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Handout for EN 1001A (F)

Peter Paolucci Office: 306 Calumet College

Tel: 416-736-2100 x33281 Email:

Course website:

Teaching Team: TBA

Fall 2017

Course Description

EN 1001 strengthens the student's ability to engage a variety of shorter literary texts sampled from different genres and time periods. That activity of engagement or "literary study," begins with observation, recognition, comprehension, analysis and evaluation of what the text is saying (content and theme) as well as how that text is organized and how it presents itself. Such preliminary activities are followed by exercises assignments) that gradually increase in complexity and difficulty. These exercises allow students to practice thinking and then writing clearly and effectively about their own reflections on the material. Lectures will examine different modes of writing with particular emphasis on elements and strategies of composition such as rhetoric, structure, genre, voice, audience, idiom, diction. Attention will also be paid to the relationship between text, subtext, context and intertextuality (what the text is saying, what the text is implying, the cultural, historical, and biographical contexts in which the text was produced, and the text's relationship to other texts). Tutorials provide opportunities for students to practice and apply lecture material.

This course emphasizes close textual readings (sight passages) and encourages students to explore different ways to contextualize their own arguments. Some attention will be paid to grammar and language (style) and how they create meaning and ambiguity. Finally, the course also explores ways to use specific textual evidence as support for deductive and inferential reasoning, and introduces students to basic research principles and methodologies. Regular attendance in lecture and tutorial are essential for success in this course.

Course Requirements

** / Test 1 (10%) / Comparative Essay (15%) / Research Skills Assignment
(RSA) (15%) / Major Research Paper
(MRP) (25%) / Participation
(15%) / Test 2 (20%)
Assigned
(Week of) / Sept 11 / Oct 2 / Oct 16 / Oct 16 / Sept 11 / Sept 11
Due
(Week of) / Oct 2 / Oct 23 / Oct 30 / Nov 20 / N/A / Dec 4
Returned
(Week of) / Oct 16 / Oct 30 / Nov 6 / Nov 27 / N/A / N/A

Learning Outcomes

  1. Improved ability to write exegesis and analysis of a single text
  2. Improved ability to write comparative analyses of two texts
  3. Improved appreciation of literary genre and form: prose, short fiction, drama and its cinematic adaptations, visual rhetoric, and poetry
  4. Exposure to texts written before 1800
  5. Improved vocabulary of literary and critical terminology
  6. Increased awareness of which critical and interpretive approaches to literary analysis might be appropriate for whatever text you are reading (knowledge of 2 or 3 approaches is plenty for this course)
  7. Improved confidence in approaching new texts, encountered for the first time
  8. Improved ability to write clearly
  9. Understand the role of voice and audience in scholarly writing and in understanding the impact these things have on the final scholarly product
  10. Improved ability to support an argument with specific and relevant textual evidence
  11. Improved understanding of how libraries and academic knowledge is organized
  12. Improved ability to locate critical resources appropriate for your ideas and interpretations of texts
  13. Improved ability to develop sound research strategies and how to follow through with those plans
  14. Improved mastery of profession’s own core competencies in research skills, especially the following:
  15. Differentiate between primary and secondary sources
  16. Understand the principles of peer reviewed scholarship and why it is important
  17. Understanding of MLA 8 and it’s relationship to database structures
  18. Comprehend the role of librarians and how they assist in scholarly research
  19. Document sources ethically
  20. Improved understanding of how to write university level papers
  21. Improved confidence in finding your own voice in critical interpretation and in integrating and contextualizing your opinion with those of other scholars in the academic community
  22. Improved understanding of literal and figurative language, symbolism, stylistics and of the structure and movement/sequencing of arguments
  23. Improved ability to manage time and plan assignments

Textbook(s)

1001AF and 1002MW share 3 texts: the Norton Introduction to Literature (shorter 12th edition), Gerald Graff's and Cathy Birkenstein's They Say I Say, and the Norton Critical Edition of Frankenstein. You cannot buy these texts individually: they come in a bundled (i.e.: shrink wrapped) package with the ISBN of 978-0-393-65942-9 .

If you try to avoid purchasing these bundled texts you will end up inadvertently hurting yourself. It’s not likely you will find a used copy of the Norton 12th shorter because it's brand new. You may find used copies of the other two, but you still have to buy the shorter 12th. Trying to buy individual copies online from Norton directly won't work because they won't sell it to you. The reason is that by the time people end up paying currency exchange rates and customs/duty at the border, the cost has skyrocketed. Not surprisingly, most people then refuse the order. The cost of shipping the unwanted texts back to Norton exceeds the price of the text itself, so those books are destroyed at the border. Past experience has dictated current practice. It's an unfortunate situation that's driven by economics. The best bet (only bet) is to buy the bundle.

If you try to buy through Amazon or Indigo, you'll also find you're blocked.

Formal Requirements

  1. Name your files as follows: for the Comparative Essay use firstnameSurnameE1.docx; for the RSA use firstnameSurnameRSA.docxand for the MRP, use firstnameSurnameMRP.docx
  2. The new MLA standard is the 8th edition. Purdue University's synopsis is a good starting point. Also, Purdue's OWL (Online Writing Lab) provides a summary of what's been changed. Easy Bib will help show you what the new format looks like.
    Also helpful is of the new Kyle Stedman's overview of the new 8th edition guidelines. Finally, YouTube has lots of good synopses, but see MU Libraries, MLA Style, 8th Edition: An Introduction And of course, there's the MLA website itself Your tutorial leader will discuss these changes with you, in class. Each tutorial leader will make their own decisions about how they want to handle MLA documentation.
  3. Line spacing should be 1.5 or 2.0, with a minimum 1" margin all around all edges.
  4. Use only a 12-point font from one of the following font families: Verdana, Garamond, Arial, Courier, or Times New Roman. Follow this formatting requirement even if you decide to use a separate title page.
  5. Include your first and last name, student number, email address, tutorial leader's full name, the course name and number, the essay title, and date. These data should be arranged clearly and in somewhere in the front of the essay, but they may be arranged as you see fit.
  6. All pages except the title page (if you use one) should be numbered. Put the number on the top, right-hand corner

7.The Works Cited and Works Consulted page appears on its own separate page, still numbered consecutively, and at the end of the paper.

Rules for Submission of Written Work and Late Policies

  1. Every student must email an electronic copy of each of the three major written assignments (Essay, RSA, MRP), to on the due date.
  1. In cases where a tutorial leader also asks for hard copy, the hard copy may only be submitted to your tutorial leader and no one else. It is your responsibility to print out the assignment; do not expect your tutorial leader to print your work. It is normal for rules on submitting hard copy to vary slightly among tutorial leaders. Do not put hard copies of assignments inside any kind of folder or binder; simply staple the top left-hand corner
  1. Follow these submission instructions exactly; failure to do so may result in multiple penalties of 5% for each infraction.

In the email subject field, enter your tutorial leader's surname. Do not use a first name or a salutation ("Professor ...").
In the body of the email, enter your first and last name, and student number.
Attach the essay as one single MS Word document, not as a separate title page with a separate body. For the research paper, do not separate the bibliography (works cited) from the body of the essay.
If you submit any assignment without the attachment, a 5% penalty could also be deducted.

  1. Do not use Pages For Mac unless you know how to export to .doc, .docx or .rtf
  1. Policy for late submissions: assignments are considered due at the beginning of your tutorial. Everyone has an automatic 24-hour period of grace, after which the essay will not be accepted. So if your tutorial starts on Tuesday at 11:30am and you decide to take the extension you have up until 11:30am Wednesday to submit. No questions will be asked and no permission is needed to obtain this extension; just take it if you need it. However, if you take the extension, you must still send the electronic copy to the email address above within the allowed (extended) time period. If your tutorial leader wants hard copy as well, print it and submit it to your leader at the time and place designated by them.
  1. It's possible that papers submitted late (but still within the 24 hours allowable extension period) may not be returned to you at the same time as the other assignments which were submitted on time. No penalty.

7.The only exceptions for extensions without penalty are a doctor's note (sickness) or lawyer's note (you are in jail or on jury duty), or documentation from some recognizable health care expert. The note must explicitly state that you were incapacitated and/or unable to do your work, and the note must also specify the total number of days that you were in that condition. No extensions can be given unless the note clearly specifies the number of days you were incapacitated and unable to complete your work. Notwithstanding this policy, leniency and/or enforcement remain entirely at the discretion of your tutorial leader.

Grade re-assessment policy

  1. It is normal from time to time, for students to request a reappraisal of their work. All grade reappraisals must be initiated within fourteen days of the date on which the essays were returned, regardless of whether you attended the class when the papers were returned and/or discussed.
  1. The first step is to meet in person with your tutorial leader to discuss the matter. If that action does not result in a satisfactory outcome, your next step is to escalate the matter to the course director. Begin by notifying your tutorial leader of your intentions in advance and then email the course director () with an open "cc" to your tutorial leader, requesting the reappraisal. The course director will then assign a clean copy of the paper to a different tutorial leader for re-assessment. If that process still does not result in a satisfactory outcome, you may then escalate the matter further to the Undergraduate Director, Professor Elizabeth Pentland (). You'll have to make a case in writing, providing a clear articulation of what you are requesting and what your reasons are. If you wish to contact Prof. Pentland by phone first, her extension is x33705

3.See the English Department's Undergraduate [ Supplemental Calendar 2016/2017 for a fuller discussion of grade reappraisal procedures. The calendar clearly states that, "... any reappraisal may result in a grade being lowered, raised, or remaining the same" (12).

Plagiarism

The intentional or even apparent representation of someone else's ideas or work as your own is academically dishonest and carries with it severe penalties. The openly transparent and forthright declaration of the origin of all words, ideas, thoughts, concepts coming from others is the single most important principle of good scholarship.

Every student must download a copy of The Academic Integrity Contract, print it, and bring it to tutorial in week 2 where your tutorial leader will go through it with you to ensure you understand it.

Every item in the checklist must be initialed and the document must be signed and dated at the bottom before returning it to your tutorial leader. No essays, tests, or assignments will be marked until this contract is fully completed.