Revised 08/25/2016
Angelina College
Liberal Arts Division
English 2328, American Literature II
Tentative General Syllabus
I. BASIC COURSE INFORMATION
Course Description
Three hours credit. A survey of American literature from the Civil War to the present. Students will study works of prose, poetry, drama, and fiction in relation to their historical and cultural contexts. Texts will be selected from among a diverse group of authors for what they reflect and reveal about the evolving American experience and character.
Intended Audience
Students who have successfully completed 1301 or its equivalent.
Instructor
Name: Valencia Edner
Office Location: Polk County Center
Office Hours:
Tuesday, 10:50-11:25
Please make an appointment for other times.
Phone: 936.633.5380 or LA-L office 936.633.3275; SBS office 936.633.5222
Please email me through blackboard first...if it is unavailable:
II. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Through the Texas Core Curriculum, students will gain a foundation of knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, develop principles of personal and social responsibility for living in a diverse world, and advance intellectual and practical skills that are essential for all learning.
Core Objectives:
· Critical Thinking Skills – to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information
· Communication Skills – to include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication
· Personal Responsibility – to include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making
· Social Responsibility – to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national and global communities
Learning Outcomes:
· Identify key ideas, representative authors and works, significant historical or cultural events, and characteristic perspectives or attitudes expressed in the literature of different periods or regions.
· Analyze literary works as expressions of individual or communal values within the social, political, cultural, or religious contexts of different literary periods.
· Demonstrate knowledge of the development of characteristic forms or styles of expression during different historical periods or in different regions.
· Articulate the aesthetic principles that guide the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities.
· Write research-based critical papers about the assigned readings in clear and grammatically correct prose, using various critical approaches to literature.
III. Assessment of Core Objectives
a. Critical thinking— Students will read prose and poetry critically to distinguish between perception and inference, surface and implied meanings, fact and opinion. Students will formulate and develop arguments and critical theories about literature. Students will answer embedded test questions, compose written assignments, and/or deliver oral presentations that assess their ability to think critically. A rubric will be used to assess critical thinking skills in written assignments and oral presentations.
b. Communication—Students will write researched essays and other written compositions. Students will prepare visual aids to use in oral presentations over literary works being studied. Students will answer embedded test questions. A rubric will be used to assess the effective development, interpretation and expression of written, oral, and visual communication.
c. Personal Responsibility—Students will answer embedded test questions, compose written assignments, and/or deliver oral presentations that assess their ability to connect choices and actions, and engage in ethical decision-making concerning course policies, student behavior, and classroom conduct. A rubric will be used to assess students’ understanding of personal responsibility in written assignments and oral presentations.
d. Social Responsibility—Students will answer embedded test questions, compose written assignments, and/or deliver oral presentations that assess their intercultural competence after exposure to the milieu of literary works set in disparate cultures and places. Students will analyze the issues of civic responsibility and the ability to engage wider world communities as expressed in literary works. A rubric will be used to assess students’ understanding of social responsibility in written assignments and oral presentations.
IV. INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES:
A. Methodologies common to all sections
Methodologies that may be utilized in presenting course content include in class or online lecture notes, paper and pencil or online exercises or research exercises which give immediate feedback, in person or email workshops for student writings in progress, audio-visual presentations for view in class or outside of class, online discussions (synchronous or asynchronous), student presentations to groups or to instructor only, and guest participants.
B. Methodologies determined by the instructor
These objectives will be pursued through a variety of methods, including class lectures, discussions, research, and audio-visual presentations.
V. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES:
A. Required Textbooks, Materials, and Equipment –
The American Tradition in Literature (Concise Edition in One Volume) 12th Edition
In addition to this text, the student will be required to obtain a copy of the novels or plays or any literature assigned for reading not included in the textbook. Titles will be announced in class. Students will also need a spiral notebook and pen/pencil for note taking. Students must listen and take notes to be prepared for assessments. They will need textbook and notebooks every class period unless otherwise specified. Having a highlighter would also be handy for the student. Additionally, students may access supplemental critical thinking information on the AC website by typing in "critical thinking" as a quick search term.
B. Assignments – See "TENTATIVE CALENDAR" document
C. Course Policies –This course conforms to the policies of Angelina College as stated in the Angelina College Handbook.
Academic Assistance – If you have a disability (as cited in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) that may affect your participation in this class, you should see Karen Bowser, Room 208 of the Student Center. At a post-secondary institution, you must self-identify as a person with a disability; Ms. Bowser will assist you with the necessary information to do so.
Angelina College (AC) admits students without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or age. Inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies of AC should be directed to:
Dr. Patricia McKenzie, Vice President and Dean of Instruction, 3500 South First St, Lufkin, TX 75904, telephone 936.633.5201.
Attendance –From the Angelina College Policy Manual:
Students are required to attend all lecture classes regularly and punctually. Responsibility for work missed because of illness or extracurricular activity is placed upon the student.
A true evaluation of the teaching-learning situation involves a correlation
between attendance and progress. It is the responsibility of the student to attend all classes and a record
of attendance will be kept for all classes by the instructor.
It is the responsibility of the student to withdraw officially in the
College District admissions and registrar’s office from a class the student
no longer desires to attend.
College District instructional standards allow the instructor to set the
educational objectives and requirements for each course. The student who
does not meet these requirements because of excessive absences may be
dropped by the instructor on a notice to the College District admissions
office using either a first or second drop slip. The position of the
instructor on submitting a non-attendance drop should be stated in the
course syllabus.
Excessive absences are defined as three or more consecutive absences or four
or more cumulative absences from regularly scheduled class periods. The
summer terms call for two or more consecutive, or three or more cumulative
absences. A three-hour night class counts as two class periods.
Students will not be dropped and will be allowed to make up work for
absences because of (1) College District authorized and sponsored
activities, and (2) religious holy days. It is the student’s responsibility
to arrange for make-up work with the instructor and to complete it within a
reasonable time.
In accordance with the Texas Education Code, each student is allowed to be
absent from a class for the observance of a religious holy day. A
“religious holy day” means a holy day observed by a religion whose places of
worship are exempt from property taxation under Section 11.20, Tax Code.
The student must notify the instructor of each class of the anticipated
absence not late than the 15th calendar day after the first day of the
semester. A student who is excused under this section must complete all
assignments or missed examinations at the direction of the instructor.
The form for notification of absences is in the office of admissions and
will include the following:
1. Student name and identification number;
2. Name of religious institution and tax code number;
3. Name and date of holy day(s);
4. Classes to be missed;
5. Schedule for delivery of form by student to instructor(s);
6. Conditions and deadlines for completing missed assignments;
7. Instructor’s signature and date; and
8. Student’s signature and date.
A student dropped because of excessive absences will be notified by mail by
the College District admissions office and will be directed to obtain a
readmit form and seek the approval of the instructor for admission. All
students in developmental education must obtain approval of the instructor
and the vice president and the dean of instruction.
A student who fails to contact the College District admissions office within
one week of the date the notice was mailed will be dropped permanently from
class.
All make-up work is at the discretion of the instructor.
Additional Policies Established by the Individual Instructor –
If this course is a hybrid, these in- class policies apply as usual, and they apply when interacting with other students or faculty on-line.
You should attend class regularly. IF YOU MUST LEAVE CLASS EARLY, YOU MUST DISCUSS YOUR DEPARTURE WITH ME BEFORE CLASS STARTS!!!! ; DO NOT GET UP AND DISCUSS YOUR LEAVING WITH ME AS YOU ARE LEAVING; DO IT BEFORE I START CLASS. Class is over when I dismiss the class.
It is your responsibility to be prepared for and to be informed about class assignments. IF YOU MISS A CLASS, BE PREPARED WHEN YOU RETURN TO CLASS. Your Tentative Calendar IS the document I use to organize the class, so look at YOUR copy of it to know what you need to do to be prepared for class when you come back. This syllabus and the calendar are both on Blackboard in the information area. Do not return to class and explain that you were absent as your excuse for not being prepared. Look at the calendar, check Blackboard and BE PREPARED WHEN YOU RETURN TO CLASS. Do not ask me if we are doing anything important in class; look at the calendar and make your own judgment, and of course, suffer your own consequences.
If you have more absences than allowed by the student handbook, you will be dropped and you will not be readmitted. There are no "excused" absences; there are just absences. If you return immediately to class after you have reached your limit, we can discuss a plan to readmit you; if you do not return the immediate class period following your last absence, you have no option to readmit. PLEASE KEEP THIS INFORMATION IN MIND WHEN YOU DECIDE TO MISS CLASS. EXCEPTIONS ARE AT THE DISCRETION OF THE INSTRUCTOR.
If you have any work to make up because of an absence, that work must be completed within one week of your return to class. Please be sure to initiate contact with me to make your arrangements. You cannot make up work after you have acquired four (two for one day per week classes) absences, and there will be no make-up work allowed during the last week of classes. DO NOT COME TO CLASS TO TAKE THE QUIZ AND THEN LEAVE. THAT QUIZ WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
ANY INSTANCE OF PLAGIARISM, WHICH IS THE UNACKNOWLEDGED USE OF ANYONE ELSE'S WORK--PUBLISHED OR UNPUBLISHED--OR CHEATING OF ANY KIND, WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE AND IRREVOCABLE FAILURE FOR THE ENTIRE COURSE.
While you are in my classroom, I expect you to conduct yourself in a polite and considerate manner at all times. If you fail to do so, if you disrupt the class in any way, you will leave. If you disrupt the class a second time, you will be dropped, and you will not be readmitted. I do not mean to imply that you cannot interrupt a lecture to ask a question or add a comment, and I encourage participation in class discussion; that is an integral part of any course, but constant comments or interruptions to a lecture are a distraction to your classmates, and I cannot allow that. For that reason, you may not have your cell phone going off in class. Please mute your phone. Again, texting is a distraction; don't do it.
I also require that as a courtesy to me and your classmates and to avoid distraction that you ensure your personal hygiene is appropriate for close quarters in a learning environment and that you not engage in personal hygiene-related activities that should be accomplished in private.
It is the policy of Angelina College that you not bring children to class.
These are issues of basic courtesy for which you are accountable.
I encourage you to talk to me about the course, and please stop me during a lecture if you do not understand the material. If you are having difficulties or you have special needs, please bring them to my attention right away. I CANNOT GIVE YOU HOPE OF INCREASING YOUR AVERAGE OR YOUR UNDERSTANDING IF YOU WAIT UNTIL THE DAY OF OR THE DAY BEFORE AN ASSIGNMENT IS DUE TO ASK FOR HELP OR CLARIFICATION, OR IF YOU WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE SEMESTER TO EXPRESS YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT YOUR GRADE.
These policies are applicable to everyone throughout the entire semester. Please do not embarrass both of us by asking for exceptions to be made for you.
VI. COURSE CONTENT:
A. Required Content/ Topics
Emphasis on developing all four genres, prose, poetry, drama, and fiction, in American literature after the Civil War; students will study works in relation to their historical and cultural contexts. Texts will be selected from a diverse group of authors and traditions. Students should continue to apply and improve their writing skills.
B. Additional Content (as required by the individual Instructor)
Emphasis on these genres: short story, novel, poetry, and drama. The course should include readings by major or significant authors of this time period and movements in American literature, such as the shift from the Romantic Movement to Realism and Regionalism, Naturalism, the Lost Generation and the Jazz Age, the Harlem Renaissance and Hard-Boiled fiction