CL 122: Spiritual Autobiography

Voice, Emulation, and Appropriation

Instructor: Daniel Armenti (he/him/his)

darmenti@umass.edu
Office: Herter 405
Office Hours: TTh 3:30-4:30pm, and by appointment

Course Description and Objectives:

From Spire: Exploration of the individual psyche, growth of self-consciousness;
the dark night of the soul and the role of suffering in personal growth. Reading
from a variety of spiritual diaries, autobiographies, from East and West, written
by women and men, believers and heretics. Ancient and modern examples.

This version of the course focuses on construction of voice and identity, the
complications of writing in the voice of another, and finding your voice being
written by another. The readings will include both fiction and non-fiction “texts”
(understood broadly) about the self, while also covering some basics of literary
analysis, including form, narrative structure, representation, and interpretation.
In addition to considering the process of autobiography, this course explores the
concept of “spirituality” in religious and secular contexts. Our texts will cover a
broad range of cultural contexts and individual perspectives, historical and
modern. The primary aim of this course is to introduce students to literary
interpretation and analysis, and to familiarize them with the genre of
autobiography. Students will have the opportunity to reflect this knowledge in
their own autobiographical essays; they will be asked to consider the manner in
which they choose to write about themselves, and to think critically about how
others do the same.

General Education: AL and DG

In this course, you will deeply read and analyze a variety of literary texts to
pursue the following General Education goals: (a) understanding, applying, and
integrating the fundamental questions, ideas, and methods of analysis in the
Humanities; (b) critical thinking through inquiry and synthesis; and (c) pluralistic
perspective-taking and the awareness of the relationship among culture, self,
and other. In addition, our discussions and assignments are designed to fulfill the
following goals: (d) communicating persuasively and effectively, both orally and
writing; and (e) working effectively and collaboratively in groups, across
perspectives.
Beyond these broad General Education goals, this course also fulfills the
Literature (AL) requirement by helping you to develop an appreciation of
literature; teaching the fundamental methods of inquiry and analysis used in
Comparative Literature; developing critical acuity and the ability to make
comparisons; exploring and interpreting the life of the imagination; developing
the ability to work with ambiguity and multiple perspectives; exploring the link
between literature and culture; and developing the ability to express one’s
thoughts in writing.
This course also fulfills the Global Diversity (DG) designation. Among other
things, this means that the course will help you to understand, articulate, and
critically analyze diverse perspectives; to demonstrate critical awareness of how
individual perspectives and biases influence ways of seeing the world; to

1
CL122 Spiritual Autobiography – Spring 2023
understand how structural forces have shaped discrimination; and develop the
capacity to engage respectfully with others of perspectives different from your
own. Autobiography is uniquely equipped to guide us towards these objectives,
since it requires us to see the world from someone else’s point of view.

Course Requirements:
• Attendance and Participation 25%
• Student-Guided Discussion 10%
• Autobiographical Exercises 20%
• Reading Journal 15%
• Critical Essays 30%

Attendance and Participation (25%):

Attendance: You may miss two class sessions without penalty. After missing two
class sessions, each unexcused absence will result in a 5% reduction to your
overall grade. If you miss 8 total class sessions (that’s a full month), excused or
not, you will not receive a passing grade (we can discuss options for withdrawal,
depending on your situation). Excused absences are when circumstances beyond
your control prevent you from attending class (illness, disaster, etc.). If possible,
please communicate with me before your absence, but if there is not enough time
or your condition makes you unable, follow up with me after when you are able.

Participation: When you are in class, you will participate in class activities.
Participation includes active listening, note-taking, asking questions, speaking
during discussions, etc. You may bring a laptop or tablet to class and use it, but
only if it doesn’t distract you from participating. If you are in class and not
participating, you will receive an unexcused absence.
Cellphone policy: You will not use your cellphone during class without speaking
to me first. Doing so will result in an unexcused absence.

Student-Guided Discussion (%10):

Once during the semester, students will guide the class discussion. This will
include introducing the reading(s) for that day, giving background information on
those texts, the author, and the themes, and raising questions or crafting
activities that will guide the discussion. You should prepare presentation
materials (powerpoints, handouts, etc.) that will support your presentation. The
student-led discussion is expected to last 15-20 minutes.

Autobiographical Exercises (%20):

There will be three short autobiographical essays due throughout the semester,
each with a different prompt and form. As we will discuss in the first weeks of
class, what you choose to write about will not be the basis of your evaluation, but
rather how you tell your story. These essays will be graded on the following
criteria:
 Clarity of expression: the progression of events conveys both the story of
your experience and the meaning that it holds for you. There are few
digressions, and little material distracting from the narrative.
 Originality: you draw upon your own experiences of events to shape your
narrative; you may take an innovative approach to telling a story that is a
universal experience.

2
CL122 Spiritual Autobiography – Spring 2023
  Intentionality of language: there are few grammatical and spelling errors;
you choose language that is not necessarily formal, but which accurately
conveys the experience you are writing about.
 Critical approach: you draw upon techniques used by authors and theories
we have engaged with in class; you may also modify approaches that our
class materials describe, including inverting techniques used by our
authors.

Reading Journal (%15):

You will maintain a journal in which you reflect on the week’s readings. You will
only need to post every other week and can talk about any of the readings in that
week. Each journal entry (minimum 150 words) should describe your experience
of reading the texts assigned for that week, including any comments, questions,
difficulties, and positive reactions you had to those texts. Your journals will be
private (only the student and instructor will have access), and you will not be
expected to take a critical approach to the material, but a more personalized
response. These entries must be submitted no later than noon, every other
Sunday, although I encourage students to complete them as soon as possible
after finishing the readings for the week.

Critical Essays (%30):

There will be two critical papers (5 and 7 pages respectively) assigned at the
mid-point and end of the semester. These essays will be thesis driven on topics
of your choosing, in which you will be asked to approach texts (including non-
literary media such as film or music) from an academic standpoint.

Course Policies:
Since the integrity of the academic enterprise of any institution of higher
education requires honesty in scholarship and research, academic honesty is
required of all students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Academic
dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following: cheating,
fabrication, plagiarism, and facilitating dishonesty. Specifically, it can include
(but, again, is not limited to) using Internet sources without attribution or
incorporating someone else’s unacknowledged words into your own written
work. Since students are expected to be familiar with this policy and the
commonly accepted standards of academic integrity, ignorance of such standards
is not normally sufficient evidence of lack of intent. See
http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty/.

Due to the gravity of academic dishonesty, in my courses academic dishonesty—

which most often takes the form of copying or paraphrasing someone else’s
argument without attribution—carries a penalty of an F for the course. So, if you
have any questions about how to cite a source, or whether a source needs citing,
please talk to me; I’m more than happy to work with you as much as you like on
such questions (and I see teaching you these guidelines as part of my job).

Late Work: As a rule, I will not accept work late. The weekly deadlines I have
set aim to facilitate your access to the material of the course, as well as my
evaluation of your work. Certain work, the Weekly Presentations, and

3
CL122 Spiritual Autobiography – Spring 2023
participation in a weekly discussion, will have dates after which you will no
longer receive credit. Papers will drop a letter grade for every day they are late
unless you communicate with me first and give me a valid reason for the
assignment’s lateness. In general, if you think you will be late on an assignment,
you should let your instructor know 2-3 days in advance.

Disability Services & Accommodation Policy:

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing an equal
educational opportunity for all students. If you have a documented disability on
file with Disability Services (www.umass.edu/disability), you may be eligible for
reasonable accommodations in this course. If your disability requires an
accommodation, please notify your instructors as early as possible in the course
so that we may make arrangements in a timely manner (the first week of
classes).

Writing Center: If you need assistance with writing or grammar, please visit the
Writing Center: https://www.umass.edu/writingcenter/. They offer online as well
as in-person tutoring.

Required Texts:
If you’d like to get digital versions of these texts, that’s fine, but please stick to
the translation of Abelard and Heloise listed below, so we’re all on the same
page:
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Penguin, ISBN 9780140448993)
James Baldwin - The Fire Next Time (Vintage, ISBN 9780679744726)
Harriet Jacobs – Incidents in the Life a Slave Girl (Signet, 9780451531469)
Marjane Satrapi – Persepolis (Pantheon, 9780375714573)
J. M. Coetzee – Foe (Penguin, 9780140096231)
All other materials will be available online or on Moodle

Schedule:

-Week 1- (Feb. 7; NO CLASS Th. Feb. 9)

Margaret Atwood “Murder in the Dark” (Moodle, but I’ll try to bring this to class)

-Week 2- (Feb. 14 – Feb. 16)

Bruner – “Life as Narrative” (Moodle)
Augustine – Confessions Bks 1, 2, 3.1-3, 4.1-9 (online – link on Moodle)

-Week 3- (Feb. 21 – Feb. 22)

Augustine – Confessions Bk 10.1-22, 10.35 (online – link on Moodle)
Smith and Watson – Reading Autobiography Chapter 2 (Moodle)

-Week 4- (Feb. 28 – Mar. 2)

Ovid – Heroides (Penelope, Phyllis, Ariadne, Medea, link on Moodle)
Abelard – History of My Calamities (In Letters of Abelard and Heloise)

First autobiographical paper is due Mar. 2

-Week 5- ( Mar. 7 – Mar. 9)

Letters of Abelard and Heloise

4
CL122 Spiritual Autobiography – Spring 2023
SPRING BREAK – No Class

-Week 6- (Mar. 23; No Class Tue. 3/21)

This American Life – “New Beginnings – Act One” (Online – link on Moodle)
Montaigne – “On Repentence” (Moodle)

-Week 7- (Mar. 28 – Mar. 30)

Tues: Coetzee – Elizabeth Costello Chapter 8 (Moodle)

Thurs: Jacobs – Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (through the chapter “A New
Tie to Life”)

First critical paper is due Mar. 30

-Week 8- (Apr. 4 – Apr. 6)

Tues: Jacobs – Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (through “Competition in
Cunning”; focus on chapters “The Children Sold”, “The Loophole of Retreat”, and
“Still in Prison”); Christina of Markyate – “Of S. Theodora” (Moodle)

Thurs: Jacobs – finish Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (focus on “Important
Era in my Brother’s Life” through “Northward Bound”, and the final three
chapters.

-Week 9- (Apr. 11 – Apr. 13)

Tues: Fanon – Black Skin, White Masks Introduction, Ch. 1 (Moodle)

Thurs: Fanon – Black Skin, White Masks, Chs. 5, 8 (Moodle)

Second autobiographical paper is due Apr. 13

-Week 10- (Apr. 20; NO CLASS Tue. 18, Patriots Day)

Baldwin – The Fire Next Time: “Down at the Cross” and “My Dungeon Shook”

-Week 11- (Apr. 25 – Apr. 27)

McLoud – Understanding Comics (Moodle)
Satrapi – Persepolis (up to page 70)

-Week 12- (May 2 – May 4) – NO CLASS THIS WEEK

Read Hillary Chute – The Texture of Retracing (Moodle)

-Week 13- (May 9 – May 11)

Satrapi – Persepolis (finish)
Coetzee, Foe (up to when Barton and Friday leave the island)
Third autobiographical paper is due May 11

-Week 14- (May 16 – May 18)

Coetzee, Foe (finish)

Final Paper is due May 25

5
CL122 Spiritual Autobiography – Spring 2023