English 288: A Storied Singer:
The Literary Frank Sinatra
| Professor
Gilbert L. Gigliotti 304 Willard Hall 860/832-2759 gigliotti@ccsu.edu |
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English 288: A Storied Singer: The Literary Frank Sinatra |
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COURSE DESCRIPTION
“A Storied Singer: The Literary
Sinatra” examines how writers of fiction, drama, poetry, biography, song,
and the essay have created and employed the personas of “Frank Sinatra”
as a literary construct and pervasive image in their texts. Through a variety
of written and oral assignments, the students engage in close readings to develop
their skills in textual analysis. While rooted in music and popular culture,
this course emphasizes the place of these works within broader literary traditions
(e.g., short story, tragicomedy, lyric poetry, epistolary novel, and “New
Journalism”).
SYLLABUS
Week
I
Paul Fericano, “Sinatra, Sinatra: The Poem”
Bono, “‘Grammy’ Introduction of Frank Sinatra”
Frank Sinatra in Popular Song (1940s-2001)
Gay Talese, “Sinatra Means a Jumping Jilly’s and a Lot Less Sleep
for Another Cat at His Favorite Bar”
“Frank Sinatra Has a Cold”
Stan Cornyn, “Eye Witness”
Gilbert Gigliotti, “The Composition of Celebrity: Sinatra as Text in the
Liner Notes of Stan Cornyn”
William Kennedy, “Under My Skin: A Lifetime of Listening to Sinatra: His
Sound, His Cadence, His Tunes, Him”
Pete Hamill, Why Sinatra Matters
Week
II
Will Friedwald, Sinatra! The Song is You: The Singer’s Art
Albert Maltz, The House I Live In
Bruce Bliven, “The Voice and the Kids”
Jon Wiener, “When Old Blue Eyes was ‘Red’”
Bob Gaudio and Jake Holmes, Watertown: A Love Story
Week
III
Neil Shurley, “Commandments”
Kimberly Ball, “The Patron Saint of Attitude”
Barbara Harrison, “Oh, How We Worshipped the Gods of the Fifties”
Edmund R. Santurri, “Theology and Music in a Different Key: Meditations
on Frank Sinatra and Eros in a Fallen”
Bernard Kops, Playing Sinatra
Week
IV
Raul Nu–ez, The Lonely Hearts Club
Sam Kashner, Sinatraland
Week
V
Michael Ventura, The Death of Frank Sinatra
Gordon Jenkins, "Reflections on the Future in Three Tenses"
David Lloyd, “The Heavens”
Grading
Breakdown:
Term Paper: 25%
Presentations (5-7 minutes each): 30%
Reviews: 30%
Participation and Attendance: 15%
Description of Assignments
Presentations (30%): Three brief analyses of any of the articles/essays/poems published in the Petkov/Mustazza, Vare, or Mustazza anthologies that are not specifically listed in the syllabus. These presentations should not merely summarize the articles; instead they should carefully critique the specific ways the authors characterize Sinatra.
Reviews (30%): Three well-argued papers on the same subjects as the student’s presentations. (N.B.: All four papers will be evaluated using the Diederich Scale. See attached.)
Term Paper (25%): A focused examination of the image/meaning/significance of
Frank Sinatra as created and employed in one of the following works, although--with
prior approval of instructor--another appropriate work may be substituted:
Lake, Harriet. On Stage: Frank Sinatra. Mankato, Minn.: Creative Education,
1976.
McKuen, Rod. A Man Alone. Reprise Records, 1969.
Shirak, Jr., Ed. Our Way (based on the song “A Time that Was”). Hoboken: Lepore’s Publishing,
1995.
Tharp, Twyla. “Sinatra Suite.” American Ballet Theatre. KULTUR International
Films, 1981.
Zehme, Bill. The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin’.
New York: Harper Collins, 1997.