MONTGOMERY COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Blue Bell and Pottstown, Pennsylvania
English 211 ONLN American Literature I Professor James P. Cooney Fall 2011
Welcome to an on-line version of a classic American college course: American Literature I--Beginnings through the Civil War.
Required Course Materials
Textbook: Cooney, James P. American Literature: A Custom Publication. Boston: Pearson, 2011. [ISBN – 10-0-558-62431-6] This is a new edition of the textbook. Previous editions are different.
This textbook is available exclusively at the Central Campus bookstore of MCCC Barnes and Noble bookstores. {All page numbers in Schedule of Readings are to this text.}
Film: The Mission, a Warner Brothers Goldcrest Film. Written by Robert Bolt and starring Jeremy Irons and Robert DeNiro.This film will be available on our Blackboard site where you may view it for free. However, the quality of the on-line version is not nearly as good as the DVD version. Accordingly, you may prefer to purchase the DVD version.
The DVD copies are available at the MCCC Barnes and Noble Bookstore, Central Campus, Montgomery County Community College. This version comes with a supplemental disk that provides very useful and fascinating information about how the movie was made.
[Inquiries about the availability of The Mission and Professor Cooney’s book may be directed to:
MCCC Barnes and Noble Bookstore
Store Manager –
Email:
Phone: 215-641-6600
Fax: 215-619-7669]
Materials supplied by professor: Some course readings will be found in the On-line Textbook on the Blackboard platform. Students are required to check the Announcements page and the Course Syllabus several times a week. One advantage of an on-line course is that it is dynamic. Changes in the reading schedule can be suggested by the students and will sometimes be made as the semester proceeds. Some required readings might be added. Additional materials may also be added to the On-line Textbook to buttress the required materials.
The reading of all the material included in the print textbook for this course (not just the material required on the Syllabus) is strongly recommended. The reading of material not specifically required is optional.
Schedule of Readings and Assignments
This is a condensed course; consequently assignments and due dates come more quickly than you might expect. Accordingly, you should review the schedule below carefully and PLAN AHEAD. If you don’t, you will almost certainly fall behind and not pass the course.
Please note:
· Written Discussion Board contributions, the papers, and exams are all required and due on time. To receive full credit, assignments must be posted by midnight of the unit due date. (Midnight comes at the end of a day, not the beginning.) Extra discussion contributions may be published after that date, but you will be evaluated on the basis of postings by the due date and time.
· It is best to post well before the due date so that you have the opportunity to react to each other in your postings.
· Being late does not absolve you from the requirement to submit your work. STUDENTS WHO DO NOT POST TO EVERY DISCUSSION FORUM AND SUBMIT EVERY ASSIGNMENT WILL NOT PASS THE COURSE.
· You must have viewed and commented on The Mission 10/14 -- and must submit a paper reviewing the movie two days later.
· Melville’s story, “Bartleby the Scrivener,” is a fascinating study of human nature, but poses difficulties for some readers. You will have the opportunity to consult a hypertext version of the story. If you choose to do so, this will make the reading much easier for you, but also more time-consuming. Since a paper on the story will be required for the final exam, get going on it early.
· If you have any problems with the Blackboard site, be sure to consult the IT staff at the College Help Desk (215-641-6495). It is the student’s responsibility to deal with and solve technical problems promptly.
· Always go back to check that your Discussion Forum postings actually appear; you may have to click on the “Expand All” button to see all of the postings in a thread.
Unit # (Due Date) Readings and Assignments Due
1) (9/30 - 10/4) Introductions
· Read Course Syllabus (twice) in its entirety.
* Read paperback textbook introduction (p. 1).
* Tour the Blackboard site. Note especially where to find the instructor’s Compectures. You will need to read at least one of these in conjunction with every course unit.
* Review the On-line Textbook. There is a wealth of good material here--some of it required reading for the course.
* Write: A short, biographical paragraph and include addresses and phone numbers. Send this information from your COLLEGE E-MAIL ACCOUNT [ends in @students.mc3.edu] to my college e-mail address: Sending this information means that you have read the syllabus with care, understand the approach the course will take, accept the “Grading Policy and Criteria,” and understand your responsibilities as a student in ENG 211 ONLN.
[Note: I have set up a special e-mail folder to which all student e-mail is directed. For this to work, you must mail me all assignments and correspondence from your MCCC e-mail account. Doing so will prevent your assignments and messages from being buried in the numerous other messages I receive daily.]
* Post a short introduction of yourself to the Welcome Forum you will find in the Discussion Board section of Blackboard.
2) (10/9) The Meeting of the Cultures I
(A lot of interesting and important reading here: Please get started immediately.)
* Read Native American materials (pp. 4-10).
* Read Native American Oral Poetry and excerpt from Howard Zinn: [Both are in the On-line Textbook section of Blackboard].
* Read Columbus (American Literature text pp. 11-21).
* Post at least six (minimum two each on Indians, Zinn, and Columbus) substantive contributions to the Discussion Forum.
3) (10/14) Meeting of the Cultures II
* Read Smith (22-28)
* View film: The Mission. (A link to the video will be supplied.)
* Read On-line Textbook Review of The Mission.
* Read Compectures # 1, # 2, and # 3.
* Post at least three substantive contributions to the Discussion Forum about Smith and three about The Mission.
4) (10/16) Movie Review Due
* Write: Send review of The Mission (600 to 800 words) from your college e-mail address (@students.mc3.edu) to instructor’s college address: . {Compectures # 2 and #3 serve as good model reviews.} Remember: This is an English course. Your paper should be carefully organized with an introduction, distinct areas of development, and a conclusion. Be sure to make use of topic sentences and be certain that your paragraphs are unified and coherent. Careful revision and correction should be done so that in the final draft, your sentences are efficient, effective, and free of errors grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling.
5) (10/21) Colonial New England Leaders
* Read: Bradford (29-57); Williams (58-66), and Bradstreet (80-95 - and check On-line Textbook for helpful supplementary material).
* Read: Compecture # 4 and Compecture # 5.
* Post: Make at least six substantive contributions to the Discussion Forum (at least two for each writer).
6) (10/23) Ourstory: The Peach Gang
* Read: Required video: View Streaming Video—The Peach Gang [about 35 worthwhile minutes – link found in On-line-Textbook]
* Read: Bonus Guest Compecture: Jennifer L. Aultman (in Compectures section)
* Post: Post three reactions to the film, including the answer to this question: Who is most responsible for the death of Richard Stinnings?
7) (10/29) Yearning for Revolution and Defining America
* Read: Franklin (96 -115), De Crevecoeur (116 – 134), and Jefferson (135 -141.
* Read: Compecture # 6 and Compecture # 7.
* Post: Make at least two substantive Discussion Forum contributions about Crevecoeur’s vision of America, two about Franklin’s works, and two about the Declaration of Independence. (Total of nine posts.)
8) (11/2) American Romanticism --The Harbinger: Washington Irving
* Read: Irving (168 - 184).
* Read: Compecture #8.
* Post: Make at least four substantive contributions to the Discussion Forum.
9) (11/3 – 11/8) Mandatory Mid-term Exam. Submit Part I by 11/6 at Midnight. Make appointment for Part II by calling the college. [Blue Bell: Testing Center (215) 641-6646; Pottstown: (610) 718-1906].
10) (11/13) The Thinkers: Emerson and Thoreau
* Read: Emerson (190 - 202); Thoreau (203-213).
* Read: Compecture #9 and Compecture # 10.
* Post: Make at least six substantive contributions to the Discussion Forum, at least three on each writer.
11) (11/20) Fruition of Fiction I: Hawthorne
* Read: Hawthorne (215 - 248).
* Read: Compecture #9.
* Post: Make at least six substantive contributions to the Discussion Forum, at least three on each story.
12) (11/30) Mid-Century Poets
* Read: Longfellow (278 - 295); Melville (296 - 317); Whitman (318 - 341)
* Read: Compecture #10.
* Post: Make at least six substantive contributions to the Discussion Forum, two on each writer.
14) (12/7) Fruition of Fiction III: Herman Melville
* Read: Melville “Bartleby the Scrivener.”
* Post: Make at least four substantive contributions to the Discussion Forum.
15) (12/8 – 12/14) Final Exam
Part I (Bartleby essay) due by midnight 12/11– Mail from your college e-mail account to the instructor’s college e-mail address: .
* Call: College to make appointment for Part II [Blue Bell Testing Center: (215) 641-6646; Pottstown Testing Center: (610) 718-1906.]
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Mission Review
Your movie review is my first opportunity to judge how well you think and write. Give a great deal of thought to what you will say about the film.
Do not use the first person perspective; keep your assessment objective. Avoid the impersonal “you” as well. Objective third person is always best when you writing about anything other than yourself.
Be sure to make specific references to the action and dialogue of the film to support any judgments you make about it. Always remember: Specific detail is the lifeblood of good writing.
Your Mission Review and exam papers must be carefully written and carefully revised to be essentially error-free. After all, this is a college English course. Papers replete with grammar and punctuation errors and sloppy usage will not receive high grades.
Uses of Other Sources of Information
The stipulated readings from our custom designed textbook, American Literature, are required. I have so selected the readings as to make it possible for you to complete all course requirements without having to make use of sources of information other than American Literature: A Custom Publication, the resources in the On-line Textbook, and my Compectures. It should not be necessary for you to make use of any other sources of information to complete this course in your posted comments and assignments submitted for this course. This is not a research course and I expect your work to be your original reactions to the things you have read.
However, should you choose, on your papers or in Discussion Forum contributions, to make use of ideas or ways of explaining things that you have found in another book or on an Internet site, you must document your source[s]. That is, you must cite the source[s] parenthetically in your essay and provide complete bibliographical information including title, author, publisher, and date of publication. For Internet sources, the complete URL for the site should be provided. Any information taken from another source “word for word” must also be put in quotation marks, even if it is only a part of a sentence. In all cases, you should follow the documentation guidelines of the Modern Language Association (MLA).
Also please be careful not to plagiarize from the introductory matter in our own text. Any time your essay or exam paper paraphrases so closely as to be almost indistinguishable from the wording of our text (or my Compectures), you should provide parenthetical documentation (e.g. supply the page number in our text or source identification where your paraphrase is taken from). Any time you are conveying material word-for-word from our text or other course resources, even if it is only a half a sentence, you should put that material in quotation marks, as well. Failure to do this can result in lower grades.
Policies in the Student Academic Code of Ethics (see: http://www.mc3.edu/policy/aa/ethics.htm) will be strictly adhered to.
Forum Contributions
On-line participation, asking questions and making comments for your fellow students, are essential features in making this course a quality experience. Your contributions take the place of the classroom interaction you would get in a classroom course. You should offer substantive comments, questions, or reactions on every unit, as I have directed in the schedule. Be thoughtful in the comments you make and in the questions you pose. Be careful to respond intelligently.
My involvement in the Forums, beyond monitoring them, will be ONLY OCCASIONAL—when I see the need to offer direction or advice. The Discussion Forums are places for you and your fellow students to discuss matters with each other. I will jump in from time to time, however, and you are required to read my contributions.