ENGL 0133, Reading and Writing about Literature, Spring 2002

                Section 31: Tue/Thurs 3.00 - 4.30

Instructor: Ms. Ansari

Office Room: 387 B, Sturm Hall

Office Hours: Tuesday, 9:00-12:00

Office Phone: 871-2902

E-Mail:sansari@du.edu

Voice Mail: 871-4395

URL:http://www.du.edu/~sansari

 Purpose:

 Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s values. Literature objectifies an artist’s values and his view of life. When we read a story or watch a movie, we either identify with or reject the values dramatized by the artist. Literature helps us to concretise our abstract values. 

Reading and Writing about Literature is the third and final course in the First-Year English sequence. This course will teach you to critically read a short story, a drama or a novel and to write analytically about it from a variety of perspectives. At its heart, literature is the best expression of what has been known, thought, and felt in the world, and the study of it will require both your emotional and intellectual selves.

Required Texts:

1)      Kirszner, Laurie; Mandell, Stephen. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. New York: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001.

2)      Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. NY : Perennial Classics, 1998.

3)      Student's Guide To First-Year English.

Requirements:

1) Essay Assignments: You are required to write four 5-page essays. All paper assignments will be explained clearly in class -- in discussion and written form. 

·        Format for Assignments: All essays prepared out of class should be written on a computer or your laptop. Please proofread your essay carefully after it is typed and make any necessary corrections. Essays should be formatted using a standard twelve-point font such as Times New Roman. Leave 1-inch margins on the top, bottom and right borders of your text and 1.5 inch margin on the left. Double-space your papers.

·        Folder for Assignments: All essays must be submitted in a folder with pockets and with your name on it. Keep your graded essays in the folder and turn the accumulated essays in each time an assignment is due. 

·        Late Assignments: An essay's grade will drop by one-third for the first, second and third day it is late. (An A, for example, will drop to an A- after one day.) After the third day, it will no longer be accepted. 

·        Plagiarism: If you use another writer's words and/or ideas in your paper, acknowledge it and cite the source in your paper. If you commit plagiarism, you will fail the paper on the first offence and you will fail the course on the second offence. Please read the Guide (p.41) for more details. 

2) Editing Sheets: You are required to complete Editing Sheets for each of your papers. An editing sheet is due the class period immediately following my return of your paper.

3) Reader Responses: To encourage you to think critically about the material you will be reading, I will ask you to write a one-page informal response to a reading assignment.

4) Attendance: Regular attendance is mandatory. If you miss more than three classes, your grade will be lowered by one full letter grade. (see Guide, p. 57)

5) Conferences: You must schedule at least one conference with me during the quarter. A conference is for the purpose of discussing your writing with me in more detail than class time permits.

Assignments and Grading:

Essay One (5 pages)

 150 points

Essay Two (5 pages)

150 points

Essay Three (5 pages)

150 points

Essay Four (5 pages)

 150 points

Daily Response Sheets

 200 points

Final Exam

200 points

Schedule of Readings, Assignments and Activities:

Week 1

INTRODUCTION

T, 03/26

Overview of the Course/Concept of Art

Th, 03/28

Read “Thinking Critically” pp. 7 – 14 and “Reading & Writing About Fiction” pp. 44 – 48. Discussion of “The Story of an Hour” pp. 77-79.

 

THE SHORT STORY

Week 2

ROMANTICISM

T, 04/02

Read “Plot” pp. 72 – 76.
Discussion of  “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck, pp. 333 - 341
Response Paper # 1 due

Th, 04/04

Read “Point of View” pp. 195 – 206.
Discussion of “The Cask of Amontillado” by E.A.Poe, pp. 218 – 225.

Week 3

ROMANTICISM

T, 04/9

Read “Writing about Literature” pp.21-36
Discussion of “Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville, pp.520-548.
Response Paper # 2 due

Th, 04/11

Read “Symbol and Allegory” pp. 297-302.
Discussion of “Young Goodman Brown” pp. 303 – 314.
ESSAY ONE ASSIGNED (ROMANTIC STORY PAPER)

Week 4

REALISM

T, 04/16

ROUGH DRAFT OF ESSAY ONE DUE
Discussion of “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan. pp.594-603.
Response Paper # 3 due

Th, 04/18

Discussion of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Hemingway pp.260-264 FINAL DRAFT OF ESSAY ONE DUE

Week 5

REALISM

T, 04/23

Discussion of “The Disappearance” by Chitra Divakaruni  pp.419-426.
Response Paper # 4 due

Th, 04/25

Discussion of “Once upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer p.81-85
Response Paper # 5 due
ESSAY TWO ASSIGNED (REALISTIC STORY PAPER)
ESSAY ONE RETURNED

 

THE DRAMA

Week 6

ROMANTIC-REALISM

T, 04/30

Read “Plot Structure & Plot Development” pp. 1158-1162
Read A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, pp.1196-1218, Act I
Response Paper # 6 due
ROUGH DRAFT OF ESSAY TWO DUE

Th, 05/02

Read A Doll’s House pp. 1218-1234,  Act II
FINAL DRAFT OF ESSAY TWO DUE

Week 7

ROMANTIC-REALISM

T, 05/07

Read “Writing about Drama” pp. 1139-1142
Read A Doll’s House pp. 1234 – 1250, Act III
Response Paper # 7 due
Watch the Movie A Doll’s House

Th, 05/9

Watch the Movie A Doll’s House
ESSAY THREE ASSIGNED (DRAMA PAPER)
ESSAY TWO RETURNED

 

THE NOVEL

Week 8

MODERNISM

T, 05/14

Discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God: 1-50
Response Paper # 8 due
ROUGH DRAFT OF ESSAY THREE DUE

Th, 05/16

Discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God: 51-99
FINAL DRAFT OF ESSAY THREE DUE

Week 9

MODERNISM

T, 05/21

Discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God: 100-146
Response Paper # 9 due

Th, 05/23

Discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God: 147- 193
Response Paper # 10 due
 FINAL ESSAY FOUR ASSIGNED (RESEARCH PAPER ON THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD)
ESSAY THREE RETURNED

Week 10

MODERNISM

T, 05/28

Their Eyes Were Watching God,  “Afterword”:195-205
ROUGH DRAFT OF FINAL ESSAY DUE

Th, 05/30

Review for Final Exam
FINAL DRAFT OF ESSAY FOUR DUE

FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, June 4: 3.00-4.30 p.m (same classroom)