This course aims to develop student critical abilities and research skills through the concentrated study of one author.  The course, in particular, aims to familiarize the students with the work, life, and critical response to the author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his novel The Great Gatsby.

At the end of this course students will be familiar with the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald, in particular his novel The Great Gatsby, the aspects of his life that are relevant to his creative work, and be familiar with the critical debates surrounding his life and work.  As well, students successfully completing the course will have improved their research skills and their ability to write critically about a major American writer of the 20th century.

Departmental Grading Standards

Students and faculty recognize that the grade the instructor gives is a professional judgment of the quality of the student's submitted work and that grades are based on shared assumptions and expectations. At the most basic level, we expect that assignments will be submitted to the instructor on time. Submitted assignments are to be clearly focused and organized, with a discernible thesis statement. Generalizations and conclusions are to be adequately supported and, when appropriate, research documentation is to be well integrated and effectively presented. A formal writing style is required, along with proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling.  It's also important that students and faculty have shared expectations regarding the grading of assignments.

The grade of A reflects excellence. The A paper offers a well-focused and organized discussion appropriate to the instructor's assignment, reflects critical use of relevant materials, and demonstrates effective and formal writing requirements. Papers involving research and outside sources must demonstrate outstanding efforts to identify varied pertinent sources, to employ those materials critically in the text of the papers, and to provide error-free citations of those resources.

The grade of B represents an effort beyond satisfactory and indicates the paper was completed in an appropriate and competent manner and, in general, demonstrates a strong attempt at original and critical analysis, writing, and research. The B paper may contain a number of minor errors of grammar or citation, and its thesis or its conclusions may be undeveloped or too weakly supported.

The grade of C indicates that the paper was done in a satisfactory or appropriate fashion and represents the average work expected for university courses. The presentation is organized around a central idea with arguments supported by relevant examples. The paper is structured into correctly written paragraphs and sentences. Although fulfilling the assignment, the C paper may exhibit one or more weaknesses including, but not limited to, errors of punctuation and grammar, imprecise or incorrect word use, inaccurate or uncritical use of materials, occasional inconsistency of organization or development, and lack of direct relevance of the selected research materials to the topic.

The grade of D indicates that the paper may have a poorly defined topic or thesis, lack clear focus or organization, and contain unsupported generalizations or conclusions. Research support is inadequate, not clearly relevant, or improperly documented. A less-than-minimal research effort is evident. The paper may also suffer from numerous or major formal writing errors.

The grade of F indicates that the paper is not clearly relevant to the assignment and that its topic and thesis are poorly focused or defined. The paper may display inadequate organization or development, unsupported generalizations, and nonstandard formal features (including language usage, sentence structure, paragraphing, and so on). Research support is absent, inadequate, or irrelevant to the assignment.

Students are required to attend all scheduled class meetings and to participate in all classroom activities. In addition to this weighting of attendance, students are allowed only two absences (no questions asked, no excuse needed).  However, each additional absence beyond the two allowed will result in the significant reduction in the final grade for the course.  Students with more than five absences, in addition to the two allowed, will automatically fail the course. Students arriving to class after the class attendance has been taken will be counted as absent. Students arriving to class after the beginning of class but before attendance has been taken will be counted as late.  Two late arrivals will count as an absence. Please refer to the JCU catalog for the attendance and absence policies.

Spring 2012 Schedule

Tuesday, 17 January:  Course introduction. 

Thursday, 19 January:  In-class reading and discussion.

Tuesday, 24 January:  Lecture:  The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Thursday, 26 January:  Reading Exam.

Tuesday, 31 January: 

Thursday, 2 February: 

Tuesday, 7 February: 

Thursday, 9 February:

Tuesday, 14 February: 

Thursday, 16 February: 

Tuesday, 21 February:  Group presentations.

Thursday, 23 February:  Group presentations.

Tuesday, 28 February:   Group presentations.

Thursday, 1 March: 

Tuesday, 6 March: 

Thursday, 8 March: 

Tuesday, 13 March:

Thursday, 15 March:  Mid-term exam.

Tuesday, 20 March:  No class.  Spring Break.

Thursday, 22 March: No class.  Spring Break.

Tuesday, 27 March: 

Thursday, 29 March: 

Tuesday, 3 April: 

Thursday, 5 April: 

Tuesday, 10 April: 

Thursday, 12 April:  Term paper due.

Tuesday, 17 April: 

Thursday, 19 April:

Tuesday, 24 April: 

Thursday, 26 April:  Final class meeting.

Saturday – Friday, 28 April – 4 May:  Final exams.