop a class. |
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October Break |
Traditional Literature |
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Mon., Oct. 24 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Buddhism and Erotic Love. Reading: The Tale of Genji, complete (384 pp.). |
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Wed., Oct. 26 |
Topic: Buddhism and Erotic Love. Reading: The Tale of Genji. |
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Mon., Oct. 31 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Confucianism in Literature: Reading: Three Kingdoms, complete (489 pp.). |
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Wed., Nov. 2 |
Topic: Confucianism in Literature: Reading: Three Kingdoms. |
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Mon., Nov. 7 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Buddhism and Erotic Love. Reading: "The Golden Days," vol. 1 of The Story of the Stone (also known as The Dream of the Red Chamber), complete (544 pp.). |
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Wed., Nov. 9 |
Topic: Buddhism and Erotic Love. Reading: "The Golden Days," vol. 1 of The Story of the Stone (also known as The Dream of the Red Chamber). |
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Modern Literature and Film |
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SUNDAY, Nov. 13, Taylor 203, 7-10PM |
REQUIRED FILM SCREENING! Zhang Yimou's To Live.
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Mon., Nov. 14 |
Second paper due! Topic: Continuity and discontinuity with tradition in Zhang Yimou's To Live. No reading; in-class discussion of the film. |
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Wed., Nov. 16 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Theoretical Orientation II. Reading:
Barry, Beginning Theory,
Chapters 4-5, 7-10, pp. 81-120 and 139-202.
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Mon., Nov. 21 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Christianity and Japan. Reading: Endo, Silence, complete. |
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Wed., Nov. 23 |
Topic: Christianity and Japan. Reading: Endo, Silence. |
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Thanksgiving Recess |
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Mon., Nov. 28 |
Reading Quiz!Topic: Sexuality and "Genuineness" in Mishima. Reading: The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, complete (192 pp.). |
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Wed., Nov. 30 |
Topic: Sexuality and "Genuineness" in Mishima. Reading: The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. |
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SUNDAY, Dec. 4, Taylor 203, 7-10PM |
REQUIRED FILM
SCREENING! Kurosawa's Rashomon. |
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Mon., Dec. 5 |
Topic: Buddhism vs. Relativism in Kurosawa. No reading; in-class discussion of the film. |
I do not recommend reading additional outside sources on the topics covered in this course. (Many secondary books and translations are very unreliable.) Just read the assignments carefully. You are encouraged to discuss the readings, lectures and paper topics with other students and with the instructor. However, you must write up your papers by yourself. In addition, if you use any quotations, phrases or even ideas in your papers that you did not come up with on your own, you must acknowledge this fact in a citation. Failure to do so is plagiarism (a serious offense). It does not make any difference whether the source is a book, encyclopedia article, oral conversation, web site or anything else. Cite it!
My office hours are your time! Make use of them! In lecture, you are one of several dozen students. In my office hours, you usually get one on one attention. Take advantage of this opportunity!
Accommodations are available for students with documented disabilities.