English 15 American Literature 2: 1860 - Present

English 15 American Literature 2: 1860 - Present

Spring 2017: Section 42744 (Tues/Thurs 9:35-11:00) QD 205

Associate Professor Kelly Douglass, PhD

Office hours in Quad 222F:

websites.rcc.edu/douglass T/Th 2-3pm; W9:30-10am; F 12:30-2pm

Twitter: @ProfKDouglass Online office hour via email:

951-222-8768 Wednesdays 9-10pm

Course Description and Student Learning Outcomes:
Prerequisite: ENG-50 or ENG-80or eligibility for ENG-1A.

Advisory: ENG-1B or ENG-1BH
This course is a survey of American literature from 1860 to the present, including a comprehensive exposure to the prose, poetry, fiction, and drama of this era as well as a basic understanding of the cultural, intellectual, and artistic trends it embodies. 54 hours lecture. (Letter Grade, or Pass/No Pass option.)

Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to demonstrate the following skills:

1. Identify distinctive features of American literature from 1860 to the present includingmajor writers, literary works, movements or themes, and genres.
2. Analyze and interpret features distinctive of the American tradition or that mark them as characteristic of or unique in the period in which they were written.
3. Explain how this literature both reflects and shapes the intellectual and cultural history of the United States during this period with an awareness of how differences of culture, gender, and other social markers may shape a writer's interactions with this history.
4. Employ methods of critical literary analysis to read and interpret American literature.
5. Effectively communicate analytical arguments and comprehension of course content through responses to, interpretations of, and arguments about American literature in essays, written exams, class discussion, and other methods of evaluation using appropriate citation form.

This course satisfies the requirements for the following degree areas

(2016-17 RCC Catalog page numbers noted)

• RCC General Education, Area C (p. 42)
• RCC Associate of Arts Degrees
• American Studies, core sequence or elective (p.37-38)
• Communication, Media, and Languages; elective (p. 38)
• Humanities, Philosophy, and Arts; elective (p. 39)
• RCC Associate of Arts Degree for Transfer in English; List A, B, or C elective (p. 65)
• CSU General Education, Area C2 (p. 42)
• UC IGETC, Area 3B (p. 43)

Required Books and Materials

An Email address and access to the web for assignments & communication with me

The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Sixth Edition, Volumes D & E

Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man

Eugene O’Neill – Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Margaret Edson – Wit

Miscellaneous printouts / digital copies (except on tests) of readings from online links and RCC library reserve.

Recommended Materials

• A good college level dictionary
• A handbook to literary terms such as Meyer Abrams' Guide to Literary Terms
• Composition book for brilliant, inspired thoughts, reading journal, etc

Writing Assignments & Grading Scale

Class Participation: This grade will be the average of all in-class group activities and a grade assigned daily based on your participation in the class (barring any days when there is no possibility for active participation such as an exam day). You and I together are responsible for the success of your learning environment. This class will engage in a lot of cooperative and collaborative learning through discussion, presentations, and other activities (there will be mini-lectures during which you will be expected to take notes for use in your writing assignments and exam preparation, but the rest of the time, you should be actively participating in class discussion). The most basic principle for your success is that you need to come to every class, on time, and participate in discussion every time we meet. Think critically about the readings before you arrive – take notes in the margin of your book, ask questions of the texts and bring those questions and ideas to class for discussion. Basically, showing up for class gets you a “D”. Every time you contribute thoughtfully to class discussion, you grade goes up a letter grade. If part of class is spent writing or in group work, the “starting value” for that day is higher.

All Writing Assignments:These will be grade using a rubric; short answer responses will typically be 1-4 questions to be answered in 1-2 paragraphs with specific writing and analysis skills outlined on the rubric. The novel and drama papers will be traditional literature class style single-focused papers with an analytical thesis that organizes the essay and shapes the arguments. For all of these assignments, you should not consult ANY sources other than what I have assigned in class to assist you. In all of the writing for this class, the ideas you present should be exclusively and completely your own. You MAY NOT consult sparknotes, cliff notes, Wikipedia or any other source to help you understand and interpret the literature you are reading. The job of asking and answering interpretive questions – or being stuck – is the work of this class. NO CONSULTATION OF OUTSIDE READINGS IS ALLOWED. The single and very narrow exception to this is any reading you feel you need to do to brush up on a historical event that is referenced in the works that you do not recall or have not learned about.

Mid-Term and Final Exams: More information on the content of these exams will be provided later. But, both will be taken in class with 1 or 2 blue books. Probably they will both include some combination of short answer reading identification questions and essay question(s). There are no opportunities for make-up exams for the mid-term or final barring some verifiable emergency; they will each be offered only on the date listed.

A Word on the Reading Assignments: The reading is typically heavier than your reading load for your composition classes. Depending on what genres of literature you are more comfortable with different portions of the semester's reading will be easier or harder than other sections. When you are frustrated or challenged by the reading, take those frustrations to your reading journal, or your email inbox (in emails to me or other classmates) and then bring them to class. Often you won't be alone, and your confusions can be the start of productive and insightful discussions.

A Note on Success in this course: Obviously class attendance, keeping up with all assignments and seeking instructor assistance when you are having trouble are all basic keys toward success. But further, as much as possible, try to inhabit this literature. By that, I mean that you should approach it as an adventure, an exploration; you are not always going to find easily what you seek, but often you will. As with any journey, seek guidance when you are feeling lost.
A Few Notes on Citizenry in this Course: Though the pre-requisite for this class is eligibility for 1A, depending on your comfort level with reading and writing, some students who have not taken English 1A and 1B may have difficulty; this class has an advisory level of ENG 1B and begins with the premise that you can analyze and think critically about college level texts (this means offering analysis and argument, NOT plot summary) and that you can develop that analysis in your writing and through class discussion. All students, but especially those who have not taken English 1A & 1B, or who may have struggled to pass those courses, may want to enroll in one of the English courses that offer access to the WRC (ILA 800 or ENG 885). If this interests you, please see me for information. This also gives you access to me when I am in the WRC (Tuesday 11:15-12:15) – note too that this hour is immediately after class, so I can’t stay and answer “really quick” questions after class. Please email me or come to office hours! 

Course Requirements and Policies:Attendance: Attendance is mandatory and multiple absences will affect your grade as you will not be here to earn class participation points. The English Department policy on attendance cautions that students should not miss more than two class sessions. In my class, you can miss three times without it affecting your class participation grade except for any missed quizzes or in-class writing, on which you will get a zero. Tardiness will be dealt with in the same way as absences; any work missed cannot be made up and will lower your participation grade. If your absences are multiple and consecutive and indicate that you may have disappeared from class, I may drop you. If you ever have any questions about your attendance or enrollment status, just contact me.

Paper Format Requirements: All papers or study guides must meet the following format: 1) Times or Times New Roman 12 point font, 2) one inch margins all the way around, 3) MLA format for page layout and any source reference. If you are not sure about how to format any of these requirements, see me before an assignment is due.

Late Assignments:Your papers and short answer responses are due on the day listed on the syllabus. They should be submitted in class. Anyone who needs to take an extra couple hours to finish up a paper can enjoy the “grace period” of the hours after class – papers are absolutely due before midnight of the day on the syllabus via turnitin.com. If you are having trouble submitting to turnitin, you can also email your work as a formatted attachment (doc, docx, pdf, rtf only) as a backup, also by 11:59 pm. Students can take extensions that start at midnight of the day the assignment is due without comment or explanation, but every 24 hours that a paper is late, 10% points will be deducted from the final earned grade. The 24 hours starts and stops at midnight each day. So if a paper is due on a Monday and the student submits it via email and it arrives at 12:10 a.m. on Tuesday, there is a 10% deduction; this applies whether the extension was intended, or because of a forgotten submission, because the first version was in the wrong file format, because of an email or technological error or any other reason. There will be no exceptions to this barring verifiable emergencies. Each additional 24 hours is another 10% point deduction.

Academic Honesty/Plagiarism: Plagiarism, academic dishonesty, and cheating are all taken very seriously in this course. To plagiarize means to represent someone else's work as your own - intentionally or accidentally. If you plagiarize on any assignment in this course, you will likely fail this class. There are no second chances in this matter -- all ideas, phrases, quotes or work represented as your own when they are not will result in a failing grade. You may not use any supplementary study “aids” to help you with your analysis such as Cliff’s Notes or Spark Notes or any other materials, print or online. Consulting such summaries of other people’s ideas will be treated as academic dishonesty. Please be very clear about this. Students who plagiarize will likely have their offense submitted to the Dean and there may be action taken beyond the classroom. In order to deter plagiarism all papers and study guides will be electronically submitted to turnitin.com. PAPERS WILL NOT BE GRADED OR RETURNED UNTIL THIS IS DONE. If anyone has concerns about using turnitin.com, see me immediately so we can devise an alternative plagiarism prevention method.

Turnitin.com Directions – ENG 15 Spring 2017

You need to create a (free) account at the website and then submit completed papers there electronically – this is not a substitute for otherwise submitting your paper to me. (If you already have an account, you can use that one.)

1. Go to turnitin.com. At the top of the screen just below the login box it says “Create account” in a small font. Click there.
2. If you’ve used this before then you can login with the same email and password. If not, go to the “New Students Start Here” section and click on #2 – Create a user profile.
3. Under “Create a New Account” on the next page, click “student.”
4. You will then have a series of information boxes that you need to fill in. Most of this is the personal information for you, but the first two items are the class ID and password. Fill in the info for our class here so it is with these directions.

Class ID#:

Password:

1. You should then see the name of our class and all of the assignments for which you will need to submit essays. Click here whenever you are submitting an assignment. Do not submit your assignment until you are completely done. You should submit only your final draft – identical to the paper copy you will turn in. If you have any concerns or reservations about using turnitin.com, see me so we can discuss the nature of your concerns and either resolve them or come up with an alternative set of guidelines for you for plagiarism prevention.

See the next page for the complete plagiarism policy.

Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty

Last updated August 6, 2011

The basic definition of Plagiarism in the RCC English Department Policy explains that it is "a form of cheating. Any student who uses the published or unpublished writing, ideas, and/or words of another person without crediting the original author will receive an F." Plagiarism is academic dishonesty, and further, an effort to obtain a grade for work that you did not do, ideas not your own, or words and language not your own.

In my course, a student who plagiarizes, at the very least, will receive a 0% F on the assignment, but in most cases, a student who plagiarizes will likely receive an F in the course. The RCC policy for cheating authorizes that students caught cheating in my class, regardless of the penalty in the classroom, may have their names and evidence of plagiarism forwarded to the department chair and the Dean of Instruction. The Dean will keep a confidential file of these materials. If the student does not commit another act of academic honesty, the file will be discarded after graduation. For a second offense, a student may be expelled from the institution.

In the effort to address the problem of plagiarism in the class, students will submit all study guides, papers, and essays to turnitin.com to be checked against a database of other submitted papers (your paper becomes part of their database) and against other material available on the web. There will be more information on that process later.

The University of Redlands has a clear policy outlined in their 1999 student handbook that I think offers great guidelines and definitions to help you avoid an honest mistake.

All students are expected to acknowledge explicitly any expression or idea which is not his or her own. In submitting a report, paper or examination, the student is stating that the form and content of the paper, report or examination represents the student's own work, except where clear and specific reference is made to other sources. Even when there may be no conscious effort to deceive, failure to make appropriate acknowledgement may constitute plagiarism.

Therefore, students should comply with the following requests for acknowledging sources:

Quotations: Whenever sentences or phrases are quoted, quotation marks or indentation must be used, along with the precise source.

Paraphrasing: Any material either paraphrased or summarized, no matter how loosely reworded or rearranged, must be specifically cited in the footnotes of the text.

Ideas: Any idea borrowed from another person or source must be footnoted or cited within the text. This includes any material the student might have written himself or herself for another course or exercise [or class discussion or lectures, office hour conversations, etc. All work written and ideas presented must be the student's original work done for this class; it may not be "recycled" versions of high school or other college work …].

Bibliographies: Students preparing papers and reports must list in a bibliography all sources consulted.

Also, you may not use or consult in any way sparknotes, Cliff’s notes or any other plot summary or analytical aid in your writing or study of the course materials.

While the internet has brought us many great things, it has also brought some negative trends. One of these is an increase in plagiarism because it is so easy to do it. Before you are tempted to copy and paste from some interesting site on the web, or before you consider purchasing a paper from one of the many companies on the web, you should know a few things.

• I have access to the same websites students do and therefore can catch students who plagiarize.
• I use plagiarism detection software and other web crawling devices to catch students who plagiarize.
• Most of the papers on the web are poorly written, and students who consider plagiarism because they think they aren't good writers hurt themselves on two counts: 1) one can't improve as a writer if he/she doesn't write; 2) plagiarized papers are often more poorly written than what you might write yourself.
• It is always better to risk an F on a poorly written assignment, or even an assignment you don't turn in, than to risk an F for the course (and worse) because of plagiarism.
• I am very serious about this issue.

• Email/Web Participation: You need to use and check your email regularly for this class. In addition to my office hours I will communicate with you over email about your writing, reading assignments, questions, etc. All paper and short answer response assignments will be posted on the course website once they have been assigned in class so that you always have access to your assignments. Also, in the event of an emergency or routine absence a student may email assignments due (but if you don’t get a reply back from me that I got it – you should double check on that). I also use twitter to share class related or college success related items. You can follow me @ProfKDouglass if you want to (I won’t follow you back to preserve your student-life freedom ) but you don’t have to. My twitter feed is connected to and visible on the course website, so you can also just check their periodically for tweets of interest. If you want to find tweets that relate specifically to our class only, you can search @ProfKDouglass and #E15S17.

• DRC Statement: If you have a physical or learning disability that may deter your learning in this course, please let me know so that I may make whatever accommodations I can to help you excel in this course. You may also visit the Disability Resource Center in the Kane building or call 222-8060. If you are struggling and do not know why, DSPS could provide you with resources to help you succeed.

• Other Campus Programs: There are so many amazing clubs, organizations, services, and programs at RCC. I have been involved with the LGBT Allies group, the Honors Program, and have advocated for the programs available through the DRC, Student Health Services, and Ujima, among other programs. If you have any questions about any campus resources or organizations, please ask! I may not know the answer, but I’ll help you find it.

Other Miscellaneous policies: