ENGL 362 SUMMER ONLINE 2015
June 1 - July 15
Professor: Merle Collins
Office phone: 3014053775
Preferred contact:
This syllabus is subject to change.
Office hours (via skype): by appointment
Required Texts: (You must have these in order to take the course. An order has been placed at the university bookstore)
Julia Alvarez, In the Time of the Butterflies
Edwidge Danticat, The Farming of Bones.
Fred D’Aguiar, Feeding the Ghosts
Diana McCaulay, Dog-Heart
Evelyne Troulliot, The Infamous Rosalie
Course Description
In this 6-week intensive course, we will read and critique the work of fiction writers Julia Alvarez (Dominican Republic/U.S.A.), Edwidge Danticat (Haiti/U.S.A.), Diana McCaulay (Jamaica), Evelyne Troulliot (Haiti) and Fred D’Aguiar (Guyana). Considering how the creative imagination stages Haiti, we will read the poem “Sometimes in the Middle of the Story” by Edward Baugh (Jamaica) and the calypso “Haiti, I’m Sorry”, by the calypsonian David Rudder (Trinidad & Tobago). In the final week of the course, we will read and critique Dog-heart, a novel by Jamaican writer Diana McCaulay. Your oral presentation will be on the novel Feeding the Ghosts or the poems “Names” by Derek Walcott and “Calypso”, by Edward Kamau Brathwaite. Written by the Guyanese writer Fred D’Aguiar, Feeding the Ghosts invites consideration of how the creative imagination works with slavery and history.
Course Goals
This course aims to introduce you to some of the major voices and themes in Caribbean writing. Through poetry, short stories and the novel, we will discuss Haiti’s central role in the shaping of the Caribbean and the impact of history and politics on the imaginative creations of Caribbean writers.
Course Discussion
We will have discussion on Canvas, “Discussions” page. You may also post voice comments on Canvas and at VoiceThread, which you will find on Canvas under “Modules”.. Discussion of texts is a course requirement.
Course Details
During the first week of the course, we will spend time talking about contexts for the development of Caribbean literature, the traditions that arguably influence the work of writers assigned for this course, and reasons for the popularity of Haiti as a subject in Caribbean literature. Throughout the 6-week course, you will be expected to complete assigned work on the class site at Canvas. When we discuss novels, you will comment on issues such as point of view, characterization, setting and authorial perspective. You will be required to make written comments on Discussion Board (Canvas) and also to post some voice commentary. During the six-week period, you will have to do one 6 to 8-minute oral presentation. Your presentation must be audio-visual.
Course Reserves
Please note that some reading material will be available to you at “Course Reserves”, which you will find on the Canvas site at “Modules”.
Assessment
You will be assessed on course participation (your continuous written and oral commentary on assigned work): 50% (cumulative). See precise details on Canvas – “Assignments”.
Oral (audio-visual) presentation of 6 to 8 minutes, posted online on date to be determined: 19%
Commentary (at least one audio-visual) on 6 – 8 minute oral presentations. You should comment on at least 3 of the audio-visual presentations done by your classmates: 6%
An essay of 6 to 8 pages on 2 or more of the texts studied on the course (to be completed by midnight on the penultimate day of the course): 25%. For this essay, you may choose your topic. You must submit your topic for my approval by June 30th. If your topic is not submitted for approval, you automatically lose 3 points. As you think about your essay, consider our discussions during the six-week session. Think about the elements of fiction – point of view, setting, storyline, characterization – and the importance of these to the way the text constructs meaning. You may write essays with titles like the following:
“Following Amabelle: Point of View in Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones.” (An essay like this may focus on how Edwidge Danticat’s choice to tell the story from the point of view of Amabelle affects the reader’s emotional understanding of individuals and incidents. How important is it that she is a woman? Does point of view affect our perception of a particular class, race or national group?)
“History and Literature: The Elements of Fiction and Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies.” (In an essay like this, you might consider what the writer does with actual historical events to develop a work of fiction. How is characterization used? How does the writer “journey through the human heart”? Note that Alvarez herself writes, in an “Afterword” at the end of the book. that a novel is not a historical document but a journey through the human heart.)
Office Hours
By appointment – via Skype or Adobe Connect.
Honor Pledge
On every examination, paper or other academic exercise not specifically exempted by the instructor, you should write and sign the following pledge:
I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this examination.
Honor Code
Please note that the student Honor Code prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without authorization, buying papers, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures.
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REMINDERS
CITE YOUR SOURCES
CREDIT PEOPLE WHEN YOU USE THEIR IDEAS
IF IN DOUBT, CITE THE SOURCE. IF YOU FOUND IT ONLINE AT ENOTES OR ANOTHER SOURCE, ACKNOWLEDGE THIS WHEN YOU LIST YOUR SOURCES
DON’T BE FOUND GUILTY OF PLAGIARIZING! (Remember that appropriating formulations found in Spark Notes and Wikipedia is also plagiarizing)
ENJOY THE COURSE!