Composition 1: Expository Writing
Reading and Writing about Today’s Issues
English 101-KL Syllabus Prof. Barbara Barnard
CRN #: 12651 Office: Bradley Hall, Y 231
Fall 2017 Phone: 572-7185 (x25648)
T, Th 1:00-2:15 P.M. E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
Room S 110 Office hours: T, Th 10:00-11:15 A.M.
Turnitin.com class ID: xxxxxxxx
Turnitin enrollment password: xxxxxxx
Required text to buy: The New World Reader, 5th Edition, by Gilbert H. Muller (Cengage, 2017,
ISBN#: 9781305643772). Bring this book to class every day.
Recommended text: A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker (St. Martin's, any edition). This
book is recommended if you need a handbook to help with grammar, syntax, and research
documentation. You are not required to buy this book.
Online resources and faculty web pages: This is a web enhanced course. You will find some resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages in the Learn9 Blackboard system. You are not required to do any work in Blackboard; it is simply provided as a resource. There are also resource links and syllabi available on my faculty web pages (go to faculty.ncc.edu and click on Barbara Barnard).
Turnitin.com: You must submit your major papers for this course to the plagiarism screening service Turnitin.com as well as giving me a hard copy in class. See page 5 of this syllabus for Turnitin.com instructions. Fairness demands that every person’s work be evaluated equally. If you don’t submit to Turnitin.com for plagiarism checking, your paper will not be accepted for grading and you will receive an F for that paper. If internet access is a problem for you, you can use a student computer lab on campus to access the site.
Writing Center: The Writing Center, located in Bradley Hall and the Library, offers one-on-one tutoring as well as workshops. Bradley Hall: 516-572-7195; Library: 516-572-3595; wcenter@ncc.edu ; www.ncc.edu/writingcenter .
ENG 101 Course Description: This course prepares students to produce clear, well-developed, well-organized, grammatically correct writing. The curriculum is designed to give students guided practice in drafting, revising, and editing essays. The course is also designed to develop the skills that enable students to interpret and analyze published texts. In addition to readings assigned in class, students respond to texts they locate themselves through research and write at least one documented or research essay. Students who have completed ENG 100 will not get credit for ENG 101. SUNY GEN ED-GBCM; NCC GEN ED-COMP
Pre-requisites: ENG 001, ENG 030 or placement by Department, RDG 001, concurrent enrollment in RDG 030 or placement by Department.
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Course Calendar *
September
T 5 Introduction to course and in-class essay (Essay #1).
Th 7 American Mosaic—Who are we anyway?
Read: (28-44) Ellis Cose, “Red, Brown, and Blue,”
Bharati Mukherjee, “American Dreamer,”
Lee C. Bollinger, “Why Diversity Matters”
[The above three articles are available online (just google the author and title). After this week, however, you will need to have the book. Most of the upcoming material in our textbook is not available online.]
T 12 Film: Amreeka (Dir., Cherien Dabis, 2009)
Th 14 Amreeka continued, and discussion
T 19 Read: (44-55) Randa Jarrar, “Deportation Order”
Dwight N. Hopkins, “Beyond Black and White: The Hawaiian President”
Firoozeh Dumas, “Mall Together Now”
Th 21 Rosh Hashanah – classes do not meet
T 26 Review Steve Kelley cartoon (29)
Film: Smoke Signals (Dir. Chris Eyre, 1998)
Th 28 Film: Smoke Signals (continued), and discussion; plus a brief demonstration of the
NCC Library’s Information Literacy Tutorial (found on the library’s home
page at: http://library.ncc.edu/ ), Parts 3-8 only.
Read: in textbook (3-10, 12-17, and 21-25) Thinking, reading, and writing
strategies
October
T 3 Workshops for Essay #2, small group discussions of first drafts (bring 4 copies of
your draft)
Th 5 Essay #2 due, final draft (analytical essay) and
Global Relationships—Sex and Gender Roles
Read: (118-120, 135-139, 17-21)
Elaine Sciolino, “The French, the Veil, and the Look”
Susan Bordo, “The Globalization of Eating Disorders”
Film: Persepolis (Dir. Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, 2007)
T 10 Read: (145-152)
Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes, “Life on the Global Assembly Line”
Film: Persepolis continued
Th 12 ü The Fate of the Earth—The Global Environment ý þ
Read: (313-15, 320-25, 326-331) Naomi Klein, “The Change Within”
Al Gore, “We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change”
Deadline for late Essay #2
T 17 Read: (332-340) Andy Rooney, “Talking Trash” and
Bill McKibben, “A Place That Makes Sense”
Film: The Corporation (Dirs. Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, 2004)
Th 19 Film: The Corporation (continued)
T 24 Workshops for Essay #4, first draft due (analytical essay)—bring 4 copies of your
draft
Th 26 Essay #3 (in-class midterm essay exam)
Essay #4 due, final draft (analytical essay)
T 31 Read: “Conducting Research in the Global Era” (347-368)
Research & documentation session: How to find reliable sources of information and document your sources responsibly. Explore the topics for Essay #5 before this class, as we will be discussing how to find your required outside source/s for Essays #5 and #6. Also, come prepared to take good notes, as we’ll be going online (in the classroom) and exploring how to use research and documentation tools, including the NCC Library’s Information Literacy Tutorial (found on the library’s home page at: http://library.ncc.edu/ ), using Parts 3-8 only.
November
Th 2 [VZYW Culture Wars—Whose Culture Is It, Anyway? Mÿ
Read: (186-195) Lisa See, “Have Roots,Will Travel” and
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “Whose Culture Is It, Anyway?”
Deadline for late Essay #4
T 7 Read: (195-199, 206-210) Luis Alberto Urrea, “Manifest Destiny” and
Richard Pells, “Does the World Still Care About American Culture?”
Th 9 Who’s a Terrorist?—Many Views About Terrorism
Read: (252-254, 275-281, 115-117) Paul Krugman, “Why We Fight Wars”
Reza Aslan, “Losing the War on Terror”
Robin Tolmach Lakoff, “The Power of Words in Wartime”
Film: Lord of War (Dir. Andrew Niccol, 2005)
T 14 Film: Lord of War continued
Th 16 Workshops for Essay #5 (bring: the draft of your documented essay, using at least
one outside source; bring a copy or printout of your source to show and discuss with
your small group; your draft should include your Works Cited list).
T 21 Classes meet on a Thursday schedule.
Essay #5 due, final draft (documented essay, using at least one outside source) and
Class Divide—The Growing Income Gap
Read: (25-26) Chrystia Freeland, “The Rich are Different Than You and Me” and
Reread/Review: (145-152) Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes, “Life on the
Global Assembly Line” (We also read this earlier in the semester.)
Film: Waging a Living (Dir. Roger Weisberg, 2004)
Th 23 Thanksgiving – College Holiday
T 28 Film: Waging a Living continued, plus a bonus film, and interview with the
writer/director (if time permits)
Deadline for late Essay #5
Th 30 ü Clash of Civilizations—Is Conflict Avoidable? ý þ
Read: (222-224, 242-251)
Karen Armstrong, “Fundamentalism Is Here to Stay”
Amartya Sen, “A World Not Neatly Divided”
December
T 5 Workshops for Essay #6 (bring your draft and copies of your 2-3 outside sources,
Plus your Works Cited list).
Th 7 Essay #6 due (persuasive research paper, using 2-3 outside sources). If submitting
a revision of an earlier paper, you must turn in the previous graded
version as well; otherwise, you will not receive credit for the paper!
ü America & the World—How Do Others Perceive Us? ý þ
Read: (57-59, 75-80, 86-90) Mehdi Hasan, “Why I Could Never Hate America”
Alkman Granitsas, “Americans Are Tuning Out the World”
Fouad Ajami, “The Anti-Americans”
T 12 Read: (71-74, 78-86) Elie Wiesel, “Why I Love America”
Sasha Abramsky, “Waking Up from the American Dream”
Th 14 Essay #7: Final Exam Essay; and Deadline for late Essay #6
T 19 Conferences in my office (I’ll be available in my office for those who
need to see me, but you are not required to come by.)
Th 21 Conferences in my office (as above)
*[This schedule is subject to change as a result of snow cancelations and other impacts.]
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General Course Requirements **
Attendance and class participation:
You should have no more than three unexcused absences. Excessive absences will result in a lowered grade; extreme absence problems will result in the loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or UW). Also, chronic lateness may seriously affect your grade (two "lates" equal one absence). On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation in class discussion may raise your grade. Please silence and store electronic devices during class time. If you are texting, talking, or otherwise disrupting the focus of the class, this behavior may result in an F for participation. You will receive a separate letter grade for your class participation. You must attend class; extreme absence problems WILL result in loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or UW), even if your written work is satisfactory. Please be aware that the college averages the UW grade into your GPA as an F.
Essays (in-class essays and out-of-class papers): Six of the essays that you will write during the semester will receive letter grades. Four of the essays (#2,4,5,and 6) will be written outside class and will go through at least two drafts (only the final draft will be graded); the other two graded essays (#3 and 7) will be written in class and will also serve as midterm and final exams. In these formal writing assignments, grammar, sentence structure, and organization do count, along with the quality of your ideas and your mastery of the issues and concepts from our readings, films, and discussions.
Late papers will be dropped one half of a letter grade, and the deadline for late papers is one week after the due date. An F will be entered in the grade book for papers not received by the late paper deadline. If you have internet, printer or computer problems at home, you are responsible for going to a student computer lab on campus to print your paper. Excuses related to your home equipment will not be acceptable; use the facilities on campus when you have equipment or access problems at home. It’s also your responsibility to begin work on your essays early in order to avoid last-minute problems.
Six ways to get help with your essay drafts: (1) For one-on-one tutoring in writing skills in general, and for help with your drafts for Essays #2, 4, 5, and 6 you are encouraged to go to the Writing Center (first floor of Bradley Hall—the Y Building). (2) On days set aside for small group discussions of drafts, you will receive feedback from your classmates in your group; also, I’ll be circulating among the groups to check for drafts and to answer questions about the assignment. (3) You may also come to see me during my office hours. (4) Appendix A in the back of your textbook (347-368) contains useful information and advice on writing essays, including a brief version of MLA documentation guidelines. (5) You may want to participate in the Writing Center’s skills workshops, held at various times during the semester. The Writing Center posts schedules for Grammar Workshops plus Research/Documentation Workshops (MLA and APA) linked from their web page here: http://www.ncc.edu/programsandcourses/academic_departments/english/writingcenter/default.shtml and I will forward to the class any Writing Center announcements I receive by email. (6) Remember our in-class demonstrations of the NCC Library’s Information Literacy Tutorial, Parts 3-8, which guides you through how to do research in the library’s databases, how to document your sources, and how to construct your Works Cited list. Also on the Library’s home page (http://library.ncc.edu/ ) is a link to the complete MLA documentation formats for your Works Cited list. These resources are linked from my faculty home page as well.
Small group discussions of essay drafts: On the days scheduled for group discussion, we will break into small groups (of 4-5 students each) for discussion of essay drafts. I will circulate among the small groups and will keep a record of each student’s preparedness. Each person must bring his or her draft of the upcoming essay to present to the group. You will read your essay draft aloud in order to share with your group the ideas you are discussing in the paper you’re working on. You will also describe how you did your research and where you found your source(s), if you’re working on a paper that requires research. Then you will participate in a discussion of your essay and ideas (and your classmates’ essays and ideas). Those who bring and share their essay drafts will receive credit toward the class participation grade; those who are unprepared will receive a zero for the draft. You will not be turning these drafts in to me; they are only for sharing and getting classmates’ feedback during the group sessions.
In-Class Essays and Quizzes: From time to time, there may be in-class essay questions and/or quizzes in order to assess students’ familiarity with the day’s reading. These quizzes and essays will not be previously announced and will count as part of the letter grade for class participation.
REQUIRED--Turnitin.com: You must submit Essays #2, 4, 5, and 6 (your out-of-class papers) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism screening service) as well as giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the paper. Your paper will not be graded until you both submit electronically and provide a hard copy. If the paper is submitted late in either of these forms, then it is a late paper.
Registering for Turnitin.com: Go to the Turnitin.com home page. Click on the “Create Account” link to the left of the login link. After you have created your account, then use the access numbers for your class that appear at the top of this syllabus in order to set up your access to this course on Turnitin.com. If you already have an account with Turnitin, you can log in and register for this class within your existing account.
Grades: Your in-class midterm exam (Essay #3) and final exam (Essay #7) will be averaged together equally with the grades on your out-of-class essays (#2, 4, 5 and 6), and your class participation grade. Thus, you will have six essay grades, and one grade for attendance and participation (seven grades altogether) to be averaged together equally. To add and average your grades yourself, convert them to grade points (A=4, B+=3.5, B=3, C+=2.5, C=2, D+=1.5, D=1, F=0). You must attend class; extreme absence problems will result in loss of credit for the course (a grade of UW or F), even if your written work is satisfactory. Please be aware of the college’s policy on withdrawals. If you stop attending a class and you have not formally dropped the course with the Registrar’s office, you will receive the grade of F or UW (unauthorized withdrawal). The UW grade is averaged into your GPA as an F. This is the college’s policy for all credit-bearing courses.
Plagiarism Warning and Plagiarism Policy: If you try to pass off someone else’s words and ideas as your own writing, then you have committed plagiarism. If you change every fifth word of someone else’s writing and try to pass it off as your own, that is still plagiarism. Do your own thinking. If you use the words or ideas of others, cite your source(s). Plagiarism will not be tolerated; plagiarized papers will receive the grade of F and may not be rewritten. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in the grade of F for the entire course. Please also review the college’s complete policy section on “Academic Dishonest & Plagiarism” included in the college’s online catalog (search the catalog by keyword “plagiarism” to find it). This policy details the types of dishonesty and cheating that will result in disciplinary action. It includes this statement: “Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, will result in some form of disciplinary action that may lead to suspension or expulsion under the rules of the Student Code of Conduct.”
Center for Students With Disabilities: If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned coursework, I urge you to contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD), Building U, (516 572-7241,TTY(516) 572-7617. The counselors at CSD will review your concerns and determine reasonable accommodations you are entitled to by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All information and documentation pertaining to personal disabilities (diagnoses) will be kept confidential. Students are responsible for completing all related paperwork correctly, scheduling accommodations, and supplying forms to me in a timely fashion.
** REMAINING in this class constitutes your acceptance of the policies, expectations, and responsibilities outlined in this syllabus and stated in the course overview during the first week of class.
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Departmental Goals and Outcomes for English 101:
Writing Literacy: to produce precise, clear, grammatically-correct, well-developed, and well-organized writing appropriate to academic, social, and occupational fields; Outcomes: Students will produce coherent texts within common college level forms; revise and improve such texts
Critical Thinking: to be able to question information and to use reason to determine what to believe or what to do; Outcomes: Students will identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments as they occur in their own and others’ work and develop well-reasoned arguments.
Informational Literacy: to locate, evaluate, and incorporate relevant source materials into the construction and expression of an informed point of view; Outcomes: Students will access and utilize basic computer and internet functions, demonstrating appropriate and effective utilization of programs and functions; use basic research techniques, demonstrating appropriate, effective research skills; locate, evaluate, organize, and synthesize information from a variety of sources, demonstrating the ability to implement an effective search strategy to obtain reliable information; and apply ethical and legal standards for use of source information, demonstrating the application of accepted ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published works.
Cultural Literacy: to engage with literary texts that reflect the diversity of the human experience in a variety of historical and cultural frameworks; Outcomes: Students will recognize the diversity and similarities of the ways in which people in different cultural traditions perceive and experience their lives.
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General Instructions for All Essays: Use standard one-inch margins on the top, sides and bottom of each page. Please double-space and use a standard size type face (use size 12—no oversized fonts). Each of your essays should have a title. Be sure you have a backup copy of every essay you submit. Late papers will be dropped one half of a letter grade during the week following the due date. The deadline for late papers is one week after each due date. An F will be entered in the grade book for any paper not received by the late paper deadline. It is important to keep up with the assignments as scheduled.
Citing Sources for Essays #2, 4, 5 and 6: We will be discussing this in class. Keep a careful record of information about the outside sources that you use. You must provide complete bibliographic information on your Works Cited list. A website created by an academic institution or department, a museum, government agency, or scholarly association would be an appropriate source. A personal website would not be an appropriate source. Also, Wikipedia and other user-sourced sites are not appropriate sources of information for a college-level paper. You must know who wrote the web page and who sponsors the site. Study guide sites and sites that post and sell student essays are obviously not appropriate sources. Also, user comments on web sites are not appropriate sources.
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Essay #1 In-Class Essay (first day of class). This brief, ungraded essay will serve as a sample of your writing. I may advise you to attend the Writing Center for tutorial help if I see serious problems with sentence-level writing skills or English usage in this sample essay. You will write the essay in class, during the last half hour of the period, and one handwritten page will be a sufficient length. I will provide a choice of topics.
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Essay #2 Analytical Essay (500-750 words; 2-3 pages typed)
Assignment: Read the assigned articles for this segment of the course closely, and use them as guides to what good analytical writing might include. Write an analytical essay of your own, based on one of the following topics. You must include discussion of our written texts (articles in your textbook), in addition to whatever visual texts (photographs or film) you focus on. When you use quotations, ideas, and/or statistics from any of our class readings, be careful to cite your source(s) in parentheses following the quotation or information.
1. It was former New York City mayor David Denkins who first articulated the idea of New York (and the American society in general) as a mosaic of cultures. Do you think this is an apt metaphor for our multicultural society? Discuss your own characterization of American society. You may also want to refer to information and ideas from the films Amreeka and Smoke Signals, which we’ll be viewing in class, or from other relevant films you have viewed. You may want to organize your essay around your comments and reactions to passages in articles we have read in our textbook, and/or photographs in our textbook, and ideas and scenes from the films we’re viewing.
2. The film Amreeka as well as some of our readings focus on issues related to immigration. Instead of the somewhat broader topic above about the nature of American society, you may instead want to write an essay that focuses in on a specific aspect of immigration.
3. A complexity of tensions and cultural strains surround the discussions related to the current national political scene. How do you see the readings and films we’re experiencing in class as being related to current national issues in our society such as: immigration, the justice system, race relations, cultural diversity, social activism, rights and responsibilities in a diverse democratic society, or any other current issue that you see as related to our readings and films discussed so far in class.
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Essay #3 is the in-class Midterm Exam
BE SURE YOU BRING YOUR TEXTBOOK TO THIS OPEN BOOK EXAM.
You will be given several essay topics to choose from, and you will write on only one. You may use your textbook (The New World Reader), your syllabus (for the list of readings and films) and a dictionary, if you wish. No class notes may be used, no outside sources, and all electronic devices must be silenced and put away completely during the exam.
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Essay #4 Analytical Essay (500-750 words, 2-3 pages typed)
Assignment: Read the assigned essays closely and use them as guides to what good analytical writing might include. Also, be sure to be clear about your purpose for the essay, and be sure to articulate a thesis. Write an analytical essay of your own, based on one of the following topics. You must include discussion of our written texts (articles in your textbook), in addition to whatever visual texts (photographs or film) you focus on. When you use quotations, ideas, and/or statistics from any of our class readings, be careful to cite your source(s) in parentheses following the quotation or information.
1. Write an essay dealing with any of the environmental issues raised by the Klein, Gore, Rooney, and/or Schell articles we have read and by Achbar and Abbott’s documentary film The Corporation. You may want to focus in on issues related to the environment (e.g., old sources of energy and alternative sources of energy, environmental pollution and toxins, or climate change and storms) or you may choose to focus on an issue such as the food supply and the quality of our food (such as GMOs vs. organic, long-distance transportation of food vs. local production for local consumption, processed foods vs. natural or “whole” foods, agribusiness vs. local small farms and sustainable, organic farming).
2. Elaine Sciolino (“The French, The Veil, and the Look”) is an American journalist currently living in Paris, and she is considered an expert on Iranian society and other predominantly Muslim societies. Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) is a filmmaker and graphic memoirist also currently living in Paris, and she is herself of Iranian origin (as depicted in her autobiographical graphic memoir and film). What do you think is most striking about what we can learn from these two writers regarding women in Muslim societies, and about relations between Muslim societies and the global community of which they are a part?
3. Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes, in “Life on the Global Assembly Line,” imply that women in many parts of the world are exploited more than men. Write an essay in which you agree or disagree with their arguments. In building your essay, you may include information from articles we have read, films we have seen, your own experience, and/or the experience of friends or relatives.
4. Write an essay dealing with any of the issues raised by the film The Corporation. Do you think the film is an honest depiction of the problems arising from the growth and behavior of corporations in the U.S. and internationally? Also make use of articles we have read on this topic (Klein, Gore, Rooney, Schell, and Ehrenreich and Fuentes) in building your essay. What are your own views on these issues? What is your thesis? Do you think of globalization as a good thing, a bad thing, or a mixed bag? Articulate your own current understanding of the benefits and consequences of globalization.
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Essay #5 Documented Essay (750-1,000 words; 3-4 pages typed; use at least one outside
Source and submit a Works Cited list)
Assignment: Choose one of the following topic areas and write a well-developed analytical documented essay. In addition to using any films we have viewed and any source or sources in your textbook, you must use at least one outside source. This does not have to be a comparison/contrast essay, but you may wish to compare two ideas, two alternative courses of action, two opinions on an issue—comparison and contrast is a thinking process we use every day. In addition to using any films we have viewed and any source or sources in your textbook, you must use at least one outside source for facts, ideas and/or statistics, and you must cite your sources and create a Works Cited list. I urge you to use the on-line databases made available to you by the NCC library, and/or the library’s on-line catalogue for books. We will discuss in class how to do this, and I will also show you how to use the online MLA documentation guidelines (at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ or at http://library.ncc.edu/ for citing your sources and creating a Works Cited list. There is also a brief version of the MLA guidelines in the back of your textbook (362-368), along with advice about developing a research paper (347-362). You must use in-text citations to cite your sources and you must have a Works Cited list at the end of your essay. Document your sources responsibly. Plagiarism will not be tolerated; review the plagiarism policy on page 6 of this syllabus. Choose a topic that interests you:
1. Write an essay in which you discuss the ideas about American domestic cultural tensions and cultural intersections explored in the articles in this section (See, Gates, Urrea, Pells). You may also use ideas from the other relevant essays we have read, as well as our relevant films Amreeka or Smoke Signals, and you may want to refer to some of the photographs in our text also, as examples or statements about cultures. In addition, you will need at least one relevant outside source of information. The best online source to use is NCC’s Opposing Viewpoints in Context database; search from the homepage by topics such as “Rural and Urban America,” “Racial Profiling,” “Manifest Destiny,” or look under the category “Society and Culture” and see the list of subtopics with extensive resources for you to choose from. This database is user friendly!
2. Most adult Americans and many people globally have struggled to sort out the causes and effects of the recent wars in Iraq. Write a documented essay that is your own attempt to honestly explore these issues. Make use of any resources in your textbook as well as what you have learned from the film Lord of War, plus at least one outside source. Articles in our textbook that will be helpful include those by Krugman, Aslan, and Lakoff. The best online source to use is NCC’s Opposing Viewpoints in Context database, “Iraq Wars” topic and resources. Just search from their homepage using keywords “Iraq Wars.”
3. The war in Liberia (which spanned the 1990’s and early 2000’s) depicted in Lord of War is one of many wars that have come to be called resource wars—referring to the various wars and conflicts related to struggles over the earth’s resources. This is a topic that involves interwoven issues of environmental exploitation as well as human rights, economic globalization, the international arms trade, and many other areas of concern. Make use of any resources in your textbook (articles and photographs) as well as what you have learned from the film Lord of War, plus at least one outside source. Write an essay discussing these issues and articulating what you think should be done nationally and/or internationally to address them. Articles in our textbook that will be helpful include those by Krugman, Aslan, and Lakoff. The best online source to use is NCC’s Opposing Viewpoints in Context database, “Arms Trade” topic and resources.
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Essay #6 Persuasive Research Paper (1,000-1,250 words, 4-5 pages typed; at least
2 outside sources; a Works Cited list)
Assignment: Write a well-organized persuasive essay on one of the following topic areas. You may use as sources any of the relevant essays in our textbook and any of the films we have viewed. In addition, you will need to use at least two outside sources. Remember: (1) You must have a thesis guiding your essay: what is your controlling idea or argument? Explain and support that argument, using information from your sources (as well as from your own experience, if you wish). (2) It’s often effective to argue against views you disagree with, as well as offering ideas from writers who share your opinions. (3) You must use textual sources, along with any discussion of films, images, or personal experience. (4) Document your sources carefully.
Choose one of the following topics:
1. Analyze the views about social class and the economy expressed in the articles by Freeland and by Ehrenreich and Fuentes, as well as the issues raised in Weisberg’s documentary Waging a Living. Also, integrate a discussion of what you agree or disagree with in your related outside sources. Argue for your own view about these important contemporary issues.
2. Write an essay in which you discuss the ideas about global cultural tensions and cultural intersections explored in the relevant articles by Armstrong and Sen. You may also want to tie in relevant scenes and information from any of our other readings or any of the films we have viewed.
3. Rewrite and expand any previous essay. If you choose this option, your revised, expanded essay must conform to the requirements of this Essay #6 assignment, and you must do additional research (at least 2 outside sources altogether). It must be a persuasive essay (taking a stand and offering supporting evidence), it must be at least 4-5 pages in length, and it must include sources from our text as well as at least 2 outside sources. In addition, if you submit a rewrite, you must also turn in the previous, graded version of the paper (the original with my comments and grade on it). If you do not have your original, previously graded paper, then you may NOT choose this rewrite option.
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Essay #7 In-class Final Essay Exam
BE SURE YOU BRING YOUR TEXTBOOK TO THIS OPEN BOOK EXAM.
The final is an in-class essay exam. You will receive several essay questions based on different topics. You will choose one topic to write on. The topics will be drawn from readings and films discussed in the second half of the semester (since the midterm). During the exam, you may use your textbook (The New World Reader), your syllabus (for a list of the readings we’ve done and films we’ve seen), and a dictionary (if you wish). No class notes may be used, no outside sources, and all electronic devices must be silenced and put away during the exam.
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Composition 2:
Writing About Literature
English 102-JA Syllabus Prof. Barbara Barnard
CRN #: 10843 Office: Bradley Hall, Y 231
Fall 2017 Phone: 572-7185 (x25648)
M, W 12:30-1:45 P.M. E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
Room G 323 Office hours: T, Th 10:00-11:15 A.M.
Turnitin.com class ID: xxxxxxxx
Turnitin enrollment password: xxxxxxx
Pre-requisites: ENG 100 or 101
Required text: Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and
Writing, 5th edition, by X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia (Pearson, 2016, ISBN#:
9780134586441). Please bring this book to class every day.
Recommended text: A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker (St. Martin's, any edition).
This book is recommended if you need a handbook to help with grammar and
documentation. You are not required to buy this book.
Online resources and faculty web pages: This is a web enhanced course. You will find some resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages in the Learn9 Blackboard system. You are not required to do any work in Blackboard; it is simply provided as a resource. There are also resource links and syllabi available on my faculty web pages (go to faculty.ncc.edu and click on Barbara Barnard).
Turnitin.com: You must submit your papers for this course to the plagiarism screening service Turnitin.com as well as giving me a hard copy in class. See page 6 of this syllabus for Turnitin.com instructions. Fairness demands that every person’s work be evaluated equally. Therefore, if you don’t submit to Turnitin.com for plagiarism checking, your paper will not be accepted for grading and you will receive an F for that paper. If computer access is a problem for you, you can use a student computer lab on campus to access Turnitin.
Writing Center: The Writing Center, located in Bradley Hall and the Library, offers one-on-one tutoring as well as workshops. Bradley Hall: 516-572-7195; Library: 516-572-3595; wcenter@ncc.edu ; www.ncc.edu/writingcenter .
English 102 Course Description: This course is an introduction to writing about literature. The course is designed for students to practice close reading and organizing evidence to support their written interpretation and analysis of literary texts. The course offers students continued practice in drafting, revising, and editing essays. A primary goal for students is to produce clear, well-developed, well-organized, grammatical writing. For at least one essay, students use research materials.SUNY GEN ED-GBCM, GHUM; NCC GEN ED-COMP, HUM
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Course Calendar *
September
M 4 Labor Day – college holiday
W 6 Introduction to the course and Naguib Mahfouz, “Half a Day,” Mark
Halliday, “Young Man on Sixth Avenue” (both attached to this syllabus)
M 11 Fiction
Chapter 1 ~~ Story and Plot (16-25, 256-259):
John Updike, “A&P”
Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings”
Essay #1 (brief in-class essay)
W 13 Chapter 2 ~~ Point of View (28-32, 56-58, 72-77, 190-192)
Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”
Tobias Wolff, “Bullet in the Brain”
Sandra Cisneros, “The House on Mango Street”
deadline for optional Essay #2 first drafts (not required)
M 18 Chapter 3 ~~ Character (61-63, 77-85)
Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”
Film: Everyday Use and an interview with author Alice Walker
W 20 Chapter 4 ~~ Setting (101-104, 187-190, 128-144, 1-3)
Chinua Achebe, “Dead Men’s Path”
Amy Tan, “A Pair of Tickets”
Amy Tan, “Life Is Larger Than We Think” (Interview, p. 1-3)
M 25 Chapter 5 ~~ Tone, Style, and Irony (147-151, 170-171, 85-98)
Raymond Carver, “Cathedral”
Film: Cathedral and an interview with Tess Gallagher, about “Cathedral”
W 27 Essay #2 due (fiction analysis), and
Chapter 6 ~~ Theme (184-187, 172-179, 246-256)
Guy de Maupassant, “The Necklace”
Sherman Alexie, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”
October
M 2 (321-336, 194-200)
Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried”
Kurt Vonnegut, “Harrison Bergeron”
W 4 Chapter 7 ~~ Symbol (203-206, 229-243)
Ursula LeGuin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”
Deadline for late Essay #2
M 9 (307-321, 64-72)
Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
Katherine Anne Porter, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”
W 11 Chapter 30 ~~ Writing the Literary Research Paper (1143-1167)
Research session: we will meet in the regular classroom for an online demonstration of how to find sources for Essay #4 (poetry research paper).
M 16 Poetry
Chapter 10 ~~ Listening to a Voice (379-399)
W 18 Chapter 11 ~~ Words (402-416)
M 23 Chapter 13 ~~ Imagery (432-443)
Deadline for Essay #4 first drafts
W 25 Chapter 14 ~~ Figures of Speech (447-461)
M 30 Chapter 16 ~~ Rhythm (478-489), and
Sherman Alexie, “The Powwow at the End of the World” (562-63), and
Shirley Goek-lin Lim, “Learning to Love America” (600-601);
November
W 1 Essay #3: MIDTERM EXAM (covering fiction and poetry; bring
your textbook to this open-book exam)
M 6 Essay #4 due (poetry research paper), and
Chapter 18 ~~ Open Form (512-13 and 522-23), and
Aaron Abeyta, “thirteen ways of looking at a tortilla” (560-61)
Kim Addonizio, “First Poem for You” (562)
Billy Collins, “Care and Feeding” (575)
Allen Ginsberg, “A Supermarket in California” (587)
Walt Whitman, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” (619)
W 8 Chapter 19 ~~ Symbol (526-31) and
Christina Rosetti, “Up-Hill” (534-35)
Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese” (535-36)
William Carlos Williams, “Spring and All” (620-21) and “Queen Anne’s
Lace” (621)
M 13 Drama
“Play”ing ~~ Two Contemporary Comedies (628-29, 669-680,
1023-26)
Interview with David Ives, and
David Ives, Soap Opera and Jane Martin, Pomp and Circumstance
Deadline for late Essay #4
Deadline for first draft of Essay #5
W 15 Chapter 27 ~~ Modern Drama (857-882)
Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House, Act I.
M 20 A Doll House, Act II (883-900)
Film: A Doll’s House (Dir. Patrick Garland, with Claire Bloom and
Anthony Hopkins, 1973)
W 22 A Doll’s House Act III (900-917)
A Doll’s House, film continued
M 27 Essay #5 due (drama analysis)
Continue discussion of A Doll’s House.
W 29 Contemporary Drama: August Wilson, Fences, Act I (1029-1063)
Film: Fences (Dir. Denzel Washington, with Denzel Washington and
Viola Davis, 2016)
December
M 4 Fences, Act II (1063-1086)
Film: Fences (continued), and discussion
Deadline for late Essay #5
W 6 Continue discussion of Fences; prepare for final exam.
M 11 Essay #6: FINAL EXAM (covering poetry and drama; bring
your textbook to this open-book exam)
W 13 Conferences in my office (I’ll be available in my office for those who
need to see me, but you are not required to come by).
M 18 Conferences in my office (as above).
W 20 Classes do not meet, unless college administration declares a make-up day
due to excessive snow closures.
*[This schedule is subject to change as a result of snow cancelations and other impacts.]
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Course Requirements and Information **
Attendance and class participation:
You should have no more than three unexcused absences. Excessive absences will result in a lowered grade; extreme absence problems will result in the loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or UW). Also, chronic lateness may seriously affect your grade (two "lates" equal one absence). On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation in class discussion may raise your grade. Please silence and store electronic devices during class time. If you are texting, talking, or otherwise disrupting the focus of the class, this behavior may result in an F for participation. You will receive a separate letter grade for your class participation. You must attend class; extreme absence problems WILL result in loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or UW), even if your written work is satisfactory. Please be aware that the college averages the UW grade into your GPA as an F.
In-Class Essays and Quizzes: From time to time, there may be in-class essay questions and/or quizzes in order to assess students’ familiarity with the day’s reading. These quizzes and/or essays will not be previously announced and will count as part of the letter grade for class participation.
Papers: Three out-of-class essays and three in-class essays (see “exams” below) are required. These essays should be carefully organized and carefully written; grammar and sentence structure do count in these formal essays. Essay #2 (fiction analysis) must be 3-4 typed pages in length (750-1,000 words). Essay #4 (your poetry research paper) must be 4-5 typed pages in length (1,000-1,250 words) and must use at least two outside sources. Essay #5 (drama analysis) must be 2-3 pages in length (500-750 words). See paper topics below.
Late papers will be dropped one half of a letter grade, and the deadline for late papers is one week after the due date. An F will be entered in the grade book for papers not received by the late paper deadline. If you have internet, printer or computer problems at home, you are responsible for going to a student computer lab on campus to print your paper. Excuses related to your home equipment will not be acceptable; use the facilities on campus when you have equipment or access problems at home. It’s also your responsibility to begin work on your essays early in order to avoid last-minute problems.
Five ways to get help with your essay drafts: (1) For one-on-one tutoring in writing skills in general, and for help with your drafts for Essays #2, #4, and #5, you are encouraged to go to the Writing Center (first floor of Bradley Hall—the Y Building). (2) You may also come to see me during my office hours. (3) If you give me a typewritten draft of your paper at least two weeks before the due date for the paper (or by the first drafts deadline stated in the syllabus), I will give you comments and suggestions for revision. Submission of this first draft is optional, not required. (4) Chapter 29 in your textbook (1089-1142) contains useful information and advice on writing about literature, plus sample student papers; Chapter 30 (1143-1167) covers the literary research paper, including a brief version of MLA documentation guidelines. (5) You may want to participate in the Writing Center’s skills workshops, held at various times during the semester. The Writing Center posts schedules for Grammar Workshops and Research/Documentation Workshops (MLA and APA) linked from their web page here: http://www.ncc.edu/programsandcourses/academic_departments/english/writingcenter/default.shtml .
REQUIRED--Turnitin.com: You must submit Essays #2, #4, and #5 (your formal papers written outside class) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism checking service) as well as giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the paper. Your paper will not be graded until you both submit electronically and provide a hard copy. If the paper is submitted late in either of these forms, then it is a late paper. Registering for Turnitin.com: Go to the Turnitin.com home page. Click on the “Create Account” link to the left of the login button. After you have created your account, then use the access numbers for your class that appear at the top of this syllabus in order to set up your access to this course on Turnitin.com. If you already have an account with Turnitin, you can log in and register for this class within your existing account.
Exams: Both the midterm (Essay #3) and the final exam (Essay #6) will follow the same format: ten identification questions worth a total of 40 points, and one long essay worth 60 points. You must answer all ten identification questions (by recognizing quotations from assigned works we’ve discussed). You will be given a choice of several essay questions, and you will answer only one.
Grades: You will receive six letter grades in the course: five grades for your formal in-class (#3 and #6) and out-of-class (#2, #4, #5) essays, and one grade for attendance and class participation. These six letter grades will be averaged together equally in calculating your final grade for the course. To add and average your grades yourself, convert them to grade points (A=4, B+=3.5, B=3, C+=2.5, C=2, D+=1.5, D=1, F=0). Please note that excessive absences will lower your grade, and extreme absence problems will result in a loss of credit for the course (a grade of UW or F), even if your written work is satisfactory. Please be aware of the college’s policy on withdrawals. If you stop attending a class and you have not submitted a withdrawal form to the Registrar’s office, you will receive the grade of F or UW (unauthorized withdrawal). The UW grade is averaged into your GPA as an F grade. This is the college’s policy for all of your courses.
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English 102 Departmental Goals and Outcomes:
Writing Literacy: to produce precise, clear, grammatically-correct, well-developed, and well-organized writing appropriate to academic, social, and occupational fields; Outcomes: Students will produce coherent texts within common college level forms and revise and improve such texts.
Critical Thinking: to be able to question information and to use reason to determine what to believe or what to do; Outcomes: Students will identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments as they occur in their own and others’ work and develop well-reasoned arguments.
Informational Literacy: to locate, evaluate, and incorporate relevant source materials into the construction and expression of an informed point of view; Outcomes: Students will access and utilize basic computer and internet functions, demonstrating appropriate and effective utilization of programs and functions; use basic research techniques, demonstrating appropriate, effective research skills; locate, evaluate, organize, and synthesize information from a variety of sources, demonstrating the ability to implement an effective search strategy to obtain reliable information; and apply ethical and legal standards for use of source information, demonstrating the application of accepted ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published works.
Cultural Literacy: to engage with literary texts that reflect the diversity of the human experience in a variety of historical and cultural frameworks Outcomes: Students will recognize the diversity and similarities of the ways in which people in different cultural traditions perceive and experience their lives; demonstrate understanding of the various influences that shape perspectives, values, and identities demonstrate understanding of social divisions such as gender, ability, ethnicity, and racial formations in a pluralistic nation and world.
Aesthetic Literacy: to understand the role of literary art as a craft that allows for the expression, enhancement, and questioning of the human experience Outcomes: Students will identify creative techniques/craft elements that shape aesthetic responses/meanings and be able to communicate that information by using appropriate vocabulary; and interpret creative work through a variety of lenses such as knowledge of the creator’s work, the tradition the creator is working within, the culture and history the work is embedded in, and the creator’s aims and intentions.
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Plagiarism Warning and Plagiarism Policy: If you try to pass off someone else’s words and ideas as your own writing, then you have committed plagiarism. If you change every fifth word of someone else’s writing and try to pass it off as your own, that is still plagiarism. Do your own thinking. If you use the words or ideas of others, cite your source(s). Plagiarism will not be tolerated; plagiarized papers will receive the grade of F and may not be rewritten. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in the grade of F for the entire course. Please also review the college’s complete policy section on “Academic Dishonest & Plagiarism” included in the college’s online catalog (search the catalog by keyword “plagiarism” to find it). This policy details the types of dishonesty and cheating that will result in disciplinary action. It includes this statement: “Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, will result in some form of disciplinary action that may lead to suspension or expulsion under the rules of the Student Code of Conduct.”
Center for Students With Disabilities: If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned coursework, I urge you to contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD), Building U, (516 572-7241,TTY(516) 572-7617. The counselors at CSD will review your concerns and determine reasonable accommodations you are entitled to by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All information and documentation pertaining to personal disabilities (diagnoses) will be kept confidential. Students are responsible for completing all related paperwork correctly, scheduling accommodations, and supplying forms to me in a timely fashion.
** REMAINING in this class constitutes your acceptance of the policies, expectations, and responsibilities outlined in this syllabus and stated in the course overview during the first week of class.
Guidelines and Topics
for Formal Essays—#2, #4 and #5
Due dates: Please see the calendar above for due dates (in bold type) and late paper deadlines (one week following each due date).
Length: Essay #2 (on fiction) must be 3-4 typed, double-spaced pages (750-1,000 words). Essay #4 (poetry research paper) must be 4-5 typed, double-spaced pages (1,000-1,250 words) and must use at least two outside sources in addition to the primary source(s). Essay #4 must include in-text citations and a Works Cited list in MLA format. Essay #5 (on drama) must be 2-3 pages (500-750 words).
Other requirements: Only finished papers will be accepted on the due date; do not submit any notes or preliminary drafts. Please use a standard size type face (12 point) and standard one inch margins. Please title your papers. Always keep a backup copy of any paper submitted for any course. Late papers will be dropped one half of a letter grade. An F will be entered in the grade book for any paper not received by the late paper deadline (one week after the due date).
Developing your essay: Chapter 29 in your textbook (1089-1142) contains valuable information and advice on writing about literature. This chapter also contains sample student papers (on fiction, poetry and drama topics), which are useful for illustrating correct format. Your paper should demonstrate your own ability to analyze a work or works of literature. Your second out-of-class paper (Essay #4) is the research paper, and it must involve the use of at least two outside literary sources. Chapter 30 in your textbook (1143-1167) covers the literary research paper, including a brief version of MLA documentation guidelines. Wikipedia and similar sites are NOT appropriate sources for an academic paper. Personal blogs, study guide sites, and music fan sites are also NOT appropriate sources. You must use in-text citations, and you must provide complete bibliographic information in your Works Cited list in MLA format. Be sure that you review and follow the guidelines for documenting sources.
REQUIRED—Turnitin.com: You must submit Essays #2, #4, and #5 (your formal papers written outside class) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism screening service) as well as giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the paper. I will not grade any paper until it is submitted both in hard copy (to me) and electronically (to Turnitin.com). If you turn in the hard copy paper on time but you submit it late to Turnitin, then it is a late paper. If you submit to Turnitin on time but you give me the hard copy late, then it is a late paper. (There is a practical reason for this; I cannot grade your paper until it is received in both forms.) If you turn in a hard copy but you never submit the paper to Turnitin, then the grade is an F. Fairness requires that every student participate in plagiarism screening; there will be no exceptions.
Choose paper topics from the following lists: Your essay should cover fresh material. An essay that repeats what has already been said in class might be acceptable, but it is the essay that demonstrates original thinking and an ability to do independent analysis that will earn the higher grade. For this reason, you will want to include in your topics some work(s) or approaches or ideas that have not been covered in class. All of the works listed below are in your class text (use the Index of Authors and Titles in the back of the book to locate them). You must write about works of literature that are included in the class text.
TT Topics for Essay #2 (Fiction) TT
- Both Ursula LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” speculate about the future of human societies. Compare and contrast these two thought-provoking works.
- Compare and contrast any two of the following stories involving families and parent-child relationships: Sherman Alexie’s “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” or Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
- Analyze and compare any two of the following stories about relationships between men and women: Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace,” Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums,” Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings,” or Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
- Read any story (in the class text) that we have not covered in class and analyze any aspect or aspects of that story. You may also compare two stories not covered in class.
- Choose any story in the class text that we have not covered in class and compare it to a story that we are discussing in class.
- Shirley Jackson’s story “The Lottery” (set in a New England village) reveals to us a community clinging to tradition. Chinua Achebe, in his story “Dead Men’s Path” (set in a Nigerian village) reveals to us some quite different truths about tradition and change. Explore the comparisons between these two thought provoking stories.
- Analyze or compare any one or two stories (from your text) about the coming of age of a young person: John Updike’s “A&P,” Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” or Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
- If you are interested in film adaptations, here are a couple of possible topics: Compare Katherine Anne Porter’s original story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” with the film adaptation starring Geraldine Fitzgerald. Or compare Joyce Carol Oates’ original story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” with the film adaptation entitled Smooth Talk (Netflix has both films).
ßß Topics for Essay #4 ßß
(Poetry Research Paper)
Before beginning your work on Essay #4, be sure you are able to find research sources for your topic. Try typing appropriate keywords into the search box on the NCC library’s home page: http://library.ncc.edu. I’ll be demonstrating this in class.
- Analyze and compare any two poems in your text related to nature and the natural world, for example: Alexie (562), Bishop (434), Frost (585 or 473), Jeffers (595), Oliver (535), Ryan (459), Sandburg (459), or Williams (620).
- Analyze and compare any two poems in your text related to war, murder, and violence, for example: Jarrell (595), Kees (384), Komunyakaa (530), Owen (605 and/or 398), Randall (500), Reed (611), Sandburg (409), Thiel (425 and/or 547), or all three of the WWII Japanese Internment Haiku by Matsushita, Wada, Ozawa (440).
3. Choose two poems from our text that share any common thematic thread. Analyze and compare the two poems. For example, here are some poems about identity: Neruda (604), Hughes (594, 523, and/or 389), Cofer (572), Frost (473), Dickinson (451), Dunbar (507), Valdés (415), Espaillat (426), McKay (602), Heaney (589), Alexie (562), Trethewey (385), Auden (394), Uyematsu (397), Wilbur (427), Oliver (535).
4. Choose any poem (from any poetry chapter) that we have not discussed in class and analyze and compare it to another poem, either one that we have covered or one that we have not covered.
- Do you have a favorite spoken word, rap, rock, punk, alternative, or hip-hop artist whose lyrics you admire? If this artist’s work includes poetic devices such as figurative language, symbolism, rhyme and rhythm, you may write an essay analyzing two examples of that artist’s work (or two different artists’ work). If you choose this topic, you must provide hard copies for me to read (print-outs of lyrics from the internet would be fine). Also, to satisfy the assignment, you must write an essay that is both analytical and interpretive; you must analyze the artist’s use of poetic techniques in addition to discussing what you feel the artist is trying to say.
- This semester, I have not assigned chapters 9 (“Reading a Poem”), 11 (“Words), 12 (“Saying and Suggesting”), 15 (“Sound”), 17 (“Closed Form”), or 20 (“Myth and Narrative”). Read one of these chapters and choose two poems to analyze and compare.
- Explore Chapter 22 (“Poems for Further Reading”) and choose two poems to analyze and compare.
RR Topics for Essay #5 (Drama) RR
- August Wilson’s much admired play Fences enjoyed a robust revival run on Broadway in 2010, starring Denzel Washington in the lead role. Focus on Fences and select any theme from the play that you are interested in exploring (for instance, fathers and sons, family relationships, masculinity, the metaphor of baseball to represent Troy Maxson’s life, female characters Rose and Raynell, racial issues in American society, or the interplay of race and class). Or, select a favorite character from the play and analyze the ways in which August Wilson’s portrayal of that character (across the span of the play) helps to reveal key issues and themes.
- Select a character or theme from A Doll’s House that you are interested in investigating further. Compare and contrast the portrayal of that character or issue in Ibsen’s original play with its portrayal in the Joseph Losey film adaptation starring Jane Fonda and/or the Patrick Garland film version starring Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins (we will be viewing the Garland production in class, and both films are available on VHS from the NCC library).
- Explore the use of symbolism and irony in Susan Glaspell’s one act play Trifles.
- Several of the plays included in our text involve relationships between men and women (Soap Opera, Trifles, Fences, El Santo Americano, The Sound of a Voice, and A Doll’s House). Compare and contrast what two different playwrights have revealed about this subject.
- Analyze David Ives’s use of innovative form and comedy. We’ll be reading his play Soap Opera. You may want to read one or more of his other brief, humorous plays as well. His collection of plays All in the Timing is available from the NCC library.
- Write about one or more of the brief, innovative plays included in our text (Soap Opera, Pomp and Circumstance, El Santo Americano, the excerpt from Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, The Cuban Swimmer, The Sound of a Voice and/or Click). Analyze the characters and themes in any one of these cutting-edge plays, or compare any two.
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English 108: Honors Composition 1
Reading and Writing about Today’s Issues
English 108-CAH Syllabus Prof. Barbara Barnard
CRN #: 13347 Office: Bradley Hall, Y 231
Fall 2017 Phone: 572-7185 (x25648)
T, Th 8:30-9:45 A.M. E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
Room TBA Office hours: T, Th 10:00-11:15 A.M.
Turnitin.com class ID: xxxxxxxx
Turnitin enrollment password: xxxxxxx
Required text to buy: The New World Reader, 5th Edition, by Gilbert H. Muller (Cengage, 2017,
ISBN#: 9781305643772). Bring this book to class every day.
Recommended text: A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker (St. Martin's, any edition). This
book is recommended if you need a handbook to help with grammar, syntax, and research
documentation. You are not required to buy this book.
Online resources and faculty web pages: This is a web enhanced course. You will find some resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages in the Learn9 Blackboard system. You are not required to do any work in Blackboard; it is simply provided as a resource. There are also resource links and syllabi available on my faculty web pages (go to faculty.ncc.edu and click on Barbara Barnard).
Turnitin.com: You must submit your major papers for this course to the plagiarism screening service Turnitin.com as well as giving me a hard copy in class. See page 5 of this syllabus for Turnitin.com instructions. Fairness demands that every person’s work be evaluated equally. If you don’t submit to Turnitin.com for plagiarism checking, your paper will not be accepted for grading and you will receive an F for that paper. If internet access is a problem for you, you can use a student computer lab on campus to access the site.
Writing Center: The Writing Center, located in Bradley Hall and the Library, offers one-on-one tutoring as well as workshops. Bradley Hall: 516-572-7195; Library: 516-572-3595; wcenter@ncc.edu ; www.ncc.edu/writingcenter .
ENG 108 Course Description: This course centers on the study of rhetorical form—narration, description, classification, process analysis, definition, comparison/contrast, cause/effect and problem/solution-and uses the essay form as its method of investigation. The course is designed to give students a critical awareness of language and to teach language techniques through extensive readings. This course fulfills the college requirement for the first semester of English composition.
SUNY GEN ED-GBCM; NCC GEN ED-COMP
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Course Calendar *
September
T 5 Introduction to course and in-class essay (Essay #1).
Th 7 American Mosaic—Who are we anyway?
Read: (28-44) Ellis Cose, “Red, Brown, and Blue,”
Bharati Mukherjee, “American Dreamer,”
Lee C. Bollinger, “Why Diversity Matters”
[The above three articles are available online (just google the author and title). After this week, however, you will need to have the book. Most of the upcoming material in our textbook is not available online.]
T 12 Film: Amreeka (Dir., Cherien Dabis, 2009)
Th 14 Amreeka continued, and discussion
T 19 Read: (44-55) Randa Jarrar, “Deportation Order”
Dwight N. Hopkins, “Beyond Black and White: The Hawaiian President”
Firoozeh Dumas, “Mall Together Now”
Th 21 Rosh Hashanah – classes do not meet
T 26 Review Steve Kelley cartoon (29)
Film: Smoke Signals (Dir. Chris Eyre, 1998)
Th 28 Film: Smoke Signals (continued), and discussion; plus a brief demonstration of the
NCC Library’s Information Literacy Tutorial (found on the library’s home
page at: http://library.ncc.edu/ ), Parts 3-8 only.
Read: in textbook (3-10, 12-17, and 21-25) Thinking, reading, and writing
strategies
October
T 3 Workshops for Essay #2, small group discussions of first drafts (bring 4 copies of
your draft)
Th 5 Essay #2 due, final draft (analytical essay) and
Global Relationships—Sex and Gender Roles
Read: (118-120, 135-139, 17-21)
Elaine Sciolino, “The French, the Veil, and the Look”
Susan Bordo, “The Globalization of Eating Disorders”
Film: Persepolis (Dir. Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, 2007)
T 10 Read: (145-152)
Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes, “Life on the Global Assembly Line”
Film: Persepolis continued
Th 12 ü The Fate of the Earth—The Global Environment ý þ
Read: (313-15, 320-25, 326-331) Naomi Klein, “The Change Within”
Al Gore, “We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change”
Deadline for late Essay #2
T 17 Read: (332-340) Andy Rooney, “Talking Trash” and
Bill McKibben, “A Place That Makes Sense”
Film: The Corporation (Dirs. Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, 2004)
Th 19 Film: The Corporation (continued)
T 24 Workshops for Essay #4, first draft due (analytical essay)—bring 4 copies of your
draft
Th 26 Essay #3 (in-class midterm essay exam)
Essay #4 due, final draft (analytical essay)
T 31 Read: “Conducting Research in the Global Era” (347-368)
Research & documentation session: How to find reliable sources of information and document your sources responsibly. Explore the topics for Essay #5 before this class, as we will be discussing how to find your required outside source/s for Essays #5 and #6. Also, come prepared to take good notes, as we’ll be going online (in the classroom) and exploring how to use research and documentation tools, including the NCC Library’s Information Literacy Tutorial (found on the library’s home page at: http://library.ncc.edu/ ), using Parts 3-8 only.
November
Th 2 [VZYW Culture Wars—Whose Culture Is It, Anyway? Mÿ
Read: (186-195) Lisa See, “Have Roots,Will Travel” and
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “Whose Culture Is It, Anyway?”
Deadline for late Essay #4
T 7 Read: (195-199, 206-210) Luis Alberto Urrea, “Manifest Destiny” and
Richard Pells, “Does the World Still Care About American Culture?”
Th 9 Who’s a Terrorist?—Many Views About Terrorism
Read: (252-254, 275-281, 115-117) Paul Krugman, “Why We Fight Wars”
Reza Aslan, “Losing the War on Terror”
Robin Tolmach Lakoff, “The Power of Words in Wartime”
Film: Lord of War (Dir. Andrew Niccol, 2005)
T 14 Film: Lord of War continued
Th 16 Workshops for Essay #5 (bring: the draft of your documented essay, using at least
one outside source; bring a copy or printout of your source to show and discuss with
your small group; your draft should include your Works Cited list).
T 21 Classes meet on a Thursday schedule.
Essay #5 due, final draft (documented essay, using at least one outside source) and
Class Divide—The Growing Income Gap
Read: (25-26) Chrystia Freeland, “The Rich are Different Than You and Me” and
Reread/Review: (145-152) Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes, “Life on the
Global Assembly Line” (We also read this earlier in the semester.)
Film: Waging a Living (Dir. Roger Weisberg, 2004)
Th 23 Thanksgiving – College Holiday
T 28 Film: Waging a Living continued, plus a bonus film, and interview with the
writer/director (if time permits)
Deadline for late Essay #5
Th 30 ü Clash of Civilizations—Is Conflict Avoidable? ý þ
Read: (222-224, 242-251)
Karen Armstrong, “Fundamentalism Is Here to Stay”
Amartya Sen, “A World Not Neatly Divided”
December
T 5 Workshops for Essay #6 (bring your draft and copies of your 2-3 outside sources,
Plus your Works Cited list).
Th 7 Essay #6 due (persuasive research paper, using 2-3 outside sources). If submitting
a revision of an earlier paper, you must turn in the previous graded
version as well; otherwise, you will not receive credit for the paper!
ü America & the World—How Do Others Perceive Us? ý þ
Read: (57-59, 75-80, 86-90) Mehdi Hasan, “Why I Could Never Hate America”
Alkman Granitsas, “Americans Are Tuning Out the World”
Fouad Ajami, “The Anti-Americans”
T 12 Read: (71-74, 78-86) Elie Wiesel, “Why I Love America”
Sasha Abramsky, “Waking Up from the American Dream”
Th 14 Essay #7: Final Exam Essay; and Deadline for late Essay #6
T 19 Conferences in my office (I’ll be available in my office for those who
need to see me, but you are not required to come by.)
Th 21 Conferences in my office (as above)
*[This schedule is subject to change as a result of snow cancelations and other impacts.]
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General Course Requirements **
Attendance and class participation:
You should have no more than three unexcused absences. Excessive absences will result in a lowered grade; extreme absence problems will result in the loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or UW). Also, chronic lateness may seriously affect your grade (two "lates" equal one absence). On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation in class discussion may raise your grade. Please silence and store electronic devices during class time. If you are texting, talking, or otherwise disrupting the focus of the class, this behavior may result in an F for participation. You will receive a separate letter grade for your class participation. You must attend class; extreme absence problems WILL result in loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or UW), even if your written work is satisfactory. Please be aware that the college averages the UW grade into your GPA as an F.
Essays (in-class essays and out-of-class papers): Six of the essays that you will write during the semester will receive letter grades. Four of the essays (#2,4,5,and 6) will be written outside class and will go through at least two drafts (only the final draft will be graded); the other two graded essays (#3 and 7) will be written in class and will also serve as midterm and final exams. In these formal writing assignments, grammar, sentence structure, and organization do count, along with the quality of your ideas and your mastery of the issues and concepts from our readings, films, and discussions.
Late papers will be dropped one half of a letter grade, and the deadline for late papers is one week after the due date. An F will be entered in the grade book for papers not received by the late paper deadline. If you have internet, printer or computer problems at home, you are responsible for going to a student computer lab on campus to print your paper. Excuses related to your home equipment will not be acceptable; use the facilities on campus when you have equipment or access problems at home. It’s also your responsibility to begin work on your essays early in order to avoid last-minute problems.
Six ways to get help with your essay drafts: (1) For one-on-one tutoring in writing skills in general, and for help with your drafts for Essays #2, 4, 5, and 6 you are encouraged to go to the Writing Center (first floor of Bradley Hall—the Y Building). (2) On days set aside for small group discussions of drafts, you will receive feedback from your classmates in your group; also, I’ll be circulating among the groups to check for drafts and to answer questions about the assignment. (3) You may also come to see me during my office hours. (4) Appendix A in the back of your textbook (347-368) contains useful information and advice on writing essays, including a brief version of MLA documentation guidelines. (5) You may want to participate in the Writing Center’s skills workshops, held at various times during the semester. The Writing Center posts schedules for Grammar Workshops plus Research/Documentation Workshops (MLA and APA) linked from their web page here: http://www.ncc.edu/programsandcourses/academic_departments/english/writingcenter/default.shtml and I will forward to the class any Writing Center announcements I receive by email. (6) Remember our in-class demonstrations of the NCC Library’s Information Literacy Tutorial, Parts 3-8, which guides you through how to do research in the library’s databases, how to document your sources, and how to construct your Works Cited list. Also on the Library’s home page (http://library.ncc.edu/ ) is a link to the complete MLA documentation formats for your Works Cited list. These resources are linked from my faculty home page as well.
Small group discussions of essay drafts: On the days scheduled for group discussion, we will break into small groups (of 4-5 students each) for discussion of essay drafts. I will circulate among the small groups and will keep a record of each student’s preparedness. Each person must bring his or her draft of the upcoming essay to present to the group. You will read your essay draft aloud in order to share with your group the ideas you are discussing in the paper you’re working on. You will also describe how you did your research and where you found your source(s), if you’re working on a paper that requires research. Then you will participate in a discussion of your essay and ideas (and your classmates’ essays and ideas). Those who bring and share their essay drafts will receive credit toward the class participation grade; those who are unprepared will receive a zero for the draft. You will not be turning these drafts in to me; they are only for sharing and getting classmates’ feedback during the group sessions.
In-Class Essays and Quizzes: From time to time, there may be in-class essay questions and/or quizzes in order to assess students’ familiarity with the day’s reading. These quizzes and essays will not be previously announced and will count as part of the letter grade for class participation.
REQUIRED--Turnitin.com: You must submit Essays #2, 4, 5, and 6 (your out-of-class papers) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism screening service) as well as giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the paper. Your paper will not be graded until you both submit electronically and provide a hard copy. If the paper is submitted late in either of these forms, then it is a late paper.
Registering for Turnitin.com: Go to the Turnitin.com home page. Click on the “Create Account” link to the left of the login link. After you have created your account, then use the access numbers for your class that appear at the top of this syllabus in order to set up your access to this course on Turnitin.com. If you already have an account with Turnitin, you can log in and register for this class within your existing account.
Grades: Your in-class midterm exam (Essay #3) and final exam (Essay #7) will be averaged together equally with the grades on your out-of-class essays (#2, 4, 5 and 6), and your class participation grade. Thus, you will have six essay grades, and one grade for attendance and participation (seven grades altogether) to be averaged together equally. To add and average your grades yourself, convert them to grade points (A=4, B+=3.5, B=3, C+=2.5, C=2, D+=1.5, D=1, F=0). You must attend class; extreme absence problems will result in loss of credit for the course (a grade of UW or F), even if your written work is satisfactory. Please be aware of the college’s policy on withdrawals. If you stop attending a class and you have not formally dropped the course with the Registrar’s office, you will receive the grade of F or UW (unauthorized withdrawal). The UW grade is averaged into your GPA as an F. This is the college’s policy for all credit-bearing courses.
Plagiarism Warning and Plagiarism Policy: If you try to pass off someone else’s words and ideas as your own writing, then you have committed plagiarism. If you change every fifth word of someone else’s writing and try to pass it off as your own, that is still plagiarism. Do your own thinking. If you use the words or ideas of others, cite your source(s). Plagiarism will not be tolerated; plagiarized papers will receive the grade of F and may not be rewritten. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in the grade of F for the entire course. Please also review the college’s complete policy section on “Academic Dishonest & Plagiarism” included in the college’s online catalog (search the catalog by keyword “plagiarism” to find it). This policy details the types of dishonesty and cheating that will result in disciplinary action. It includes this statement: “Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, will result in some form of disciplinary action that may lead to suspension or expulsion under the rules of the Student Code of Conduct.”
Center for Students With Disabilities: If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned coursework, I urge you to contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD), Building U, (516 572-7241,TTY(516) 572-7617. The counselors at CSD will review your concerns and determine reasonable accommodations you are entitled to by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All information and documentation pertaining to personal disabilities (diagnoses) will be kept confidential. Students are responsible for completing all related paperwork correctly, scheduling accommodations, and supplying forms to me in a timely fashion.
** REMAINING in this class constitutes your acceptance of the policies, expectations, and responsibilities outlined in this syllabus and stated in the course overview during the first week of class.
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Departmental Goals and Outcomes for English 108:
Writing Literacy: to develop the ability to produce precise, clear, grammatically-correct, well-developed, and well-organized writing appropriate to academic, social, and occupational fields; Outcomes: Students will produce coherent texts within common college level forms; revise and improve such texts.
Critical Thinking: to be able to question information and to use reason to determine what to believe or what to do; Outcomes: Students will identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments as they occur in their own and others’ work and develop well-reasoned arguments.
Informational Literacy: to locate, evaluate, and incorporate relevant source materials into the construction and expression of an informed point of view; Outcomes: Students will access and utilize basic computer and internet functions, demonstrating appropriate and effective utilization of programs and functions; use basic research techniques, demonstrating appropriate, effective research skills; locate, evaluate, organize, and synthesize information from a variety of sources, demonstrating the ability to implement an effective search strategy to obtain reliable information; and apply ethical and legal standards for use of source information, demonstrating the application of accepted ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published works.
Cultural Literacy: to engage with literary texts that reflect the diversity of the human experience in a variety of historical and cultural frameworks; Outcomes: Students will recognize the diversity and similarities of the ways in which people in different cultural traditions perceive and experience their lives.
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General Instructions for All Essays: Use standard one-inch margins on the top, sides and bottom of each page. Please double-space and use a standard size type face (use size 12—no oversized fonts). Each of your essays should have a title. Be sure you have a backup copy of every essay you submit. Late papers will be dropped one half of a letter grade during the week following the due date. The deadline for late papers is one week after each due date. An F will be entered in the grade book for any paper not received by the late paper deadline. It is important to keep up with the assignments as scheduled.
Citing Sources for Essays #2, 4, 5 and 6: We will be discussing this in class. Keep a careful record of information about the outside sources that you use. You must provide complete bibliographic information on your Works Cited list. A website created by an academic institution or department, a museum, government agency, or scholarly association would be an appropriate source. A personal website would not be an appropriate source. Also, Wikipedia and other user-sourced sites are not appropriate sources of information for a college-level paper. You must know who wrote the web page and who sponsors the site. Study guide sites and sites that post and sell student essays are obviously not appropriate sources. Also, user comments on web sites are not appropriate sources.
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Essay #1 In-Class Essay (first day of class). This brief, ungraded essay will serve as a sample of your writing. I may advise you to attend the Writing Center for tutorial help if I see serious problems with sentence-level writing skills or English usage in this sample essay. You will write the essay in class, during the last half hour of the period, and one handwritten page will be a sufficient length. I will provide a choice of topics.
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Essay #2 Analytical Essay (500-750 words; 2-3 pages typed)
Assignment: Read the assigned articles for this segment of the course closely, and use them as guides to what good analytical writing might include. Write an analytical essay of your own, based on one of the following topics. You must include discussion of our written texts (articles in your textbook), in addition to whatever visual texts (photographs or film) you focus on. When you use quotations, ideas, and/or statistics from any of our class readings, be careful to cite your source(s) in parentheses following the quotation or information.
1. It was former New York City mayor David Denkins who first articulated the idea of New York (and the American society in general) as a mosaic of cultures. Do you think this is an apt metaphor for our multicultural society? Discuss your own characterization of American society. You may also want to refer to information and ideas from the films Amreeka and Smoke Signals, which we’ll be viewing in class, or from other relevant films you have viewed. You may want to organize your essay around your comments and reactions to passages in articles we have read in our textbook, and/or photographs in our textbook, and ideas and scenes from the films we’re viewing.
2. The film Amreeka as well as some of our readings focus on issues related to immigration. Instead of the somewhat broader topic above about the nature of American society, you may instead want to write an essay that focuses in on a specific aspect of immigration.
3. A complexity of tensions and cultural strains surround the discussions related to the current national political scene. How do you see the readings and films we’re experiencing in class as being related to current national issues in our society such as: immigration, the justice system, race relations, cultural diversity, social activism, rights and responsibilities in a diverse democratic society, or any other current issue that you see as related to our readings and films discussed so far in class.
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Essay #3 is the in-class Midterm Exam
BE SURE YOU BRING YOUR TEXTBOOK TO THIS OPEN BOOK EXAM.
You will be given several essay topics to choose from, and you will write on only one. You may use your textbook (The New World Reader), your syllabus (for the list of readings and films) and a dictionary, if you wish. No class notes may be used, no outside sources, and all electronic devices must be silenced and put away completely during the exam.
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Essay #4 Analytical Essay (500-750 words, 2-3 pages typed)
Assignment: Read the assigned essays closely and use them as guides to what good analytical writing might include. Also, be sure to be clear about your purpose for the essay, and be sure to articulate a thesis. Write an analytical essay of your own, based on one of the following topics. You must include discussion of our written texts (articles in your textbook), in addition to whatever visual texts (photographs or film) you focus on. When you use quotations, ideas, and/or statistics from any of our class readings, be careful to cite your source(s) in parentheses following the quotation or information.
1. Write an essay dealing with any of the environmental issues raised by the Klein, Gore, Rooney, and/or Schell articles we have read and by Achbar and Abbott’s documentary film The Corporation. You may want to focus in on issues related to the environment (e.g., old sources of energy and alternative sources of energy, environmental pollution and toxins, or climate change and storms) or you may choose to focus on an issue such as the food supply and the quality of our food (such as GMOs vs. organic, long-distance transportation of food vs. local production for local consumption, processed foods vs. natural or “whole” foods, agribusiness vs. local small farms and sustainable, organic farming).
2. Elaine Sciolino (“The French, The Veil, and the Look”) is an American journalist currently living in Paris, and she is considered an expert on Iranian society and other predominantly Muslim societies. Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) is a filmmaker and graphic memoirist also currently living in Paris, and she is herself of Iranian origin (as depicted in her autobiographical graphic memoir and film). What do you think is most striking about what we can learn from these two writers regarding women in Muslim societies, and about relations between Muslim societies and the global community of which they are a part?
3. Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes, in “Life on the Global Assembly Line,” imply that women in many parts of the world are exploited more than men. Write an essay in which you agree or disagree with their arguments. In building your essay, you may include information from articles we have read, films we have seen, your own experience, and/or the experience of friends or relatives.
4. Write an essay dealing with any of the issues raised by the film The Corporation. Do you think the film is an honest depiction of the problems arising from the growth and behavior of corporations in the U.S. and internationally? Also make use of articles we have read on this topic (Klein, Gore, Rooney, Schell, and Ehrenreich and Fuentes) in building your essay. What are your own views on these issues? What is your thesis? Do you think of globalization as a good thing, a bad thing, or a mixed bag? Articulate your own current understanding of the benefits and consequences of globalization.
5.
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Essay #5 Documented Essay (750-1,000 words; 3-4 pages typed; use at least one outside
Source and submit a Works Cited list)
Assignment: Choose one of the following topic areas and write a well-developed analytical documented essay. In addition to using any films we have viewed and any source or sources in your textbook, you must use at least one outside source. This does not have to be a comparison/contrast essay, but you may wish to compare two ideas, two alternative courses of action, two opinions on an issue—comparison and contrast is a thinking process we use every day. In addition to using any films we have viewed and any source or sources in your textbook, you must use at least one outside source for facts, ideas and/or statistics, and you must cite your sources and create a Works Cited list. I urge you to use the on-line databases made available to you by the NCC library, and/or the library’s on-line catalogue for books. We will discuss in class how to do this, and I will also show you how to use the online MLA documentation guidelines (at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ or at http://library.ncc.edu/ for citing your sources and creating a Works Cited list. There is also a brief version of the MLA guidelines in the back of your textbook (362-368), along with advice about developing a research paper (347-362). You must use in-text citations to cite your sources and you must have a Works Cited list at the end of your essay. Document your sources responsibly. Plagiarism will not be tolerated; review the plagiarism policy on page 6 of this syllabus. Choose a topic that interests you:
1. Write an essay in which you discuss the ideas about American domestic cultural tensions and cultural intersections explored in the articles in this section (See, Gates, Urrea, Pells). You may also use ideas from the other relevant essays we have read, as well as our relevant films Amreeka or Smoke Signals, and you may want to refer to some of the photographs in our text also, as examples or statements about cultures. In addition, you will need at least one relevant outside source of information. The best online source to use is NCC’s Opposing Viewpoints in Context database; search from the homepage by topics such as “Rural and Urban America,” “Racial Profiling,” “Manifest Destiny,” or look under the category “Society and Culture” and see the list of subtopics with extensive resources for you to choose from. This database is user friendly!
2. Most adult Americans and many people globally have struggled to sort out the causes and effects of the recent wars in Iraq. Write a documented essay that is your own attempt to honestly explore these issues. Make use of any resources in your textbook as well as what you have learned from the film Lord of War, plus at least one outside source. Articles in our textbook that will be helpful include those by Krugman, Aslan, and Lakoff. The best online source to use is NCC’s Opposing Viewpoints in Context database, “Iraq Wars” topic and resources. Just search from their homepage using keywords “Iraq Wars.”
3. The war in Liberia (which spanned the 1990’s and early 2000’s) depicted in Lord of War is one of many wars that have come to be called resource wars—referring to the various wars and conflicts related to struggles over the earth’s resources. This is a topic that involves interwoven issues of environmental exploitation as well as human rights, economic globalization, the international arms trade, and many other areas of concern. Make use of any resources in your textbook (articles and photographs) as well as what you have learned from the film Lord of War, plus at least one outside source. Write an essay discussing these issues and articulating what you think should be done nationally and/or internationally to address them. Articles in our textbook that will be helpful include those by Krugman, Aslan, and Lakoff. The best online source to use is NCC’s Opposing Viewpoints in Context database, “Arms Trade” topic and resources.
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Essay #6 Persuasive Research Paper (1,000-1,250 words, 4-5 pages typed; at least
2 outside sources; a Works Cited list)
Assignment: Write a well-organized persuasive essay on one of the following topic areas. You may use as sources any of the relevant essays in our textbook and any of the films we have viewed. In addition, you will need to use at least two outside sources. Remember: (1) You must have a thesis guiding your essay: what is your controlling idea or argument? Explain and support that argument, using information from your sources (as well as from your own experience, if you wish). (2) It’s often effective to argue against views you disagree with, as well as offering ideas from writers who share your opinions. (3) You must use textual sources, along with any discussion of films, images, or personal experience. (4) Document your sources carefully.
Choose one of the following topics:
1. Analyze the views about social class and the economy expressed in the articles by Freeland and by Ehrenreich and Fuentes, as well as the issues raised in Weisberg’s documentary Waging a Living. Also, integrate a discussion of what you agree or disagree with in your related outside sources. Argue for your own view about these important contemporary issues.
2. Write an essay in which you discuss the ideas about global cultural tensions and cultural intersections explored in the relevant articles by Armstrong and Sen. You may also want to tie in relevant scenes and information from any of our other readings or any of the films we have viewed.
3. Rewrite and expand any previous essay. If you choose this option, your revised, expanded essay must conform to the requirements of this Essay #6 assignment, and you must do additional research (at least 2 outside sources altogether). It must be a persuasive essay (taking a stand and offering supporting evidence), it must be at least 4-5 pages in length, and it must include sources from our text as well as at least 2 outside sources. In addition, if you submit a rewrite, you must also turn in the previous, graded version of the paper (the original with my comments and grade on it). If you do not have your original, previously graded paper, then you may NOT choose this rewrite option.
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Essay #7 In-class Final Essay Exam
BE SURE YOU BRING YOUR TEXTBOOK TO THIS OPEN BOOK EXAM.
The final is an in-class essay exam. You will receive several essay questions based on different topics. You will choose one topic to write on. The topics will be drawn from readings and films discussed in the second half of the semester (since the midterm). During the exam, you may use your textbook (The New World Reader), your syllabus (for a list of the readings we’ve done and films we’ve seen), and a dictionary (if you wish). No class notes may be used, no outside sources, and all electronic devices must be silenced and put away during the exam.
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Literature and the Art of Analysis:
Honors English 2
English 109-DAH Office: Y231 (Bradley Hall)
Prof. Barbara Barnard Phone: 572-7185 (x25648)
Fall 2014 E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
M 9:30-10:45, Th 10:00-11:15 A.M. Office hours: T 10:00-11:15, W 9:30-10:45 A.M.
Room S110 Conference hours: M, W 12:30-1:45 P.M.
Turnitin.com class ID: XXXXXXX
Turnitin enrollment password: xxxxxxx
Prerequisite for this course: English 101 or 108. You must pass English 101 or 108
before taking this course.
Required text: Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and
Writing, 4th edition, by X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia (Pearson, 2012). Please
bring this book to class every day.
Recommended text: A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker (St. Martin's). This book
is recommended if you need a handbook to help with grammar and documentation. You are not required to buy this book.
Online resources and faculty web pages: This is a web enhanced course. You will find some resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages in the Learn9 Blackboard system. You are not required to do any work in Learn9; it is simply provided as a resource. There are also resource links and syllabi available on my faculty web pages (go to faculty.ncc.edu and click on Barbara Barnard).
Turnitin.com: You must submit your papers for this course to the plagiarism screening service Turnitin.com as well as giving me a hard copy in class. See page 5-6 of this syllabus for Turnitin.com instructions. Fairness demands that every person’s work be evaluated equally. If you don’t submit to Turnitin.com for plagiarism checking, your paper will not be accepted for grading and you will receive an F for that paper. If computer access is a problem for you, you can use a student computer lab on campus to access Turnitin.
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Course Calendar
September
Th 4 Introduction to the course and Naguib Mahfouz, “Half a Day,” Mark
Halliday, “Young Man on Sixth Avenue” (both attached to this syllabus)
M 8 Fiction
1 ~~ Story and Plot (16-25, 290-293):
John Updike, “A&P”
Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings”
Essay #1 (brief in-class essay)
Th 11 2 ~~ Point of View (28-33, 46-48, 283-289, 302-303) RR#1 due
Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”
Isabel Allende, “The Judge’s Wife”
Sandra Cisneros, “The House on Mango Street”
M 15 3 ~~ Character (54-55, 69-77) RR#2 due
Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”
Film: Everyday Use and an interview with author Alice Walker
Th 18 4 ~~ Setting (93-95, 269-272, 119-136, 2-3) RR#3 due
Chinua Achebe, “Dead Men’s Path”
Amy Tan, “A Pair of Tickets”
Amy Tan, “Life Is Larger Than We Think” (Interview, p. 2-3)
M 22 5 ~~ Tone, Style, and Irony (138-141, 162-163, 77-91) RR#4 due
Raymond Carver, “Cathedral”
Film: Cathedral and an interview with Tess Gallagher, about “Cathedral”
deadline for Essay #2 optional first drafts
Th 25 Rosh Hashanah – college holiday – classes do not meet
M 29 6 ~~ Theme (174-194, 272-282) RR#5 due
ZZ Packer, “Brownies”
Sherman Alexie, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”
October
Th 2 (293-302, 216-222); RR#6 due
T. Coraghessan Boyle, “Greasy Lake”
Kurt Vonnegut, “Harrison Bergeron”
M 6 Essay #2 due (fiction topic), and
7 ~~ Symbol (225-228, 252-266)
Ursula LeGuin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”
Th 9 (323-337, 56-63); RR#7 due
Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
Katherine Anne Porter, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”
M 13 Poetry
10 ~~ Listening to a Voice (393-414) RR#8 due
Deadline for late Essay #2
Th 16 11 ~~ Words (418-432) RR#9 due
M 20 13 ~~ Imagery (448-459) RR#10 due
Th 23 14 ~~ Figures of Speech (462-476) RR#11 due
M 27 Essay #3: MIDTERM EXAM (covering fiction and poetry; bring
your textbook to this open-book exam)
Th 30 16 ~~ Rhythm (496-508), and
Sherman Alexie, “The Powwow at the End of the World” (582-3), and
Shirley Goek-lin Lim, “Learning to Love America” (625-26); and
RR#12 due; deadline for Essay #4 optional first drafts
November
M 3 18 ~~ Open Form (533-34 and 544-46), and
Aaron Abeyta, “thirteen ways of looking at a tortilla” (580-81)
Kim Addonizio, “First Poem for You” (582)
Billy Collins, “Care and Feeding” (598)
Allen Ginsberg, “A Supermarket in California” (611)
Walt Whitman, “I Hear America Singing” (644);
RR#13 due
Th 6 19 ~~ Symbol (548-553 and 556-557) and
Richard Wilbur, “The Writer” (646)
William Carlos Williams, “Spring and All” (647) and “Queen Anne’s
Lace” (648)
RR#14 due
M 10 20 ~~ Myth and Narrative (561-575); RR#15 due
Th 13 Essay #4 due (poetry topic), and
Drama
30 ~~ Writing the Literary Research Paper (1137-1162)
Research session: we will meet in the regular classroom for an online demonstration of how to find sources for Essay #5 (drama research paper)
M 17 27 ~~ Modern Drama (879-904); RR#16 due
Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House, Act I.
Th 20 Deadline for late Essay #4
Film: A Doll’s House (Dir. Patrick Garland, with Claire Bloom and
Anthony Hopkins)
M 24 Day classes follow a Thursday schedule
A Doll’s House, film continued
deadline for optional first draft of Essay #5
Th 27 Thanksgiving – college holiday – classes do not meet
December
M 1 A Doll House, Act II (904-922); RR#17 due
Th 4 A Doll’s House Act III (922-940); RR#18 due
M 8 Contemporary Drama: August Wilson, Fences, Act I (1022-1055);
RR#19 due
Th 11 Essay #5 due (drama research paper)
Fences, Act II (1056-1079); RR#20 due
M 15 “Play”ing ~~ Two Contemporary Comedies (653-655, 691-702,
961-966):
Interview with David Ives, and
David Ives, Sure Thing and Jane Martin, Beauty
Th 18 Essay #6: FINAL EXAM (covering poetry and drama; bring
your textbook to this open-book exam); Deadline for late Essay #5
M 22 Conferences in my office
ß ß ß ß ß ß
Course Requirements and Information
Attendance: You should have no more than four unexcused absences. Also, chronic lateness may seriously affect your grade (two "lates" equal one absence). On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation in class discussion may raise your grade. You will receive a separate letter grade for your class participation and attendance. You must attend class; excessive absences will seriously lower your grade; extreme absence problems WILL result in loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or UW), even if your written work is satisfactory. Please note that in the calculation of your GPA, the college counts the grade of UW (unauthorized withdrawal) as an F. To receive the grade of W (withdrawal), you must submit a drop form to the Registrar’s Office.
In-Class Essays and Quizzes: From time to time, there may be in-class essay questions and/or quizzes in order to assess students’ familiarity with the day’s reading. These quizzes and/or essays will not be previously announced and will count as part of the letter grade for class participation.
Reading Responses (informal writing): As you see on the calendar schedule, you will be submitting a series of 20 response writings (RRs). These are worth 5 points each, for a semester total of 100 possible points. Points earned will be converted to a letter grade to be averaged together equally with your other letter grades for the course (90-100=A, 85-89=B+, 80-84=B, 75-79=C+, 70-74=C, 65-69=D+, 60-64=D, 0-59=F). These writings should be typed and should be a half page to one page in length. Each will be submitted at the beginning of the class period at which it is due. If you are absent, you may submit the missing response writing at the following class; but if you are present and fail to turn in the work, you may not “make it up.” Your response writings are to be your own original, critical response to the stories, poems, or plays you have read. Therefore I’m not interested in receiving work a week later that simply repeats what was already said in class by others. Instead, please sit down at your computer directly after finishing the assigned reading and write an informal paragraph or two (a half page to a page) regarding some aspect of the reading that interests you (it might be something you agree with or disagree with, something you understand or something you find difficult to understand). Be sure your response is an analytical one, not a summary. Plot summaries (in which you simply repeat the basics of the story line) will earn a lower grade. Don’t just “retell” the story (or poem or play); express an opinion about what the author has written; also, respond to the whole reading assignment (not just to the first page or stanza or scene). Demonstrate that you’ve done all of the reading by making an intelligent comment on it.
For reading assignments in fiction, respond to both stories; for poetry, respond to at least four poems; for drama, respond to all of the reading assigned for that day, whether it is one or more short plays or one or more acts of a longer play. Do not plagiarize your response writing from web sites like Spark Notes or Wikipedia; plagiarized responses may receive the grade of F. You must do your own writing to pass this course. Ideas you discover in your response writings may end up being part of your formal papers. I will not be marking grammatical errors and so forth on these informal writings, so relax when you write them. I’m simply looking for evidence that you have done the reading and that you are doing some independent thinking about what you have read. Paraphrasing the ideas of others from study guide web sites is not thinking; in fact, over the long haul, relying on that kind of crutch can make you brain dead. Seriously. Do your own thinking. Reading responses must be typed; if they are not, I will automatically deduct one point of credit (an untyped 5 automatically becomes a 4).
Papers (formal writing): Three out-of-class essays and three in-class essays (see “exams” below) are required. These essays should be carefully organized and carefully written; grammar and sentence structure do count in these formal essays. Essays #2 and #4 must be 3-4 typed pages in length (750-1,000 words). Essay #5 (your research paper) must be 4-5 typed pages in length (1,000-1,250 words) and must use at least two outside sources. See paper topics below. Late papers will be dropped one half of a letter grade, and the deadline for late papers is one week after the due date. An F will be entered in the grade book for papers not received by the late paper deadline. If you have internet, printer or computer problems at home, you are responsible for going to a student computer lab on campus to print your paper. Excuses related to your home equipment will not be acceptable; use the facilities on campus when you have equipment or access problems at home.
Four ways to get help with your essay drafts: (1) For one-on-one tutoring in writing skills in general, and for help with your drafts for Essays #2, #4, and #5, you are encouraged to go to the Writing Center (first floor of Bradley Hall—the Y Building). (2) You may also come to see me during my office hours, if needed, or you may make an appointment to see me during my conference hours. (3) If you give me a typewritten draft of your paper at least two weeks before the due date for the paper (or by the first drafts deadline stated in the syllabus), I will give you comments and suggestions for revision. (4) Chapter 29 in your textbook (1083-1136) contains useful information and advice on writing about literature, plus sample student papers; Chapter 30 (1137-1162) covers the literary research paper, including a brief version of MLA documentation guidelines.
REQUIRED--Turnitin.com: You must submit Essays #2, #4, and #5 (your formal papers written outside class) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism checking service) as well as giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the paper. Your paper will not be graded until you both submit electronically and provide a hard copy. If the paper is submitted late in either of these forms, then it is a late paper. Registering for Turnitin.com: Go to the Turnitin.com home page. Click on the “Create Account” link to the left of the login button. After you have created your account, then use the access numbers for your class that appear at the top of this syllabus in order to set up your access to this course on Turnitin.com. If you already have an account with Turnitin, you can log in and register for this class within your existing account.
Exams: Both the midterm and the final exam will follow the same format: ten identification questions worth a total of 40 points, and one long essay worth 60 points. You must answer all ten identification questions (by recognizing quotations from assigned works we’ve discussed). You will be given a choice of several essay questions, and you will answer only one.
Grades: You will receive seven letter grades in the course: five grades for your formal in-class (#3 and #6) and out-of-class (#2, #4, #5) essays, one grade for reading responses, and one grade for attendance and class participation. These seven letter grades will be averaged together equally in calculating your final grade for the course. To add and average your grades yourself, convert them to grade points (A=4, B+=3.5, B=3, C+=2.5, C=2, D+=1.5, D=1, F=0). Please note that excessive absences will lower your grade, and extreme absence problems will result in a loss of credit for the course (a grade of UW or F), even if your written work is satisfactory. Please review the college’s new policy on withdrawals. If you stop attending a class and you have not submitted a withdrawal form to the Registrar’s office, you will receive the grade of F or UW (unauthorized withdrawal). The UW grade is averaged into your GPA as an F grade. This is the college’s policy for all of your courses.
Accommodations and Learning Differences: If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned coursework, I urge you to contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD), Building U (516-572-7241, TTY 516-572-7617). The counselors at CSD will review your concerns and determine reasonable accommodations you are entitled to by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All information and documentation pertaining to personal disabilities will be kept confidential.
Guidelines and Topics
for Formal Essays—#2, #4 and #5
Due dates: Please see the calendar above for due dates (in bold type) and late paper deadlines (one week following the due dates).
Length: Essays #2 and #4 should be 3-4 typed, double-spaced pages (750-1,000 words).
Essay #5 (literary research paper) should be 4-5 typed, double-spaced pages (1,000-1,250 words) and must use at least two outside sources in addition to the primary source(s). Essay #5 must include in-text citations and a Works Cited list in MLA format.
Other requirements: Only finished papers will be accepted on the due date; do not submit any notes or preliminary drafts. Please use a standard size type face (12 point) and standard one inch margins. Please title your papers. Always keep a backup copy of any paper submitted for any course. Late papers will be dropped one half of a letter grade. An F will be entered in the grade book for any paper not received by the late paper deadline (one week after the due date).
Developing your essay: Chapter 29 in your textbook (1083-1136) contains valuable information and advice on writing about literature. This chapter also contains sample student papers (on fiction, poetry and drama topics), which are useful for illustrating correct format. Your paper should demonstrate your own ability to analyze a work or works of literature. Your third out-of-class paper (Essay #5) is the research paper, and it must involve the use of at least two outside literary sources. Chapter 30 in your textbook (1137-1162) covers the literary research paper, including a brief version of MLA documentation guidelines. Wikipedia and similar sites are NOT appropriate sources for an academic paper. You must use in-text citations, and you must provide complete bibliographic information in a Works Cited list in MLA format. Be sure that you review and follow the guidelines for documenting sources.
If you try to pass off someone else’s ideas and writing as your own, that is plagiarism. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarized papers will receive the grade of F and may not be rewritten. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in an automatic F for the entire course.
REQUIRED—Turnitin.com: You must submit Essays #2, #4, and #5 (your formal papers written outside class) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism screening service) as well as giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the paper. I will not grade any paper until it is submitted both in hard copy (to me) and electronically (to Turnitin.com). If you turn in the hard copy paper on time but you submit it late to Turnitin, then it is a late paper. If you submit to Turnitin on time but you give me the hard copy late, then it is a late paper. (There is a practical reason for this; I cannot grade your paper until it is received in both forms.) If you turn in a hard copy but you never submit the paper to Turnitin, then the grade is an F. Fairness requires that every student participate in plagiarism screening; there will be no exceptions.
Choose paper topics from the following lists: Your essay should cover fresh material. An essay that repeats what has already been said in class might be acceptable, but it is the essay that demonstrates original thinking and an ability to do independent analysis that will earn the higher grade. For this reason, you will want to include in your topics some work(s) or approaches or ideas that have not been covered in class. All of the works listed below are in your class text (use the Index of Authors and Titles in the back of the book to locate them). You must write about primary works of literature that are included in the class text.
RR Topics for Essay #2 (Fiction) RR
- Both Ursula LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” speculate about the future of human societies. Compare and contrast these two thought-provoking works.
- Compare and contrast any two of the following stories involving families and parent-child relationships: Sherman Alexie’s “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” or Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
- Analyze and compare any two of the following stories about relationships between men and women: Isabel Allende’s “The Judge’s Wife,” Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums,” Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings,” or Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
- Read any story (in the text) that we have not covered in class and analyze any aspect or aspects of that story. You may also compare two stories not covered in class.
- Choose any story in the text that we have not covered in class and compare it to a story that we are discussing in class.
- Shirley Jackson’s story “The Lottery” (set in a New England village) reveals to us a community clinging to tradition. Chinua Achebe, in his story “Dead Men’s Path” (set in a Nigerian village) reveals to us some quite different truths about tradition and change. Explore the comparisons between these two thought provoking stories.
- Analyze or compare any one or two stories (from your text) about the coming of age of a young person: John Updike’s “A&P,” Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake,” William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” or ZZ Packer’s “Brownies.”
- If you are interested in film adaptations, here are a couple of possible topics: Compare Katherine Anne Porter’s original story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” with the film adaptation that we viewed in class. Or compare Joyce Carol Oates original story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” with the film adaptation by director Joyce Chopra entitled Smooth Talk (Netflix has it).
ßß Topics for Essay #4 (Poetry) ßß
- See page 1177 in your textbook for a list of poems related to nature and the natural world. Analyze and compare any two poems from this list.
- See page 1177 for a list of poems related to war, murder, and violence. Analyze and compare any two poems from this list.
3. Choose two poems from any of the lists of major themes on pages 1173-1178. Analyze and compare the two poems.
- Choose any poem (from any poetry chapter) that we have not discussed in class and analyze and compare it to another poem, either one that we have covered or one that we have not covered. You may find the list of themes and subject areas in the back of your book (1173-1178) useful. Remember that this paper must be a discussion of poetry, so you must choose only from the lists of poems (not stories or plays).
- Do you have a favorite spoken word, rap, rock, or hip-hop artist whose lyrics you admire? If this artist’s work includes poetic devices such as figurative language, symbolism, rhyme and rhythm, you may write an essay analyzing two examples of that artist’s work (or two different artists’ work). If you choose this topic, you must provide hard copies for me to read (print-outs of lyrics from the internet would be fine). Also, to satisfy the assignment, you must write an essay that is both analytical and interpretive; you must analyze the artist’s use of poetic techniques in addition to discussing what you feel the artist is trying to say.
- This semester, I have not assigned chapters 9 (“Reading a Poem”), 12 (“Saying and Suggesting”), 15 (“Sound”), or 17 (“Closed Form”). Read one of these chapters and choose two poems to analyze and compare.
- Explore Chapter 22 (“Poems for Further Reading”) and choose two poems to analyze and compare.
Topics for Essay #5
TT (Drama Research Paper) TT
- August Wilson’s much admired play Fences enjoyed a robust revival run on Broadway in 2010, starring Denzel Washington in the lead role. Focus on Fences (1022-1079) and select any theme from the play that you are interested in exploring (for instance, fathers and sons, family relationships, masculinity, the metaphor of baseball to represent Troy Maxson’s life, female characters Rose and Raynell, racial issues in American society, or the interplay of race and class). Or, select a favorite character from the play and analyze the ways in which August Wilson’s portrayal of that character (across the span of the play) helps to reveal key issues and themes.
- Select a character or theme from A Doll’s House that you are interested in investigating further. Compare and contrast the portrayal of that character or issue in Ibsen’s original play with its portrayal in the Joseph Losey film adaptation starring Jane Fonda and/or the Patrick Garland film version starring Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins (we will be viewing the Garland production in class, and both films are available on VHS from the NCC library).
- Discuss in depth the use of symbolism and irony in Susan Glaspell’s one act play Trifles.
- Several of the plays included in our text involve relationships between men and women (Sure Thing, Trifles, Fences, El Santo Americano, and A Doll’s House). Compare and contrast what two different playwrights have revealed about this subject.
- Analyze David Ives’s use of innovative form and comedy. We’ll be reading his play Sure Thing. You may want to read one or more of his other brief, humorous plays as well. His collection of plays All in the Timing (from which Sure Thing is taken) is available from the NCC library.
- Write about one or more of the brief, innovative plays included in our text (Sure Thing, Beauty, El Santo Americano, the excerpt from Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, and/or Andre’s Mother). Analyze the characters and themes in any one of these cutting-edge plays, or compare any two.
R ß T R ß R
Fiction Writing
English 117-PA Syllabus Prof. Barbara Barnard
CRN #: 19575 Office: Bradley Hall, Y 231
Fall 2017 Phone: 572-7185 (x25648)
M, W 3:30-4:45 P.M. E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
Room S 112 Office hours: T, Th 10:00-11:15 A.M.
Turnitin.com class ID: xxxxxxxx
Turnitin enrollment password: xxxxxxx
Required text to buy: A Pocketful of Prose: Contemporary Short Fiction. Ed. David
Madden (Thomson Wadsworth/Cengage, 2006, ISBN#: 9781413015614). You must buy this book. It’s very affordable, and most of these stories are not available on the web. Last semester our campus bookstore was charging only $8-$11 for used and new copies. Also, I see used copies on Amazon beginning at $0.01 (one cent).
Highly recommended text: Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet
Burroway (Longman; any edition is good, including older ones from her previous
publishers). This text is recommended, not required. Available on Amazon.
Also good: New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond, edited
by Robert Shapard and James Thomas (Norton, 2007). And: Extreme Fiction:
Fabulists and Formalists, edited by Robin Hemley and Michael Martone
(Pearson/Longman, 2004). These two are also recommended, not required.
ENG 117 - Fiction Writing (Prerequisites: ENG 102 or ENG 109)
Catalog Description: This course, conducted as a workshop, is for students who are interested in exploring fiction writing and discovering their unique voices as storytellers. Students will read and analyze literary models to explore narrative techniques and then produce their own writing, partaking in peer revision. Students are expected to complete one of the following: attend a literary reading; submit to or work on the student literary magazine Luna; participate in an activity sponsored by the Creative Writing Club or Creative Writing Program. SUNY GEN ED-GART;NCC GEN ED-FAPA, HUM.
Online resources and faculty web pages: This is a web enhanced course. You will find some resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages in the Learn9 Blackboard system. You are not required to do any work in Blackboard; it is simply provided as a resource. There are also resource links and syllabi available on my faculty web pages (go to faculty.ncc.edu and click on Barbara Barnard).
Turnitin.com: You must submit your four formal written assignments for this course to the plagiarism screening service Turnitin.com as well as giving me a hard copy in class. I’m especially sorry to have to require plagiarism screening in creative writing workshops; however, I have had multiple incidents of students submitting plagiarized work in creative writing courses. See page 4 of this syllabus for Turnitin.com instructions. If computer access is a problem for you, you can use a student computer lab on campus to access the site.
Reading Assignments: Unless otherwise noted, reading assignments listed below are from David Madden’s Pocketful of Prose: Contemporary Short Fiction (see the Table of Contents in the book for page numbers).
Statement for Creative Writing Majors
If you are a Creative Writing Major and you plan to graduate at the end of this semester, please note: in addition to the work you produce in this course, you are also expected to submit a FINAL PORTFOLIO to the Creative Writing Program Coordinator 30 days prior to graduation. Failure to do so may result in a deduction to your final average in this course. For more information, please email the Creative Writing Program Coordinator for more details, Sabrina.Davis@ncc.edu.
Course Calendar *
September
M 4 Labor Day – college holiday
W 6 Introduction to the course and discussion of “The Rememberer” by
Aimee Bender (attached to this syllabus)
M 11 Flash fiction:
Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings” (handout)
Angela Carter, “The Werewolf” (handout)
Discuss first drafts workshop.
W 13 Flash fiction (continued):
A. M. Homes, “Things You Should Know” (handout)
Junot Díaz, “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie”
(handout)
M 18 Graphic storytelling:
Alison Bechdel, “Old Father, Old Artificer” from Fun Home (handout)
Art Spiegelman, “Prisoner on the Hell Planet: A Case History” (handout)
W 20 Drafts workshop #1. (Use the writing prompts or exercises suggested in
class, or generate your own story idea. Bring in the beginnings of your first story, and give us a sense of what you are working on. This draft is for workshop discussion only, and does not need to be submitted for grading.)
M 25 Louise Erdrich’s “The Leap” and Tim O’Brien’s “Field Trip” (these and
all remaining readings are from David Madden’s Contemporary Short
Fiction)
W 27 Story #1 due, and Workshop
October
M 2 Workshop continued
W 4 E.S. Goldman’s “Good Works” and Edna O’Brien’s “Brother”
M 9 Richard Ford’s “Electric City”
W 11 Drafts workshop #2. (Use the writing prompts or exercises suggested, or
generate your own story idea. Bring in the beginnings of your story, and
give us a sense of what you are working on. This draft is for workshop discussion only, and does not need to be submitted for grading).
M 16 Mona Simpson’s “I Am Here to Tell You It Can Be Done” and Lee K.
Abbott’s “Freedom, A Theory of”
W 18 Story #2 due, and Workshop
M 23 Workshop continued
W 25 Richard Bausch’s “The Man Who Knew Belle Starr” and Lynna
Williams’ “Personal Testimony”
M 30 John McCluskey’s “Lush Life” and T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Carnal
Knowledge”
November
W 1 Madison Smartt Bell’s “Dragon’s Seed” and Alice Schell’s “Slamming on
Pig’s Misery”
M 6 Drafts workshop #3
W 8 Lit Live!: Novelist Olivia Cerrone reads from her work and answers your
questions about craft, Bradley Hall Ballroom (Y Bldg., first floor)
M 13 Terry Bisson’s “Bears Discover Fire” and Rick Bass’s “Fires”
W 15 Story #3 due, and Workshop
M 20 Workshop continued
W 22 Anya Achtenberg’s “Cold Ground” and Susan Straight’s “Two Days
Gone”
M 27 Allen Wier’s “Texas Wedding Party” and Lisa K. Buchanan’s “The
Mother Who Never Was”
W 29 Drafts workshop #4 (Present your ideas for revising any previous story,
or your draft beginnings of a fourth original story.)
December
M 4 Alberto Alvaro Rios’s “Trains at Night” and Margaret Atwood’s “Kat”
W 6 Story #4 due, and workshop (rewrite of any previous story, or a fourth
original story; if you submit a rewrite, you must also attach the previously
graded version with my comments).
M 11 Workshop continued
W 13 Joint student reading, with our “sister” class, Eng 313-PA.
M 18 Conferences in my office (I’ll be available in my office for those who
need to see me, but you are not required to come by.)
W 20 Classes do not meet, unless college administration declares a make-up day
due to excessive snow closures.
*Schedule is subject to change as a result of snow cancelations and other impacts.
Course requirements and information **
Attendance and participation: Fiction Writing is a seminar course, not a lecture course. For students, this means more expressive freedom, but it also means that you share more responsibility for your own learning and for the success of the course. Each student is expected to be well-prepared for class and to participate in every class discussion. You will need not only to do the reading but also to consider thoughtfully what you have read.
Excessive absences (more than three) can seriously lower your grade for the course. Chronic lateness will have a detrimental effect on your grade (two “lates” equal an absence), and extreme absence problems will result in a loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or UW). On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation in class discussion are essential for those who seek to earn the higher grades. The workshops are the heart of any creative writing seminar. Your contribution to these discussions (in the form of your own work that you share and also the thoughtful assistance you give to classmates in helping them develop their creative ideas) is essential, and you will receive a separate letter grade for your workshop participation. You will also receive a separate letter grade for your attendance and your participation in discussion of assigned readings. These two participation grades (one for workshops, one for attendance and discussion of readings) will be averaged together equally with your four grades for written work in calculating your grade for the course. Please note that class participation therefore constitutes one third of your final grade.
Please silence and store electronic devices during class time. If you are texting, talking, gaming, or otherwise disrupting the focus of the class, this behavior may result in an F for participation. You must attend class; extreme absence problems WILL result in loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or UW), even if your written work is satisfactory. Please be aware that the college averages the UW grade into your GPA as an F.
Written work: You will submit three original stories and one revision (of any previous story). At least one of these stories must be duplicated and distributed in full for workshop discussion. Each and every story must be shared with the workshop in some form (even if you do not provide copies for everyone each time). This course is a fiction workshop. You must have your work distributed to the class and discussed by the class in order to receive a passing grade for this course. Our goal in workshop discussion will be to explore and appreciate one another's work and to provide constructive suggestions for each writer. Length: Each of your completed stories must be l,000 words or more (at least four pages, typed, double-spaced). Save a clean copy of your work, or be sure you save it electronically. You may not submit my graded copy for the workshop discussion. Lateness: Any story submitted after the due date will be dropped one half of a letter grade for lateness during the week following the due date, and an additional half of a letter grade for any subsequent week/s of lateness. This policy is intended to help you stay on schedule; otherwise, the work will pile up on you in the latter part of the semester.
REQUIRED--Turnitin.com: You must submit Assignments #1, #2, #3, and #4 (your finished stories only, not your drafts) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism screening service) as well as giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the assignment. Your work will not be graded until you both submit electronically and provide a hard copy. If the work is submitted late in either of these forms, then it is a late assignment.
Registering for Turnitin.com: Go to the Turnitin.com home page. Click on the “Create Account” link to the left of the login button and follow the screen instructions to set up your account. Once you have established your account, use the class ID and password for your class that appear at the top of this syllabus in order to register for this course in Turnitin.com. If you already have a Turnitin account, simply log in to your existing account, and use the access numbers on page 1 of this syllabus to register for this course.
Plagiarism Warning and Plagiarism Policy: If you try to pass off someone else’s words and ideas as your own writing, then you have committed plagiarism. If you change every fifth word of someone else’s writing and try to pass it off as your own, that is still plagiarism. Plagiarism will not be tolerated; plagiarized work will receive the grade of F and may not be rewritten. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in the grade of F for the entire course. You may wish to review the college’s complete policy section on “Academic Dishonest & Plagiarism” included in the college’s online catalog (search the catalog by keyword “plagiarism” to find it). This policy details the types of dishonesty and cheating that will result in disciplinary action. It includes this statement: “Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, will result in some form of disciplinary action that may lead to suspension or expulsion under the rules of the Student Code of Conduct.”
Creative Writing advisement/mentoring sessions: The Creative Writing Program offers advisement or mentoring appointments geared especially for creative writing students. These appointments are available for candidates in our Creative Writing AA program, as well as anyone taking any creative writing course. During these visits you may want to discuss how your creative writing course work relates to your academic goals and your life goals. You may also want to discuss how to seek publication for your finished works of fiction, and some may wish to discuss BFA and MFA programs in creative writing or other ways to pursue your interest in fiction writing. You may wish to make an appointment with me or with any of our Creative Writing faculty who are participating in creative writing advisement. I will be passing out a form you can use to sign up, and I’ll be giving extra participation credit to those who choose to make appointment/s with a Creative Writing advisor.
Writing Center: The Writing Center, located in Bradley Hall and the Library, offers one-on-one tutoring as well as workshops in basic sentence skills. Bradley Hall: 516-572-7195; Library: 516-572-3595; wcenter@ncc.edu; www.ncc.edu/writingcenter . The Writing Center faculty can help you with basic sentence skills, if you have challenges related to grammar, sentence structure (syntax), and/or English as a Second Language (ESL) challenges. They are NOT qualified to help you with matters of fiction craft; for that, see me or another member of the Creative Writing faculty. You may schedule an advisory session with myself or any other participating Creative Writing faculty member through me. I’ll be distributing a schedule of times and faculty available. See further information in the paragraph above: “Advisement/mentoring sessions.”
Duplicating one of your stories for Workshop Discussion: When you have scheduled your workshop, you will make copies of your story for the class. You must duplicate a clean copy of the story, not my graded copy. This way, members of the workshop will not be influenced by my written comments on your story, but will form their own opinions and suggestions. It is more useful to you, the writer, to receive a variety of suggestions and reactions to your work during the workshop discussion. You must distribute your copies at least one class period before your story is to be discussed, since the class needs time to read your story in advance of your workshop date. You are only required to copy and distribute one story for this kind of thorough workshop discussion (though you must read aloud and discuss each of the stories you produce).
Submitting work to Luna: Luna is your student literary magazine, publishing the creative works of NCC students. I hope that you will all submit work to Luna, in any genre or genres you wish (they publish students’ original fiction, poetry, brief plays, photographs, and reproductions of students’ art work). You can submit online by sending your work, along with your contact information, to Luna’s email address: CreativeWritingClubNcc@gmail.com . The student editors of the magazine will decide which works to accept for publication in the next issue of Luna. This is an opportunity to see your work in print! I will bring in copies of a recent issue of Luna for the class to peruse. Luna is also always in need of student editors. If you are interested in connecting with the students who are working on the magazine, just send them an email (to the address above) or contact the faculty co-advisors Prof. Jared Harel (Jared.Harel@ncc.edu) or Prof. John Woods (John.Woods@ncc.edu).
Grading: I will average together the four story grades and your two letter grades for class participation. Thus you will have six letter grades to be averaged together equally. Please note that class participation constitutes one third of your final grade. To receive a passing grade, you must attend class faithfully and you must participate. When submitting rewrites for Assignment #4, you must attach the previous, graded version, since the rewrite grade depends upon how effectively you have revised your earlier work. I will not accept any Assignment #4 rewrite that is not accompanied by the previous graded version (the original copy with my comments and grade). Late work at the end of the semester should be received before the last week of classes. I will not hold up submission of the class grades because one student has failed to submit late work. Any work not submitted by the last scheduled class meeting will receive the grade of F.
Center for Students With Disabilities: If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned coursework, I urge you to contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD), Building U, (516 572-7241,TTY(516) 572-7617. The counselors at CSD will review your concerns and determine reasonable accommodations you are entitled to by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All information and documentation pertaining to personal disabilities (diagnoses) will be kept confidential. Students are responsible for completing all related paperwork correctly, scheduling accommodations, and supplying forms to me in a timely fashion.
NCC Creative Writing Program
Goals and Outcomes for all Creative Writing Courses
Writing Literacy: To develop a command of craft in various creative writing genres and produce work at a level appropriate to continued study in the field of creative writing. Outcomes: Produce coherent texts within common college level forms; Revise and improve such texts.
Informational Literacy: To develop an awareness of the ethical standards for artistic work. Outcome: Apply ethical and legal standards for use of source information, demonstrating the application of accepted ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published works.
Cultural Literacy: To develop an awareness of the cultural role of the writer and the diversity of the human experience. Outcome: Demonstrate understanding of the various influences that shape perspectives, values, and identities.
Aesthetic Literacy: To develop knowledge of aesthetic theories governing creative writing genres and participate in an artistic community. Outcomes: Identify creative techniques and craft elements that shape aesthetic responses and meanings and be able to communicate that information by using appropriate vocabulary; Interpret creative work through a variety of lenses such as knowledge of the creator’s work, the tradition the creator is working within, the culture and history the work is embedded in, and the creator’s aims and intentions; Create works with aesthetic purpose that may express, enhance, and question elements of the human experience such as the meaning and purpose of life, love, and beauty; Create art works that build on, provide new takes on, critiques, or deconstructions of previous arts, ideas, sensory data or objects; Engage in the artistic community through attending and reflecting on professional artistic event(s); participating in a venue that demonstrate\show one’s own or others’ artistic work; using constructive criticism to review peers’ work or revise one’s own work; or other similar activities.
** REMAINING in this class constitutes your acceptance of the policies, expectations, and responsibilities outlined in this syllabus and stated in the course overview during the first week of class.
Early American Literature
Equality Identity The Individual & Society Religion Mission
Captivity Freedom Frontier Indigenous Land
Colonization Ferment Revolution Independence
Democracy Slavery Anti-Slavery
Civil War
English 203, RA Office: Y231, Bradley Hall
M-Th 8:00-9:55 A.M., N213 Phone: 572-9778
Prof. Barbara Barnard E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
2008, Summer Session 2
Required texts: The Heath Anthology of American Literature: Volumes A&B, Fifth Edition, Paul Lauter, General Editor (Houghton-Mifflin, 2006). Bring the appropriate volume to class each day (Volume A for the first half of the course; Volume B for the second half). During each weekend, work on the reading for the coming week. Do not leave it all for the night before.
Recommended text: Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker (St. Martins, 5th edition). This is a handbook of grammar and documentation guidelines. If you already have a handbook from a previous English course, then you do not need to purchase this one.
WebCT Resources: This is a WebCT-enhanced course. You will find some course
materials (including this syllabus) and additional links and resources on our course web pages. I will provide a handout with instructions for accessing WebCT.
Course Calendar
July
M 7 Introduction to course: Early American Literature--Beginnings
through 1865
Two perspectives on colonization: Ana Castillo and V.S. Naipaul
(see handouts attached to this syllabus)
Native American Oral Literatures (16-105)—we will consider some of
these texts orally during class)
T 8 --Beginnings to 1700--
Read: Introduction (1-15)
New Spain (113-119)
Christopher Columbus, as edited/redacted by de las Casas (119-131)
Cultural Encounters (132-138)
Cabeza de Vaca, from the Relation (139-152)
W 9 Film: Cabeza de Vaca (dir. Nicolas Echevarria)
Th 10 Native American Oral Narratives and Poetry—we will consider some of
these texts orally during class
Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz (186-195)
De Otermín, Hopi, de Vargas, on the Pueblo Revolt (195-213)
New France (214-215) and The Jesuit Relations (224-234)
M 14 Film: Black Robe (dir. Bruce Beresford)
T 15 Submit reading journals for grading
New England (289-293)
John Winthrop (307-317)
Roger Williams (347-365)
Anne Bradstreet (394-397, 402, 406-407)
Mary White Rowlandson (437-468)
Cotton Mather (507-514)
W 16 Film: The Crucible (dir., Nicholas Hytner)—This is a two-hour film, so
we’ll start promptly; be on time, or you’ll miss the opening scenes.
Th 17 Paper #1 due
--Eighteenth Century-- (565-581)
Religion & Settlement (582-583)
Jonathan Edwards (645-647, 666-677)
John Woolman (689-708)
Revolution & Nationalism (800-802)
Handsome Lake (802-804)
Benjamin Franklin (804-815, 821-824)
M 21 J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur (921-941)
Thomas Paine (957-970)
John Adams and Abigail Adams (976-988)
Thomas Jefferson (990-993, 1010-1026, 1057-1061)
The Federalist Papers (1027-1041)
Toussaint L’Ouverture (1042-1048)
On the Discourse of Liberty (1049-1050)
T 22 Visions & Voices (1087-1088)
Jupiter Hammon (1094-1097)
Samson Occom (1115-1121)
Judith Sargent Murray (1185-1187, 1193-1199)
Olaudah Equiano (1152-1185)
Philip Freneau (1211-1212, 1217-1219, 1223-1224)
Phyllis Wheatley (1238-1241, 1247-1252, 1056)
Lemuel Haynes (1255-1267)
W 23 Midterm Exam
Th 24 --Early Nineteenth Century-- (1389-1419)
Native America (1420-1422)
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft (1422-1423, 1428-1430)
Elias Boudinot (1442-1452)
John Ross (1452-1458)
Chief Seattle (1472-1475)
John Ridge (1490-1498)
M 28 Spanish America (1499-1500)
Cuentos: Tales from the Hispanic Southwest (1501-1508)
Lorenzo de Zavala (1514-1521)
Narratives: Mexican/Early American Southwest (1524-1527, 1531-1541)
New England (1560-1561)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1578-1581, 1621-1638)
Henry David Thoreau (1735-1752)
T 29 Submit reading journals for grading
Race/Slavery/Anti-Slavery (1825-1826)
William Lloyd Garrison (1838-1841)
Lydia Maria Child (1842-1845)
Frederick Douglass (1879-1887, 1946-1964)
Film: Amistad (dir., Steven Spielberg, 1997)
W 30 Film: Amistad –watch the concluding scenes; discuss film and readings
Harriet Jacobs (2029-2056)
Abraham Lincoln 2076-2080)
Sojourner Truth (2092-2099)
Th 31 Paper #2 due
The “Woman Question” (2081)
Fanny Fern (2100-2101, 2105-2109)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (2109-2115)
Development of Narrative (2116—2117)
Washington Irving (2143-2144, 2153-2165)
Edgar Allan Poe (2459-2461, 2492-2495)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (2242-2245)
August
M 4 Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (2307-2444)
Film: The Scarlet Letter (dir. Roland Joffé, 1995)
T 5 The Scarlet Letter continued
W 6 American Poetic Voices (2864-2866)
Songs and Ballads (2868-2881)
Walt Whitman (2920-2927, 2937-2944, 2990-2994)
Emily Dickinson (3042-3052)
Th 7 Final Exam
Course Requirements
Attendance and participation: Students are expected not only to have done the assigned reading but also to come to class prepared for discussion. Read the works assigned for a given day before that class period, so that you will be prepared to participate in the discussion of those readings. Excessive absences (more than two, in the summer schedule) may seriously affect your grade for the course. Extreme absence problems will result in a complete loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or W). On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation are essential for those who seek to earn the higher grades. Your contribution to class discussion will be taken into account when final grades are calculated. You will receive a separate letter grade for class participation, which will be averaged together equally with your five letter grades for your written work. I may also resort to giving in-class quizzes on the reading, if I perceive that too many class members are not doing the reading. In that event, the quizzes would constitute part of your class participation grade.
Journals (informal writing): Each student must keep a response journal, in which you record your responses (ideas and reactions) to the readings, films and discussions we will explore together. You may use any kind of notebook you wish for this purpose, but it must be a separate notebook from your class notes or other materials, as you must submit your journals twice during the semester for me to assign a grade based on the effort you are making there to respond to our readings and films (if you are more oriented to typing on the computer than writing by hand, then you may type your responses in a Word document and print it to submit when journals are due). Be sure your journal contains only your own ideas and responses. Those who plagiarize any portion of their journals will receive an F for the journal grade. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in an automatic F for the course. Your journal is also a place where you can generate and develop ideas that you may later use in your papers for the course. In addition, if you approach it diligently, it will be a useful study tool when you are preparing for the in-class exams. And I will, from time to time, ask members of the class to read aloud from their reading journals in response to the day’s assigned readings. So, the habit of writing in your journal can also help boost your class participation grade.
Papers (formal writing): You will write two out-of-class papers. The due dates for these papers appear in bold type in the calendar above. Only typed, finished papers will be accepted on the due date. Do not submit any notes or preliminary drafts.
Topics—The paper topics suggested below explore issues related to the themes of the course. You may also devise a topic of your own that further explores some aspect of early American literature. You may wish to read in full a work that has only been assigned in part (for example, The Relation by Alvar Núňez Cabeza de Vaca), investigating further the issues raised within it. Or you may wish to do a comparative analysis of an original text and a film adaptation of it (for example, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne). You may wish to examine an issue or movement of interest to you (such as some aspect of slavery or the abolitionist movement) by comparing competing views of it in literature and film. Two lists of specific paper topics follow these instructions. All papers must (1) present information and (2) make an argument of your own based on the information you have gathered. It is not enough simply to catalogue the views of others; you also need to develop your own view. Some of the topics below contain clusters of questions. These questions are provided simply to help you begin thinking about the topic. You do not necessarily need to answer any of the specific questions; instead, use them as a way to explore what you are interested in and how you would like to focus your discussion of the topic.
Length— Each paper should be 750-1000 words in length (approximately 3-4 pages). Please use correct manuscript format, with one-inch margins and 12-point type (font size).
Sources— This course is a good place to practice your research skills. Each of your out-of-class papers must make use of at least two outside sources (in addition to the materials in your texts). Be sure you document your sources carefully, using MLA documentation format (there are MLA guidelines available on a link from the college library’s homepage at http://library.ncc.edu/ . Another useful tool for building the Works Cited page is at http://easybib.com/ ). You must include a “Works Cited” list that provides complete bibliographic information for each of your sources. Cite your sources (both primary and secondary) within your essay, whenever you present ideas or exact words of other writers. Any form of plagiarism or cheating will result in the grade of F for the paper, and the paper may not be rewritten to change the grade. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in a loss of credit for the course (the grade of F). Be forewarned that I do discover (and prove) several incidences of plagiarism each semester.
Accommodations and Learning Differences: If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact on your ability to carry out assigned course work, I would urge you to contact the staff in The Center for Students with Disabilities, “U” Building (behind the old college union), 572 –7241 (TTY 572 – 7617). CSD will review your concerns and determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation are confidential.
* * *
- Read in full any of the works that we have only read excerpts of. For example, you may want to read the complete text of Cabeza de Vaca’s The Relation, which is available online at http://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/search?amode=start&author=Nunez+Cabeza+de+Vaca%2C+Alvar . (I have also put a link for these e-texts on our course home page in WebCT; click on the picture of Juan Diego playing Cabeza de Vaca). There are additional resources related to this and other Early American films at the Lehigh University American Literature Film site: http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/ejg/ejg-filmlist15.html#SPAIN . There is also a link for this site on our WebCT home page (click the film reel icon).
- Read all of the works in our class text by Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz and also view the film based on her life and work, I, the Worst of All (Dir., Maria Luisa Bemberg, 1990). Netflix and Blockbuster online both carry the film. There are additional resources on the Lehigh U. site noted in #1 above (including this page especially: http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/icn2/icn2-title.html ). Analyze the film in relation to the author’s life and work. Or, you may wish to explore the powerful way in which film depicts the situation of women in New Spain and elsewhere in the “New World” of Sor Juana’s day.
- Research the Jesuit missionary efforts during the period we are studying, and read more of the Jesuit Relations. In addition to Black Robe, which we will view in class, you may want to view The Mission (Dir., Roland Joffé, 1986). This is an amazing film (it won an Oscar for best cinematography, and stars Robert deNiro and Jeremy Irons). Focus your analysis on an issue or issues raised by these films and writings.
- We will be viewing the film The Crucible in class and you can find additional resources related to the film and to Arthur Miller’s play on which it’s based at: http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/ttk/ttk-title.htm. In addition, see the link on our WebCT homepage for the University of Virginia documentary archive (http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/salem/home.html), which includes court transcripts, letters and other interesting resources related to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Write an essay that explores the significance of these events in relation to our effort to understand the Puritans of the colonial period. Your discussion must be focused on how this illuminates our understanding of the Puritan writings we have read. See the New England section of your text (289-543), including Cotton Mather’s defense of the executions.
- Compare and contrast the captivity narratives of John Smith (“The General History of Virginia”), Mary Rowlandson (“Captivity and Restoration”), John Williams (“The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion”), or others in our class text. You might want explore some of the following questions in your discussion: What is the role of religion in these captivity narratives? How do these writers view native people? Is there a difference in tone or narrative strategy in these works? How do these works relate to the theme of identity (both individual and collective)? How do they illuminate the writers’ views of the Europeans’ “mission” in the new world?
- Explore further the significance of the Mayflower Compact to the formation of American identity and government. How important are religion and Biblical language in Bradford’s account of the Pilgrims’ settlement? How did the relationship of England and Spain influence attitudes of these English settlers during the time of William Bradford?
- Research the notion of “Manifest Destiny” as it relates to American identity, religion and mission. Although the term itself did not come into general use as a slogan or manifesto until roughly the 1840’s, the idea was present long before that time. In what way to you see this notion evolving from early attitudes revealed by the writings of Smith, Rowlandson, Bradford, Winthrop Wigglesworth and/or others?
- In some early American writings, the new world is represented as a “Promised Land” of Biblical proportions. Are there contemporary versions of this view? Are there still some who view America (particularly the United States of today) as the “new world” and as a “Promised Land”? Explore current attitudes on immigration (including illegal immigration) as they relate to what you know about formation of American identity and mission in the period of discovery, exploration and early settlement.
- Compare the formation and assertion of personal identity in two of the writers we have read or will read in the first half of the term. Some possibilities would be Phillis Wheatley, Benjamin Franklin, Samson Occom, John Woolman, Olaudah Equiano, Anne Bradstreet, or Fredrick Douglass. You may also read and research the work of any writer in our class texts whose work is not assigned on the syllabus.
* * *
Modern American Literature:
1865 to the Present
English 204-MA Office: Y231
Prof. Barbara Barnard Phone: 572-9778
Spring 2005 E-mail: barnarb@ncc.edu
M, W 2:00-3:15 Office hours: M 12:30-1:45, Th 1:00-2:15
Room S109
Prerequisite for this course: English 102. You must pass English 102 before taking this course.
Required text: The Heath Anthology of American Literature Volume Two, Fourth
Edition, Paul Lauter, Editor (Houghton-Mifflin, 2002). Please bring this book to
class every day.
Recommended text: A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker (St. Martin's). This book
is recommended if you need a grammar or documentation handbook.
WebCT Resources: This is a WebCT-enhanced course. You will find some
resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages. I will provide a
handout with instructions for accessing WebCT.
January
M 24 Changing Visions of the American Dream: Introduction to the course
and to a few American voices (handout attached to this syllabus)
W 26 The Late Nineteenth Century (1865-1910)
Period introduction (1-10), and
African Folk Tales, Intro (37-38), John Tales (51-56),
Mark Twain, Intro (56-59), “Goldsmith’s Friend…” (64-74)
M 31 Read: period introduction (10-22), and
Charles Waddell Chesnutt, Intro (126-27), “The Wife of His Youth” (143-
150),
Paul Laurence Dunbar, Intro (162-64), and poems (172-177),
George Washington Cable, Intro and “’Tite Poulette” (177-193)
February
W 2 Read: period introduction (22-37), and
Grace King, Intro and “Little Convent Girl” (193-199),
Alice Dunbar Nelson, Intro and “Sister Josepha” (199-205)
Ghost Dance Songs, Posey, Oskison, Corridos (207-238)
M 7 Kate Chopin, Intro and “Désirée’s Baby” (363-368)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Intro and “ The Yellow Wall-Paper” (606-619)
And Oral Presentations
W 9 Ambrose Bierce, Intro and “Chickamauga” (459-464)
Stephen Crane, Intro and “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” (495-497 &
520-528)
And Oral Presentations
M 14 Hamlin Garland, Intro and “Up the Coulé” (464-495)
And Oral Presentations
W 16 Paper #1 due
Upton Sinclair, Intro and from “The Jungle” (636-650)
And Oral Presentations
2/21-2/25 Winter Recess—classes do not meet
M 28 The Modern Period (1910-1945)
Read: period summary (887-899) and
W.E.B. Du Bois, Intro and “The Souls of Black Folk” and “The Song of
the Smoke” (916-917, 945-966)
Edith Wharton, Intro and “Roman Fever” (1010-1012, 1067-1076)
March
W 2 Read: period summary (899-904) and
Robert Frost, poems (1127-1139)
M 7 Read: period summary (904-914) and
Sherwood Anderson Intro and “Death in the Woods” (1141-42, 1145-54)
E.E. Cummings (1351-1361)
Katherine Anne Porter, Intro and “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”
(1458-1466)
W 9 Langston Hughes (1598-1629)
Film: Salvation (Dir. Bruce R. Schwartz, 2003, based on Langston
Hughes’ autobiography The Big Sea)
M 14 Ernest Hemingway, Intro and “Hills Like White Elepants” (1492-1505)
William Faulkner, Intro and “Barn Burning” (1515-18, 1543-1555)
W 16 MIDTERM EXAM
3/21-3/27 Spring recess—no classes
M 28 Zora Neale Hurston, Intro and “Sweat” (1656-1665)
And Oral Presentations
W 30 John Steinbeck, “The Chrysanthemums” and from The Grapes of Wrath
(1873-1889)
And Oral Presentations
April
M 4 Richard Wright, “Bright and Morning Star” (1889-1915)
And Oral Presentations
W 6 Paper #2 due
Carved on the Walls: Poetry by Chinese Immigrants (1955-1963)
And Oral Presentations
M 11 The Contemporary Period (1945 to the Present)
Read period summary (1965-1973)
Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Acts I & II (1973-2016)
Film: The Crucible (with Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder, 1996,
screenplay by Arthur Miller)
W 13 Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Acts III & IV (2016-2048)
Film: The Crucible, continued
M 18 Ralph Waldo Ellison, “Flying Home” (2147-2167)
James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues” (2169-2191)
Paule Marshall, “To Da-duh: In Memoriam” (2192-2201)
W 20 Tillie Lerner Olsen, from Tell Me a Riddle (2213-2240)
Bernard Malamud, “The Magic Barrel” (2498-2511)
Cynthia Ozick, “The Shawl” (2520-2525)
F 22 Day classes follow Monday Schedule
Rudolfo A. Anaya, from Bless Me, Ultima (2582-2592)
Richard Rodriguez, from The Hunger of Memory (2592-2597)
Etheridge Knight, poems (2640-2645)
M 25 College holiday (Passover)
W 27 Toni Cade Bambara, “My Man Bovanne” (2694-2700)
Micheael Herr, from Dispatches (2731-2739)
Tim O’Brien, “In the Field” (2739-2749)
May
M 2 John Barth, “Lost in the Funhouse” (2824-2841)
Gish Jen, “In the American Society” (2981-2992)
And Oral Presentations
W 4 Paper #3 due
Bharati Mukherjee, “A Wife’s Story” (3061-3071)
And Oral Presentations
M 9 Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” (3099-3116)
Film: Cathedral (Directed by Bruce R. Schwartz, 2003)
W 11 Aurora Levins Morales, poems (3145-3148)
Simon J. Ortiz, poems (3161-3167)
And Oral Presentations
M 16 FINAL EXAM
W 18 Distribution of grades
Attendance and participation: Students are expected not only to have done the assigned reading but also to come to class prepared for discussion. Excessive absences (more than four) may seriously affect your grade for the course. Extreme absence problems will result in a complete loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or W). On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation are essential for those who seek to earn the higher grades. Your contribution to class discussion—in the form of your own work that you share in your presentations and also in the form of thoughtful responses to assigned readings and the presentations of classmates—will be taken into account when final grades are calculated. You will receive a separate letter grade for class participation, which will be averaged together equally with your four letter grades for your written work. Failure to make an oral presentation will result in the grade of F for class participation.
Oral presentations—Each student must present at least one of his or her papers in an oral presentation to the class. This is your opportunity to stand at the front of the class and have your say! We will be a friendly group to try out your ideas on, and this kind of presentation is valuable experience, helping to build confidence and speaking skills that you will find useful elsewhere in life and work. In addition, if you do a good job in your presentation, your classmates will feel excited to take up the questions, ideas or issues you have raised. You may give a presentation based on your reading and research while the writing of your paper is still in progress, or you may present based on a finished paper.
Papers: You will write three out-of-class papers. The due dates for these papers appear in bold type in the calendar above. Only typed, finished papers will be accepted on the due date. Do not submit any notes or preliminary drafts at that time. In addition to the three formal essays, you may occasionally be asked to write brief, impromptu essays in class. Performance on these additional essay assignments will constitute part of your class participation grade.
Topics—The paper topics suggested below allow you to explore independently some readings in your class text that have not been assigned. But they also give you an opportunity to choose subject areas that might interest you. All papers must (1) present information and (2) make an argument of your own based on the information you have gathered. It is not enough simply to catalogue the views of others; you also need to develop your own view. Many of you will want to do research and use outside sources (that is, in addition to the resources offered within your class textbook). This is certainly a good idea, but you must be sure to document your sources. When you use outside sources, you must provide a Works Cited list that gives complete bibliographic information on the works you have used and cited in your essay. Please note that plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarized papers will receive the grade of F and may not be rewritten. A second incidence of plagiarism will mean an automatic F for the entire course, and I will report you to the Dean of Students (no kidding).
Length—Each paper should be 500-750 words in length (approximately 2-3 pages). Please use correct manuscript format, with one-inch margins and 12-point type (font size).
Sources—This course is a good place to practice your research skills. Each of your out-of-class papers may make use of outside sources (in addition to the materials in your text). Be sure you document your sources carefully, using MLA documentation format (see: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html). If you use outside sources, you must include a “List of Works Cited” that provides complete bibliographic information for each of your sources. Cite your sources (both primary and secondary) within your essay, whenever you present ideas or exact words of other writers. Any form of plagiarism or cheating will result in the grade of F for the paper, and the paper may not be rewritten to change the grade. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in a loss of credit for the course and notification of the Dean of Students. Be forewarned that I do discover (and prove) several incidences of plagiarism each semester.
Topics for Paper #1
Devise a topic that involves any work or works from the special sections in your textbook that are devoted to the Late Nineteenth Century period:
Critical visions of Postbellum America (544-672)
Developments in Women’s Writing (672-793)
A Sheaf of Poetry by Late-Nineteenth-Century American Women (793-823)
The Making of “Americans” (823-915)
You may concentrate on one writer within any of these sections, comparing and contrasting one writer’s works. Or, you may consider the works of more than one writer, comparing and contrasting them based on common or contrasting theme/s or characters. If you are interested in a particular theme or cultural development or social justice issue that is illuminated within one of these sections, you may focus on the theme or issue, using various works to help demonstrate a point or explore a concern.
Sample topics for Paper #1:
- Read the works by Standing Bear, Charles Alexander Eastman and Sarah Winnemucca (545-573). Then research the nineteenth century concept of “manifest destiny.” Compare and contrast views of manifest destiny as progress vs. the view of it as genocide and displacement of native peoples. Be sure to use specific examples and quotations from various sources to illustrate the contrasting perspectives.
- Read the works by Holley, Harper, Cooper and Gilman (573-626) and write an essay exploring the most crucial women’s issues of the late nineteenth century. You may find other women writers in these special sections that you would like to consider also, such as Mary Austin or Gertrude Bonnin (849-869), as well as Kate Chopin (363-459).
- Use various readings from these sections to illuminate the situation of immigrants to the United States in the late nineteenth century. Writers you might use include Dunne (626-636), Sinclair (636-650), Cahan, Eaton, Austin, Antin and Martí (in the Making of “Americans” section, 823-915).
- Consider the many African-American voices you have encountered so far in our readings. Select a few that most interest you and use their works to explore some aspect of the situation of African-Americans following the Civil War (e.g., education, voting rights, marriage and family, or violence against African-Americans during this period).
Topics for Paper #2
Devise a topic that involves any work or works from the special sections in your textbook that are devoted to the Modern period:
Alienation and Literary Experimentation (1189-1316)
A Sheaf of Political Poetry in the Modern Period (1316-1351)
The New Negro Renaissance (1566-1713)
Issues and Visions in Modern America (1713-1963)
You may concentrate on one writer within any of these sections, comparing and contrasting one writer’s works. Or, you may consider the works of more than one writer, comparing and contrasting them based on common or contrasting theme/s or characters. If you are interested in a particular theme or cultural development or social justice issue that is illuminated within one of these sections, you may focus on the theme or issue, using various works to help demonstrate a point or explore a concern.
Topics for Paper #3
Devise a topic that involves any work or works from the special sections in your textbook that are devoted to the Contemporary period:
The Beat Movement (2293-2323)
New Communities, New Identities, New Energies (2383-2731)
Vietnam Conflict (2731-2774)
Postmodernity and Difference: Promises and Threats (2821-3162)
You may concentrate on one writer within any of these sections, comparing and contrasting one writer’s works. Or, you may consider the works of more than one writer, comparing and contrasting them based on common or contrasting theme/s or characters. If you are interested in a particular theme or cultural development or social justice issue that is illuminated within one of these sections, you may focus on the theme or issue, using various works to help demonstrate a point or explore a concern.
Mythology and Folklore
English 220-CA Office: Bradley Hall 231
Prof. Barbara Barnard Phone: 572-9778
Fall 2010 E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
T,Th 8:30-9:45 Office hours: T 10:00-11:15, W 9:30-10:45
Room: M211
Prerequisite for this course: English 102 or English 109.
Required texts:
The World of Myth by David Adams Leeming (Oxford U. Press, 1990),
A Short Introduction to Classical Myth by Barry B. Powell (Prentice-Hall, 2002),
and Spiders in the Hairdo: Modern Urban Legends by Holt and Mooney (August
House Pub., 1999).
Handouts: I will be distributing various handouts that relate to our discussions. These
are required reading also, and you will need a folder to collect them in. Please
bring the handouts to class for relevant discussions, and save them, as you will
need to use them during exams.
Recommended (optional) texts:
A Pocket Style Manual, Third Edition, by Diana Hacker (St. Martin's, 2000). This
book is recommended if you need a grammar and research handbook.
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, with Bill Moyers (Anchor Books, 1991)
Online/Blackboard Resources: This is a web enhanced course. You will find some resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages in Blackboard/CE6. You are not required to do any work in Blackboard, but I will post links there that may be helpful to you when doing research for your required essays. My current semester syllabi are also available for downloading on my faculty webpages (http://faculty.ncc.edu) under “Documents.”
Turnitin.com: You must submit your formal essays for this course to the plagiarism checking service Turnitin.com as well as giving me a hard copy in class. I will give you instructions for how to use Turnitin. If you don’t submit to Turnitin.com for plagiarism checking, your paper will not be accepted for grading and you will receive an F. If computer access is a problem for you, you can use a student computer lab on campus to access the site.
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Course Calendar
September
[Page numbers refer to Leeming’s World of Myth, unless otherwise noted.]
Th 2 Introduction to course: Great Themes in Mythology & Folklore—
Ancient sources and modern manifestations in film and literature.
“The Man to Send Rain Clouds” by Leslie Marmon Silko (handout)
T 7 íThe Cosmosí Read:
Introduction (3-8) and Creation Stories (11-41); and Powell, Chapter 6
RR #1 due
Th 9 Rosh Hashanah – college holiday
T 14 Flood Stories (43-62) and “Chac-Mool” by Carlos Fuentes (handout)
RR #2 due
Th 16 Afterlife Stories (64-75), and “Yellow Woman” by Leslie Marmon Silko
and “Dead Men’s Path” by Chinua Achebe (handouts). RR #3 due
T 21 Powell, Chapter 1, RR #4 due
Film: from The Power of Myth, “The First Storytellers” [Joseph Campbell, with Bill Moyers, 1988]
Th 23 The Apocalypse (76-89) and “A Father” by Bharati Mukherjee
(handout); Powell, Chapter 2. RR #5 due
T 28 Powell, Chapter 3. RR #6 due
Film: from The Power of Myth, “Masks of Eternity” [Joseph Campbell,
with Bill Moyers, 1988]
Th 30 ÕGods and GoddessesÕ
The Pantheons (95-121); Powell, Chapter 7. RR #7 due
Research session—using the databases and finding research sources for
Essay #1 and #2.
October
T 5 Archetypal Gods, the Supreme Being and the Great Mother (123-146);
Powell, Chapter 4. RR #8 due
Oral Presentations
Th 7 The Dying God (146-163); Powell, Chapter 5. RR #9 due
Deadline for (optional) draft of Paper #1
T 12 The Trickster (163-172) and “Fleur” by Louise Erdrich (handout).
RR #10 due
Th 14 Gods, Goddesses, and Lesser Spirits: Greek and Roman (175-197)
Powell, Chapter 10. RR #11 due
Film: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou [dir. Joel Coen, 2000]
T 19 Gods, Goddesses, and Lesser Spirits: Non-
Greek (197-213).
Film: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou continued. RR #12 due
Th 21 Paper #1 due, and read: ÿHeroesÿ
Conception, Birth, and Childhood of the Hero (221-234); Powell,
Chapter 8; Isabel Allende’s “The Judge’s Wife” (handout).
RR #13 due
Oral Presentations
T 26 The Journey Quest of the Hero (235-265);
Film: Whale Rider [dir. Niki Caro, 2003]
Th 28 Deadline for late papers (Paper #1)
The Journey Quest of the Hero (265-295)
Film: Whale Rider (continued). RR #14 due
November
T 2 Powell, Chapter 14 and
“Four Seasons” by Haewon Lee (handout—student story). RR #15 due
Oral presentations
Th 4 Midterm Exam [You will use your textbooks and handouts during the
exam. All class notes and electronic devices must be put away.]
T 9 Film: Pan’s Labyrinth [dir. Guillermo Del Toro, 2006] and
“The Power of Myth,” with Guillermo Del Toro
Read: Handout: “The Fairy Tale Tradition”
Deadline for (optional) draft of Paper #2
W 10 Day classes follow a Thursday schedule
Rebirth, Return, Apotheosis (298-311) and
Pan’s Labyrinth continued. RR #16 due
Th 11 Veterans’ Day – college holiday
T 16 “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(handout), and “Our Tongue Was Nahuatl” by Anna Castillo (handout).
RR #17 due
Oral presentations
Th 18 þ Places and Objects ü
Places and Objects (313-333); Powell, Chapter 9.
Film: The Warriors [dir. Walter Hill, 1979]
T 23 Day and evening classes follow a Thursday schedule
Paper #2 due, and read: Places and Objects (338-348)
Film: The Warriors (continued) RR #18 due
Oral presentations
Th 25 Thanksgiving – College Holiday
T 30 Excerpts from Xenophon’s Anabasis (handout); Powell, Chapter 11.
RR #19 due
Oral presentations
December
Th 2 Deadline for late paper #2
Urban Myths, Read Holt & Mooney (9-38). RR #20 due
Oral Presentations
T 7 Urban Myths, Read Holt & Mooney (41-70)
Oral Presentations
Th 9 Oral Presentations
Review for final exam
T 14 Final Exam You may use your textbooks and handouts during the
exam. All class notes and electronic devices must be put away.]
Th 16 Oral Presentations
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Course Requirements
Attendance and participation: Students are expected not only to have done the assigned reading but also to come to class prepared for discussion. Excessive absences (more than four) may seriously affect your grade for the course. Extreme absence problems will result in a complete loss of credit for the course (a grade of F). You must attend class; excessive absences will seriously lower your grade; extreme absence problems WILL result in loss of credit for the course (a grade of F), even if your written work is satisfactory. On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation are essential for those who seek to earn the higher grades. Your contribution to class discussion—in the form of your own work that you share in your presentations and also in the form of thoughtful responses to assigned readings and the presentations of classmates—will be taken into account when final grades are calculated. You will receive a separate letter grade for class participation, which will be averaged together equally with your five letter grades for your written work. Failure to make an oral presentation will result in the grade of F for class participation. In addition to your regular assignments described in this syllabus, you may be asked to write brief, impromptu essays or quizzes in class. Performance on these additional essay assignments or quizzes will constitute part of your class participation grade.
Oral presentations—Each student must present at least one of his or her papers in an oral presentation to the class. This is your opportunity to stand at the front of the class and have your say! We will be a friendly group to try out your ideas on, and this kind of presentation is valuable experience, helping to build confidence and speaking skills that you will find useful elsewhere in life and work. In addition, if you do a good job in your presentation, your classmates will feel excited to take up the questions, ideas or issues you have raised. You may give a presentation based on your reading and research while the writing of your paper is still in progress, or you may present based on a finished paper.
Reading Responses (informal writing): As you see on the calendar schedule, you will be submitting a series of 20 response writings. These are worth 5 points each, for a semester total of 100 possible points. Points earned will be converted to a letter grade to be averaged together equally with your other letter grades for the course (90-100=A, 85-89=B+, 80-84=B, 75-79=C+, 70-74=C, 65-69=D+, 60-64=D, 0-59=F). These writings should be typed and should be a half page to one page in length. Each will be submitted at the beginning of the class period at which it is due. If you are absent, you may submit the missing response writing at the following class. But if you are present and fail to turn in the work, you may not “make it up.” Your response writings are to be your own original, critical response to the readings and/or film under discussion on that day. Therefore I’m not interested in receiving work a week later that simply repeats what was already said in class. Instead, please sit down at your computer directly after finishing the assigned reading and write one good, solid paragraph (a page at most) regarding some aspect of the reading that interests you (it might be something you agree with or disagree with, something you understand or something you find difficult to understand). Be sure your response is an analytical one, not a summary. Plot summaries (in which you simply repeat the basics of a story line) will earn a low grade. Don’t just “retell” the story (or myth or film plot); instead express an opinion about what the author has written; also, respond to the work/s as a whole (not just to the first page or scene). Demonstrate that you’ve done the reading by making an intelligent comment on it (whether it’s a negative comment or a positive comment does not matter). Do not plagiarize your response writing from web sites like Spark Notes or Wikipedia; plagiarized responses will receive the grade of F, and a second incidence of plagiarism—on any written work—will result in an automatic F for the entire course. You must do your own work to pass this course.
Ideas you discover in your response writings may end up being part of your formal papers. I will not be marking grammatical errors and so forth on these informal writings, so relax when you write them. I’m simply looking for evidence that you have done the reading and that you are doing some independent thinking about what you have read. Paraphrasing the ideas of others from web sites is not thinking; in fact, over the long haul, that kind of activity can make you brain dead. Seriously. Do your own thinking.
Papers (formal writing): You will write two formal out-of-class papers. The due dates for these papers appear in bold type in the calendar above. Only typed, finished papers will be accepted on the due date. Do not submit any notes or preliminary drafts. In your formal writing (Papers #1 and #2 as well as your exams), grammar, sentence structure, mechanics, and organization do count, as we communicate our ideas more clearly and effectively when we write in well-formed sentences and paragraphs.
Topics—The paper topics suggested below explore issues related to the themes of the course. You may also devise a topic of your own that further explores some aspect of mythology or folklore. You may wish to read in full a work that has only been assigned in part, investigating further the issues raised within it. You may wish to examine an issue of interest to you by comparing competing views of it. Or, you may wish to analyze the range of scholarly debate about an issue, through investigating a number of secondary sources. All papers must (1) present information and (2) make an argument of your own based on the information you have gathered. It is not enough simply to catalogue the views of others; you also need to develop your own view. Some of the topics below contain clusters of questions. These questions are provided simply to help you begin thinking about the topic. You do not necessarily need to answer any of the specific questions; instead, use them as a way to explore what you are interested in and how you would like to focus your discussion of the topic.
Length—Each paper should be 1,000-1,250 words in length (approximately 4-5 pages). Be sure to use correct manuscript format, with one-inch margins and 12-point type (font size). Do not triple-space, do not use oversized fonts, do not leave extra blank space between paragraphs or at the tops or bottoms of your pages; this is a waste of paper and does not fool anyone.
Sources—This course is a good place to practice your research skills. Each of your out-of-class papers must make use of at least two outside sources (in addition to the materials in your texts). Be sure you document your sources carefully, using MLA documentation format (see: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/, or use the tools at: http://easybib.com). You must include a “Works Cited” list that provides complete bibliographic information for each of your sources. Cite your sources (both primary and secondary) within your essay, whenever you present ideas or exact words of other writers. Any form of plagiarism or cheating will result in the grade of F for the paper, and the paper may not be rewritten to change the grade. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in a loss of credit for the course (the grade of F). Be forewarned that I do discover (and prove) several incidences of plagiarism each semester.
Three ways to get help with your essay drafts—(1) For one-on-one tutoring in writing skills in general, and for help with your drafts for Essays #2, #4, and #5, you are encouraged to go to the Writing Center (first floor of Bradley Hall—the Y Building). (2) You may also come to see me during my office hours, if needed. (3) If you give me a typewritten draft of your paper at least two weeks before the due date for the paper, I will give you comments and suggestions for revision.
REQUIRED--Turnitin.com—You must submit Essays #1 and #2 (your formal papers written outside class) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism checking service) as well as giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the paper. Your paper will not be graded until you both submit electronically as well as provide a hard copy. If the paper is submitted late in either of these forms, then it is a late paper.
Grading: Your six letter grades (two papers, two exams, reading responses, and the class participation grade) will be averaged together equally to calculate your final grade for the course. To add and average your grades yourself, at any point in the semester, convert them to grade points (A=4, B+=3.5, B=3, C+=2.5, C=2, D+=1.5, D=1, F=0). Please note that excessive absences will lower your grade, and extreme absence problems will result in a loss of credit for the course (a grade of F), even if written work is satisfactory.
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- Explore cosmology (ideas about the creation of the universe) from the point of view of mythology and of science. What do these ways of explaining creation have in common? How are they different? Is there a common ground in which they (mythic stories, scriptures and scientific writings) all seem to be about the same experiences and speculations? Mythic stories may include scripture as well as science fiction. Stories of time machines, for instance, relate to scientific knowledge of the speed of light.
- Devise your own topic related to gender and myth. You might want to explore and compare stories about goddesses from different mythic traditions. You might make a cross-cultural analysis of myths related to relations between men and women, or of myths related to gender identity.
- Analyze a myth retold or alluded to in a film or work of literature, as we will be doing in class throughout the semester. Compare how the myth is used in each. What is the agenda of the original storytellers? Does the creator of the contemporary work also have an agenda or a lesson to convey? What is it and how does it differ from the story’s original purpose?
- Pick a favorite mythic idea: mad scientist/Frankenstein’s monster, Pandora’s box, spider woman, journey into the wilderness, promised land, exile and return, or the hero/heroine’s quest, for example. Try to determine the sources (the primary texts) for this mythic idea (also called an archetype). Discuss meaning in the primary myth and in its later applications. What uses has this myth served (spiritual, social, psychological, ritual)?
- Joseph Campbell (in The Power of Myth) takes a great deal of interest in the mythic material embodied in George Lucas’s Star Wars movies. View one of these movies (for instance Return of the Jedi) and analyze the myths you find portrayed in the film.
- If you are interested in methods of interpreting mythic material, you may want to compare the different approaches represented by sources we have used in class discussion: Barry Powell, David Leeming, and Joseph Campbell. How do their approaches to analyzing and interpreting mythic material differ? Compare specific examples from the three authors’ analyses to illustrate your points about them. Whose approach do you find to be most valid or most meaningful? Why?
9. In an interview with CNN, contemporary folklorist (and urban legend expert) Jan Harold Brunvand was asked “What motivates a UL [urban legend] researcher?” He replied: “I was motivated to focus on urban legends by my students. They always seemed to think that folklore belonged to somebody else, usually in the past, that it was something quaint and outdated. So I started asking them what kind of stories did they learn by word of mouth; what did they repeat. Once I started collecting these stories, I just became fascinated with them.” Devise a topic of your own related to some aspect of urban legends. You may also want to explore one of Brunvand’s many books on urban legends (also called contemporary legends). Our NCC library has 8 different books by Brunvand.
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Literature and Film
The art of adaptation
English 251-C2 Prof. Barbara Barnard
Fall 2008 Office: Y231
Th 8:30-11:15 Phone: 572-9778
Room G169 E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
Office hours: MW 2:00-3:15
Books required:
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Cape Fear by John D. MacDonald
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Online Resources: This is a web enhanced course. You will find some resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages. You are not required to do any work in CE6/Banner; it is simply provided as a resource.
September
Th 4 Introduction to the course: Some issues regarding adaptation.
Handout: excerpt from Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief
Film: Adaptation (Dir. Spike Jonze, 2002)
Th 11 Read: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Response writing #1 due (Alexie)
Film: Smoke Signals (Dir. Chris Eyre, 1998)
Th 18 Read: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Response writing #2 due (Esquivel)
Film: Like Water for Chocolate (Dir. Alfonso Arau, 1992)
Begin discussion of Like Water for Chocolate
Th 25 Read: “Passion or Heartburn? The Uses of Humor in Esquivel’s and Arau’s Like
Water for Chocolate” by Dianna C. Niebylski (handout)
Read: Beloved by Toni Morrison, first 100 pages
Response writing #3 (Niebylski) and #4 (Morrison, pages 1-100) due
Discuss Like Water for Chocolate and Nieblyski article
Discuss topics and research for Paper #1
Begin discussion of Beloved
October
Th 2 Read: Beloved by Toni Morrison, page 101 to end
Response writing #5 due (Morrison, pages 101 to end)
Continue discussion of Beloved
Film: Beloved (Dir. Jonathan Demme, 1998)
M 6 Classes meet on Thursday schedule
Read: “Beloved: The Adaptation of an American Slave Narrative” by Mia Mask
(handout)
Response writing #6 (Mask) due
Film: Beloved continued
Continue discussion of Beloved and discuss Mia Mask article
Th 9 Yom Kippur—college holiday
Th 16 Paper #1 due
Finish discussion of Beloved and Mia Mask article; review for midterm exam
Th 23 MIDTERM EXAM (open book exam: bring all books and handouts)
Th 30 Read: The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Response writing #7 due (Miller)
Discussion of The Crucible
Film: The Crucible (Dir., Nicholas Hytner, 1996)
November
Th 6 Read: Cape Fear by John D. MacDonald
Response writing #8 due (MacDonald)
Discuss topics and research for Paper #2
Continue discussion of The Crucible
Begin discussion of Cape Fear
Th 13 Read: “Cape Fear and Trembling: Familial Dread” by Kirsten Thompson
(handout)
Response writing #9 due (Thompson)
Discuss Thompson article and Cape Fear
Film: Cape Fear (Dir., J. Lee Thompson, 1962)
Th 20 Continue discussion of Cape Fear and Thompson article
Film: Cape Fear (Dir. Martin Scorcese, 1991)
Th 27 Thanksgiving—college holiday
December
Th 4 Paper #2 due, and
Read: Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Response writing #10 due (Mosley)
Discuss Devil in a Blue Dress
Film: Devil in a Blue Dress (Dir. Carl Franklin, 1995)
Th 11 Finish discussion of Devil in a Blue Dress (if needed) and
FINAL EXAM (open book exam: bring all books and handouts)
Th 18 Distribution of grades; conferences
Course Requirements
Attendance and participation: Students are expected not only to have done the assigned reading but also to come to class prepared for discussion. Excessive absences (more than two in this double period class) may seriously affect your grade for the course. Extreme absence problems will result in a complete loss of credit for the course (a grade of F or W). On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation in class discussion are essential for those who seek to earn the higher grades. Your contribution to class discussion will be taken into account when final grades are calculated. You will receive a separate letter grade for class participation, which will be averaged together equally with your five letter grades for your written work.
Response Writings (informal writing): As you see on the calendar schedule, you will be submitting a series of 10 response writings. These are worth 10 points each, for a semester total of 100 possible points. Points earned will be converted to a letter grade to be averaged together equally with your other letter grades for the course (see “Grading” below). These writings should be typed and should be a half page to one page in length. Each will be submitted at the beginning of the class period at which it is due. If you are absent, you may submit the missing response writing at the following class. But if you are present and fail to turn in the work, you may not “make it up.” Your response writings are to be your own original, critical response to the work you have read. Therefore I’m not interested in receiving work a week later that simply repeats what was already said in class. Instead, please sit down at your computer directly after finishing the assigned reading and write one good, solid paragraph (or a page at most) regarding some aspect of the work that interests you. For example, a good response to Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven would be a paragraph characterizing Alexie’s use of metaphor and symbolism, and giving several good examples of it from the book. Another response to Alexie might involve a reaction to the book’s structure, as a series of overlapping stories with recurring characters, rather than a conventional novel structure with one overarching story. Or, you might comment on political or social issues raised by the book. Be sure your response is an analytical one, not a summary. Plot summaries (in which you simply repeat the basics of the story line) will earn a low grade. Don’t just “retell” the story; express an opinion about what the author has written; and respond to the work as a whole (not just to the first chapter). Demonstrate that you’ve done the reading by making an intelligent comment on it. Do not plagiarize your response writing from web sites like Spark Notes; plagiarized responses will receive the grade of F. You must do your own work to pass this course.
Papers (formal writing): You will write two out-of-class papers. The due dates for these papers appear in bold type on the calendar above. Only typed, finished papers will be accepted on the due date. Do not submit any notes or preliminary drafts.
Topics—The paper topics suggested below explore issues related to the works we have read and viewed for the course. You may also devise a topic of your own that further explores some aspect of a literary work and film adaptation that we have covered. All papers must (1) present information and (2) make an argument of your own based on the information you have gathered. It is not enough simply to catalogue the views of others; you also need to develop your own view. Some of the topics below contain clusters of questions. These questions are provided simply to help you begin thinking about the topic. You do not necessarily need to answer any of the specific questions; instead, use them as a way to explore what you are interested in and how you would like to focus your discussion of the topic. Important note: The highest grades will go to those essays that include original thinking. If you simply repeat what has been said already in class, then you are not doing sufficient thinking on your own, and your grade will reflect that. Be sure you are analyzing the works you are discussing. Do not write a plot summary in which you simply retell the story or plot; instead you must do some critical thinking about what you have read and viewed. Consider what others have said, but form an opinion of your own.
Length—Each paper should be 750-1000 words in length (approximately 3-4 pages). Please use correct manuscript format, with one-inch margins and 12-point type (font size).
Sources—This course is a good place to practice your research skills. Each of your out-of-class papers must make use of at least two secondary sources (in addition to the novel, novella, or play plus its film adaptation). You must use quotations from the literary text you are discussing. An essay that refers only to the film and does not engage with the literary work will not be acceptable. Be sure you document your sources carefully, using MLA documentation format (see: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html). You must include a “Works Cited” list that provides complete bibliographic information for each of your sources. Cite your sources (both primary and secondary) within your essay, whenever you present ideas or exact words of other writers. Any form of plagiarism or cheating will result in the grade of F for the paper, and the paper may not be rewritten to change the grade. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in a loss of credit (grade of F) for the course. Be forewarned that I do discover (and prove) several incidences of plagiarism each semester.
Accommodations and learning differences: If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned coursework, I urge you to contact the staff at the Center for Students With Disabilities, Bldg. U (behind the old College Union), 572-7241. TTY 572-7617. CSD will review your concerns and determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation are confidential.
- Read Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief. Do you think the film Adaptation is truly an adaptation of Orlean’s book? Or is it more appropriate to think of it as a take-off on her book? How do you view the relationship between these two creative works?
- Compare the narrative design of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven with that of Smoke Signals. Discuss the changes that Sherman Alexie made in the narrative structure as well as plot and characters when he wrote the screenplay to turn his own novel into a movie. For example, do you think that Thomas Builds-the-Fire makes a good narrator for the entire story (in the film version)? How would the film be different if Alexie had chosen instead to have a variety of narrators with different perspectives on events (as in the book)?
- Explore the use of metaphor, symbolism and magic in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, and examine how Alexie has adapted these techniques in the film Smoke Signals.
- How effective do you find Laura Esquivel’s use of recipes, magic and hyperbole in her novel Like Water for Chocolate? Explore the ways in which her use of these techniques is translated into film. Alternatively, you might examine the portrayal of any of the major characters, comparing the way he or she is depicted in the original text with how the same character is depicted in the film. Or, you may consider the uses of violence in the film.
- The film adaptation of Beloved received a very mixed critical response. Do you feel the involvement of a celebrity like Oprah Winfrey was an asset to the production? Or do you think the artistic values of the film were ill-suited to the kind of audience attracted to Oprah’s highly visible media image? Alternatively, you may want to explore thematic issues raised by the film. Toni Morrison’s novel is full of powerful, magical, metaphorical language. Do you think the film does justice to the metaphorical, lyrical qualities of the novel? Analyze the film techniques used to convey this. Do you find the depiction of the magnitude of suffering caused by the evil of slavery is conveyed most effectively in the novel or the film? Or, you may choose to pose a different question about the film’s depiction of slavery.
- Consider a theme or themes raised in any of the texts and adaptations we have studied so far. Is this theme conveyed as effectively in the film adaptation? Has the adaptation altered any themes or messages, given them a different spin than in the original text? For example, you might consider the importance to Sherman Alexie of depicting Native Americans’ different perspective on American history. Does the film convey this important theme more effectively or less effectively than the original text? Or, are you interested in issues regarding women and relationships, and family responsibilities, that are raised in Like Water for Chocolate? You may want to devise a topic based on issues you perceive as arising from Esquivel’s story.
- Write an essay that explores any aspect of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Nicholas Hytner’s film adaptation. For example, you may be interested in the question of the play’s and the film’s historical accuracy (or inaccuracy). You can find resources related to the film and the play at: http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/ttk/ttk-title.htm . Another good resource is the University of Virginia documentary archive (http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/salem/home.html), which includes court transcripts, letters and other interesting materials related to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
- Choose any of the ideas or concepts presented in Kirsten Thompson’s critical article “Cape Fear and Trembling: Familial Dread” and write a persuasive essay that either agrees with her view or disputes her view. Whatever side you’re on, you must support your assertions with appropriate detailed evidence from MacDonald’s novel and from the film adaptation/s.
- Compare the characterization of any one or more of the main characters in the novel Devil in a Blue Dress with the same character’s (or characters’) depiction in the film adaptation. How do the changes in characterization alter the meaning and tone of the story in the film adaptation?
- Consider a theme or themes raised in any of the texts and adaptations we have studied since the midterm. Is this theme conveyed as effectively in the film adaptation? Has the adaptation altered any themes or messages, given them a different spin than in the original text?
- Create your own topic that draws on any of the works we have read and viewed during the second half of the course (since the midterm).
- What film do you wish we had covered in this course that we did not? You must choose a film that is based on a literary work or work of popular fiction. Write an essay analyzing the original work and its film adaptation.
* * *
The Modern American Short Story
In a Contemporary World Context
English 263-DA Office: Y231
Prof. Barbara Barnard Phone: 572-9778
Spring 2011 E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
M 9:30-10:45; Th 10:00-11:15 Office hours: T 10:00-11:15, W12:30-1:45
Room: N220 Conference hours: W 9:30-12:30
Turnitin.com class ID: 000000
Turnitin enrollment password: xxxxxx
Prerequisites for this course: You must complete English 102 or 109 successfully before taking this course.
Required text: The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction, Compact Eighth Edition, by Ann Charters (St. Martin's, 2011). Please bring this book to class every day.
Recommended text: A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker (St. Martin's). This book
is recommended if you need a handbook to help with grammar and syntax. You are not required to buy this book.
Online Blackboard resources and faculty web pages: This is a web enhanced course. You will find some resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages in Blackboard/CE6 (from the NCC homepage, ncc.edu, click on “distance education,” then click on “access to online courses”). You are not required to do any work in Blackboard; it is simply provided as a resource. There are also resource links and syllabi available on my faculty web pages (go to faculty.ncc.edu and click on Barbara Barnard).
Turnitin.com: You must submit your papers for this course to the plagiarism checking service Turnitin.com as well as giving me a hard copy in class. See page 6 of this syllabus for Turnitin.com instructions. If you don’t submit to Turnitin.com for plagiarism checking, your paper will not be accepted for grading and you will receive an F. If computer access is a problem for you, you can use a student computer lab on campus to access the site.
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Course Calendar
January
Th 20 Introduction to the course and
“The Man to Send Rain Clouds” by Leslie Marmon Silko (handout)
M 24 “Reading Short Stories” and Grace Paley’s “Samuel” (1077-81) and
╔Plot╗ (1082-86)
Edward P. Jones, “Bad Neighbors” (412-428)
Amy Hempel, “Church Cancels Cow” (372-373); RR#1 due
Th 27 Louise Erdrich, "The Red Convertible" (305-312)
Grace Paley, "A Conversation with My Father" (716-20)
and commentary (974-78); RR#2 due
M 31 ╔Character╗ (1086-88)
James Baldwin, "Sonny's Blues" (35-58)
Joyce Carol Oates, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You
Been?" (622-635)
and commentaries (907-911, 966-972); RR#3 due
February
Th 3 Alice Walker, "Everyday Use" (851-858)
Film: Everyday Use and an interview with Alice Walker
M 7 ╔Setting╗ (1088-89)
John Cheever, "The Swimmer" (179-187)
Leslie Marmon Silko,"Yellow Woman" (761-68)
and commentaries (917-19 and 981-87); RR#4 due
Th 10 Eudora Welty, "A Worn Path" (865-71) and commentary (1000-1002)
Film: A Worn Path and an interview with Eudora Welty
Deadline for Paper #1 drafts
M 14 ╔Point of View╗ (1090-94)
Gish Jen, “Who’s Irish?” (394-402)
Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery" (387-93)
and commentary (950-52); RR#5 due
Th 17 Amy Tan, “Two Kinds” (783-92)
ZZ Packer, “Brownies” (700-715)
and commentary (987-90); RR#6 due
Winter Break February 19-27
M 28 Paper #1 due
Katherine Anne Porter, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” (732-39)
Film: The Jilting of Granny Weatherall (with Geraldine Fitzgerald)
March
Th 3 Midterm Exam
M 7 Deadline for late Paper #1
╔Style, Voice and Irony╗ (1094-1096)
Zora Neale Hurston, “Sweat” (377-86)
Gabriel García Márquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" (333-
338)
and commentary (946-49 and 994-96); RR#7 due
Th 10 Raymond Carver, "Cathedral" (122-33) and commentaries (1009-13,
1022-23, 1025-29)
Film: Cathedral and an interview with Tess Gallagher
M 14 ╔Symbolism and Allegory╗ (1095-96)
D.H. Lawrence, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" (525-36)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown" (356-66)
and commentaries (961-65 and978-81); RR#8 due
Th 17 ╔Theme╗ (1096-97)
Flannery O'Connor, "Everything That Rises Must Converge" (650-62)
Helena María Viramontes, “The Moths” (840-844)
and commentaries (1038-52); RR#9 due
M 21 Kurt Vonnegut Jr., “Harrison Bergeron” (845-50)
Tobias Wolff, “Say Yes” (872-76); RR#10 due
Th 24 Toni Cade Bambara, "The Lesson" (59-65)
Bobbie Ann Mason, "Shiloh" (541-52); RR#11 due; Deadline for Paper
#2 drafts
M 28 ╔A Brief History of the Short Story╗ (1098-1107)
Guy de Maupassant, "The Necklace" (553-59)
Anton Chekhov, "The Darling" (154)
and commentaries (919-21, 958-60); RR#12 due
Th 31 Edgar Allan Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” (721-27)
Franz Kafka, “The Hunger Artist” (464-71)
and commentaries (978-81, 925-35); RR#13 due
April
M 4 Cynthia Ozick, “The Shawl” (695-699)
A.M. Homes, “Things You Should Know” (374-76); RR#14 due
Th 7 Paper #2 due
Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried” (636-49)
Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings” (31-34)
and commentaries (903-6, 957-8, 972-4); RR#15 due
M 11 Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl” (506-8) and commentary (953)
Annie Proulx, “Job History” (740-44); RR#16 due
Th 14 Deadline for late Paper #2
John Updike, “A&P” (834-839)
Film: A&P, and an interview with John Updike
Spring Break April 16-24
M 25 Aimee Bender, “The Rememberer” (100-102)
Junot Díaz, “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie”
(289-92)
Sandra Cisneros, “Barbie-Q” (205-6); RR#17 due
Th 28 Alison Bechdel, “Old Father, Old Artificer” (76-99)
Art Spiegelman, “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” (777-82)
Joe Sacco, “Refugeeland,” from Palestine (745-51)
and commentary (1056-62 and 1065-73); RR#18 due
May
M 2 Marjane Satrapi, “The Veil,” from Persepolis, and commentary (1063-65)
Film: Persepolis; RR#19 due
Th 5 Persepolis continued, and review for final exam; RR#20 due
M 9 Final Exam
Th 12 Conferences
M 16 Conferences; grades will be available for those who have submitted their
work on time.
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Course Requirements
Attendance and participation: Students are expected not only to have done the assigned reading but also to come to class prepared for discussion. Excessive absences (more than four) may seriously affect your grade for the course. Extreme absence problems will result in a complete loss of credit for the course (a grade of F). You must attend class; excessive absences will seriously lower your grade; extreme absence problems WILL result in loss of credit for the course (a grade of F), even if your written work is satisfactory. On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation are essential for those who seek to earn the higher grades. Your contribution to class discussion will be taken into account when final grades are calculated. You will receive a separate letter grade for class participation, which will be averaged together equally with your five letter grades for your written work. In addition to your regular assignments described in this syllabus, you may be asked to write brief, impromptu essays or quizzes in class. Performance on these additional essay assignments or quizzes will constitute part of your class participation grade.
Reading Responses (informal writing): As you see on the calendar schedule, you will be submitting a series of 20 response writings. These are worth 5 points each, for a semester total of 100 possible points. Points earned will be converted to a letter grade to be averaged together equally with your other letter grades for the course (90-100=A, 85-89=B+, 80-84=B, 75-79=C+, 70-74=C, 65-69=D+, 60-64=D, 0-59=F). These writings should be typed, double spaced, and should be a half page to one page in length. Each will be submitted at the beginning of the class period at which it is due. If you are absent, you may submit the missing response writing at the following class; but if you are present and fail to turn in the work, you may not “make it up.” Your response writings are to be your own original, critical response to the stories you have read. Therefore I’m not interested in receiving work a week later that simply repeats what was already said in class by others. Instead, please sit down at your computer directly after finishing the assigned reading and write one informal paragraph (a half page to a page) regarding some aspect of the reading that interests you (it might be something you agree with or disagree with, something you understand or something you find difficult to understand). Be sure your response is an analytical one, not a summary. Plot summaries (in which you simply repeat the basics of the story line) will earn a low grade. Don’t just “retell” the story; express an opinion about what the author has written; also, respond to the work as a whole (not just to the first page or scene). Demonstrate that you’ve done the reading by making an intelligent comment on it. Do not plagiarize your response writing from web sites like Spark Notes or Wikipedia; plagiarized responses will receive the grade of F, and a second incidence of plagiarism will result in an automatic F for the course. You must do your own writing to pass this course.
Ideas you discover in your response writings may end up being part of your formal papers. I will not be marking grammatical errors and so forth on these informal writings, so relax when you write them. I’m simply looking for evidence that you have done the reading and that you are doing some independent thinking about what you have read. Paraphrasing the ideas of others from study guide web sites is not thinking; in fact, over the long haul, relying on that kind of crutch can make you brain dead. Seriously. Do your own thinking. Reading responses must be typed; if they are not, I will automatically deduct one point of credit (an untyped 5 automatically becomes a 4).
Papers (formal writing): You will write two formal out-of-class papers. The due dates for these papers appear in bold type in the calendar above. Only typed, finished papers will be accepted on the due date. Do not submit any notes or preliminary drafts. In your formal writing (Papers #1 and #2 as well as your exams), grammar, sentence structure, mechanics, and organization do count, as we communicate our ideas more clearly and effectively when we write in well-formed sentences and paragraphs.
Read “Appendix Four: Writing About Short Stories"—pages 1108-1132 in your textbook . This chapter gives very concise and useful information on writing about short fiction, and it also contains several sample student papers. The advice in this chapter will be useful to you in preparing to write the analytical essays required on your exams for this course as well. Your Paper #1 and Paper #2 are not intended to be research papers, but should concentrate instead on your own analysis of the primary source or sources (that is, the short story or stories which you are discussing). You do not need to use outside sources, as the objective here is for you to analyze works of fiction yourself, not to report on the analyses of others. If you wish to write an essay which considers the critical commentary of another writer, you may devise a topic which involves a story and critical commentary within our textbook. Be sure that you document your essay carefully, enclosing any directly quoted material in quotation marks, giving credit when you paraphrase the ideas of others, and citing your sources. Although you are not writing a library research paper, you may find pages 1125-30 useful for their discussion of documentation style for quoting from primary and secondary sources. In addition, there are links to MLA documentation guidelines online (owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01) on my faculty home page and in our Blackboard course web pages. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarized papers will receive the grade of F.
Your essay should cover fresh material. An essay which repeats what has already been said in class might be acceptable, but it is the essay which demonstrates original thinking and an ability to do independent analysis which will earn the higher grade. For this reason, you may want to include in your topic at least one story which has not been discussed in class.
Topics—The paper topics suggested below are intended to serve as examples. You may devise a topic of your own that further explores some aspect of a story or stories in our textbook. You must use stories that are included in our text; and if you wish to use secondary sources, you must use commentaries included in our text.
Length—Each paper should be 1,000-1,250 words in length (approximately 4-5 pages). Be sure to use correct manuscript format, with one-inch margins and 12-point type (font size). Do not triple-space, do not use oversized fonts, do not leave extra blank space between paragraphs or at the tops or bottoms of your pages; this is a waste of paper and does not fool anyone.
Three ways to get help with your essay drafts—(1) For one-on-one tutoring in writing skills in general, and for help with your drafts for Papers #1 and #2, you are encouraged to go to the Writing Center (first floor of Bradley Hall, the Y Building). (2) You may also come to see me any time during my office hours, if needed, or you may make an appointment to see me during my conference hours. (3) If you give me a typewritten draft of your paper at least two weeks before the due date for the paper (or by the deadline that is listed on the calendar above), I will give you comments and suggestions for revision.
REQUIRED--Turnitin.com: You must submit Papers #1 and #2 (your formal papers written outside class) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism checking service) as well as giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the paper. Your paper will not be graded until you both submit electronically and provide a hard copy. If the paper is submitted late in either of these forms, then it is a late paper. If you turn in a hard copy but you never submit your paper to Turnitin, you will not receive credit for the paper and the grade will turn to an F. Fairness requires that every class member participate in plagiarism prevention; there will be no exceptions. Registering for Turnitin.com: Go to the Turnitin.com home page. Click on the “Create Account” link underneath the login boxes. Use the access numbers for your class that appear at the top of this syllabus in order to set up your access to this course on Turnitin.com.
Any form of plagiarism or cheating will result in the grade of F for the paper, and the paper may not be rewritten to change the grade. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in a loss of credit for the entire course (the grade of F).
Late papers—Late papers will be accepted up to one week past the due date. Late papers will be marked down one-half of a letter grade for lateness. For any papers not received by the late paper deadline (or not submitted to Turnitin by the late paper deadline), the grade of F will be entered automatically in the grade book.
Exams: Both the midterm and the final exam will follow the same format: ten identification questions worth a total of 40 points, and one long essay worth 60 points. You must answer all ten identification questions (recognizing quotations from works we’ve read and discussed). You will be given a choice of several essay questions, and you will answer only one. You will not receive any of the questions before the exam. The midterm questions will be based on material from the first half of the semester. The final exam questions will be based on only the second half of the semester (in other words, the final is not cumulative, but is based only on material covered since the midterm). During exams, you will use your textbook so that you can use quotations and page citations from the stories you are discussing in your Part II essay. Class notes must be put away during the exams, and all electronic devices must be turned off and put away inside a book bag, backpack or purse. If you are caught using an electronic device of any kind during the exam, your blue book will be collected and you will leave the classroom and receive an F for the exam.
Grading: Your six letter grades (two papers, two exams, reading responses, and the class participation grade) will be averaged together equally to calculate your final grade for the course. To add and average your grades yourself, at any point in the semester, convert them to grade points (A=4, B+=3.5, B=3, C+=2.5, C=2, D+=1.5, D=1, F=0). Please note that excessive absences will lower your grade, and extreme absence problems will result in a loss of credit for the course (a grade of F), even if written work is satisfactory.
You must attend class faithfully in order to receive credit for this course.
Accommodations and learning differences: If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned coursework, I urge you to contact the staff at the Center for Students with Disabilities, Bldg. U (behind the old College Union), 572-7241. TTY 572-7617. CSD will review your concerns and determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation are confidential.
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Sample Topics for Papers #1 and #2
Create a topic following one of the following categories. You must use stories that are included in our class text:
· You may write an essay in which you compare and contrast two stories by different authors from the class text. These two works should have some theme or element in common.
· You may write a thorough explication of one work of fiction from the class text. Be sure you have chosen a work of sufficient complexity to sustain a four to five page discussion.
· You may choose to compare and contrast two stories by the same writer. Several writers in the text are represented by more than one story.
· You may devise a topic involving a story and a commentary or commentaries upon the story, all from the class text.
· You may view a film adaptation of one of the stories in your text and write an essay which evaluates the film version in comparison to the original short story. The NCC library subscribes to the Films on Demand database, through which you can stream educational films for free (including numerous film adaptations of short stories in our text). I have created direct links to the relevant films in our course Blackboard pages. Instructions for accessing Blackboard appear on page one of this syllabus. Once you’ve logged into the course, from the course home page, click on “Course Materials,” then click on “Films on Demand.” If you subscribe to Netflix or a similar service, you’ll find feature film adaptations of some works available there also (for example, Netflix has two contemporary versions of Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener” available on dvd, one of which is also available for streaming).
Sample topics:
Here are some examples of each type of topic listed above, but you may instead create your own topic, using any combination of these approaches and using any story or stories in our textbook:
- Edward P. Jones’ “Bad Neighbors” and Daniyal Mueenuddin’s “Nawabdin Electrician” are stories centered in the lives of ordinary people—the first story set in the U.S. and the second in Pakistan. Compare and contrast the narrative techniques and themes of these two stories.
- Both James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible” are focused on the lives of two brothers. Analyze and compare the two stories, considering the writers’ techniques as well as the stories’ themes.
- Write a thorough explication of Bharati Mukherjee’s complex story “The Management of Grief,” exploring her intricate use of fiction techniques related to plot, characterization, setting, etc., and show how she weaves together these elements of the story to reveal her themes.
- Our textbook includes multiple stories by some writers (Raymond Carver, James Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, and several others). Write an essay analyzing and comparing two stories by the same author.
- Choose one of the “Casebooks” in Part Three of your text and use the materials in the casebook in order to analyze and discuss not only the story or stories, but also what commentators have written about these works. You do not have to agree with the commentaries that you use; your own views about these works should be in the driver’s seat.
- Choose any story in the text for which there is at least one commentary, and assess not only the story but also the commentary or commentaries on it. For example, you might read Joseph Conrad’s long story “Heart of Darkness” as well as Chinua Achebe’s commentary, “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness.’”
- If you are interested in film, you might add to topic #6 the viewing and analysis of Francis Ford Coppola’s stunning and disturbing film Apocalypse Now (1979, with Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, and Robert Duvall), which is based on Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” The NCC library owns a copy of the original 1979 film, and also a copy of the 2001 rerelease, Apocalypse Now Redux (and of course they are available from Netflix as well—dvd and streaming).
- Write an analysis of John Cheever’s story “The Swimmer,” in comparison to its film adaptation, The Swimmer, starring Burt Lancaster (1968). The NCC library has one copy of this film available.
- Compare Joyce Carol Oates’ original story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” with the film adaptation Smooth Talk (1985, Dir., Joyce Chopra, with Laura Dern, Treat Williams, Mary Kay Place, and Levon Helm). Our NCC library has two copies of this film.
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Creative Writing:
The Fiction, Poetry, Play Writing Workshop
English 313-GA Office: Y231 (Bradley Hall)
Prof. Barbara Barnard Phone: 572-7185 (x25648)
Fall 2014 E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
M, W 11:00-12:15 Office hours: T 10:00-11:15, W 9:30-10:45
S220 Conference hours: M, W 12:30-1:45
Turnitin.com class ID: XXXXXXX
Turnitin enrollment password: xxxxxxx
Prerequisites for this course: English 101 and 102. You must pass both English 101 and English
102 before taking this course.
Required text: Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft (4th edition), by Janet Burroway
(Pearson, 2014).
Online Resources: This is a web enhanced course. You will find some resources (including this syllabus) on our course web pages in Blackboard/Learn9. You are not required to do any work in Blackboard; it is simply provided as a resource. In addition, syllabi for all of my courses are available on my faculty web page (go to faculty.ncc.edu and click on my name).
Turnitin.com: You must submit your four formal written assignments for this course to the plagiarism screening service Turnitin.com as well as giving me a hard copy in class. I regret having to do plagiarism screening in creative writing workshops; however, I have had numerous incidents of students submitting plagiarized work in this course (e.g., stealing the poems of others from online blogs). See page 4 of this syllabus for Turnitin.com instructions. If internet access is a problem for you, you can use a student computer lab on campus to access Turnitin. Fairness demands that all students be treated equally. Everyone must submit work to Turnitin.com for plagiarism screening. There will be no exceptions. If you do not submit your work to Turnitin.com, I will not read it and I will not give you credit for it.
Course Calendar
September
W 3 Introduction to the course and discussion of handouts:
Story: “The Rememberer” by Aimee Bender
Poems: “Wind in a Box” (1 & 2) by Terrance Hayes
“Rhythm Method” by Yusef Komunyakaa
Play: Beauty by Jane Martin
M 8 Read: Chapter 2 ~~ Image (34-41). Be prepared to read a passage aloud in class
and comment on it.
W 10 Read: Chapter 2 (41-45). Select a striking poem or passage to read aloud and make
a comment on some aspect of craft.
M 15 Read: Chapter 3 ~~ Voice (69-86). Choose a passage; read aloud and comment.
W 17 Drafts Workshop #1 (bring your drafts of poems, or the beginnings of a story or
play, to read aloud and discuss in workshop)
M 22 Chapter 3 (86-93) Be prepared to read aloud and comment.
W 24 Assignment #1 due (poems, story or one-act play) and Workshop
M 29 Read: Chapter 4 ~~ Character (118-128) In discussion, read aloud and comment.
October
W 1 Chapter 4 (128-134) Be prepared to read aloud and comment on details of craft.
M 6 Read: Chapter 5 ~~ Setting (150-156) Be prepared to read a passage aloud and
comment.
W 8 Chapter 5 (156-164), and be prepared to read aloud and comment
M 13 Read: Chapter 6 ~~ Story (179-188); read aloud and comment
W 15 Drafts Workshop #2 (bring your drafts of poems, or the beginnings of a story or
play, to read aloud and discuss in workshop)
M 20 Chapter 6 (188-193); choose a passage to read aloud and comment on.
W 22 Assignment #2 due (poems, story or one-act play) and Workshop
M 27 Chapter 9 ~~ Fiction (270-285); be prepared to read a poem or passage aloud and
comment.
W 29 Read: Chapter 9 (285-293) be prepared to read a poem or passage aloud and
comment.
November
M 3 Read: Chapter 10 ~~ Poetry (318-321) Suggest a passage and discuss craft.
W 5 Chapter 10 (322-326) Point out a passage and discuss.
M 10 Drafts Workshop #3 (bring your drafts of poems, or the beginnings of a story or
play, to read aloud and discuss in workshop)
W 12 Chapter 11 ~~ Drama (341-356) Which play did you find most interesting? Why?
M 17 Assignment #3 due (poems, story or one-act play) and Workshop
W 19 Chapter 11 (356-366). Each person must read a passage and comment on craft.
M 24 Day classes follow a Thursday schedule.
W 26 Day classes follow a Friday schedule.
December
M 1 Graphic storytelling:
Alison Bechdel, “Old Father, Old Artificer” from Fun Home (handout)
Art Spiegelman, “Prisoner on the Hell Planet: A Case History” (handout)
W 3 Chapter 7 ~~ Revision (211-223). Come prepared to comment on the examples.
M 8 Drafts Workshop #4 (bring your ideas for revision of a group of poems, or a story
or one-act play—read aloud and discuss in workshop)
W 10 Chapter 8 ~~ Creative Nonfiction (245-255). Read a passage aloud, and discuss.
M 15 Assignment #4 due (revised poems, story or play) and Workshop
W 17 Workshop continued
M 22 Conferences in my office
Course requirements and information
Attendance and participation: Creative Writing is a seminar course, not a lecture course. For students, this means more expressive freedom, but it also means that you share more responsibility for your own learning and for the success of the course. Each student is expected to be well-prepared for class and to participate in every class discussion. You will need not only to do the reading but also to consider thoughtfully what you have read.
Excessive absences (more than four) can seriously lower your grade for the course. Chronic lateness will have a detrimental effect on your grade (two “lates” equal an absence), and extreme absence problems will result in a loss of credit for the course (a grade of UW or F). On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation in class discussion are essential for those who seek to earn the higher grades. The workshops are the heart of any creative writing seminar. Your contribution to these discussions (in the form of your own work that you share and also the thoughtful assistance you give to classmates in helping them develop their creative ideas) is essential, and you will receive a separate letter grade for your workshop participation. You will also earn a separate letter grade for your attendance and participation in discussion of assigned readings. These two participation grades (one for workshops, one for attendance and discussion of readings) will be averaged together equally with your four grades for written work in calculating your grade for the course. Please note that class participation therefore constitutes one third of your final grade.
Written work – 4 major assignments (stories, poems, plays): You will submit four major written assignments for grading: three original works of poetry, fiction and/or drama (Assignments #1, 2, and 3), and one major revision of work previously submitted (Assignment #4). You are free to choose which genre or genres you wish to work in. This course is a creative writing workshop. You must have your works-in-progress as well as your completed original works discussed by the class in order to receive a passing grade for the course. Our goal in workshop discussion will be to explore and appreciate one another's writing and to provide constructive suggestions for each writer. To this end, you will be bringing copies of your work for your fellow writers to make comments on during workshops. Length: You may bring any number or length of poems to workshop, but when submitting poems to me for a graded assignment, two or three poems (or their equivalent) would be expected. A finished short story should be l,000 words or more (at least four pages, typed, double-spaced). A finished one-act play (or scene from a longer play) should be at least four pages typed, in dramatic format. For all of your classes, be sure to keep a copy of any work that you submit. Lateness: Any assignment submitted after the due date will be dropped one half of a letter grade for lateness during the week following the due date, and an additional half of a letter grade for any subsequent week/s of lateness. This policy is intended to help you stay on schedule; otherwise, the work will pile up on you in the latter half of the semester.
REQUIRED--Turnitin.com: You must submit Assignments #1, #2, #3, and #4 (your finished stories, poems, or plays) to Turnitin.com (the plagiarism checking service) in addition to giving me a hard copy in class. Submit both the hard copy to me and the online copy to Turnitin.com on or before the due date for the assignment. Your work will not be graded until you both submit electronically and provide a hard copy. If the work is submitted late in either of these forms, then it is a late assignment. Registering for Turnitin.com: Go to the Turnitin.com home page. Click on the “Create Account” link to the left of the login button. Use the access numbers for your class that appear at the top of this syllabus in order to set up your access to this course on Turnitin.com. If you already have a Turnitin account, you can use the access numbers to register for this course within your existing account.
Duplicating your poems, stories and/or one-act plays for workshop discussion: You’ll get the best feedback if you provide copies for your fellow writers so that they can see your work in print and respond to your work in detail, rather than just responding vaguely to a reading aloud. Also, I do make note of who provides copies for discussion, as this contributes to the quality of the discussion and to your development as a writer. I recommend that you bring copies of your work to distribute to the class for all of your assignments, but you are required to distribute copies for at least one of your workshops.
Grading: I will average together equally your four grades for written assignments (Assignments #1-4) with your two grades for class participation. Thus you will have six letter grades to be averaged together equally. Please note that class participation constitutes one third of your final grade. To receive a passing grade, you must attend class faithfully and you must participate. When submitting rewrites for Assignment #4, you must attach the previous, graded assignment, since the rewrite grade depends upon how effectively you have revised and expanded your earlier work. I will not accept any Assignment #4 rewrite that is not accompanied by the previous graded draft. If you wish, you may do a fourth original work for Assn. #4, rather than a rewrite. Lastly, please review the college’s new policy on withdrawals. If you stop attending a class and you have not submitted a withdrawal form to the Registrar’s office, you will receive the grade of F or UW (unauthorized withdrawal). The UW grade is averaged into your GPA as an F grade. This is now the college’s policy for all of your courses.
Accommodations and Learning Differences: If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned coursework, I urge you to contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD), Building U (516-572-7241, TTY 516-572-7617). The counselors at CSD will review your concerns and determine reasonable accommodations you are entitled to by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All information and documentation pertaining to personal disabilities will be kept confidential.
Poetry Writing
English 318-TA Prof. Barbara Barnard
Summer Session II, 2007 Office: Y231
M-Th 12:10-2:05 Phone: 572-9778
Room G223 E-mail: Barbara.Barnard@ncc.edu
Required text: Open Roads: Exercises in Writing Poetry by Diane Thiel (Pearson Longman,
2005).
Course Calendar
July
M 2 Introduction to the course and discussion of poems (handout):
T 3 Read: Introduction, #1 Points of Inspiration, and #2 Voice and tone (1-18), and:
Miller Williams, “The Curator” (219)
Theodore Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz (206)
Judith Ortiz Cofer, “Quinceañera” (166)
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Don’t Let That Horse Eat That Violin” (174)
Elizabeth Bishop, “One Art” (161)
Wendy Cope, “Lonely Hearts” (167)
Diane Thiel, “Memento Mori in Middle School” (213)
W 4 Independence Day – college holiday
Th 5 Draft Workshop (bring your draft of a poem to distribute, read aloud and discuss in
workshop; remember to bring copies for all)
F 6 Classes meet on a Wednesday schedule
Workshop continued; discussion of handouts
M 9 Read: #3 Perspective, Point of View, and Distance, and #4 Selecting Details (19-
26), and
Craig Raine, “A Martian Sends a Postcard Home” (202)
Hart Crane, “My Grandmother’s Love Letters” (168)
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, “She Promises to Hold a Secret in Confidence” (209)
William Stafford, “Traveling through the Dark” (210)
T 10 Read: #5 Image and Symbol and #6 Figurative Language, and
April Lindner, “Spice” (195)
William Butler Yeats, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” (225)
Marianne Moore, “Poetry” (197)
W.H. Auden, “Musée des Beaux Arts” (160)
William Carlos Williams, “The Dance” (222)
Richard Wilbur, “The Writer” (218)
Wallace Stevens, “Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock” (211)
John Ashbery, “Paradoxes and Oxymorons” (159)
Robert Frost, Poetic Metaphor from “Education by Poetry” (178)
Richard Wilbur, “The Writer” (218)
W 11 Read: #7 Diction, and #8 Drawing Tension, and
Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky” (165)
Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken” (176)
William Stafford, “Traveling through the Dark” (210)
Nikos Kavadias, “A Knife” (188)
Edwin Arlington Robinson, “Richard Cory” (205)
Th 12 Assignment #1 due, and Workshop (bring copies for all)
M 16 Read: #9 Sound & Rhythm, and #10 Speaker and Dialogue (55-64), and
William Butler Yeats, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” (225)
Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess” (162)
and reread the poems that Thiel suggests revisiting
T 17 Read #11 Conversations between Texts, and #12 Performing the Poem: Reading,
Slam, Performance (65-74), and
R.S. Gwynn, “Shakespearean Sonnet” (181)
William Burler Yeats, “The Stolen Child” (223)
Michael Harper, “Dear John, Dear Coltrane” (185)
Edwin Arlington Robinson, “Richard Cory” (205)
Paul Simon, “Richard Cory” (208)
Dudley Randall, “Ballad of Birmingham” (204)
W 18 Read: #13 Revision, and #14 Free Verse: Origins and Seasons (75-91), and
Carolyn Forché, “The Colonel” (175)
Walt Whitman, “When I Heard the Learned Astronomer” (217)
Th 19 Assignment #2 due, and Workshop (bring copies of your poems)
M 23 Read: #15 Making and Breaking the Line, and #16 Parallel Structures (93-97), and
Sherman Alexie, “Indian Education” (151)
William Carlos Williams, “The Dance” (222)
Joy Harjo, “She Had Some Horses” (183)
Sherman Alexie and Diane Thiel, “A Conversation with Sherman Alexie” (152)
T 24 Read: #17 Stanzas, and #18 Rhythm and Refrain (99-106), and
Yusef Komunyakaa, “Rhythm Method” (191)
Alfonsina Storni, “Ancestral Burden” (212)
Naomi Shihab Nye, “Famous” (201)
W 25 Read: #19 Hearing the Beat: Using Meter, and #20 Trochaic Meter and Spells
(105-116), and
Review the poems listed on page 105
Th 26 Assignment #3 due, and Workshop (bring copies of your poems)
M 30 Read: #21 Committing a Rhyme, and #22 Forms from Various Cultures and
Traditions (117-147), and
Marilyn Nelson, “Chosen” (200)
William Shakespeare, “When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes” (207)
Dana Gioia, “My Confessional Sestina” (179)
Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask” (169)
Gerry Cambridge, “Goldfinch in Spring” (164)
Frederick Morgan, “1904” (199)
Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, “Pantoum for Chinese Women” (193)
John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (189)
Donald Hall, “Names of Horses” (182)
César Vallejo, “To My Brother Miguel” (215)
David Mason, “Acrostic from Aegina” (196)
Carolyn Beard Whitlow, “Rockin’ a Man Stone Blind” (216)
Langston Hughes, “The Weary Blues” (187)
T 31 Continue discussion of #22, and begin final workshops.
August
W 1 Assignment #4 due (revised poems--optional) and Workshop (bring copies)
In-class Readings or Performance of finished work, and
Submit work in any genre for Luna magazine (include your contact
information—name, address, email, phone—on each piece of work, and bring a copy on a CD-Rom or floppy disc)
Th 2 Conferences/distribution of grades
Course Requirements and Information
Attendance and participation: Poetry Writing is a workshop/seminar course, not a lecture course. For students, this means more expressive freedom, but it also means that you share more responsibility for the success of the course. Each student is expected to be well-prepared for class and to participate in every class discussion. You will need not only to do the reading but also to consider thoughtfully what you have read.
Excessive absences (more than two, in this summer section) can seriously lower your grade for the course. Chronic lateness will have a detrimental effect on your grade (two “lates” equal an absence), and extreme absence problems will result in a loss of credit for the course. On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation in class discussion are essential for those who seek to earn the higher grades. The workshops are the heart of any creative writing seminar. Your contribution to these discussions (in the form of your own work that you share and also the thoughtful assistance you give to classmates in helping them develop their mastery of the craft) is essential, and you will receive a separate letter grade for your workshop participation. You will also be awarded a separate letter grade for your attendance and participation in discussion of assigned readings. These two participation grades (one for workshops, one for attendance and discussion of readings) will be averaged together equally with your three or four grades for written work in calculating your grade for the course. Please note that class participation thus constitutes one third of your final grade.
Written work: You will submit at least three written assignments for grading: three groups of original poems, and one (optional) group of revisions (of work previously submitted). This course is a creative writing workshop. You must have your completed original work discussed by the class in order to receive a passing grade for the course. Our goal in workshop discussion will be to explore and appreciate one another's writing and to provide constructive suggestions for each writer. To this end, you will be bringing copies of your work for your fellow writers to make comments on during workshops. Length: You may bring any number or length of poems to workshop, but when submitting poems for a graded assignment, two or three poems (or their equivalent) would be expected. For all of your classes, be sure to keep a copy of any work that you submit. Lateness: Any assignment submitted after the due date will be dropped one third of a letter grade for lateness during the week following the due date, and an additional third of a letter grade for any subsequent week/s of lateness. This policy is intended to help you stay on schedule; otherwise, the work will pile up on you in the latter part of the term.
Duplicating your poems for Workshop Discussion: You will bring copies of your work for the workshop. You will get the best feedback if you distribute your copies one class period before your work is to be discussed, since the class will then have time to read your poems in advance of the workshop date and make notes and comments for you on their copies. If it is not possible to hand your work out in advance, then bring your copies to the workshop to distribute before you read aloud. Your fellow writers should note written comments on your copies and return them to you.
Submitting work to Luna: Luna is your award-winning student literary magazine, publishing poetry, fiction, drama, artwork and photography by NCC students. I hope that you will all submit work to Luna, in any genre or genres you wish (fiction, poetry, brief plays, photographs or reproductions of art work). Submissions can simply be given to me, as I am a faculty advisor to the magazine. The student editors of the magazine will decide which works they will accept for publication in the next issue of Luna. We also need Luna editors for the next issue. If you wish to work on the magazine, you may be able to earn academic credit as an intern (if academically qualified). There is also some student aide money available to compensate qualified Luna editors. Let me know if you are interested. Whether you want to work on the magazine or not, please do submit your creative work for the next issue. This is an opportunity to see your work in print! I will bring in copies of the Spring 2007 issue of Luna for the class to peruse.
Grading: I will average together equally your three (or four) grades for assignments and your two grades for class participation. Thus you will have five (or six) letter grades to be averaged together equally. Please note that class participation constitutes one third of your final grade. When submitting rewrites for Assignment #4, you must attach the previous, graded drafts, since the rewrite grade depends upon how effectively you have revised your earlier work.
Plagiarism note: Unfortunately, I have recently received plagiarized work in two creative writing workshops; therefore, I must add this warning: Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarized work will receive the grade of F and may not be rewritten. A second incidence of plagiarism will result in an automatic F for the course and notification of the Dean of Students.
Accommodations and learning differences: If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned coursework, I urge you to contact the staff at the Center for Students With Disabilities, Bldg. U (behind the old College Union), 572-7241. TTY 572-7617. CSD will review your concerns and determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation are confidential.