CHIN120A

READING IN CONTEMPORARY CHINESE LITERATURE

COURSE SYLLABUS

FALL 2017

INSTRUCTOR: XIWEN LU (陆熙雯)

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OFFICE: Mandel Center for the Humanities 120

OFFICE HOURS: M,3:30-4:30, Th 1:00-3:00, or by appointment

E-MAIL ADDRESS:

OFFICE PHONE: 781-736-2678

CLASS HOURS: Monday, Wednesday2:00PM-3:20PM

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A. DESCRIPTION

Despite of the course title, it is a comprehensive course of high advanced Chinese to help students develop their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Chinese to or close to the level of a well educated native speaker. Prerequisite of this course is completion of Chinese 105B or the equivalent. Students are expected to make speech or composition not only correctly in terms of grammar structure but also with abundant vocabulary and proper style. Most of the reading materials are unabridged authentic, including short stories by famous authors, political/social comments, movie critiques, journalist interviews, prose, short academic papers, etc. While there are still structure/pattern drills, intensive class discussions, presentations, and writing assignments are more emphasized.

B.OBJECTIVES

This course aims at further developing the students' ability to use Chinese in a more formal and advanced way. The priority of the course is given to in-depth reading of authentic writings in Chinese, with an emphasis on accurate comprehension, expansion of vocabulary, and development of the ability to process sentences with complex structures used mainly in formal speech and writing.

C. TEXTBOOK

On the Present and Past Comprehensive Chinese Advanced Reading I

说古道今 汉语综合教程 中高级 上

D. GRADING PLAN

Coursework will be weighted as follows:

  1. Class attendance and performance:10%
  2. Quiz:15%
  3. Homework:15%
  4. Writing: 30%
  5. 3 Tests:30%

Your recorded grades will be available for your review at any time on LATTE. Do remember tokeep all tests and assignments returned to youso that any discrepancies can be easily and fairly straightened out.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION:

Regular class attendance is essential in order to benefit from this course. Frequent cutting will doubtlessly lead to DISASTER. Anyone who has more than 4 class-long, unexcused absences will receive an "F" grade for the COURSE.

It is essential that students come to classes well prepared, as you are expected to ask and respond to questions and take part in class activities incorporating new materials learned. During classes, I encourage you to ask and answer questions. Voluntary class participation is expected;however, I will call on individuals in class from time to time.

Class participation “points” serve as a vehicle for determining the grade of a student whoseaverage falls near a boundary of a grade cutoff. Thus, students at a grade boundary may have theirgrades moved up or down depending on their class participation.

DAILY QUIZZES:

All daily quizzeswill be taken at the beginning of each class.Quizzes may focus on new vocabulary or content of the assigned reading. We are going to have quiz almost every class.No make-up quiz will be given without a doctor’s note. 3 lowest grades will be dropped.

HOMEWORK AND ASSIGNMENTS:

  1. Each homework assignment is worth 100 points. Any assignment which is not turned in on the due date will be marked down 20 points.
  2. All written assignments will be collected at the beginning of class.
  3. Please retain all graded assignments to guard against grade recording errors.

WRITING:

There will be four essaysdue in this course. The use of the new vocabulary and grammar, the depth of the theme, the formal sentences you used will be the standards.

TESTS:

All tests are closed book and closed notes. A formula sheet will be provided for each test. Laptops are encouraged, but can only be used as a typewriter. Students are expected to follow the rules of academic honesty in this class. Bear in mind that if you are absent without a legitimate excuse, the grade for test you missed will be zero. There will be no make-ups for unexcused, missed tests.

E. CLASSROOM RULES OF CONDUCT

Please make sure your cellphone is turned off during class and refrain from surfing the web during class.

F. SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESS

Attend every class session.

Arrive at class on time.

Prepare thoroughly for each class.

Turn in all assignments on time.

Be completely prepared to present on assigned day.

Listen quietly and thoughtfully to fellow classmates’ presentations.

Be prepared to ask questions when appropriate.

Before each class, you are required to:

  1. Work through the MP3 file that accompanies the textbook. Use it actively, not passively: always consider the meaning of what you hear and say. Successfully preparing with the MP3 will significantly impact your Chinese.
  2. Thoroughly read assigned course texts, and go over the assigned sentence patterns. If you encounter new vocabulary that is not in the new vocabulary list, look up the words in a dictionary. Sentence patterns are equally important; grammar is the glue that holds a language together. You are expected to answer questions from your required readings in class.
  3. Memorize the assigned vocabulary. Be sure you can correctly read and write the new words, the new words’ characters will be tested on a quiz.

Success in this four- credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, memorize new words, preparation for presentations and exams, group activities, etc.).

G. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY, CITING SOURCES, AND PLAGIARISM

You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures related to academic integrity. Students may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university. Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS - Library guides.

You are responsible for following the policies and procedures outlined at the following sites:

For Brandeis statement on Academic Integrity, visit and section 3.

For guidance on citing your sources, visit See also

For further detailed descriptions regarding plagiarism and citation, visit

H. DISABILITIES

If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.

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