Introduction to Literature / Fall 2008 Professor Lay 1

SAINT LOUISCHRISTIANCOLLEGE

1360 Grandview Dr. / Florissant, MO / 63033 / 314-837-6777

INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE GEN220n

Fall 2008

Professor Lay

MISSION STATEMENT

Saint LouisChristianCollege equips men and women as leaders who impact the world for Christ.

DESCRIPTION

This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of literary study. Students will focus on the interpretation, criticism, and worldview of fiction and poetry. Emphasis is on producing written analysis of selected works.

RATIONALE

A study of a sampling of literature will assist students to better understand the diverse culture they live in and to prepare them for ministry in a global environment.

OBJECTIVES

Educational:

Engage modern global, pluralistic, diverse cultures from the standpoint of a robust Biblical worldview. Therefore the SLCC curriculum aims to integrate thought and life across a broad range of knowledge.

Divisional:

Given instruction in the communication skills, the student will demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively and will be able to use a variety of research and documentation techniques.

Upon completion of the study of humanities, the student will be able to analyze major components of culture and will be able to understand the differences between Christianity and other worldviews.

Course:

  • Introduce the entertainment value of literature—the short story and poetry.
  • Present literary works from diverse perspectives—gender, race, culture, religion, and generation.
  • Understand fiction using seven levels of literal and inferential comprehension.
  • Identify six major elements of literature-plot, point of view, characterization, symbol, style, and tone.
  • Identify the six substructures of a poem-paraphrasable, rational, image, metrical, sound and syntactical.
  • Evaluate a work of literature according to its contextual elements-biographical, literary, historical, ideological, and reader.
  • Analyze the worldviews of fiction and poetry and compare and contrast it with the students’ Christian world-view.

Required Materials

Gioia, Dana, and R. S. Gwynn. The Art of the Short Story. New York: Pearson

Longman, 2006.

Sire, James. How To Read Slowly: Reading for Comprehension. 2nd Ed. Wheaton, IL:

Harold Shaw, 1978.

Trott, James H. ed. A Sacrifice of Praise: An Anthology of Christian Poetry in English from

Caedmon to the Mid-Twentieth Century. 2nd ed. Nashville: Cumberland, 2006.

REQUIREMENTS

Reading Journal Entries

You are to read each day’s reading assignment and record the amount of reading you did for each day’s assignment (0, ¼, ½, ¾, All) next to your name on the reading journal. Then you are to write a journal entry for each class period. For most of them, you are to examine each of the short stories and poems. You are to follow the guidelines on the worksheet and answer the statements for each work. For a few others, follow the instructions in the syllabus. The journals are to be typed.

Fiction Essay

Produce a critical analysis (2,000+ words) of a short story by one of the author’s in the textbook not discussed in class. The professor will provide a list. Provide an analysis of the paper, focusing on several of the elements discussed. The paper is to include at least three sources. The paper will be assessed according to the Fiction Guidelines and the Essay Assessment located in the syllabus.

Creative Project

Produce an original work of literature—poem(s).Develop a creative way to display the work.Analyze the work, following the model for the fiction essay. Present the work to the class in an oral presentation.

Classroom Discussion

You are to read each assignment and be prepared in class to answer questions from the professor and to ask quality questions based on the text for that day. Also, you will participate in occasional small group projects in class. Unexcused absences will affect the discussion grade.

ASSESSMENT

Reading Journals (180 pts / 18 @ 10 points each)

Grade / Points / Description
A / 10 /
  1. Read the entire assignment.
  2. Answered all of the questions.
  3. Gave detailed, specific, and extended information.

B / 9 /
  1. Read the entire assignment.
  2. Answered almost all of the questions.
  3. Gave adequate and general information.

C / 8 /
  1. Read the entire assignment.
  2. Answered some of the questions.
  3. Gave adequate and general information.

D / 7 /
  1. Read part of assignment.
  2. Answered few of the questions.
  3. Gave adequate and general information.

F / 5 /
  1. Read part of the assignment.
  2. Answered very few or none of the questions.
  3. Gave minimal or incorrect answers.

F / 0 /
  1. Did not submit the journal

Fiction Essay (100 points)

Trait / A / B / C / D / F
Content / 40 / 36 / 32 / 28 / 0
Style / 30 / 27 / 24 / 21 / 0
Grammar / 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 0
Format / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 0
Total / 100 / 90 / 80 / 70 / 0

Refer to the Essay Assessment Guide for a more specific description of each trait.

Original Poetic Work (100 pts)

Grade / Points / Description
A / 100 / 1)Meets the 150+ words/ 1500+ words.
2)Includes an extensive analysis of the work.
3)Analysis exhibits the 4 criteria of an A essay (Content, Style, Grammar, Format)
4)Copies provided for every student.
5)Oral presentation: Speaks clearly, presents the explanation clearly and concisely.
B / 90 / 1)Meets the 150+ words/ 1500+ words
2)Includes a proficient analysis of the work
3)Analysis exhibits the 4 criteria of a B essay (Content, Style, Grammar, Format)
4)Copies provided for every student.
5)Oral presentation Speaks clearly and presents the poem clearly and concisely.
C / 80 / 1)Meets the 150+ words/ 1500+ words
2)Includes an adequate analysis of the work
3)Analysis exhibits the 4 criteria of a C essay (Content, Style, Grammar, Format)
4)Copies provided for every student.
5)Oral presentation: Speaks semi-clearly and presents the poem adequately.
D / 70 / 1)Meets 100 words of the length requirement / 1300 + words.
2)Includes a minimal analysis of the work.
3)Analysis exhibits the 4 criteria of a D essay (Content, Style, Grammar, Format)
4)Copies were not provided for every student.
5)Oral Presentation: Speaks unclearly and presents the poem unclearly.
F / 50 / 1)Meets 75 words of the length requirement / 1000 + words.
2)Includes an unacceptable analysis or none at all.
3)Analysis exhibits the 4 criteria of a F essay (Content, Style, Grammar, Format)
4)No copies provided.
5)Does not orally present the poem.
Z / 0 / 1)Poem and/or Analysis was not submitted

Classroom Discussion (20 points)

Grade / Points / Description
A / 20 / 0-1 absences. Prepared to answer fully. Asks thought-out questions. Actively participates in small groups. Is not disruptive or distracted in class.
B / 18 / 2 absence. Prepared to answer and ask questions adequately. Asks good questions. Participates in small groups. Is rarely disruptive or distracted in class.
C / 16 / 3 absences. Answers questions minimally. Asks general questions. Minimally participates in small groups. Occasionally is disruptive or distracted in class.
D / 14 / 4absences. Not always prepared to answer questions. Usually does not ask questions or provide comments. Rarely participates in small groups. Is regularly disruptive or distracted in class.
F / 0 / 5 absences. Or Rarely answers or asks questions. Dos not participate in group work. Consistently disruptive or distracted in class.

1 absence = one 50 min class. 6:00-6:50 or 7:00-7:50

Final Grade (200 Points)

A / 192-200 / B+ / 184-187 / C+ / 168-171 / D+ / 152-155 / F / 0-142
A- / 188-191 / B / 176-183 / C / 160-167 / D / 144-151
B- / 172-175 / C- / 156-159 / D- / 140-143

ESSAY ASSESSMENT GUIDE

Your essay will be evaluated using four major categories—content, style, grammar, and format. Each of the categories is broken down into subcategories, each with specific traits. Each trait will be looked at and then the entire category will be assessed according to these guidelines:

A Exceptional use of the trait with a minimal number of errors that make no distraction from the readability of the paper.

B Proficient use of the trait, with a few number of errors that mostly do not distract from the readability of the paper.

C Sufficient use of the trait, with many errors, yet only some of those errors distract from the readability of the paper.

D Minimal use of the trait with many errors that do distract from the readability of the paper.

F Unacceptable uses of the trait with an enormous number of errors that make the paper too difficult to read and understand.

Trait / Description
Content / Focus / Audience / Addresses the target readers—their knowledge, interest, and motivation towards the thesis.
Voice / Contains an effective point of view and your personal tone and perspective
Ideas / Purpose / Utilizes the appropriate purposes—reflection, analyzes, information, or persuasive—to communicate the topic.
Thesis / Includes an engaging and meaningful topic, displayed in a specific, manageable, and engaging declarative sentence that meets the objectives of the assignment.
Evidence / Shows accurate, reliable, and effective sources--experiential and/or documented--to support the thesis, using a variety of summaries, paraphrases, and quotations.
Structure / Outline / Exhibits a logical progression of thought, clear transitions between ideas, and discipline-specific structure to complement the support.
Patterns / Organizes the ideas around appropriate paragraph patterns—narration, description, comparison/contrast, definition, examples, cause/effect, and classification/division to enhance the thesis.
Style / Paragraphs / Coherent / Exhibits understandable and clear readability.
Unified / Demonstrates one main idea with an explicit or implicit topic sentence.
Complete / Includes sufficient information yet varied lengths.
Engaging / Introduces the topic with an engaging beginning.
Strong / Concludes the topic with a strong ending.
Sentences / Varied / Demonstrates a variety of lengths--short, medium, and long.
Diverse / Exemplifies a diverse use of structures--simple, compound, complex, and compound/complex.
Parallel / Contains equal or parallel wording, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Transitional / Incorporates significant transitions within and between sentences.
Words / Appropriate / Shows appropriate levels for the audience.
Concise / Incorporates as few words as possible.
Specific / Demonstrates precise and exact wording including active verbs and descriptive nouns.
Inclusive / Incorporates sensitive language when referring to gender, race, religion, occupation, economic status, and age.
Trait / Description
Grammar / Syntax / Fragments / Incomplete sentences.
Run-On / Two or more complete sentences without proper punctuation.
Comma Splice / Two or more complete sentences separated by a comma.
Person Change / Interchanging first, second, and third person.
Subject-Verb Agreement / Subject and verb do not agree in number—singular or plural.
Pronoun Disagreement / Pronoun does not agree in number—singular or plural—with antecedent.
Past Tense/Past Participle Mix / Past tense of a verb is substituted with the participle of a verb.
Verb Tense Shift / Multiple verb tenses within the same context.
Mood Shift / Unnecessary change in mood—indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.
Adjective/Adverb Shift / Use an adjective as an adverb or an adverb as an adjective.
Dangling Modifier / A modifier has nothing to modify.
Passive Voice / The subject receives the action of the verb.
Punctuation / Exhibits the acceptable usage of all punctuation marks.
Mechanics / Shows an accurate usage of capitalization, italics, abbreviations, acronyms, and numbers. Uses proper spelling.
Format / Layout / Margins / One-inch margins
Spacing / Double spacing
Font / 12-point
Indent Paragraph / One-half inch
Page # / Last name / Page number / Half inch
Title / Title of the essay
Title Page / MLA
Paper / 8.5 x 11
In-Text Documentation / Summary / One or two sentence overview of the author’s ideas in your own words.
Paraphrase / Longer summary of the author’s ideas in your own words.
Quotation / Use a lead-in of the author’s last name.
Block Quote / Indent one-inch with no quotation marks over four lines long.
Style / Place the author’s name in a variety of positions in the quote.
Parenthetical / (Author’s last name page number).
Works Cited Page / MLA / Books, Journals, Online.
  • Any form of plagiarism will not be tolerated. Intentional plagiarism will result in an F for the class. All other forms of plagiarism will result in an F for the assignment.
  • Any essay requiring a minimum number of words will be reduced 1% for every 100 words short.
  • Any essay requiring a minimum number of sources will be reduced 3% for every source short.

SCHEDULE

Oct 6MIntroduction to Literature

  • Read Chapters 1,3,4,5 of Sire.
  • Answer the following questions:
  1. Describe your reading habits from as a child to the present.
  2. Describe your attitude towards reading fiction/poetry.
  3. Describe the most significant work you have read.
  4. Describe reasons, if applicable, why you do not enjoy reading literature.
  5. Look in the table of contents of the Short Story book and list any of the short stories you have already read and indicate which ones you enjoyed and did not enjoy.
  6. Describe your position on this question: Should Christians read non-Christian literature and why or why not?
  • Type your answers, using MLA formatting. Write 500+ words.

Oct 13MGender

  • Read Kate Chopin: The Storm (p153) and Author’s Perspective
  • Read Song of Songs (The Message)
  • Journal 1The Storm (#1-22)
  • Read Bobbie Ann Mason: Shiloh (p 577) and Author’s Perspective
  • Journal 2: Shiloh (#1-22)

Oct 20 MRace

  • Read James Baldwin: Sonny’s Blues (p26) & Author’s Perspective
  • Journal 3: Sonny’s Blues (#1-22)
  • Watch a video on Youtube.com of Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker.
  • Read Alice Walker: Everyday Use (809)
  • Journal 4: Everyday Use (#1-22)
  • Read Isaiah 50-53 (Message)

Oct 27Worldviews

  • Read: “Worldviews” by Jerry Solomon (Part 1)
  • Web Source:
  • Read Ernest Hemingway: A Clean-Well Lighted Place (p370) & Author’s Perspective
  • Journal 5: A Clean-Well Lighted Place (#1-28)
  • Read Franz Kafka: Before the Law (466)
  • Journal 6: Before the Law (#1-28)
  • Read Ecclesiastes 1-12 (Message)

Nov 3Worldviews

  • Read Flannery O’Connor: A Good Man is Hard to Find (p677) & Author’s Perspective
  • Journal 7: A Good Man is Hard to Find (#1-28)
  • Read Young Goodman Brown (347) and Author’s Perspective
  • Journal 8: Young Goodman Brown (#1-28)
  • Read Romans 1-8 (The Message)

Nov 10Seventeenth Century (1603-1660)

  • Read Trott: Chapter Four (pages 147-150)
  • Read Donne, John (151) & Holy sonnets x and xiv (152)
  • Read Jonson, Ben (157) & A Hymne to God the Father (158)
  • Read Herrick, Robert (191) & all poems (194-197)
  • Read Herbert, George (203) & Easter Wings (210)
  • Read Bradstreet, Anne (225) & Upon the Burning of our House (226).
  • Read Marvell, Andrew (245) & The Coronet (246)
  • Read German Hymns (258-265)
  • Journal 9:Donne Sonnet XIV (1-30)
  1. Journal 10: Luther A Mighty Fortress is Our God (1-30)

Nov 17Eighteenth Century (1660-1776)

  • Read Trott: Chapter Five (266-269)
  • Read Watts, Isaac (290) & All poems (290-295)
  • Read Pope, Alexander (304) & Ode on Solitude (305)
  • Read Wesley, John (311) & all poems (311-312)
  • Read Wesley, Charles (313) & all poems (313-322)
  • Read Newton, John (340) & all poems (340-343)
  • Read Toplady, Augustus Montague (350) & Rock of Ages (350)
  • Read Eighteenth Century Hymnody (352-358)
  • Journal 11: Watts The Cross (293) (1-30)
  • Journal 12: Montague Rock of Ages (350) (1-30)

Nov 24Romantic Age (1776-1837)

  • Read Trott: Chapter Six (359-364)
  • Read Wheatley, Phyllis (370) & On Being Brought From Africa to America (371)
  • Read Adams, John Quincy (377) & Lord of all Worlds (378-379)
  • Read Wordsworth, William (383) & For Inspiration (383) & Hymn—Blest Are the Moments, Doubly Bles (383)
  • Read Heber, Reginald (412) & Holy, Holy, Holy (413)
  • Read Browning, Elizabeth Barrett (438) & Comfort & Bereavement (439)
  • Read Hymns of the Romantic Period (454-458)
  • Journal 13: All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name (455) (1-30)
  • Journal 14: Holy, Holy, Holy (413) (1-30)

Dec 1Victorian Period (1837-1861)

  • Read Trott: Chapter Seven (459-462)
  • Read Tennyson, Lord Alfred (471) & St. Agnes’ Eve (473)
  • Read Browning, Robert (477) & Hymn: I Intend to Get to God (479)
  • Read Bronte, Anne (507) & The Doubter’s Prayer (508-509)
  • Read MacDonald, George (521) & All poems (522-523)
  • Read Clephane, Elizabeth (546) & Beneath the Cross of Jesus (547)
  • Read Baring-Gould, Sabine (570) & Onward Christian Soldiers (570)
  • ReadBrooks, Phillips (571) & O Little Town of Bethlehem (572)
  • Read Havergal, Frances Ridley (573) & On the Lord’s Side (574) & Consecration Hymn (577-578)
  • Read Spirituals (585-586) & Were You There (587) & Nobody Know the Trouble I’ve Seen (587)
  • Journal 15: Onward Christian Soldiers (570) (1-30)
  • Journal 16: Consecration Hymn (577) (1-30)

Dec 8Victorian Period (1861-1918)

  • Read Trott: Chapter Eight (595-599)
  • Read Hopkins, Gerard Manley (599) & God’s Grandeur (601)
  • Read Chapman, Wilbur (623) & One Day (623)
  • Read Johnson, James Weldon (652) & Go Down, Death (655)
  • Read Dunbar, Paul Laurence (657) & We Wear the Mask (658)
  • Read Chesterton, G.K. (662) & The World State (663)
  • Read Late Victorian Hymns (667-689)
  • Journal 17: God’s Grandeur (601) (1-30)
  • Journal 18: We Wear the Mask (658) (1-30)

Dec 15

  1. Oral Presentations of Projects
  2. Public reading of original poem

RESOURCES

Burt, Daniel S. The Literary 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Novelists, Playwrights, and Poets Of

All Time.NewYork: Checkmark, 2001.

Clarke, John Henrik, ed. Black American Short Stories: A Century of The Best. New York: Hill

and Wang, 1996.

Cone, James H. A Black Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1998.

Cowan, Louise and Os Guiness, Ed. Invitation to the Classics: A Guide to Books You’ve Always

Wanted to Read.GrandRapids: Baker Books, 1998.

Fadiman, Clifton and John S. Major. The New Lifetime Reading Plan: A Classic Guide to

WorldLiterature, Revised and Expanded. 4th ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.

Franklin, John Hope. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans. New

York:McGraw-Hill, 1988.

Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor.New York: Quill, 2003.

Gallagher, Susan V. and Roger Lundin. Literature Through the Eyes of Faith. New York:

Harper and Row, 1989.

Glaspey, Terry W. Book Lover’s Guide to Great Reading: A Guided Tour of Classic and Contemporary

Literature. Downers Grove, ILL: InterVarsity, 2001.

Hart, James D. The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature. New York: Oxford

Press, 1986.

Holman, C. Hugh. A Handbook to Literature. 3rd ed. Indianapolis: Odyssey Press, 1978.

Hughes, Langston, Milton Meltzer, C. Eric Lincoln, Jon Michael Spencer. A Pictorial History

Of African Americans: From 1619 to the Present. 6th Ed. New York: Crown Publishers, 1995.

Jerome, Judson. The Poet’s Handbook. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1980.

Kochman, Thomas. Black and White: Styles in Conflict. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,

1981.

Langston Hughes. The Ways of White Folks. New York: Vintage Classics, 1962.

Lopez, Tiffany. Ed. Growing Up Chicana/o: An Anthology. NY: William Morrow, 1993.