| COURSE OBJECTIVES: The course is designed as a study
of Olympic heroes and anti-heroes encountered in various types of fiction,
nonfiction, drama, cinema, and television. The Olympics, as a
metaphor, has received a remarkable amount of attention in the
best interpretive literature. A wide range of writers have and
are using Olympic themes and athletes (both fictional and real)
to portray important facets of American society. The works
emphasize the strengths and weaknesses coupled with the glamorous
and the ridiculous as reflected in American culture.
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LITERARY OBJECTIVES: The course is designed so that the student
may critically read, discuss and compare published pieces by
gifted writers who use the Olympics as a metaphor enjoy a wide
variety of nonfiction that follows the historical thread of
Olympic heroes and themes critically analyze characters, themes,
form and content in selection fiction recognize how and why
authors use the Olympics to express viewpoints about the human
condition be able to discriminate between poor and quality
work relate the readings, classwork, and critique to life,
education and attitudes toward literature.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
-
Glanville, Brian. The Olympian, New York: Coward-McCann,
1969.
- Guttman, Allen. The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games,
Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press,1992.
- Halberstam, David. The Amateurs, New York: William Morrow, 1985.
- Miller, Stephen G. Arete: Ancient Writers, Papyri, and
Inscriptions on the History and Ideals of Greek Athletics and
Games, Chicago: Ares, 1979.
RECOMMENDED READING:
-
Carlson, Lewis H. and John J. Fogarty. Tales of Gold, Chicago:
Contemporary Books, 1987.
- Hart-Davis, Duff. Hitler's Games: The 1936 Olympics, London:
Century, 1986.
- MacAloon, John J. This Great Symbol: Pierre de Coubertin and the
Origins of the Modern Olympic Games, Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 1981.
- Mandell, Richard D. The First Modern Olympics, Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1976.
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ASSIGNMENTS:
-
Introduction
-
discussion of course requirements and objectives, short book
- reviews of texts, and cursory examination of Halberstam
- study Tom Boswell's Olympic essay
- student response to one of the Olympic themes
-
High And Low Points of Olympic History
- Guttman (1-21)
- Halberstam (ch 1-3)
- Steven Miller (scan 1-13)
-
Skill and Prowess
- Guttman (21-37)
- Halberstam (Ch 4-7)
- Miller (1-13)
- Homer (bks 22-23 Iliad)
-
First critical paper: The Price of Dedication
-
Heroes of the Game
- Guttman (chs 3-4)
- Halberstam (Chs 8-12)
- Miller (13-16)
-
Tricks of the Trade
- Guttman (chs 5-6)
- Halberstam (chs 13-18)
- Miller (33-44)
- Film: "Chariots of Fire"
-
The Olympics, Beauty and Art
- Guttman (chs 5-6)
- Halberstam (chs 19-22)
- Miller (95-101)
- Michener (from The Source)
-
Second critical paper: Analyze common theme in reading
-
Fathers and Sons
- Guttman (chs 7-9)
- Halberstam (chs 23-33 and epilogue)
- Miller (Plato and Pindar)
-
Paradise Lost and Sometimes Regained
- Guttman (chs 10-11)
- Brian Glanville (chs I-III)
- The First Modern Olympics
-
Varieties of Religious Experience
- Guttman (The Games Must Go On)
- Glanville (chs IV-IX)
- Film: "Personal Best"
-
Third Critical Paper: the Olympics as secular religion
-
Rules and Authority--Fate and Luck
- Glanville (chs X-XII)
- Politics and the Olympic Games
- Joyce Carol Oates On Boxing
-
Variety of Sports in the Olympics
- Bill Bradley's Essay
- John MacAloon (This Great Symbol)
- Film: "The Olympiad"
-
The Atlanta Games
- The business of the Olympics
- David C Young's The Olympic Myth of Greek Amateur Athletics
-
Art and the Olympics
-
Closing Ceremonies
- Guttman review
- Halberstam review
- Miller review
- Glanville review
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