E-mail:
Office phone: 334-3294
Office: Petty 01G
Departmental Phone: 334-5311
Mailbox: 133 McIver
Office Hours:2:30-3:30, MW
And by appointment / “At the core of the personal essay is the supposition that there is a certain unity to human experience.”
–Phillip Lopate
Course Description: This course is designed to further your understanding of the personal essay form and the history behind this form. Its focus is more on style and voice than on mechanics. In ENG 101 and/or 102, you should have learned elements of rhetoric and argument. This course asks you to look more at how something is said than what is said. (Although we will have ample time to talk about both.) / Course Objectives:
- Interpret and evaluate essays.
- Construct cogent arguments in your own voice and with your own style
- Demonstrate an understanding of the aims and methods of intellectual discourse
- Weigh evidence and evaluate the arguments of differing viewpoints
- Recognize the elements of style employed by essayists.
- Gain a general understanding of the history of the essay form.
Classroom Methodology:We will be reading, writing, and talking in this class. Reading will be centered on essays, from ancient to modern, and we will strive to form good reading skills which will help you deal with the more difficult texts. I will be asking you to write as you read, in the form of a reading journal, and you will also be writing essays, working toward refining your own style and voice. We will be discussing all of the essays, both published and written by you. Be prepared to both give and receive criticism. / Course Materials:
BOOKS
Lopate, Phillip, ed.. The Art of the Personal Essay. NY: Anchor Books, 1995.
MATERIALS
*A reading journal
*e-Spartan e-mail account
*Access to Blackboard
*Access to a word processor/computer.
Attendance Policy: Because this class relies heavily on classroom discussion, your attendance is expected at every class session. Since we only meet once a week, absences are doubly destructive. Missing more than 2 classes (excused or unexcused) is grounds for failing the course. / Academic Misconduct: Using someone else’s words or ideas as your own on any assignment is plagiarism. It is a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy as defined in the student handbook. Plagiarism is grounds for failing an assignment, or possibly failing the course.
(Check the Academic Integrity Policy in the Student Handbook: )
ENGLISH 223-02
Writing of Essays
Petty 310, 6-8:50pm
Classroom Behavior:- Have courtesy and respect for yourself, your fellow classmates, and your instructor. Avoid distracting or disrespectful behavior (eating, talking while others are talking, insulting others, etc.) Everyone has a right to his or her own opinion and a right not to feel threatened because that opinion differs with the opinions of others. Note that solid evidence and argumentative discourse are more effective ways of changing opinions than threats, coercion, or ostracizing.
- Turn off cell phones and pagers when you enter the door to the classroom.
- Sleep at night, not during class. If you sleep, I will ask you to leave, and count you absent.
/ Late Work: Turn assignments in on time (at the beginning of class on the due date), or they will be considered late. Late assignments are accepted solely at my own discretion. If tragedy affects your ability to turn assignments in on time, you should contact me immediately, and not wait until you return to class to discuss your situation.
NOTE: Reading journals will never be accepted late. You should bring your reading journal to class every day, prepared to turn it in.
Grade Distribution:
Portfolio of Essays 45%
Reading Journal 30%
Style Presentation 10%
Accountability 15%
Meeting With Me: We will meet once, before midterm, to discuss your performance in the class. However, you are always welcome to drop by my office during office hours to talk with me. If my office hours do not fit your class schedule, I will be glad to find another time that we can meet. / Formatting Your Writing: The essays that are turned in to me must be typed with the following specifications: Double-spaced, 1” margins on all sides, and a reasonable 12 point font (Times New Roman is best). All handwritten work should be written legibly.
Blackboard: I am planning on using Blackboard as an aid to all of us in this course. At the least, I will put all assignments on Blackboard, but I am hoping to also include other supplemental materials as well. Check your Blackboard account daily for class updates. Not having checked Blackboard will not be an excuse for missed work. / Students With Disabilities: If you have any sort of disability that could affect your performance in the class or for which you need accommodation, please contact me and/or the Office of Disability Services at 334-5440.
WritingCenter: The WritingCenter is a valuable resource for all writers on the UNCG campus, and I encourage you to use it for the writing assignments in this course. It is located in 101 McIver. It is open Monday-Thursday from 9am to 8pm, and on Friday from 9am to 3pm (check with them to make sure hours haven’t changed). You can just drop in, or you can schedule an appointment by calling 334-3125. I encourage you to plan your appointments a couple of days before the assignment is due to allow you to utilize their advice most effectively.
Important Dates (More to come. See Individual Assignments)
Monday, September 6 / Labor Day (No Class)
Monday, October 4 / Conferences with me
Friday, October 8 / Last Day to Drop w/o Penalty
Monday, October 11 / Fall Break (No Class)
Monday, December 13 (7-10pm) / Final Exam
Tentative Schedule Until Midterm
M 8/16 / First day of class. Syllabus and get acquainted. Whirlwind history of the personal essay.
M 8/23 / Have read “Forerunners” pp.5-39 and Montaigne’s “Of Practice” (e-reserve)
M 8/30 / Montaigne. Have read “Of Books” (p.46), “Of a Monstrous Child” (p.57), “On Idleness” (e-reserve). Essay 1 due.
M 9/6 / NO CLASS
M 9/13 / Have read Cowley (p.116), Addison & Steele (p.123-135), and Johnson (137-144). In class decide on future readings. Essay 2 due.
M 9/20 / Readings TBA. Essay 3 due.
M 9/27 / Readings TBA. Essay 4 due.
M 10/4 / Conferences with me.
M 10/11 / NO CLASS
translated by Charles Cotton
THE AUTHOR TO THE READER -
READER, thou hast here an honest book; it doth at the outset forewarn thee that, in contriving the same, I have proposed to myself no other than a domestic and private end: I have had no consideration at all either to thy service or to my glory. My powers are not capable of any such design. I have dedicated it to the particular commodity of my kinsfolk and friends, so that, having lost me (which they must do shortly), they may therein recover some traits of my conditions and humours, and by that means preserve more whole, and more life-like, the knowledge they had of me. Had my intention been to seek the world's favour, I should surely have adorned myself with borrowed beauties: I desire therein to be viewed as I appear in mine own genuine, simple, and ordinary manner, without study and artifice: for it is myself I paint. My defects are therein to be read to the life, and my imperfections and my natural form, so far as public reverence hath permitted me. If I had lived among those nations, which (they say) yet dwell under the sweet liberty of nature's primitive laws, I assure thee I would most willingly have painted myself quite fully and quite naked. Thus, reader, myself am the matter of my book: there's no reason thou shouldst employ thy leisure about so frivolous and vain a subject. Therefore, farewell.
From MONTAIGNE, June 12, 1580