ENG 203: Introduction to Literature

Objectives

This course is one of the most practical and impractical courses you will take in college. On the one hand, it helps you develop a crucial life skill--the skill of interpretation--which you already use every day of your life. When you listen to a song on the radio, watch a movie, or even converse with a friend, you use your knowledge of language, plot, and character to make sense of your experience. By increasing this knowledge, this course will make you a better "reader" of your world. On the other hand, much of the appeal of literature lies in its impractical nature--its beauty, its humor, the way it makes us feel. Thus, while this course will improve your ability to function in the world, it also will help you to escape from it. Specifically, as I explain below, my objectives in this course are to help you deepen your appreciation of language, explore core ideas in the human experience, and sharpen your research and communication skills.

Language: Success in college and the world beyond requires more than basic literacy. In this course, you will learn not only how to decipher language, but also how to analyze it for clues about purpose, audience, and agenda. To this end, I will help you to appreciate language at every level, as we explore linguistic concepts such as diction and dialect, formal features such as motif and character foil, and several genres, including the ballad, romance, lyric poem, tragedy, autobiography, novel, and short story. Our focus will always be on the ways that form shapes meaning. Furthermore, because of the allusive nature of all language, particularly literature, names constitute a crucial part of a person's vocabulary. For this reason, I also will help you to expand your cultural literacy and thus prepare yourselves to be more knowledgeable and active participants in your communities.

Ideas: Edifying and elevating in its own right, language is also a means for expressing ideas, and one of my chief objectives in this course is to help you explore those ideas. Thus, in addition to analyzing symbolism in medieval romance and setting in Gothic fiction, we will confront the questions that these works and others ask about temptation and restraint, free will, and human relationships.

Research: Various projects will help you learn to complement the knowledge you glean in class with knowledge you gather on your own through research. In addition to using key words, Boolean operators, subject encyclopedias, and bibliographies, you will practice incorporating source material into your own work through quotations, paraphrases, attribution, and documentation.

Communication: Knowledge confined to a single person's brain has limited use. It is through sharing this knowledge that humans make progress in medicine, science and technology, politics, and every other human endeavor. In this course will have numerous opportunities to polish your skills in written, spoken, and graphic communication. Indeed, by the time you complete this course, you will have written several arguments, interpreted poetry orally with pace and intonation, explored some aspects of graphic design, sent and received e-mail, performed research on the Internet, and built a World Wide Web page.

Supplies

Book of Genesis
Antigone
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Hamlet
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Oronooko
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Faces in the Moon

In addition to the books listed above, I also will assign a few other works available on the Internet or on video.

Policies

In this online course, we will conduct most of our communication over the Internet. As I explain below, you will create and post World Wide Web sites where you demonstrate your understanding of the material. We also will interact through a course listserv (eng203@papa.uncp.edu), online forum, or chat room. On a few occasions, however, we will communicate the old-fashioned way: through our mouths. First, I will schedule a few optional meetings, including an orientation session the first week of class and a library session a few weeks later. While you are not required to attend these sessions, I strongly urge you to try to come. I will walk you through some important processes, answer your questions, and generally do things that are tough to do over the Internet. Second, each of you will be required to have two conferences with me. We can conduct these conferences in person in my office or--if it is more convenient for you--over the telephone.

The following statements come from Disability Support Services: "Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to speak directly to Disability Support Services and the instructor, as early in the semester (preferably within the first class week) as possible. All discussions will remain confidential."

"This publication is available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact Mary Helen Walker, Disability Support Services, Career Services Center, 521-6270."

Be Your Best

You can expect me to be the best teacher I can be. I will work hard to make this course interesting and rewarding.I expect you to be your best, as well. Although this course is no more difficult than most college courses, it demands a lot of work, including reading and writing assignments, library research, and study. I expect you to make these commitments, to turn in neatly typed and carefully edited assignments on time, and--particularly because this is an online course--to read the online announcements at the beginning of each week. For tips on improving your study habits, see Be Your Best.

Fall 2000 | Online

Professor Mark Canada
118 Dial, 521-6431
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
mark.canada@uncp.edu
www.uncp.edu/home/canada
Office Hours: 8-9 a.m. MTWRF

Schedule

Ancient Period

Medieval Era

Renaissance

Enlightenment

Romanticism

Modern Era

Portfolio

When you invest a large portion of your time and energy in a class for several weeks, you should expect something more than a grade in return. If you work hard in this course, you can receive a good grade, but you also can receive several other, more lasting and important benefits, including a foundation of knowledge and skills. To strengthen this foundation, you will prepare an online literature portfolio, where you will organize your notes and reflections on literature. This portfolio, which you will post on the World Wide Web, comprises the components in the box at the right.

Using my standard criteria, I will evaluate your portfolio at midterm and at the completion of the course. Each time, I will assign you a letter grade based on the quality of both components. Your final grade in the course, however, will depend only on your performance on the final portfolio and presentation. Thus, even if you earn a D at midterm, you may revise your portfolio, use what you have learned to improve on future work, and earn a better grade--perhaps even an A--on your final portfolio and presentation. The purpose of this system is to give you an opportunity to continue learning and improving over the course of the semester.

When the semester is complete, I will consider some of the material you produce for publication on All American: Literature, History, and Culture, a World Wide Web site that I manage. Thus, by working hard in this course, you not only will learn a great deal about literature, improve your writing and research skills, and practice using new computer technology, but may have one or more electronic publications that you may cite in resumes and portfolios.

I hope that this portfolio's value to you will outlast this semester and that you will continue to consult it and add to it as you encounter language in the years to come. You may even want to show it to friends, parents, prospective employers, and--someday--grandchildren to demonstrate all that you have learned this semester about literature and life.

Profile

In this profile, you will introduce yourself to me and your classmates. Please include the following components:

Name
Photograph: Scan a recent photograph of you and place it on your profile.
E-mail address: Create a link to an e-mail address that you regularly use.
Table of contents: List links to the various compents of your portfolio.
Essay: In a paragraph of about 100 words, describe your interests, hobbies, family, or anything else that you would like me and your classmates to know about you.

Introduction

In this essay, which should be between 300 and 500 words long, you should summarize the progress you have made in the following areas:

Language and literature: How has reading and analyzing challenging literature helped you to improve your literacy? For example, you might explain how understanding symbolism has helped you to interpret political rhetoric, how studying Gothicism has deepened your appreciation of literature you read or movies you watch, or how an expanded cultural literacy has enabled you to participate more actively in conversations.
Ideas: How has your experience in the course caused you to reflect productively on the nature of knowledge, the roots of good or evil, human relationships, the role of an individual in a community, or another subject? Refer to specific details in at least three works we have studied.
Research: What have you learned about finding and using resources, including both printed items and Internet material?
Communication: How have your writing, speaking, and technical skills improved as a result of work you have done in this course?

Throughout your essay, be as specific as possible. For example, instead of saying simply that you "have become a better writer," you might explain how writing the essays has helped you develop the skill of stating a claim and supporting it with evidence. Present and analyze as many specific examples as you can.

Annotation

I will assign each of you a person, place, event or term from one of the study guides. You then will conduct research on this item and write an annotation of it. This annotation, which should be between 200 and 300 words long, must contain the following components in the order listed:

Headword: Type the name of the person, character, place, event, or literary term in boldface.
Pronunciation: Using standard letters, show how English speakers generally pronounce this word. Use capital letters to indicate the stressed syllable or syllables.
Meaning: Identify or define the item in your own words. Try to answer the following questions: Who? What? When? and Where? If the item is a literary term, illustrate its meaning by referring to a work we have studied this semester.
Significance: Explain how recognizing this item help a person understand literature or its context.
Bibliography: List at least two credible sources where readers can find more information.

When you have finished, post your annotation on your literature portfolio, create an anchor for it, and submit the URL of this essay to the course listserv so that your classmates and I can learn from it.

Essays

Choose two questions from different study guides. Respond to each by writing a clear essay in which you answer the question and support your answer with evidence from a work we are studying in class. Refer to your notes, the text, and any other sources you find useful when writing these essays. When you have finished, post your essay on your literature portfolio, create an anchor for it, and submit the URL of this essay to the listserv so that your classmates and I can learn from it.

Poetry Explication

Read "Reading and Explicating Poetry." Now choose a poem from one of the study guides and explicate it. Your explication should contain the following components in the order listed:

Title of the poem
Author of the poem
Scansion: If the poem has a dominant rhythm, identify it.
Rhyme scheme: If the poem has a rhyme scheme, identify it.
Formal features: Explain how at least three features--such as rhythm, metaphor, and refrain--help to shape the poem's meaning or effect.

When you have finished, post your explication on your literature portfolio, create an anchor for it, and submit the URL of this essay to the listserv so that your classmates and I can learn from it.

World Wide Web Page

Visit All American: Literature, History, and Culture, a World Wide Web site that I have created with the help of my students. After you have become familiar with this site's content and format, sign up for an American author, conduct some research on this author, and build a World Wide Web page on him or her. This page must contain the following components:

Title bar: Indicate the period in which the author published his or her most important works (Colonial America, 1607-1783; Antebellum America, 1784-1865; Postbellum America, 1866-1913; or Modern America, 1914-present).
Name and dates: Type the author's name and the years in which he or she lived;
Byline: Include a byline featuring your name, followed by a line saying, "Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke."
Essay: In an essay between 600 and 800 words long, summarize key aspects of the author's life, analyze at least two themes in the author's work, and describe at least one technique the author used. Support and illustrate your points by referring explicitly to at least one of the author's works and two articles or books by literary scholars;
Annotated bibliography: Type MLA citations for at least three relevant sources. In an annotation below each citation, analyze the content, timeliness, and credibility of each source.
Sidebar: List the author's major works, careers, home, family members, and perhaps other information, along with a chronology of major events in the author's life.
Links: Somewhere in your site, you must include at least two links to relevant Internet sites, such as sites with more information about the author's life, pictures of his or her home, or details about the author's historical context.

Study questions: Choose one of the author's works and type its title at the bottom of the page. Below the title, indicate the date and place of its first publication, as well as at least five study questions that help readers explore themes and formal elements.

Annotated Bibliography

Create a list of at least five literary reference works that you might consult in the future to find information about language and literature. Each item on the list should contain the following components:

Citation: Type an MLA citation for the item, followed by its Library of Congress call number if it is a print resource.
Annotation: In a paragraph below each citation, analyze the source's content, timeliness, and credibility. Briefly describe possible uses for the source.

Optional Components

Feel free to include other materials that demonstrate your progress in this course. Here are some things you might include:

Personal responses to works we have studied or other works you have read
A list of your favorite literary works, including both works we studied and works we did not study
A list of books you want to read after this course ends
Your own creative work, such as poetry or short stories.

Oral Presentation

Instead of taking midterm and final exams, each of you will give two 30-minute presentations--one at midterm and one at end of the course--during which you will show me your portfolio, talk about what you have learned, and answer questions designed to measure your success in meeting the objectives of the course. Here are a few examples of the types of questions I might ask you during your presentation:

Language

What were some of the most popular genres of the medieval period? Describe the characteristics of one particular genre and cite examples from a work we read.
What is an allusion? Using an example from a work we have read this semester, explain how a writer uses allusion to convey meaning.

Ideas

Some of the works we have encountered this semester present characters wrestling with moral dilemmas. Explain how at least two of these characters resolved their dilemmas. Would you have reacted the same way they did? Why or why not?
How much control do humans have over their lives? Support your argument by referring to specific details in at least two works we have read this semester.

Research

What is a subject encyclopedia?

As you study each week, you should prepare yourself to answer questions such as these in a detailed, articulate way. The study guides will help. Make sure that you can identify all of the literary figures, places, events, and terms in them. Have a friend ask you questions from these study guides and practice answering them orally.

You must bring all of the material you used or created in preparing your portfolio, including rough drafts, notes, and photocopies of your sources with quoted or paraphrased passages highlighted.

Samples

Help

Evaluation Criteria

Content: The project should thoroughly and insightfully address its subject with accurate, credible, timely, and relevant information. If the project is supposed to be argumentative, it should state a clear, substantive, contestable, and precise claim early and support this claim with appropriate evidence.
Clarity: The project should present information in a clear, logical fashion. In particular, paragraphs generally should begin with precise topic sentences, followed by clear, well-organized sentences that support the topic sentence. The writer should use transitional words and phrases effectively to guide the reader through the information.
Readability: The project should engage the reader with lively, concise writing and should generally lack typographical errors, as well as lapses in tone, register, punctuation, spelling, word choice, and grammar. The project should effectively incorporate source material with proper use of attribution, paraphrases, and quotations. Longer projects should begin with an engaging introduction and include a satisfying conclusion.
Format: Parenthetical citations and the bibliography or list of works cited should conform to MLA style. The project also should have an attractive, professional appearance and should conform to any particular format requirements set by the instructor.

Note: Each project must be your own work. That is, except for properly cited quotations, every sentence and phrase must be in your own words. All interpretations, except for those properly cited, also must be your own. If you turn in someone else's work, use a source's exact words without placing these words in quotation marks, or use an interpretation you found in a source without giving credit to the source, you may fail this course. You must be prepared to prove that you have done all your own work by showing me your sources and discussing the details of your project with me in conference.

Grades

A: Mastery
B: Near mastery
C: Basic competence
D: Less than basic competence
F: Serious problems, such as plagiarism or glaring lack of competence