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Assignments: Paper 1 | Midterm | Blog Project | Paper 2 |  Extra Credit

E N G  2 5 5 – 0 1  A m e r i c a n  L i t e r a t u r e

American Dream / American Reality

Fall 2008  166450  RR209  MW  10:15-11:20 A.M.  4 Cr.

Ryan Davis, Clackamas Community College English Department
Office: Rook 233  Office Hours: M Writing Center 12-1 P.M., W 12:30-1:30 P.M., TTh 12-1 P.M.

Phone: 503.657.6958 x 5137 

Email: ryand@clackamas.edu

Class Blog: http://rdccc1.wordpress.com

Class Webpage: http://www.portlandwt.com/schoolhome.htm

Blackboard: http://clackamas.blackboard.com/webapps/login

COURSE DESCRIPTION  This hybrid class will focus on selected authors and works of modern American fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and drama.  The course will cover the twentieth century through the present, introducing various cultural, philosophical, religious, social, historical, and economic factors that contribute to the development of literature that we identify as “American.”  In our exploration, we will ask a variety of questions, including, but not limited to:

• What is Literature?

• What makes Literature American?

• How is America reflected in her Literature?

• Who are these writers of American Literature?

• Why read Literature?

We will approach the readings not only as individual works of art to be read creatively and enjoyed imaginatively and intellectually, but also as examples of the response of the writers to the unique experience of being Americans.  Prerequisites: Pass RD-090 or placement in RD-115; pass WR-095 or placement in WR121.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES To pass ENG 255, students should be able to:

• develop a set of literary criticism based on certain standard criteria

• express and explain their interpretations and judgments on various literary works orally and in writing

• examine and discuss the cultural, historical, and social significance of a given work

• demonstrate an understanding of basic literary terms and forms

 REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS

• Baym, Nina, ed.  The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. D.  7^th ed.  New York: Norton, 2003.  ISBN: 0393927423

• - - -.  The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. E.  7^th ed.  New York: Norton, 2003.  ISBN: 0393927431

• Fitzgerald, F. Scott.  The Great Gatsby.  New York: Scribner, 2004.  ISBN: 0743273567

• Morrison, Toni.  Beloved.  New York: Vintage International, 2004.  ISBN: 9781400033416

• Access to a working computer, printer, the Internet, an active email account with an appropriate user ID, and a WordPress blog ID.  Please check your email and the blog regularly.

CLASS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Attendance

• Any student with five or more absences will automatically fail the course.

• If absent, please obtain missed information from another student or the course blog.  Do not ask me what you missed.

• If you stop attending class and do not officially withdraw or talk to me, you’ll receive an F for the course. It’s your responsibility to take care of your college record.

Work Submitted

• All assignments must be completed to pass the class.

• All work written outside of class must be word processed, following all MLA guidelines.

• Please save your work in Microsoft Word, so it can be recognized by most computers.

• Please keep all work on your hard drive, a portable storage device, a CD-ROM, and in your email account.  Printer issues and lost work are not excuses.

Assignment Timeliness, Length, and Delivery

• Late assignments will, at best, earn a “D” (late = anytime after class on the due date).  There is no excuse for late work.

• Any assignment shorter than the required length will, at best, earn a “C.”

• No emailed assignments will be accepted.

Effective Learning

• A safe and civil environment depends on all of us, so please respect your classmates.  If you do not, you will be told to leave class.

• Please be on time so that you do not disrupt class.

• All cell phones must be turned off.  If you are texting during class, I will ask you to leave.

• No visitors in class.

• While literary discussion is mandatory, discussion of the way the class operates is unnecessary.  I have structured the course this way based on years of experience.  If you disagree with any aspect of the course, consult with me before or after class or during my office hours.  I will not use class time for disagreements.

Assignments and Grading

• Assignments (guidelines for all assignments will be distributed in class and posted online)

  • Email address/Blog registration:  By Friday of the first week, in one email, send me your email address and blog account information (register for a blog with WordPress [www.wordpress.com])

  • Reading Questions/Discussion Topics:  Each Monday and Wednesday, you will come to class with two typed questions about the assigned readings.  I will collect them, and they will help lead our discussion.

  • Paper 1:  In a three-four page paper, you will explore the influences on a particular writer and his or her work, discuss a work by someone we did not discuss in class, compare two writers or works with common themes, or focus on some other instructor-approved topic that interests you.

  • Paper 2:  Same as Paper 1

  • Take-Home Midterm:  You will chose two of many essay questions to answer.

  • In-Class Final:  You will choose one of many essay questions to answer.

  • Blog Project:  You will create and present a blog entry on an author, work, group of authors, or literary movement not fully discussed in class, using appropriate visual or audio aids.  Presented in electronic format, your project might take the form of a collage, sculpture, model, song, video, dramatic interpretation, dance, annotated bibliography, or critical essay (much like the Papers).  As part of the blog entry, a critical analysis of your topic is the basis for the majority of the grade for the project, unless you choose the critical essay (which is itself a critical analysis).

  • Outside Event Review (Film, Live Theater, Live Reading):  You will critically review a film, play, or reading (as the author or work pertains to class).

  • Online Writing:  A large portion of your grade is made up of reading and responding to online postings on the blog.  By midnight on Saturday of weeks 2-9, you must comment on/add to the discussion regarding the information I post.

• Grading

  • All assignments and final grades will be scored on the following scale:  A 100-90 / B 89.99-80 / C 79.99-70 / D 69.99-60 / F 59.99 or below.  I do not round grades up

  • The grade breakdown is as follows:

• 5%      Email address/Blog Registration

• 5%      Reading Questions/Discussion Topics

• 15%    Paper 1

• 15%    Paper 2

• 10%    Take-Home Midterm

• 10%    In-Class Final

• 10%    Blog Project

• 10%    Outside Event Review

• 20%    Online Writing

SCHEDULE (all readings TBA – dates subject to change with sufficient notice)
WEEK 1

9/29    Introduction

10/1    Introduction

10/3    Email address/Blog registration due via email

WEEK 2 - Timeline of World Events for our course

10/6    Native American Lit. / Literary Theory

            Norton, Vol. D:

                Black Elk 1193

            Norton, Vol. E:

                N. Scott Momaday 2764 / Leslie Marmon Silko 3082 / Joy Harjo 3127

10/8    Native American Lit. / Literary Theory

            Sherman Alexie "Jesus Christ’s Half-Brother Is Alive And Well On The Spokane Indian

            Reservation"

10/11  Blog reading response due by midnight

Here is the postcard I mentioned in class--the date of the photo is 1901.

WEEK 3

10/13  Asian-American Lit. / Literary Theory

            Amy Tan 3154

            Li-Young Lee 3197

10/15  Asian-American Lit. / Literary Theory

            David Mura "Fictive Fragments of a Father and Son"

10/18  Blog reading response due by midnight

WEEK 4

10/20  African-American Lit. / Literary Theory

            Langston Hughes 1511 & 2026

            Zora Neale Hurston "The Gilded Six-Bits" 1713

10/22  African-American Lit. / Literary Theory

            Lucille Clifton 2799

            Ishmael Reed "Neo-HooDoo Manifesto" 2844

            Alice Walker 3009

            Jamaica Kincaid "Girl"

10/25  Blog reading response due by midnight

Zora Neale Hurston

WEEK 5

10/27  Beloved / Literary Theory

10/29  Paper 1 due / Beloved / Literary Theory

11/1    Blog reading response due by midnight

WEEK 6

11/3    Beloved

11/5    Beloved

11/8    Blog reading response due by midnight

WEEK 7

11/10  Take-Home Midterm due / Hispanic/Latino-American Lit. / Literary Theory

11/12  Hispanic/Latino-American Lit. / Literary Theory

11/15  Blog reading response due by midnight

WEEK 8

11/17  European-American Lit. / Literary Theory

            John Dos Passos 1853

            Stanley Kunitz 2103

            Theodore Roethke 2133

11/19  European-American Lit. / Literary Theory

            Denise Levertov 2502

            Sylvia Plath 2698

11/23  Blog Project due by midnight / Blog reading response due by midnight

WEEK 9

11/24  The Great Gatsby / Literary Theory

11/26  The Great Gatsby / Literary Theory

11/29  Paper 2 due by midnight via email as a Microsoft Word or Open Office

            attachment / Blog reading response due by midnight

F.Scott Fitzgerald

WEEK 10

12/1    Outside Event Review due / Gender-Based American Lit. / Literary Theory

            Robert Frost "Mending Wall" 1390

            Wallace Stevens

                "The Snow Man" 1441, "A High-Toned Old Christian Woman" 1441, "Anecdote of the Jar" 1446

            William Carlos Williams "The Red Wheelbarrow" 1469, "This Is Just to Say" 1472

            Flannery O'Conner "Good Country People" 2529

12/3    Gender-Based American Lit. / Literary Theory

            Marianne Moore "Poetry" 1532

            John Cheever "The Swimmer" 2248                         

            Adrienne Rich "Power" 2658

            Raymond Carver "Cathedral" 2828

WEEK 11

In-Class Final, Monday, December 8, 2008, at 10 A.M. / Extra credit due in class

PLAGIARISM  According to the CCC Instructional Standards and Procedures, “A student who submits the work of another as her/his own or deliberately fails to properly credit words or ideas borrowed from another source is guilty of plagiarism.”  You must adhere to the following guidelines, borrowed from Clark College, regarding plagiarism:

What you need not acknowledge:

1.      Common knowledge. If most readers like yourself would likely know something, you need not cite it.

2.      Facts available from a wide variety of sources. If a number of textbooks, encyclopedias, or almanacs include the information, you need not cite it.

3.      Your own ideas and discoveries.

What you must acknowledge:

1.      Any direct quotation. You must place the exact words quoted in quotation marks.

2.      Paraphrases and summaries that provide background information, present facts not commonly known, and explain various positions on your topic.

3.      Arguable assertions. If an author presents an assertion that may or may not be true, you must cite the source.

4.      Statistics, charts, tables, and graphs from any source. You must credit all graphic material, even if you yourself create the graph. 

Purchasing research papers and submitting them is plagiarism. Asking another party to write a paper for you is cheating, and, in this case, will be considered plagiarism. Resubmitting or rewriting a paper from another course for a new grade without alerting me is plagiarism. If you are guilty of plagiarism, you will automatically fail the course.

Remember—if you have any questions regarding plagiarism—ask me.

SUPPORT SERVICES

• Writing Center: McLoughlin 112, writing@clackamas.edu, 503.657.6958 ext. 5310, http://depts.clackamas.edu/english/writingcenter/

• Advising and Counseling Department: Bill Brod Community Center, 503.657.6958 x2213, http://depts.clackamas.edu/advising/

• Dana Library: M-Th 7:30 A.M.-9 P.M. / F 7:30 A.M.-5 P.M., 503.657.6958 x 2288, http://www2.clackamas.edu/library/index.htm

  • Your last name and either your CCC ID or library barcode number will act as your password for the following databases:

    • EBSCOHOST (Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, CINAHL, MEDLINE and many more indexes)

    • NewsBank (The Oregonian and The New York Times [2000-present])

    • ProQuest (The New York Times [Historical 1851-2002])

    • First Search (Article First and Worldcat databases)

    • CQ Researcher

    • Access Science

    • NetLibrary

    • Gale Virtual Reference Library

Updated: 28 Nov. 2008