The Way, The Truth, & the Parable [ASYNCHRONOUS CLASS]
The Bible: Matthew 5:33-46
The Bible: John 10:1-21
The Bible: Matthew 20:1-16 & Luke 18:1-8
The Bible: Matthew 18:10-14 & Luke 10:25-37
Video Introduction to ENGL 354: Part 1, Part 2
Musings on Truth, Metaphor, & Parable: Part 1, Part 2

• topic: what is "Truth"?
• Impassioned Pleas & Digging in the Dirt

The Positive Negative [always bring assigned materials to class, either paper copies or on tablet or laptop on which you can handwrite notes--no cell phones, please]
The Bible: Acts 4:32-37, 5:1-11, PDF
Flannery O'Connor's letter to "A" (Betty Hester), Aug. 28, 1955 / 948-51, PDF
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "A Musical Instrument" (1860), PDF
Robert Browning's "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister" (1842), 89-92, PDF
Salvador Dalí's Woman with a Head Full of Roses (1935)

• course guidelines
• lecture & analysis

Stumbling Blocks
The Bible: I Corinthians, chps: 1:1 thru 2:16
pre-class video: Elements & Principles of Design and "Christ Crucified" (33 min.) [CORRECTION: I say "immaculate conception" when I should say "Virgin Birth"]
The Bible: Matthew 26:47 - 28:10
The Bible: Luke 22:47 - 24:53
The Bible: John 18:1 - 20:31
Matthias Grünewald's The Crucifixion (1515)
Salvador Dalí's The Spectre of Sex Appeal (1934)
Salvador Dalí's Corpus Hypercubus (1954)

• painting analysis
• sml grp discuss & report
• Elements of Design

Metaphor, Paradox, and Truth
The Bible: Romans 5:1-8,
The Bible: Mark 10:13-16
The Bible: Matthew 13:1-23
The Bible: I Corinthians 7:1-5
C. S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain, only chp. 4 ("Human Wickedness"), pgs. 30-38 at this PDF
Dr. M's intro. to Calvary (2014)
John Michael McDonagh's Calvary (2014), rent or lease at Amazon Prime / only look at the content warnings if you're okay with lots of spoilers
film terms handout [students: print out and bring to class--this and all future PDFs]
Path 2 grps assigned

• slideshow-directed, interactive lecture
• roundtable discussion

Fierce and Dreamy Both
The Bible: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
pre-class video: artistic modalities w/ graphs (36 min.)
pre-class video: Life is Layered--Part 1: "Dirt, Digging, and Cultural Engagement" (16 min.)
Flannery O'Connor's talk "The Teaching of Literature" (date unidentified) / PDF (print out & bring to class)
Flannery O'Connor's "A Temple of the Holy Ghost" (1954), 197-209
ASSIGNED: essay response to short story point for reflection

• roundtable discussion; sml grp discuss & report

Not Your Own Hero
The Bible: Matthew 16:24-26
The Bible: Philippians 4:4-9
The Bible: Romans 14:1-23
Flannery O'Connor's "The Church and the Fiction Writer" (1957), 807-12
Flannery O'Connor's "Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Fiction" (1960; 1965), 813-21
Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" (1955), 263-84

• sml grp exercise

Maximum Control [asynchronous class session]
The Bible: Psalm 23
The Bible: Luke 12:24-34
watch lecture on Dalí, in pieces: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7
video: Life Is Layered--Part 2: "The Sensuous Surface"
Salvador Dalí's prose poem "St. Sebastian" (1927)
Salvador Dalí's lecture "The Moral Position of Surrealism" (Mar. 22, 1930)
Salvador Dalí's Apparatus and Hand (1927)
Salvador Dalí's The Great Masturbator (1929)
Salvador Dalí's The Persistence of Memory (1931)
reference the Principles and Elements of Design handout . . .
Midterm Exam study guide

• Dalí's bio / Part 1

The Way of Distortion
The Bible: Mark 12:1-12
"Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Lord Walter's Wife" (1862), PDF
Robert Browning's "Porphyria's Lover" (1834; 1836, 1842), PDF
C. S. Lewis' "Transposition" (1940) / PDF
The Bible: Genesis 4:1-16; 2 Samuel 11:1-12:25; Job 23 (all), 24 (all), & 31:1-22; Lamentations 3:16-40

• small grp exercise

Rousing Arousal
The Bible: Song of Songs, chps. 1-8 (entire book)
CLOSED-BOOK MIDTERM (bring 100-qstn scantron & blue book); essay exam first (50 min.), objective exam second (20-25 min.)

• roundtable discussion
• exam

T, 10-24

Love & Marriage [guest lecturer]
The Bible: Ephesians 5:21-33, James 3:3-10
pre-class video: the lives of EBB & RB
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850), sonnets 7 & 30 / PDF
Robert Browning's "Meeting at Night" (1845) and "Parting at Morning" (1845), PDF
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "The Romaunt of the Page" (1839), PDF [used w/ permission of one of the editors, Dr. Beverly Taylor]
Robert Browning's "A Lover's Quarrel" (c.1853), PDF

• slideshow-directed discussion

Eyes Wide Shut
The Bible: 1 John 1:1-9
Robert Browning's "Andrea del Sarto" (c.1853; 1855), PDF
Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood (1952), chps. 1-3

• slideshow-driven discussion

T, 10-31

Parabolic Drift
The Bible: Luke 15:11-32
pre-class video: Flannery O'Connor's life
Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood (1952), chps. 4-7
TERM PAPER assigned
Path 2 groups sign up for 45-60 min. PAPER CONFERENCES (to take place Mon., Nov. 6 thru Sat., Nov. 11)

• sml grp: argumentation exercise

The Evolution of Ecstasy
The Bible: Ecclesiastes 1-2
Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood (1952), chps. 8-13 (73-119)
Salvador Dalí's essay "Mystical Manifesto" (1951)
Salvador Dalí's My Wife, Nude, Contemplating Her Own Flesh Becoming Stairs, Three Vertebrae of a Column, Sky and Architecture (1945)
Salvador Dalí's The Madonna of Port Lligat (1950-51, 2nd version of the painting, not the 1949 version)
Salvador Dalí's Christ of St. John of the Cross (1951)
Salvador Dalí's The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory(1952-54)
bring: the Principles and Elements of Design handout to class

• slideshow-driven discussion
• group exercise: Mad Libs

Out of Sight
The Bible: Mark 8:22-25
The Bible: Acts 9:1-19
Salvador Dalí's The Endless Enigma (1938)
Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood (1952), chp. 14
P. D. James's Children of Men (1992), chps. 1-8

• roundtable discussion

Dark Like Blood
The Bible: Proverbs 1:1-19
P. D. James's Children of Men (1992), chps. 9-16

• Mad Libs or argumentation exercise

• sml grp: tableaux vivants & dry-erase drawings

Veilings and Unveilings
The Bible: I Corinthians 13:1-13
Romance 101: "Truth That Hurts Can Heal"
Romance 101: "Can I Trust You to Protect Me?"
P. D. James's Children of Men (1992), chps. 27-33
In-Class Peer Editing of Complete Term Paper (10 pts); bring two hard copies (printed out), and send Word .docx to Dr. M via email before class begins

• format: roundtable discussion

Thanksgiving Holiday

Magical Freedoms
The Bible: Genesis 1-3
pre-class video: the life of C. S. Lewis [includes notes about The Problem of Pain, assigned in an earlier iteration of this course]
Life Is Layered: Entry #3
C. S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew (1955)

• roundtable discussion
• small group exercise

A Realism of Distances
The Bible: Matthew 5:17-48
Robert Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" (1852; 1855), PDF
Life Is Layered: Entry #4
C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters (1942), chps. 18-20 PDF
C. S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain (1940), chp. 8, PDF
C. S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain (1940), chp. 10, PDF

• roundtable discussion
• group exercise: Mad Libs

Trauma, Reprisal, and Forgiveness
The Bible: Matthew 18:15-35 & Luke 17:3-4
The Bible: Luke 13:5-9
Dr. M's introduction to Women Talking (2022)
Romance 101: "Memory Flexes: So Should Forgiveness"
Sarah Polley's Women Talking (2022), rent or buy at Amazon Prime [warning: this film discusses rape repeatedly, though it does not show it]
bring film terms handout

• sml grp: roundtable discussion

Everything Off Balance
The Bible: Mark 12:28-34 and Matthew 10:32-39
Salvador Dalí's The Temptation of St. Anthony (1946)
Life Is Layered: Entry #5 [coming soon!]
Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (1953), 137-53
bring to class a paper or electronic copy of Dr. M's comments on the short, Path 2 essay written in Wk  3   

• discussion
• review session for final exam