Dr. Catherine M. Eagan
Spring 2003
English 3-V01: Composition and Analysis of Literature
TuTh 11:00 am-12:15 pm, Room 1604
Office, Room 2175; Phone, 925-373-4972; E-mail,
Office Hours: WF 12:00 pm-1:30 pm; TuTh 9:30 am-10:30 am
Welcome! English 3 is a course designed to develop your writing skills by reflecting on literary art and the culture in which it is fostered. I hope to introduce you to the multitude of ways in which artists reflect on the world around them through writing, and to aid you in developing the critical thinking skills needed to fully appreciate and understand those reflections. If you are not already accustomed to reading literature, I can only hope that you come away from this course with a new found enjoyment of fiction, poetry, and drama.
Please be aware that the prerequisite for his course is completion of English 1A with a grade of “C” or higher. Credit for English 3 is transferable to both the CSU and UC systems.
The first portion of this syllabus will serve as our “contract” for the course—it outlines my expectations and your rights and responsibilities. We will review it together on the first day of class, and you will initial each section, to show that you have read and agreed to that section’s contents. The second portion of the syllabus contains the class schedule. Please be aware that this schedule is subject to change—if you are absent and miss any announcements about changes to the schedule, you will still be held to the new schedule. Therefore, you should make sure to contact me or another student about the day’s announcements and activities if you are forced to be absent.
Student’s Initials ______
Required Texts:
Barnet, Sylvan, et. al. An Introduction to Literature. 12th ed. New York: Longman, 2001 (You will bring this text to every class meeting.).
A good writing manual. You may already haveDiana Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference (4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999) from your English 1A course; if you would like to use another manual, just bring it in for approval.
A good dictionary. The choice is yours; the LPC bookstore usually has a good selection. If you can afford it and don’t already have one, I recommend buying as comprehensive a dictionary as possible (i.e. not a tiny little abridged paperback dictionary), so it will be a truly useful aid to your reading comprehension, and so that you can better appreciate literature and its nuances of expression. It will be helpful to bring your dictionary to class every day, but if it is too big you may leave it at home and consult someone else’s during in-class readings. You will be expected to enter word definitions into your journal periodically.
Paper (if you use a spiral notebook, make sure the pages are detachable along perforated lines), a binder or folder, pens, pencils, blue books (for the final), and access to a computer, printer, and e-mail.
Student’s Initials ______
Grading Criteria:
Everything you do for this course will be graded, with the following letter grades and values: A+ (98), A (95), A- (93), B+ (88), B (85), B- (83), and so on. Final letter grades for the course will be whole letter grades (i.e. no A minuses or B pluses), and will be determined based on the following scale: A (90-100), B (80 89), C (70-79), D (60-69), and F (59 or lower). Please take your assignment deadlines seriously—as I explained above, a missed assignment is an automatic zero, which is very hard to recover from. Also keep in mind that unexcused absences adversely affect your participation grade, since you are physically unable to participate. Make sure to keep track of your grade as the class progresses--last minute efforts to raise grades are often fruitless.
The following list of assignments and how much they count towards the final grade should help you keep on track:
Reader Responses and Journal Entries: 25%
Essays and Essay Drafts: 40%
Group Dramatic Reading: 5%
Research Paper: 10%
Final Exam: 10%
Class Participation: 10%
Reader Responses and Journal Entries:
Journal entries and reader responses may be handwritten, but don’t take this to mean that they can be as loosely constructed as a freewrite—you should write as thoughtful and well-organized an entry or response as you can. Sometimes you will have explicit directions for journal entries and reader responses—but most often, you will be expected to write in your journal on your own initiative. Journal entries may include notes you take on the text while reading; reader responses; word definitions; essay and essay revision ideas; or responses to the textbook’s “topics for critical thinking and writing.” Markings you make on the text while reading are also counted as journal entries. Aside from the individual journal entries and responses which I will ask you to submit, your journal as a whole will be submitted for a grade near the end of our semester.
Essays and Essay Drafts:
To ensure that you receive full credit for your essays, type and double-space them in 12-point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins and left justification, and head them with your name, my name and the course number, and the day the assignment is due (not the day you completed it). I will accept journal entries and in-class writing exercises handwritten on lined binder paper, but the pages must not be ripped out of a spiral notebook—use loose leaf paper, or spiral notebook paper that has perforation lines. If you like to handwrite essay drafts, I will ask you to submit them with a typewritten version.
Group Dramatic Reading:
The planning and execution of this reading will all take place during one of our class meetings. Since this will be a group project, an individual who is absent will not be able to make it up, and will get a zero for the project. Review the course schedule below, and make sure you will be able to attend this class meeting. More information on my expectations for this reading will be forthcoming.
Research Paper:
The research paper will challenge you to do a literary/historical interpretation of two to three poems, united by theme. You will receive a list of research paper topics and appropriate poems to choose from towards the end of the session.
Final Exam:
The exam will be on the last day of class, and will most likely demand that you do some writing and answer some questions on the texts we read and genres and concepts we studied.
Class Participation:
This portion of your grade will be based on your participation in class discussion and in group work. Class participation is so important not only because it makes our classes exciting and enjoyable, but because it provides me with an indication of how well you are keeping up with and comprehending the reading. Remember that absences adversely affect your participation grade—if you aren’t in class, you can’t participate!
Student’s Initials ______
Attendance:
Attendance is mandatory. If you miss a total of four consecutive or six cumulative instructional hours and/or two consecutive weeks of instruction, you may be dropped from the course. Like language courses, writing courses require a high level of commitment and conscientious completion of all assignments. If you decide to drop the course, do not just stop attending and assume that I will drop you. It is your responsibility to ensure that you officially withdraw and get withdrawn from the course, or you risk receiving a failing grade. The last day to add or drop with a no-grade-of-record is February 7; the last day to withdraw with a “W” is April 11. As a general rule, late papers and writing exercises will not be accepted, unless serious sickness or family emergency is to blame. If you miss an assignment deadline due to such an emergency, you must leave a voice message or e-mail with me before the end of the class period, if you hope to submit your assignment late.
Student’s Initials ______
Rules of Conduct:
Participation is integral to your grade in this course, but comments made in class should always be relevant and not disruptive. Though this class meets early in the morning, I expect students to be prepared and attentive. Please do not talk to others while I am teaching or while students are contributing to class discussion; if you wish to contribute to the discussion, raise your hand or respectfully interject your comments, taking care not to aggressively interrupt. Wearing caps and hats in class will not be allowed, simply because they often preclude eye contact. Cell phones and beepers must be turned off before class begins.
Most importantly, please familiarize yourself with LPC’s policy on academic dishonesty. For your information, cheating is “the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for academic work through the use of any dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means.” Cheating includes copying or obtaining answers from other students, submitting work previously presented in another course, using unauthorized materials during an exam, altering or interfering with grading or grading instructions, sitting for an examination by a surrogate, or as a surrogate, any act which “defrauds or misrepresents," and aiding or abetting in any of the previously mentioned actions. Plagiarism is “the act of representing the work of another as one's own (without giving appropriate credit) regardless of how that work was obtained and submitting it to fulfill academic requirements.” You must give appropriate credit if you incorporate the “ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, of the specific substance of another's work,” not represent them as your own.[1]
When a student is charged with cheating, plagiarism, or some other breach of proper academic conduct, Las Positas will process the charge “in accordance with the policy and procedures in order to protect the student’s rights and the College’s interest. A student may be expelled, suspended, placed on probation or given a lesser sanction, as deemed appropriate, for one or more of the causes occurring on College/District premises” (Las Positas College Catalog 2002-2004 40). For more information, you may consult the Office of the Vice President of Student Services, the Counseling Office, and the Office of the Associated Students.
As the Internet has become more popular, it has become increasingly easy to cheat and plagiarize. To avoid being accused of plagiarism or cheating as a result of a careless mistake, please feel free to consult me if you are unsure how to attribute someone's work or properly proceed with a paper assignment or exam.
Student’s Initials ______
Extra Help and Advice:
Whether you seek to avoid plagiarism, improve your writing and grammar, or just talk about the course and your academic career, please do not forget that I am here to help you. You should know that I will make myself available for limited individual consultation on the days devoted to workshops, group work, and preparing your research project and portfolio. But if you desire to speak with me at greater length, please visit my office hours or approach me after class to set up an alternate conference time. Reading and writing tutors are also available in the English Center, in room 400, at no charge.
Student’s Initials ______
I look forward to our semester together!
COURSE SCHEDULE:
Please be advised that this schedule is a provisional one, and is subject to change.
Tuesday, January 21:
Introductions. Freewriting exercise on your experiences with literature. Analyze Pat Mora’s “Immigrants,” p. 7, in class.
Assignment: Read p. 3-11. Read topic #2 in “Topics for Critical Thinking and Writing,” p. 6-7, and write a journal entry explaining your conclusions.
Thursday, January 23:
Discuss process of interpreting literature for “performance” and “significance.” Share journal entries on Frost and discuss poem. Introduction to writing (and pre-writing) about literature, pp. 24-26, and to “how to mark a book.”
Assignment: Read and mark Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” pp. 26-28, and then read pp. 28-32. Write your own impressions of the story in your journal, either as a freewrite, a list, a series of questions, or a combination of these. Continue reading until p. 40.
Tuesday, January 28:
Discuss Chopin story, and review student analysis of it. Read and mark Ernest Hemingway’s “Cat in the Rain” and following commentary, pp. 55-59, in class. Make notes on your impressions of the story before reading the sample student response.
Assignment: Read pp. 59-65, the student response to and textbook questions about Hemingway’s story, and write a journal entry describing the differences in your responses. Read and mark Anton Chekhov’s “Misery”, pp. 69-73.
Thursday, January 30:
Discuss Hemingway story and responses. Lecture on aspects of short story—plot, character, and theme. Explain how the assumptions of reader-response criticism might help guide student interpretations of literature. Analyze “Misery” as a class.
Assignment: Read pp. 85-89, on narrative point of view and pp. 109-12, on symbolism and setting. Then read and mark Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” pp. 133-38. Write your impressions of the story in your journal.
Tuesday, February 4:
Discuss Poe story briefly. Then break up into 7 groups and review the questions on pp. 130-33 as they relate to Poe’s story. Report back to the class. Review student response and essay, pp. 138-43.
Assignment: Read and mark Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal,” pp. 151-62. Make notes towards a response to the story in your journal. Review pp. 45-47, then write a 2-3 page essay draft in response to one of the questions on p. 162. Bring two copies of your essay and your writing manual to class.
Thursday, February 6:
Discuss Ellison story. Break up into pairs and share essays, filling out peer editing questionnaire and discussing answers with your partner. Review writing manual on essay format and citation style (Hacker, pp. 329, point 10, and 348-51).
Assignment: Read the rest of “A Casebook on Ralph Ellison’s ‘Battle Royal’” (pp. 151 and 162-84), and write a one-page journal entry on how your paper might improve in light of what you now know about the larger contexts for Ellison’s story.
Tuesday, February 11:
Discuss casebook, and formalist style of interpretation versus historically informed interpretation. Share journal entries. Review writing manual on proper way to integrate quoted and paraphrased information into essay (Hacker, pp. 85-91).
Assginment: Finish revising essay, expanding it to 4 or 5 pages. Pay special attention to issues of grammar. Gather essay together with reader response, prewriting exercises, and first draft. You will submit the whole package on Thursday.
Thursday, February 13:
Lecture on the novel, and how it is different from and similar to the short story. Begin reading and marking Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, pp. 546.
Assignment: Read The Awakening up until page 590.
Tuesday, February 18:
Discuss The Awakening.
Assignment: Finish The Awakening. Make notes towards an essay which responds to questions 5 or 6 (see pp. 637-38), or which takes up a topic of your own choosing.
Thursday, February 20:
Discuss The Awakening. Essay-writing workshop.
Assignment: Finish 3-4 page essay on The Awakening. Be sure to leave time for editing and proofreading.
Tuesday, February 25:
Lecture on drama, covering plot and character, directions, gesture, costumes, sets, sound effects, type of theater, tragedy versus comedy.
Assignment: Read “A Note on Greek Tragedy,” pp. 972-73 and Sophocles’s Antigone, pp. 1010-37.
Thursday, February 27:
Discuss Antigone, paying special attention to the issue of whether fate or hubris is responsible for Antigone’s death. Talk about possible effects of English staging. Review film clips of two different versions of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and write brief journal entry on their differences.
Assignment: Read and mark “A Casebook on Hamlet, pp. 1038-48, and beginning of Hamlet, pp. 1048-61.
Tuesday, March 4:
Discuss Hamlet and two different filmed versions. Review film clips, and add to journal entry on their differences.
Assignment: Continue reading Hamlet, pp. 1061-1109 (Act 3, Scene 2). 1158. Note any words you don’t know in your journal, and use your dictionary to provide definitions. Also, write down any lines that you don’t understand.
Thursday, March 6:
Discuss Hamlet.
Assignment: Finish Hamlet. Read “In Brief: Writing about Drama,” pp. 1246-59. Write a 2-3 page essay answering one of the questions on pp. 1158-60 (I will tell you the questions from which you can choose in advance.). Bring your completed essay to class on March 11.
Tuesday, March 11:
Divide into groups, if possible according to essay topic. Pick one scene and as a group, discuss how you might present it on the stage, taking into account setting, costumes, sets, and the other factors we’ve discussed. Also take into consideration an interpretation of the scene suggested by one, or more than one, of your essays. Assign one of your number to be the note-taker. Submit essays at end of class.
Assignment: Read the remainder of “A Casebook on Hamlet,” pp. 1160-77. Consider whether anything you learned by reading these essays should influence the presentation of your group’s Hamlet scene, and write a journal entry noting your conclusions.
Thursday, March 13:
Continue group discussion of how to present Hamlet scene on the stage, taking casebook and journal reflections into account. Co-write a 2-3 page journal entry on your decisions.
Assignment: Make any necessary preparations for the presentation of your Hamlet scene on Tuesday.
Tuesday, March 18:
Perform Hamlet scenes.
Assignment:Begin reading and marking Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, pp. 1399-1431 (end of Act I). Write reader response on your impressions of what you’ve read so far in your journal.
Thursday, March 20:
Discuss Death of a Salesman. Break up into groups and discuss how you’d direct a dialogue of 30 lines or so (see topic #9, “Topics for Critical Thinking and Writing,” p. 1468). Report back to the class.
Assignment: Finish Death of a Salesman, and then read “Tragedy and the Common Man, pp. 1468-71. Read topic #1, “Topics for Critical Thinking and Writing,” p. 1468, and begin planning an essay you’ll write in response to it in your journal. Instead of Oedipus Rex, consider Antigone along with Hamlet and Death of a Salesman.
Tuesday, March 25:
Begin screening made-for-television version of Death of a Salesman, starring Dustin Hoffman, in class.