Section outline

  • General

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    Capitalist Selves: Emily Balch Seminar, section 13

    Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:40 am-1:00 pm in Dalton Hall 2

    Sara Bryant, slbryant@brynmawr.edu

  • Assignments

  • Week 1 (Tues 9/1 and Thur 9/3)

    Introduction

    Tues 9/1:       Introduction (no reading assigned in advance of class) 

    Thur 9/3 (read before class): 

    1) Bryn Mawr College's Honor Code

    2) David F. Ruccio, "Capitalism"—4 pages

    3) Sven Beckert, excerpt from Capitalism: A Global History—10 pages

    4) Sarwat Jahan and Ahmed Saber Mahmud, "What Is Capitalism?" (published in the International Monetary Fund's Finance & Development Magazine)—2 pages

  • Week 2 (Tues 9/8 and Thur 9/10)

    Tues 9/8:      

    1) Henry James, "The Real Thing" (1892)—21 pages, see below for some guidance as you start reading

    2) read the page on writing from our handout last Thursday (also attached below) and think about it in relation to our course policy on generative AI (page 3 of the syllabus)

    *please bring back to class the handout for the short writing assignment #1 (also attached in the "Assignments" section above)—we will discuss the assignment & close-reading practices in class

    Thur 9/10:     begin Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis (1915), read at least section 1 (pp. 29-43) before class today

    short writing assignment (2 pp.) due Sun 9/13 at 5 pm (upload to Moodle, under "Assignments" tab)

    • Conference 1 Schedule File PNG

      Here's our schedule of conferences this week! Double check your day and time, and I'll see you then in English House, room 200 (in English House, go up the stairs to the second floor, turn left and go to the very end of the hallway).

      This first conference will be short—just 10-15 minutes. There's nothing to prepare! 

    • James The Real Thing (before Tuesday's class) File PDF

      I handed out in class last Thursday only the first four pages of this short story by Henry James (published in 1892). The full short story is here—before class on Tuesday 9/8, please read the full short story and have it with you in a form that you can write on (hard copy or tablet). 

      Some guidance for reading Henry James, "The Real Thing" (1892):

      •    Brief bio of Henry James.
      •    James wrote this short story in the late Victorian era. Some things that are associated with this era: increased consumer culture, the mass reproduction of images/art, the rise of advertising, and the decline of aristocracy. 
      •    As you read, you might think about what the short story expresses about the artist in capitalism, the representation of character/personality in art, class (the Monarchs come from aristocratic ways of life, the narrator-artist is middle class-ish, his other models are working class), labor, notions of exteriority and interiority, and anything else that strikes you as interesting. 
      •    Keep in mind that the short story is told from a first-person ("I") perspective. How/why does this matter? 

    • handout from class 9.3 on writing (before Tuesday's class) File PDF

      One page on writing from our handout in class on Thur 9/3. 

    • 1892 illustrations for The Real Thing (in class Tues 9.8) File PDF
    • "The Real Thing" discussion & close-reading questions (in class Tues 9.8) Page
    • Kafka The Metamorphosis File PDF

      Before class on Thursday 9/10, read at least the first section (pp. 29-43). We'll finish the novella (pp. 43-74) before class on Tuesday of the following week. 

      It should become fairly apparent—in a variety of ways—why we're reading "The Metamorphosis" (1915) in a class about "capitalist selves." How does the short story explore life in early-20th century capitalism? What stands out to you as especially interesting or puzzling? What directions for analysis and interpretation do you want to explore? (Revisit the two-sided handout on "asking an analytical question" & "what is an interpretive problem?" and start to articulate some preliminary inquiries based on your close reading thus far.) 

      Here's a brief bio of Franz Kafka.

  • Week 3 (Tues 9/15 and Thur 9/17)

    Tues 9/15:    

    1) finish Kafka, The Metamorphosis (sections 2-3, pp. 43-74)

    Thur 9/17:    

    1) Richard Sennett, from The Culture of New Capitalism (2006)—to be uploaded to Moodle

    2) Sample Student Essay—to be uploaded to Moodle

    "From Theme to Thesis" short writing exercise due Sun 9/20 at 5 pm

  • Writing Resources

    Here you'll find writing resources that we've used in class.