ENGLISH 235 LITERATURE AND SPORTS
Spring, 2000
Dr. Gutowski
Office: N413
Hours: MWF, 10:00-11:00 and by apt.
Telephone: 773-2983271
E-mail: gutowski@sxu.edu

Catalog Description:
Reading and analysis of sports classics in poetry, fiction, drama, and personal experience writing. Focus on the sporting experience as metaphor for life and on the various ways that sports events are transformed into literature.

Required Texts:
George Plimpton, Norton Book of Sports (NBS)
Robert Coover, The Universal Baseball Association, Inc.
Rod Serling, Requiem for a Heavyweight
Don DeLillo, End Zone
Bernard Malamud, The Natural
Poetry Hand-Outs (PHO)
Supplementary Readings (SR)

Assignments:
Do all assigned reading prior to listed date on syllabus.
Be prepared to raise questions and discuss your views on the readings in class.
Be prepared for daily written comment on the readings.
Write five page Term Paper on the subject: what is a sports classic?
Write mid-term and final exams.

Grading:
Mid-term and final Exams: 20%
Daily Written Assignments: 50%
Term Paper: 20%
Class Participation: 10%

Class Rules:
Faithful attendance and active participation is required for success in this course. The class participation grade is based on both the quality and consistency of the student's in-class contributions. Absence from class lowers the class participation grade with each second occurrence. During classroom discussions only one person may speak at a time. A student who has the floor will be the object of courteous attention and thoughtful consideration by all.

Missing a written assignment results in a zero grade for that assignment. A missed mid-term or final exam may be made up with a substitute exam only when an emergency situation occurs.

A missed daily assignment may be made up by writing a 500 word essay on a topic determined by the instructor. Students are encouraged to schedule conferences with the instructor at any time throughout the term in order to discuss their progress in the course or in any of their assignments.

Course Outline:
Week I
Jan. 10 Introduction to course.
Jan. 12 Bill Russel, "Sports" NBS, pp. 409-415. Roger Kahn, "The Crucial Role Fear Plays in Sports," NBS, pp. 370-385.
Jan. 14 Ernest Hemingway, "Today is Friday" SR Ring Lardner,"Champion"SR.

Week II
Jan. 17 Elliot J. Gorn, "The Manassa Mauler and the Fighting Marine," SR.
Jan. 19 Norman Mailer, "King of the Hill," SR.
Jan. 21 Gay Talese, "The Loser" NBS, pp.336-353. Susan Hall Herport, "One Deep Dish Beauty of a Right," PHO, p.1.

Week III
Jan. 24 Joyce Carol Oates, "Golden Gloves" SR.
Jan. 26 Norman Mailer, Death [of Paret]" NBS, pp.416-420. Dave Smith, "Blues for Benny Kid Paret" PHO. p. 2.
Lou Lipsitz, "To a Fighter Killed in the Ring" PHO. p. 3
Jan. 28 Rod Serling, Requiem for a Heavyweight, SR, Act I, pp.1 -23.

Week IV
Jan. 31 Rod Serling, Requiem for a Heavyweight, SR, Act II, pp.24-39.
Feb. 2 Requiem for a Heavyweight (Video of TV Production). Discussion of Term Paper.
Feb. 4 John Betjeman, "Seaside Golf" PHO, p.4. Don Marquis, "Why Professor Waddems Never Broke A Hundred,"
NBS, pp. 230-237.

Week V
Feb. 7 Wilfred Sheed, "The Old Man and the Tee," NBS, pp.110-114. David Allan Evans, "Nineteen Big Ones,"
NBS, pp.178-180.
Feb. 9 John Updike, "The Pro" NBS, pp. 157-160. John Updike, "Golfers" PHO, p.4. "Babe Didrickson-Zaharias," SR
Feb. 11 Toni Cade Bambura, "Raymond's Run," SR. Paul West,"Pele" NBS, p.308.

Week VI
Feb. 14 "Classics" NBS, read items under the following headings: Grantland Rice(455), Knute Rockne (458), Grantland Rice (459-460), and Red Sanders (454).James Wright, "Autumn begins in Martins Ferry,Ohio" NBS, p. 259. J. A. R. McKellar, "Football Field: Evening" PHO, p.6. Grantland Rice, "Alumnus Football," PHO.
Feb. 16 May Swenson, "Watching the Jets Lose to Buffalo at Shea" PHO, p.5. George Abbe, "The Passer" PHO, p.9.
James Dickey, "In the Pocket" PHO, p.9. Randall Jarrell, "Say Goodbye to Big Daddy," PHO, p.10.
Feb. 18 Don DeLillo, End Zone, chs. 1-11, pp.1-55.

Week VII
Feb. 21 End Zone, chs. 12-18, pp. 56-108.
Feb. 23 End Zone, chs. 19-25, pp. 111-183.
Feb. 25. End Zone, chs. 26-30, pp. 184-242.

Week VIII
Feb. 28 Mid-Term Exam.
Mar. 1 Woody Allen, "A Fan's Notes on Earl Monroe," NBS, pp. 64-71. Kent Cartwright, "Scoring," NBS, pp.443-444.
Mar. 3 Diane Ackerman, "Patrick Ewing Takes a Foul Shot" NBS, p.421. John Edgar Wideman, "Doc's Story," SR.

Mar. 6-12 No class Spring Vacation.

Week IX
Mar. 13 Scott Ostler, "They Also Serve Who Only Sit and Sit and Sit," NBS, pp.444-448. Stephen Vincent, "Basketball," PHO, p.11. John Updike, "Ex-Baketball Player," PHO, p.12.
Mar. 15 Ken Dryden, "Guy LaFleur," NBS, pp. 424-430. Robert Bly, "Hockey Poem," NBS, p.399. Roch Carrier,
"The Hockey Sweater," NBS, pp.422-424.
Mar. 17 "Classics" NBS read items under the following headings: Leo Durocher (454), Jack Norworth (454-455), Charlie Dressen(456), Anonymous Young Boy (457), Franklin P. Adams (457), Satchel Paige (459), Bud Abbot and Lou Costello (461-465).

Week X
Mar.20 Ernest P. Thayer, Casey At Bat," NBS, pp. 259-262. Art Buchwald,"Casey Has Struck Out," NBS, pp. 262-263. Robert Coover, "McDuff on the Mound," SR.
Mar. 22 Nelson Algren, "The Silver Colored Yesterday," SR. Ring Lardner, "Alibi Ike," NBS, pp. 161-178.
Mar. 24 Robert W. Creamer, "Kaleidoscope: Personality of the Babe" NBS, pp.370-384; Garrison Keillor, "The Babe," NBS, pp. 385-388. Tom Clark, "The Ty Cobb Story," PHO, p.15.

Week XI
Mar. 27 Peter Meinke, "Byron vs. Dimaggio," PHO, p. 14. John Updike, "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu," NBS, pp. 355-367.
Mar. 29 Bernard Malamud, The Natural, pp.3-34.
Mar. 31 The Natural, pp. 37-116.

Week XII
Apr. 3 The Natural, pp. 117-174.
Apr. 5 The Natural, pp.174-217.
Apr. 7 Garrison Keilor, "What Did We Do Wrong?" SR. Tom Clark, "Baseball and Classicism," PHO, p.13.

Week XIII
Apr. 10 T. Coraghessan Boyle, "The Hector Quesadilla Story," NBS, pp. 264-273.Stuart Dybek, "Death of the Right Fielder," Apr. 12 Robert Coover, The Universal Baseball Association, ch.1, pp.3-29.
Apr. 14 The Universal Baseball Association, chs. 2 and 3, pp. 30-123.

Week XIV
Apr. 17 The Universal Baseball Association, chs. 4 and 5, pp. 124-170.
Apr. 19 The Universal Baseball Association, chs. 6 and 7, pp. 171-218.
Apr. 21 No Class. Good Friday.

Week XV
Apr. 24 The Universal Baseball Association, ch. 8, pp. 219-232.
Apr. 26 Kenneth Patchen, The Origin of Baseball," NBS, p.13. W. P. Kinsella, "The Thrill of the Grass" NBS, pp.121-128.
Apr. 28 Thomas Boswell, "99 Reasons Why Baseball Is Better than Football, NBS, 448-53. William Heyen, "The Stadium," PHO, p. 15. Conclusions. Course Evaluation. Term Paper Due.

May 5 Final Exam 12:00-1:50 P.M.