1
English 104: Approach to Literature
Spring 2012 / Instructor: Kristin Inciardi / Office: McIver 328
Mailbox: MHRA 3114 / Email:
Office hours: Monday and Wednesday, 11:00-12:30
Course Description: There’s a pretty good chance that if someone asked you why you like your favorite book, you could give him or her an answer. But have you ever considered how the writer put together his/her work in order to elicit that response in you? In this class, we will be looking at poems, short stories, plays, and a novel and discussing the conscious choices the writers made to create certain effects. You will discover that meaning cannot only be derived from the content of a text, but also its form. For example, writing a poem as a sonnet, with its very precise structure, is very different than writing in a looser, freer form—even if the subject matter is the same, the form can alter the mood of a text entirely. We’ll even analyze texts down to the line and discover how word choice, rhythm and sound add to the full meaning of a poem, story, or play.
Required Texts:
Aristophanes. Lysistrata. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2003. Print. ISBN: 9780872206038
Donoghue, Emma. Room. New York: Back Bay Books, 2011. Print. ISBN: 9780316098328
Kelly, Robert, ed. The Seagull Reader: Stories, 2nd Edition. New York: WW Norton, 2008, Print. ISBN: 9780393930917
Wilson, August. Fences. New York: Samuel French, 2010. Print. ISBN: 9780573619052
There will also be required readings on Blackboard. Please print them out and bring them to class on the day they will be discussed as listed on the syllabus.
Student Learning Goals:
- Demonstrate the reading skill required as a student of literary texts
- Identify and understand various characteristics of literature
- Learn to identify literary techniques, and to analyze the writer’s use of those techniques
- Demonstrate an understanding of the social and historical contexts in which literature has been written
Assignments:
In addition to daily readings, assignments include:
- Quizzes: There will be unannounced reading quizzes. There are no make-up quizzes given for absences. As long as you do the reading, you should do fine.
- Close readings: in 2-3 pages, you will writetwo close readings of texts we’ve studied in class. They are due March 19 and April 18. More instructions and guidelines to follow.
- Exams: There are two exams: a midterm, which will cover poetry and drama. The final exam will cover fiction and will be on the last day of class on April 23, as opposed to during the final exam period. The exams will include both objective and short answer questions, and we will spend one class session in review for each.
- Participation: this is defined as not only being present in class, but also actively contributing to discussion, and being prepared with the day’s course material. If you never contribute to class discussion, expect your participation grade for the semester to be no higher than a C.
Grading:
Participation15%
Close Readings15%
Quizzes20% (I will drop the lowest quiz grade)
Exams50% (25% each)
Attendance:
You are expected to come to every class on time, to have all the texts we will be discussing in hand, and ready to participate in discussion. You are, however, allowed a maximum of two absences, for whatever reason, without a grade penalty. These absences include both excused and unexcused. Further absences will result in a reduction of your final grade. If you miss four classes, you will fail the course.
You are, by state law, allowed two excused absences due to religious holidays, which do not count your total allowed absences if you plan to miss class because of your faith, you must notify me a week in advance in writing.
If you miss a class or have a question about an assignment for the next class, check Blackboard to see what is due, or check with me. It is your responsibility to find out what you have missed and to turn in work when it is due.
If you are more than five minutes late to class, you will be considered tardy. Tardiness will negatively affect your participation grade, as will leaving class early.
If you know you will be late or absent, please let me know. Obviously, emergencies and unforeseen circumstances occur. The more you communicate with me, the better off we’ll both be.
Electronics:
Laptops may be used in class only by students who have a note from the Office of Disability Services. Also, you may not talk or text on a cell phone during class because it is VERY RUDE. If I see you on your phone, your participation grade for the day will be a zero, even if I don’t call you out on it. The more you try to conceal that you’re texting, the more obvious it is.
Academic Integrity:
“Academic integrity is founded upon and encompasses the following five values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. Violations include, for example, cheating, plagiarism, misuse of academic resources, falsification, and facilitating academic dishonesty. If knowledge is to be gained and properly evaluated, it must be pursued under conditions free from dishonesty. Deceit and misrepresentations are incompatible with the fundamental activity of this academic institution and shall not be tolerated” (from UNCG’s Academic Integrity Policy). To ensure that you understand the university’s policy on academic integrity, review the guidelines and list of violations at I expect you to abide by the Academic Integrity Policy.
Any instance of plagiarism or cheating will result in failure of the assignment and may result in failure of the course. A second offense of any kind will result in failure of the course.
Office of Disability Services:
Students with documentation of special needs should arrange to see me about accommodations as soon as possible. If you believe you could benefit from such accommodations, you must first register with the Office of Disability Services on campus before such accommodations can be made. The office is located on the second floor of the Elliott University Center (EUC) in Suite 215, and the office is open 8am to 5pm, Monday – Friday. Telephone: 336-334-5440; email: .
The Writing Center:
The purpose of the Writing Center is to enhance the confidence and competence of student writers by providing free, individual assistance at any stage of any writing project. Staff consultants are experienced writers and alert readers, prepared to offer feedback and suggestions on drafts of papers, help students find answers to their questions about writing, and provide one-on-one instruction as needed. Located in MHRA 3211.
The Learning Assistance Center:
The Learning Assistance Center offers free services to the entire UNCG undergraduate community and is located in McIver Hall, rooms 101-104, and 150. For help with study skills, contact Erin Farrior, Academic Skill specialist. Telephone: 336-334-3878; email: .
Calendar:
ELT = Essential Literary Terms
SR = Seagull Reader
Bb = Blackboard. All texts that are posted to Blackboard must be printed and brought to class.
This schedule is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.
Readings are listed on the days they are due.
Week 1
1/9Introduction to class, syllabus review
1/11Origins of Drama, Tragedy
“Introduction to Drama;” “Realistic Drama” (Bb)
Week 2
1/16MLK Day – No Class
1/18Fences – Act I
Week 3
1/23Fences – Act II
1/25Comedy
Lysistrata – through page 50, and the chapter on Greek Comedy;
“Chorus” (Bb)
Week 4
1/30Lysistrata – finish reading the play, as well as the chapters “Athenian Democracy,” “Ancient Greek Warfare,” and “Athenian Women”
2/1Theatre of the Absurd
The Dumb Waiter –complete for class; “The Play-Text Since the 1950s;” “Harold Pinter” (Bb)
Week 5
2/6Theatre of the Absurd, The Dumb Waiter
“The Absurdity of the Absurd;” “Significance of the Absurd” (Bb)
NOTE: ALL POEMS ARE IN THE POETRY FOLDER ON BLACKBOARD
2/8Introduction to Poetry
ELT 13-14; 198-199; 204-205
“How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning; “Love Poem” by Linda Pastan; “Mid-Term Break” by Seamus Heaney; “After Apple-Picking” by Robert Frost, “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams; “The Fish” by Marianne Moore
Week 6
2/13Figures of Thought; Symbolism and Imagery
ELT 32-36; 83-89
“The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” by Randall Jarrell; “Metaphors” by Sylvia Plath; “Harlem” by Langston Hughes; “Song” by Edmund Waller; “Sex Without Love” by Sharon Olds
2/15Rhyme and Sound Patterns
ELT 210-222
“Daddy” by Sylvia Plath; “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks; “Leda and the Swan” by William Butler Yeats; “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke; “Tourists” by Howard Moss
Week 7
2/20Poetic Voice; Repetition
ELT 68-74; 98; 156
“Venus fly-traps’” by YusefKomunyakaa; “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning; “An Agony. As Now.” By Amiri Baraka; “Black Woman” by Georgia Douglas Johnson; “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas; “Pantoum of the Great Depression” by Donald Justice; “She Had Some Horses” by Joy Harjo
2/22Poetic Form: Sonnets; What is a Close Reading?
ELT 231-234
“Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare; “On the Sonnet” by John Keats; “Fallopius to his Dissecting Knife” by Eugene-Lee Hamilton; “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley; “Yet I Do Marvel” by Countee Cullen; “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay
Week 8
2/27Exam Review
2/29MIDTERM EXAM
Week 9
3/5Spring Break
3/7Spring Break
Week 10
3/12The Short Story
Plot; Character and Characterization
ELT 125-140
“Cathedral,” “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “Plot” (from Introduction to The Seagull Reader (SR)
3/14Point of View
ELT 112-120
“Everyday Use,” “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” (SR)
Week 11
3/19Setting
ELT 150-152
“The Open Boat” (SR);“Interpreter of Maladies” (Bb)
First Close Reading Due
3/21Theme and Tone
ELT 154-155
“The Yellow Wallpaper,” “The Things They Carried” (SR)
Week 12
3/26Allegory
“Young Goodman Brown” (SR); “The Man in the Black Suit” (Bb); “Allegory” (from Introduction to The Seagull Reader)
3/28Magical Realism
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” (SR); “End of the Line” (Bb)
Week 13
4/2ROOM – “Presents”
4/4ROOM – “Unlying”
Week 14
4/9ROOM – “Dying”
4/11ROOM – “After”
Week 15
4/16ROOM – “Living”
4/18Exam Review
Second Close Reading Due
Week 16
4/23FINAL EXAM