LITERARY INTERPRETATION SYLLAWEB
ENGLISH 200-CAI
Instructor: Lynne R. Graft
Brown 326 -Phone 790-4030
lrgraft@tardis.svsu.edu
Office Hours:
after class and by appointment
Required Texts and Supplies
*If you have a reading comprehension problem or read slowly, you must build extra time into your study schedule to adequately read the material. Even very adept readers need to read literature several times.
Note regarding Spring Semester:
If you have elected this course as a 7 week class, be advised that
we do the same amount of work as a 15 week class in half the time;
that means the same reading, the same writing, in half as much time.
If you have reading or composition difficulties, certainly you should rethink
very carefully whether you should take a 7 week course that is both reading
and writing intensive.
This class is not often a lecture class. Rather, it is a writing-intensive, response-based exploration and sharing of ideas revolving around the study of literature. It is your responsibility to come to class having read your assignment and formed some preliminary opinions about it. Together we will explore, expand upon, and revise those opinions. You do not have to agree with me, the editor, or your classmates, but you must provide support for your own opinions. Fair enough? You will learn to do this and may be amazed before long that you now read differently, with greater insight than you did in the past.
Because this class has a heavy emphasis on reader response, it is designed with an electronic component. Spring Session students will be communicating online with the English 200 students of Helen Raica-Klotz. Using your e-mail address, you will make entries in your electronic journal which will be conducted entirely on-line. You will need to go to one of our computer labs to do this, or you could do it from home if you have a computer and modem there. Computer Services will give you the necessary software to enable your home machine to receive your e-mail if you have a computer with a modem. You will be part of a small group with whom you will dialogue all semester. In addition you will be part of the larger group and also have a direct line to me. You will receive hands-on instruction in using e-mail in a class session devoted to that. You will find your electronic discussion to be enlightening, liberating, and fun. This course is writing intensive and interactive. If you are looking for a lecture course where you do nothing more than sit back and take notes, you should look for a different section of English 200.
Evaluation
I will be leaving for Europe just before the course ends. Class will be held by full time SVSU English faculty, following my plans. You may receive a grade of NR; do not panic or call the Registrar. The Registrar is aware of my absence. I will return just as grades are being filed, around 6 July, and post your final grade. I may make it before the mailing, and I may miss it. This allows me to be the one to figure your grade. I will notify you by e-mail when the grades are posted.
You will have two tests and write two papers, each worth 20%, or a total of 80% of your grade. The papers and tests enable you and me to assess the depth of your understanding and the maturity of your insights. You will be expected to observe the conventions of acceptable mechanics and usage. This includes correct spelling! As a college student, you have been admitted to an academic community and must learn to express yourself in the language of that community. The prerequisite for this class is completion of or concurrent enrollment in Composition II , with a grade of C or better. If this is not the case, discuss it with me.
The remaining 20% of your grade will be determined by the quality of your written classwork, participation, and electronic response journal (as opposed to a hard copy journal). Only occasionally will I make specific journal assignments; your self discipline is required in this regard in order that you build lab time into your schedule and post an entry twice each week before Sunday, midnight. It is at that time that I record all responses for the week. It is best not to post both entries simultaneously just before the deadline. Separate is better, to generate response.
In the journal you should record your thoughts about the assigned readings, and also record new information you might have been inquisitive enough to seek out on your own. You should make an effort to dialogue with not at your group members, and call them by name. You may respond in the journal to controversies that arise in class discussion; you may take issue with me, with an author, playwright, poet, or with a classmate. Occasionally, you may even try creating your own literature: an essay, editorial, poem, play, whatever, providing the attempt is honest and not just filler. Make observations, ask questions, wax philosophical. Hopefully, the literature we study is going to make you THINK, and the journal will become a record of the level of your thinking. Your journal can raise or lower your grade by as much as a whole grade, depending on its quality and evidence of effort. Specific evaluation criteria will be sent to you via e-mail.
The electronic journal is required; it is not an option. A person who chooses not to post timely required entries will receive no more than a D in the course. Specific guidelines for entries will be placed in your e-mail inbox. Look upon lab time as you would library time. You must build time for it into your schedule. This may require you to make extra trips to campus that you had not planned on, but this is an aspect of the university experience that you cannot avoid. Planning a schedule which allows you time only to attend class is extremely unrealistic and ill-advised.
There are no late papers. For practical purposes, due dates must be strictly adhered to. Papers are announced well in advance and may not be handed in late for a lowered grade. Papers not turned in on time are not read and receive a grade of 0. If you are having difficulty of any kind and anticipate that you cannot make a deadline, see me in advance of the due date to determine if an extension can be granted. This cannot occur except in an emergency situation. This is in reference to death, earthquake, plague, etc., not oversleeping, all night fights with girlfriend/boyfriend, sudden onset of pneumonia, writer's block, etc.
If a paper is due and you cannot be in class to turn it in, you must somehow get it to third floor Science and fill out a Record of Student Deposit form with either of the two secretaries. Your paper will then be put in my office. Your other option is to mail the paper to me, making sure it is postmarked in a post office on or before the due date. Do not slide any overdue major papers under my door. This does not refer to homework.
Obviously, if you are not in class, you are not participating and will be graded accordingly. More than two absences in the semester will hurt your grade, and if you miss five or six times, you should expect to fail the course. These numbers should be decreased by half for a seven week course. You alone are responsible for obtaining missed assignments and class notes. In-class writings, however, are exercises in spontaneous writing or inquiries about assigned readings and cannot be made up.
Please be on time. Late entries are disruptive and distracting to your classmates and put you at a disadvantage since class begins with the direction for the day's work, and collaborative activity works best if you are there from the beginning.
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is academic theft - the use of someone else's words or ideas
without proper acknowledgement of the source. Even when unintentional,
the act of plagiarism has serious consequences. The SVSU stance on
plagiarism can be found in the Student Handbook. The University
has its penalties, including dismissal. I will fail any paper that
is plagiarized (partially or completely, knowingly or inadvertently).
Course failure would be likely. See me if you have any questions
in this regard before handing in your work.
If all this seems a bit heavy handed and authoritarian, please understand
that we all need guidelines in order to function effectively. As a reforming
procrastinator myself, I tend to build a course with that type of student
in mind. You should regard the classroom as a non-threatening, informal
and fun place to be. The class is a democratic community; all opinions
are respected and valued. It is my hope that you will feel an integral,
contributing member of the group and have quite a good time in the process.
I hope, too, that you emerge a more critical thinker for having taken the
course. The class requires considerable time and effort, but your new analytical
skills and appreciation of literature will remain with you.
N.B. : Any student with a disability that may restrict her or his
full participation in course activities is encouraged to meet with me during
the first week of the semester or contact the SVSU Office of Disability
Services, Wickes 145, for assistance.
LITERARY INTERPRETATION READING SCHEDULE
THERE IS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF FLEX BUILT INTO THIS SCHEDULE
WHICH MAY NOT BE APPARENT TO YOU BUT IS TO ME. FROM TIME TO TIME WE MAY
BE OFF SCHEDULE. KEEP YOUR READING UP-TO-DATE IF THIS HAPPENS SO YOU ARE
NOT BEHIND WHEN I MIRACULOUSLY CATCH US UP !
Week One .
Monday Policies &
procedures, texts, syllabus, journal, writing sample
17 May Read:
Chapter 1, "What Is Literature/" pp. 3-16
Write: Respond to all S & C boxes using loose leaf paper
Read: "The Reader's Role," pp. 17-37
Write: S & C, pp. 22, 24, 32
Read: Ch. 3, "Reading Literature Actively," pp. 38-54
Write: Prereading expectations for "Hills Like White
Elephants,"
p.41
Assignment: Get e-mail address immediately if you don't have
one at SVSU.
Wednesday Discussion & reading response
19 May
Read:
Ch. 4, "The Reader's Role," pp. 55-82; Ch. 5, "What Is Fiction?"
pp. 85-110; "The Necklace: by Guy deMaupassant, pp. 96-100
Write: Q's, pp. 93-4, 100
Assign: Fiction Paper, Due 9 June, Handout
Week Two
Monday
E-mail
Instruction in computer lab, P212
24 May
Formation of distribution lists. Form and name dialogue groups.
"Mary Jane's Last Dance" on-line discussion
Assignment to be done in e-mail and sent to lrgraft.
Read:The Yellow Wall-Paper" by Charlotte Gilman, pp. 294-306
Write: Card Report, "The Y. W-P." due 21 May - handout
Wednesday Card Report Due Discussion
of Maupassant and Gilman
26 May
Read: "Fleur" by Louise Erdrich, p. 373; "To Hell With Dying"
by Alice Walker, p. 384; "A Rose for Emily" by
Wm. Faulkner,
pp. 388-99; "Barn Burning" by Faulkner, pp. 388-399.
Write: Card Reports - "Fleur" due 26 May; "Barn Burning" due
28 May
Week Three
Monday
Memorial Day - No School
31 May
Wednesday Card Report due
- "Fleur" and "Barn Burning"
2 June
Discussion, activities, review
Read: Ch. 10 "What Is Poetry?" pp. 505-32
Ch. 11 "Reading Poems Actively," pp. 533-60
Week Four Fiction Test
Monday
Discussion of selected poems
7 June
Strategies and terminology
Video - Autry and Troupe
Read: Ch. 12 "Types of Poetry" pp.563-87
Ch. 13 "Special Focus in Poetry: Additional Reading Strategies"
pp. 589-631
Wednesday Fiction Paper Due
9 June
Discussion of assigned poems
Video - Olds and Clifton
Week Five
Monday
Discussion of assigned poems
14 June
Video - Theodore Roethke, Li Young-Lee, Gerald Stern
Read: Ch. 15, "Reading & Responding to Drama"
pp. 811-24
Trifles by Susan Glaspel, 824-46
Wednesday Poetry Exam
16 June
Discuss Trifles
Video - A Jury of Her Peers
Read: Hamlet, pp.969 - 1080
Week Six
Monday
Hamlet Webcrawl
21 June
DIWE
Wednesday Collaborative
work on Hamlet
23 June
Week Seven
Monday
Video - Hamlet
28 June
Wednesday Hamlet
Project Due
30 June