Film: Class Lecture from Yale Literature entitled "Introduction to Dante"

Lecture Description

Professor Mazzotta introduces students to the general scheme and scope of the Divine Comedy and to the life of its author. Various genres to which the poem belongs (romance, epic, vision) are indicated, and special attention is given to its place within the encyclopedic tradition. The poem is then situated historically through an overview of Dante's early poetic and political careers and the circumstances that led to his exile. Professor Mazzotta concludes by discussing the central role Dante's exile was to play in his poetic project.

Course Description

The course is an introduction to Dante and his cultural milieu through a critical reading of the Divine Comedy and selected minor works (Vita nuova, Convivio, De vulgari eloquentia, Epistle to Cangrande). An analysis of Dante's autobiography, the Vita nuova, establishes the poetic and political circumstances of the Comedy's composition. Readings of Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise seek to situate Dante's work within the intellectual and social context of the late Middle Ages, with special attention paid to political, philosophical and theological concerns. Topics in the Divine Comedy explored over the course of the semester include the relationship between ethics and aesthetics; love and knowledge; and exile and history.

Language and Literature: English: African Culture & Melville's Art, Carribbean Female Bodies & Literature, and a Study on the Perception of Slavery

African Culture and Melville's Art: The Creative Process in Benito Cereno and Moby-Dick (BOOK): by Sterling Stuckey

Although Herman Melville's masterworks Moby-Dick and Benito Cereno have long been the subject of vigorous scholarly examination, the impact of African culture on these works has received surprisingly little critical attention. Presenting a groundbreaking reappraisal of these two powerful pieces of fiction, Sterling Stuckey reveals how African customs and rituals heavily influenced one of America's greatest novelists.

Allegories of Desire: Body, Nation, and Empire in Modern Caribbean Literature by Women (BOOK): by M.M. Adjarian

This book explores the relationship between famous and fictional Caribbean female bodies to literary and historical writing.

Calls and Responses: The American Novel of Slavery Since Gone With the Wind (BOOK): by Tim A. Ryan

In this comprehensive, groundbreaking study, Tim A. Ryan explores how American novelists since World War I have imagined the institution of slavery and the experience of those involved in it. Complicating the common assumption that authentic black-authored fiction about slavery is starkly opposed to the traditional, racist fiction (and history) created by whites, Ryan suggests that discourses about American slavery are--and have always been--defined by connections rather than disjunctions. Ryan contends that African American writers didn't merely reject and move beyond traditional portrayals of the black past but rather actively engaged in a dynamic dialogue with white-authored versions of slavery and existing historiographical debates. The result is an ongoing cultural conversation that transcends both racial and disciplinary boundaries and is akin to the call-and-response style of African American gospel music.

Critical Theory: The Major Documents (BOOK): by Edgar Allen Poe edited with introduction, notes, and textual variants by Stuart Levine and Susan F. Levine

“A solid resource for scholars of Poe. Highly recommended”—Choice

"Poe's quotations and misquotations are assiduously identified and corrected. Obscure references are made clear, and connections among a variety of Poe's writings are drawn. Poe's playfulness, even in criticism, repeatedly comes through, as does his occasional tendency to lapse into unfairness merely to make a point or to put the punch line on a joke. There is still a need, over one hundred years after Poe's death, for traditional scholarship of this kind. . . . This new volume is clearly the most authoritative edition of the works presented, and it is likely to remain so for sometime."—Poe Studies

History: Bonnie and Clyde, Depression-Era Outlaws

Historical and interesting.

Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde (BOOK): by Jeff Guinn

Journalist Guinn (Our Land Before We Die), in this intensely readable account, deromanticizes two of America's most notorious outlaws (they were never... particularly competent crooks) without undermining the mystique of the Depression-era gunslingers. Clyde Barrow, a scrawny kid in poverty-stricken West Dallasin the late 1920s, stole chickens before moving on to cars, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Buck. In 1930, he met 19-year-old Bonnie Parker, and during the next four years Clyde, Bonnie and the ever-revolving members of the Barrow Gang robbed banks and armories all over the South, murdering at least seven people. Bonnie, who fancied herself a poet, wrote, Some day they'll go down together, and they did, in a Louisiana ambush led by famed ex–Texas Ranger Frank Hamer. With the brisk pacing of a novel, Guinn's richly detailed history will leave readers breathless until the final hail of bullets. 16 pages of black and white photos

HEADLINES: Save Money by Reading Magazines/Periodicals at Brooks Library

Stay informed. Read these articles on the 2nd floor in Periodicals.

AMERICAN SCHOLAR, THE (SUM 2009) – “Still No End in Sight,” Why Your Waitress Might be Smarter than You,” and “Ronald Reagan is Overrated”

ATLANTIC, THE (Sep 2009) – “Cheating: Sex and the Married Man,” “What Washington Doesn’t Get About Healthcare – Here’s How to Fix it,” “Quentin Tarantino Explains Himself,” and “Ben Bernanke’s Brass Knuckles”

BACKPACKER (Sep 2009) – “Are You Smarter than a Boy Scout?,” “America’s Newest Trails,” “How to Predict Weather, Stay Dry in Any Storm, Hike Steep Trails Safely, Start a Survival Fire,” and “Rate Your Outdoor I.Q.”

BUSINESS WEEK (Sep 2009) – “Best Places to Launch Your Career” and “Housing Market’s Hidden Strength.”

ECONOMIST, THE (Sep 5, 2009) – “Technology Quarterly,” “Electric Cars Rev Up,” “The Dangers of Being Rich in China,” “History According to Putin,” “Life, Death and Health Care in America,” “Vancouver’s Olympic Anxieties,” and “The Vote that Changed Japan.”

ESPN (Aug 24, 2009) – “College Football Kickoff!,” “The Ten Wildest Seconds in Sports,” “The Legends of Colt McCoy,” “Our Diabolical Conference Previews,” and “ The Most Revealing Player Poll Ever.”