Russ 1905 Freshman Seminar:  Leo Tolstoy and Radical Christianity

Fall Semester, 2002

 

Credits:  3

Hours: twice per week, 9:45—11:00, T and Th  in 229 Nolte Center

Office: 210 Nolte Center, 612-625-6557, 11:15—12:15 T and Th or by Appointment

 

Grades will be computed on the following scale:

 

Class Participation

20%

Six-weeks Exam

10%

Twelve-weeks Exam

10%

Paper

25%

Final Exam

35%

 

Class activities:

 

  1. Lecture [L] The instructor will lecture on the topic of the day

 

  1. Student report/questions for discussion [SRQ]
    1. [SRQ] indicates that class will begin with brief report by a student or students on the subject for discussion
    2. The student will also supply 5-6 questions for discussion and a list of 5-6 passages which merit particular consideration
    3. This task will be rotated among the students

 

  1. Examinations:  There will be three exams in all—in the sixth week, the twelfth week, and the final.  All exams will be of the essay type, with a mixture of questions requiring brief answers or discussion at length.

 

  1. Student paper presentations:  The last three class periods are set aside for the presentation and discussion of student work.  Each student will write a paper of 10-15 pages on a subject mutually agreed to by student and instructor.  Students may devise a subject of their own or simply choose to write on one of the titles highlighted in the class schedule below.  In either case the topic must be approved by the instructor by the beginning of the sixth week of class.  All papers are due in class on December 3, 2002.  The instructor will duplicate all of the papers and distribute them to the class on December 5.  All students will read all papers and each student will present his/her work briefly and entertain questions from colleagues. Each of these presentations will last about ten minutes.

CLASS SCHEDULE

 

 

Week

Class

Reading Assignment

1

(9/3)

[L] Greeting and definition of terms: who is Tolstoy and what is meant by radical Xtianity

Reading from Handbook (http://lol-russ.umn.edu/PopLit, 5 pp);

Reading on early Tolstoy (Bayley, chaps. 1-3, 37pp)

(9/5)

[L] Leo Tolstoy—biography – 1877

Reading on late Tolstoy (Bayley, chaps. 4-6, 21 pp)

2

(9/10)

[L] Leo Tolstoy—biography – 1910

 

(9/12)

[L] Leo Tolstoy—biography – 1910

Confession (61 pp) [student 1]

3

(9/17)

[SRQ] Tolstoy’s crisis and conversion

Preface and chapter one of Kingdom of God Is Within You (30 pp) [for historical background of radical Xtianity] [student 2]

(9/19)

[SRQ; L] The historical Church and the development of the Bible; Tolstoy’s trilogy--Critique of Dogmatic Theology, Unification and Translation of the Four Gospels, What I Believe

Tolstoy’s Introduction to The Gospel in Brief (20 pp) [all students to read this]; Each student will read one chapter of Gospel in Brief and the corresponding passages in the received version of the Gospel and draw comparisons for oral presentation [approx. 15 pp].

4

(9/24)

[SRQ] Tolstoy’s Gospel and the received version [each student will present briefly on the contrast between Tolstoy’s text and the traditional Gospel text]

Religion and Morality (22 pp) [student 3]

 

(9/26)

[SRQ] Later works: Other works on Religion; the three questions; On Life

Chapters 1-6 of What Then Must We Do? (Xerox, 37pp) [student 4]; Patriotism and Government (Xerox, 22 pp) [student 5]

5

(10/1)

[SRQ] Socio-Economic works; works on government—What Then Must We Do?; Patriotism and Government

First Step (Xerox, 37 pp) [student 6]; Why Do Men Stupefy themselves (Xerox, 19 pp) [student 7]; I Cannot Be Silent (Xerox, 14 pp) [student 8]

(10/3)

[SRQ] vegetarianism; alcohol and tobacco; death penalty

 

Study for Exam; choose paper/presentation topic.

6

(10/8)

Exam

Kingdom of God is Within You (Chap. 2, 19 pp [student 9]; Chap. 5, 24 pp. [student 10]; Chap. 10, 29 pp. [student 11])

(10/10)

[SRQ] Pacifism

Passages from What Is Art (Xerox, 6 pp)

7

(10/15)

Aesthetics

Walk in the Light While There Is Light (65 pp.)

(10/17)

Tolstoy’s view of the Xtian Life

 

8

(10/22)

Later works: Fiction—Short Stories

Selected Stories from Twenty-Three Tales, as shown (40 pp.)

(10/24)

God Sees the Truth, But Waits; What Men Live By; The Three Hermits

Selected Stories from Twenty-Three Tales, as shown (65 pp.)

9

(10/29)

Where Love Is, God Is; Tale of Ivan the Fool; How Much Land Does a Man Need?

 

(10/31)

Drama/Short Novels/Novels

Kreutzer Sonata (60 pp.)

10

(11/5)

Kreutzer Sonata

 

(11/7)

Kreutzer Sonata

Master and Man (38 pp.)

11

(11/12)

Master and Man

 

(11/14)

Master and Man

Study for Exam

12

(11/19)

Exam

Death of Ivan Ilich (43 pp.)

(11/21)

Death of Ivan Ilich

 

13

(11/26)

Death of Ivan Ilich

 

(11/28)

Thanksgiving Holiday, class excused.

 

14

(12/3)

Death of Ivan Ilich

Hand in papers for presentation

(12/5)

General summation

Read papers for presentation

15

(12/10)

Student presentations (approx. 10 minutes each)

 

(12/12)

Student presentations (approx. 10 minutes each)

Review for Final

Final Exam

December 17, 2002, 1:30-3:30

 

 

 

Required Readings (about 700 pages in all, roughly 45 pages per week):

 

By Tolstoy:

Walk in the Light, While There Is Light

Twenty-three Tales (six stories)

Tolstoy’s Short Fiction (NCE), Kreutzer Sonata, Master and Man, Death of Ivan Ilych

Confession and Other Religious Writings (Penguin version: Confession, Religion and Morality)

Kingdom of God is Within You (selections)

The Gospel in Brief

Xerox copies: Selections from What Then Must We Do?; Patriotism and Government; First Step; Why Do Men Stupefy Themselves; I Cannot Be Silent; selections from What Is Art?

 

By Others:

John Bayley, Leo Tolstoy

The entry on “L. N. Tolstoi” in A Handbook of Russian Literature, ed. Victor Terras