Harford
Community College
English
102 Syllabus
Class
Meeting Time
Since this is an online
course, you must check the course website at least three times a week
to receive assignments, participate actively in posted discussions, and
read the posted “lectures.”
Required
Text
Kennedy, XJ and Dana Gioia. Backpack Literature. Longman Publishers, 2003.
Kennedy, XJ and Dana Gioia. Handbook of Literary Terms. Longman Publishers, 2003.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare. Longman Publishers, 2003.
Course
Prerequisite
Minimum of “C” grade in
ENG 101, English Composition.
Course
Description
This course focuses on
the critical analysis of literary genres, emphasizing poetry, short
fiction, and drama. Students will explore and analyze literary
works from various cultures through critical reading and writing
exercises, online discussion boards, and long essays, including one
research paper.
Course
Objectives
Through this course,
students will learn to:
1.
Communicate more effectively by writing critical compositions and
participating in class discussions (Academic Outcomes: communication,
critical thinking, information literacy, interpersonal skills).
2.
Interpret literary texts by supporting assertions with specific
references to the work and other relevant sources (Academic Outcomes:
critical thinking, information literacy).
3.
Define and analyze the elements of the short story: plot, setting,
characterization, theme, point-of-view, figurative language (Academic
Outcomes: communication, critical thinking).
4.
Define and analyze the elements of poetry: persona, tone, word choice,
syntax, poetic forms, sound, figurative language (Academic Outcomes:
communication, critical thinking).
5.
Define and analyze the elements of drama: plot vs. subplot,
characterization, language, theme, staging, comedy vs. tragedy (Academic
Outcomes: communication, critical thinking).
6.
Acquire a greater understanding and appreciation for our literary
heritage by reading and discussing literary works representative of
various cultures. As a result of literary exploration, students
will become more knowledgeable of the uniqueness of the human
experience yet grasp the universality of the human condition, making
students function more effectively as citizens in an educated society (Academic
Outcome: culture and society).
Course
Requirements, Due Dates, and Grading
Participation 5
pts Every
Week
Discussion Questions 15
pts Every Week
Fiction Quiz 5
pts Week
5
Essay on Fiction 15 pts Week 5
Drama Quiz 5
pts Week
9
Essay on Drama 15 pts Week 9
Poetry Quiz 5
pts Week
13
Essay on Poetry 15 pts Week 13
Research Essay 20
pts Week
15
Total 100
points
NOTES:
1) Our class week runs
from Sunday through Saturday. That means when an assignment is due in
Week 4, it is due by midnight of the last day -- Saturday -- of
Week 4. See the calendar for more specific due dates.
2) You are expected to
participate in the discussions at least three times a week. This
means posting at least two substantive, quality posts each day for
three days a week. I have posted Discussion Questions (DQs) to get
the conversation going each week. Your posts should comment on the
Discussion Questions of other students, ask questions or comment about
the readings that week, and generally contribute to the discussion. You
can contribute to the discussion all week long.
3) Your Discussion
Question (DQs) answers are what jumpstart our weekly discussions.
Therefore, you should post your DQs by no later than midnight
Tuesday of each week. Late posts will have points deducted. Post
your DQs to the Discussion Board, with your name and assignment number
in the subject line. EX: "John Smith DQs Week 4."
4)
Your
Papers should be submitted in the Assignments icon on the
homepage. Submit them by midnight Saturday of the Week they are
due. I will accept late papers, but points will be deducted.
Furthermore, while I try to grade all assignments in a timely manner, I
will only grade late assignments when I have time and according to my
schedule.
5) Your Quizzes should be completed by
midnight Saturday of the week they are due. Quizzes are NOT available after the
deadline, and there will be no makeups for quizzes.
6) All
assignments must be
formatted in MLA format, which means they must
be double-spaced with 1-inch margins on all sides. Use 12 point Times
New Roman (or a similar font). Your name, course title, date, and
assignment type must appear in the upper left-hand corner. For essays,
do not use cover sheets. Rather, the title should be centered and
underlined in the middle of the page after the info in the upper
left-hand corner. Skip two lines after the title and begin the body of
the essay.
7) ALL written assignments, such as papers and grammar exercises, MUST be completed and submitted as MS Word documents. That means that your paper must be formatted as a.doc or an .rtf document. If you do NOT have MS Word, you might be able to type your paper in another program, such as MS Works, and save it as either a .doc or .rtf document. Assignments submitted as .wpd or .wps or any other format will not be graded.
Navigating the
Course
The list below should help you navigate
and understand the course.
On the course homepage, you will find
several icons:
1) Syllabus -- this is the document you are reading now, which governs all the rules and assignments in this class.
2) Calendar --
although assignment due dates are listed by week (when something is due
in Week 3, that means by midnight Saturday of the third week of the
course), the calendar is there to give you more specific due dates (in
other words, Week 3 = August 11th , for example).
3) Communications
-- this icon takes you to your course emails, where you can send and
receive email from me or anyone else in the course, and to the Discussion Board,
which includes:
* Announcements board- check
this often for announcements from me
* Questions board -- post any
questions you have about the course here
* Weekly discussion boards
-- each Sunday, you will move to the next week's discussion board and
post your DQs, discussions, etc. Your participation
grade will be
based
on your posts in these discussion boards. They are
listed as Week One Discussion, Week Two Discussion, etc.
4) Assignments
-- This is where you can find more information about your paper and
grammar assignments. This is also where you will upload your
assignments for me to grade.
5) Course
Content -- Here, each week, you will find a new lecture for you
to read and use as you go through the course.
6) Quizzes --
this is where you will take your quizzes. Due dates are in this
syllabus and in the course calendar.
Writing Assignments
Consider the course to
be divided into three sections: one for each genre we will study,
including fiction, poetry, and drama. At the end of each section, there
will be a critical essay and a quiz due.
The Essays
on Poetry, Short Fiction, and Drama should be 3-5 pages each in
length, written to compare and interpret two works from the respective
genre. For example, you could write an essay comparing any two short
stories, any two poems, or any two plays from the text (you may choose
the works from among the many you will find in our textbook).
There
are several sample student essays in our textbook, which should help
you get a sense of what is expected in terms of interpretation of
literary works. Also, the "Writing About Literature" appendix in our
textbook (section A3) should also help you tremendously in terms of
deciding on a topic and what to look for when critiquing a literary
text.
The Quizzes
will be mostly short answer questions about the readings you will be
assigned from our textbook.Readings the lectures and participating in
the Discussion Questions will help you to succeed in these Quizzes.
The Research
Paper will be an in-depth analysis and critique (8-10 pages in
length) of a lengthy work of classic or modern literature, whether it
be a collection of poems, a novel, a play, or a collection of short
stories. The work you choose should be a work outside the text, and
you need to let me know what you have chosen by Week 6. By Week 5, you
should have your text in hand and should start reading and taking notes
on it. I have listed some suggestions for texts you might enjoy
below:
Novels
and Short Story Collections
The Interpreter of
Maladies,
by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Lovely
Bones, by Alice Sebold
The Blind Assassin,by Margaret Atwood
The Name of the
Rose, by Umberto Eco
Go Tell It on the
Mountain, by James Baldwin
Love Medicine, by Louise Erdrich
Love in the Time of
Cholera, by Garbriel Garcia
Marquez
Everything that
Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O'Connor
Reverse Negative,
by Nathan Leslie.
Poems
A Cold Spring, by Elizabeth Bishop
A Street in
Bronzeville, by Gwendolyn Brooks
Into the Stone, by James Dickey
On the Bus with Rosa
Parks, by Rita Dove
Howl and Other
Poems, by Allen Ginsberg
The Weary
Blues, by Langston Hughes
Selected Poems, by Galway Kinnell
The Ballad of the
Harp-Weaver, by Edna St. Vincent
Millay
The Colossus, by Sylvia Plath
Harmonium, by Wallace Stevens
Drama
The Cherry
Orchard, by Anton Chekhov
A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry
All in the
Timing, By David Ives
After the Fall, by Arthur Miller
Cat on a Hot, Tin
Roof, by Tennessee Williams
Instructional
Methods
The class will be
taught in several ways.
Online lecture: Each week, read the
instructor’s comments about pieces of literature, writing techniques,
literary terms, and concepts of literature. Web links, questions,
and other digital media, will be peppered throughout to make the
lecture more interactive and engaging.
Online discussion: Using this modern
instructional method, the online classroom, we will be having ongoing
discussions in a bulletin-board type format on the course Web
page. Both the instructor and your fellow students will be
providing feedback and comments in an open-minded, intellectual
forum.
Conference: Students
seeking help for their papers or journals are encouraged to make an
appointment with the instructor to discuss their work. Of course,
if you have any questions, feel free to email me at any time.
Students
with Special Needs
Harford Community
College is committed to serving students who have documented physical,
learning, psychological, or other disabilities. Students who have
a disability are responsible for contacting Disabilities Support
Services at 410-836-4402 to discuss their needs for
accommodations. All information shared with Disabilities Support
Services will be held in confidence.
Plagiarism
Students guilty of
plagiarism or other forms of cheating will receive an “F” on the
specific assignment and, at the discretion of the instructor, the
student may receive an “F” for the course. Be careful that a
well-intended tutor or friend does not write your essay for you or that
you fail to document the use of outside source materials in your
essay. Remember that the teacher wants to help you to express
your unique perspective and to develop your writing skills.
Simply using someone else’s words or ideas will not help you to become
a better writer. To avoid concerns about plagiarism, save all
your drafts to show your writing progress, and acknowledge ideas from
other writers through proper documentation.
Course
Schedule
NOTE: The
pieces of literature listed below are the ones that we will discuss
online and in tests. You are responsible for knowing these
thoroughly. In addition, read any other pieces that are included
in the page numbers given (particularly in the poetry section).
All page numbers refer to your textbook, The Norton Introduction to
Literature, Shorter 8thEdition.
Week
1 (this is an extended week)
Read Lecture 1 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Introduction to the
course
“What is Literature?” pgs. xxvii-xxxii
Section I: Short
Fiction
“Fiction: Reading, Responding, Writing” pgs. 2-14
Spencer Holst, “The Zebra Storyteller”
Elizabeth Tallent, “No One’s a Mystery”
Guy de Maupassant, “The Jewelry”
Week
2
Read Lecture 2 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Plot, pgs. 15-20
Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings” pgs. 20-22
William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” pgs. 425-432
James
Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues” pgs. 41-65
Week
3
Read Lecture 3 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Narration and Point of View, pgs. 66-69
Edgar Allen Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” pgs. 70-74
Ernest Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants” pgs. 75-78
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-paper” pgs. 537-549
Week
4
Read Lecture 4 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Character,
pgs. 102-107
William Faulkner, “Barn Burning” pgs. 495-512
Setting, pgs. 157-158
Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown”
Stephen Crane, “The Open Boat”
Week
5
Read Lecture 5 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Theme,
214-217
Angela Carter, “A Souvenir of Japan” pgs. 218-224
Richard Connell, “The Most Dangerous Game” pgs. 477-495
Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” pgs. 580-590
Essay
on Short Fiction due.
Quiz on Short Fiction due.
Week
6
Read Lecture 6 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Section II: Drama
“Drama: Reading,
Responding, Writing” pgs. 1016-1019
Susan Glaspell, Trifles pgs. 1019-1030
Submit to instructor the title of the
text you plan to write about for your Research Paper
Week
7
Read Lecture 7 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Understanding the
Text,
pgs. 1043-1050
Henrik Ibsen, A Doll House pgs. 1101-1153
Week
8
Read Lecture 8 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Culture as Context: Social and Historical Setting, pgs.
1473-1476
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman pgs. 1543-1619
Week
9
Read Lecture 9 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
The Author’s Work as
Context,
pgs. 1216-1222
William Shakespeare, Hamlet pgs. 1278-1382
Quiz
on Drama due.
Essay
on Drama due.
Week
10
Read Lecture 10 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Section III: Poetry
“Poetry:
Reading, Responding, Writing” pgs. 600-618
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How Do I Love Thee?” pg. 601
Seamus Heaney, “Mid-Term Break” pg. 610
W. H. Auden, “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” pg. 615
Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” pg. 615
Sylvia Plath, “Daddy” pg. 926
“A Poetry Casebook” on Sylvia Plath, pgs.
924-947
Week
11
Read Lecture 11 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
External Form,
pg. 793-796
The Sonnet, pg. 796
Gwendolyn Brooks, “First Fight—Then Fiddle” pg. 802
Stanza Forms, pg. 804
Marianne
Moore, “Poetry” pg. 805-806
Emily
Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for Death—” pg. 970
The
Way a Poem Looks,
pg. 809
E. E.
Cummings, “l(a” pg. 809
E. E.
Cummings, “Buffalo Bill’s” pg. 810
George
Herbert, “Easter Wings” pg. 812
Haiku, pgs.
878-882
Tone, 619
Marge Piercy, “Barbie Doll” pg. 619
William Blake, “London” pg. 625
Robert Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays” pg. 634
Kelly Cherry, “Alzheimer’s” pg. 637
Randall Jarrell, “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” pg. 727
Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” pg. 805
Read Lecture 12 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Picturing: The
Languages of Description, pg. 710
Gail Mazur, “Bluebonnets” pg. 711
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Kraken” pg. 892
Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est” pg. 911
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan” pg. 968
Robert Frost, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” pg. 977
Walt Whitman, “A Noiseless Patient Spider” pg. 1000
Metaphor and Simile, pg. 717
William Shakespeare, “That time of year thou mayest …” pg. 717
Maya Angelou, “Africa” pg. 894
Langston Hughes, “Harlem” pg. 908
John Donne, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” pg. 973
The Sounds of Poetry, pg. 743
Helen Chasin, “The Word Plum” pg. 743-744
Anonymous, “There was a young lady of Riga” pg. 751
Edgar Allen Poe, “The Raven” pg. 754-756
Words and Music, pg. 760
Bob Dylan, “Mr. Tambourine Man” pg. 763
Walt Whitman, “I Hear America Singing” pg. 1000
Week
13
Read Lecture 13 in the Course Content section on the course's Homepage.
Speaker,
pg. 640
Thomas Hardy, “The Ruined Maid” pgs. 640-641
Robert Browning, “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” pg. 647
Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool” pg. 658
Walt Whitman, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself” pg. 658
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses” pg. 995
Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess” pg. 915
Edwin
Arlington Robinson, “Mr. Flood’s Party” pg. 770-772
Language:
Precision and Ambiguity, pg. 691
Emily Dickinson, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes—” pg. 699
William Carlos Williams, “The Red Wheelbarrow” pg. 703
E. E. Cummings, “in Just-” pg. 704
Symbol, pg.
729
William Blake, “The Sick Rose” pg. 735
John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” pg. 836
Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken” pg. 977
Poetry Essay Due.
Quiz on Poetry due.
Week 14: Work on Research Paper this week.
Ask me any questions you have as you proceed with this paper.
There is no lecture to read for this week. However, you are still expected to participate in the Discussion Boards. You will have questions already posted there by me, to which you should respond.
Research
paper due by midnight Sunday, on December 14th.