ENGL 106: The English Major--An Introduction, Spring 2010

M A I N * L I N K S

SUNY Fredonia College of Arts and Humanities ENGL 106: The English Major--An Introduction Spring 2010 Section 1: TTh 3:30-4:50, Fenton 176 Office: Fenton 265; MF 9-11, 3-5, TTh 9:30-12, and by appointment; 673-3856 E-mail: simon@fredonia.edu, brucesimon18@yahoo.com Web Page: www.fredonia.edu/department/english/simon/ ANGEL Space: https://fredonia.sln.suny.edu/default.asp

About the Course Web Pages

This web site is designed to help you get as much out of this course as possible--you can use it to find out what assignments are due and when, how your work will be assessed, how to use the course ANGEL space, and how to use the world-wide web for research, among other things. Please get in the habit of checking back to these pages to keep track of changes to the syllabus and advice on assignments, as well as to surf the ever-expanding list of links to interesting web pages related to the course. And please contact me anytime (see above for my coordinates) if you have ideas about how to improve these pages or the course as a whole.

I. Course Description

An introduction to the major areas within and current approaches to literary studies, including literary history, issues of canon formation, and the multiple functions of literature and writing. This 1.5-credit seminar introduces new students--first-years, transfers, and others who have just declared the English (323) major--to its goals, requirements, structure, components, and content here at SUNY Fredonia. It is designed to open the many different fields of English studies to new majors and to help students develop a context for the courses they may have already have taken and will be taking throughout their career as English majors at Fredonia. Along the way, we will explore effective modes of library research, strategies for using secondary sources, and important terms and concepts that are fundamental to literary analysis. This is a required course for the English (323) major.

II. Rationale

In ENGL 106, as in most courses offered by the English Department, the goals of the professional programs are integrated with specific course and CCC goals. Achieving these goals (described in Section IV below) will require us to foster academic skills and intellectual habits of reading closely and carefully, thinking critically and creatively, listening actively and attentively, speaking thoughtfully and concisely, and writing clearly and analytically--skills and habits useful to everyone, but of particular importance to future teachers.

III. Textbooks. The textbooks adopted for this course are:

M.H. Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harpham, A Glossary of Literary Terms (9th ed.)
Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th ed.)
Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories

IV. Course Objectives and Outcomes

ENGL 106 is designed to prepare students for their future endeavors as English majors and beyond. Students will develop an understanding of the history, purposes, and domains of the discipline of English studies and of the current goals, requirements, structure, components, and content of the English major at SUNY Fredonia. They will use this understanding to reflect on their goals in the major, at Fredonia, and beyond. To achieve this, students will

read, think about, and generate questions about the assigned readings, guest lectures, and campus events they attended (SLO #1: "English majors will read attentively, closely, and critically");
exchange and discuss their questions on their course ANGEL site and in the classroom (SLO #1 and #2: "English majors will write thoughtfully, coherently, and persuasively");
research and write an annotated bibliography to practice research in and gain a broader perspective on the discipline (SLO #2 and #3: "English majors will develop and challenge their own thinking through scholarly research");
write a critical essay to practice writing in the discipline (SLO #2);
write a final reflection/learning analysis essay that integrates what they have learned in the course (SLO #2).

V. Instructional Methods and Activities

The methods used in the classroom will include lecture, in-class writing, guided discovery, open discussion, cooperative group work, and other student-centered and learning-centered activities.

VI. Evaluation and Grade Assignment

A. Methods

Attendance/Preparation/Participation (15%). Regular attendance and thoughtful participation in class are crucial to your enjoyment of and success in this course. If there is absolutely no way for you to avoid missing a class, you must contact me ahead of time or soon after your absence, preferably by email. Even more important than showing up on time, of course, is coming to class prepared and focused. I expect you to read what has been assigned for a given date at least once by the time we begin to discuss it in class. This is a discussion rather than a lecture course, after all; although I will provide some context and background for our reading, the bulk of class time will be spent in small- or large-group discussions and activities.

Your grade for this segment of the course will be based on a combination of your attendance, the quality of your participation in class and on the course ANGEL space (described below), and your preparation, effort, and improvement over the course of the semester. As there is no final exam in this course, think of my evaluation of your preparation/participation as a different but equally important method of assessing your overall performance in the course. Due to the importance of attendance and participation, more than one unexcused absence will hurt your preparation/participation grade and each non-emergency absence after the second will lower your final course grade by a full grade (e.g., with four such absences a B+ will become a C+; with six, it will become an F). Please see Section VIIIB, below, for definitions of excused and emergency absences.

Online Participation (15%). The discussion board on our course ANGEL space will give you the chance to prepare for and extend our in-class discussions and, in so doing, develop your writing and critical thinking skills, demonstrate your engagement with the course material, and consider and respond to others' questions, ideas, experiences, and analyses. Here are some ways you can participate on it:

post a specific question about one of the readings;
comment on an interesting commonality or contrast in a group of readings;
pick up and develop a topic of conversation from our in-class discussions;
share an insight from a small-group discussion or activity that those outside your team didn't have the chance to hear;
introduce a new topic of conversation that you feel is relevant to the course;
connect materials you find in print or online to texts and issues in the course;
respond to someone else's previously-posted question, comment, idea, topic, connection, or reaction.

During the half-semester we'll be meeting, I will keep track of the timing, amount, and quality of your posts to the course discussion board, including the quality of the ensuing online discussions initiated by them. Your grade for this segment of the course will be determined by your total number of discussion board posts: 0-3 will earn you an F, 4-7 a D, 8-11 a C, 12-15 a B, and 16+ an A. The quality of your posts, as well as any extraordinary contributions to our online discussions, will help me determine your participation/preparation grade.

Annotated Bibliography (20%). I will provide detailed information on the annotated bibliography you will do this half-semester on the course web site at http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/simon/emi4/ab.htm.

Your grade for this segment of the course will be determined by how well you meet the specific annotation expectations, how well you apply and use MLA format, and how well your writing, organization, and formatting work (including diction, grammar, syntax, and punctuation).

Critical Essay (20%): I will provide detailed information on the four-to-six-page critical essay on the course web site at http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/simon/emi4/ce.htm.

Final Reflection/Learning Analysis (30%). I will provide detailed information on the five-to-seven-page final reflection on the course web site at http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/simon/emi4/fr.htm.

B. Grading. All work during the semester will be graded on a letter basis (A=outstanding, B=good, C=average, D=bad, F=awful) and converted into a number for purposes of calculating final grades. I use the following conversion system (the number in parentheses is the "typical" or "normal" conversion, but any number in the range may be assigned to a given letter grade):

A+=97-100 (98); A=93-96.99 (95); A-=90-92.99 (91); B+=87-89.99 (88); B=83-86.99 (85); B-=80-82.99 (81); C+=77-79.99 (78); C=73-76.99 (75); C-=70-72.99 (71); D+=67-69.99 (68); D=63-66.99 (65); D-=60-62.99 (61); F=0-59.99 (55)

Your final grade is determined by converting the weighted numerical average of the above assignments into a letter grade, according to the above scale.

C. Portfolio. English majors should be aware of the English department's guidelines for ongoing portfolio submissions.

VII. Bibliography.

A. Contemporary References

Michael Berube, The Employment of English
--, Public Access
-- and Cary Nelson, eds., Higher Education under Fire
W.B. Carnochan, The Battleground of the Curriculum
Jonathan Culler, The Pursuit of Signs
Mark Edmundson, ed., Wild Orchids and Trotsky
Darryl Gless and Barbara Herrnstein Smith, eds., The Politics of Liberal Education
John Guillory, Cultural Capital
Peggy Kamuf, The Division of Literature
Donald Keesey, ed., Contexts for Criticism
Amitava Kumar, ed., Class Issues
Randy Martin, ed., Chalk Lines
Cary Nelson, ed., Will Teach for Food
Bill Readings, The University in Ruins
Edward Said, Humanism and Democratic Criticism
Robert Scholes, The Rise and Fall of English
Samuel Weber, Institution and Interpretation

B. Classic References

Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (2nd ed.)
Gerald Graff, Professing Literarure: An Institutional History
Paul Lauter, Canons and Contexts
Richard Ohmann, English in America
Richard Rand, ed., Logomachia: The Conflict of the Faculties

C. Key Journals

ADE Bulletin
Boundary 2
College English
Diacritics
New Literary History
minnesota review
PMLA
Profession
Social Text

VIII. Course Schedule and Policies

A. Tentative Course Schedule. The following course schedule is subject to revision--please refer here regularly for updates to this schedule, notes on the texts, and suggestions for further reading.

T 1/26 INTRODUCTIONS. People, Course, Goals, Units, Texts, Assignments.
Th 1/28 GETTING STARTED: PATHS. before class: Find and read What Can I Do with an English Major, English Alumni, and English Department Newsletter. in class: GUEST APPEARANCE: Tracy Collingwood, Career Development Office, SUNY Fredonia; be prepared to discuss career goals and paths and have questions ready for your peers and our guest.

The Goals of the Major

T 2/2 GETTING STARTED: GOALS AND MISSION. before class: Find and read the English department Mission and Goals; read Abrams and Harpham, "Criticism" and "Theories and Movements in Recent Criticism" (61-64, 368). in class: discuss reactions to department goals, their relations to Abrams and Harpham, and their connections to your own career goals. GUEST APPEARANCE: Virginia Horvath, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor, English, SUNY Fredonia. after class: begin reading Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories at your own pace; begin researching ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Th 2/4 READING: LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE. before class: Read Abrams and Harpham, "Form and Structure" (125-126), "Genres" (134-136), "Formalism" (126-129), "New Criticism" (216-218), "Structuralist Criticism" (346-349), "Narrative and Narratology" (208-210), "Semiotics" (324-326), "Deconstruction" (69-75), "Discourse Analysis" (81-82), and "Poststructuralism" (279-284). in class: be prepared to discuss your questions about these terms and concepts and to try to apply them to your reading of Haroun and the Sea of Stories. after class: keep researching ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.

T 2/9 READING: READERS AND TEXTS. before class: Read Abrams and Harpham, "Distance and Involvement" (83-84), "Empathy and Sympathy" (94-95), "Affective Fallacy" (5-6), "Reader-Response Criticism" (299-302), "Reception Theory" (305-306), and "Dialogic Criticism" (77-79). in class: be prepared to discuss your questions about these terms and concepts and to try to apply them to your reading of Haroun and the Sea of Stories. after class: keep researching ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Th 2/11 READING: IDENTITY AND SOCIETY. before class: Read Abrams and Harpham, "Cultural Studies" (65-67), "Sociology of Literature" (334-335), "New Historicism" (218-225), "Feminist Criticism" (110-116), "Gender Criticism" (132-134), "Queer Theory" (296-299), "Postcolonial Studies" (277-279), "Ecocriticism" (87-91), and "Fiction and Truth" (116-118). in class: be prepared to discuss your questions about these terms and concepts and to try to apply them to your reading of Haroun and the Sea of Stories. after class: finish researching ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.

T 2/16 WRITING: AUTHORS AND AUTHORSHIP. before class: Read Abrams and Harpham, "Intentional Fallacy" (157), "Author and Authorship" (18-21), "Influence and the Anxiety of Influence" (155-156), "Interpretation and Hermeneutics" (158-162), "Rhetorical Criticism" (312-313), "Phenomenology and Criticism" (260-263), "Text and Writing (Ecriture)" (364-365), "Point of View" (271-276), and "Persona, Tone, and Voice" (257-260). in class: what do these terms and concepts have to teach us about what Rushdie is doing in Haroun and the Sea of Stories? About our own writing and activities as authors? GUEST APPEARANCE: Dustin Parsons, Assistant Professor, English, SUNY Fredonia.
Th 2/18 WRITING: PROCESS AND PRODUCT. before class: Read Gibaldi, Ch. 1 (1-7, 41-50) and familiarize yourself with Ch. 3 and 4 (63-122) as well as Beyond Normal: Making Your Writing Devilishly Good (available in the Resources Area of the course ANGEL space); in class: what questions do you have about the expectations for writing in the discipline?
F 2/19 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY due by 11:30 pm in the discussion forum of the course ANGEL space (attach as .rtf, .doc, or .pdf document, please).

T 2/23 CRITICAL THINKING. before class: Skim Gibaldi, Ch. 5-6 (139-260). in class: Be prepared to analyze what we discovered in our research and presented in our annotated bibliographies, examine MLA formatting conventions, and discuss how to connect critical thinking with reading, writing, and research.

The Structure of the Major

Th 2/25 REQUIREMENTS: WORLD LITERATURE CORE. before class: Review the requirements of the English (323) major at Fredonia and the English department course offerings in the University Catalog 2009-2010; read Theodore Steinberg, "A World Literature Core" (available in the Lessons area of the course ANGEL space). in class: GUEST APPEARANCE: Theodore Steinberg, Distinguished Teaching Professor, English, SUNY Fredonia.

T 3/2 RESEARCH. before class: Read Gibaldi, Ch. 1-2 (8-40, 51-61). in class: meet at the Circulation Desk of Reed Library with Dawn Eckenrode, Reference/Instruction Librarian, and me for an "Amazing Race" library research activity.
T 3/4 REQUIREMENTS: CRITICISM/THEORY AND SENIOR SEMINAR.

T 3/9 COMPONENTS: PERIODS, AUTHORS, AND CANONS. before class: Read Abrams and Harpham, "Periods of American Literature" (245-250), "Periods of English Literature" (250-257), "Canon of Literature" (38-41), and "Humanism" (144-148). in class: GUEST APPEARANCE: Christina Jarvis, Associate Professor, English, Director, American Studies, Sustainability Coordinator, FACE Center, SUNY Fredonia.
Th 3/11 COMPONENTS: ELECTIVES. in class: course evaluations.
F 3/12 CRITICAL ESSAY due by 11:30 pm in the CE Drop Box in the Lessons area of the course ANGEL space (attach as .rtf, .doc, or .pdf document, please).

M 3/15-F 3/19 SPRING BREAK: NO CLASSES.

F 3/26 LEARNING ANALYSIS due by 11:30 pm in the LA Drop Box in the Lessons area of the course ANGEL space (attach as .rtf, .doc, or .pdf document, please).

B. Class Policies

1. Attendance. As stated in Section VI above, barring emergencies each absence after the second will lower your final course grade by a full grade. Be aware that absences due to emergencies are the only absences that will not be counted toward your total for the semester. Emergencies include but are not limited to death in the family, hospitalization or serious illness, and natural disasters; scheduled and unavoidable school-sponsored events (games, meets, performances, etc.) are also counted as emergencies for the purpose of this attendance policy. Besides emergencies, the only other absences that won't affect your participation/preparation grade are excused absences. Please notify the instructor over email, in advance if possible and, if not, as soon after the absence as possible, if you wish an absence to be considered as an emergency or excused absence; the decision will be made at the instructor's discretion.

2. Online Participation. Please familiarize yourself with the college's Computer and Network Usage Policy in the University Catalog 2009-2010 and check with your instructor first before posting something to the course ANGEL space that is not directly related to the course.

3. Late Assignments. Online posts that are not well-timed with the course material and fail to spark other students' interest and responses will not count the same as well-timed posts or posts that do inspire further discussion. Late critical essays will not be accepted or graded. Only students who ask for an extension at least two days before the due date of any written project will be granted an extension.

4. Plagiarism and Academic Integrity. To plagiarize is "to steal and pass off as one's own the ideas or words of another" (Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary). SUNY Fredonia strongly condemns plagiarism and takes severe action against those who plagiarize. Disciplinary action may extend to suspension from privileges or expulsion from college. Please familiarize yourself with the college's Academic Integrity Policy in the University Catalog 2009-2010 and check with your instructor if you have any questions about it.

5. Students with Disabilities. If you have a documented disability, please contact our Office of Disability Support Services in the Learning Center at Reed Library.

6. Cell Phones and Other Portable Electronic Devices. Please turn them off before you enter the class. If I see you using them while class is in session, I will hold onto them for you until we are done for the day. I will consider requests to use laptops for notetaking purposes.

M A I N * L I N K S

ENGL 106: The English Major--An Introduction, Spring 2010
Created: 1/25/10 7:00 pm
Last modified: 2/23/10 9:42 am
Webmaster: Bruce Simon, Associate Professor of English, SUNY Fredonia
Feel free to explore the Fall 2008, Spring 2008, and Spring 2006 versions of this course.