Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EN 200-2"
COURSE NAME: "Introduction to Literature"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2016

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Shannon Russell
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 8:30 AM 9:45 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above
OFFICE HOURS: By appointment Tuesday and Thursday afternoons

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Presupposing no previous knowledge in particular of literature, the course deals in an intensive manner with a very limited selection of works in the three genres of fiction, drama, and poetry. Students learn the basic literary terms that they need to know to approach literary texts. They are required to do close readings of the assigned texts, use various critical approaches, and write several critical essays on specified readings.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
Students are introduced to the basic tools of literary analysis and appreciation and are asked to apply these to the analysis of a limited selection of texts from four genres: poetry, short story, drama and the novel. Students will also be expected to express their ideas through the development their digital literacy skills in a project to be developed throughout the course.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students should gain an appreciation of the basic means and modes of literary analysis so that they may apply these to later in-depth courses in English literature or other subjects requiring reading and critical thinking and interpretation. They will also develop some technical skills in digital humanities through the learning and use of tools for presentation of their writing and thinking.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments	Format	Local Bookstore	Online Purchase
The Norton I	Various	Norton	978-0-393-92339-1

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
3 Essays of 5-6 pages each.	Each essay should be 5-6 pages, double-spaced and typed, using MLA citation style and format.	10% each 30% in total
In-class poetry, prose and drama analysis	Five take-home writing assignments involving detailed analysis of poetry, prose and drama. The purpose of these exercises is to reach an understanding of literary terms and tropes, conventions, rhetorical modes, and narrative, dramatic and poetic devices. Students will be given a set of questions based on their reading and will be expected to spend no more than 2 hours answering these questions in short answer format.	25% (5% each)
Participation		10%
Final Exam		20%
One final essay and presentation in digital format	Students will be instructed in a digital tool through which they will present their research and information relevant to their final essay assignment. Students will make a 10-15 minute oral presentation of their digital project, summarizing their paper idea briefly and displaying the other media used in their presentation (video, visual elements, websites etc.). The essay itself will be submitted prior to its incorporation in the digital presentation and students will be expected to revise it before incorporating it into their digital project.	15%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the cou
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY

Attendance is mandatory. Students who miss more than three classes -- whether absences are justifiable (religious holidays, illness, funeral attendance) or not -- will be required to produce an additional five-page essay assignment to be arranged with the instructor and due no later than the last week of classes, to avoid an overall reduction of their final grade for the class. Final grades are reduced by one grade level (an overall final grade of A- will change to B+, for example) once absences exceed three in a semester. Should absences exceed six, students will be asked to withdraw from the class or will be required to do additional work beyond the extra essay assignment, to justify their participation in the course. It is advisable to notify the professor by the beginning of the second week of classes, if you know you will be absent from class for religious or other reasons. Two late arrivals count as one absence.

Exam absences: You cannot make up a major exam (mid-term or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until December 9, 2016.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Please see the Moodle for a more detailed syllabus including readings, discussion points, assignments, and supplementary material.

Week 1 WHAT IS LITERATURE?

Tues. Aug. 30

Introduction to the course and its requirements

"The Elephant in the Village of the Blind"

"20/20"

Thurs. Sept. 1 Reading Fiction

Read the Chapter on Fiction. Come prepared to talk about the graphic novel excerpt "The Shabbat" from Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and

"Cathedral" by Raymond Carver.

Week 2 SHORT STORY

Tues. Sept. 6 Plot DUE TODAY: Writing and reading assessment assignment

Read the two sample writing responses to Raymond Carver's "Cathedral". Consider those responses and then write your own short response (a few short paragraphs) in which you consider whether or not you think the narrator has changed, and how you know this from the evidence of the text. We won't be discussing this in class, but please hand this assignment in to me at the beginning of class. I will consider this piece as a diagnostic exercise that will allow me to assess your writing and thinking abilities. It will not count as an assignment for your final grade.

Read the section on plot in your anthology and Guy de Maupassant's "The Jewelry". Using the questions in Sample Writing Reading Notes found on pages 47-49 outline your responses to this story, and then answer the questions about plot found on page 66 along with the questions you find at the end of the story.

Thurs. Sept 8 Character

Read the chapter on Character in your anthology and do the exercise on p. 127-28 on direct and indirect characters. Then read “Recitatif” by Tony Morrison and “Good People” by David Foster Wallace. Consider the questions about character you find on p. 130 in relation to both stories. Then choose one of these stories and consider whether the characters tend to be more flat or round, static or dynamic, highly individualized or nearly indistinguishable? Is indirect or direct characterization more important in the story? Why and how is the author’s treatment of character appropriate to the story?

Week 3 SHORT STORY

Tues. Sept. 13 Setting First take-home assignment on elements of the short story due today (5%)

Read the chapter on Setting in your anthology, including the stories "The Lady with the Dog" by Anton Chekhov, Amy Tan's "A Pair of Tickets," and Judith Ortiz Cofer's "Volar." Consider how setting works in each of these stories. In what story is setting most effective for placing the characters and why? Could the same story be told as effectively using a different setting or is setting integral to its meaning? Give evidence from the text to support your answers.

Thurs. Sept. 15 Symbol and Figurative Language

Read the chapter on Symbol and Figurative Language in your anthology.

Read Nathanial Hawthorne's "The Birth-Mark" and Edwidge Danticat's "A Wall of Fire Rising"

Week 4 SHORT STORY (Make-up day on Friday of this week)

Tues. Sept. 20 Theme

Read the chapter on Theme in your anthology.

Read Aesop's "The Two Crabs," Yasunari Kawabata's "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket," and Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat."

Thurs. Sept. 22

Read Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"; Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies", John Updike's "A&P", Franz Kafka's "The Hunger Artist" and Gabriel Garcia Marquez "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings".

Fri. Sept. 23 (Make-up day for Nov. 1st) Training day on Flipsnack with librarian.

Week 5 NOVELLA

Tues. Sept. 27 FIRST ESSAY DUE (10%)

Short story discussion continued.

Franz Kafka's "The Hunger Artist" and Gabriel Garcia Marquez "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"

Thurs. Sept. 29 Introduction to the novel

Henry James A Turn of the Screw

Available On-line. See Moodle for link.

Week 6 NOVELLA

Tues. Oct. 4 Henry James A Turn of the Screw

Thurs. Oct. 6 Henry James A Turn of the Screw Second take-home assignment due today (5%)

Week 7 DRAMA

Tues. Oct. 11

Read the chapter on Drama in your anthology and Susan Glaspell's Trifles. Formulate answers to the questions that follow the play.

Thurs. Oct. 13

Read Ibsen's A Doll House

Week 8 DRAMA

Tues. Oct. 18

Ibsen's A Doll House

Thurs. Oct. 20 Third take-home assignment on drama due today (5%)

Shakespeare Hamlet

Week 9 DRAMA Make-up day on Friday of this week

Tues. Oct. 25 SECOND ESSAY DUE TODAY (10%)

Shakespeare Hamlet

Thurs. Oct. 27 Acting and interpretation of texts (presentation of a speech or scene in class)

Shakespeare Hamlet

Friday Oct. 28 (Make-up day for Nov. 24th)

Second training day on Flipsnack with librarian -- projects should be in process and should be brought to this session to be worked on in class.

Week 10 POETRY

Tues. Nov. 1 No class

Thurs. Nov. 3 Read chapter on Poetry: Reading, Responding, Writing as well as the chapter on Speaker, Situation and Setting, including all poems.

Week 11 POETRY

Tues. Nov. 8 Theme and Tone Fourth take-home assignment on poetry due today (5%)

Read the chapter on Theme and Tone and all poems in that section.

Thurs. Nov. 10 Language: Word choice and order

Read the chapter on Language in your anthology and all poems in that section.

Week 12 POETRY

Tues. Nov. 15 Visual Imagery and Figures of Speech THIRD ESSAY DUE TODAY (10%)

Read the chapter on Visual Imagery and Figures of Speech in your anthology and all poems in that section.

Thurs. Nov. 17 Symbol

Read the chapter on Symbol in your anthology and all poems in that section.

Week 13 POETRY

Tues. Nov. 22 Poetry continued. Fifth take-home assignment on poetry (5%)

Thursday Nov. 24 No class - Thanksgiving holiday

Week 14 Flipsnack presentations this week

Tues. Nov. 29

Flipsnack presentations due today (15%)

Presentations -- 10-15 minutes per person

Thurs. Dec. 1

Presentations continued and final exam review

FINAL EXAM December 3-9 (15%)