Syllabus
Below is a posted version of our syllabus and calendar for Summer 2008 Introduction to Literature.
Dave Jones
email: djones0241@kctcs.edu
Office: ATC
Office Hours: 8:15am to 9:15am, Monday through Thursday. Other times by appointment
Required Text
Arp, Thomas R. and Greg Johnson. Perrine’s Literature: Sturcture, Sound, and Sense. 9th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.
You will also need access to a handbook with MLA documentation standards. Either the Harbrace Handbook for ENG 101/102 or the MLA handbook will work.
Course Description
An analytic rather than historical approach to literature, intended to deepen the student’s insight into the nature and purpose of literature and to develop literary taste and judgment. Designed especially for non-English majors.
The common approach to teaching literature is to understand different texts within an historical context. In other words, you need to know something about when and where something was written in order to get a basic understanding of its meaning. We’ll definitely touch on some history here and there, but we’re going to approach literature much more formally and thematically. We’ll try to understand literature by comparing and contrasting the different tools authors use to write and create meaning, and we’ll explore some common themes as they are addressed in the literature that we’ll read.
Objectives
1. You will need to understand basic literary concepts, devices, and terminology
2. You will need to demonstrate a critical comprehension of the selected reading materials for the course.
3. You will need to write concise analytical prose that attempts to explicate an understanding of selected readings.
Assignments and Grades
You will have several exams throughout the term, along with several reasonably short analytical papers. As a summer course, we do need to cover quite a bit of material at a quick pace and in a relatively short time (8 weeks). Below is a quick list of assignments and their point values.
2 Exams 300 points
2 Long essays 200 points
2 Short essays 100 points
Final Exam 200 points
Quizzes and Homework 100 points
900 points total
Every ten percent is a letter grade for both individual assignments and for the course as a whole.
Exams
The 2 regular exams will cover the major branches of written literature: poetry, fiction, and drama. The Final Exam will be cumulative for the term. All of these exams will touch on readings and terminology relevant to that section of the course. They will be a mixture of short answer, multiple choice, and essay questions.
Essays
Each essay will follow MLA standards for formatting and citation practices, including in-text citations and Works Cited conventions for all primary and any secondary sources, as well. Longer essays (5-8 pages) will require some research. Shorter essays (3-5 pages) will not require any, but you are free to add any secondary material you see fit.
Quizzes and Homework
I don’t like reading quizzes, but I will use them occasionally, especially if I feel that people are not keeping up. Please, keep up with the assigned reading; I don’t like giving quizzes because they make me feel as though I’m force-feeding something to students—they take the joy out of literature and reading. I know some of what we’ll read will be difficult to follow, but stick with it, and I promise that I’ll do everything in my power to help you grow as a reader and a writer.
Your homework may consist of anything from short writing and analytical assignments to doing a little secondary research from time to time. We will also be using a blog (links and login information below) from which I occasionally post assignments and generate discussion outside of class (it’s a little easier to use and navigate than BlackBoard).
URL: eng161.wordpress.com
Username: eng161
Password: literature
Late Assignments
I will accept late homework in only two instances:
- Documented emergency: like a doctor’s note with contact information.
- Request an extension 48 hours ahead of the due date.
Plagiarism and Cheating
The use of someone else’s work, ideas, papers, or other such materials without clearly acknowledging the source is an act of plagiarism. A grade of “0″ will be assigned to any student work that is plagiarized. (Refer to the KCTCS Student Code of Conduct. <http://www.kctcs.edu/student/studentcodeofconduct.pdf> In that document, under “ARTICLE II-ACADEMIC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES,” section 2.3 discusses student academic offenses and sanctions. (Also refer to #1. “High Ethical Standards” of QEP “OCTC Standards of Professional Conduct” [http://www.octc.kctcs.edu/expectations/spc.htm])
Plagiarized smaller assignments will receive no credit. Plagiarized larger assignments (Long or Short essays) will fail you from the course. A second offense will result in expulsion from OCTC.
This is the one area of teaching that I am inflexible with. Do not turn in any work that is not your own.
KCTCS General Education Competencies
(QEP [http://www.octc.kctcs.edu/expectations/framework.htm]):
I. Communicate Effectively
1. Read and listen with comprehension.
2. Speak and write clearly using standard English.
3. Interact cooperatively with others using both verbal and non-verbal means.
4. Demonstrate information processing through basic computer skills.
Assessment methods may include essay questions on exams (QEP-WE L2), discussions board responses (QEP-WE L1), email (QEP-WE L1), and extended writing assignments (QEP-WE L4).
II. Think Critically
1. Make connections in learning across the disciplines and draw logical conclusions.
2. Demonstrate problem solving through interpreting, analyzing, summarizing, and/or integrating a variety of materials.
Assessment methods may include essay questions on exams (QEP-WE L2), discussions board responses (QEP-WE L1), email (QEP-WE L1), and extended analytical papers (QEP-WE L4).
III. Learn Independently
1. Use appropriate search strategies and resources to find, evaluate, and use information.
2. Make choices based upon awareness of ethics and differing perspectives/ideas.
3. Apply learning in academic, personal, and public situations.
4. Think creatively to develop new ideas, processes, or products.
Assessment methods may include essay questions on exams (QEP-WE L2), discussions board responses (QEP-WE L1), email (QEP-WE L1), and extended writing assignments/analytical papers (QEP-WE L4).
IV. Examine Relationships in Diverse and Complex Environments
1. Recognize the relationship of the individual to human heritage and culture.
2. Demonstrate an awareness of the relationship of the individual to the biological and physical environment.
3. Develop an awareness of self as an individual member of a multicultural global community. Assessment methods may include essay questions on exams (QEP-WE L2), discussions board responses (QEP-WE L1), email (QEP-WE L1), and extended writing assignments/analytical papers (QEP-WE L4).
Tentative Calendar: Dates and Readings are subject to change depending on time constraints.
Week 1 (June 11 and 12) Introductions
· Course Introduction and introduction to reading and writing about literature: some basic questions and concepts.
· Read pages 3-10
Week 2 (June 16-19) Short Story Basics: Plot and Character
· Read pgs. 62-67; 103-110; 161-65; Greene, “The Destructors” (111-25); Lahiri, “Interpreter of Maladies” (141-60); Joyce, “Araby” (437-42).
· Introduction of Short Essay: How Literary Devices Shape a Story.
Week 3 (June 23-26) Theme, Symbol, and Irony
· Read pgs 188-95; 274-85; 334-38; Lawrence, “The Rocking-Horse Winner” (285-99); Marquez, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” (327-32); Camus, “The Guest” (358-70).
· Short Essay due on Thursday
Week 4 (June 30-July 3) Poetry Basics: Close Reading and Meaning
· Short Story Exam on Monday
· Introduction of Long Essay: Thematic Analysis
· Read pgs. 647-49; Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est”; Shakespeare, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”; Williams, “The Red Wheelbarrow”; Rich, “Poetry: I”
Read pgs. 668-70; Donne, “Break of Day”; Blake, “The Clod and the Pebble”; Komunyakaa, “Facing It”
Read pgs. 686; Dickinson, “There is no Frigate like a Book”; Kay, “Pathedy of Manners”; Hughes, “Cross”;
Week 5 (July 7-10) Imagery, Metaphor/Personification, and Symbolism
· Workshop of Long Essay on Monday; Final Draft Due on Thursday
· Read pgs. 700-01; Browning, “Meeting at Night” and “Parting at Morning”; Williams, “The Widow’s Lament in Springtime”; Frost, “After Apple-Picking”; Keats, “To Autumn”
Read pgs. 714-15; Donne, “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning”; Plath, “Metaphors”; Hughes, “Dream Deferred”
Read pgs. 734; Heaney, “Digging”; Frost, “Fire and Ice”; Blake, “The Sick Rose”
Week 6 (July 14-17) Irony and Meter
· Introduction to Short Essay: Poetic Device and Comprehension
· Poetry Exam on Thursday
· Read pgs. 756-57; Dickinson, “Much Madness is divinest Sense”; Shelley, “Ozymandias”; Donne, “Batter my heart, three-personed God”; Browning, “My Last Duchess”; Blake, “The Lamb” and “The Tiger”
Read pgs. 838-43; Whitman, “Had I the Choice”; Ferlinghetti, “Constantly risking absurdity”; Hughes, “The Weary Blues”
Week 7 (July 21-24) Drama Basics
· Short Essay #2 Due
· Introduction to Long Essay #2: Thematic Comparison Across Genres
· Read pgs. 1027-32; Glaspell, Trifles (1033-44)
Week 8 (July 28-31)Tragedy and Comedy
· Workshop of Long Essay #2; Final Draft due on Thursday
· Read pgs 1209-16; Watch Hamlet
Week 9 (August 4 and 5)
· Final Exam; Check final exam schedule for day and time.
