EN222, Introduction to Literature Fayette, Main Campus Spring 2019
Section C, MWF 1:00-1:50, meets in Classic 100
Instructor: Bob Boon
Email: rboon@centralmethodist.edu Office: CU 425 Hours: MWF 9:00-9:50
CMU MISSION STATEMENT: Central Methodist University prepares students to make a difference in the world by emphasizing academic and professional excellence, ethical leadership, and social responsibility.
COURSE DESCRIPTION (PREREQUISITES AND COREQUISITES): This course examines ways of understanding the meaning of character in human life through the study of literature. All sections will introduce students to fiction, poetry, and drama, but each section will be designed around each instructor’s chosen theme-based readings or around a general introduction to literature. Prerequisite: EN120 or EN110/111.
TEXTBOOKS:
The Norton Introduction to Literature, 12th ed. ISBN: 9780393938913
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. LeGuin. HarperCollins (2013). ISBN: 9780061054884
OBJECTIVES/STUDENT LEARNER OUTCOMES:
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
Recognize and respond to a variety of literary genres.
Understand and engage in the process of literary analysis.
Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, and creative-/critical-thinking.
Consider the historical, linguistic, and cultural contexts in which the literature was written and discuss how the literature functions within those contexts.
Better understand yourself as a reader, having (re)examined your personal, political, and cultural concerns.
Develop your understanding of human nature in order to assess issues and solve problems from a variety of perspectives
DESCRIPTION OF MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS
Plagiarism exercise: Please go to this website, http://www.lib.usm.edu/plagiarism_tutorial/, which contains a plagiarism tutorial. Work through the exercises, and take the test at the very end. Print that result for me, sign it, and turn it in.
Group story presentation: Here, we will set up groups, each focused on one story. Your group’s task is to read and discuss the story, figure out how the story works and what it accomplishes, and then to explain the story to the class. Aim for a 10-12 minute presentation. Important—if you have outside obligations, make sure we schedule your group when you will be in class!
Short story essay: Though we will do much informal writing about short stories, for this paper please write a more formal essay analyzing one of the stories from the choices I’ll give you. For this essay, we will focus on character. This is not a research exercise—I’m interested in your careful reading and interpretation of the story itself. 3 pages, typed, double-spaced.
Life on Anarres: For this essay, write about life on Anarres, the break-away society in The Dispossessed. Describe and evaluate this unusual culture. Use specifics from the novel. But go one step further—imagine what life for you would be like on Anarres. Would it seems repressive, limiting, your worst nightmare? Or does it offer something that appeals to you? Or some other reaction? 3-4 pages, typed, double-spaced. Important—do not go read outside sources for this.
Film project/presentations: This is a group project. I’ll ask you to choose a movie from a list, watch it, consult with your group, and present the movie and your ideas to the class. We will mostly focus on plot structures in this exercise—so you will need to tell us the story. Aim for a 15 minute presentation. Do, if possible, show a short clip of the film to illustrate a key idea (if at all possible, not a trailer). Each of you should also turn in an individual, 1-page overview of your ideas about this film.
Poetry group presentations: This is a group project. I’ll provide a list of poets and help you get sorted into groups. Your goal is to research and then present the class with an account of the poet’s life and writing career, and share one or more poems with the class. Our prime goal here is to encourage an appreciation of kinds of poetry. Aim for a 15 minute presentation.
Go see a performance! Please make plans to attend a live performance at the Little Theater, or another live event on campus, such as a poetry reading. Alt-plans, if you just can’t get there—I’ll give you some other choices at Stephens College and at MU. Or, you might go see a film at the True False Film Festival. After watching the performance, please write a one page review of what you’ve seen. Due by the end of Week 14. I’ll post announcements of approved events. These won’t include a high school performance back home.
Inscape activity: I’ll hand out various editions of Inscape, and ask everyone to read and report on at least one piece of writing in each (poem, story, drama). Please turn in a 1-page overview of what you find and your reaction.
Analysis of a drama: Please write an analysis of one/more of the plays we are reading in class. I’ll provide a specific list of questions to work from. 3 pages.
GRADING
Assessment of Student Learning:
Your final grade in the class will be largely determined from these activities:
Plagiarism exercise: 3
Group story presentation 10
Short story essay 20 points
Life on Anarres 20
Film project/presentation 20
Poet presentation 20
Go see a performance! 10
Inscape 10
Analysis of a drama 20
In-class writing/activities, as time permits. Points open-ended
Grading Scale:
100%-90% = A 69%-60% = D
89%-80% = B 59%/below = F
79%-70% = C
ACADEMIC CONDUCT: Any student found guilty of academic misconduct on any assignment, quiz or exam in this class will earn a zero for that assignment, quiz or exam. Furthermore, that student will come under the auspices of the Academic Conduct Policy of CMU. It is the student's responsibility to review and understand the CMU Academic Conduct Policy. Plagiarism falls under this code. I have no sense of humor nor forgiveness for any plagiarism. At best, plagiarized work will receive a zero and be formally reported to the Provost. Plagiarized work cannot be done over. Severe or repeated episodes of plagiarism will likely guarantee an F in the course.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES POLICY: “Central Methodist University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or federally defined disability/state defined handicap ("disability"). This includes but is not limited to recruitment and admission of students, educational programs, services, activities, financial aid, and scholarship programs. The University complies with all federal and state non-discrimination requirements.”
The procedures, described in the university’s catalog, are intended to guide and assist faculty, staff, and students in complying with this policy and in determining reasonable accommodations to be made for the federally defined disability claimed. All materials and information regarding disabilities will be governed by the University’s normal policies regarding privacy.
To request reasonable accommodations for a disability, students must fill out and submit the application and information forms and provide professional documentation of the disability (These forms can be found at http://www.centralmethodist.edu/academics/learning-teaching/disability-accommodations.php). The information must be received by the staff of the Center for Learning and Teaching before reasonable accommodations are provided. Please see the website for the Center for Learning and Teaching for more information (http://www.centralmethodist.edu/academics/learning-teaching/ )
CLASS CONDUCT: In class, we need to be alert to being civil and courteous to others. Partly this means being prepared for the day’s work; partly this means staying reasonably focused on our activities. So, you shouldn’t be on Facebook or Snapchat or Twitter or whatever other social media, not even texting, during class. No earplugs. Do use your iPad, but if you abuse the privilege, you may be asked to leave class and not return until we meet with your advisor. Film etiquette—no electronics out at all!
ATTENDANCE: Regular attendance is not only expected, but is vital to academic success. We will have activities every class that add to the overall learning experience. In general, except for official school activities, I do not excuse any absences. However, please let me know if there are exceptional circumstances.
Like every teacher, I expect everyone to be in class each day and to arrive on time. And because this class depends on your active participation, it’s especially important that you be here to contribute. Of course, I understand that sometimes the circumstances of life may cause you to miss class (and maybe even to be a little late once or twice, but surely not every day). If you miss more than eight classes, however, your chances of getting at least a D will be in jeopardy, and so I reserve the right to drop you from the class, lower your final grade, at my discretion, or fail you in the course. In general, except for official school activities, I do not excuse any absences. However, please let me know if there are exceptional circumstances.
Tardiness: If you are late to class, you may be marked tardy. For every 2 tardy marks, I’ll deduct 1 point from your final course grade.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: I tend to make frequent use of the Announcements in myCMU. You are responsible for information and course materials in the Announcements.
MAKE-UP AND LATE WORK: We have a fairly tight schedule, and so a caution—late work will put you at many disadvantages throughout the course, not only in terms of grades. Not being prepared is more than a little rude to the group and class members who depend on your active contribution. So, I do reserve the right to penalize or refuse entirely any late work throughout the semester. Do not email papers without asking me first.
WRITING CENTER: Please take advantage of the Center throughout the semester. This extra attention to your writing can make a significant difference in what you learn about writing. Schedule appointments here: http://www.centralmethodist.edu/academics/english/writingcenter.php
COURSE SCHEDULE: This schedule is subject to change or modification, though hopefully we will stay close to this outline. Readings should be done prior to class. Note that short stories are mostly listed online, with pdf files. If you have a device that can reliably access these, great; if not, you might find a way to print the stories. I’ll decide on specific poems later, when I know you all a bit better.
Week 1 (January 14-18)
Course introduction
“Girl” and “Story of an Hour” (this once, don’t read these ahead of time)
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”/749
“Hills Like White Elephants”/784
“The Jewelry”/821
Week 2 (January 23-25)
MLK Day
“The Things They Carried”/711
“Shiloh”/811
“Cathedral”/32 / “The Veldt”/314 /
set up Group story presentations / Plagiarism exercise due
Week 3 (January 28, February 1)
“Trifles” (don’t read this before class)
W. Champions Day!
“The Yellow Wallpaper”/673
“The Birth-Mark”/365
Week 4 (February 4-8)
set up Group Movie Projects
“A Rose for Emily”/778
“Sweat” (online)
“Puppy”/181 / Assign Short Story Essay
Group story presentations—“Where Are You Going…”, “Everything that Rises…”, “Why I Live at the P.O.”
Week 5 (Week 5 (February 11-15)
Group story presentations—“Sonny’s Blues”, “I Stand Here Ironing” / Film: Warm Bodies (97 min.)
Film: Warm Bodies
Film: Warm Bodies
Week 6 (February 18-22)
Group Movie Project presentations
Group Movie Project presentations
The Dispossessed, Chapters 1-2
Poetry—to be arranged
Week 7 (February 25-March 1)
Poetry—to be arranged
Short story essay due
Poetry—to be arranged
Poetry—to be arranged
The Dispossessed, Chapter 3-5
Week 8 (March 4-8)
Poetry—to be arranged // set up groups for Poet presentations
Poetry—to be arranged
Poetry—to be arranged
The Dispossessed, Chapter 6-8
Week 9 (March 11-15)
Poetry—to be arranged
The Dispossessed, Chapters 9-10
Poet presentations
Poet presentations
Week 10 (March 18-22)
Poet presentations
Finish The Dispossessed, Chapters 11-13
To be arranged…
Spring Break
Week 11 (April 1)
Film: Much Ado about Nothing (1993, 112 minutes)
W. and F. No class—I’ll be at the AAG Convention
Week 12 (April 8-12)
Continue Much Ado
Finish Much Ado
Life on Anarres essay due
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I-II
Week 13 (April 15-17)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act IV
Good Friday
Week 14 (April 22-26)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V
begin A Raisin in the Sun
continue A Raisin in the Sun
Week 15 (April 29-May 3)
finish A Raisin in the Sun
A day with the CMU literary magazine, Inscape
F. Analysis of a drama essay due