1102 Syllabus, Fall 2009

English Composition 2

Dr. Gerald R. Lucas • 81545 ENGL 1102.15 MW 12:30-1:45 H/SS-118

Welcome to English Composition 2

The objectives ENGL 1102 concentrate on the interpretation of literature in an attempt to develop critical-thinking, observation, analytical, and comprehension skills. Prerequisite: at least a “C” in ENGL 1101. ENGL 1102 provides an introduction to traditional literary forms — prose, poetry, and drama — and an examination of other cultural texts, like film, music, and visual arts. This course will also introduce to students various approaches to textual interpretation, like reader-response, ethical, feminist, and psychological modes of criticism. Through various readings, forum posts, research activities, and instructed guidance, students will further develop those written and verbal skills begun in English Composition 1.

These books should always accompany you to class when they are assigned, as we will make heavy use of it in our daily discussions. Please do not come to class without your books: we need to reference them for class activities, in-class writing, and all aspects of our study.

Humanities Online You are required to have an account on Humanities Online, the server that will support all of your work in this class. As a part of this requirement, you should have access to a computer with Internet capability and a current web browser, like Firefox.

Required Texts • • •

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Vintage, 2008. Sipiora, Phillip. Reading and Writing About Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002. Shakespeare, William. Titus Andronicus. New York: Bantam, 1988.

Pen and Paper You should also bring an ink interface of some sort, as well as dead trees on which to take notes. Notes should not only reflect good listening skills, but in1

dividual interest in every topic discussed in class. You should not sit in class like you’re watching TV: learning requires active participation.

leave. In addition, I do not allow class discussions to be taped, so please do not bring any voice recording devices to class. You may use laptops unless I ask you not to bring them.

Electronics

Rated R

Materials, like cell phones, food, magazines, iPods, etc., should be left in your car. They are not needed for our class and should, therefore, not accompany you. I understand our contemporary need to be in contact with everyone all the time, but do not let this personal need distract the rest of the class. If you answer a cell phone in my class, I will expect you to

Finally, since class lecture and discussion will often touch on the controversial, this college classroom is not an appropriate place for children.

Exams

Writing

Daily Work

A midterm and a final exam will be given that will test your knowledge of the subject matter (texts, lecture material, and vocabulary), your ability to synthesize this material, and your creativity in going beyond the discussion and lecture materials.

To get you thinking more critically about the major works, you are required to respond to class readings in writing, usually once a week in the class forum. All writing should be thoughtful, refer to specific portions of the text, use the critical vocabulary, and cite using MLA citation method.

Regular class attendance, question posing, and active participation in classroom discussions are required. Participation, effort, and attitude will count significantly in this course.

These exams will include vocabulary, identification, and interpretation. All exam grades will be based upon objective knowledge of the material, thoroughness, depth of insight, precision, and originality.

These written responses will be posted in an online forum on Humanities Online, so the entire class can benefit from reading your thoughts. The forum will also give you a chance to respond to others’ ideas. Your writing in the forum should total at least 350 words per week. 2

Quizzes, other class activities, and homework assignments not explicitly outlined above will be considered daily work. Occasionally, I will give research assignments and other library work; these, too, will be counted as daily activities.

Course Policies

Assignments Your work represents you. Therefore, I expect everything you turn into me to exemplify the very best of your professional self. Please proofread all writing before submission.

Attendance Attendance will be taken at every class meeting. If you come in late, it is your responsibility to inform me of your presence that day. If you fail to do so, you are absent. Two tardies count as one absence. There are no “excused absences” in my class, but you are allowed to miss one class before your grade suffers. Each additional class missed beyond the allotted one will result in your final semester’s grade being dropped one letter.

Deadlines Late work is not acceptable and will receive a zero. Technical, computer malfunctions are not acceptable excuses for late work. Quizzes and in-class activities cannot be made up for any reason. Pay particular attention to forum deadlines; if you complete the forum after the due date, you will receive no credit.

Email The best and quickest way of contacting me is via email. Only use the email address that I provided on this document for class business: .

Grades Letter grades are based upon a traditional ten-point scale. If you would like to know your official grade, you should see me during my office hours or make an appointment.

Materials Course readings are an integral part of the class and should be brought daily. When readings are assigned to be discussed in class, please bring a copy of the reading (assigned PDFs should be printed on dead trees) with your reading notes ready to participate in the discussion. Do not come to class without your books and something to write with and on. Everyday. Seriously.

Plagiarism Any time you use ideas that are not your own — be they paraphrased or copied verbatim — in anything that you write, you must supply a citation in an identifiable citation method, e.g., MLA, Chicago, etc. Willful plagiarism will result in automatic failure of this class and will be submitted to the Dean for further potential consequences. Remember two things: If you use the language of your source, you must quote it exactly, enclose it in quotation marks, and cite the source using MLA citation style in all my courses. A paraphrase employs source material by restating an idea in an entirely new form that is original in both sen3

tence structure and word choice. Quotations and paraphrases must be cited to avoid plagiarism. If you use ideas or information that are not common knowledge, you must cite a source. Unsure as to what to cite, when to cite, and how to cite? Check your handbook for the best information. The professor reserves the right to use Turn It In, a plagiarism prevention service, to evaluate any written work submitted for this course. As directed by the professor, students are expected to submit or have their assignments submitted through the service in order to meet requirements for this course. The papers may be retained by the service for the sole purpose of checking for plagiarized content in future student submissions.

Special Needs Any student who has special needs should contact Ann E. Loyd at the Counseling and Career Center (478-471-2714) and fill out the appropriate paperwork.

Technology Competency Computer competency is an integral skill in any discipline. Students should be familiar with the general uses of a computer, particularly using a web browser. Students should be willing to put forth the effort to learn what they need to in order to succeed in the course. Please see me for additional assistance when necessary.

Schedule Overview This schedule represents the ideal outline for our semester, but it is tentative and subject to change. It reflects only an overview of readings and assignments, but does not always indicate other specific class session assignments or activities. See litmuse.net for the most accurate information on reading and assignments. This schedule is up-to-date as of August 12, 2009 2:01 PM.

Week 1 (8/17 & 8/19)

Week 9 (10/12 & 10/14)

Exam (12/7)

Course Introduction Sign up for HO account

Midterm Conferences

1-3pm

Week 10 (10/19 & 10/21)

Notes

Week 2 (8/24 & 8/26) Sipiora, Chapter 1

Week 3 (8/31 & 9/2)

Shakespeare

Week 11 (10/26 & 10/28)

Sipiora, Ch. 2

Shakespeare

Week 4 (9/9)

Week 12 (11/2 & 11/4)

Sipiora, Ch. 10

Shakespeare/Taymor

Week 5 (9/14 & 9/16)

Week 13 (11/9 & 11/11)

Sipiora, Ch. 7

Sipiora, Ch. 4

Week 6 (9/21 & 9/23)

Week 14 (11/16 & 11/18)

Sipiora, Ch. 6

Sipiora, Ch. 8

Week 7 (9/28 & 9/30)

Week 15 (11/23)

McCormac

Sipiora, Ch. 8 (Cont.)

Week 8 (10/5 & 10/7)

Week 16 (11/30 & 12/2)

McCormac

Catch up

Dr. Gerald R. Lucas

LitMUSE

Associate Professor of English

http://litmuse.net/

Email: [email protected] Office: H/SS-117 Office Hours: MW 11a-12:30p; by appointment Phone: 471-5761 Web: http://litmuse.net/

This sever contains all the information presented in this document. It also houses resources that go far beyond this syllabus. I would recommend that you spend some time familiarizing yourself with these. They are designed to help you help yourself to produce stellar work both in this class and those you will subsequently attempt.

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